Highmoon's Backup

Main Site Down

2007-03-30T12:24:00.000-05:00

I'll be using the old Blogger account as a backup whenever I have a problem with the main site over at www.dmperez.com.

Like now.

In upgrading Wordpress this morning, something went wrong, so now I need to wait for Tech Support to restore the database. I just hope I don't loose all my info like the last time!

Moving to Wordpress

2006-10-12T12:40:00.000-05:00

It's the end of the Second Age (the First Age being when I was at Xanga). I am leaving Blogger and taking everything to my own host and publishing my blog via Wordpress, which I am absolutely loving.

To see the new blog, please go to http://www.dmperez.com

You can update your RSS feed (all 2 of you who get this via a feed) over there, and also catch the feed for comments.

I may keep the Blogger account as a backup for now, but Wordpress is where it's at for me now. :)

The Coolest Thing I Saw In Belgium

2006-10-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

I uploaded the Flickr gallery for the latest episode of The Gamer Traveler - Brugge, Belgium, and came across something that I had been meaning to share with geeks around the world.

Aside from all the neat places I visited in Belgium, all the wonderful historic grounds I traipsed upon, all the yummy beer I drank, the yummy chocolates I ate, and the wonderful people I met, there was one event, one surprise event, that stands out as "The Coolest Thing I Saw in Belgium (tm)".

Let me not use words, and let the pictures speak for themselves:

That thing is exactly what it looks like, a mechanical, motorized lion.

It was built by a local artist-metalworker named Kezanti who has a studio on the same street I was staying at. On our last day in Brugge, I went out for a little walk around the block, and ended up on the open-air dining area of this small restaurant two buildings down from our B&B. I saw the mechanical lion standing there, but at first I thought it was a bitchin sculpture (Brugge is the kind of town where you can see open air art displays). Then the guy stood up and turned it on and I could not hold my geekness inside.

I spoke with him a little (him in much better English than me in my horrible Dutch) and he told me this was the first time he had taken it outside the studio and was having a celebratory beer. He then stood up and proceeded to ride the mechanical lion! What's even better, I got video:

Click here and leave a comment.

Just a handful of people saw this walking work of art take its first steps, beaming artists riding atop. These are the kinds of magic moments that happen when you travel that you remember forever, the moments that you could never, in a million years, have forseen and that happen, seemingly, just for you.

Furthermore, since like two days ago there has been a flurry of comments for the video over at YouTube. I just found out why:

My video was honored as #98 in the Top Rated (This Month) in Travel & Places. Even at 98, I think it's pretty cool and it seems so does everyone else who has seen the video.

Drop by and leave a comment as well. Maybe next month I can go higher!

And THAT was "The Coolest Thing I Saw in Belgium (tm)." :-)

New Toys

2006-10-05T11:57:00.000-05:00

I'm still waiting for the domains to transfer and the new account info to propagate across the vastness of cyberspace. In the meantime, I have been exploring all the cool new toys I have available at my new host. I have already installed Wordpress in the new site, so in a couple of days I hope to be able to transfer this blog over there (though I shudder at the thought of transfering all my posts!). They also have a laundry list of programs I can install, like php forums, Mambo, OS Commerce (if this means nothing to you, just read it as "cool toy, cool toy, cool toy"), among others. I'm excited because this will allow me to grow my web presence all across the board and on all of my projects. The upfront cost was tough (very good price, but still all upfront), but so far it looks like an awesome investment. Can't wait!

Changing Hosts

2006-10-04T15:55:00.000-05:00

Bye bye Stargate.com, hello Bluehost.com. I finally moved my sites and hosting from Stargate, and not a moment too soon. Stargate was fine a couple years ago when all I had was my personal site, but things have grown since and their services were just not up to par, not to mention expensive in comparison. So after shopping around and asking the opinion of people more knowledgeable in this stuff than me, I went with Bluehost. Soon I'll be able to start the redesign of all my sites, including my personal blog, which will go from Blogger to Wordpress. I just gotta get through the whole moving part, which is as tedious online as it is in real life.

Save The Internet!

2006-09-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

Save The Internet!

Happy New Year 5767!

2006-09-22T12:10:00.000-05:00

I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy and sweet new year 5767!

L'Shanah Tovah!!!

Weird Al - White & Nerdy Video

2006-09-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

Check the video for Weird Al's new song, White & Nerdy. You owe it to yourself and the world.

HMP In Print!

2006-09-20T11:42:00.000-05:00

I just received the proof from Lulu.com for our first print product, a hardcopy version of No Other Gods - An Adventure for Testament. It looks awesome. I can't get over the giddyness of holding in my hands something that we created and that existed only as electronic data.

I'll be posting soon info on ordering.

[HMP] DaVinci Labs, Volume One: UDR-4 Arrowhead

2006-09-13T13:39:00.001-05:00

Highmoon Media Productions, in association with Reality Deviants Publications, is proud to present the first in our new line of d20 Modern/Future support, DaVinci Labs.

DaVinci Labs is a research and development facility specializing in mechanized systems, ranging from civilian solutions to military contracts. Simplicity of design and innovative concepts are our driving force, applying these ideals to everything we produce, be it cyber-organ replacements, nanotechnology, zero-G construction systems, mecha units and systems, or orbital and sub-orbital ships.
DaVinci Labs, A Renaissance in Mechanization. (TM)

UDR-4 Arrowhead

DaVinci Labs, Volume One focuses on the UDR-4 Arrowhead mecha, providing a history of the mecha, 2 variants of the design, new weapons and equipment and suggestions for using the mecha in your own campaign as well as in the popular Dawning Star campaign setting by Blue Devil Games.

This PDF comes with a screen version and a RTF file for your convenience.

Written by: Joshua Hoade
Mecha Artwork by: Adam Dickstein
Dawning Star is a trademark of Blue Devil Games, used with permission.

RDPDVL001 - $3.95
Buy it today from RPGnow.com.

This is the product that almost never happened, seriously. The whole idea to start Highmoon Media Productions was due to me coming up with this series about 2 1/2 years ago. Since then, I have been trying to get it going, and for various reasons, I could never do it. I was almost resigned to have it be the product series that would break my heart (and part of my wallet, as over time I had paid for a number of pieces of mecha art to use), until David Jarvis came along.

Reality Deviants had been putting out a series of single mecha PDFs called OGL Mecha that I thought were pretty cool. On a complete whim, one of those "why not" moments, I emailed David to see if he would be interested in collaborating on a modification of his OGL Mecha series, morphing it into the brand I had already been at work to get off the ground. I explained to him my idea of DaVinci Labs, what I wanted to accomplish with it, and the plan I had for our collaboration. I honestly expected to be told that it was neat, but no, thank you. To my surprise, David loved the idea, and wanted in.

With the help of our mutual friend/freelancer/uber-helper Mark Gedak, David took the raw materials I gave him for this first issue and expanded them with excellent new material that further developed the concept of DaVinci Labs, and ended up with this awesome product. Thanks to David Jarvis and Mark Gedak, DaVinci Labs is now a reality, and my heart's happy as hell.

We are already at work on further releases, so keep an eye out for more innovation from DaVinci Labs, A Renaissance in Mechanization. (TM)

Proof Positive

2006-09-12T18:11:00.000-05:00

The Blogthing doesn't lie:

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam.
Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

[The Gamer Traveler] Episode 04 - Brugge, Belgium

2006-09-12T13:40:00.000-05:00

Show Notes for Episode 04 of The Gamer Traveler (As featured on the Dragon's Landing Podcast, episode 58):

Belfry Tower and canals, Brugge

Brugge, Belgium

Brugge - Official Tourist Bureau site (English/Dutch/French/German). Info on the town, tourism, directions, guesthouse listings, events, etc.
Wikipedia: Brugge - The Wikipedia entry for Brugge.
Wikitravel: Brugge - The Wikitravel entry for Brugge.
Rick Steves: Bruges - Info on Brugge from my favorite travel writer. Also check out these articles on the food, charm and beer of Brugge!
The Gamer Traveler Flickr Gallery: Brugge - A gallery at Flickr of photos I took during our trip. You can complement these images with Foto Brugge (Press-quality official photos from the Brugge Tourism Board, only for personal use), Wikimedia Commons: Brugge, Terra Galleria: Brugge, as well as a Google Image Search.
Map of Medieval Brugge - Perfect to use in a fantasy/historical game. Large file but worth it.
Virtual Brugge - VR 360-degrees visuals of Brugge.
Kwalito Bed & Brekfast - Our home during our stay in Brugge.
Rick Steves' Amsterdam, Bruges and Brussels 2006 - My favorite travel guide, with info on Brussels.
Rick Steves' Europe DVD: France and Benelux - Featuring an episode on Brussels.

The Gamer Traveler theme music is Ragasutra from the album "All Strings Considered" by Jamie Janover and Michael Masley, and is provided courtesy of Magnatune.

The Gamer Traveler is brought to you by
Destination: Earth Travel Planners.
Helping you take the trip of a lifetime, today!

--
Posted by Daniel M. Perez to The Gamer Traveler at 9/06/2006 04:24:00 PM

On The Future of Gaming Podcasting

2006-08-27T21:34:00.000-05:00

Ever since Gen Con, the various gaming podcasters have been having lots of conversations about the new-found legitimacy of podcasting by the industry, the lessons learned the last year, and ideas for what the future brings. At the Dragon's Landing Podcast's forums we are having various conversations about the future of gaming podcasts, especially what it will take for the new batch of podcasters to make it in the field. The following is a very long post I made with some of my thoughts. You can see the original thread here and the my post here. Lots of links have been added for convenience.

This is a very exciting time to be tuned in to the whole podcast phenomenon, in general. Specifically in gaming podcast, this goes 100 times more so, because, thanks to the early adopters who have broken ground and gained an amazing level of legitimacy, the soil is fertile now for a new crop to come up.

In many ways I see Gen Con as the turning point, and specifically the Megacast as being the Big Bang of the new era in gaming podcasts. A lot of things were said at the cast, a lot of ideas and theories and plans, that during the next year we will see put into action and be able to, very clearly, see how they had their genesis at the Megacast.

Of particular interest, for me especially, is the concept of the new batch of podcasts and the form they should take in order to thrive in the already-existing field. The general advice show has been done, and quite well, so there's no need to rehash it. It's time to become a true specialist, and take advante of the Long Tail effect.*

If you really stop to think about it, and look at the current generation (let's call them Generation Alpha, to borrow Chuck and Lonnie's new scheme), you'll find the concept of specialization has already taken place: you have Dragon's Landing Inn with general RPG advice; Gamer! The Podcasting with general LARP advice; Fist Full of Comics (and Games) going for the very obvious (and quite ignored until, and except for, them) brige of comics and games; All Games Considered doing a review show that manages not to be repetitive in a field with Paul Tevis' Have Games, Will Travel; Ogre Cave Audio Report is the only one doing industry news and commentary, something I would love to have more of; Fear the Boot seems like it's going for the general RPG advice, but they are so systematic that they manage not to be repetitive with DLI, etc.

The reason this is interesting for me in particular is because this is preciselyt the kind of thinking that led me to create The Gamer Traveler. Currently TGT plays as part of the DLI, but that was a practical decision based on my circumstances at the moment; in all other aspects, TGT is its own podcast, and I envision taking it solo in the near future as well. In terms of focus, the podcast was born out of me thinking, "How can I do a gaming podcast that is unique and niche enough to justify me making it at all?" It took a while, but I finally landed the concept. I still need to tighten up the execution, for sure, but I am very secure that I have created a product that, by its very nature, is not likely to be copied, thus assuring me an original output and space in the podcast field.

This is the same thinking that needs to go into the creation of new podcasts in our field; we need to look for specialties, things for which we feel passionate about and we can talk someone's ear off and (quite importantly) complement the existing 'casts so that we do not offer direct competition, but rather synergy.

As far as the established podcasts helping out to promote the new generation, I don't think that would be a problem. Remember at the end of the day we are not really in competition; though a listener's time is at a premium, better informing the listener about the options out there, the options that would truly maximize their listening time, creates a better listener, one that is both loyal to the community and thankful for having been exposed to cool things he/she may not have found about before. Many of the smaller PDF game publishers already do this, and the result has been better loyalty from the customers and an ever expanding pool of new people being exposed to our products.

