Shakespeare, Future Tech, Celtic Myth and OGL Systems

Our friends Josh & Chris came to visit tonight with their almost two-year old girl, Alexis, and we had a nice dinner to the loud screams of a toddler watching her (current) favorite movie, The Lion King. It's been years since I saw the movie, and it was actually cool to see it again. One thing my wife pointed out, and which I kick myself in the head for having failed to see before (me with the Shakespearean studies specialization), is that Lion King is a retelling of Hamlet, without the crazy Ophelia and but complete with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It made me like the movie a little more, I have to say.

Speaking of Shakespeare, there's another gaming idea I have in my head that I have to, one day, find the time to put to paper. Though there was already an attempt to bring Shakespeare to d20 by LPJ Designs (and with all due respect to LPJ), I don't think it was the best d20 expression of the Bard, not by a long shot. The releases were way too much Cliff's Notes, not enough gaming material. That said, and to be fair, I did enjoy them, even if I still have two more to get (Othello and Romeo & Juliet). I have a distinct idea of how to bring Shakespeare to d20, and perhaps one day I will have a chance to do so (this is also one of those projects that I would not be adverse to sharing with a like-minded, and qualified, partner).

In the gaming arena, lately I have had two major interests in mind. The first has been Future material, especially all the cool mecha stuff that has been released in the last couple of weeks by Ronin Arts and LPJ. I also just picked up The Game Mechanic's Future Player's Companion, which looks very cool so far. This is all because I am currently finishing putting together my own Future line, DaVinci Labs, which I hope will be ready to launch by the first week of September or so. I'm actually very excited about this line, though I'm noticing that currently there is no setting that can take full advantage of my line, along with the material above. BDV's Dawning Star setting has the capability of fitting pretty much anything sci-fi into it somewhere, but it's not the same as having a setting built to take full advantage of a section of rules. LPJ has announced they have a setting in the works called Polymecha (which I think is a weak name for a setting) written by Dawning Star's writer Lee Hammock (who did a great job with Dawning Star), so I guess we'll see what comes down the line.

My other current gaming interest is Celtic Myth, and that's because I've had a couple of ideas for new Bardic Lore releases. Well, that and I've been thinking if it's time to start working on the actual Bardic Lore setting once and for all. Although there are two Celtic themed books in the d20 market, namely Slaine and Celtic Age, I don't think either catches Celtic Myth well. Celtic Age is more historical, and is very good as a reference, though the game material could improve a lot. Slaine, though it evokes very nicely the heroic and magical nature of the sagas, is at the end of the day someone else's setting based roughly on Celtic Myth. I would like the Bardic Lore setting to be more historically-based than Slaine, though less academic than Celtic Age, with a good mixture of historicity and myth, erring on the side of myth and legend (this is one of my personal dichotomies--I love historical gaming, but can't leave the magic behind, though that's a topic for another post). Again, I have a pretty good idea of what I'd like the Bardic Lore setting to be, and a fairly good laundry list of features I'd like to incorporate.

Which leads me to the one big dilemma I face, which OGL system to use? The current Bardic Lore releases are done in default d20, mainly because they are stand-alone and I want them to be as usable by the greatest amount of people as possible, but I'm not 100% convinced that straight-up d20 would be the best choice for my Celtic setting. d20 brings a lot of baggage with it that may not fit very well with a Celtic setting, and may require way more fixing than is worth doing (for example, fixing the druid and bard classes, toning down the magic power and selection, adjusting creatures to account for the adjusted power levels, etc.). My current train of thought is to create a new system out of tidbits of other OGL systems, but I feel that would be counterproductive to the setting, commercially speaking (and as a setting, its already starting with a huge commercial disadvantage), since in effect I'm forcing people to adopt a new OGL system, which many (myself included) are just not inclined or willing to do. The other option is to adapt one of the newer, simpler OGL adaptations of d20 to the setting, adding new rules modules as needed, though leaving it, in essence, something still recognizable as an established rules set. I'm thinking here mainly of True20 or the new system in Iron Heroes (and as a quick aside, my first instinct was to write Iron Lore, a sign that Malhavoc should have just left the original name since they had already managed to successfully implant the brand into the public's mind).

Leaving trademark issues aside, True20 is simple and elegant enough to handle just what I need; its combat is simple, tough and deadly if need be, the magic is potent but not overpowered nor overabundant, and the character creation options allow for great customization of numerous archetypes of history and myth without much fuss. What's more, it supports easy modification via rules modules that can be easily inserted without messing up the greater whole. Iron Heroes has various elements that call my attention, elements I think would mesh great with Celtic myth and all the legendary feats of combat told in the stories, elements that I am pretty sure can be ported over to True20 with little problem to create a more vicious combat-based game that still retains the simplicity of True20's engine.

Did I just convince myself of the solution?

If I do go this way, eventually I'll have to deal with trademark issues, especially since this is not the setting we are submitting to the True20 Setting Search, so that may mean either applying for a license (with associated costs) or releasing it by itself and let word of mouth take care of publicizing the compatibility. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Now, if I can only get these editing projects I have piled up out the door...

Tisha B'Av (Long)

Today is Tisha B’Av in the Jewish calendar, a day which can only be characterized as the National Day of Mourning for the Jewish people. This day marks when both the First and Second Temple were destroyed by the Babylonians and the Romans respectively, not to mention a host of other calamities such as the deadline of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and the start of World War I, the effects of which would lead into the atrocities of the Holocaust. Today, August 14, 2005, we are on the brink of adding a new event to the list of calamities to be remembered on Tisha B’Av: the unilateral pullout from Gaza and the West Bank in Israel.

Slated to officially begin at midnight Monday, August 15/10 of Av, the pullout seeks to remove, peacefully or forcefully, all Israeli settlement residents in the Gaza strip, as well as those in a 300-square mile area of the West Bank, leaving it to the so-called Palestinians¹. This will be an unilateral withdrawal in which the state of Israel will get nothing in return, not even an assurance of peace from Palestinian terrorist organizations (on the contrary, they have been quite upfront that this changes nothing and that this is only the first step). I’m sure that there is some sort of deal done behind the curtain, though not between Israel and the Palestinians, but between Israel and the U.S. I’m forced to wonder, has the Israeli government reached the point where money is more important than people? Without knowing the specifics of any U.S./Israel deal over the pullout, I can only think, “Yes, they have.”

It is not a coincidence that this is all happening on Tisha B’Av and subsequent days. For proof of that, we need only turn to this and last week’s parshah, all of which contain chilly parallels to the situation we now face.

In last week’s parsha, Masei (Numbers 33:1 – 36:13), we read about the travels of the Israelites throughout forty years in the wilderness. Then G-d gives Moses instructions for the Israelites when they cross into the land promised to them and their forefathers, specifically “if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the Land before you, those of them whom you leave shall be pins in your eyes and a surrounding barrier of thorns in your sides, and they will harass you upon the land in which you dwell.” (33:55) The Torah’s words are not only a record of history, but an eternal voice; that command applies to this day, and the fact it was ignored in 1948 and subsequent years is the reason we are at this point today, with these prior inhabitants² being a thorn on our side. We were also commanded not to make any deals with the inhabitants of the Land, and yet here we are, going through years and years of deal-making with these prior inhabitants. It is ironic that when we decide not to make a deal with the inhabitants of the Land, what we do is to give back the Land that was given to our forefathers, Land that is holy and that was won with sweat and blood.

Unfortunately, it is our own fault. In this week’s parsha, Vaetchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11), Moses speaks quite clearly to the Israelites when he tells them what is expected of them, and the consequences if they fail to heed his words. “Now, O Israel, listen to the decrees and to the ordinances that I teach you to perform, so that you may live, and you will come and possess the Land that G-d, the G-d of your forefathers, gives you. You shall observe His decrees and His commandments that I command you this day, so that He will do good to you and to your children after you, and so that He will prolong your days on the Land that G-d, your G-d, gives you, for all the days.” (ibid. 4:1, 40) Moses was quite explicit in his words (and Deuteronomy is entirely Moses’ own words): Obey the commandments G-d has given you, so you will have life and a lengthy stay in the Land. That obviously didn’t happen then (see Judges and Kings and so forth), and is still not happening now, and I honestly believe it is the reason why the land is being given away (actually, I see it more as the Land leaving us).

