Opening of new businesses in Hattiesburg? UPGRADE
In the past years, many businesses, big and small, have flocked their ways to this wonderland to stake their claims to be part of the southern culture Hattiesburg, Mississippi provides. For example, Dick’s Sporting Goods has finally opened in the old Circuit City location. Dick’s Sporting Goods expects strong prospects of becoming a Hattiesburg staple. However, Academy Sports, Dick’s biggest rival, plans to open later in the fall. Other businesses that plan to open soon in Hattiesburg are Cheddar’s Cafe, Baker’s Burger (Near Turtle Creek Crossing), and Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries.

New Law and Order: Special Victims Unit cast? DOWNGRADE
After 12 seasons of crime investigation, Christopher Meloni has left the cast of Law and Order: SVU. Meloni’s departure welcomes new and returning faces to the fold such as Detective Amanda Rollins, portrayed by Kelli Giddish. However, her debut was poorly choreographed. Throughout the entire first episode, Giddish was always two steps (literally) behind Detective Olivia Benson and acted more as an extra than a recurring cast member. Also joining the cast is Detective Nick Amaro, played by Danny Pino. Pino seemed to warm up to the cast much quicker than Giddish did, but the dynamic of both these new detectives leaves the audience wanting the tag team of Eliot Stabler and Olivia Benson back.

New iPhone 4S? UPGRADE
Familiar and yet new, the iPhone 4S may not look different from the outside, but inside, it’s a very different beast. With its fifth generation smart phone, Apple has out done itself. The new iPhone 4S is wickedly fast, fiendishly well-equipped, and ruthlessly threatening to its mobile rivals. From the outside, the iPhone 4S looks identical to the iPhone 4, but from the inside, it is anything but. With the release of the new iPhone, Apple unveiled its newest version of iOS with new features for not only the iPhone 4S but also for the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch, and iPads 1 and 2. These updates include iCloud, a wireless way to sync your Apple products, a new 8 mega pixel sensor camera, and a stronger battery life. Overall, the new iPhone 4S is a definite upgrade because of its innovation and technology.

Footloose remake? DOWNGRADE
No one can stop the youth of America from dancing, and no one can stop the American film industry from making movies about people who try to. Footloose is a remake of the 1984 musical about a city boy, portrayed by Kevin Bacon, who comes to a small southern town and literally shakes things up. This same premise holds for the remake, and it seems more pandering than ever. Once again, Ren MacCormack is the new kid in town who just wants kids to be able to have fun. Compared to the original Footloose movie, the remake’s dialogue is even more lame, and the action is extremely poor. This movie left a bad taste in my mouth and my dance moves.

Fall Poem Written in Haste
by: The Silver Fox of Fury
The leaves fall to the ground as the wind rises blowing softly through the hollow tree.
I hold the long forgotten book in my hands.
The wind is cold, biting my bare fingers as I grip the bindings.
The pages flutter, stopping suddenly though the mind still blows.
The words jump from the page to my mouth, rolling off my tongue in a violent wave.
These words of peace once forgotten now fill the earth once more.
Sing, oh swallow! Before you fly away.
And for once let us listen in peace as the leaves fall to the ground.

I am Fall
by: Joshua Myers
I am Fall bringing change.
I breathe cool winds across the plains.
I paint the leaves with a golden haze.
I am Fall, and I’ve brought change.

Are you looking for a good read? Lately, I’ve had some serious trouble finding good books to read. The last book I read is called, Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez. By the title of this book, the reader can infer that I was rather desperate to read anything even somewhat interesting. After being disappointed by Dead is the New Black, I tried to think of the many good books I’ve read that leave it in the dust. My favorite books are inspiring and worth reading; they are books that keep you reading until the very end. My absolute favorite book is Redeeming Love; it is the only book I’ve ever read twice.

I firmly recommend Redeeming Love to anyone looking for an interesting book. Francis Rivers wrote it in 1991. Redeeming Love is a Christian fiction novel and is set in the 1850s during the Gold Rush in California. The book has sold over one million copies and has helped induct Francine Rivers into the Romance Writers’ of America Hall of Fame. Francine Rivers has changed many lives through this inspirational book because of its scriptural basis.

Donald Jacobson, the President of Multnomah Publishers and the Publisher of Redeeming Love, read the 464 page book in two sittings. He finished at 1:30 a.m. after the first sitting and at 3:30 a.m. after the second sitting. He said about the book, “As I turned the pages, I found myself weeping, repenting, making new commitments, and weeping some more. As you read this story, my guess is that you’ll do the same. God’s redeeming love is for you, too.” Redeeming Love is a Christian fiction book. Liz Curtis Higgs, a well-known Christian fiction writer, said, “Simply put, Redeeming Love is the most powerful work of fiction you will ever read.”

Redeeming Love is the story of Hosea in the Bible retold. Like many, I didn’t know the story of Hosea until I read Redeeming Love. If any book of the Bible could be considered “PG-13,” Hosea is the one. It is the story of a man whom God calls to marry a prostitute. In the book Michael Hosea, a God-fearing man, is called to marry a prostitute called Angel because of her beauty. Of the few women in California at that time in history, Angel is the most beautiful, but she comes at quite a cost. Men pan gold only to have enough money for one night with her. When Michael sees her, he knows that he is called by God to marry her. He wrestles with God about whether or not this is actually the woman God wants him to marry. Michael goes to see her many times before she accepts his marriage proposal. He goes just to talk to her, but she does not want to spend time with him. He asks her to marry him and run away with him many times, but her heart is hard. She begins to despise him, and everything he says to her.

She earns a large amount of money working at a brothel. Angel tries to take her money from the brothel owner so that she can run away. When she gets angry, Angel is severely abused by the brothel guard. She is left almost dead. When Michael sees her, he does everything he can to convince her to marry him and leave with him. She gives her consent with a weak, “Why not?”

Michael takes her back to his farm and nurses her back to health. Angel is still stone cold towards him. She has a very difficult time adjusting to farm life since the only life she has ever known involves prostitution. Michael names Angel “Mara,” which means bitter. Bitter is exactly what Angel is. She keeps her distance from Michael as much as possible, but Michael loves her sincerely and does anything in his power to convince her that he is not like all the men she has seen. She believes that all men want something, yet he only wants to give her things. Angel’s resistance to Michael brings him to his knees in prayer daily, frustrates him, and tests him like he has never been tested before.

The rest of the book is about the many struggles Michael and Angel face together. The book also focuses on Angel’s tormented past that essentially puts her into prostitution. I learned more in it than I have in any other book. I strongly recommend Redeeming Love to any girl searching for an excellent book.