WEBSITE. catapultmagazine.com

this is a very cool site. its kind of an online magazine, and its a big forum for discussion. the site is created and run by a couple of people who i got to know in college. i got to know them a little bit, but after freshman year (i think) they left, so its been a while...
the 'magazine' is called catapult and features alot of great articles on that months theme. most of the articles are well written and thought provolking. another aspect of the website is the forum called 'culture is not optional' which is a phrase lifted from the advertising we used for a play i was in at college (called 'nobody move, and nobody gets hurt'). the forum is great. it is quite extensive and covers any topic you can imagine. the posts are usually insightful and interesting. many of the people who post are people i knew back from college, so its especially fun to catch up with them and read their thoughts.

GAMES. new name?

ive had my eye on the next generation nintendo console since it was first announced a while ago. this whole time it has always been called the 'revolution', but that has only been its code name. today there has been some buzz on the internet that there is now a new official name for the system: Nintendo Go
its interesting. im still not sure what to think of it, if its actually the legit name. i think i like it though. the one problem is that you would always have to call it the 'nintendo go', because just calling it 'go' sounds really wierd!
im a little hesitant though because there have been so many false rumors going around about this system that im not going to assume that this one is true. yet.

TV. how i met your mother

its always nice when a show you root for turns out to be worth it.
last year my friend and i rented the dvds from the show 'freaks and geeks'. i had never seen it, but she had told me, from what she remembered, it was good. so we thought we would give it a try. we both fell in love with it and immediately started looking to see what the cast was up to now. as it turned out two of the cast members had been cast in two new comedies this season. once i realized that i was all over it. i started getting really excited about seeing these shows. the first one was 'kitchen confindential' and it had the little brother geek from the 'freaks and geeks' in it. it was a bit of fun, but we all know what happened to that show...
the other one is 'how i met your mother' and has the character marshal, played by the druggie guy in 'freaks and geeks' who liked the main character. its nice to see that one of the two turned out to be something really special. although i think 'mother' is popular more for neil patrick harris' barney character. i totally love the show, its so witty and silly, and barney is just so outragously corporate america that it is great fun to watch. the dumb litttle phrases he uses are the perfect examples of frat boy mentality: 'suit up!' 'the lemon law' 'steaksauce'!
this show is quickly turning into one of my favorites.

BOOKS. paul, a novel

Paul: A Novel, by walter wangerin jr. this is an amzing book. it took me a while to get into it (roughly 8 years...) but once i got the premise it totally clicked! i recieved this book from my aunt for my high school graduation. i gave it a try, but the first chapter is kind of oddly written, so i gave up and put it away. all these years ive kept it, but never gave it another look. well, last year i decided to try again- and boy what a reward! ive never had a book move me to laughter and then tears before.
heres the set up: the book is a novelization of the book of Acts. it is the story of pauls conversion and three missionary journeys. but here is what makes it so unique: we dont really ever get inside pauls head, instead the book is writen from the perspective of all those around paul. some chapters are written from the point of view of barnabas, or james, or timothy, or titus, etc. all of these people give their side of what they think of paul and his actions. i teach the book of acts to middle schoolers, so this book has really come in handy for making the stories come alive. there are a few days where i read sections straight out of the book. the kids love it because its alot more personal than the straight narrative of acts.
the author of the book has done this with other books as well, he did a novelization of the old testament called 'the book of God'. i picked that one up, but it fails at exactly what made the paul book so great- it is very cold and just a basic narrative. he recently released a novelization of the gospels and recounts the life of Jesus. i havent read it, but i probably will.

TV. vw commercials

the first time i saw one of these crazy 'unpimp my volkswagen' commercials i thought it was totally stupid. but ive seen them a few more times now, and i have totally changed my mind- these commercials are great! ive only seen 2 or 3, but i think they are crazy and funny. i cant remember the name of the main actor, but he always plays the stranges of peole (the highlight certainly being in constantine when he played satan) and i like the idea of destrying all those stupid cars with the huge spoilers and spinner wheels and every other crappy car mods like in the fast and furious movies.

BOOKS. state of fear

ive written about this book before, but that was when i first picked it up, im a few hundred pages in now, so i figured id update my thoughts.
once again i am reminded how much i love michael crichtons writting style- its just so fluid and engaging. i just start reading, and before i know it an hour has passed!
anyway, im getting a better feel for the plot of the book. it has a lot to do with environmental stuff. one of the subplots has to do with a low land island wanting to sue amarica for causing so much pollution that the sea level is raising and the island will soon be under water. kind of an interesting plot point, but the majority of the book is all about pollution and environmental issues. but it actually tries to prove that all the environmenalists are wrong- the world is not warming at all, and in fact, the polar ice caps are actually getting bigger! the information is presented with such authority and with so much real world research behind it that i am actually wondering if the ideas in the book are true. the info is explained as accurate, and the writing is quite persuasive.
i think im going to have to look up some of the sources listed in the prefix of the book... that michael crichton, he sure can grab my interest!

TV. 24

ive really been getting into this show this season. ive never really been interested in the show before, but i deceided to give it a try this year. ive always liked kieffer sutherland (which is kind of wierd- i like him but i dont think ive ever seen him in a movie i liked. go figure...) and i think foxs promise of a continuous season with no repeats was what finally made me give it a try.
i have been enjoying it quite a bit. still not sure how these people can last a whole 24 hours with out having to use the bathroom, but i guess that wouldnt really make good television. one thing that has been cool is seeing some of the guest stars that show up. first we got to see sean astin, the guy who played sam on the lord of the rings movies, and just lately there has been a character played by peter weller- the one and only robocop! totally rad!!!
the best part is that the story has been continually filled with interesting twists and turns. they dont really have any fear of totally messing stuff up, or even killing off one of the main characters, as was shown this week.
the show is about half way through, and i am looking forward to what jack will do next!