Please, don’t think for a moment that I am absolving the Israeli government of blame in the matter, because I certainly am not. I believe Sharon has gone crazy, money-hungry, or simply decided to betray every single thing he stood for when he was running for Prime Minister (that or he will dazzle us all with a brilliant political/military maneuver that will shock everyone in the world and makes us say, “Sharon’s got skeeelz!” You can probably tell how much I believe that to be the case). However, there is a larger issue at stake here, and it has to do with this division between secular and religious Jews in Israel, namely the fact that those who call themselves secular Jews are not practicing the Law that is the one thing which makes a Jew a Jew³. Until that happens, we will continue to live through trying times like the pullout which, while Divinely mandated, are the result of our own free will in the matter.

One thousand, nine hundred and thirty-seven years ago, in the year 70 C.E., the Romans were used as an instrument for G-d to destroy the Second Temple. Our sages teach that the reason for the destruction of the Temple was baseless hatred between the Jews; brother hated brother for no particular reason, and numerous groups worked against each other, even helping out the
Romans in order to gain the upper hand (as was the case of the Zealots, who facilitated the entry of Roman forces into Jerusalem). I see the same problem today, where “secular” Jews oppose “religious” Jews basically on principle. To paraphrase the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, there are no “secular” or “religious” (or “orthodox,” “conservative,” or “reform”) Jews—there are just Jews, and we are all children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and we are all called upon to be “a kingdom of kohanim⁴ and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)

As Tisha B’Av comes to a close, I feel and weep for the settlers of Gaza and the West Bank who are being torn from the Land like weeds from a garden. Any one, especially secular Jews in srael and the world, who agrees with the withdrawal is missing the point of the momentousness of this occasion: we are forfeiting the Land that is our heritage, giving back a gift from G-d Himself. We are setting a precedent for the future, for what is the difference between Gaza and Jerusalem? We have told the world, and G-d, that we don’t care about the Land, and that is the greatest tragedy here.

May G-d help us that a peaceful solution can be found, one in which we retain the Land of our heritage, one in which our gentile cousins, the sons of Ishamel (for what is all this trouble if not a family feud between the sons of Isaac and the sons of Ishmael), find their own home as well, and one in which all His children, the children of Israel, return to His Torah with teshuva, so that Mashiach can finally arrive.

----------------------------

1. Why do I use the term “so-called Palestinians?” Because the term has been a very plastic one for the last couple of centuries, and only recently has it come to denote these Arab peoples living in the territory of Israel. You can check the Wikipedia for a number of definitions of the term “Palestinian,” and you will see that, at a point, even Jews were called such. Though this is now the accepted term for the particular group of Arab peoples (and you can see in the Wikipedia entry that even who is a Palestinian shifts), it is one that I use grudgingly. Before Yasser Arafat, there were no Palestinians, not as we understand it today; it was probably Arafat’s greatest victory to have attached this name to the non-Israeli Arabs in the territory and have cemented in the mind of the world. [Back to text]

2. Though I say “prior inhabitants,” this is an incorrect term. From biblical times onward, there has always been a Jewish presence in Israel; even after the destruction of the two temples, throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, or the Victorian era, always has there been Jews living in the Holy Land, ironically in relative peace with their Arab nomadic neighbors. By the time the state of Israel was established in 1948, Jews had already been living there, some for decades, some for generations. It is not as if the Jews suddenly arrived; they were always there, although in lesser numbers. The Arab people who were in the area of Palestine had no more of a claim to the land than the Jews did, except for one important fact: the Torah, which irrevocably gave the land to the children of Israel. [Back to text]

3. Personally, I think the term “secular Jew” is an oxymoron of the highest caliber. There is no such thing, period. The only reason anyone can call him/herself a Jew is because they are following the Torah, which is the precedent for the Jewish people and sets the rules and regulations of who is Jewish, and who isn’t. If you are not following the Torah, and in fact despise it and don’t want to have anything to do with it, then stop calling yourself a Jew, because you have forfeited that right and privilege. If you want to continue calling yourself a Jew, then start practicing the Torah, even if it’s just a little, for a little is better than nothing, and little by little you will learn and do more. I sincerely believe that the reason all these secular people still identify themselves as Jews is because in their soul they know who they are, and know what they need to do, regardless of how hard they try to hide from it or deny it. You are only a Jew because of the Torah, and without the Torah, you are not a Jew.

In fact, it’s the same thing with the Land of Israel. Our main claim to it is the fact that G-d gave it to us, as shown in the Torah. If you negate the Torah and wish to have only a secular state, you have no right to the land, at least not any more than the Arabs who lived there at the same time as we did. Why do you think that particular plot of land was chosen for the modern state of Israel? Why there, in the middle of a nest of vipers (so to speak) and not somewhere else that could afford more peace and tranquility? It was because that is our ancestral homeland, a direct gift from G-d to the Jewish people. Without the Torah to back our claim to the Land, all Israelis might as well pack up their bags and move out. [Back to text]

4. Though this is usually translated as “priests,” the Artscroll Stone Edition Tanach translates it as “ministers,” using the meaning of the word that denotes that “the entire nation is to be dedicated to leading the world toward an understanding and acceptance of G-d’s mission.” (pg. 181) [Back to text]

On PI Declarations

I posted this email to the OGF-L list this morning (you can follow the ongoing discussion at the OGF-L Archives):

I am writing a Celtic themed product, and using OGC material from Mongoose's Slaine RPG. The PI declaration lists a number of terms they claim as PI, and I have a problem with it. While some of the various terms claimed as PI are certainly unique to the Slaine series, there are others that are part and parcel of Celtic myth and lit.

The following terms all are claimed as PI and also appear in my Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology:
Slaine, Warp Spasm, Tir Nan Og, Fomorian, Red Branch, Fir Bolg, Enech, Cromlech.

Slaine is a character in the early stories. Warp spasms are traced to Cuchulainn, though he wasn't the only hero to become distorted during a rage. Tir Nan Og is the mythical Land of Youth; though the common Irish spelling is Tir na nOg, Tir nan Og (or Tir Nan Og in some cases) is the Scottish Gaelic spelling (as an aside, the book also claims Land of the Young as PI, and while my dictionary lists only Land of Youth or Land of the Ever-Young, I have certainly seen Tir nan Og called Land of the Young in other academic works). Fomorian is the name of a mythic Celtic race, as is Fir Bolg (or its alternate spelling, Firbolg). The Red Branch is an older name for the Ulster cycle, and a popular name for the band of warriors based out of Emain Macha. Enech is the old Irish word for face (as in "saving face" or honor). Cromlech is another Gaelic word (more used in Wales and Cornwall, though not exclusively) for
dolmens.

The only thing I can think of is that I can't use the Slaine universe's interpretation of these terms, but I don't see any way in which they could stop me from using these terms simply as terms; that would be like me claiming as PI Olympus, Achilles and so forth.

Personally I have a mind to simply ignore the PI declaration as it applies to these terms, which have obviously been in use before the Slaine comic or the game, but I wanted to ask for thoughts on the matter.

I am annoyed that I even have to bring this issue up when it comes to terms that are clearly part of the public domain. I am even more annoyed because this is something that I keep seeing pop up in products. This is how I interpret the OGL in regards to PI (and I am not a lawyer):

If a term is part of the public domain, you cannot PI it. You can PI a particular expression of a term, but you cannot claim any term as PI just because.

We have reached a conclusion, backed by Ryan Dancey and Clark Peterson, both people I respect in their understanding of the particularities of the OGL, that claiming those terms as PI is irrelevant as I can draw them from the public domain. I realize I cannot use the Slaine RPG's particular expression of those terms, but they sure as hell can't keep me from naming a character Slaine, from descriving Celtic warp spasms, and having Tir Nan Og (or Tir na nOg, or Tir nan Og) as a location in my product.

It amazes me that we still have problems like this (along with people who do not know how to do the Copyright declaration--Section 15--of the OGL) after five years of dealing with the OGL.

Wonderful Morning - Epilogue

After my absolutely fantastic morning, my day was more or less normal. Work was boring, with just a little higher volume of calls and requests from my boss, but nothing out of the ordinary. The drive home was uneventful except for being stuck in traffic for 20 minutes due to an accident, but those happen every other day or so. I got home and all went well, until about 10 pm.

I was cleaning the kitchen, and proceeded to fill up the sink with hot water mixed with bleach. I left the water running while I went to the living room to see something in the computer. I didn't realize how fast the sink was filling, and suddenly though, "Crap, lemme turn the water off!" So I ran into the kitchen... And slipped in the water that had pooled on the floor, falling--literally--on my ass (and trust me, when you're almost 6 feet, it's a long way down). No, I didn't hurt myself, though I was quite sore in the morning.

