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Notables: Everyone predicted it; everyone was right. Men, women, young old, dogs and cats went to see The Dark Knight. It set the record for most money made in an opening weekend ($158 million plus). Hoping to avoid long lines and middle-aged men wearing homemade Batman costumes, my wife and I waited to see it on Sunday night. I was nervous about going, because I wondered if the thing could possibly live up to the massive buzz it was receiving. Well, it did. And then some. Here's what I appreciated most: the people involved actually cared about developing a storyline that required you to think. For two and a half blazing hours, the cast and crew throw you in the middle of a gut-wrenching story about good and evil, human decency and human depravity. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. Some are calling it "No Country for Bat Men." I think that's clever. On some levels, I think that's about right, too. I have a love-hate relationship with how we sometimes use movies in sermons, but there is no doubt that this one raises critical questions. You really need to check it out. It's dark; it's violent; it's pretty long; it'll cost you a ridiculous $9. To read what the folks at ChristianityTodayMovies.com had to say about The Dark Knight, click here. As for the rest of the list, Mama Mia! is the only other newbie. It's the one everyone went to because The Dark Knight was sold out. Or because they are closet Abba fans. Excuse me while I shudder.

Top Five Books
1. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
2. The Shack, by William P. Young
3. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
4. Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox, by Eoin Colfer
5. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

Notables: I feel like a broken record every time I comment on this section of the roundup. Say it with me: the summer belongs to Stephenie Meyer. The fall will belong to her, too. That's when the final book in her teenage vampire-human-werewolf love triangle series will come out in October. Meanwhile, in non-vampire-human-werewolf-love-triangle-related news, The Shack has climbed all the way to number two. If you go to Borders or Barnes and Noble, you'll see that it's got its own little spot in the store. People are eating this up. We can only assume a movie version will be made so that everyone else can eat it up. I would say it's worth a look. If the people in the pew aren't thinking about Batman while you preach, they might have their noses in The Shack. To learn a little bit about the newbie on this list, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox, click here. Seems a little more magic, a little more fantasy has been introduced into your kid's diet. And one final note: Eckhart Tolle is still in the top twenty. For an article about Tolle and his book, check out this article from Christianity Today.

Top Five Albums
1. Untitled, Nas
2. Tha Carter III, Lil' Wayne
3. Mama Mia!, Soundtrack
4. Viva La Vida, Coldplay
5. Camp Rock, Camp Rock

Nas is a rapper. I was awfully curious to see that his new album was officialy titled "Untitled." Then I found out why. Scroll down to the section about Untitled. You'll find out why, too. Issues concerning race are raging about right now, aren't they? As for the rest of the list, more Abba. Boy, America still loves Abba. Why? Well, this article from Time magazine offers an answer. Richard Corliss writes: "Their gaudy gear, with the spangles and spandex, made them easy to deride, but their real sin was that they lacked "depth," which is to say they didn't pretend to be miserable. Instead, like pop performers from an earlier age, they pretended to be happy. Their music did too. The lyrics to the song "Mamma Mia" confess to erotic obsession and serial masochism, but the perky melody puts the pain at an ironic distance. It was heartache you could disco to. That's why millions of people, not all of them idiots, felt better listening to Abba's music. Hearing it now, people still do." Interesting. I'm still not going to listen to them, but...interesting. And finally, my wife and I went to see Coldplay this week. It was a great concert. After seeing them play their new material live - and after seeing what they did visually and how they organized the setlist - I have no problem telling you that they are offering one of the more potent commentaries on current issues.

Top Five Digital Downloads
1. "I Kissed a Girl," by Katy Perry
2. "Pushing Me Away," by Jonas Brothers
3. "7 Things," by Miley Cyrus
4. "Burnin' Up," by Jonas Brothers
5. "Forever," by Chris Brown

Notables: Like the books section, I feel like a broken record every time I comment on this section of the roundup, too. Say it with me: the summer belongs to Katy Perry. And it's too bad that it does. There are better songs out there. Let me point you to this frustrating little article from the Chicago Sun-Times. When did being a "mild" girl become so awful? Dig around a bit in the article, and you'll find some awfully troubling quotes. I'm not trying to be a kill-joy, but this is not, as one radio station director puts it, a "fluffy, light novelty pop song that has a slightly edgy lyric." Singing about sexual experimentation with a mere shrug isn't fluffy, light, or slight.

Top Five Web Searches (according to Google Trends)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.

1. bangalore blasts
2. randy pausch
3. dayton dragons
4. meredith viera
5. julio castillo

Notables: Explosions rocked Bangalore during the lunch hour today, killing one woman and injuring several others. Parts of India are on high alert. Randy Pausch has died of cancer. He was the author of The Last Lecture, a book regularly mentioned in our top five books section of the roundup. You can see that "last lecture" by clicking here. You can read a touching little farewell from Time magazine's Nancy Gibbs by going here. The terminally-ill professor pushed a lot of people to wrestle with issues of life and death. The Dayton Dragons are in the news because of one nasty, nasty brawl at their minor leage baseball game against the Peoria Chiefs. One player - Julio Castillo (see number five) - was charged with assault for throwing a ball at a fan (the fan was hospitalized). As for Meredith Viera, I'm not sure why the Today co-anchor is on everyone's minds. Perhaps it's because she hammered John McCain over some economic issues? Who knows!

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