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

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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.

Back From NYC And Yet More D&D In The News

We got back from our weekend getaway to New York late last night. We had a wonderful time in NYC, and once again I am reminded of how much I like that city and how much I'd like to move up there.

Quickly (I'll go into details later), our time was spent mostly relaxing. We arrived on Wednesday night after a 2-hour long delay at MIA, ate something and went to sleep. On Thursday my wife and I took a cab ride to the Ohel, resting place of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Chabad-Lubavitch, as well as of his wife and father-in-law, also a Chabad Rebbe. We returned later in the afternoon to Brooklyn, had our Thanksgiving dinner, and went to see "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" (we liked it, it was funny) in Times Square. Friday we overslept, so we barely had enough time to make it to Manhattan, to the Hotel 17, where later in the evening, after Shabbat had started, our friend Larissa joined us. After a meal of wraps and lots of side dishes, we took a walk around Union Square and enjoyed the cold air. Saturday my wife and I went to the Young Israel of 5th Avenue for prayers, returned for a quick lunch, joined Larissa and Yvonne for an afternoon walk around Union Square and its various stores, took a short nap, and went to see Wicked: The Musical (it was AMAZING!), closing the night at the hotel and me with a headache the size of the Empire State Building. Sunday we went shopping around Union Square and St. Mark's Place in the East Village, and ate at a great little food place called Chickpea, before going to the airport and flying back home to Miami. I'll expound later.

Also, continuing the trend, the Boston Herald has published an article on D&D's 30th Anniversary entitled, "Here there be Dragons: After 30 years, D&D Players Shape Pop Culture."

Thanksgiving in New York

In what appears to be on its way to becoming a holiday tradition, my wife and I will be flying tomorrow evening from Miami to New York to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with my sister-in-law. What's even cooler, our friend Larissa will join us from Orlando on Friday, and Saturday night we're all going to see Wicked: The Musical, starring Idina Menzel.

All in all, this weekend should be kickass! Which is awesome, because we really need to get out of Miami once in a while.

RPG Questionaire

Once in a while you find these questionaires in websites, emails and other blogs, but this is the first one I have seen RPG related. So here goes (taken from Gareth-Michael Skarka):

1. What is the first RPG you ever played?

Dungeons & Dragons. It was 1986, I was in the 7th grade, and a friend of mine told me about this game his cousin had brought from the States (I was living in Puerto Rico at the time) about fantasy and dragons. I've been hooked ever since.

2. What RPG do you currently play most often?

Though I write d20 material that's D&D compatible, the game I have most played in the last few years has been Vampire: The Masquerade, with an ongoing chronicle since 1999. Recently we started a World of Darkness chronicle with the new rules.

3. What is the best system you've played?

Personally, I've always been a fan of D&D, though I readily accept it has had many problems over the years. I like the new 3.5 edition of the game; I think it's the most solid it has ever been. For more atmospheric games, White Wolf's Storyteller system rocks; I've gone months without rolling dice, based on the story-driven basis of the system.

4. What is the best system you've run?

White Wolf's Storyteller system, I would say. I used to like the Shadowrun system a lot, but then it got too complicated. D&D 3rd and 3.5 edition are a close second.

5. Would you consider yourself an: Elitist/ Min-Maxer/ Rules Lawyer?

If by Elitist you mean middle-of-the-road or story-driven type of player, then that's me. I'm definitely not a Rules Lawyer or a Min-Maxer.

6. If you could recommend a new RPG which would you recommend? Why?

Probably the new World of Darkness by White Wolf. They took a streamlined system and streamlined it even more, taking the best concepts from 3rd edition D&D and applying it to the Storyteller system. The result is a good game that serves even better as a toolkit for modern occult genre games.

7. How often do you play?

Sadly, I haven't been in a regular game in a while. Our gaming schedule is erratic, at best.

8. What sort of characters do you play? Leader? Follower? Comic Relief? Roll-Player/ Role-Player?

Role-player/Leader. Though sometimes I like to play a combat-machine just for kicks.

9. What is your favorite Genre for RPGs?

Fantasy, hands down. I enjoy futuristic/cyberpunk too, but at the end of the day it's fantasy I come back to.

10. What Genres have you played in?

Pretty much every genre available in a game, except for espionage.

11. Do you prefer to play or GM? Do you do both?

I like to do both, though I end up GM-ing more than playing.