The golden finale to it all was when I was looking for my iPod Shuffle so I could drop in there the new podcast episodes I listen to during my commute. I searched for a while, then I remembered that I had left it in the car last night when we arrived at the concert venue, so I went to the car.
The iPod was gone.
I turned the car inside out, called my mother-in-law's house (where I'd stopped before leaving for the concert, the last time I used the iPod), searched the street and my apartment. Then it hit me. When I got my car from the towing place this morning, the alarm was disengaged and the car open.
They stole my iPod at the towing place.
They were quick to point out that they were not responsible for items left in the car, but then again, I wasn't planning on having my car towed this morning, now was I (Sorry, too busy today. How about Sunday, between 10 and 11 am?). So now I am sans iPod, and subject to the horrible South Florida radio.

If you want to help me replace my stolen iPod Shuffle, click below. I only need $100; I really don't need any iPod bigger than the basic Shuffle.

All in all, a very VERY crappy day. I am now going to sleep and hope that that is it.

And Here Goes Bush Again!

Rarely do I get into issues of American politics here, including (and especially) talking about our wonderful Mr. President. This is one of those rare times:

From a post at YNet News:

"Bush: Disengagement will increase Israel's security

U.S. President George W. Bush said Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip will increase its security, in excerpts of an interview broadcast Thursday on Israel TV.

Interviewed at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Bush said, 'The disengagement is, I think, a part of making Israel more secure and peaceful.' (AP)
(08.11.05, 22:48)"

Wow. I never thought my opinion of this guy could sink lower, but there he is, outdoing himself. This is clearly ridiculous. That would be like rewarding Al-Qaeda with New York City after 9/11 so we could have a more secure and peaceful America.

It's so easy to say this kind of crap when you're half a world away in your multi-million dollar ranch.

Wonderful Morning

I'm having the most wonderful morning, and it's not even 9 am yet. Last night we got home around midnight from a Tori Amos concert, and as usual for Miami Beach, there was no parking anywhere near our building. So I did what I usually do, park in the Day Car just around the corner. Normally it's not a problem to park there overnight as long as I get up very early and move the car before their day starts.

Guess what happened this morning...
I completely forgot about moving the car (even though I've been awake since 6 am), and by the time I was leaving for the synangogue at 7:30 am, the car had been towed. To top it all off, my wife lent her car yesterday to her mother, so our usually-available second car was 15 miles away. And to put a cherry on top, to get the car back, I need to pay $170 PLUS have the car's actual owner (that would be my father-in-law, who lives 25 miles south of me) come to the towing company's office. So in less than 2 hours since being awake, I have already lost $170, my composure, and inconvenienced both my in-laws. Peachy!!!

All that and I have yet to do my morning prayers; can't concentrate at the moment.

I see this as a divine slap on the wrist, though. We are in the time leading to Tisha B'Av (lit. 9th of Av), and in this period, especially in the nine days preceding it, we are not supposed to listen to live music, as it is supposed to be a time of mourning and reflection. We bought the tickets to the concert months ago without realizing the concert would be smack in the middle of the nine days. We went, and we enjoyed it, but my gut feeling is that this event is a small disciplinary action, a warning, if you will.

Now, off to get all this taken care of.

WTF Is Wrong!!!

Female circumcision surfaces in Iraq - Yahoo! News

I am so incredibly astonished and angry that such a barbaric and horrible practice as Female Genital Mutilation (Google) is still in practice in this backwater town in Iraq! I mean, this is a practice that has even been condemned by Muslim imams as not being part of the Islamic belief. I don't want to hear it about us having to respect other culture's religious practices because it is not (FGM is a social practice, and I don't care about respecting it identified as such either), despite the misguided interpretation of some passage of other of the Koran. And I don't even want to hear about this being compared to male circumcision, because they are not the same thing, not even close. I am all for tolerance across the board, but then I see things like this and I seriously think about reconsidering my stance.

My favorite part of the article:

When WADI presented the results of its survey in Vienna this spring, Mr. Osten-Sacken recalls, various Iraqi groups accused the group of being an agent of the Israelis.

Man, it didn't take long for Israel to get dragged into the fray and down into the mud. Mind you, the accusation did not stem from claims the study is making up information, rather, "They accused us of publicizing the country's secrets."

I'm just speechless.

Places Visited

Create your own visited states map

As you can see, I've traveled very little within the United States (6 states, 11%). I visited, and now live in, Florida, went to Texas in 1990 for 2 weeks, went to North Carolina and Tennessee in 1988 for a week (summer camp kind of thing in NC, with only a day-long visit to Dollywood in TN--don't ask), visited Winsconsin in 2001 for Gen Con, and gone to New York City 4 times in the last 2 years and counting (my sister-in-law lives there). Now a good friend has moved to North Carolina, so we'll be visiting more. That still leaves a whole lot of states that I have not graced with my prescence.

I fare a lot better when tallying countries visited:

Create your own visited countries map

Though, of course, in relation to the whole world, it's a very small percentage (9 countries, 4%). I come from Puerto Rico (invisible red spot in the caribbean, right of Dominican Republic), and now live in the US. In 2001 I visited England, Scotland (they count as the UK), Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France (the Transfiguration Tour), while in 2002 I went to Ireland for my honeymoon. Next year we're planning to go back to the Netherlands and to Belgium, and one day, G-d willing, we want to go to Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.

Yes, it's a boring afternoon at work. :-)

HMP at Dragon's Landing Podcast

I've been listening to the Dragon's Landing Inn podcast since it started four weeks ago, and I like it a lot. The hosts, Chuck and Lonnie, have a good idea of what they want to do, and a format that, while still evolving, gives it structure and pacing. You just know the guys are doing it for the fun of it, but they are serious in their endeavor, and it shows in the quality of the program.

All that gushing aside, imagine my surprise when I was listening to the latest episode (#4) on my way to work, and they start reviewing my products! I had sent the guys three samples from my catalog, and it was great hearing them talk about my work. The reviews were very favorable, and hey, it's free advertising!

Check out episode #4 of the Dragon's Landing Inn podcast, and download the rest while you're at it. These guys are on the right track.

"Discovery has come home"

With those words my wife and I (and the rest of the country) breathed a sigh of relief that the space shuttle Discovery had safely made it back home to Earth. We didn't even realize we were holding our breath as we watched the landing live on TV while having breakfast, and there was little we could do to hold back a couple tears of joy.

When the Columbia exploded two years ago, we were incredibly distraught, not just because of the tragedy of it all, but also because we had an emotional investment on that mission, namely Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli in space, the first Jew to leave the confines of this planet and keep the commandments he rarely kept on terra firma. Discovery's mission had no similar attachment, though it became surprisingly important in our lives, to the point where we were actually joyful that everything had turned out right and that these explorers were now back home.

We say it with such mundane flippancy, "They were in space," but this morning I stopped to relfect on those words, on the fact that these men and women had gone somewhere most people will never go. These modern-day explorers had left the confines of ultimate security, Earth, to venture into a place that is entirely inhospitable, a realm of silence and darkness, where we are not rulers or leaders, a realm of unparalleled beauty, where G-d's magnificent creation is undeniable. I only think to my travels, and that moment when I come back home, and I try to multiply that by a number too large to fathom, and it gives me chills.

Thank G-d for bringing our astronauts safely back home to Earth.

Nice Words

Berin Kinsman, webmaster of UncleBear.com, had these words to say in regards to my company, Highmoon Media Productions:

I like Highmoon stuff. It's quality goods by fine, talented people. That's why I posted this release before Daniel had the chance; this is a company I want to support.

Everyone should buy lots of Highmoon products from the outlet of your choice. [...] the message here, which is: Highmoon is a publisher worth supporting, Buy Highmoon Stuff.

Posted by: Berin Kinsman on Jul 28, 05 10:14 am

This was in reply to the press release I sent for From Stone to Steel (which you can see below), which Berin posted to his site before I had a chance to do so. You read the whole thread here, and see Berin's full post.

You can't buy that kind of support or advertising. Words like that make me all happy and stuff. I'm definitely doing something right. :-)

Reviews Galore!

There have been a number of reviews for HMP products recently, so we've compiled them below for ease of viewing. Enjoy!

• Bardic Lore: The Fachan @ EN World
• Bardic Lore: Ogham @ EN World - 1 of 3
• Bardic Lore: Ogham @ EN World - 2 of 3
• Bardic Lore: Ogham @ EN World - 3 of 3
• Bardic Lore: Ogham @ GamingReport.com
• Bardic Lore: The Villa of Mysteries @ d20 Magazine Rack
• Bardic Lore: The Villa of Mysteries @ RPGNow.com
• Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path @ EN World
• Liber Sodalitas: Erzsak's Drake Riders @ EN World
• MonkeyGod Presents: Frost & Fur @ RPGNow.com

As always, we'd like to exhort our customers to review our products and give us some feedback, so we can improve. You can leave reviews/feedback at each of the online stores, or at ENWorld.org/Reviews. Be sure to email us and let us know if you do a review.

