‘GH 80s’ Rocks My World

I blogged a while back about how Amazon cost me a few days at the launch of Guitar Hero: Rock the 80s. But I thought I’d be able to overcome that immediate hurdle by blasting through the game on Expert and announcing to the world my complete and utter domination of this game that owns me.

Alas, I have failed.

More accurately, I haven’t succeeded… yet. As it turns out, “Electric Eye” by Judas Priest is one mountain of a song. It’s not like I play the game every day but when you failed 6 times in a row, it’s tough to muster the courage to attempt another try. I’m sure being old isn’t helping my reflexes either.

But mark my words, I will beat it (oh yes I shall!) and when I do…? Then I’ll probably get stuck on “Play With Me” by Extreme because I heard it’s even tougher. *sigh*

My favorite songs are: “Hold on Loosely” by .38 Special, “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors and “I Ran” by A Flock of Seagulls. I only wish they gave us more than 30 songs for our $50.

Paladin Interviewed by Blog Interviewer

Even though I can’t for the life of me make the 1st page of Google results (even though I’m by far the most active Paladin on the Internet) there are still some who love me. Take Blog Interviewer, for example.

I refuse to believe they simply spammed a buhzillion blogs in the hopes of snaring a few, imperceptive souls gullible enough to take it as a real honor and then simply post their interview with the devious plan of securing massive amounts of incoming links thereby improving their own traffic and ad revenue. I simply refuse.

But judge for yourself whether or not my interview is worthwhile. Sure it’s self-promotion, but it’s self-promotion with a side effect.

Don’t forget to vote a Thumbs Up!

America the Immodest

In our era where more and more Americans fall into the category called “obese” does anyone else find it ironic that these same people are wearing less and less clothing to cover themselves?

The only reason I say this is because I took my boys on our annual Summer trip to the water park. Let’s just say after a couple of hours of I didn’t have much of an appetite. Bleech. I might start a marketing campaign to bring bake the ole one-piece.

A Quiet Moment With Bear

Just received some great shots of Barret from my brother. He took these while we were on our vacation. It’s amazing the difference a good camera can make. Barret is 16 months old in this photo.

FrippBound v26

When We’ve been going on family vacations to Fripp Island, South Carolina for so many years that I’ve lost count. Started going when I was like 14 and I’m what now?… a spry 41?

Anyway, this annual trip is about tradition than anything else and we love it. There must have 100 things that we do, just because we’ve always done them. I couldn’t begin to list them. This trip is something we look forward to once we pass the holidays and start counting down the days, literally, months in advance.

I wish I could take all you loyal readers with me, (it’d be a tight fit but I think we could manage) but we all know that’s impossible. But I didn’t want to leave you hanging either. So I’ve preloaded the dojo (thank you WordPress!) with a post-a-day to keep you company while I’m gone.

And with that, I leave you with this stunning example of why I packed my Speedo.

Little Bear Is Growing Up

While he’s not breaking any growth records, Barret is still growing and showing us that he can develop with the best of them. These days he’s walking on his own (with his arms in the air like an orangutan), saying new words like “Amen!” and eating every Goldfish in sight.

I’m a Guitar Hero Legend

Did you see that headline? I did it! I’ve accomplished my goal. I beat Guitar Hero 1 & 2!!

(Did you ever think you’d be reading those words coming from a 41-year-old Real Estate agent?)

Now the task becomes, how can I get a copy of Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s before it’s officially shipped? Any ideas? I’ll pay! Big money!

Greek Gods and the Romans Who Copied Them

I have absolutely no idea in which category this post belongs. It’s just something I wanted to put together so I’d have my own personal reference, so there you go.

My interest in this topic began back when I played Dungeons and Dragons. All these crazy creatures were captured in a book called, Deities and Demigods. I still have my copy of it somewhere.

Along with your standard fare of goblins, orcs and trolls, you found different kinds of demons, devils and gods from Greek, Roman and Norse mythos.

It was all very interesting, at least to the 13-year-old boy that I was. But also quite confusing as the Romans basically copied all the Greek gods and gave them new names. Thus the need for this reference tool. (I know, I know… that was years ago, why do this now? Answer: I’m simply a freak.)

I’ve only captured the “important” ones below, but If I messed anything up, please let me know. Cheers!

For all the lesser gods and other notables, visit: List of Greek mythological figures, List of Roman gods.

Happy Easter

“Then they looked up, saw that it had been rolled back—it was a huge stone—and walked right in. They saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed all in white. They were completely taken aback, astonished.

He said, “Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He’s been raised up; he’s here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty.” (Mark 16:4-6)

I wish each of you the very best in everything you do.
-Paladin

How Vegas Sees March Madness

“The stats don’t lie.” Well, I’m inclined to agree with Ken White, the chief operating officer of a Vegas sports book. With the virtual mountain of data out there for free to us number crunchers to play with, the tough part isn’t believing whether the data is valid; it’s putting it together in such a way that it helps me fill out a winning NCAA tournament bracket.

According to Mr. White’s numbers, Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech team shouldn’t have made the tournament. According to mine, the Red Raiders have a better chance of upsetting their #7 seeded opponent than a team that starts with a “C” and ends with a “reighton.” I’m just saying.

As a lifelong bracket junkie, long before Lunardi coined his now-famous term Bracketology, I’ve built spreadsheets the size of Kilimanjaro hoping to better my odds of winning our family’s annual bracket challenge.

Has it worked? Only time will tell, but since I’m enjoying the ride, it’s all good. If you’ve ever got an extra 17 hours on your hands, let me know and I’ll walk you through the data build process. No disclaimer is needed as only true stat geeks should apply.

Comments Fixed!

I gotta say, when confronted with pesky tech problems, good customer service is golden. MediaTemple, my host, has it in spades. Short call waits, friendly and quick.

Turns out phpMyAdmin has a built-in feature capable of repairing tables. Who knew?

Rock on, Bill! Rock on, Ted!

Comments Forked

Apparently the hackers have messed up my WordPress Comments table. If you see one, slap him in the face for me. Thanks!

Louisville Homes Blog

Now that I’m a fully-functioning Realtor® (and yes, I’m supposed to put that little circle “r” there, every bleepin’ time) I thought I’d use my Internet marketing and design talents to work.

For my first trick, I’ll pull the city of Louisville’s leading real estate blog out of my hat… VIOLA!

LouisvilleHomesBlog.com

Thank you. Thank you. Now for my next trick…

Schools, Not Parents Get to Decide What Kids Learn

From the FRC:

Joseph and Robin Wirthlin sued Lexington, Massachusetts schools for allowing their son’s second-grade teacher to read the homosexual fairy tale, King and King, to the class without prior notice to the Wirthlins. A couple FRC interviewed for Liberty Sunday, Tonia and David Parker, joined the suit when their son brought home a book about families that included two gay adults. Judge Mark Wolf sided with the school, saying, “…Under the Constitution public schools are entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become productive citizens in our democracy.” Wolf continued by saying that if parents don’t agree with the curriculum, they are welcome to send their kids to a private school. “It is increasingly evident that our diversity includes differences in sexual orientation.”

This is becoming an altogether too common occurance. How long before the state deems any particular family matter wrong? I’m thinking the wisdom of the Founding Fathers including the 2nd Amendment may tragically unfold at some point in our country’s future.

Caleb and the Mavericks: Basketball Champions

Bear’s been getting a lot of attention lately but we have more good news. Caleb’s basketball team won their 10-11 year-old recreation league tournament today. And yes, I know what you’re thinking. “With Paladin as his coach, how is this possible?”

My answer? Life is a series of obstacles… there for us to overcome. And they overcame. Great job Mavericks!