Another thing we, as listeners, need to start getting used to is that the content we are being provided by these podcasters is valuable and worth money; I, for one, welcome their new attempts at laying the groundwork for ways to eventually generate a profit from their hard, hard work.

Like I said, this is a very exciting time to be a listener and a podcaster, and I can't wait to see what the future brings.

* - The short and simplified version: the Long Tail effect states that there is a potentially-endless market for uber-niche products that, while it may dwindle to a very small amount, actually never reaches zero. Read the Wikipedia article if you want a more theoretical explanation.

The Last RPG

2006-08-25T11:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've seen it all. At RPGnow Edge:

Welcome to The Veggie Patch.
As you can guess, this isn't your normal role-playing game. Players aren't powerful wizards, out to discover the secrets of the universe. They aren't highly trained spies,
trying to save the world, nor do they fly around the galaxy in a space ship. They aren't even your typical hero, off saving damsels in distress.
They're vegetables.

Okay, that's it folks, the last RPG has been written. We can all stop now and move on to another hobbie or industry, there's nothing left here. :-)

Arcadia: The Wyld Hunt CCG Lot for Sale

2006-08-24T13:41:00.000-05:00

I've put up my collection of Arcadia: The Wyld Hunt CCG up for sale on eBay. You can see the listing here.

This game was published in the early- to mid-90's by White Wolf tied to their Changeling: The Dreaming roleplaying game. It features adventures played in the fae realm of Arcadia. The game was sold in booster packs divided into Character Packs and Story Packs. To play, you select a character card, then customize it with options from the Character Pack. Once that's done, you create a playing field by laying down terrain cards. A Quest is selected, enemies and traps are laid down under various terrain cards, and off you go to complete the Quest.

Included in this lot are two card boxes, one all Character Pack cards (including the nifty, stand-up cardboard characters), and one all Story Pack cards. These cards were used in games, but are all in excellent shape. All cards are from the Wyld Hunt set.

This was cool game, but suffered from the way it was marketed. White Wolf tried to ride the CCG train, but this game would have done so much better if packaged as a boardgame with regular expansions. Even today, if I could get it complete in one box, it would be a brilliant little game.

[The Gamer Traveler] Episode 03 - Brussels, Belgium

2006-08-16T15:11:00.000-05:00

Show Notes for Episode 03 of The Gamer Traveler (As featured on the Dragon's Landing Podcast, episode 53):

King's House on Grand Place, Brussels

Brussels, Belgium

Brussels - Official Tourist Bureau site (English/Dutch/French). Info on the town, including directions, guesthouse listings, events, etc.
Wikipedia: Brussels - The Wikipedia entry for Brussels.
Rick Steves: Brussels - Info on Brussels from my favorite travel writer.
The Gamer Traveler Flickr Gallery: Brussels - A gallery at Flickr of photos I took during our trip. You can complement these images by doing a Google Image Search.
Map of Medieval Brussels - Perfect to use in a fantasy/historical game. Large file but worth it.
Rick Steves' Amsterdam, Bruges and Brussels 2006 - My favorite travel guide, with info on Brussels.
Rick Steves' Europe DVD: France and Benelux - Featuring an episode on Brussels.

The Gamer Traveler theme music is Ragasutra from the album "All Strings Considered" by Jamie Janover and Michael Masley, and is provided courtesy of Magnatune.

The Gamer Traveler is brought to you by
Destination: Earth Travel Planners.
Helping you take the trip of a lifetime, today!

--
Posted by Daniel M. Perez to The Gamer Traveler at 8/16/2006 02:10:00 PM

Changeling!!!

2006-08-13T01:28:00.000-05:00

Life is very good!

White Wolf Announces New World of Darkness Genre for 2007: Changeling
August 12, 2006 - White Wolf is proud to announce the "5th Game" for World
of Darkness will be Changeling! As envisioned by developer Ethan Skemp, fans can
look forward to a complex setting where you character faces new challenges and
dangers not seen before in the World of Darkness.

I am already looking forward to Gen Con next year!!!

Podcast Ireland

2006-07-27T13:01:00.000-05:00

I got an email from the Ireland Tourism Board of a contest they are running where the lucky winner wins a one-week tour of a part of Ireland (Northern Ireland, Dublin/East/Southeast, West/Southwest) with air and ground transportation, accomodations, etc. and they get to podcast their trip for the Irish Tourism Board! I sent in my application faster than I could say slainte!

They ask for a 250-word or less entry telling them why you'd the a good choice, and here's my entry:

Ireland calls to me like a siren; it always has. I visited Ireland for my honeymoon in 2002 and have been yearning to return, to experience the beauty of the land and the warmth of the people once again, to relive those happy memories, and create new ones along the way. Though I loved the whole island, I particularly long to return to the West, to wander Dingle’s pubs and lose myself in witty craic, to smell the sweet scent of burning peat, to drink a real Guinness like only the Irish know how to pour. It was in Dingle that we spent the bulk of our honeymoon, and where I left a little piece of my heart. I wrote an online journal of our trip to Ireland, and four years later, I still get emails from people who have read it and tell me they have fallen in love with the land as well, and from those getting ready to go thanking me for increasing their enthusiasm for their trip. I will talk to anyone about the wonders of Ireland, in person, by phone, by email, and if chosen, then by podcast as well. I already produce a short podcast called “The Gamer Traveler” and Ireland is on my list of upcoming topics. An opportunity like this would be fantastic to generate new content and truly be a chance to tell the world how much I love Ireland and why I think everyone should visit, too.

It's a bit on the dramatic side, but it is all true.
Who knows, maybe something good will come my way!

It Hit The Fan And Landed All On Me

2006-07-24T22:46:00.000-05:00

Boy, I am the cosmic shitbucket right now. I am at my mother-in-law's and someone broke the driver-side rear passenger window of my car and stole my laptop bag, which was inside the car, behind the driver's seat.

Not all is bad, though; my laptop computer was inside the house at the moment, so the most precious item that would normally have been inside the bag is safe and sound. I did lose, however, the power cord (which I had just bought about a month ago after my cat bit through the original one), a Dell network card, my Palmpilot, my two checkbooks (personal and Highmoon Media Productions account) and (and this hurts so much) my Holland/Belgium travel journal and my personal daily journal. Somewhere in Miami, some asshole has my personal thoughts of my recent trip and my most intimate thoughts ranging from the day of my wedding 'till just two days ago.

The cops came and took all the pertinent information, and CSI also came by, but as expected, there were no fingerprints, given they just smashed the glass, reached in and took the bag. And I heard it all happen, too.

I am so mad right it's not even funny.

I do thank G-d that the computer is safe and sound, but the loss of my journals feels like a dagger plunged straight into my heart.

My one hope is that they will have realized there is nothing of value inside the bag (they can take the Palmpilot and the network card for all I care) and threw the bag out the window somewhere, and that maybe, just maybe, I can recover what is truly important.

Argh.

When You Chose A Domain...

2006-07-21T10:02:00.000-05:00

People really need to pay attention when they choose a domain name. These are all real:

A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name (wait for it) is www.whorepresents.com
Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com
Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net
Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com
Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator Company at www.powergenitalia.com
And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com
If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always www.ipanywhere.com
Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is www.cummingfirst.com
Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com
Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at www.gotahoe.com

Queen of Baking

2006-07-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

There was a Bake Off today at my wife's work (Telemundo Network) and she decided to enter. Last night she prepared a scrumptious Maple Cake from a recipe she got in Nigella Lawson's Feast. She had done this cake twice before, once for my birthday, and I can attest to how delicious it is (it falls in the sinful category).

She just called me to tell me she won the Bake Off!!! :-)

The prize, unfortunately, is a gift certificate to a really expensive restaurant that we cannot eat at because it isn't kosher, so she'll see what she does with it. But bragging rights, those are all hers (and her department, too, since they were all cheering for her, given they know full well how good her baked goods are).

The U.N. Is A Joke

2006-07-20T12:52:00.000-05:00

So finally the UN makes a statement about the situation in Israel, and (surprise, surprise) it condemns Israel!

From Yahoo! News: Annan criticizes both sides in conflict

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Thursday for an immediate halt to the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
militia but said there were "serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire."

Annan said Hezbollah's actions in launching rockets into Israel and abducting Israeli soldiers "hold an entire nation hostage" and set back prospects for Middle East peace.

Wow, he came up with that conclusion all by himself?

But he also condemned Israel's "excessive use of force" and collective
punishment of the Lebanese people, saying it had triggered a humanitarian
crisis.
"While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable, and Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use of force is to be condemned," he told the Security Council.

I love how everyone throws that word around, "excessive," like this is some sort of game with established rules that dictate how much firepower one can throw down based on an attack. It's very easy to be so high-and-mighty when you are safely tucked away in New York enjoying all the ammenities diplomats get in this country while the people in Israel are hiding for their lives. As far as the UN is concerned, Israel should just take the rocket attacks like a big boy and like it, not do anything about it. What is not excessive, is what I want to know. A ground assault of Southern Lebanon? No, that would be invading another country. Teams of Mosad agents infiltrating and doing targeted killings? No, that would be inhumane. What's left, throwing rocks with a sling? Seriously!

Annan said mission members reported that many of the people they spoke to in the region noted that "whatever damage Israel's operations may be doing to Hezbollah's military capabilities, they are doing little or nothing to decrease popular support for Hezbollah in Lebanon or the region, but are doing a great deal to weaken the government of Lebanon."

"In short, the very government which Israel wants to extend its control has itself become a hostage to the crisis and is less able than ever to deploy its forces" to southern Lebanon, which is controlled by Hezbollah, he said.

Boo-freakin-hoo, okay. The people want to rally behind a terrorist organization, hide them, protect them, support them, then they are part of that organization, period. And please, spare me the drama about the Lebanese government not being able to do anything; they weren't doing anything to begin with, letting Hezbollah run the southern part of the country and have a political voice in their government. So much for declaring themselves a democracy. Act now, show that you have the balls to take on the cancer in your own country, and Israel will back you up so that you can erradicate these fanatics. Lebanon is as much a hostage of Hezbollah (unless they are secretly aiding them) and they either fight or by innaction share the blame.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told reporters immediately after Annan's speech that there would be no cease-fire.

"We will do whatever is necessary," he said. "We have no timeline."

Gillerman said he was "disturbed" that Annan's report never mentioned the word "terror" or referred to Syria and Iran, which Israel accuses of being Hezbollah's sponsors.

Funny, no, that the UN never seems to want to recognize terrorist acts from any of these militant groups; as far the UN is concerned, Hamas and Hezbollah are just troubled teens acting out their teenage-angst bullshit.

More and more it is evident that the UN is a joke and a completely useless political entity, especially its Security Council (as far as I'm concerned, UNESCO and UNICEF are the only two branches of the UN worth keeping around). I want to see once these Islamic terrorists start dropping rockets and bombs on each of the opposing member countries how long will they just take it before retaliating. Because, please understand, it will happen; these militant fanatics will eventually go to every single free country in this planet of ours and do what they do best there. Even moderate Islamic countries like Egypt and Jordan are not safe, not for long. The sooner everyone realizes this (Chiraq, I'm looking your way), the faster we'll be able to effectively excise this cancer that is now growing rampant and threatening to kill us all. This is a battle for civilization.

Honored

2006-07-19T14:34:00.000-05:00

Something strage happened this morning. After prayers, the Rabbi asked me to please put up some little plaques that had arrived in the mail from being engraved. I opened the box and there was one yartzeit plaque (in memory of someone's anniversary of death) and two little leafs for the Tree of Life (a tree-like board with leaf-shaped plaques for any kind of event one may want to memorialize). One of the leafs said, "In honor of Daniel Perez for his commitment to our shul." Eh? I read it twice; yep, that was the message. Someone paid to have one of those little leafs engraved in my honor.

I felt weird. Yes, honored that someone would think like that of me, but weird. I'm just a regular guy that does what he supposed to do, nothing more. I go to prayers, I help out in the synagogue, I help out the Rabbi, but that's what we're all supposed to do, why we're a community. I don't think I'm doing anything beyond the ordinary. What's more, I sometimes complain in my head about having to do X or Y, just as I am marching off to do it; I'm only human, after all.

