The Best Story from Sunday (11-8-09)

This afternoon I watched a portion of a previous edition of the Mormon Tabernacle’s weekly broadcast “Music and the Spoken Word.”  In Lloyd Newell’s “spoken word” message, he told of an article about the great Joshua Bell playing some of the best classical music ever written on a $3 million Stradivarius violin in a Washington, D.C. subway.  During about 40 minutes of playing, he received little attention, and a little over $32 in donations from passers-by.  Lloyd Newell concluded “The writer, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his article about the unheard violinist, summarized the experience with these words: `If we can’t take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that—then what else are we missing?’ Indeed, the world offers us daily moments of beauty that can enrich our lives—if we open our eyes and open our hearts.”  After hearing this message, I greatly enjoyed reading a transcript of a National Public Radio story on the article, as well as the actual article that won the Pulitzer Prize.

Earlier in the day, in Sunday School class, Brother Mark Jarman played a video excerpt from last Tuesday evening’s devotional at the Missionary Training Center of the LDS Church.  The speakers were Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Seventy, and his wife Melanie Rasband.  Earlier in their lives he served as president of the New York, New York North mission.  Sister Rasband told of a young missionary who had looked forward to having his shoes shined at one of New York’s shoe shine stands, but had not served where one could find such stands.  With one week left in his mission, he was out on the street and heard a man around the street corner yelling “Shoe shine, who wants their shoes shined?”   The missionary jumped at the opportunity.  The shoe shine man did not have a stand.  The missionary asked how much the shine would cost, and the man said as much as the missionary wanted.  The missionary thought he’d be able to pay one dollar, he could get anything for a dollar in the Bronx.  The man began shining the missionary’s shoes, and as he did so the missionary began to notice the disheveled appearance of the man.  The man polished his shoes using liquid polish from a small can, and rubbed in the polish with his fingers.  As he observed the man kneeling at his feet, humbly polishing his shoes, the missionary could envision Jesus Christ humbly washing someone’s feet, and then Jesus Christ polishing our souls as he takes our sins upon him, as this man hands were taking on the stain of polish from the missionary’s shoes.  When it came time to pay, the missionary gave the man all the money he had with him, as well as money from the missionary’s companion.  Brother Jarman had been discussing Mosiah 28:1-3 from the Book of Mormon, and how the sons of Mosiah had turned from sinners to zealous missionaries after having  been forgiven of their own sins through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and he asked what motivates us to share with others the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

P.S. (5:45 pm) Well, these are not really stories, but my home teacher Spencer Fowers shared an excellent 1989 General Conference talk on understanding answers to prayer by Elder Richard G. Scott, and on byutv.org I saw a fine talk on personal revelation given at BYU Hawaii by Elder Tad L. Callister.

NOTE:  If this entry has concepts or terminology you do not understand, you may find explanations at www.mormon.org [intended primarily for those who are learning basic principles about the LDS Church], at www.lds.org [the official website of the LDS Church that includes basic information as well as more advanced materials for members of the LDS Church], or from me directly by posting a comment.

Film: The Flower of My Secret

Tonight I saw this film at BYU’s International Cinema.

Here’s the description of the movie from the program poster:  “Leo, a popular romance novelist, is fed up with writing meaningless books and is on the verge of splitting with her husband. To banish her overwhelming depression, she takes a job at a newspaper under a pseudonym. Her boss, unaware of her true identity, assigns her to review her own romance novel. This unashamed melodrama is conveyed via magical acting, great camerawork, and above all intense colors. 1995 | directed by Pedro Almodóvar | Spanish | 103 minutes | color | content filtered”

TV: Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

This evening, after Scouts (they learned some ball room dances, and most practiced with their mother) I enjoyed this documentary on KUED while doing some things at home.  The online TV Guide includes this description:  “The story of `The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,’ a controversial youth-oriented 1967-69 CBS variety show that featured political and topical comedy, as well as some of the era’s top music acts. Included: remarks from Dick and Tommy Smothers; show writers Rob Reiner and Mason Williams; and Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte and Pete Seeger.”  Brief reviews appears here as well as here.

I had not known that as between Dick and Tommy Smothers, Tommy was the political one.  I also learned that Rob Reiner and Steve Martin were both writers on the show, and had not remembered that when CBS terminated the show that the Smothers sued CBS and won.  I enjoyed learning about the culture of the show, how they were always looking for guests that could present something a bit different, such as featuring an actual hippy on the show, Pete Seegar who sang a song the censors did not realize was criticizing LBJ, and an irreverent Dave Steinberg who did satirical sermons, comedian Pat Paulsen who portrayed droll and hapless politician and who actually presented himself as a presidential candidate.    Interesting memories, interesting times.

It seems a bit ironic that it was Tommy’s sustained use of the show to air his views on national and world politics that created his conflicts with CBS, yet he miscalculated, or simply failed to understand (since Tommy states he was naive in these dealings) how to deal with the politics relating to his own profession.

