It's been awhile since Vol. 3, but here are some things I've been reading, watching, enjoying, etc, for the past week or so. Yep, just me this time. Zack can't post, too busy making us money.

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  The Tipping Point of Malcolm GladwellThere is in effect a reverse Tipping Point, the point when we're just, like, so over it. Has Gladwell reached this point? This NY Observer article also asks why the Tipping Point is considered a business book. (My take? Because more people by "business" books than books compiling ideas about the interesting socio-economic patterns of societies.)
• Don't Piss Off Wil ShipleyLarry Bodine, some sort of technology correspondent for Law.com wrote this piece about his experience using his new Mac (Hint: He hated it). If you read the piece you'll notice that this guy is at best ignorant and at worst and idiot. He is basically anti-Mac to the extreme. Now there isn't anything wrong with that per say, as long as you have your facts straight, and he clearly doesn't. But don't worry, Wil Shipley ripped him a new one.
• I'm a citizen of Colbert NationExcellent article about Steven Colbert and all his recent success in New York Magazine. And a side note, I think I'm at the point where I can acknowledge that I like The Colbert Report better than The Daily Show. The presentation and the theater of it all is just so much tighter. All the little recurring jokes and Colbert's delivery can't be beat. And Jon Stewart has come off as a little goofy lately. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but for example, his tangents in between segments are becoming more silly than funny.
• LOST Season 2 on DVD, brotha.I had previously stayed away from this show, but recently decided to see what all the fuss was about. I got up to date by watching the DVD's of both Season 1 and 2 and I can now see why people love this show. Amazing writing and scope all around. The Season 2 DVD is especially cool, they have an "Anatomy of an Episode" featuring "Fire+Water" that gives a nice behind the scenes look. I am afraid to say that I am now hooked on the show pretty hard. For some further theorizing and such, check out the LostCasts. These guys do a great job examining the show. On the subject of TV, I of course also watch The Office and have been watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip since it aired (mostly because I'll watch anything with Aaron Sorkin's name attached to it.).
• The Secret TeamIf your into shadow-goverment, conspiracy-theory type stuff like me, you should check out The Secret Team: The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World by L. Fletcher Prouty. It's no longer in print (I wonder why? Dun Dun Dun...) but you can sometimes find it at your local public library or your local University's library. You can also read it in full on-line (though I wouldn't recommend it) on this site. Prouty was the source of many of the theories presented in the movie JFK and the book has some eerie similarities to the current state of world affairs. Just replace "Communists" with "Terrorists."
• M. Ward, Post-WarM. Ward's latest record is his first with a full backing-band. This is somewhat of a change-up from his previous "lullaby's on a transistor radio" sound, but it's surprisingly easy to adjust to since the core of his sound remains in tact. The songs are definitely more punchy and the band really helps to take some of the songs to the next level. All in all, a nice surprise. I'm enjoying it.