So yeah, I'm honored, but more than anything I am humbled by the small honor. I put it up and didn't say anything about it. Someone saw it and I just smiled and kept going. I just told the Rabbi that, I don't know who paid for that (nor do I want to know), and that though I don't think I deserve it, to please extend my thanks.

I still feel strange about it.

Boston.com: A Question For The World Community

2006-07-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

From the Boston Globe via Boston.com: A Question For The World Community by Meir Shlomo

FOR THE PAST few decades, the international community has been misled to believe that the root of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors stems from the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This week, with the assistance of Hamas and Hezbollah, this canard finally has been laid to rest.
[...]
Hamas and Hezbollah mirror the virulent hatred of Israel that runs through Syria, Iran, and other parts of the Middle East. These groups represent a refusal to recognize the state of Israel, regardless of its borders. To make matters worse, rogue states such as Syria and Iran openly support these terrorist groups, aiding them financially, militarily, and politically.
[...]
The international community must decide to support either a repressive, despotic Middle East modeled after Iran and Syria, or a democratic, pluralistic Middle East modeled after Israel. This is the core of the conflict erupting in the region.
[...]
However, in the midst of this crisis, the international community and enlightened society must rally around Israel and the moderate factions in the Arab world, because the alternative is a Middle East modeled after Syria and Iran, governed by repression, terror, and violence.

This is a good editorial that brings the points in question to the forefront without fuss. It's about time the world realizes, once and for all, that the beef with Israel has absolutely nothing to do with anything dealing with the so-called Palestinians but with the inherent fact of their existance in the area. Nothing short of the complete and total anihilation of the state of Israel and of every Israeli (and every Jew in the world, if you follow the rethoric, including me, just so you can understand how personal this can get) will suffice for these people (and I use the term loosely). Giving Gaza up to the Palestinians only gave us an empowered Hamas, and now Hezbollah has joined the party.

In a way Israel has a measure of fault in this whole situation. We, Israel, were weak in the face of our enemy; we gave up Gaza as a reward for years of suicide bombers spilling our blood on the streets, showing that Israeli/Jewish blood was cheap. I understand the state was trying to do the right thing, to show there was commitment on our part to a peaceful solution, even if innocents had to pay the price. In a way I am glad they did all this, because it now shows quite clearly that nothing we did was of any value to them, because it never was about having part of the land, but about complete destruction.

I still want to see this conflict solved quickly to avoid the loss of more innocent lives on both sides. Israel has already given its terms for a cease-fire; for Hezbollah to retreat out of Israel and out of the buffer zone to be replaced by the Lebanese army and for the two kidnapped soldiers to be returned, greatly downscaling them from their original terms of total dismantling of Hezbollah. To some this may seem like we are again showing weakness, but I applaud the more realistic approach of the new terms. Now it's up to Lebanon to put some pressure. I'm not holding my breath.

Aish.com: There Is No Zionism Without Judaism

2006-07-13T11:34:00.000-05:00

From Aish.com: There is no Zionism Without Judaism by Natan Sharansky.

But [A.B.]Yehoshua's remarks [...] disturb me less than the way he described his own identity: My identity is Israeli, he said. The Jewish religion does not play a role in my life; it is the territory and the language that build my identity.
There is no Zionism without Judaism and there never has been. Just as the Israeli people has never had a right to the Land of Israel. Only the Jewish people. It was the Jewish people that received the Balfour Declaration, and it was they who were granted by the United Nations the legal right to establish a state. It was the Jewish people that returned to its ancient homeland, for which it had prayed and longed for, for 2,000 years. For if we are talking about the Israeli "people" -- how is the right of a "people" that has existed for about 100 years greater than or equal to that of the Palestinians, who have been living on their land for about 300 years?

What a fantastic and poignant article! Every single Jew in the world should read it and make a stand, reclaim their heritage and be counted, especially those in Israel, especially at a critical time such as the current one.

The Looming Spectre

2006-07-13T11:17:00.000-05:00

I have been following the events in Israel for the last 2 weeks with interest and trepidation, knowing full well the dates we are approaching. Hezbollah's entry into the fray and Israel's decisive reply in Beirut, only serve to heighten my fear of the future in the Middle East. Today is the 17th of Tammuz in the Jewish calendar, a day that signals the start of a 3-week period of introspection which ends in the saddest day of our year, the 9th of Av. It was on the 17 of Tammuz that the people of Israel worshipped the Golden Calf and Moses broke the first set of Tablets of the Law; it was on this day that the First Temple ceased its daily worship services, signaling the beginning of its end; and it was on this day that, in Roman times, the walls of Jerusalem were breached by Titus' forces, concluding with the destruction of the Second Temple on the 9th of Av. Now, on this 17th of Tammuz, 5766, the spectre of war looms menacingly over Israel, and I fear what the next three weeks can bring, especially what may happen on the 9th of Av. Last year the 9th of Av marked the last day of Jewish settlers in Gaza; the expulsions began early on the 10th. I truly am afraid of what may happen this year.

I have faith in G-d and know that all events are unfolding according to His will, but I am only human, and I fear even as I trust. I feel for the lives that have been lost so far, on both sides equally, though especially for my kinsmen and kinswomen in Israel. I hope that all leaders involved will have the presence of mind to act with restraint and intelligently to avoid a major conflict, that G-d will give them the wisdom to seek the welfare of the world and not selfish agendas.

I hope this is not the beginning of something we will all regret in the future. Though it already is.

Back In The Saddle

2006-07-11T15:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm finally back home and almost caught up with the dreariness of day-to-day life. Work is just as tedious as I remember it when I left, which I guess is not bad, as I thought it would feel even worse. Nevertheless, I wish I could be jumping into another plane right now and taking off on a new adventure, rather than making about a thousand copies.

I always get this post-trip funk, and I now recognize it for what it is, so I don't pay much attention to it. I do want to make a number of changes in my life, though, so I'm hoping to channel some of this funk into the impetus needed for evolution.

I desperately need a new job, first and foremost; I just cannot work for my father-in-law anymore. It hasn't been good for my finances and it definitely hasn't been good for my emotional well-being.

I want to lose some weight and get in a little better shape. I felt good walking everywhere in Europe, and while distances here in Miami make that (or biking everywhere) a highly inadecuate option, I still want to maintain some of that momentum and see if I can get below 300 (yes, I am that heavy, to my own shame). I'd like to get a new bike and ride it whenever possible. We rode bikes in Brugge (Belgium) and it was a lot of fun, and Miami is almost as flat as the Netherlands and West Flanders (except for the really tall bridges).

I want to get back into the swing of things with Highmoon Media. I haven't neglected it, but I haven't kept up with it as I should. I understand and accept that with the amount of projects I have going I can't have the output that other publishers have, but I need to have an output, period. Targum Magazine is paramount, with other projects following it. Above all, however, is finishing the layout for Lonnie Ezell's novel, which has already gone on pre-sale.

Lastly, I want to get writing again. As I always do (or at least try to), I kept a journal during the trip, and this is the first travel journal that I actually finish, at least with the factual events of the trip. I still want to go back and write some more about a few particular subjects, but at least the trip itself has been recorded. I've decided to continue the journaling momentum and start keeping a journal once more. We'll see how that goes. More than that, I want to get writing again; story ideas have been flying around my head, in the distance yet distinctly perceivable, and I want to try to least them onto the paper (or computer screen, as the case may be).

Will all these resolutions yield results? I've no idea, but I'd like to try my best to have them all blossom.

Now I've got to go, cause my family is visiting down from Orlando, so I get to see my Mom, sister and two nephews!

Back Home

2006-07-07T16:44:00.000-05:00

Just got home after a 9 hour flight from Amsterdam via Paris, and I am incredibly tired, sad that my vacation is over, and happy to be home.

I tried posting a couple of times from the road but the email posts didn't go through. Later on I'll post a few pics, as we need to sort through the roughly 800 pics we took combined.

TTFN!

Almost Out of Here

2006-06-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

The day is going by super slow and I can't wait to get out so I can go home, finish packing and make it official that we're going on vacation!

On the plus side, I have had time to do a lot: I've caught up on all of my paperwork, leaving it all crystal clear for my boss while I'm out, and I managed to record, edit and send out a new episode of my podcast, The Gamer Traveler, this one focusing on the German town of Rothenburg (in honor of the World Cup and all).

I'm still psyched about the Miami Heat's victory last night. NBA Champions, that sounds great. Too bad that we'll miss the parade on Friday, but I'll be wandering around Brussels, so it's quite allright.

Ok, time to finish the dreary paperwork and catch the second half of the Holland vs. Argentina match on right now. Go Holland!!!

And GO USA tomorrow!!!

[The Gamer Traveler] Episode 02 - Rothenburg ob der Tauber

2006-06-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

Show Notes for Episode 02 of The Gamer Traveler (As featured on the Dragon's Landing Podcast, episode 48):

Rothenburg Markt Platz and Rathaus (City Hall)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany

Rothenburg - Official site (English/German). Info on the town, including directions, guesthouse listings, and even two live webcams of the Markt Platz.
Wikipedia: Rothenburg ob der Tauber - The Wikipedia entry for Rothenburg, with info on the history and links to related information.
Rick Steves: Rothenburg - Info on Rothenburg from my favorite travel writer.
The Night Watchman - Official site of Rothenburg's Night Watchman. You can see pics of the watchman in action, and even order a DVD with a guided tour of the town!
Rothenburg Picture Gallery - A great image gallery that you can complement by doing a Google Image Search.
Map of Rothenburg - Historic map of Rothenburg published in 1572.
Satellite view of Rothenburg - Perfect to get a plan of the town. Loads slowly.
Rick Steves' Germany and Austria 2006 - My favorite travel guide, with info on Rothenburg.
Rick Steves' Europe DVD: Germany, Swiss Alps and Travel Skills - Featuring an episode on Rothenburg.

The Gamer Traveler is brought to you by
Destination: Earth Travel Planners.
Helping you take the trip of a lifetime, today!

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to The Gamer Traveler at 6/21/2006 03:17:00 PM

NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

2006-06-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

15 Strong!!!
Congratulations to the Miami Heat on becoming the 2006 NBA Champions! GO HEAT!!!

[HMP PR] REALITY DEVIANT PUBLICATIONS AND HIGHMOON MEDIA PRODUCTIONS JOIN FORCES!

2006-06-14T14:16:00.000-05:00

Publishers Unite To Bring You The Future.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 13, 2006--Dallas, TX and Miami Beach, FL: Reality Deviant Publications is proud to announce a joint venture with Higmoon Media Productions for the production of DaVinci Labs, a new series of OGL sci-fi products focusing on the ongoing development of a futuristic R&D company. DaVinci Labs is a leading manufacturer of cutting edge weapons systems, robotics, mecha and cybernetic technologies with a wide range of both civil and military applications.

Each release in the DaVinci Labs line will provide players and Gamemasters with a variety of new gear for sci-fi campaigns, including (but not limited to) new robot designs, new mecha and new cybernetic devices. In addition, each release will provide ongoing background information on the company, so as to make DaVinci Labs a dynamic organization in your campaign!

“I am very happy that Daniel Perez proposed a joint effort with my company to produce DaVinci Labs,” said David Jarvis, president of Reality Deviant Publications. “Highmoon Media Productions is a great company that produces top-notch gaming material, and Daniel’s ideas for the DaVinci Labs line of products are a perfect fit with my own views about science fiction gaming material. I’m very excited about this project and look forward to bringing DaVinci Labs to the public!”

“I couldn’t have hoped for a better partner,” said Daniel M. Perez, president of Highmoon Media Productions. “DaVinci Labs was a series I had been trying to get off the ground for a while but had not been able to for a variety of reasons. David Jarvis’ work on the OGL Mecha line convinced me Reality Deviant Publications would be the perfect partner to help me bring this line to reality, and after a couple of conversations, it was incredibly evident that we were both on the same page. Thanks to this partnership, DaVinci Labs will be better than I had originally envisioned.”

DaVinci Labs releases will be published by Reality Deviant Publications and distributed by RDP’s distribution partner, Ronin Arts. The first release on the new DaVinci Labs line is on schedule for early July, 2006, with regular releases afterwards.

