The Cricket and Seagull Fireside Chat

What if you wanted to paint the being you worship? You might worry that you don’t have the skill, but what about an even more basic consideration; is it right to even try?

If you do try, then what kind of representation should you use?  Classical, realistic, or abstract?  You’ll find all these questions and a lot more to think about and see in this excerpt from J. Kirk Richards’ recent keynote address at the 2013 conference of The Association for Mormon Letters, titled, “Seek Ye the Face of Christ: Considerations in Depicting the Savior.”

And, because it’s such a visual presentation, we’ve made this a video podcast.  Click here to view the presention.

That’s this week on The Cricket and Seagull.

The word “banquet” conjures up the image of a feast; delicious food and lots of it, but for the past 22 years, students at BYU have hosted a Hunger Banquet – a banquet where the goodies are not doled out equally.  In fact, most of the attendees go away hungry, at least physically, but filled with a very tangible vision of the scope of global poverty.

This event is truly “thinking globally while acting locally,” not only by raising awareness, but also by benefitting a local organization which helps international refugees in Northern Utah.

Click Here to listen!  That’s this week on The Cricket and Seagull.

It’s the middle of winter here in North America – the time for snow and freezing temperatures, and the time when nothing grows in the garden.  At least that’s what most of us have come to think. 

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull.

There’s nothing like a hometown Christmas — a Christmas when you were together with family, when the high school choir set the mood for the season with their concerts, and when you saw and waved to your neighbors as they scurried among the downtown shops seeking treasures for their loved ones.
A hometown Christmas is a bit harder to find these days — strip malls and canned holiday music which starts around Halloween have seen to that, but they still do happen.  In this case we’ll listen in on a few numbers from a hometown Christmas concert by Utah singer-songwriter Cori Connors, herself one of just two recipients of this year’s Governor’s Mansion Artist Awards for artistic contributions to the state and her community.  We’ll hear a Christmas story or two, a tribute to a real-life hometown hero, a song about the reason for the season, and finally, a sing-along “Silent Night” with all the people crammed into the Farmington Arts Center to celebrate the season.  I hope you’ll sing along.
Here’s to a hometown Christmas — that's this week on The Cricket and Seagull!

The "Arab Spring” has swept across the Middle East this year, bringing new freedoms to people in a number of nations, but in Syria, the winter approaches and hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled the fighting by crossing into Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan – nearly half a million and growing in number – are finding life more difficult than ever.

In one of the many refugee camps, you’ll find Jim and Karyn Anderson, two Utahns who have been serving as humanitarian workers for LDS Charities in Lebanon and now in Jordan, trying to bring relief and encouragement to the fathers and mothers who have made their way from Syria over the Jordanian border by night, often through gunfire with their children, seeking any kind of safe haven.

"Next year in Jerusalem!" The Jews have said it for centuries. For all who love the scriptures, visiting the Holy Land fills your heart and mind with feelings and images which rush back every time you open those sacred pages.

And some of the most moving memories come from singing the hymns at the very places they speak of; the little town of Bethlehem, a green hill far away, and not-so-far-far away on Judea's plains. To lift your voice in "He Is Risen!" at the Garden Tomb, to sing "I Stand All Amazed" among the ancient olive trees of the Garden of Gethsemane; these truly are sacred moments.

In this audio interview, renowned choral director Brady Allred invites experienced choral singers to combine voices and form a choir for a 10-day tour of Israel, including exchange performances with the Kolot Hasadeh Choir at the Harduf kibbutz, and at the acoustically gorgeous Scottish Church in Jerusalem with one of Shimon Levtov's accomplished choirs.

Along with the choral events, our experienced guides will make sure we still explore all of the important historical and religious sites which can make a visit to the Holy Land a life-changing spiritual experience in 2013 — "Next year in Jerusalem!"

Click Here for dates and details, including a full day-by-day itinerary.  If you’d like to join us, please act quickly, the tour has already begun to fill.

For decades Clive Romney has been a solid session player, writer, producer, recording engineer, arranger and performer on the Utah music scene, but it wasn't until a change of heart in his 50's that he found what he describes as his true calling in life.

In this audio interview Clive tells both personal and universal stories that show the richness a connection with our ancestors can add to our lives.  And, like most good guys in westerns, you can always pick out Clive in a crowd; he's the one wearing the white hat.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull.

Summer is a busy season in Nauvoo, Illinois, especially if you are in charge of letting everyone know about the various events and shows happening every day.

In this audio interview, Elder Verl Doman talks about the work he and his wife, Sister Sue Doman, do every day as public affairs missionaries in Nauvoo, and how the church reaches out in friendship to Latter-day Saints and other people alike in the area.  Also discussed, is why the growth of the church in Nauvoo puts the LDS Church is a position similar to the 1840's when the influx of saints began to affect the balance in government and politics in the area.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull.