Subscribe!

Notables: Now here's something that shocked me: the romantic comedy New in Town ranked 8th in the box office returns. I thought for sure it was going to be in the top five. Isn't Valentine's Day right around the corner? Perhaps all the bad reviews did it in. Still, here's a little something you might find interesting about New in Town: one of the stars of the film had a very specific goal - to lovingly portray a Christian in a major motion picture. Seeing as we're often painted as socially awkward or overly zealous, I'd say that's a nice change of pace.

There's not much else to talk about here. We still like mall cops. We still like dogs. We still like Clint Eastwood. And as I look at the newbies, we still like your basic run-of-the-mill thriller. So, let's go outside the list. Check out this post about this year's Sundance Film Festival - a well-respected festival that gives us an early look at the cinematic tone for 2009. Craig Detweiler writes that "a surprising number of films found hope amidst overwhelming circumstances." Sounds about right for the year: people are still abuzz about hope and change, while also abuzz about overwhelmingly bad circumstances. And Mr. Detweiler says you might want to consider checking out a film from last year's Sundance, Henry Poole Is Here. It just came out on DVD.

Top Five Books (according to USA Today research)
1. The Associate, by John Grisham
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, by Jeff Kinney
3. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
4. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer
5. Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer

Notables: It's happening! It's finally happening! Stephenie Meyer is losing her ninja-like death grip on this list, which means I might get to write about something other than vampires. This week I'm thankful for two things: associates and wimpy kids. I've already talked about the wimpy kid, so here's a look at John Grisham's newest legal thriller. The plot sounds sort of uncomfortable to me. A little happier reading can be found in this interview with Grisham in Time magazine's popular "10 Questions" column. In the second half of the interview, one reader asks the famous author, "Do you try to put Christian sentiments into your books?"

Top Five Albums
1. Working on a Dream, Bruce Springsteen
2. Fearless, Taylor Swift
3. I Am?Sasha Fierce, Beyonce
4. Dark Horse, Nickelback
5. 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West

Notables: As expected, the Boss is number one in this week's list. According to Billboard.com, Working on a Dream "sold 224,000 copies?giving the Boss his ninth No. 1 album on the chart. Springsteen is now tied with the Rolling Stones for the third most No. 1 albums. Only the Beatles (with 19), Elvis Presley (10) and Jay-Z (also 10) have more." Pretty impressive. Just yesterday I posted some thoughts about the significance of this album and the other recent Springsteen albums. My argument is simple: Know Bruce, Know the Times.

Top Singles
1. "My Life Would Suck Without You," Kelly Clarkson
2. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," Beyonce
3. "Heartless," Kanye West
4. "Just Dance," Lady GaGa (featuring Colby O'Donis)
5. "Love Story," Taylor Swift

Notables: This list is pretty much the same as last week's list. I'm starting to think we need that wimpy kid and that associate to go to work on this list. If they can take out Stephenie Meyer, surely that can take out Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce. It's Kanye West that will be a bit of work. That guy seems awfully angry.

Top Five Web Searches (according to Google Trends)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.
1.
2. insomnia cookies
3. schapelle corby
4. dickies
5. ann lee

Notables: I felt it was best to avoid listing the first item, so let's skip to the second item: insomnia cookies. Insomnia Cookies is a very popular company that caters to college students. As their site says: "As undergrads, we figured out what was missing from the perfect college experience: dependable late night food delivery. It seems that every night at about the same time, students get hungry, either because they study hard, they party hard, or both. Regardless, college students need to be fed, and we set out to do that, because we too were hungry once." So, the company started selling cheap, delicious cookies at the University of Pennsylvania. This last week, they opened up a new store (in an Insomnia Cookies company truck) at Temple University. This is actually a pretty fascinating little story. I wonder what we might learn from such ingenuity?

The story of Schapelle Corby is an interesting one. You can read more about it here. Who knows who's telling the truth in the whole mess, which is sad.

You probably already know that Dickies is a brand of clothing. But did you know that they hold a huge bull-riding event each year? A teenager won the whole thing. I won a hula hoop contest when I was a senior in high school. I feel that is just as impressive.

I'm not entirely sure if I'm on the right track regarding the fifth item on the list, but I think this is in reference to Shirley Ann Lee, a gospel singer from the 60s. Click here to listen to a sample of her music. Nice, eh? I guess there's a new documentary coming out called Downriver Revival, and Lee is going to be featured in it. Here's a scene with Lee. It's simple, but moving. The filmmakers have tracked her down to talk to her about her music. When they arrive, she doesn't have a CD player, so they congregate in a car to listen. As the music plays, she picks up where she left off 40 years ago, singing right along with her younger self. It's such a great moment. This is a real gem in this week's list.