*****

For more information please contact:

Highmoon Media Productions Media Contact
Daniel M. Perez
daniel@highmoonmedia.com
www.highmoonmedia.com

Reality Deviants Publications Media Contact
David Jarvis
mdavidjarvis@yahoo.com
www.realitydeviants.net

Still Go Team USA!

2006-06-12T14:48:00.000-05:00

Ouch. That 3-0 loss vs. the Czech Republic hurts a lot. There's a reason the Czechs are ranked #2 in the world behind the Brazilians.

The team played Ok, but just Ok. They weren't driving the ball down to the box and were letting the very quick Czechs dictate the pace and direction of play.

Well, we just gotta shake this loss off and regroup for Saturday's match vs. Italy. We need to win against the Italians if we want our World Cup dreams to continue into the Round of 16.

Go team!

GO TEAM USA!!!

2006-06-12T10:25:00.000-05:00

First game in less than 40 minutes!
Let's show our support and show the world the USA truly earned their place at the World Cup!!!

The Ignorant American's Guide to the World Cup

2006-06-11T10:47:00.000-05:00

From CBS SportsLine.com: "The Ignorant American's Guide to the World Cup"

I don't know much about soccer. I realize that it is, by a wide margin, the world's most popular sport. I'm told that players can't use their hands, which renders it a particularly sweaty equivalent of bobbing for apples. I understand that the game harkens back to my high-school days, in that it involves lots of guys running around like lunatics and mostly not scoring.
While having an ignorant American write this guide may well defeat its underlying purpose, rest assured that I've done my homework, interviewing several people with funny accents. Since labeling non-midwestern accents "funny" is one of the bona fide calling cards of American ignorance, I knew I was on the right path from the get-go. Let's dive right into it.

Read it. Now. :-)

I'm loving the World Cup so far!!! Can't wait for the USA debut game tomorrow Monday.

If I Kill My Cat Today (6/6/06), Does It Make It A Satanic Act?

2006-06-06T15:19:00.000-05:00

My neurotic, crazy, half-angel/half-demon cat was having one of his trademarked bursts of insanity this morning, and it seems he bit the power cord of my laptop. I just found out because suddenly I get the message that the battery is running low and when I plug the power cord, nothing happens. An inspection of the cord itself revealed two cat fang-shaped holes poking through the rubber cover and into the insides of the cable. I just ordered a replacement and I hope it arrives soon, because until it does I am cut off from all of my work. The only thing I was able to transfer to a flashtick was the file for the novel I am laying out right now, and I had just finished loading my podcasts to my iPod. Hopefully by Thursday or Friday I'll have access to the computer again.

In the meantime I am going to pass the time thinking of ways to string up my cat...

URL Woes

2006-06-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

As you can see above (on the main page, in case you get this via RSS), I've been having problems with the URL redirect for www.highmoonmedia.com. If you have arrived here by following that URL, please accept my apologies and proceed to use the link above to get to your actual destination.

I think the move away from Stargate.com will come a lot sooner than I had anticipated...

Not So Crappy Day Anymore

2006-06-05T22:00:00.000-05:00

There was nothing wrong with the car, thank G-d, it just needed a new battery. Still a financial hit, but nowhere near as hard as I feared.

I did get to stay home, too, which is always a plus, and did quite a bit on the layout for Lonnie Ezell's novel. Didn't gather my notes for the podcast, but managed also to get some stuff done for my Rabbi (who has drafted me as his and the synagogue's unofficial secretary). Also got two patches sewn to my travel pack (about time, too, since I've had most of those since our Europe trip in 2001!).

Like I said, in the end it turned out it wasn't such a crappy day after all.

Crappy Day

2006-06-05T10:21:00.000-05:00

You know what they say about staying in bed some days?
My day began ok; went to morning prayers and came back to have some breakfast before heading to work. My car started giving me problems yesterday (actually, it began a week ago, but it had gone away), not starting when I turned the ignition. A quick jumpstart fixed it the last time it happened, and so it did yesterday, though it didn't have nearly enough running time to recharge the battery. I figured if anything I would jumpstart it this morning, go to work, then drop it at the mechanic later on. No such luck.

The car simply did not start up today, even with a jumpstart. I'm afraid the alternator may be busted; could be the starter, though, I think. I really have no idea; there's a reason I have a degree in English and not in auto mechanics. It's one of the two, I know that much, which means that, either way, I'm in for a big slap to my already hurting wallet. All this with our vacation just 2 1/2 weeks away. I'm now waiting for the tow truck to take the car to the shop (thankfully, just down the street from my house).

I knew I should have stayed in bed.

On the plus side, maybe I can actually get some other things done here today, like doing the layout for Lonnie Ezell's novel, and gather the notes for the first episode of the Gamer Traveler podcast.

Out for Shavuot

2006-06-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

I'll be offline for the next two days in observance of the holy day of Shavuot.

Everyone take care, have a great weekend, and to the Jews out there, Chag Sameach!

X-Men 3 (No Spoilers)

2006-05-31T12:22:00.000-05:00

I'll put this very simple: IT ROCKED!!!
I thought the movie was great, even if it was a little under the quality of the first two. I liked that the storytelling was gutsy (even if it did suffer from too-much-in-too-little-time sindrome at parts) and that actions had consequences, no apologies. The movie was more comic book-y than the parts 1 and 2, but it wasn't cartoonish, and I thoroughly enjoyed the various nods to fans of the comic. It wasn't flawless, and there were a few things I could have done without or with more of, but overall I left the theatre pleased and psyched, as did my non-geek wife.

I'll come back later with a spoilers-included full review.

X-Men: The Last Stand - 4 out of 5 stars.

Changes to the Blog

2006-05-28T12:42:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you about a couple of changes I have done to this blog and things that will be coming along.

First of all, I changed the layout to one that mirrored my personal webpage. Along with that, I have made this blog my personal site as well; going to www.dmperez.com now brings you here. Little by little I'm going to transfer the pages I had on my old site to backdated blog posts that I can then link here. I have started to use tags (linking to del.icio.us) as well, but I forget to use them all the time, so they aren't as comprehensive as they should be yet. Eventually I want to move this blog to be hosted at my own server where I can then keep a copy of it for posterity.

Second, for about two weeks now I have been linking two other of my blogs to this one, the Miami Daily Photo blog, and the Destination: Earth Travel blog.

The Miami Daily Photo blog chronicles my city one picture a day and is part of the City Daily Photo network, covering cities all around the world. I have lots of fun with this project, and I've actually learned a lot about my city through it. Instead of redirecting the daily posts here, however, I will post a weekly summary of the previous week's daily photos, probably on Sundays or Mondays. That way I showcase my work on that blog without overwhelming this one.

The Destination: Earth Travel blog serves as a news blog for my travel company, where I post interesting travel news bits and updates about our company's services. These two blogs are specialized and expanded expressions of things I would normally cover here anyway, which is why I decided to link them up.

Third, I have now started a new project that combines my passion for gaming and travel, a podcast called The Gamer Traveler. This mini podcast will play as a feature inside the Dragon's Landing Podcast every two weeks, more or less, and will feature me talking about some site around the world, giving it the travel show treatment, then talking about ways to incorporate it into your games. I am very excited about the podcast, and thank Chuck and Lonnie at the Dragon's Landing Podcast for the opportunity. The show notes for the introductory episode are now available at The Gamer Traveler blog and future show notes will appear here automatically once posted there.

I'll most likely take the Highmoon Media Productions site to a blog format as well, though that will probably happen later in the summer, as June is going to be a very busy month: there's regular work, the Jewish holy day of Shavuot, finishing Targum Magazine #1, finishing the layout for Lonnie Ezell's Daughter of the Sun, overseeing the launching of the new joint project between Highmoon Media and Reality Deviants, overseeing the Montdargent line being developed by JC Alvarez, doing at least one podcast, and leaving for my summer vacation, two weeks in Holland and Belgium (aka. The Hellhoot Adventure, see the ticker on the front page).

Off I go. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

[Miami Daily Photo] The Triple A

2006-05-27T23:17:00.000-05:00

Completed in 1999 to replace the venerable Miami Arena, the American Airlines Arena (AAA) has taken over as Miami's main venue for pretty much any show in town, as well as the home for our local NBA team, the Miami Heat. Right now it is hosting the Heat's playoff games, thus the gigantic banner on the front.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/27/2006 11:05:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Freedom Tower

2006-05-26T12:47:00.000-05:00

Completed in 1925 as the headquarters of the Miami News & Metropolis Newspaper, the Freedom Tower became in the 1950's the Ellis Island of the Cuban exile community as they arrived in Miami fleeing from Castro's revolution. Located in Downtown Miami, the building was sold in the 70s and left abandoned until it became a center dedicated to the preservation of the history of the Cuban American community. The tower was slated for demolition to give way to new condos, but it was eventually donated to the Miami-Dade College and will soon reopen as a full-fledged museum. The Freedom Tower is another example of a Giralda tower (I've already shown you the Biltmore tower).

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/26/2006 01:27:00 PM

D&D 4th Edition Wish List

2006-05-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

Berin Kinsman, at UncleBear.com, has posted a Wish List of stuff he'd like to see on a possible (or rather, upcoming and innevitable) 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I think his list is excellent and right on the money on the kind of changes I'd like to see to the game, too, and we've been commenting back and forth about it. Go take a look and add your thoughts as well. Even if WotC/Hasbro (see what Berin has to say about this) doesn't use these suggestions, they might influence a better version of an OGL d20-derivative core system (and for the record, I think True20 comes pretty close already).

[Miami Daily Photo] Freedom of the Seas

2006-05-25T22:48:00.000-05:00

Royal Caribbean's new Freedom of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world and ever made, pulled into port here in Miami early this morning. The ship was christened last week in New York and has now sailed into its home port, from where it will carry 4375 passengers every time it sails out. Let me tell you, the thing is absolutely massive.

Confession: I did not take this pic, I took it from our local NBC affiliate. I did, however, see the ship this morning as I drove to work, but it was raining so I didn't chance taking one of my trademarked pics while driving.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/25/2006 11:13:00 PM

(Seemingly) Random Thought For Today

2006-05-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

Recording a podcast is hard.

I mean, it's already hard talking to yourself without feeling like an idiot, wondering if you should stick to a script or wing it, and double-guessing whether anyone really cares to hear what you have to say, but on top of that, just getting the damned thing straight in the least number of takes possible is just hard. I have new-found respect for all those who do it on a weekly basis and make it seem so easy.

[Miami Daily Photo] Steping Onto the City

2006-05-24T22:39:00.000-05:00

One of the things they had at Cuba Nostalgia was a large map of the city of Havana as it looked in 1953. It was actually one of the highlights of the show, as pretty much everyone went by it so they could find their street from before they left Cuba. My Mother-in-law was able to show us where it was she lived, almost down to the lot.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/24/2006 11:34:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Icon

2006-05-23T22:52:00.000-05:00

Took this pic at the Cuba Nostalgia show, where as you can probably imagine, Ernesto "Che" Guevara is not exactly the most loved of people. The word is a play on the Spanish for assassin, replacing a syllable with the Che's name, and it speaks loud and clear to how the Cuban exile community feels about this man, who for some reason, many other people in the world revere. This is as quintessentially Miami as our beaches or the Everglades.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/23/2006 11:24:00 PM

[Destination: Earth Travel Blog] Another Change to the Face of Europe

2006-05-23T11:49:00.000-05:00

From CSMonitor.com:

Another new country for Europe
Montenegro voted to break from Serbia, with 55.4 percent in favor

The joyful fireworks and street parties that exploded in the streets of Podgorica on Sunday night, as Montenegrins celebrated a vote in favor of independence, found few echoes Monday in other European capitals.

Read the full article here.

Though the EU government is not exactly happy with this new development, I kinda like the idea of having another new nation go independent and add to the tapestry that is Europe. Though I understand why the Eurocrats are meeting the news of Montenegro's independence with tepid resignation--this would mean yet another mini state (only 650,000 inhabitants!) that the EU must contend with politically as if it were a France or a Germany--I am glad that these former Soviet-block nations are coming into their own. For example, I never considered Yugoslavia "Europe;" it was just Russia on the Adriatic. But as independent nations, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and now Montenegro (as well as Serbia), all stretch the borders of what Europe is a lot further east, opening the doors to tourists worldwide to come and experience a new side of Europe, a Europe that is coming into its own, rebuilding and growing with the enthusiasm of a child let loose. The larger, established members of the EU have a duty to act as mentors and make sure these child-like energies are channeled correctly, but also to welcome and embrace these younger cousins, remembering the periods in their past when they, too, found themselves emerging as their own nations.

