SI points out what I've known for the last 20 years: Allen Field House in Lawrence, Kansas is an incredible college hoops venue.

As always, I'm proud to be a Jayhawk.

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For those of us who have discovered that sharing random slices of life with the world is mildly addicting, Ed Stetzer has some excellent advice. That's right, Twitter has become widespread enough to have its own tutorials. But I'm not complaining. Here's a good call from Stetzer:

1. "Tweet" the angles (Twitter is the service, "tweet" refers to the update/post).
It's not worth tweeting that you had lunch. But the fact that your boss stole fries off your plate while he thought you weren't looking is. Avoid the obvious and find the angle of an experience. People want you to share your life, so give them the good stuff.

Totally true. If I wanted to know unadorned facts like 1) you're eating lunch now, 2) you're leaving work now, 3) you're going to bed now, etc., I'd also paint my bathroom a couple times a week and watch the paint dry, just for fun. But with a little forethought, Twitter can be a good networking tool.

Follow me on Twitter.

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Every once in awhile, this blog likes to toss out a top ten list. Here's one that will actually leave something in your hands on your desktop, absolutely free.

Even during the dog days of August, "summer" means bright heat, azure skies, and sparkling ozone. Unfortunately, we can't spend the whole summer sipping drinks on beaches, savoring the city heat, and swimming in deep, cool lakes. Here are ten fantastic wallpapers to make the golden season last a little longer. They've all been doing duty on our computer.


Ocean and Sky on Fire 1 by *wildplaces. This shot captures the curtain call on a fiery day.


Summer by ~juxxo. We should all spend more time free-falling into lakes at dusk.


Flying Low by Nathan Grey. Some subtle special effects give this scene streamlined magic.


Celebration Brooklyn Bridge. Hot times, summer in the city.


Tropical Beach. Count on it, someone is napping in those palm trees.


Lost Coconut. Care to be a castaway on this beach?


Lonely Tree by ~sican. Grass so green you can almost believe it's bug-free.


City at Night. This photo captures the vitality of an urban summer when the sun goes down.


Golden Hills. The dark blue belly of that cloud suggests a rain storm is about to drench these dry plains.


Lake Mapourika. A running jump off that dock might send ripples all the way to the channel.

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In the wake of the Olympics, that title could be misconstrued, but I'm not discussing my phenomenal kissing abilities (average score from Lindsay: 9.7)--rather, it's the song by Katy Perry I'm taking aim at. If you, like my friend Will Hicks of Commercial Real Estate in Memphis & Our Galaxy and myself, have listened to this FM-friendly monument to sensationalism with a quizzical expression on your face, then you might appreciate this perspective on The Terror of Katy Perry.

For those of you who rightly don't care, here's CliffNotes version: Perry is simply the latest diva trying to be all things to all men as she makes a grab for the millions. It's just not usually so blatant.

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First, the small print: The Bourne Betrayal was my first experience of Jason Bourne in print, as opposed to the screen. I realize that I probably should have backed up and read the original books by Robert Ludlum, but, time-pressed thrill-seeker that I am, that did not happen. If you're willing to forgive the fact that I have no basis for comparing Eric Van Lustbader with the original Bourne mastermind, and that the films are my baseline Bourne experience, let's get on with this flash review.

The Bourne Betrayal is apparently the fifth book in the Jason Bourne franchise, but references to the earlier storyline revealed that the movies, which I love, absolutely wreak havoc with the original books. So much for continuity. But if you're reading the newer Bourne books, like I was, simply to get a fix, then picking up at this point works well.

In favor of this novel is the fact that the pages turn as if they've been placed directly under a high-powered ceiling fan. The action is fast and furious. The plot is as tricky as you'd expect. The characters are numerous and lethal, and frequently square off to kill each other. If you have an imagination, than the action sequences, fights, and chase scenes are every bit as explosive as their movie counterparts. In addition, you get the "world" vibe the movies maintained, since there are frequent changes of scenery. And Lustbader makes the military maneuvering and technology sound believable.