12. Do you like religion in your games?

Game-related? Sure. Real life? only if the people involved can be mature and respectful about it. Otherwise, no.

13. Do you have taboo subjects in your games or is everything "fair game"?

Depends on the game and the players. See previous answer.

14. Have you developed your own RPG before?

Whole roleplaying game from the ground up? No, I always adapted others, and now I write for the d20 System.

15. Have you ever been published in the Gaming Industry? If so...what?

Yes. Here's a list:

• "Bardic Lore: The Fachan" - Highmoon Media Productions (2004)
  Writer
• "Liber Sodalitas: Erzsak's Drake Riders" - Highmoon Media Productions (2004)
  Writer
• "Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path" - Highmoon Media Productions (2004)
  Writer
• "The Player's Guide to Arcanis" - Paradigm Concepts, Inc. (2004)
  Additional Design
• "Nishanpur: City of Secrets" - Paradigm Concepts, Inc. (2004)
  Additional Design (my name was left off the credits)
• Campaign Magazine, Issue 8 - Fast Forward Entertainment, Inc. (2003)
  Author, "The Green Bough Glen" and "Four Magical Feats"
• "Alchemy & Herbalists" - Bastion Press, Inc. (2002)
  Additional Material
• "Codex Arcanis" - Paradigm Concepts, Inc. (2002)
  Additional Design
• "Hidden Greed" - RPGA Living Arcanis adventure, Paradigm Concepts, Inc. (2001)
  Writer
• "At the Edge of the Abyss" - RPGA Living Greyhawk adventure, Wizards of the Coast. (2001)
  Writer
• "Hawk's Pride" - RPGA Living City adventure, Wizards of the Coast. (2001)
  Writer
• Pyramid Magazine - Steve Jackson Games. (1998)
  Reviewer, "Clan Novel: Toreador" book review
  

Nov. 19: Sad And Happy Day

November 19 has various meanings to me, some happy and some sad. Let me get the sad one out first:

November 19, 1993 --11 years ago -- was the day my father passed away. I was living in Puerto Rico at the time, he in Miami, and he had gone in for some checkups a few days before. During the early morning hours of Nov. 19 he suffered a renal failure and died shortly thereafter (there is obviously more to it, but there's no reason to go into my Dad's medical history here). It was the worst news I had ever received, especially because a few days before, when my grandparents had flown to Miami to be with my dad at the hospital, I had had one of those gut premonitions that feel like punch to the stomach telling me to go with them; I didn't.

I had spent almost all of that summer with my Dad here in Miami and we'd have a great time. I flew back to P.R about a week before I was scheduled to originally because a girl, an ex-girlfriend, I hadn't seen in 3 years was in P.R. due to a death in the family (the irony kills me), and I had some unfinished business with her that I wanted to close once and for all (a story for another time). And so my Dad paid the extra fee so I could fly in earlier and see this girl; he was sad, and so was I, but hey, there was always Christmas! It wasn't to be. He had a funeral in Miami, and then his body was flown to Puerto Rico, where he's buried.

The really annoying thing about this whole deal is, as destroyed as I was by the death of my father, when I saw his body at the funeral, my sadness was alleviated by what I saw: my father had died with a smile on his face. An honest-to-God smile. During that summer, my Dad and I caught up with like 4 seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on reruns, and he said to me one night that in Heaven, since we'd be free of the limitations of the body, we'd be able to visit all the corners of the Universe, just "beaming" from here to there without effort, all so we could see the wonders of God's creation. When I saw his smile, that conversation came to mind, and I understood. I got an image in my head of my father, dressed in a Federation uniform, just exploring the vastness of the Universe, and that made me smile in turn.

I didn't cry at this funeral, though I have cried for him many times after that (including as I type this). I can't say I understand why God decided that his time had come so soon; I needed him so much during the time of my wedding, and especially as I was contemplating my conversion to Judaism, though most of the time I simply needed him because I just needed my Dad. I just gotta trust that God did what was right, and that one day I will understand. Until then, Dad, beam on, cause one day I'll want the Grand Tour as well.

My Dad also taught me that happiness should always be held higher than sadness, and that when possible, a sad occasion should be followed by a joyous one, which is why it's no coincidence that Nov. 19 is also the day that my wife and I arrived in Ireland ready to begin our married life and enjoy our honeymoon.

