(03.01.08) Recommends:

Citizen Journalism!

So as we previously mentioned, we saw Cat Power last night. She used to have a reputation for putting on really shitty live performances. But, as we understand it, in the last few years she's gotten things in order and now puts on completely engaging performances. Last night included. Also, owing to the fact that we have friends in Los Angeles who are as generous as they are cool, we had a spectacular view of the show.

But what was particularly notable about the night occurred before the show. We got to the Wiltern a early, because it is located in K-Town, and we never, ever pass up an opportunity to drink Hite like a native. [Even though we're silly white people from Kansas[1], it can hardly be disputed that Koreans love us and think of us as practically half-Korean. South-style, yo. Stop laughing back there; this is all more or less true.] And when we got to the venue we noticed a sign posted on the Box Office[2]. The sign was a Public Notice of Application For Ownership Change. It listed the current owner as the Wiltern Theater. And the new owner as Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events, LLP. The sign also mentioned "on-sale general eating" whatever that means. So, does anybody know, like, what this means? Is Wolfgang Puck a reformed rock star who's going through a mid-life crisis and is now getting the band back together? Is the Wiltern going to be turned into a restaurant? Is Wolfgang Puck just going to be catering the shows? (And maybe some drum solos). We're confused, but we suspect that we can find the answer through fellow bloggers. So if people know what's going on, let us know.



[1] We were sporting a Kansas t-shirt last night. And before the show, while walking from the bar to the venue, we got a "Rock Chalk!" with accompanying fist pump. Then, while in the venue, an impossibly attractive female came up to talk to us because she had graduated from KU (as any KU grad can attest, there are many impossibly attractive girls at KU, the majority of which come either from the farmlands of Kansas, or from Minnesota. Strange, but true.). We mention these stories because one of our favorite parts of living in Los Angeles is that when we wear KU garb people approach, without fail, to tell us they either went to KU or are from Kansas. It literally happens every time we wear KU stuff. Honestly, we now wear Kansas apparel way more then we ever have before because these encounters make us really happy. We realize it might be corny to talk about things like a "sense of community," but we really feel it with our fellow Kansas ex pats. We also realize that it's strange that we strongly identify with our Kansas heritage when we did, in fact, leave Kansas, and all our friends and loved ones therein, when we left for California. But just because we left Kansas does not mean that we have forgotten it, or stopped thinking about it. We want everybody back home to know this.

[2] We would show a picture of this sign, but our camera is currently being held hostage by terrorists. Actually, terrorist, singular. Thus, we do not have access to it. So we took a picture of the sign with our camera phone, but we are bad with the technology and cannot figure out how to transfer the picture from our phone to our computer. So bear with our prose description.

The Elect Lady

I feel called to write about Emma today.

Oh, sweet and powerful Emma, I adore and love you, my prophtess, the Elect Lady.

Emma is described to us by the revelation of Spirit in D & C 25. This revelation was given to Joseph Smith, Jr in Emma's hometown of Harmony, PA which in and of itself is a huge revalation.

Let's have a glance at the spiritual nature of Pennsylvania, the pot from which the flower that is Emma grew. The following except is from my Master's degree thesis, Heavenly Mothers and Plain Goddesses.

"[Many authors and scholars] trace the current practice of Pow Wow faith healing to the magick and herbal tradition brought by the German communities [to Pennsylvania], fused with mystical Christianity and Native American practices of the region (Guiley and Valiente). Ravenwolf, Valiente, Guiley, pagan practitioners and writers, are backed up by scholars like Barbara Louise Reimensnyder of the University of Pennsylvania, who have found elements of German paganism in what RavenWolf calls the “Avalon of the Americas”, Pennsylvania. The cloak for paganism became the reality after several generations and Pow Wow artists often pray to Jesus and Mary instead of a God and Goddess.

I like to draw from a few sources when I’m making this point which is why I brought up Ravenwolf, Valiente, Guiley and Reimensnyder. I think it’s important to keep in mind that practicing witches in the area, like Ravenwolf, can discover things and make connections that a scholar might not be able to find while scholars like, Reimensyder from the University of Pennsylvania, can bring in academic oversight to the conversation of magick.

Many German descendants practicing PowWow are female, in keeping with the German female healing tradition. Pow Wow artists have many magickal aspects to their practice including the use of a magickal knife called an athome for divination, amulets, casting of lots, pagan symbols in rosettes of their churches, traditional Hex colors or red, white and black and they use astrology to determine gardening schedules, as we will discuss in depth later in the paper (Ravenwolf, Guiley, Valiente and Reimensnyder)."

We know that Joseph used astorology, amulets, seer stones and a magickal daggers in early Mormonism. We also know that the woman called by Spirit, the Elect Lady, the wife of the prophet, was from an area reffered to as The Avalon of America.

If you're wondering about Avalon read here.

So let's review a few of my favorite passages from D&C 25.

3 Behold, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called.

7 And thou shalt be ordained under his hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit.

8 For he shall lay his ahands upon thee, and thou shalt receive the Holy Ghost, and thy time shall be given to writing, and to learning much.

15 Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of brighteousness thou shalt receive

A crown of brightness. All hail Queen Emma! :)

Joseph called her "My beloved Emma—she that was my wife, even the wife of my youth, and the choice of my heart" (History of the Church, 5:107). (http://prophets.ldsblogs.com/?cat=194)

I adore you Emma, you give me strength and courage, my beloved Prophetess.