Professor Michael Goldsmith

BYU Law Professor Michael Goldsmith passed away Sunday. I saw a brief blurb in the paper, then other articles praising the courage with which he dealt with ALS (See New York Times article, a Deseret News article reporting his death from ALS, and a Deseret News editorial praising Michael Goldsmith’s ALS activism).  There is a nice article about Professor Goldsmith in wikipedia.

I was one of many students Professor Goldsmith taught, one he would have no reason to remember. I took two courses from him – - Evidence and Criminal Procedure. He was in his late thirties at the time – - articulate, bright, athletic (I remember how he recruited racquetballs partners from his class one semester), at the top of his game. Some years after graduation I read that he had suffered aneurisms in his brain, then a few years ago I learned that he had been diagnosed with ALS. I could not imagine how he would cope with such setbacks.  The articles I read explained how well he had dealt with these health challenges, a great example.

Professor Goldsmith is responsible for some memories from my law school experience. This is a good occasion for me to reduce them to writing.

During one our classes Professor Goldsmith introduced a case featuring a particular hapless criminal defendant by asking the class: “What tells you that this defendant was not the swiftest pony in the corral?”

Professor Goldsmith had tools to deal with the occasional, ill-advised, heckling students. One student began missing classes, heard that Professor Goldsmith had taken note of his absences, then showed up at the next class and tried to make up for his transgressions through overactive class participation. Several times Professor Goldsmith put off the student’s questions, saying “this stuff can’t be that interesting,” and “could you hold your question, I’m trying to work toward a peak,” to which the student interjected “Assuming you ever peak.” At that point Professor Goldsmith paused in his lecture, looked at the student, and said “I remember when I had my first beer. It made me say stupid things like that, too.” That effectively shut the student down. Several class sessions later this same student showed up in class with a new hair cut. Professor Goldsmith called out to the student and asked about the hair cut, and to my surprise the student said “Well, I went to the barber, and he said I has two choices. The first choice was a haircut like yours, and my haircut was the second choice.” Professor Goldsmith paused, then said: “Can’t you let me do my job. Can’t you just let me do my job. I come here. I teach you. I let you do your job. I go in, ask for the burger and fries, and leave.”

One semester Professor Goldsmith helped run a Thursday night activity called “The Law in Cinema.” Professor Goldsmith would introduce a film that dealt with the legal profession, then the film would be shown. We met in the lecture hall on the second floor. One movie of note that he introduced: “Anatomy of a Murder” starring Jimmy Stewart.

During one lecture he shared materials from wire taps used in prosecuting organized crime figures.  Fascinating.

Professor Goldsmith had numerous outside activities, which meant that he would often re-schedule class sessions. From a student’s perspective this was somewhat of a pain. After law school I was able to get a glimpse of what he had been up to those years, what had caused the schedule conflicts. During my time as a law clerk – bailiff at the Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, a criminal trial was held. The defendant was a somewhat prominent businessman, David Nemelka. His defense team included Max Wheeler, now regarded as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in Utah, I believe. Professor Goldsmith was working as a consultant to the defense team, advising them on evidentiary issues during the course of the trial, whether something is inadmissible as hearsay, for example, and whether to object. He was engaged and an active member of the team, and I realized his outside activities surely enhanced his performance as a professor. In this particular case, he helped contribute to a successful defense of defendant, as reported in this story from the Deseret News.

P.S. (11-4-09)  A co-worked told me about another article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

TV: “A Wing and A Prayer: The Saga of Utah Man”; “LDS Lives: Gail Halvorsen”

Over the years I have been intrigued and inspired by the stories of how individuals courageously encountered the trauma and turmoil of World War II and its aftermath.  In the near future two noteworthy programs will be streamed on www.byutv.org. In case some of my vast readership are not aware of these upcoming programs, I’ll give some information below.

I’ve seen “A Wing and A Prayer:  The Saga of Utah Man.”  This documentary recounts the story of an LDS pilot who participated in a long distance bombing raid, traveling from North African to Romania to bomb Nazi-controlled oil fields.  Much of the story is narrated by means of a filmed interview with the pilot himself.  A great story, the pilot tells of his experience with considerable energy, and shares some of his perspectives on the experience as an LDS man.

I’ve not seen “LDS Lives:  Gail Halvorsen.”  Gail Halvorsen, who was stake president over one of my stakes at BYU, was the “Candy Bomber” whose simple act of charity led to significant efforts to provide candy to the children of Berlin during the Berlin Airlift.  I’ve just about finished a book on this topic, and anticipate this will be worthwhile program.

Dates and times for these programs appear below (all times are Utah times):

November 2 @ 8:00 PM Gail Halvorsen
November 5 @ 9:00 AM Gail Halvorsen
November 6 @ 1:00 AM Gail Halvorsen
November 9 @ 4:00 PM Gail Halvorsen
November 9 @ 8:00 PM Wing and a Prayer: Saga of Utah Man
November 12 @ 9:00 AM Wing and a Prayer: Saga of Utah Man
November 13 @ 1:00 AM Wing and a Prayer: Saga of Utah Man
November 16 @ 4:00 PM Wing and a Prayer: Saga of Utah Man