Publishing News

On Monday I sent out the intro packages and test assignments for my Open Call to find a writer for the new DaVinci Labs line of d20 Modern/Future products. I got 17 applicants, which is a great number, and I am sure I will find a good writer from this pool. I have to admit I gave them a very tight deadline of only 18 days for two reasons, one valid, one ulterior. The valid reason is I want to see how fast they can work and still turn in a good product. Up to know I have been very lax in my deadlines, and while I have no intentions to start getting draconian about it, I want to know what I can count on. The second, and ulterior, motive is that I am leaving to Puerto Rico for a week at the end of August, and the flight will give me time to read all the entries and make a selection. We'll see how that goes.

Second news, and a great one at that, is that I have made contact with another game publisher to produce support material for their game in the form of adventures. I won't say who yet, as we still need to iron some things out, but I am excited about it. I'll say this, it's not strictly d20, so it will be a new market for HMP, and there may be a print deal in there as well. Sweet!

Now if I could only just get some of these projects I have in development finished and out the door!

On Travel and Bad Movies

Sometimes I wish I had a direct mind-blog connection; I miss posting so much stuff otherwise.

Last week my wife flew to New York for the weekend to see her sister and mom. Taking her to the airport on Thursday, walking those crowded terminals, going up and down stairs to out-of-the-way gates, seeing all those people with their luggage and packs ready to go somewhere other than here... it all made me remember how much I love traveling, how much I love the idea of taking off to another destination. I'll get my chance later this month, when I go for a week to Puerto Rico to visit family and friends.

During the weekend I took the opportunity to watch a couple of movies that my wife would simply refuse to watch were she here, namely Immortal, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and (wait for it) Eurotrip. They all sucked in one way or another, especially Immortal - NEVER watch it, it was soooooo slow and pointless. League was cool but fell so short of what I could've been, and Eurotrip... well, I didn't rent Eurotrip for the deep insight into European culture, I rented it to see Lucy Lawless as a Dutch dominatrix (which was funny as hell). The song was catchy, though.

Melancholy

Whenever my wife leaves town, I tend to get very melancholic (as in "Pensive reflection or contemplation," not anything having to do with black bile). I'm not sure why; I don't really get sad (well, I do in the sense that my wife isn't around and I miss her), but I defintely become more subdued, introspective, and I listen to music that matches my mood. I also find I tend to be in a writing mood (for fiction, not games) when this happens. I think it may have something to do with the fact that, once upon a time, I did most of my fiction writing when I was sad or depressed about something or other (most often girls), so it's kinda stuck in my wiring. I didn't do any writing over the weekend, though, but I did listen to some great melancholic music, including a new song by Daughter Darling called Colorblind (click to see the video), which was just perfect for my mood over the weekend.

Gotta go now to pick up my wife at the airport. :-)

[HMP Press] From Stone to Steel Released on PDF

FROM STONE TO STEEL RELEASED ON PDF
Massive encyclopedia of weapons and armors for d20 gains new life in electronic edition.

July 28, 2005 - Miami Beach, FL: From Stone to Steel, MonkeyGod Enterprises' 350+ page encyclopedia of weaponry and armor, has been released in an electronic edition by Highmoon Media Productions. The book, which was originally released in 2003 in a deluxe hardcover edition, chronicles the development of weapons and armor from the stone age, all the way to the Renaissance, with an eye towards cultures all across the globe.

Though From Stone to Steel is still available in print, it has become hard to find, and fans have been clamoring for an electronic version for years now. Through the former MonkeyGod Enterprises' partnership with Highmoon Media Productions, this wish is now a reality. The PDF edition of From Stone to Steel is 352 pages long, and is fully bookmarked for ease of use. "From the moment we partnered with MonkeyGod, this has been the book we have been wanting to release on PDF," said Highmoon Media Productions' owner, Daniel M. Perez "It is just such a massive resource for d20 players, and will appeal to anyone interested in the history and development of weapons and armors through the ages. Simply a magnificent book."

From Stone to Steel can be purchased today from DriveThruRPG.com, e23, and RPGNow.com.

Product Details:
From the dawn of history, mankind has made war. In every age and civilization, people have developed tools of warfare. From the remotest primitive tribe to the greatest empire, every culture has created weapons for hunting, protection, conflict, and defenses against the same. The record of history measures their successes and failures. No campaign world could ever hope to be as varied and diverse as our own. Despite fantastic races and locations, every fantasy world recycles themes mirrored in our own histories, myths, and culture. But many cultures go unnoticed or un-examined in role playing games. Many games become limited by our narrow views of what fantasy is, and can be. No longer.

'From Stone to Steel' is a book of weaponry and armor, but it is also an examination of history and cultures. From age to age, every culture has approached similar ends and concepts with its own unique perspective. 'From Stone to Steel' is not a simple list of items, but an explanation of their use, their cultural significance, even their drawbacks. Besides weapons and armor, 'From Stone to Steel' contains new feats, new subskills, new prestige classes, and new mechanics. Through each chapter, topics like tactics, special materials, training, and culture are discussed, so that they can be understood and placed in any campaign world. And though these items are based in history, suggestions are made for their inclusion in fantasy world. You'll even find items of myth, fantastic construction materials, new spells to augment weapons and armor, even inclusion of fantasy racial items (based, where possible, on myth or legend).

From stone-age primitives to the height of the Renaissance, history is in your hands. From 'Stone to Steel' - Never look at d20 gaming the same way again!

Written by: Aaron Stimson
Cover by: Allan Pollack
Artwork by: Jim Branch, Fred Rawles
Pages: 352, Fully Bookmarked.

What People Are Saying:
Not merely a catalog from which PCs can shop, From Stone to Steel presents the cultural, social, and psychological backgrounds from whence the weapons came. Illustrations and detailed descriptions help understand the equipment and its use. Tactics and the art of warfare as waged by different civilizations allow the GM and players the opportunity to truly customize the world and/or characters. [...] This would very likely be the last book about arms and armor you’d ever need to buy.
-- Mortality.net

From Stone to Steel does an excellent job in its coverage. [...] For weapons and armor, it's superior to WotC's Equipment Guide, Mongoose's Ultimate Equipment Guide, Fast Forward Games' Encyclopedia of Weaponry and Bastion Press' Arms & Armor.
-- Joe G. Kushner, ENWorld.org

Amazing piece of work. It's not really a d20 supplement at heart, it's someone's history book about ancient arms and armor, with some stats added in.
-- M. Jason Parent, Owner - E.N. Publishing

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

For more information, please contact Highmoon Media Productions at info@highmoonmedia.com or visit our website at http://www.highmoonmedia.com/

Daniel M. Perez
Highmoon Media Productions
http://www.highmoonmedia.com/

Products available at: Digital Book Booth, DriveThruRPG.com, e23, RPGnow.com

New Book and New Project

My wife finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night (amid a sea of gasps and "Oh, no!"s) so as of today it is MINE! I'm already on Chapter 4 and loving it.

Also, I just started a new blog for my Destination: Earth Travel Store. The (aptly named) Destination: Earth Travel Blog can be found here and eventually through the store's website as well (which is almost done, I just need to resolve some domain and hosting issues). The idea is to use the blog as a marketing tool, with regular travel-related posts that link back to my store plus provide useful info for visitors.

Highmoon released a new product yesterday, but you can read about that below. :-)

[HMP] MonkeyGod Presents: Black Ice Well Released

Buried deep beneath the earth, beyond the haunted and malign forest known as the Wormwood, lies Black Ice Well. Once a temple devoted to the Sajaith demon clan, the Well is now a cold and haunted tomb, rumored to be replete with mutant brood and undead horrors. But the greatest terror of the Well is not what guards it, but what they are protecting -- the cremated remains of Shae Mora, the dreaded and legendary vampire dragon who once terrorized an entire Empire.

Now, the secret of what transformed the Well to its current state is about to be revealed. Sammael Mezias Craven, a dark wizard of vast power and endless ambition, has uncovered an artifact that will allow him to take control of Shae Mora's liquid remains, the Blood Ice, which legend states still holds potent remains of her vast power. If he is not stopped, Craven's actions will bring terror and destruction to the surrounding lands, and perhaps the world at large. Only a band of the most stalwart and capable heroes stand a chance of preventing this from happening, and to do so they will be forced to travel to the edge of madness. And beyond...

Black Ice Well is a d20 fantasy adventure for 13th- or 14th-level characters.

Written by: Steve Montano
Cover by: William O'Connor
Artwork by: William O'Connor
Fully Bookmarked

Black Ice Well is available from DriveThruRPG.com and RPGnow.com.