One thing is for certain, this World Cup will be the last one for the Serbia & Montenegro team. We'll see how they perform once the games begin on June 9.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Destination: Earth Travel Blog at 5/23/2006 12:41:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Cuba Nostalgia

2006-05-22T20:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to the Cuba Nostalgia fair, a yearly event where the Cuba of yesterday is both remembered and celebrated. There was music, food, vendors, memorabilia, food, guests, food, artists and food. It was a really cool event, especially for me as a Puerto Rican married to a Cuban American girl, thus married into a Cuban family, as I got to see and experience a little bit of the Cuba that existed before Fidel screwed it up, the Cuba that my parents-in-law had to escape and can never regain.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/22/2006 09:24:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Lazy Sunday

2006-05-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

Just a lazy Sunday afternoon (for a change) in Miami Beach.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/21/2006 11:05:00 PM

[Destination: Earth Travel Blog] New Ways to Fly

2006-05-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

In the past week Airbus took on its maiden flight their new A380 jet, the world's biggest passenger jet ever made. The new Airbus A380 has two internal decks for passengers, and can carry up to 555 people in separate classes or up to 800 in an all-economy configuration. Airbus has stated that 159 orders for the new jet have been received, and Singapore Airlines will be the first to take the jet on a commercial flight on its Sydney-Singapore-London route.

This new plane is huge, and Heathrow Airport has already rigged one of their gates to handle the A380's double deck configuration. Perhaps this will mean lower air fares? One can hope! Check out some pics of the Airbus flying over England taken by regular folk on the steets.

And on another rather strange concept from Airbus, who seems to be bent on pushing the envelope as far as passenger jets go, we get the standing-room only airplane. It seems Airbus has been pitching this idea to the Asian carriers first, though none seems to have gone for it (yet). The idea is that instead of seats, you get these recliner platforms to which you are strapped. I can somewhat see the advantage, but I'm far from convinced. What I truly wonder is, will you still be able to recline those 3/4 inch, and will is still make no difference? More at the New York Times.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Destination: Earth Travel Blog at 5/21/2006 01:38:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] 94th Aero Squadron

2006-05-20T23:25:00.000-05:00

Located across Miami Internationa Airport, the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant is housed inside a large wooden building decorated in World War I and II memorabilia, such as authentic (and decommissioned) trucks, abulances, machine gun emplacements and this plane (don't know what kind). The coolest thing about the restaurant is the restaurant-long glass wall that allows you to see airplanes landing and taking off at the airport, right across the street.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/21/2006 12:11:00 AM

[Miami Daily Photo] Have It Your Way

2006-05-19T16:08:00.000-05:00

For a very mundane shot today, here is the world corporate headquarters of Burger King, located right across from Miami International Airport. Back when I used to eat fast food, BK was certainly at the top for me. Today, they're just the company with the creepy King.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/19/2006 04:56:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Sidewalk Graffiti

2006-05-18T23:12:00.000-05:00

I had been looking around Miami for graffiti to photograph without much success when I arrived at my apartment and saw this drawn in chalk on the sidewalk by my 7 or 8-year-old neighbor. Hey, it counts!

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/18/2006 11:09:00 PM

Evolution of Dance

2006-05-18T14:40:00.000-05:00

Everyone should check out this video and cower at the recognition of how many of those they have actually done in the past or (gasp) still do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg

[Miami Daily Photo] Nightime Pickup

2006-05-18T08:12:00.000-05:00

I had to go pick up my wife at the airport earlier this evening, and I took this pic from the roof of the multilevel parking garage. It was the contrast of the various levels that called my attention (not to mention the big traffic jam I had avoided simply by paying to park).

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/17/2006 10:47:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Broken Pier

2006-05-16T18:51:00.000-05:00

This is at the Pelican Harbor Marina, same place where The Fin Project is installed. Originally you could walk out to the pier, but the walkway was destroyed during last year's hurricanes.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/16/2006 07:44:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Lag B'Omer

2006-05-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

Tonight starts the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer (literally, the 33rd day of the Omer), when Jews celebrate, among other things, the yartzeit (anniversary of death) of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a Second Temple-era scholar, and traditionally known as the author of the Zohar, the most sacred book of Jewish Mysticism or Kabbalah. We celebrate by lighting bonfires and by general merrymaking, precisely what we did at my synagogue earlier tonight, where I took this pic. I just love the color of those flames.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/15/2006 11:25:00 PM

[Miami Daily Photo] Happy Mothers' Day

2006-05-14T17:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Mothers' Day to all the mothers of the world, including this busy one, above. Pic taken at Fuch's Park in south Miami.

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Posted by Daniel M. Perez to Miami Daily Photo at 5/14/2006 06:51:00 PM

Things Back To "Normal" In Puerto Rico

2006-05-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

From the AP: Puerto Rico Ends Government Budget Crisis

Well, it seems that finally things have been worked out in Puerto Rico and that there will be a semblance of normality back by Monday. A $741 million dollar loan has been approved, with repayment funds to come from various sources, including a yet-to-be-determined sales tax, the first overt one for the island (we normally pay an import tax and something akin to a Value Added Tax that is already added to an item's price, with few things avoiding it, such as books and other material with pre-printed prices).

It is an unfortunate truth that, in order for this solution to be reached, an independent panel had to be set up to break the stalemate of the two main political parties (we have a third one, but they really don't play that big a part). There was even a hint of a threat by the president of the main oppossition party that the Legislature was under no obligation to honor whatever solution was reached by the panel (this a day after stating for all the news cameras the exact opposite).

At least my Mom, along with 95,000+ public employees will be able to go back to work on Monday, and will indeed get paid their salary for the time they were out. Unfortunately, I still don't think things will be much better in the near future, nor that the administration will be able to avoid this fiasco from repeating itself next year, so I am urging my Mother to continue with her plans to move to Orlando, along with my sister and nephew, where they will be able to earn almost 1/3 more than what they earn right now doing exactly the same thing, with the added bonus of having the family together again (it is a lot easier, after all, to drive 4 hours to Orlando from Miami than to fly 2 1/2 to Puerto Rico).

The damage to my island, however, is done, and I don't know if there is any damage control that can take care of it. These shameful news have been broadcast worldwide, and that will impact our tourism industry, one of the (if not the) biggest sources of income for the island. ModernAgent.com (a news site for Travel Agents & Suppliers) reported that the tourism industry in the island was strong, despite the shutdown, though they make no mention of the ports having been blocked by a protest earlier this week, or the fact that the president of the Hotel and Tourism Association said that at least 20% of reservations had been cancelled due to the government shutdown. To that you can add the sudden and sharp decrease in the spending patterns of Puerto Ricans, who basically cut off all non-essentials from their shopping lists (and you need to understand, we are a nation of spenders), thus decreasing the amount of sales, which in turn decreased the operational budgets of many stores. To give a concrete example, my sister, who works retail at a women's accessory store, went from 40 hours/week to 20 hours this past week. That's a full one-half of her income right there, and she's not the only one I have spoken to in the same situation. And this in just two weeks! I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if this situation had gone on for a month or more.

I'm glad a solution was reached, but I am not confident enough anymore to trust the government of the island to take care of my family.

LOST? You Betcha.

2006-05-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

At the risk of lowering my Geek Cred Rating, I had never seen Lost, ever. Well, actually, I had; I saw the Pilot-1 and never turned back again. The show just completely failed to grab me on that first episode; I felt bored halfway through and was just not buying the whole scenario. Mind you, this was almost at the end of Season 1, after I had been sick of hearing everyone and their mother sing the praises of the show. Whenever people wanted me to give the show another try, I'd dismiss them with, "Maybe once I can see the whole season back-to-back it'll make sense." My friend Josh called me on it, and lent me the Season 1 DVD set after he was finished hooking his wife up on the show as well.

I'd had the set for about three months and kept putting it off; I mean, have you see the size of the box? But since last week my wife has been working late completing a project, so I broke down and popped the DVD in the player, to give the show a second chance. Originally I was going to write this two days ago, when all I had seen was disc 1, the first 4 episodes, but yesterday I got through till ep. 8 (Confidence Man). The verdict?

Hung, to be honest. I have not become a rabid fan as of yet, but I am certainly intrigued by the mystery of the island. Unfortunately I know some stuff from season 2 simply from hanging out with friends and from blogs and forums I frequent that take away some of the mystery of the discoveries in season 1, though I am still intrigued in how those things get to happen.

The show so far is very reminiscent of another cult classic, (and an underappreciated, and undercredited, show) Twin Peaks, in how the story is about a mystery that unfolds through flashbacks (the murder of Laura Palmer and the events that lead to it, including the prequel movie, Fire, Walk With Me), mixes apparent supernatural stuff into an otherwise mundane situation (the lodges, the Little Man from Another Place, the giant, the owls, etc.), and in how it utilizes metareferences in order to enhance the in-show experience (Welcome to Twin Peaks guide, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer novel, etc.). Of course, Twin Peaks did it some 15 years ago, and I've yet to see any show that comes even close to matching the sheer brilliance of the concept and execution (though we do need to ignore a good part in the middle of season 2). I digress, however.

I will give this to Lost: I want to keep on watching now. Even with the stuff I know from season 2, the mystery is still there, and I want to be able to catch up so I can be on par with most others out there (and so that everytime I do a search on Lost I don't have to skip over so much of the content) and see what else comes out of it. Will I watch the weekly episodes? Too early to tell, but I'll be awaiting the DVDs of season 2.

My First Wikipedia Article

2006-05-09T21:29:00.000-05:00

While posting my Miami Daily Photo, I found that Wikipedia did not have an article on The Barnacle Historic State Park in Coconut Grove, so I created it! Click below to see my first Wikipedia article:

Wikipedia: "Barnacle Historic State Park"

There isn't much beyond the basic info from the official site, but I'll add more text later. The picture is mine, however, and I have released it into the Public Domain.

Pretty cool! Until this point I had yet to find a hole in Wikipedia's knowledge base.

A Visit To The Barnacle

2006-05-07T19:57:00.000-05:00

Today was an anomaly: by 1:00 PM my wife and I were done with all the chores we had to do today and had the rest of the afternoon free of any other engagement. The day was beautiful, the temperature in the high 80's and a killer breeze was flowing in from the east, so we got in the car (we got my father-in-law's Lexus 330 for the weekend, since he's out of town) and started driving, determined to go somewhere, anywhere.

We took Biscayne Blvd. (US 1) to Downtown Miami, and kept going south until we reached Coconut Grove. We hadn't been to the Grove in almost a year, and as we looked around at all the changes that have taken pladce, we suddenly remembered there was one place right in the Grove that we had been wdanting to visit, The Barnacle Historic State Park. For the last 10 years that we had been visiting the Grove we had seen the sign to the Barnacle, but never really knew what it was cause it was always closed at the times we hung out at the Grove.

The Barnacle is a 115-year old house in the heart of Old Miami, right in front of Biscayne Bay, the oldest house in Miami-Dade still standing on its original site. It was built by Commodore Ralph Munroe, a New Yorker who moved down to the Miami he had fallen in love with in 1877 for the sake of the woman he loved. His wife had contracted tuberculosis and though the hotter climate helped her somewhat, she died in 1881. Monroe returned the year after and opened a hotel on Biscayne Bay, and in 1886 he purchased 40 acres of bayfront property for $400. In 1891 his house was completed, a one-story, solid wood, octagonal structure which he called the Barnacle. In 1908 the whole structure was raised and a new first floor was inserted underneath in order to accomodate the Commodore's new family with his second wife, Miss Jessie Wirth.

The house has since stood on the same spot, seeing Miami grow, withstanding hurricane after hurricane, including the two most disastrous storms to hit Miami, the 1926 hurricane and Andrew in 1992.

