More Travel and Dining Expenses for "Bowdlerizing Brigham"?

[Doctor Scratch]

It would appear that someone who has repeatedly boasted about being a "donor" to Interpreter is racking up yet more travel and dining expenses courtesy of *actual* donor funds:

Today is the first of five days devoted to another bout of precisely such fine dining and adventurous sightseeing.

[SNIP!]

Here are the disturbing details: Before leaving my house in the morning, I enjoyed a glass of chocolate Carnation Breakfast Essentials. For lunch, once we had driven south and after some filming at the Statehouse, I had a mushroom-and-Swiss burger at The Eatery in downtown Fillmore (2020 population roughly 2592), accompanied by onion rings that I happily shared with the others and washed down with a very cold plastic “glass” of ice water. In the evening, after we had completed our day’s shooting, we went to the Iceberg Drive Inn at the southern end of town. I wasn’t overly hungry, but I did have a mini-size chocolate milkshake. We’re spending the night here in Fillmore at the Best Western Paradise Inn.

I will try to keep my monitors at the POB informed as to the specifics of my eating and my lodging during this Redbrick Filmworks/Interpreter Foundation filming trip. I know that these things matter to them.

A few observations:

--Nice to see him admitting that this is, in fact, being funded by Interpreter.
--A Carnation breakfast drink; a mushroom-and-Swiss burger + onion rings; and a chocolate milkshake. That sure is three square, healthy meals, isn't it? My goodness: the Mopologetic diet is what you would expect an acne-stricken teenager to eat. Did you know that there are edible things called "vegetables"? And that they actually taste good? And that if you eat them, they will help to keep you healthy? Maybe instead of reading so much crap about NDEs, the Afore should pick up a book about basic nutrition?
--It looks like lodging at the "upscale" Best Western in Fillmore runs a little over $100 per night (and did the Interpreter President book the nicest possible room for himself?). For five days' worth of staying there (with taxes and fees and whatnot), it means that he's likely dipping into roughly $1,000 worth of donor funds, when you take into account food, lodging, etc. And the thing is: Fillmore is what, like a 90 minute drive away, if that? Not a quick commute per se, but would it be worth it if it meant you were saving your cash-strapped non-profit organization $1,000? (And this is not taking into account whatever they're paying for the other people who are there on the trip... Would that add up to something more like $5,000?) A true sacrifice here would be paying for the actors and the crew, but the Interpreter President would take the hit: he'd forgo the free hotel room and food and would drive himself back and forth to the shooting location.

But, no: instead it'll be another round of begging people to please give money to Interpreter so that he can then spend it on himself.

One final thing: I see that the Fillmore Best Western offers "free breakfast." Do you think the Interpreter President will take advantage of that? Or will he treat himself to an arguably nicer, "expense account" breakfast, such as a McGriddle?

[Marcus]

...With John Donovan Wilson and Camrey Bagley Fox, as well as James Jordan and Russ Richins and Mark Goodman of Redbrick Filmworks — unfortunately, my wife could not come along...

This is an interesting admission. Why not? If she could have "come along", would the Interpreter have paid her expenses also, as they have in the past?

[drumdude]

It's a good distraction to avoid the uncomfortable question of exactly how much money Interpreter has paid Redbrick Filmworks. At this point Interpreter is basically their cash cow.

Focusing on the paltry glass of chocolate milk is a lot more palatable than the millions squandered on filming expenses for projects that have failed to be anything other than personal vanity projects.

[huckelberry]

It's a good distraction to avoid the uncomfortable question of exactly how much money Interpreter has paid Redbrick Filmworks. At this point Interpreter is basically their cash cow.

Focusing on the paltry glass of chocolate milk is a lot more palatable than the millions squandered on filming expenses for projects that have failed to be anything other than personal vanity projects.

Any attempt at creating an artistic communication involves investment and time. Many such efforts fail to make much of an impact. Are all such efforts mere vanity projects?
Drumdude somehow this vanity project result for human effort created a passing shadow over human effort in my mind . I hope the shadow is temporary.

[drumdude]

It's a good distraction to avoid the uncomfortable question of exactly how much money Interpreter has paid Redbrick Filmworks. At this point Interpreter is basically their cash cow.

Focusing on the paltry glass of chocolate milk is a lot more palatable than the millions squandered on filming expenses for projects that have failed to be anything other than personal vanity projects.

Any attempt at creating an artistic communication involves investment and time. Many such efforts fail to make much of an impact. Are all such efforts mere vanity projects?
Drumdude somehow this vanity project result for human effort created a passing shadow over human effort in my mind . I hope the shadow is temporary.

Judgement of any artwork is of course in the eye of the beholder. There are surely countless great works of art which have gone unnoticed and been under appreciated.

I thought Witnesses wasn't bad. Six Days in August was a little worse. This latest project is, in my opinion, more of the same with even less value.

The fact is, Dan is shoveling a ton of Interpreter's cash into Redbricks' pockets. To film a project that contains a whole lot of Dan talking. If there exists such a thing as a vanity project, this is certainly on that spectrum.

[Gadianton]

-A Carnation breakfast drink; a mushroom-and-Swiss burger + onion rings; and a chocolate milkshake.

Even when I was a kid growing up with barely enough to eat, had my parents offered, I would have refused two meals a day of pure chocolate.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

The Afore is a man who studies the afterlife while eating as if he’s trying to reach it by dinner time, all on the donors' dime.

[huckelberry]

Any attempt at creating an artistic communication involves investment and time. Many such efforts fail to make much of an impact. Are all such efforts mere vanity projects?
Drumdude somehow this vanity project result for human effort created a passing shadow over human effort in my mind . I hope the shadow is temporary.

Judgement of any artwork is of course in the eye of the beholder. There are surely countless great works of art which have gone unnoticed and been under appreciated.

I thought Witnesses wasn't bad. Six Days in August was a little worse. This latest project is, in my opinion, more of the same with even less value.

The fact is, Dan is shoveling a ton of Interpreter's cash into Redbricks' pockets. To film a project that contains a whole lot of Dan talking. If there exists such a thing as a vanity project, this is certainly on that spectrum.

drumdude, your words about underappreciated artwork are a nice way of putting it. I was thinking of the observation that it is quite difficult to make things which great and occurrence is not frequent. A lot of human effort goes into ordinary creations naturally forgotten.

Peterson's film projects are not great art. Perhaps their effort makes some limited contribution. Even showing the desire to explain and understand history is a contribution even if hopefully somebody can contribute more. So I wish Peterson's project well even if he should eat more greens

[Marcus]

The Afore:

...I was never paid to write or speak on Latter-day Saint apologetics...

At this point, this has been proven a lie so many times it's just laughable. He must be feeling the need for attention again.

But also the Afore:

“Had Peterson’s wife been able to come along, would her expenses have been paid?”

No. As in past trips, she would have paid for her own meals. In the past, when she has flown to a filming location, she has paid her own airfare. She and Peterson would have shared a room, though. And she probably would have driven in the same car with Peterson.

Hmm. Something's not right here. Deborah Peterson was listed as exec producer for the three movies done, same as Dan Peterson. One executive producer's expenses were covered, but not the other??

[drumdude]

Dan is basically saying he isn’t getting rich, he’s just using interpreter funds to make his friends at Redbrick rich.

It’s an important distinction!