What I've Been Reading and Hearing

What I've Been Reading:

I must first begin with the oddest new story I've read today: Skip work, make babies. Yes, you read that correctly. Russia's population is decreasing by the hundreds of thousands because the death rate outnumbers the birth rate, so the governor of one province devised a way to reverse this trend: offer prizes. Today, couples have been given the day off to procreate, and if a baby is born 9 months from today (on Russia's National Day), then the couple will receive prizes for the home, like a microwave or a TV or a refrigerator. Apparently, this year on June 12 3 times as many babies were born than in the previous year. The most disturbing sentence in the article? "The scheme is working. People want the prizes," he [Governor Sergei Morozov] said. People want the prizes?? Let's hope they want the babies, too! All I can hope is that this will simply encourage people who already desire children to attempt to have one, rather than sway those who simply want a way to obtain a free television.

I've also been reading a collection of poems by Billy Collins, Sailing Alone Around the Room. It's a compilation of poems from some of his earlier works, as well as a selection of newer poems. The poem "Forgetfulness" is in that volume. I really enjoy Collins' poems because they have a unique kind of whimsy to them, a tongue-in-cheek attitude, and sometimes they're just plain funny. I highly recommend his poems to anyone looking for some poems to read. (There need to be more people looking for poems to read, in my opinion.)

What I've Been Hearing:

I've gotten several new albums recently, and the one getting the most airtime in my car is Caedmon's Call's newest release, Overdressed. I was pleasantly surprised with this album, as I felt that their last two were a bit lackluster, but this one hearkens back to the sound that launched the group onto the Christian music scene. My favorites on the record: "Expectations," "Share the Blame," "Hold the Light," "10,000 Angels" (which I think is only on the special edition that I received for pre-ordering), and "Two Weeks in Africa," but there's something to love about all of the songs on the album. Definitely check them out.

What have you been hearing, watching, or reading?