Munroe displayed an incredible foresight more than 100 years ago as well. The Barnacle stood in the middle of the original Miami Hammock, and Munroe only cut a path wide enough for one vehicle in order to preserve the most of the natural habitat as possible. Today, with only 5 acres of the property's original 40 remaining a part of the park, the Barnacle remains one of the few (if not the only) places where the original hammock remains.

The house is incredibly beautiful, too. It is an airy structure with large windows that let in a great amount of light and a wonderful breeze. The first floor is the public area of the house: the living room, the dining room, kitchen and study.

A staircase leads up to the second floor, the original octagonal structure, where bedrooms radiate in all directions. The rooms have been refurbished to show how they looked in the early 1900's, including a baby carriage, baby walker, sowing machine and of course, the beds and dressers.

A large skylight in the middle of the octagon lets the sun shine gloriously inside the house.

As you look east, out the door that once welcomed everyone into the house, you catch a glimpse of the azure waters of Biscayne Bay and can fully understand how the Munroes fell in love with this house and with this city.

If the house is great, the grounds are simply amazing. The front porch overlooks a long, clear avenue of grass leading to the boathouse and the bay waters.

A dried-out coral well stands to one side, once a gate to a fresh water acquifer underneath the house, now a home to spiders and crawling vines.

A winding path leads down to the water where one can see a replica of one of Munroe's original yatch designs moored in a small inlet flanked by patches of mangrove. In the distance you can see the islands of Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach just over the horizon.

We had a most wonderful day, and left once again amazed at the amount of history that hides in this city that so many simply dismiss as a party central, and incredibly glad that we had become part of that history.

Cold War: Would This Be A Remake Or A Sequel?

2006-05-05T11:33:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! News - Russian Media Warn of New Cold War:
A Russian newspaper said Friday that Vice President Dick Cheney's harsh criticism of Moscow's human rights record signaled the start of a new Cold War.
Read more.

Oh, yay! Does that mean now we can go back to having an actual and obvious enemy?

I'll give you a moment to wipe that driping sarcasm from your screen.

You know, it's not that I agree 100% with what the Russians (and by that I mean Putin, aka. Dobbie) have been doing lately, what with their flagrant violations of human rights and freedoms, and their slow but steady de-evolment back to the good ole days of the USSR, but you gotta wonder about the White House's tactics! Seriously, we need to stop sending out these freakin' Republicans out into the world to represent our views before we have the absolute rest of the world, even freakin' Lichstenstein, against us! I mean, come on, Diplomacy is not just a skill in the d20 System.

What's really sad is that I actually see a behind-the-scenes reason for doing this (you can blame GMSkarka for keeping me so up to date via his blog that I can actually start to imagine plausible conspiracies, not just the cool, literary ones), and it has everything to do with my very first comment after the quote, above. We are currently fighting a war against a faceless enemy, which is why it is so important to keep Bin Laden and Alsarkawi (sp, I don't feel like checking to see if it's correctly spelled) as the "faces" of terrorism. That [insert your favorite cunning expletive here] in Iran is in the running for absconding the top spot, but historically, we never did so well as when we had the Russians as our antagonists back during the days of the Cold War. Does this mean that soon we'll have to add a "I" at the end?

Is 2008 here yet? G-d help us till then.

No More Sieges For You!

2006-05-03T14:40:00.000-05:00

From (my own) Destination: Earth Travel Blog: "No More Sieges ForYou"

London's Heathrow Airport recently released a new set of "enhancements to security procedures." Among these are common sense measures such as advising travelers to check in as much luggage as possible, and going to security as soon as possible after checking in. They also list things that can speed up the security check process, such as removing any sharp objects, removing laptop computers from their cases and removing any overcoats, among others.

To help travelers even more, they include packing tips, listing items that should not be in your hand baggage lest they be removed if discovered. The list includes obvious candidates like scissors (except where both blades are round-ended or less than three centimetres), razor blades (except those set in a plastic moulding), and knives with blades of any length, but then they go to list other less obvious items, such as household cutlery (including large spoons/tablespoons, though small teaspoons are ok), walking/hiking sticks (how big is your handbag?) and, my personal favorite: Catapults.
Yes, folks, that's correct, you cannot take your catapults in your handbags at Heathrow. If you want to lay siege to a city, you must check your catapults in your hold baggage. Weirdly enough, Heathrow does not make any mention about packing ballistae or trebuchets in your hand baggage, so you may still have a chance to pull off that siege you were planning.
Now, of course I'm being facetious, as I know that in American English what they mean is a slingshot, but just the thought, the mental image, of someone trying to put a catapult into their handbag, and often enough so that Heathrow Airport would have to specify it by name in their security enhancement, makes me laugh.
You can see the new security enhancements at Heathrow Airport here.

Living With A Gamer

2006-05-02T11:41:00.000-05:00

From Dork Tower. There is so much truth in this. :-)
(click on it to see it larger)

Protests To The Left Of Me, Protests To The Right Of Me

2006-05-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

May 1 has been designated as official protest day, and there are two big ones I am keeping an eye on.

First one is in Puerto Rico, where 45 government agencies shut down today due to lack of funds to bankroll them for the last 2 months of the fiscal year. That means that, officially, as of this morning, my mother, a teacher of 14 years, is unemployed and will not get paid her next four checks. That is the case of an estimated 95,000 public employees, of which 40,000 constitute the entire Dept. of Education.

See those people below? They're teachers awaiting their last paycheck along with a letter stating they are unemployed with which they will be able to apply for Unemployment and possibly Food Stamps.

The whole government body--Governor, Senators and Representants--should hang their head in shame for allowing this travesty. They are all equally at fault here, and now the people are paying the price. Shame on you (trust me, I want to say stronger stuff, but I'll keep it PG).

The other protests (cause they're more than one) are those going on in support of the immigrants in the US and against the proposed immigration reforms. I'm going to save my opinion on the whole immigration bru-ha-ha for a later time, though I will say this: I think that everyone in this country of ours should remember and keep very much in mind what is written on the sign below: The USA was founded by immigrants. I feel a large number of people in the US conveniently forget about that.

A Room Of Man's Own

2006-04-30T10:48:00.000-05:00

MiamiHerald.com 04/23/2006 No girls allowed: Men are staking out their own spaces in their homes, with a bit of style

ManCamp: Gotta love that name. I'm not into football or fishing, but I love the idea of a space of my own. Alas, in a small 1-bedroom apt in Miami Beach that is nigh impossible, as even the "office" space we have is really more a storage for all the stuff we have that doesn't fit anywhere else and home to our rabbit (to be fair, however, his little corner is not that big a deal, though his fur flying all over the place is).

I had been actually thinking about this over the last week or so, because I had been trying to envision my ideal home office. First of all, it would have all our books, including all my gaming books, with ample space to expand our collection. On the wall, I'd want a World Map, ideally an Antique World Map along with a modern World Map, though if I'm strapped for wall space (due to all the bookcases), then I'd go for an Antique-style Modern World Map. I'd also want a small desk world globe, just because they are cool and I can pretend that I'm a student at the school of Henry the Navigator or something like that.

In order to have a desk globe I need a desk, but since I have a laptop, a small desk would do, just so I can have a place to spread papers and stack up books that I then forget to put back on the bookcase until I have so much clutter I just go use my computer in the dining room. For my desk, I'd have a multipurpose all-in-one printer/fax/copier/coffee-maker, with a nice, not-too-big chair. Scatter assorted tchotchkes that speak of my interests (like this, or this, for example) and you have a place that I can call my own.

I can dream. :)

The Great Splash of 2006?

2006-04-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday in the evening, my wife accidentally spilled a cup of water on the corner of her laptop. She dried it up pretty quickly, but the system now won't boot up. I opened it and took out the hard disk and found that, indeed, some water seemed to have gotten inside it. We let it dry overnight, but alas, as of this post, the hard disk is not spinning (it makes a sound like it wants to, but it doesn't and the computer shuts down), thus the computer can't boot up.

It turns out she had a pretty good backup of her writings (my wife, like me, is a writer), but pretty much all else is in that hard disk and we don't know what to do. She has a Dell Inspiron 1200, and it seems that model has been discontinued, so I can't get any info on their site about such a problem. It is also out of warranty, so even the call to ask what can be done will cost me up to $50. I'm sure I can find a replacement hard drive online for a good price, so that's not my concern; it's how to recover all that data that has us both worried.

I may have to bite the bullet and call Dell, see what they tell us, and worse yet, may have to go with a data recovery specialist, and that's not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

I once lost all my data in the Great Crash of 2002 and I know how much it hurts. Could we be witnessing the beginning of the Great Splash of 2006? I hope not.

More News On Puerto Rico

2006-04-30T01:03:00.000-05:00

Found some articles in English about the situation in Puerto Rico. They're not very comprehensive, but they do give good info to get the gist of things. These are all from the Miami Herald.

April 27, 2006: Governor says Puerto Rico on verge of shutting down
April 28, 2006: Lawmakers try to avert a government shutdown
April 29, 2006: Puerto Rico boils as shutdown nears

Problems In Paradise

2006-04-28T13:29:00.000-05:00

My homeland of Puerto Rico is going through some really serious times at the moment.

Following Puerto Rican politics is a full-time job for anyone, so I won't try to give you the whole picture because it's just damn near impossible. Suffice to say that the island is now reaping the result of years and years of political bullshit from all three parties and from at least three different administrations.

The short of it all is this: the government has run out of money.

I'll let that one sink in.

Yes, I said that right, the government has run out of money, at least for this year until the new fiscal year begins in July. The deficit is such that all public agencies, save for some essential ones like law-enforcement, health, and utilities, will cease operations as of May 1, including the entire Dept. of Education, the largest government entity in the island, to which my Mother, as a public school teacher, belongs to. There is simply not enough money to cover the payroll for May and June, so schools are all closing as of today, Friday, as if it was the end of the school year. It is unclear whether my Mother, and all other Dept. of Education employees, will have a job to go back to before the summer is over.

Of course, there is a solution on the table: a $500+ million dollar loan to cover the deficit and to be paid by an increased 7% sales tax (on top of the 7% already paid). The governor wants the loan, the Legislature (the majority of which belongs to the opposing party of the governor) does not want to approve it, thus the empass, thus the big problem. They have until Sunday to approve the loan and patch up the crisis until the new fiscal year, but that's all it is, a patch. Either way, the people are screwed, I'm afraid: they either end up without pay for 2 months and possibly without jobs, or they end up with an effective 14% sales tax and no increase in salaries for the forseable future.

It sounds ridiculous, I know. A whole state (for basically that's what we function as) without money to run its public operations? Get outta here! And it may be that indeed it is all a political maneuvre (I wouldn't put it above the main players involved), but as of right now, it is a fast-approaching reality, and the people are fed up.

There was a march today on the Capitol (see above) to protest the whole situation and to voice the discontent of the nation. This isn't something that can be easily blamed on one party and not the others; this is all their collective fault, and ours as well for voting them blindly into power, for allowing each of them to do as they please and justifying their actions only because they are from the party we favor, for remaining silent until it was too late.

I'll be keeping an eye out during the weekend to see how things develop, but the truth is that both my sister (in Orlando) and I are making plans to get our Mother, sister and nephew to move to Florida (probably to Orlando, or as we call it, little Puerto Rico). We all love the island with our lives, truly, but there has to be a point after which we draw the line.

El Nuevo Dia (the local newspaper) has a whole section on their site with all the news relating to the issue:

Endi.com: Puerto Rico en la Encrucijada (All in Spanish)

[HMP] MonkeyGod Presents: The Maze of Screaming Silence now available

2006-04-25T10:27:00.000-05:00

Highmoon Media Productions and MonkeyGod Enterprises present The Maze of Screaming Silence. Now for sale at RPGnow.com and ENGS.

High up in the mountains called the Wall of the World, where the air grows scarce and the dome of the sky draws close, one may find the cruel and mysterious Empire of Yagga Kong. The Yagga Kong rule a vast domain of gorges, crags, deep hidden valleys and desolate plateaus. It is said that they worship death and keep the bodies of their ancestors in their homes with them. They know many horrible secrets, use diabolical machines and fiendishly potent sorceries. No one really knows why they are so cruel. Perhaps the thin air and cold has driven them mad or perhaps it is the crazed Worm-Gods they revere.

