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Notables: Another Incredible Hulk movie, another bundle of cash. Ho-hum. It appears kids really like roundhouse-kicking Pandas. As for The Happening, the folks at ChristianityTodayMovies.com sort of liked it. They call it "surprisingly compelling and endlessly frustrating.". They've also done a piece on how director M. Night Shyamalan mixes faith and science in the movie. As for the final two: Sandler is holding on, making more and more cash off of junior high jokes, and then there's Indy. I have to be honest: I saw it; I disliked it. A lot.

Top Five Books
1. Sail, by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
2. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris
3. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
4. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
5. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

Notables: This list reflects a combination of books from last week (and previous weeks). It's a mix of fiction, humorous essays, and one man's dying thoughts. If I were you, I would still be wrestling with what to do with the whole Meyer phenomenon. I'm not one to do a whole sermon or sermon series on stuff like this (be it Meyer, Narnia, or Da Vinci). That's just not my bag. But I do think there's an illustration lurking about in this national obsession with the undying, the immortal, the dead who feast on the living, etc. It's too prominent to ignore. It says something about where our minds are.

Top Five Albums
1. Tha Carter III, Lil' Wayne
2. Definition of Real, Plies
3. NOW 28, Various Artists
4. Indestructible, by Disturbed
5. Here I Stand, by Usher

Notables: Some of the albums from last week have simply moved down the charts, making room for two new albums by two popular rappers. I'm not sure there's much to note here other than the fact that Lil' Wayne's single "Lollipop" had quite a run on the digital chart. I'd say it's going to continue to be a summertime favorite.

Top Five Digital Downloads
1. "Viva La Vida," by Coldplay
2. "I Kissed a Girl," by Katy Perry
3. "Shake It," by Metro Station
4. "Take a Bow," by Rihanna
5. "Pocketful of Sunshine," by Natasha Bedingfield

Notables: Only one change from last week: the song "Shake It" has suddenly appeared. I looked up the lyrics. I would say you don't need to. Two words: dumb and dirty. But it must be catchy, which is all most demand nowadays.

Top Five Web Searches (according to Google Trends)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.
1. who's your city
2. fayetteville
3. jamie lynn spears baby
4. casey aldridge
5. weird science

Notables: Who's Your City is a book by Richard Florida. His basic thesis is that never before has "place" been so important to people for purposes of general happiness. The website for the book claims it "provides the first ever-rankings of cities by life-stage, rating the best places for singles, young families and empty-nesters. And it grounds its new ideas and data to provide an essential guide for the more than 40 million Americans of who move each year on how to choose where to live, and what those choices mean for their lives, happiness and communities." While I was researching this item, I couldn't help but think of the Mark Buchanan sermon we recently ran on PreachingToday.com—The Four Best Places to Live. I'm not sure about the general interest in Fayetteville (Arkansas or Georgia—I think). Perhaps it's one of the best cities listed in Florida's book? I did find out that one of the Fayetteville's is hosting the world championship intercollegiate solar boating competition. That's pretty cool. Jamie Lynn Spears, the younger sister of Britney Spears, had her baby. Her story sparked quite a bit of debate about teen pregnancy (after all, she is the star of a popular Nickelodeon show). In related news, Casey Aldridge is the dad. And finally, Weird Science is a website dedicated to discussing "all things weird—creationism, UFO's, Fad diets, Psychics and more, providing a critical scientific perspective not often found in the mainstream media." If we are to assume the order of lists say something of degrees, then the dude who runs this site thinks creationism is weirder than UFO's. Real nice.

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