Sad Day

Earlier today I got a call from my Mom, who's visiting my sister in Orlando. Her brother Jorge died this morning in Ponce, Puerto Rico, at the age of 63. He had been quite sick for a long time with a variety of ailments which, we believe, he simply did not wish to be treated for. Apparently he died in his sleep after a nice bath at the hospital. I wasn't incredibly close to my uncle, but nevertheless I am saddened by his parting. The one consolation is that, wherever he is now, he is at least not burdened by his ailing body anymore. May his soul speedily find its way to G-d.

There's been a lot of death around me lately, including two in the family in the last month alone, one the very same day my new nephew was born.

It's that time of the year. Rosh Hashanah is close.

Potter Potter Potter Potter Potter... Weasley Weasley!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out tonight and I am STOKED! I'm wearing my Hogwarts t-shirt today, and reviewing the saga up to now in my head. Tomorrow night we're going to Borders first thing after Shabbat ends to pick up our copy of Half-Blood Prince and off to Potter-land we go!!!

DSL!!!

I have joined the 21st Century finally. Two nights ago the DSL self-install kit arrived, and after about an hour of tinkering with the cables, filters and wireless router, we had glorious DSL in our house!

I am so excited. Bonus: the laptop I bought for my wife (of which she knew nothing about) also arrived that same day, meaning we are now both happy and online at the same time, downloading stuff at speeds only dreamed of last week via dial-up while our phone line is always open.

I love technology. :-)

Lessons From eBay

Big lesson I just learned from dealing on eBay: calculate correctly ALL shipping charges involved or you'll lose money.

Both my Vampire mugs sold for $5. I added a $1 shipping and handling charge and let the buyer calculate postage based on their location. I, however, forgot to add the cost of the box in which I would ship the mugs, which means that, at the end of the day, out of $14.84 for both mugs, after everyone took their cut and shipping was done with, I only made $7.24, or $3.62 per mug, which is not a lot. Of course, this is hoping that I calculated the parcels' weight correctly!

Not bad, but I can do better. I just rarely use eBay, and normally it's for books, for which the boxes are free. Lesson learned.

The Neverending Fall

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

A Prayer

My and my family's thoughts and prayers are with all the affected people in London. May G-d help them cope with this disaster, and may He bring us all peace.

That said, I hope they catch these fuckers responsible for the attack and drop them in Texas.

When will this all end...

Ongoing Auction - Vampire Coffee Mug

One of the Vampire coffee mugs did not sell, so I've relisted it.

Vampire Coffee Mug

Sometimes it amazes me that people actually make livings out of selling on eBay. I always have such a hard time.

So Much Stuff On My Mind!

I have so many projects on my mind that sometimes I fear they may be cancelling each other (and my wife pointed this out to me last night). Nevertheless, I gotta keep at it.

Project #1 - Finishing the Testament adventures for release. One is edited, the other one is undergoing Spike's magical hoodoo. Waiting on graphical elements from Green Ronin, but giving them time since Origins is this weekend.

Project #2 - Edit the one Medieval Player's Manual adventure I have in. This is a monster at 50-pages in rough form. I just need to take the time to sit down with my red pen (yes, I do edit with a red pen, comes from having an English degree) and go through it. Preliminary reading revealed it's in good shape, just needs tightening.

Project #3 - Launching 'DaVinci Labs' once and for all. I have been sitting on the initial two pieces of artwork for some 8 months now, and it's just ridiculous. If my friend Josue finally gets the covers done that'll be a start. Adam Dickstein should have the second piece of artwork I commissioned soon, and then I just need to write it, or find someone who can write it based on my notes (it's a d20 Future mecha for a fixed rate, if there are any takers).

Project #4 - Writing, editing, and seeing if I can 'True20' Project Shira (I just made that up), which I am developing with Scott Carter. The d20 Modern part is coming along fine, and I believe it can be translated to True20 with ease (and with some new mechanics, as well), but it takes time, and I'd like to get the Modern version done first seeing as how we are about 65% already done.

Project #5 - General 'expanding HMP' stuff. It takes a lot of time to run this one-man show, and HMP is still small even among small publishers in this small corner of the small RPG industry!

Project #6 - Though it's currently simmering on a backburner, there's the Literary magazine I'd like to start. But as I said, this one's simmering, so it's not pressing.

Project #7 - The travel store. And this is the big one because this is the one I feel will be able to carry me and my family, allowing for all the other projects to be continued.

I have decided on a name for the store: Destination: Earth Travel Store. The name just came to me, and my first instinct has never failed me as far as names go. My wife pointed out that it has a slight 'sci-fi' tinge to it, and she's right; I like that, though, as it sorta hints at other parts of me. I am finishing the store's website and purchasing the domain either today or tomorrow. I've also started my business plan, and got a couple of books on the subject of a start-up retail and travel business. So, for one week later, I feel there's been some movement in the right direction.

If ever I needed confirmation that my idea for a travel store was viable, this weekend was it. Sunday we went with my mother-in-law to The Container Store to look at the travel stuff they had, in preparation for our trip to Holland and Belgium next year (see 'Germ of a Travel Idea' below). Well, looking turned into purchasing, and when all was said and done, by mother-in-law had spent some $250 plus another $70 spent by her friend for a travel-related gift. All in about an hour's shopping, without any salesperson helping us (actually, my wife and I should have gotten that commission), and with a limited product selection. Understand that my mother-in-law is not a spendthrift by any stretch of the imagination, so this was a calculated buy with some impulse items thrown in.

That's not all, the next day I went to the same store with my father-in-law (who IS a spendthrift) only to purchase a $30 toiletry kit. Half an hour later we left with a purchase of $350, once more without the help of any salesperson (and again, I should have gotten the commission). These two episodes alone convinced me that there is a market out there that would shop at my store; heck, even the lasy at The Container Store that sorta helped us liked the idea! I really need to make this happen.

Project #8 - Getting the house clean and ready for Shabbat and for my wife's friend visiting from California.

Oy vey. Seriously, I need to clone myself.

Shameless Auction Alert - Vampire Coffee Mug

Vampire: The Masquerade Coffee Mug

• Auction - Mug #1
• Auction - Mug #2

Rejoin the world of the (un)living each dawn or dusk with a cup of life-giving coffee served in this unique mug. Features the classic "Vampire: The Masquerade" logo on the unforgettable green marble background so familiar to hundreds of denizens of the World of Darkness.

This White Wolf collectible was produced at the dusk of the last millenium in small quantities, sold out very quickly, and now, like a good undead, it comes back from torpor, ready for this new millenium. Don't miss this opportunity to own your very own Vampire: The Masquerade coffee mug. It could be another thousand years before it resurfaces again.

Mug is in perfect shape and has never been used. It has languished in a cupboard and then in a storage box for the past 6 years, nicely packed in corrugated cardboard. Winner pays shipping (USPS Media Mail) and tracking/insurance, or alternate delivery methods, are optional and
negotiable. PayPal is preferred. Item ships from Miami, Florida.

Now go and bid.

MIT Blog Survey

Like I didn't know that already.

New Nephew :-)

At 12:03 AM EST (Orlando, FL), my sister gave birth to her firstborn son, Kevin Anthony Morrow Amezquita (I know in the US the mother's last name is not used, but the kid is half Puertorican after all). He was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 21 inches long, and all is well with mother and baby.

Yay! My second nephew! Will probably have to wait till the weekend after July 4 to drive up to see them.

A Sobering Thought And New Decisions Made

Since going Friday to the Container Store and having a Post-Travel Depression attack at the store, I spent the whole weekend deep in really serious thoughts, the kind that are scary because it means you are an adult and stuff. Chief among these, was a very sobering thought:

I am 30 years old right now. By all accounts, regardless of how many years of life G-d decides to grant me (may it be 120), I have lived a good chunk of my life already. There's been ups and downs, but overall it's been good, except for one thing, the whole "following your dreams" thing. Now, I have Highmoon at the moment, and what I do through Highmoon is incredibly satisfying and fulfilling because it is precisely a part of my dreams, now a reality. But there's more; dreams don't feed a family, or buy a house, etc. but they can be used to enable those things.

I want something where I can feel like I am following a dream, making it a reality, and at the same time being a responsible head of household, with all that entails. So I pondered all throughout the weekend about what is it that I truly like, those things that speak to the core essence of my Being. I came up with three concepts: Writing, Travel and Knowledge (there are actually two more, G-d and my wife, the two constant and overarching essentials in my life). Highmoon now fulfills my Writing core desire, so I now had to figure how to address the other two. Furthermore, I want my wife to be a part of this; there is no point in following a dream if you are going at it alone, leaving your soulmate behind. The great thing about my wife is that she shares these three core desires as well; we are soulmates, after all!