The "City of the Damned" (it has no real name) sprawls at the feet of the Yagga-Kong's most remote outpost, the so-called Last Redoubt. The City has no real economy. It produces nothing and lives like a parasite on the skin of the Last Redoubt. For hundreds of years the Yagga Kong have offered a handsome reward to anyone who can enter the Labyrinth and emerge again alive. Every generation or so, someone lives to claim it. The Yagga Kong's motives for doing this are unclear-apart from cruel whimsy. Perhaps the Thing in the Labyrinth might get hungry if they didn't supply it with victims and the contest is the cheapest way of providing it with the sustenance and entertainment it craves.

Can you brave the Maze of Screaming Silence? Then come walk the crooked streets of the City of the Damned.

The Maze of Screaming Silence is a d20 Adventure and City Sourcebook for 3rd to 4th Level Characters. Written by: James Thomson; Cover and Artwork by: William O'Connor; Pages: 110, Fully Bookmarked.

WARNING: This book is intended for Mature Audiences only, due to its graphic violent content. Readers' discretion is advised.

Now for sale at RPGnow.com and ENGS.

Our first Mature title. Should we celebrate?
Please heed the warning, though. When James Thomson wrote this for MonkeyGod in 2002, there was a small bru-ha-ha over whether it should be published or not due to its ultra-graphic depiction of evil in the realm of the Yagga-Kong. In the end it was published, obviously, and it was a good seller, a trend I expect will continue on PDF. To get an idea of what to expect, take a look at one of the reviews available at ENWorld. Enjoy!

Four Answers Meme

2006-04-24T09:54:00.000-05:00

Got tagged with this meme by email, but I'm taking it to the blog world.
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Just answer each question with the appropriate four answers.

A. Four jobs you have had in your life.

Bag boy
RPG Retail Clerk
Music Retail Clerk
Desk Monkey (aka. Office Manager)

B. Four movies you could watch over and over again.

C. Four places you have lived.

San Juan, PR
Carolina, PR
Kendall, FL
Miami Beach, FL

D. Four TV shows you love to watch.

Grey's Anatomy
House
The Amazing Race
Survivor

E. Four places you have been on vacation.

Paris (2005)
Ireland (2002)
New York City (link to 2003, but quite a few times)
All across Europe (2001)

F. Four web sites you visit daily (or most often).

Yahoo Mail
Google Mail
ENWorld.org
RPGNow.com

G. Four of your favorite foods.

Pizza
Rice and Beans (red and/or black)
Vaca Frita (made by Marta, my mom-in-law)
Mustard Salmon (original recipe by Yvette, my wife)

H. Four places you'd rather be right now (and how!).

Israel
Ireland
Paris
Venice

I. Four of your favorite things to do.

Read
Write
Work on my websites
Dream

J. Four of your favorite drinks (alcoholic or non . . . anything)

Quik
Guiness
Coke
Orange Juice

K. Four people you are tagging with this meme (or, that's what you get for reading this blog).

Enjoy!

HMP's Top 10 Sellers - 1st Quarter 2006

2006-04-21T14:13:00.000-05:00

I got curious after seeing similar threads at EN World's Industry Forums, so I decided to take a look and compile Highmoon Media Productions' 1st Quarter 2006 Top 10 in sales:

MonkeyGod Presents: Hellstone Deep
Liber Sodalitas: Erzsak's Drake Riders
Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path
MonkeyGod Presents: Black Ice Well
MonkeyGod Presents: From Stone to Steel
Bardic Lore: Ogham
Liber Sodalitas: Scions of the Holy Triad
Bardic Lore: The Fachan
Bardic Lore: The Villa of Mysteries
MonkeyGod Presents: All The King's Men

Strictly speaking, the list should be a little longer, as various of these titles actually share a spot with the same number of sales (in which case they got listed in alphabetical order). Hellstone Deep has been a great surprise, being a consistent good seller month after month (which is funny, because we hear that people don't want adventures, and yet 3 of the top 10 are, and that's not counting the rest of my catalog, which is overwhemingly adventures!). Original lines Liber Sodalitas and Bardic Lore enjoyed a resurgence this quarter due to new releases and a couple of promotions, outselling in a very short time heavy-hitters such as From Stone to Steel and Frost & Fur (though make no mistake, those titles are as evergreen as they come). All in all, I am happy with my 1st quarter sales, though I admit they could be better, something I will work towards now in the 2nd quarter.

My(Necromancer)Space

2006-04-21T14:10:00.000-05:00

I have decided to refer to MySpace as NecromancerSpace from now on, due to the amount of people who have reappeared from the dead while we have been using it. Most of these resurrectees are actually a great thing we have come upon them as again, but there have been a few here and there that one wishes the Necromantic powers of MySpace would have left resting. I mean, seriously.

Save A Bunny From Easter

2006-04-16T08:49:00.000-05:00

Please people, spread the word: EASTER AND BUNNIES DO NOT MIX!

You want a bunny for Easter? Get one made of chocolate or stuffed with cotton. Leave real ones alone unless you are ready for an 8-10 year commitment. My wife and I have had 4 rabbits in the last 9 years, and 3 have been rescued bunnies, 99.9% dumped on the streets after Easter by people who were too dumb to realize what it means to care for a rabbit.

Spread the word.

Happy Passover!

2006-04-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

Passover starts tonight, so I'll be offline for the next two days as we proceed to stuff ourselves with two back-to-back seders full of yummy food and featuring the main item of this holiday, matzah!

Happy Passover, and may we all celebrate it, hopefully this year, if not the next, in Jerusalem.

Religious Conspiracy Buffs - Rejoice!

2006-04-06T11:44:00.000-05:00

The net is awash in articles about this news: The Gospel of Judas has been found, restored, translated and released. This long-sought text details a conversation between Jesus and Judas in which Jesus asks Judas to betray him as part of a Mystery shared only by both teacher and student.

A few links:

'Gospel of Judas' Surfaces After 1,700 Years - NY Times (Requires registration)
Did Jesus Ask Judas to Betray Him? - ABC News
The Lost Gospel - National Geographic
Gospel of Judas Google News search result

National Geographic will be playing a new show, The Gospel of Judas, on Sunday, April 9, at 8 PM EST (and I'm sure quite a few times afterwards), and at their site, you can download a PDF of the coptic transcription of the codex (not that most of us can read coptic, but it's cool nonetheless). Also, ABC's Primetime and Nightline will be reporting the news tonight (Thursday) at 10 PM and 11:35 PM EST respectively.

So, what does this all mean? At least that things are about to get very interesting in the Christian world. Though undoubtedly the Christian establishment will reject the new Gnostic gospel, it nevertheless raises some very hard and interesting questions about the established account of Jesus' last few days. According to this new account, in which Jesus actually asks Judas for the act for which the man has been condemned for some two millenia, turns the whole characterization on its ears, putting Judah not as a betrayer, but as Jesus' closest disciple, the one with whom the teacher shares a gnostic mystery by the uttering of the words, "you will sacrifice the man that clothes me," referring to the act that will liberate Jesus from his physical flesh.

So what does this mean to me? I'm not Christian, so ultimately it means nothing beyond the historical importance of such documents. However, I grew up as a Catholic, and my family is still Catholic, so there is some sort of interest in such a story. While I was still a (if only nominal) Catholic, I always felt the establishment was way too rigid and had lost some of the essential message of the Rabbi from Nazareth. Much later on, after I had begun my journey into Judaism, I learned about the gnostic tradition, and over the years I have come to realize that the gnostics were perhaps a lot closer to what I consider a truer version of Jesus' message, based especially on the knowledge I have (however small) of Rabbinic teachings of the 2nd Temple Era.

Ultimately the greatest realization this new finding should bring to all is that we do not know everything that happened, and at best, we are trying to decipher the picture by looking only at its shadow. As a Rabbi-Historian I heard a lecture from once said (and this should be a t-shirt), "Lack of proof is not proof of lack." As time goes on we will make new discoveries that will force us to re-evaluate everything we have held as fact for so long, and I truly believe that eventually, that path will lead us towards a better understanding of humanity and of the true nature of G-d, eventually to the time when "He will be One, and His Name will be One."

On a less serious note, though, I am now officially starting the wait for the next Dan Brown-esque writer to mine the new revelations from this gnostic codex for the next blockbuster novel. Maybe Dan Brown himself will write a sequel to The Da Vinci Code based on this.

Solutions

2006-04-02T11:40:00.000-05:00

It seems my last post was read and transmitted, and now a solution is coming down the line. More info later on, but HMP will gain some new life from it.

Confession

2006-03-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

I am a bad publisher. There, I said it.
Why? Because I am, though here are some reasons:

I have six--count them, six--Liber Sodalitas submissions in need of editing and comments to the writers so we can move them down to layout and release. They have been holding for a varied number of days, the latest just some four to five days, the oldest about six weeks.
I have an article that I need to finish for the first issue of Targum Magazine which has been in limbo since about mid-February.
I have another article for the same magazine that needs the descriptions for 3 creatures which is also in limbo at the moment.
I have yet a third article for the magazine that I need to edit, though this one has been in limbo for only a week and a half.
After all those articles are done, I need to get the magazine laid out and released, hopefully before Passover begins, April 12.
I need to upload a number of products to ENGS, DriveThruRPG and e23. At the very least, I need to upload 3 products to ENGS so that the bundle I created can actually go into effect.
I need to finish a Medieval Players Manual adventure that Bret Boyd wrote for us last year, though to be fair to me, the delay is not directly my fault but that of the cartographer, who has disappeared off the face of the Earth. Still, it is my duty to track him down or find a new one, and I haven't.
I think I can stop here, before I embarrass myself even more, though this is by no means a complete list.

I realize that we all have ongoing projects all the time, but that's not my problem. My problem is both a lack of time (in general, you'll see why) and the fact that my attention right now is elsewhere.

As I mentioned before, my wife, our friend and I have started a new company called Destination: Earth Travel Planners, and it is currently #1 on my mind. I have been working on the company website, spending quite a large number of hours emailing/chatting/talking with my two partners, trying to settle down all the details of our services, fees, etc., spending another whole lot of hours scouring the net for travel resources that we can either use to our benefit or mine for ideas, and researching all the details of setting up a partnership plus all that it entails. In short, Travel right now is king supreme in my mind, not RPGs.

I am exhausted, however. I am basically working five jobs and only getting paid for one: there my day job, which is seriously starting to annoy the heck out of me; Highmoon Media Productions, which, I am painfully aware, I have neglected lately, though there are things I still do for it as I can; Destination: Earth, which has me consumed at the moment; the freelance web design I am doing for a company and which I have also neglected horribly (and need to finish between today and tomorrow somehow); and the latest, being the unofficial secretary to my Rabbi and synagogue, a position I seem to have acquired after I did the layout for the Gala Dinner Journal. Add to all that the preparations for Passover, just two weeks away, and you end up with a very tired, very unfocused, me.

I know I will be able to get everything under control, one way or another. For now, though, Destination: Earth does remain my main focus; while I love doing my work through HMP, it is Destination: Earth that I think will get me and my wife ahead, the one with the most realistic (at least in my case, not dissing people like Gareth @ Adamant, or Phil @ Ronin Arts) chance of being a truly successful company.

The boss left to go somewhere or other, so I'm gonna take the opportunity and leave 1/2 hour early. Bye!

Miami Daily Photo Blog

2006-03-22T13:37:00.000-05:00

The Miami Daily Photo blog is now live. Saunter over there and check out a pic a day of Miami as seen through my eyes and camera.

I am totally loving the concept of the Daily Photo blog from around the world! Take a look at the Daily Photo List to the right for a few of the ones I have subscribed to so far.

Back At Last

2006-03-20T15:33:00.000-05:00

The rumors of my demise are greatly exagerated, though not by much for a while there. Now that things have gone back to more or less normal I can come back here to talk.

Pretty much all last week was spent in a half-awake haze where all I did was come to work, go home, then work on the Gala Dinner Journal for my shul. As i had expected, it did entail very late nights every night getting the thing done and then adding everything that had come in during the day, the quantity of which grew as the deadline fast approached. It simply was just easier to wait till 11 pm or so until my Rabbi had sent in everything he was going to send for the night than to start working and having to stop every so often to add this, fix that, or answer this and that. The result, however, was great. I sent in the final print-ready PDF to the printers on Sunday, and Thursday night I saw the results. The journal came out awesome, all bias aside, and everyone was super pleased with the way their ads came out. I even got the chance to sneak one ad in there as well, which brings me to news #2.