Yvette & Danny at the Cliffs of Moher
Nov. 24, 2002

We had visited Europe the year before for a 35-day Grand Tour we named The Transfiguration Tour, but as much as we all wanted to go to Ireland, we just had to leave it off for another time. That "another time" was our honeymoon, and we enjoyed every single last second of it. Ireland is a country where myth and history are inseparable, truly one and the same. People may tell you that they pray to St. Brigit knowing full well she's a Christianization of the Celtic goddess Brigid, or that they don't believe in faeries, but don't piss them off because they are out there. The best thing about having gone to our honeymoon in Ireland is that now, Ireland will always be a part of our marriage; whenever we look back on those early days, Ireland is there for us, beckoning, waiting for us to go back to her.

You can check our online travel journal at Celtic Honeymoon, and follow our trip day by day, location by location. Trust me, you'll fall in love with Ireland as well.

So like I said, sad and happy day, this Nov. 19. But overall, it's a happy one. I know my Dad would want me to feel that way.

[Highmoon Media] Letter To Our Customers & Friends

I (as Highmoon Media Productions) sent out this letter to all our current customers and to a group of friends to say thanks for their suport so far, and to let them know what's going on with HMP. I thought I'd post it here as a newsletter type of message stating where we are, and where we're headed.

Hello from Highmoon Media Productions.
We just wanted to take a moment to say hi to all our gaming friends and customers, and take a moment to put you up-to-date on what's happening at HMP.

Our three releases up to date--Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path, Liber Sodalitas: Erzsak's Drake Riders, and Bardic Lore: The Fachan--have been selling very well indeed, giving us all here at HMP great impetus to continue releasing cool new products.

HMP's Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path was recently reviewed at EN World by Staff Reviwer Crothian, who rated the product 4 out of 5! You can read his review here.

At RPGNow.com, two of our customers have already left User Comments, which we treasure and value, both rating Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path 5 out 5! You can check out the User Comments here (scroll down to the bottom).

If after buying, you enjoy your HMP purchase, we'd like to ask you to leave either a User Comment at RPGNow.com, on the page of the product of your choice (or all three), or if you'd like to write a longer review, you could post it to RPG.net, or at HMP's EN World Reviews Company Page under the appropiate product. Your comments help us improve and deliver quality products into your hands.

HMP is just getting started, too. Drop by our website at www.HighmoonMedia.com for the latest news and features, like the upcoming Designer's Notes section for each of our products where we'll take you behind the scenes of the creation process. We also hope to have our d20 Future line, Da Vinci Labs, ready to go before the end of the year, as well as our first release in the new Terra Mythica line. Closer on the horizon, we have a new Bardic Lore release, The Villa of Mysterious Delights, a drop-in location for your d20 Fantasy game, and a new Liber Sodalitas organization, the Scions of the Holy Triad, masters of the Triad Combat technique, and wielders of the wicked Triskele.

Like I said, lots coming from Highmoon Media Productions, we hope you'll stick around for the ride.

Highmoon Media Releases Bardic Lore: The Fachan

Highmoon Media Productions releases its third product, Bardic Lore: The Fachan, at RPGNow.com.

I turned around, intent on facing my enemy and instead I faced my nightmares. In front of me stood a creature fully a head taller than I, its single, bloodshot eye staring at me with all the hatred in the world. It had a broad and muscled body with a single arm jutting from the center of its chest, and a single, powerful leg, propelling it forth towards me. I can honestly say I hope to never run into a fachan ever again.
— From the journal of Amergin Ó Míl

Bardic Lore: The Fachan is a 8-page PDF (7 pages of content plus OGL) detailing a new creature for your d20 Fantasy game from the pages of Celtic myth, the fachan. Included are stats for this fearsome creature, info on the fachan as a character race, the fachan paragon class, a fully-stated NPC to threaten your players, and Lore/Knowledge check information. Written by Daniel M. Perez, artwork by Kelso Kaiser.

Bardic Lore chronicles the travels of the great bard Amergin Ó Míl as he wanders around the land, learning about the mundane, exotic and magical, recording it in his journal for posterity. Each Bardic Lore release is an entry from Amergin's journal, with accompanying d20 Fantasy stats and descriptions.

Look for further releases in the Bardic Lore and Liber Sodalitas lines from HMP.