After an initial chimera sparked into my brain on Friday, this idea has been floating around in my head. So I did some web research on Friday, and on Sunday, and thought about it more and more, had a conversation with my mother-in-law, had another conversation with my wife, and after all that, it was still around, so maybe there is something to it. I would like to open a Travel Store.

Easier said than done, I know, but frankly, everything in life worth pursuing is. I think there is a market for it, especially here in Miami, a gateway to the world. While it is very easy for my wife and I to plan a trip, do all the research, get everything together and go, it is amazing to me how many people are unable to do this, mainly out of fear of the unknown. If we can help people enable and realize their travel dreams, while doing it for ourselves as well, while earning a living for our family, then there is something worth pursuing there for sure.

I am not dropping Highmoon, but rather expanding my horizons. We'll see where this ends up; hopefully in a dedicated Travel Store in Miami, Florida very soon.

Travel Longings

I went this morning to the Container Store in order to get some stuff for my father-in-law for Father's Day. He'll be taking a 1-week vacation to Santo Domingo for the July 4 week, and we figured we'd get him his own set of Eagle Creek packing cubes. Lucky for us, the store is having their annual Travel Sale, and the cubes came out a lot cheaper than I had anticipated.

While I was in the travel aisle, picking out which cubes to get him, it hit me, like a meteor hurling towards Earth: I want to travel again. I was filled by an overwhelming feeling of running out the store, speeding up to the airport (stopping by my wife's job to pick her up first), and getting on the first plane to Europe I could find. Knowing that I can't do that, my eyes watered for a moment, and I felt so chained.

My wife and I were talking yesterday that we were both filled with a strange and sudden desire to travel to Israel. It's not something we can do at the drop of a pin, but we spent all the afternoon IM-ing back and forth about it. The travel bug's in the air, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Right now I gotta go home and get ready for Shabbat, but I am already counting the days until we can start planning our (possible and hopefully) next trip to Benelux next year. Until then, our photo albums from the Transfiguration Tour and the Rick Steves DVDs will have to do.

Rick Steves' Travel News: Killing the Messenger

Rick Steves' Travel News: Killing the Messenger
Rick Steves' sent out this letter in relation to the upcoming vote on the House of Representatives that could very well end government funding for public broadcasting.

I cannot even begin to articulate how royally pissed off this makes me, so I won't. Instead, I will contact whoever I need to contact to make sure my voice is heard. I urge everyone to do the same. An easy way to do it is through MoveOn.org's online petition:
MoveOn.org: Save NPR and PBS.

[HMP] Bardic Lore: The Villa of Mysteries Released

Highmoon Media Productions presents Bardic Lore: The Villa of Mysteries.

We first crossed a fancy gate that marked the entrance to the estate. Tall, spear-like trees—cypresses, I was informed—created a natural fence around the vast property and stood as soldiers flanking the path that led up to the villa proper. As we got closer, pairs of statues of creatures I'd only heard of in the myths of the invaders replaced the cypresses: centaur, pegasus, medusa, and the god they called Bacchus in a central and prominent spot right in front of the entrance to the house. A dark-haired, olive-skinned woman, Mirella Valerianus, unmistakably the mistress of the estate awaited our carriage with a veritable army of servants. [...] Early the next morning we were escorted to our carriages by the lady Mirella, who extended personal, private invitations to the Ard Righ and myself to return at any moment to the villa, whether on an official function or not. As we pulled away, and I turned back to see the olive-skinned beauty waving us farewell, I thought I may just have to take her up on her offer.
— From the journal of Amergin Ó Míl

Bardic Lore: The Villa of Mysteries details an Imperial-style villa for your d20 Fantasy game. Learn the history of the villa, its association to the cult of Bacchus, and the secrets it hides within its walls. Includes a history, a detailed tour of the villa, important NPCs, a new creature, a new spell and Lore/Knowledge information. Written by Daniel M. Perez.

Fully compatible with UKG Publishing's The Villa of Mysterious Delights, a full-color 25mm printable map of the villa for use with your miniatures!

---

I am excited about this product. This is our first collaboration with another company, namely UKG Publishing, and I hope it is only the beginning. John Milner makes some bad-ass maps, and the one he did for the Villa was just astounding. I honestly don't know if our cross-promotion will work out as well as we hope it will, but gamers everywhere should definitely get a kick and some use out of his Roman villa map.

This product, The Villa of Mysteries, has waited some 2 years, and gone through various incarnations, in order to see the light of day. The villa was originally conceived as an isolated location known as the Villa of Earthly Delights, set in the world of Arcanis, namely just outside the city of Savona. This was way back when the idea of releasing Arcanis-themed articles first came up during company meetings, and though it never came to fruition, the article was completed anyway, and filed for possible later use.

Fast forward to earlier this year when, during a long-overdue clean-up of My Documents folder, I came across my folder of possible Arcanis articles, about 8 total. By now I'd already started Highmoon, and given that it was going to be next to impossible to get permission from Paradigm Concepts to use the Arcanis PI, I decided to make it generic and release it myself. After all, that was the whole point of starting my own publishing company. I started the process of making the story generic, which was quite annoying since I had made the villa quite integrated with the Arcanis setting, and I didn't want to necessarily rewrite 6 pages of history. So I gave it a go, made a first draft, and let it simmer for a while.

In the meantime, Bardic Lore turned from being a generic fantasy line to one portraying an implied campaign setting, name a mythic Celtic Ireland and British Isles (something that was unforseen, but quite welcomed). After the deal was made with UKG for them to do a map of the villa, I went back to it, and decided that I really did not need to make so many changes if I decided to make it part of Bardic Lore. Since the villa was set in Coryan, which is basically Arcanis' fantasy Rome, I decided to set the villa outside Londinium, and thus expanded the reach of Bardic Lore's implied setting and somewhat defined the time in which it is set (not that I am entirely sure of what that is, mind you; I wanna leave Bardic Lore grow as needs dictate). The second draft was easier to do; all I had to do now was remove the leftover PI elements, and Roman-ize it, which was quite easy to do. The result was the Villa of Mysteries, which I decided to name the same as the model in Pompeii.

I'm biased, but I think it is a nifty product. Even if you don't use it as-is, or decide the whole Roman-like style and history are for you, the location itself is a staple of fantasy, and the descriptions, NPCs, and new rules are all world-neutral enought that there should be no problem dropping them into any game. Ultimately, I am proud of the product because I like it; if I saw this product for sale, I would buy it, and I hope others feel the same way. Perhaps it's silly to get so involved with a short publication like this one, but each one of my original works, regardless of size, are one more notch I can put on my "Doing What I Love" belt.

I hope you like it.

The Matisyahu Of Gaming

I am determined to become the gaming world's Matisyahu. If you don't know who's he, follow the link and come back.

Short version: Matisyahu is a hasidic Orthodox Jew who's also a kick-ass reggae singer. What sets Matis apart is that his lyrics are all about his relationship to G-d and the Torah, and he makes no apologies about it. He sings from the heart, and whether on stage in a little venue, or at MTV, he's the same Jew he always is, with his tzitzitiot hanging out and his beard and hat.

Now, I don't mean that I'm gonna turn hasidic (not that there's anything wrong with that), but that I am a Jew, a proud one, and I allow Torah to influence all I do, even my gaming writing. This is not about proselytizing, since Judaism doesn't do, or condone, that, but allow the Torah I have learned to inform and influence what I develop, what I write, what I put out through my company. For the most part it's actually quite subtle, and you wouldn't even know it's there. My first product, Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path, presents a pseudo-oriental organization that most people would associate with "Kung Fu," but at the core of the group's philosophy is a Torah teaching, taken straight from the Shema (Numbers 15:39): Do not follow your [...] eyes, after which you stray.

That's it. That wasn't so bad, was it? It's a simple statement that hides a wealth of teaching. In the case of Judaism, it refers to trusting G-d and His Torah for guidance, not your eyes, yet at its core all it's telling us is to look beyond the obvious because the obvious can lead you astray. And from there I developed a gaming supplement! Not necesarily all of my original products have such a connection; most are simply imbued by the simple fact that I am imbued. By the same token, we do have some products coming out that feature Torah heavily into the mix, in a way that I'm sure will be enjoyable for gamers. You don't have to hit people over the head (in fact, that's counterproductive), but just allow yourself to be honest in your writing, and let whatever teaching can be included go on that journey.

