Paladin’s Annual Jaunt South

No, the world isn’t coming to an end… yet. I’ll just be gone for the next two weeks. In the biz, we call it intermittent posting. Just call me the b’sphere’s Al Roker.

Cheers!

Little Miss Paladin

I’m officially trippin’. Yeah, that’s an old school phrase but it’s just CRAZY to think we’re having a baby girl. I thought we only made boys? I wonder if God swapped out some DNA somewhere along the line?

We’re so grateful she (she?) is healthy, as far as we can tell. Thanks to everyone for their prayers!

Dojo Info 5/29/08

1. Operation Athena raids
   Have you seen this?!? “The Metropolitan Police Service has this morning 21 May 2008 carried out raids across London to tackle domestic, homophobic and race hate crime.” Raids? Can you say Gestapo?!? A crime is a crime. Trying to interpret intent is giant can of worms.
2. Hoops helps city lure USA Basketball
   This would be great if USA Basketball selected Louisville. I want Kentucky to be the center of the basketball universe. Now, how can we lure the Clippers away from L.A.?
3. Guitar Hero World Tour Priced At GameStop
   Don’t think my wife will let me have two sets of stuff in our living room. Shucks.
4. How Rock Band saved my marriage
   I believe it. RB is not your average video game.
5. Rock Band releases new Cars album DLC
   Some sweet Cars songs on this week’s DLC. “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”, “My Best Friend’s Girl”, “Moving in Stereo”, “Just What I Needed”, “I’m in Touch with Your World”, “Good Times Roll”, “Don’t Cha Stop”, “Bye Bye Love” and “All Mixed Up”.

Tennessee Rejects Homeschoolers Diploma as Legit

Wow, just when you think things couldn’t get more strange. The attack on Christianity continues in our country as Tennessee’s Department of Education deems that high school diplomas issued by homeschooling situations (and some Christian schools) aren’t sufficient for state jobs. Actually, their language is far worse:

“Cindy Benefield, the Tennessee Department of Education Executive Director of Field Services, who oversees the state’s homeschooling office, recently declared that a diploma from a church-related school is “not worth the paper it is written on.”

Astounding. And the fruitless battle against God continues on…

Dojo Info 5/24/08

1. Arcania: A Gothic Tale First Look
   The first Gothic game was very good, surprisingly, then fell down a flight of stairs on the sequel. Therefore, I shall not be purchasing the next installment until it receives some very gaudy ratings.
2. The state of the next-gen video game console
   Looks like XBox is playing catch-up in future projections.
3. ‘BioShock’ to get the film treatment
   Don’t rush people… take your time… do it right… we can do it (bay-bay) do it tonight. Major props to anyone guessing artist/title w/o Google. Iceberg off the starboard bow!!
4. Those With Rare Diseases Offered a Chance for Free Treatment
   How cool is that? I mean, uh… not the disease part… D’oh!
5. Sony to sell tiny golf ball-sized speakers promising big quality sound for home theaters
   Sounds keen! Can we make them wireless and attach them via Velcro? Suh-weet!

Dojo Info 5/22/08

1. Rumor: EA asks what fans want from Rock Band 2
   Give the people what they want! Did you hear that Konami is coming out with a competitor called Rock Revolution? Here’s the rub: “Unlike Guitar Hero and Rock Band, however, it is being reported that all the tracks included will be covers rather than originals.” Uh… fail.
2. Michigan Girl Scout sells 17,328 boxes of cookies
   That girl must have lots of rich friends. That’s gotta be some kind of record, huh?
3. Robotic Suit Could Usher in Super Soldier Era
   “I’ll be back.” -Terminator. In related news, Iron Man has competition.
4. Lessons in Blue
   That that is a story the LHL can be proud of—less editorializing, more reporting of fact. I approve this message. (And I bet Coach G. appreciates that all those rumors have been put to rest.)
5. Video: The video game giant offers a sneak peek at evolution game’s ‘cell’ phase
   It looks uh… interesting?… I guess. Hmm… could be one of those things you have to try before you know.

Rock Band DLC: Euro Version

Here are the new tracks coming to Rock Band on Tuesday. Not familiar with most of them. Love Muse but that song isn’t one of my faves.

Rock Band DLC For Tuesday, May 20th

• “Beetlebum” as made famous by Blur*
• “Countdown to Insanity” by H-BlockX
• “Hier Kommt Alex” by Die Toten Hosen
• “Hysteria” by Muse
• “Manu Chao” by Wes Wampas
• “Monsoon” by Tokio Hotel
• “New Wave” by Pleymo
• “Perfekte Welle” by Juli
• “Rock N Roll Star” by Oasis

California Clueless

Once again, wisdom from the FRC.

