Happiness For Blessing

This is my first installment of Weekend Links. It's pretty simple: I'll provide one link for each of the categories below. The categories will probably be fluid for the next couple of weeks until I figure out what's going to work best for me. Enjoy!

Christianity
My sister-in-law Rachel has a great blog that chronicles the adventures of those three crazy boys I call my nephews. This week, she made a plea for help purchasing Bibles for their children's class at the church plant they're a part of in Burleson.

The Internet
Roger Ebert, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary writers, was especially put off by the level of snark exhibited by viewers of this year's Academy Awards show. His response sums up what I've been trying to articulate in my head for quite some time.

Sports
In light of Alex Rodriguez's recent steroid confession, Rick Reilly reassesses past MVP awards now considered tainted and awards them to the rightful winners.

Film/TV
The March issue of Vanity Fair includes a behind-the-scenes look of how The Godfather movie came to be. The story of how Marlon Brando was cast is particularly fascinating.

Music
U2's 12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon, drops Tuesday. It's currently streaming on their Myspace page.

Books
The Amazon Kindle 2 was released this week. Jodi got hers in the mail today and I have to say, it's pretty sweet.

Dallas
Tickets for the AFI International Film Festival go on sale on Wednesday. Anybody want to go to a movie or two?

Politics/World News
The Internet's best site, The Big Picture, let me know once again how ignorant I am of what's going on in the world. The feature is about the conflict in Congo, which has been raging for over 15 years. The pictures are poignant, and the stories are even more touching. #33 is the saddest thing I've heard in quite a while.

Humor
Music videos are often an exercise in ridiculousness. The folks at Funny or Die have started a series where they redub old music videos with a literal "translation" of what's going on on-screen. On the internet, it's rare to find such a great idea executed so well.

Movie Trailer of the Week
Explicit Ills has all the makings of a powerful message about poverty in contemporary America. It opens on March 6, and I will be in line to see it.