When I say I want to be the Matisyahu of gaming, I mean that I want to be a proud Jew who is not afraid nor ashamed of who he is, what he is, and goes on working in the real world, letting Torah go wherever it wants to go, and more importantly, wherever I can take it. If Torah wants to go out in the world as a reggae song, then so be it, and if Torah wants to go out into the world as a roleplaying game about Nephilim, then by all means let's do it.

By the way, that was a not-so-subtle hint. ;-)

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

I just went to see Episode III and WOW!

So it's got plot holes the size of the Death Star, and most of the dialogue just plain sucks, but I was entertained and impressed by the film. Frankly, my version would be about 1 hour shorter, after you cut out all the unecessary stuff (like the introduction of yet another villain), but it was good. The 13-year old in me is fulfilled, and will probably force me to buy the prequels on DVD so he can watch the whole saga at home.

New Computer!

WOOHOO!!! Our new computer arrived today! (Actually, it arrived yesterday, and I had to go pick it up today, but let's just leave that aside.)

It's a Dell Inspiron 6000 with an Ultrabright Widescreen monitor that has me dancing joyously.

Perhaps now I'll be able to catch up with some of my backed-up work for Highmoon!

Germ Of A Travel Idea

Our friend Larissa visited us in Miami this past weekend, during which all we did was vegetate in different areas of the apartment (though mostly in the living room). On Saturday night we started talking about Europe, about our trip, and then we busted out the Transfiguration Tour photo albums, going through our wonderful, life-changing trip 4 years ago. We were all there, we've seen the pictures hundreds of times, and we always tell the same stories, but we absolutely love it. It was, hands down, part of the Top 5 of the times of our lives.

Lari was planning a trip for next year to Aruba with a friend of hers, but, she confesed to us, she did not want to go to Aruba, much preferring to go back to Europe. I said, "So, let's go!" And to my glee, we all looked at each other and almost in a single thought said, "Yeah!" So we started talking about possible places and possible time off, and within an hour we had already a germ on an idea for a trip next year: the Low Countries of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, perhaps for 1-2 weeks.

Of course, Larissa still needs to break it to her friend, and then we need to get down to planning, but even though we agreed not to get too excited about it until we hear from Lari, I am allowing myself to dream a little and get a little excited already. This has sent my heart afflutter, and I like that feeling. I think I'm gonna visit the bookstore when I leave work today.

We also spoke about my wife's lifelong dream to go to Australia, something that I wish I could give to her in a silver platter (though if I gave it to her in a paper plate I don't think she would mind at all). Aside from our wished-for trip in 2007 to Ireland to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, this trip to Australia is probably the biggest entry on our travel wish list for the future.

We'll see where this ends up.

Einstein & Religion

So it seems that it's been 100 years since Einstein's "miracle year" of 1905 (see MSNBC.com's coverage), and among the issues being spoken about is that of Einstein's religion and his religious beliefs. It should be no surprise to anyone that Albert Einstein was Jewish, though it seems he was a non-observant Jew. One cannot escape, however, the cultural and ideological makeup that comes with being Jewish, let alone Jewish in Europe during the time of WWI and WWII.

MSNBC.com published an article called "The Culture of Einstein" (all further quotes are from this article) in which one of the themes tackled is that of religion. Biographers claim, based on Einstein's own words, that there is a great misconception that Einstein believed in G-d due to some actual quotes of his, probably the most famous being, "I cannot believe that God would choose to play dice with the universe," wherein he decries the "randomness inherent in quantum mechanics." apparently, it is claimed by both biographers and the man himself, to deduce from the above that Einstein believed in G-d was a stretch; Einstein, it seems, did not believe in G-d, writing in 1954 that such a misconception was "a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly." The article then states, again based on Einstein's own writings,

For Einstein, references to God were a convenient metaphor, easy-to-grasp shorthand, he wrote, for "the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal."

Nu? Okay, and? This is part of G-d anyway you slice it! People get too caught up in the general perception of G-d as the bearded guy of the Sistine Chapel (which is Zeus, by the way) and don't stop to think that G-d is far, far more than that (and not that at all, as well). G-d is everything, including us, including "the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it," as well as that which science has yet to reveal.

It is the greatest joke that scientists, who often are the biggest self-proclaimed atheists, and who sometimes work with the intention of disproving the existence of G-d, are actually at the forefront of revealing the wonders and miracles of G-d to humanity. Scientists have given us a day-by-day account of the miracle of the creation of life in the womb; they have given us an understanding of energy and its transformations due to fissions and fusions (and what about the fact that energy cannot be created or destroyed, meaning that we are dealing with the same energy there was in the beginning, an all-encompassing energy that has always been... need I spell it out here?); they have shown us the wonders of stars, planets and formations existing in space farther than our imaginations could ever conjure. These are just some meager examples.

I don't know if Einstein truly did not believe in G-d, and more importantly, what did that mean exactly, but as I said at the beginning, you cannot take away a cultural imprint handed down from generations of Jews, stretching all the way back to Mt. Sinai. Judaism understands G-d in many ways, one of them as "the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." This doesn't mean G-d is limited, but rather that we are limited in our understanding, and need science to help us keep discovering the wondrous works of the Creator. When Einstein said he wanted to know the Mind of G-d, he was voicing a Jewish ideal, regardless of what the level of observance he kept was, regardless of what he believed or did not believe.

We need to stop seeing G-d as a limited entity, and recognize Him as everything, realize not a day goes by we don't witness miracles all around us (you woke up this morning, didn't you?). To all those atheist scientists I have only one thing to say: Thank You, from the bottom of my heart, for working so hard to reveal to me the wonders of G-d.

The Saddest Mitzvah

Today I performed possibly the saddest mitzvah (commandment) I have encountered yet, burying another Jew.

On Shabbat Hagaddol (The Great Shabbat), the Shabbat that comes right before Pesach (Passover), which was this past Saturday, April 23, a member of our community died under horrible circumstances. This man was up in West Palm Beach and driving down to Miami to meet with his family that night to celebrate Pesach, when the rear tire of his Izusu Rodeo came off, sending the car into a violent spin across the median and into the opposite lane, before stopping at the other side of the road. The man was ejected from the spinning vehicle--he was not wearing a seatbelt--and died a most violent death which I do not wish to repeat.

This man was only 33, just three years older than me, and had pretty much everything he wanted in life, and Hashem decreed that his time here was up.

Since he died on Shabbat, and Pesach was immediately after, his funeral and burial were today. I took the time off from work to go to both and offer whatever miniscule support I could by my presence there. It tore my heart and soul, to be utterly honest. I didn't really know the man; it's not like we were friends or anything, and though he was part of the community it was more becayse his sister and her family live in our community, and he came often. But everytime I saw him he had a smile and a greeting for you, and whenever his help was needed, it was given freely and gladly. Perhaps he was not the most observant Jew, but he strove to be, and though he failed, he always tried again. The greatest tragedy of his death is that it happened on Shabbat while he was driving, something he knew full well he should not have done.

I don't believe in Divine punishment, not like its generally understood, so I don't think his death was a direct punishment for him driving on Shabbat (we'd almost be out of Jews by now), but one cannot avoid the fact that there is a lesson in this tragedy, though it may be a different one for different people. To me, being a 30-year old, this is a very clear reminder that our time here is not guaranteed by our age (he was 33), nor our wealth (he was rich by anyone's meassures), nor our plans (he wanted to marry his 5-year girlfriend and have a family of his own). I think of where I am today, of the plans I have for the future, of the things I want to accomplish, of the milestones I have yet to reach, and I try to imagine all that being stopped, brought to a screeching halt. It is a frightful thought, to be honest, but it is a very empowering thought as well: I have only today to make a difference. We are here because G-d wants us to be here, and finding out why--our mission, if you will--and then fulfilling that divine will is all that matters. Everything else is mist.

Pouring the shovelfulls of earth onto the simple pine box that held the body of this man was really hard. It meant confronting my own mortality, and then putting it aside to fulfill a commandment for another Jew, to help his soul complete the trip to Heaven. My rabbi said it best, though: "Take an example from him, and do as he did--help others, give of your time, give charity--this will be an elevation for his soul and for ours."

May the soul of Abraham ben Yosef find an elevation, may he rest in the presence of Hashem, and may the final redemption come soon, so that we may all meet again.

More On The New Pope

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a very interesting article on its English website about the new Pope Benedict XVI. To the Israeli, and Jews in general, this new pope's history and track record are of interest, if only because we're all waiting to see how will things go now, especially after the pretty good interfaith relations established by John Paul II. Go read the article and then come back.