My wife, our friend and traveling partner, and I have decided to open up a new Travel business. Well, notcompletely new. I have spoken here before about Destination: Earth, what I wanted to be a Miami-based travel store. Things is, I don't have $100K to open up yet, so what to do in the meantime? Well, we are launching the brand as a Travel Planning service, where we help out people plan out their trips the same way we have planned out each one of our own trips, including our upcoming summer trip to Holland and Belgium. Basically what we do is take your interests, budget and time constrains, and help you plan a great trip based on your individual needs. We also offer the convenience of handling all the boring parts , like booking plane tickets, cars, hotels, etc. for an extra fee each. We are all very excited about this development, and hope that it eventually allows us all to both travel more freely and open the store as I had originally planned.

The other news is that I ran across this blog called Paris Daily Photo, and through it I found a whole community of Daily Photo blogs from across the world. But guess what, none for Miami. So I decided to jump right in and start Miami Daily Photo blog and see what happens. At the very least it will serve as a great promotion spot for Destination: Earth, and if I can show a different side to Miami than South Beach, all the better. The Miami Daily Photo blog launches Wed., March 22, so check it out!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

Happy GM's Day!

2006-03-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to wish all the hardworking Gamemasters out there a Happy GM's Day!

Celebrate by getting our GM's Day Mega Bundle. ;-)

A Worthwhile Gig

2006-03-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

My synagogue will be celebrating its 1st Annual Gala Dinner on March 16, and we'll be having a Journal to commemorate the event. The job of putting together the Journal was assigned by my Rabbi to another congregant who does web design, but he has never done layouts, let alone have the software in his computer. This man (the same one with whom I am starting to do web design, from a couple posts down) came to ask me a few questions about layout. After I realized that he just had no idea what he was doing, I offered to do the job instead, much to his relief (and the printer's, after she realized that she could talk to me in technical terms and I knew what she was talking about). Last night I met with my Rabbi and got all the information I needed to start working on the layout, which I hope to start by Sunday.

I am very excited about this gig. I have a very specific set of skills and to be able to use those in service to my synagogue, my community and G-d is very satisfying. Besides, this would be the first freelance layout job I ever do, so there's that as well.

Now, gotta go home for Shabbat.

Interview - Finale

2006-03-02T14:34:00.000-05:00

Got an email from the company I interviewed with. I was one of the finalists, but they chose to go with another candidate.

I know things happen because they are meant and for a reason, but it still sucks a little. Back to the search, I guess.

And The Dream Gets One Step Closer

2006-03-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

I was just having lunch when there was a knock on the door. It was UPS delivering two envelopes from Rail Europe. Our train tickets for the Benelux have arrived; any five days of unlimited train travel within one month anywhere within Belgium and the Netherlands. Our trip just got one step closer to reality.

HMP Releases Liber Sodalitas: The Pneumaphagoi

2006-03-01T09:29:00.000-05:00

Highmoon Media Productions is proud to present Liber Sodalitas: The Pneumaphagoi.

The Pneumaphagoi, or the Eaters of Spirits, are a loose organization of individuals that share one bizarre common activity: eating ghosts. Learned from ancient texts or from begrudging tutors, the secrets of trapping and consuming spirits yield numerous benefits, and thus appeal to people with a wide variety of motives. For some it is the thrill of consuming an exotic substance, which like all highs is fleeting and ever more elusive; for others it is the power, which quickly fades. The promise of longevity draws some, although the added years can be gray and thin. Others have more noble motives in their quest to destroy the undead, a nobleness that is quickly clouded by the addictive nature of the task. Many are the paths to becoming an Eater, few that lead away.

The Pneumaphagoi is an 11-page PDF detailing a drop-in organization for your d20 Fantasy game, complete with history, tenets, organizational structures, ways of joining, and ready-to-use NPCs. It also includes six new feats, two new spells, two new incantations, and all the necessary rules to bring spirit eating into your campaign along with the possible consequences.

Written by: Scott G. Carter
Artwork by: Nathan Rosario

Available now from RPGnow.com and ENGS

Not too long ago I placed an open call for submission to the Liber Sodalitas line. That very same day, Scott Carter replied to me with an idea for a group of people who ate spirits. I okayed it on the spot. Scott had already written one adventure for us, No Other Gods (our adventure for Testament), as well as a secret project that we have been working on for almost a year, so it was a pleasure to get to work with him once more. Scott is a publisher's/editor's dream freelancer, in that his ideas are great and interesting, and his manuscripts come in with minor need of editing work, which means little time from submission to release.

This organization is simply cool. Scott mentioned he got the idea from a book he read, and thought it would make an interesting new system for fantasy gaming. The use fo feats means most, if not all, characters could have access to it, and the rules are sumple but engaging, driving home the point that eating ghosts and spirits brings power but at a possibly incredibly high cost. What's more, the group can actually work out quite well in a Modern setting as well, so we'll probably be adapting it to release it as part of a possible Modern Sodalitas line of drop-in organizations for Modern-type games.

To top it all off, just today I got another submission from Scott for a Modern mini-setting that brings together two genres that by all means should never, ever, be put in the same room, let alone in the same game. Let's just say that H.P. Lovecraft would be either proud or dead ten times over.

Solar Death Ray

2006-02-23T12:21:00.000-05:00

Behold the Solar Death Ray! Using the power of 112 suns to burn, melt and destroy things.

Be sure to check out the gallery and the sub-divison, the Gravity Death Log.

Interview - The Aftermath

2006-02-22T14:30:00.000-05:00

The interview went really well, at least from my perspective. I met with the firm's other partner (the one's whose name is not the company's) and had a nice chat. We spoke for about half an hour about the position of office manager and what that entails in this company. It's pretty much the usual office stuff, plus the opportunity to help out with the company's main job, that of appraising photographs (for insurance purposes, donation/deductions, etc.). The salary is not what you'd call incredible, but it is certainly better than what I'm making at the moment, so that's good enough for me right now. After a 6-month probational period they have the option to make it into a salaried full-time position with some minor benefits and a small raise. The position has a salary cap, but it does have the opportunity to earn more on the side via the appraisals. We'll see what happens.

On a side note, this was my first interview since becoming a Jew (meaning showing up wearing a kippa and with my full beard, though I left my tzitzit tucked in). For what it's worth, as I imagined, it didn't seem to make any difference.

Interview!

2006-02-20T19:58:00.000-05:00

Just got a call from Penelope Dixon & Associates, one of the places I sent my resume about two weeks ago (see Feb. 7, 2006: Job Hunting), to schedule an interview for this coming Wednesday for their Office Manager position.

I must admit that I am a little freaked out about going on an interview for the first time in 4 years. The position entails the usual office stuff, plus helping out with other duties around the office, as the guy on the phone explained. It would be for a test period of 6 months, 40 hours a week for a per-week fee, with an option at the end of the test period to become a salaried employee.

The way I see it I don't lose anything by going to the interview. The only problems I could forsee are my specific time requirements as an observant Jew and the trip to Holland/Belgium we have coming up in June-July. All I can do is be honest and upfront and let G-d take care of the rest.

Funny thing is that this weekend I finished talking to this man (Yehuda) from our synagogue who runs his own web development/marketing company called Sites That Sell Network. Yehuda runs a small-but-profitable suit that right now is stuck because he can't handle more work. I am also in a test period with him, doing one site ahead so he can get a good handle on my abilities and I can get a good handle on the businesses he does development for.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out now. I like the flexibility that doing at-home web development brings, but I also like the certainty of a regular paycheck. Perhaps I can do both? Not sure; Highmoon would suffer and I'd probably end up with little time to do other things.

I'm not gonna worry about that now. My main concern right now is finding a place where I can have one of my nice dress shirts dry-cleaned in one day.

My Space

2006-02-18T21:39:00.000-05:00

I've joined MySpace.com, mainly because I have various friends there. I won't be using it to blog (I like Blogger too much), but I'll use for stuff from time to time.

MySpace - Highmoon

Edit: What I am going to do is mirror my blog over at MySpace

Can We Even Call That A "Mini?"

2006-02-16T00:25:00.000-05:00

From Figures.com and the New York Toy Fair, check out the full spread of D&D Miniatures size categories, as well as a sneak-peek at the Colossal ($75) Red Dragon.

The Unglamorous Side of Publishing

2006-02-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

It is not until you are faced with a difficult submission that you truly and really treasure those writers that give you writeups that you can just give one look and approve.

I've been editing the submissions for Targum magazine and while I was able to do two in one day, I've been stuck for three days now in one adventure (and part 1, no less). The whole thing is not bad, but the whole thing is half in outline style, half in adventure style, and full of repetitive (or redundant) information or grammar errors like sentence fragments, typoes, etc. If it wasn't because I really need it for the magazine, I probably would have returned it. As it is, I'm almost done shaping it into something coherent though I am already dreading doing part 2 for next issue.

Back to it, then.

Matisyahu's New Album

2006-02-15T11:59:00.000-05:00

Matisyahu has a new album, Youth, coming out March 7 and I am psyched about it. This guy is, without a doubt, the best thing happening to music right now, and it's all mind-blowing to me because the guy's a through-and-through Chabad chassid! It's crazy, but there he is, this Chabadnik on national TV, singing his reggae tunes about praising G-d and spreading love and Knowledge of G-d (we call it with the all-encompassing name of Torah) and everyone, Jews and non-Jews, is loving it.

Matis is my role-model for how to spread Torah to the world in a general, unobstrusive way that focuses more on the message than on the source. It is a constant goal in my mind as I work with Highmoon Media, and at the forefront especially these days as I prepare to launch a new line supporting Green Ronin's Testament.

Everyone, check out the Matisyahu Media Player and listen to samples form the new album, Youth, as well as the video for the new studio version of "King Without a Crown." Also check out www.Matisyahu.org and you can hear samples form his debut album, Shake Off the Dust...Arise! You won't regret it.

Bitchin'!

2006-02-13T13:47:00.000-05:00

Now, this is a cool logo!

The Johari Window

2006-02-12T01:02:00.000-05:00

Interesting little gadget. So, head over and let me know:

The Johari Window - Go here and choose 5 or 6 words that, in your opinion, describe me.
http://kevan.org/johari?name=Highmoon

I Had A Dream Last Night

2006-02-11T22:34:00.000-05:00

Quite a strange one, too.

I was observing the action unfold. There was a man, whom I knew to be an Academician. I can only describe him like a professor version of Ebenezer Scrooge, that whole Victorian look, with the small round glasses, and the black graduation-type gown professors still wear in Cambridge or Oxford. This man was incredibly angry, because of an argument he had had with a student, whom had proved him wrong in front of a great number of other professors (a Doctoral dissertation, perhaps?). In his anger, this man started erasing the young student from every single record he could get his hands on: tests, papers, class records, emails, even pictures around the room, using an eraser to simply remove this young man from existence.

Later on in the dream, I was heading to a house (the setting was a street I knew back in Puerto Rico). While in this house, I went to the restroom, and after washing my face, discovered that my face had become malleable, much like a thick candle that's been left near a fire, becoming soft enough to be shaped, but still hard enough to retain the shape given. I tried setting my face back to normal, but there were a few things off; I could tell my left eye was lower than normal, and my forehead was slanted where I had tried to push it back into its regular position. That freaked me out.

Even later on, I had arrived at a store which I was to manage. It had music and books, and people working that I knew from various periods in my life. As I was walking towards the back office, I passed a mirror wall, and looked at my reflection: I was faceless.

I could perceive the world--see, smell, and seemingly talk--but my face was completely featureless. There was a slight depression where my eye sockets would be, but that was it, no eyes, no nose, no mouth. What was weird was that this didn't freak me out (in fact, I was more freaked out about the malleable face than about the no face). I don't really remember much after that.

I know that dreams about a face deal with your self identity, so it would seem that I have issues with my identity dissapearing, but I don't feel like going beyond that. It has been the strangest dream I've had in a while, and trust me, weird dreams are normal for me.