California Marriage Law: 4,618,673 to Four

After a brief period of judicial restraint, California voters watched in horror this afternoon as judicial activism returned with a vengeance in one of the most egregious rulings in American jurisprudence. It took just four activist judges to overturn the historical definition of marriage, not to mention the vote of more than four and a half million Californians, as the state supreme court issued a much-anticipated ruling on the question of same-sex “marriage.”

By a 4-3 margin, the justices struck down a law, adopted by 61 percent of voters in 2000, which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. By imposing same-sex “marriage” on voters, the California Supreme Court knowingly usurped the right of the people to effect change in public policy.

This outcome is even more troubling than Massachusetts’, in that California voters had already won the right to put a marriage protection amendment on the ballot in November. If the court cared at all about the democratic process, it would have stayed its decision until the people’s voice was heard on the November amendment. Instead, these justices trampled on the legislature and created same-sex marriage by judicial fiat. This is nothing more than a judicial shotgun wedding that forces a redefinition of marriage on the people of California and potentially the rest of the nation.

We trust that the voters of California will act in November to correct this exercise in judicial activism and to permanently enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in the state constitution. Clearly, this decision highlights the need for a federal amendment defining marriage in the U.S. Constitution. Only then will this campaign to shatter the family’s foundation be ended once and for all.

When you weaken the essential building block of society, society as a whole suffers. I’m afraid of what the future holds as mankind lurches forward, fist thrust into the air, screaming “We’ll decide what’s right from now on!”

Dojo Info 5/16/08

1. Lights: The Last Thing On Your Mind
   Not typically my style but I think this song is haunting. It’s from a Kohl’s spot and you can tell this girl just wrote it on her keyboard in her bedroom.
2. Cape Parishioners Subdue Would-be Church Robber
   Grandma doesn’t take kindly to crooks stealing from the Lord.
3. U.S. soldier fulfills his mission of getting Iraqi girl new legs
   Wonderful story that supports the truth that our soldiers are doing difficult, but necessary work against the enemies of freedom.
4. Indictment handed down in MySpace suicide case
   An adult should certainly know better than this. Pathetic. I’m sure the guilt she feels will haunt her the rest of her life.
5. Touch-screen BlackBerry coming soon?
   What’s so huge about a touch screen? What I envy from the iPhone is the countless hours of design and usability that went into creating the software’s interface.

Animal Survivors of Recent Kansas Tornados

I applaud the efforts of the rescue workers in the face of what seems to be more and more natural disasters affecting our world.

Dojo Info 5/15/08

1. NES coffee table FINAL POST!! RAH!!!!
   In the words of its creator… Awesome!
2. Happy Mother’s Day: Woman Pregnant with 18th Child
   What in the world does this family do for income? More than a small fortune would be needed just to feed the critters.
3. Interview: Rock Band developer Rob Kay
   Nothing truly new but neat to read. More recent DLC is Blondie’s “Hanging On The Telephone”, The Clash’s “Train in Vain” and Sonic Youth’s “Kool Thing”.
4. Guitar Hero IV Adds Drums, Vocals, Create A Song
   Well of course they are!
5. MIT Students Show Power of Open Cell Phone Systems
   I’m blown away by the vast number of potentially useful applications on a mobile device. Leave it to the brainchilds at MIT to come up with more!

jDome Sounds Promising to Avid Gamers

Certainly one would need to try this out in person, but in theory, it sounds grand. And by saying that, it’s now obvious to everyone that I’m a massive nerd. [via Kotaku]

‘Dark City’ Feeds ‘The Matrix’

Dark City isn’t a great movie. But it is a great idea poorly done. In fact, it has so much in common with The Matrix, one of my all-time favorites, that I wanted to see when it was created. IMDb tells me 1998. Hey, wasn’t Matrix made just one year later?

I’ve got 24 dollars that says the Wachowski brothers watched an early screening of Dark City while writing their film.

Dojo Ino 5/13/08

1. “This three-minute video created by EggMan consists of images from 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art.”
   Not sure it’s as much an issue of how artists see subjects, as how women look different from one another. I guess you could say in part, it’s how certain subjects are chosen?
2. Little friend of a lifetime: The heartbreaking friendship between two tiny girls with cancer
   Stories like these make me cry like a little girl.
3. Outside The Lines: O.J. Mayo Investigation
   The problem is there weren’t be any consequences to these violations.
4. Showered in blood
   If this is entertainment, then the end of the world is nigh.
5. New top-of-the-line BlackBerry doubles screen resolution
   Great… right after I purchase my 8800. *sigh*

Bird Blowup a Precursor to Detriot Boston Semi?

Watch this, please. Then tell me your favorite part. Mine? That when Bird throws the ball at Laimbeer, through a crowd of people he drills him in the ear. He deserved it. [via TBL]