This is a good, action-packed spy novel. As such, you wouldn't expect the dialog to be deeply thought-provoking or even essential to read slowly. And it's not. Related to this, the characters are mostly quick sketches, with the obvious exception of Bourne, who by this time has been developed by both Ludlum and Lustbader in the previous four novels. However, Bourne comes across as more unusual than heroic in this book. More a paranoid hollow man, less a repentant killer making good. I wanted more insight into Bourne's character--but maybe I'm just spoiled by Matt Damon's acting.

** / *** All in all, The Bourne Betrayal was a satisfying page-turner with lots of excitement and cathartic violence as good beats the mess out of evil. Real life is not this way, but we sometimes wish it was. Missed your summer vacation? Everyone needs a book like this once in awhile.

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We're headed out of town for the weekend (although not to the MOST exotic location you could probably think of in ten seconds off the top of your head). Have a good one.

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Time for a review of an refreshingly atypical book that mixes themes of death, feminism, heaven, materialism, and the gospel with lots and lots of narrative flavor. Heaven Without Her by Kitty Foth-Regner is unlike any other apologetics book I've read because of its very personal first-person approach. And it's unlike any other autobiography I've read because of the prevalent threads of evidence for belief in Jesus. Think of it as a soulful, funny blow-by-blow story well-dosed with intellectual arguments.

Heaven Without Her was the rare book that Lindsay and I both read cover to cover simultaneously. Essentially, Kitty starts the book at her mother's death bed, and traces the impact that her mother's death had on her life, acting as a catalyst for serious exploration of faith(s). From page 1, you realize that this won't be a book in "clinical" apologetics that offers the arguments for belief in Jesus in their most basic and streamlined forms. Instead, Kitty chooses a lived-out approach. It works splendidly.

What I enjoyed most about Heaven Without Her was the realistic, sometimes random-seeming way Kitty traced her journey toward eventual belief in Jesus. Factors like a Packers football game, Intelligent Design, Google searches, and visions of Heaven that evoke European adventures are sketched with an eye for the moments of epiphany. The help she gained from people like C.S. Lewis and John MacArthur are thrown into the mix in a way that reflects the infinitely-varied ways that God steers people toward him. Kitty's journey toward Christ was passionately researched and studied—but at the same time, she depicts the way that God swept her up in a story that culminated at the cross.

I mentioned Kitty's imaginative moxie earlier. Her voice is unpretentious and disarmingly honest, making you feel like you know her pretty well as you put the book down. Very readable, with lots of self-deprecating humor, Heaven Without Her is an apologetic wrapped in a memoir. We recommend it for open-minded skeptics or for people who know Jesus, but could use a warm reminder of the monumental difference that the gospel makes.

*** 3 out of 3 stars, Don't Miss It.

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The Olympics and a head cold have been playing havoc with my sleep and blogging patterns. However, I managed to review Is Your Lord Large Enough? by Peter Schakel. If you like C.S. Lewis, take a look. Schakel's approach to Lewis in this book is refreshingly different.

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Reviewed by Aidan

My dad said I had to write this review before I ate any more fruit snacks, so here is what I think of the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.

I like it. I like it a lot.

OK, I guess I have to say more than that, so here is why I like it.

Asher can't break it when he throws books off tables. This is a tough Bible.

The pictures have all the colors in them at the same time and they are funny and scary so I can look at them over and over.

The stories have lots of people and animals in them, but they always have Jesus in them too, because Jesus is the big story of the whole Bible.

That's why, out of the 23 Bible books I have, this one is my favorite. Go buy it for your kid, then you can read it too. (More screen shots here.)

Like my dad says, I highly wreck-and-bend the Jesus Storybook Bible and give it three stars, so don't miss it.

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Amazon just shortchanged me again. After John B. of Blog Meridian gave me a heads-up on Bon Iver before even Pitchfork had heard of him, I grabbed his first album at full price: For Emma Forever Ago. Now, thanks to Amazon's daily music sales, you can get it for $3.

Ridiculous deal for what I'll choose to call "whispery indie folk with some similarities to Iron and Wine's Sam Beam." Just move fast--you have 24 hours before this message self-destructs.

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