1. Portal
2. Bioshock
3. Forza Motorsport 2
4. Mass Effect
5. Half-Life 2 ep 2
6. Call of Duty 4
7. Rock Band
8. God of War 2
9. Crackdown

There’s some notable stuff missing, but I haven’t played Super Mario Galaxy enough to form an opinion. Portal is unassailable in its perfection. Bioshock still has me pondering its story/narrative, with moments that still pop into my mind. Forza Motorsport is a great sim, where you can actually powerslide and do donuts (no donuts in GT4). Mass Effect is flawed but wonderful in its epic storyline. Half-Life 2 ep 2 had the craziest final showdown in recent memory. Call of Duty 4 crossed the line into modern war, both literally and emotionally. Rock Band is awesome fun, but isn’t too great when playing solo. God of War 2 takes everything from the first game and kicks it up a notch. And Crackdown does everything right that Grand Theft Auto does wrong…

Tags: games,review
Categories: BJ, Entertainment
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I’ve been meaning to make a post of my favorite movies of last year. I’ve been waiting to see There will be Blood to make a final judgement, but I can’t really keep silent anymore.

There’s a certain bombastic nature that gets ascribed to the screen. Movies are about plot, or if they aren’t about plot they’re about people, and finally if they aren’t about plot or people they are used as metaphor to express something deeper. No Country for Old Men is all three. An engaging thriller, it features a hunter/prey style plot revolving around a sociopathic killer and a hotshot modern day cowboy. This is not a by the numbers genre piece. It is the best movie I’ve seen in recent memory. The subtle manipulation towards tension is perfectly expressed in the most intense scene I can ever remember seeing in cinema. There’s no violence in this scene, just dialogue. You’ll know it when you see it.

Javier Bardem does an amazing job portraying Anton Chigurh, the sociopath of the movie. He is entirely unlike anything you’ve seen in cinema before. Not cold, not really calculating, since both of those would require understanding of humanity, but more like a force of nature, fate if you will, and the only thing that can derail fate is chance. These thematic elements pop up throughout the movie without becoming too self-important to distract you from what you’re watching. Most everything in the movie occurs twice though you’ll be hard pressed to notice since the occurance of chance changes outcomes. This central theme of repetition is tied into the heart of what the movie is about.

Go see it.

Tags: movie,review
Categories: BJ, Entertainment
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I know I had mentioned that I wouldn’t discuss Ron Paul much more, but a huge controversy over his background came up again. It’s an issue I had previously written about here. This is specifically about the newsletters that had been penned in between the period of his Libertarian run for president and his current run as a Republican congressman. They came to the forefront on the day of New Hampshire primaries based on a hit piece by a writer over at The New Republic. Even if not actually penned by Dr. Paul there’s some obvious white nationalist thought published under his name during that time period. Please note these were also associated with a gold investment company that pushed it’s association with the aforementioned newsletters. Dr. Paul has not come forward with the name of the person/persons involved in the publication of the newsletters with these comments in them.

Some interesting things have happened since then though. Let me frame the implosion. There are two major institutions/think-tanks that push libertarian thought. One is the Cato Institute, and the other is the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Their respective online support comes in the form of Reason Magazine (of which I am a subscriber) for the Cato Institute (note: the Cato Institute has a larger influence on political thought) and LewRockwell.com for the Ludwig von Mises Institute. There had always seemed to be a rift between the two organizations, and I never knew why. Now I do (link to a long article at reason.com regarding authorship). Anyway, here’s a summation from a former Ron Paul staffer.

Dear Lew,

You have now had three opportunities –1996, 2001, and 2008 — to prove that you are a friend of Ron Paul and freedom, and you have failed to do so each time.

This week, for the third time, the puerile, racist, and completely un-Pauline comments that all informed people say you have caused to appear in Ron’s newsletters over the course of several years have become an issue in his campaign. This time the stakes are even higher than before. He is seeking nationwide office, the Republican nomination for President, and his campaign is attracting millions of supporters, not tens of thousands.

Three times you have failed to come forward and admit responsibility for and complicity in the scandals. You have allowed Ron to twist slowly in the wind. Because of your silence, Ron has been forced to issue repeated statements of denial, to answer repeated questions in multiple interviews, and to be embarrassed on national television. Your callous disregard for both Ron and his millions of supporters is unconscionable.

If you were Dr. Paul’s friend, or a friend of freedom, as you pretend to be, by now you would have stepped forward, assumed responsibility for those asinine and harmful comments, resigned from any connection to Ron or his campaign, and relieved Ron of the burden of having to repeatedly deny the charges of racism. But you have not done so, and so the scandal continues to detract from Ron’s message.

You know as well as I do that Ron does not have a racist bone in his body, yet those racist remarks went out under his name, not yours. Pretty clever. But now it’s time to man up, Lew. Admit your role, and exonerate Ron. You should have done it years ago.

John Robbins, Ph.D.
Chief of Staff
Dr. Ron Paul, 1981-1985

Regarding this news lewrockell.com is coming off of my links and bookmarks.

Tags: election2008,politics,Ron Paul
Categories: BJ, Philosophy etc
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Our friend Shig Katada did some portraits for us, and also lent his editing and post-production talents to our family’s bright faces. I’ve reorganized the gallery and put Sophia and Phoebe’s galleries in with the rest of the Atchley family. There’s a new gallery that contains all of our portraits thus far.

I’ll stop with the political posts I promise. Next up I’ll post some long needed reviews of recent media, movies, video games, and anything else I’ve spent free time with. With the new year upon us and a less demanding project in store I should have some more time to offer my opinion on all sorts of crazy stuff. Perhaps next we need a front to back tutorial on how to prepare a movie file for your iPod using free software.

Tags: baby,family,photo
Categories: BJ, BJ's Life, Heather, Phoebe, Sophia
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