The Cricket and Seagull Fireside Chat

Looking at the world-wide reach of Meridian Magazine today, it's hard to imagine that the publishers were initially disappointed to be an online rather than a print publication, but "the times, they are a changin'" and today they couldn't be happier to be a premier online source for news and inspiration for Latter-day Saints around the globe.

From more space devoted to photography, new mini-blogs, to sections and author pages, the new Meridian has a way to be more useful and appealing to you than ever.  You'll hear the excitement in their voices as Scot and Maurine Proctor unveil the new features and share their passion for posting pictures and stories from Saints around the world in all cultures and walks of life, helping us all feel that we are united in a cause greater than ourselves and our own little worlds.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Some called him a Guardian Angel, others (mostly those who'd looked down the barrel of his gun) called him The Angel of Death.  He was blessed by the prophet that he'd never be killed by bullet or blade and as a token of that promise he was told never to cut his hair.  Word of that promise made him a Western legend, and plenty of outlaws put it to the test, but none successfully.

In the annals of LDS church history, perhaps no one but Joseph Smith himself has been cause for so much speculation and so many fascinating stories, but authors Jerry Borrowman and John W. Rockwell (Porter's great-great-grandson) sift through the legends for the facts—which even without embellishment somehow still leave us scratching our heads wondering who this boyhood friend of Joseph's, from the neighboring farm in Palmyra, really was.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

BYU Church History professor John Livingstone had long had a vision of sharing the history and sites of the Restoration with people everywhere on the globe, and when videographer John Starrs moved into his ward it seemed that both the right people and the right technologies were coming together to make it happen.

Along with their well-known co-writers Jeffrey Marsh, Lloyd Newell, Craig James Ostler, and David Whitchurch, they've now released "Salt Lake City, Ensign to the Nations" in book form, on DVD, have a walking-tour guidebook for Salt Lake City, and perhaps most far-reaching, the new BYU Virtual Tours website with new information added each week.  You can even go online and visit http://virtualtours.byu.edu while you hear our guests explain the origins and challenges of the project, tell of the prestigious award their creation recently won, and, most importantly, talk about the church history we are each called to be part of today.

That's the week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Richard G. Oman's enthusiasm for and understanding of Arnold Friberg's now-iconic Book of Mormon paintings makes him the perfect person to walk us through these larger-than-life images most of us have grown up with.  They are now on permanent display in the LDS Church Conference Center in Salt Lake City, meaning you can see them for free year 'round and even line up your own little stripling warriors for a photo op in front of Captain Moroni--at least that's what one family was doing the morning I visited the gallery.

In addition, brother Oman speaks about how art can teach us through our eyes, what Friberg was trying to say with the moments he chose to illustrate, the impact these dozen-or-so images have had around the world since being published in many versions of the Book of Mormon, and why, in spite of his other acclaim, these might be Friberg's most lasting legacy.

Click Here to view the images as you listen.  Please be reminded that they are owned by the LDS Church, appear here as a courtesy, and may only be used for non-commerical, personal purposes.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...