Friday Snippets and Soundbites

• Welcome to August, ec fans! We hope the summer has been a special time of relaxation, fun, and developing deeper relationships for you! And, yes, we're aware—school starts back soon. :( In Nashville, where we live, school starts on August 11. Wow! Enjoy the nine-months on, three-months off schedule while you can. When you're old like us, you have to go to work. Every day. :) Be sure to check out the August issue of ec. We've got a back-to-school article, a great article on living out your faith consistently, and we'll reveal the winner of our fiction contest. Next week, we'll be posting the two finalists' stories on the blog. Be sure to check back! (And we'll start taking submissions for this year's contest in December. Details to come in the October issue of ec.)

• Have you heard about Washington D.C.'s crime-fighting turtle? Turtle No. 72, an Eastern box turtle counted and tagged by researchers in Rock Creek Park in D.C., led researchers, then police to someone's secret marijuana growing operation hidden deep in the woods that comprise the park. The researchers followed Turtle No. 72 to the plot by tuning in to the radio transmitter they'd previously attached to her shell. Police have made an arrest in the case. Want to know all the details? Go here.

• After Edmund, a popular newcomer to Christian music, will be performing Sunday night at the Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta, Ga., alongside Linkin Park, Chris Cornell, The Bravery, and others. The band was one of three winners of MTV2's Rock the Revolution contest in the Atlanta area, the prize being a slot to perform in the show, which is part of the national Projekt Revolution Tour. “We are so proud to have been chosen to perform,” says Yates, After Edmund's keyboard player. “To get an opportunity like this is encouraging.” The show will be recorded for broadcast on MTV. Look for a 5-minute interview with After Edmund in the October issue of ec.

• The fairy tale is over for Patrick Moberg. The Brooklyn man was head over heels for a girl he'd glimpsed on the subway. The problem? He didn't even know her name. Instead of brushing the incident aside, he set up a Web site detailing the day he spotted her and included a sketch. About 48 hours later, the woman had been identified. The couple met, got some international press, then took their relationship out of the public eye. And this week, we learned the fairy tale had ended. The couple says they are still friends, though.