Nick Emery Throws Shade In Typical Nick Emery Fashion
The BYU Basketball Guard everyone loves to hate is making waves again after dissing Saint Mary’s gym in an Instagram post just a day before the teams faced off.
Nick Emery threw major shade at Saint Mary's on Instagram tonight. It's either the best or the dumbest thing I've ever seen—and maybe both? pic.twitter.com/sQIPlSq0ab
— Steve Pierce (@PostJimmer) January 5, 2017
Nick Emery, revered by his fans and hated by his foes, first became one of the West Coast Conference’s biggest villains after punching Utah’s Brandon Taylor in the face. While his ability to both irritate the competition and and enliven the fans goes unparalleled, Emery’s latest snub received low points for originality, and tact.
The comment did, however, embody that contagious Cougar-Confidence BYU fans can’t help but love.
Sadly, the Cougs couldn’t back up their beef, suffering from a slow start and eventually losing to St. Mary’s. Though their gym may have been small, St. Mary’s brought their game in large, beating BYU 81-68.
Read more at Vanquish The Foe.
The LDS Husband Who (Kinda) Cheated On His Wife
Jason Hewlett didn’t expect his post to grace international headlines in London, China, India, Brazil, Italy, France, and every major U.S. city — but it did. A simple moment of spousal admiration blew up before his eyes.
“My name was trending higher than Kim Kardashian’s the day she and Kanye West had a baby,” Hewlett shared with LDS Living.
The fame came as shock to the LDS comedian and father of three. Nearly overnight, Hewlett became known as the “the husband who broke the internet” with his post featured on The View, The Today Show, Huffington Post, and Business Insider.
“Stories of couples rekindling their love, seeing one another with ‘fresh eyes,’ my wife and I stayed awake for most of 100 hours reading heartwarming comments of love, adoration, devotion promised to those we see every day as a new and fresh start among couples and families, stories of redemption among estranged lovers, children and parents, it was beyond description incredible,” Hewlett writes.
But the attention brought with it a darker side. The couple received comments and messages questioning Howlett’s intentions, calling out their marriage as a sham, and wishing tragedy upon their family.
“Truth of it all is this: I have no idea how to create something like that ever again. I actually hope it never happens again for most reasons, but sometimes things we share just happen to strike a chord. But what it solidified for us was the importance of the overall message of the post—it was The Promise. It became my main message, the proof I needed that the world was and is thirsty for people to Keep a Promise although we always assume the worst when we use words like “cheating” or ‘wandering eye.’ It proved to me that I have a message that is quite important to share. And there are people that loved it, couldn’t get enough of it, couldn’t believe it, and there were those that couldn’t stand it. I get it. But it led to a wonderful realization, not as to HOW it went viral, but WHY.”
Read more at LDS Living.
LDS Artist James C. Christensen Passes Away
Artist James C. Christensen had a knack for looking on the bright side, both in his life and in his art.
Though he never regarded himself as a “fantasy” artist, but rather an artist who paints the fantastic, Christensen recognized that the unreal often veers towards dark and scary. “I made a decision long ago that I would not go to dark places.”
“There’s a lot of negativity in the world. I try not to be part of it,” Christensen told Deseret News in 2008.
Christensen’s work was guided by his spiritual beliefs, and by authors such as C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkien. He even drew inspiration straight from the Book of Mormon, with its ancestral swords and mood dependent navigational devices. “Every authentic artist paints who he is. My religion, my spiritual belief system permeate my life and my artwork.”
Fish also ended up a central theme in Christensen’s work. “In my paintings a fish usually symbolizes wonder and wisdom. I often paint a fish floating in the air to remind the viewer that this is a new reality, that there is magic in the world.”
His first set of paints came from Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, and he wouldn’t paint with oils until he was a sophomore in college, studying at UCLA and BYU. Christensen worked freelance and taught high school art until 1976 when he joined the BYU art department faculty, retiring in 1997.
“The BYU Department of Art is saddened by the passing of renowned artist James C. Christensen,” department chair Gary Barton said. “Jim, as he was known by his friends … was a skilled and creative artist with a positive and gregarious personality. He was a popular teacher, and during his tenure at BYU, he made many valuable contributions to the department and the university.”
Christensen was the recipient of multiple Chesley awards, as well as all the professional art honors given by the Science Fiction Convention. He was also named one of Utah’s top 100 artists by the Springville Museum of Art and was deemed a Utah Art Treasure. Christensen served as co-chair of the Mormon Arts Foundation with his wife, Carole.
Christensen, 76, passed away Sunday, January 8, 2017 following a long battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife and five children.
Read more at Deseret News.