"New pope seen continuing relations with Israel, Jews" By Peter Hirschberg

For the most part, it seems like the speculations about having a transitory pope are turning out to be correct so far: choose an older, strong pontiff that can hold the church on the course left by John Paul while those in power have a chance to digest the previous pope's legacy and decide where they want to go next.

As a Jew, I sincerely hope that the good relations that were established by John Paul are continued, though with Benedict I still have this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that we should be always ready (that this election, and that this feeling of being on our toes, comes on the week just as we are to start celebrating Passover cannot be seen as coincidence; there is a message there for us that we must heed). In particular, there is one passage that exemplifies perfectly why is it that this former head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (which in effect makes him an heir to Torquemada, sensationalism aside) makes my spider sense tingle (emphasis mine):

In the document, Ratzinger seeks to tackle the Jews' refusal to accept Jesus as the messiah and Judaism's insistence that the messiah has not yet come.

"He argued that this position is also part of the divine plan," explains Rosen, who now heads the American Jewish Committee's Interreligious Affairs department, "and the fact Jews don't accept Jesus must not be seen as an act of rejecting God, but as part of God's plan to remind the world that peace and salvation for all humanity has not yet come. This is amazing. He took something that has been the source of major condemnation of Judaism and the Jewish people down the ages and twisted it into something of a positive theological nature."

Positive? Are we reading the same sentences? The above is so condescending that it's infurriating. Unfortunately it is a doctrine that is at the center of the new pope's ideology from his days as head of the Doctrine for the Faith.

I guess in the end, as long as he pays more attention to his own backyard, it's just fine and dandy. I will keep an eye on Rome, though.

[NOTE: Originally I had written a really long reply in which I was annoyed beyond belief at the tone of the quote from Ratzinger. When I hit the "Publish Post" button, however, I lost it, and I didn't have the energy to retype the whole thing. The above is greatly abbreviated, but it does keep the gyst of it all.]

The New Pope

At midday, EST, a new Catholic Pope was chosen. This was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, to be known as Pope Benedict XVI.

I'm not sure how to feel about it.

I'm not Catholic anymore, so in that sense who is the new pope is irrelevant to me, but as a Jew, who is the head of the 1-billion strong Catholic Church is of a certain interest. John Paul II was not perfect, but he made some good strides in bandaging the deep wounds that separated Catholics and Jews, starting with the whole issue of the death of Jesus, and going all the way to the inaction of the Vatican during the Holocaust. His apologies were not perfect nor complete, but they were a great step. Now we get as his successor a man who was the head of the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (you may know it by its more popular name, the Inquisition) and a man who, in his youth, was a member of the Hitler Youth, and who served in the German army during WWII.

Granted, Ratzinger was part of the Hitler Youth when it was compulsory for every German boy to be a part of it, and I will not condemn him for that. He also served in a German Anti-aircraft unti protecting a BMW factory, though he says he never fired a shot. He later managed to get out of the army upon ordination. One cannot help but contrast John Paul's history of anti-Nazi actions, taken at great personal peril. And it is true that John Paul named Ratzinger to his post as head of the Inquisition, but let's not forget it is Ratzinger who took to the job all to well, defending the orthodoxy like a pitbull (an internal issue, so irrelevant to me), and authoring/co-authoring/supporting official homilies and statements in which the Catholic Church is named as the only source of true redemption.

It remains to wait and see what happens now. I am all for giving Ratzinger, or Benedict, the benefit of the doubt and see what he does as pope. But I cannot help but keep all the above information in the back of my mind, and hope that the Catholic Church doesn't de-evolve some 500 years to the time of the Holy Inquisition.

May Hashem help us all.

Tired, Happy, Frustrated, and then Happy Again

It's been a hell of a two-week period; I feel so tired, though I have two days off at the start of April.

First, on St. Patrick's Day I finally finished and uploaded for sale a new product, Bardic Lore: Ogham. Based on the ancient written language of Ireland, it brings it to d20 gaming along with some nice new rules for item creation. I am incredibly happy with that product, mainly because it was done 100% on a whim to create something fitting for St. Patrick's Day (or as I refer to it, Ireland Day). The whole thing took 2 weeks to finish, though adding the hours it comes out to about 15, give or take. I was so determined to finish it on time for St. Patty's I ditched game night two weeks in a row (it's fine, it's only Star Wars now) and pressed my proofreader into rush service (my heartfelt thanks to Mark for that). So far sales have been very good, which makes me even happier.

On the down side, my boss (aka. my Father-in-law) has been a complete and utter pain in the behind for the last 2 weeks, which drives me insane. I don't wanna go too much into it, but let's just say it all stems from the fact that he's a money-driven person and I am so not. It's not that I don't like making money, but it is definitely not at the top of the list for me; I find there are other things more important in life, while he... well, if he thinks that way, then he's fooling everyone around him.

I just need to get through the next two weeks and then I'll have some days off. In some great news, my brother is currently in the US from Iraq. Though he has to leave again next Tuesday, it was great to talk to him and to know he's just 7 hours away to the North, as opposed to a world away in the sandbox. He has 4 more months, G-d willing, and then he'll be back in the US until the end of his tour of duty. May G-d bring him and all the other soldiers back home to their families soon.

Purim starts tomorrow night, which is freaking great! Gotta fast tomorrow during the day, though, but it's a small price to pay. Mmm... hamentaschen.

GREAT NEWS!!!

My sister's gonna have a boy!!!
She's 20 weeks and the baby's doing fine. I don't particularly like the name she's chosen--Kevin Anthony--but hey, what can I do.

Wow, another nephew (I already have a 6-year old nephew from the youngest of my two sisters). Hopefully G-d will help my wife and I to conceive a boy as well; otherwise I'm never gonna hear the end of it from my two sisters!

Yay!

Update

I am horrible with journals, and it seems with blogs, too.

First of all, happy new year to everyone. So far so good, though I can't believe it's almost February already.

Mostly I've been busy with Highmoon Media, setting up new projects for freelancers to work on, and finally finishing my own project, Liber Sodalitas: Scions of the Holy Triad. Drop by the website for more info.

Helping my wife now edit and rewrite her NaNoWriMo novel, Songbird. It's certainly an experience, nothing she or I have any idea how to do. But still, it should be fun, and the result will be worth it.

Gonna finish some stuff and head out. Feeling a bit under the weather today.

Chanukah!

First of all, HAPPY CHANUKAH!!!

I LOVE Chanukah; I think that from all the Jewish holidays, it is my favorite. And no, it has nothing to do with gifts because I do not get gifts in Chanukah (that's mostly for little children, Chanukah is not the "Jewish X-mas"), and it's not because of the food, though it does have an influence (latkas and donuts and buñuelos, oh my!). No, it's something else, something that in the four years or so I've been celebrating Chanukah I haven't been able to put my finger on, not totally.

One of the reasons, though, is very clear to me. Chanukah was the first Jewish holiday I celebrated, back some four (or five) years ago, when I was still celebrating X-mas. My mother-in-law had already begun her change towards Judaism, and she got us to light the menorah as well. In my apt., alone with a little siddur (prayer book) she gave me, I recited the prayers and lit the candles for 8 nights, staying home, sitting on my sofa, doing nothing for the hour or so it took the candles to burn down. There was no religious meaning to me back then, but there was something about the candles, about the way they burned, all in a row, that really soothed me (and at that moment in my life, I needed it badly).

Years later I would learn about the story of Chanukah, what the candles stand for, and what the illumination represents, but at that moment, none of that mattered; all that mattered to me were those candles and the sense of peace they gave me. Sure, after Chanukah was over (or even in the middle of it, if they concurred) I went right into celebrating X-mas without a second thought, but something was changing in me, though it would take another two to three years to fully realize it.

Judaism teaches that all human souls have a divine spark inside them, an innate connection to God. In the great majority of us, these sparks are dormant, subdued by the mundane world, the day-to-day routine, but sometimes, something happens that lights up that spark and turns it into a small flame and then into a roaring fire. To Jews, that that catalyst is the Torah (and my belief is that to all of humanity as well, perhaps not literally as the Torah, but the essence contained therein), and sometimes it can be manifested in as simple an act as lighting the menorah. My whole conversion, I am sure, can be traced back to that menorah I lit years ago, and the sense of peace that it gave me when I had no idea why.

Sure, there are other reasons that can be deduced for my love of Chanukah, like the fact that it commemorates the triumph of Judaism against the overwhelming tide of Hellenism, a tradition in which I was very much into being as I was a product of the Greek model of logic, but those are interpretations for another day. At the core, even today, I love Chanukah because I love lighting the menorah; I love seeing those flames dance all in a row, radiating an aura of peace around them, having memories to that first menorah I lit, and the incredible road it started me on.

As I said, Happy Chanukah.