Also available from Highmoon Media Productions:

More D&D In The News

I do not cease to be amazed at the amount of news pieces mentioning D&D this year; perhaps there are far more of us geeks than originally thought, and we do, in part, rule the world now (alongside our trusty sword +5).

The Boston Globe published on Nov. 15 an opinion piece on Dungeons & Dragon's 30th Anniversary entitled, "How 'Dungeons' changed the world."

And in similar news, Newsweek published a short op-ed in their November 22 issue, also on D&D's 30th Anniversary, entitled "Fantasy: The Thirty Years War."

GEEKS RULE!

2nd Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. Two years ago, in a first-rainy-then-crips-and-cool-then-really-cold Sunday night, I married the woman who was my love and my life. It was a sweet ceremony, full of joy, and everyone who attended can testify to the overwhelming feeling of peace, happiness and hope that permeated even the air. Now, two years later, we're still married, still in love and still without having killed each other (I've always said that the secret to a long-lasting and loving relationship is that the husband and wife do not kill each other).

So, to my wife, Happy 2nd Anniversary. I love you now more than I did then, but I still love you with the passion I did that day. May we have many, many more.

You can see our wedding website at "Danny & Yvette: Our Wedding."

HMP's First Review!

I released Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path on October 12, thus launching Highmoon Media Productions officially. All this time, while the product's been on sale (and selling quite decently, I think), I have been waiting for a product review. I got two good user reviews at RPGNow.com, which do mean a lot to me, since these are the people actually using the material, but an actual product review still eluded me. That changed today.

I did my usual morning round at ENWorld.org, and found on the front page that Liber Sodalitas: The Blind Path had been reviewed by Staff PDF Reviewer Crothian. My heart jumped to my throat, I swear to you. Before this moment, I had read various posts from other publishers talking about when they received their first review, the anxiety and exhilaration that it brought, and I thought they were exagerating. They weren't, not by a longshot.

The review, I'm happy to say, was very positive, earning the product a 4 out of 5 rating, as well as some good comments from Crothian (click to read the review). It's a weird ego thing, getting a review. In my case, I'm not sure it will have any impact on my sales (though it does put my product's name back on the front page at ENWorld.org), but the fact that someone who has reviewed hundreds of gaming products liked mine and thought well of it. It validates the work I have been doing up to now, and gives me impetus to keep going, to produce more (hopefully) good stuff.

I was feeling kinda crappy this morning, but this has bettered my mood a lot. Now to finish my stuff here at work and head home, cause Shabbat now starts at 5:15 PM and that leaves no time to waste.

Great Quote

My wife just sent me this via email. I don't know who said it, but it is a great quote:

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body totally worn out, and screaming WOOHOO!!! .....What a Glorious Ride!"

Haman Is Dead

I was awake last night at around midnight when I got a Breaking News email from the local NBC station: Yasser Arafat had died.

Finally.

Psalm 92: 7
When the wicked bloom like grass, and the doers of iniquity blossom- it is to destroy them till eternity.

I turned on the news and only BBC had something on it, so I just went to bed, knowing full well in the morning the news organizations would have all the details. I was right, and while I had my breakfast I got up to date on the death of the "Palestinian" leader and all the related going-ons in the Middle East, and especially in Israel.

Have you ever read the Book of Esther? You should. And when you do, instead of Haman, replace it with Arafat; you'll get the same result. This is a man who championed terrorism as a perfectly acceptable tactic to getting what he wanted. This is the man who kept his "people" in the dirt while living it up in a multi-million dollar lifestyle with the money he stole. This is the man who came up with the ridiculous idea of a Palestinian people and state. Did you know he was actually Egyptian, not "Palestinian?" That's because there is no such thing as a "Palestinian" people, not in the modern world. Some two or three thousand years ago perhaps, and even then that's iffy at best. There's always been Arab nomads in those lands, yes, but just the same there have always been Jews and/or Israelis as well, and we have the claim to the land, not them (and unless you're a 100% atheist there is no way you can argue that point with me).

Of course, the world is mourning him as if he'd been a hero. I got news for you: if you believe Arafat was a hero, then so is Osama Bin Laden; if you think Arafat should be accorded all the privileges of a stateman, then hand them out to Bin Laden as well, because these two were peas from the same rotten pod. Arafat was a terrorist, plain and simple; a man who hated with vehemence Israel and the USA and all that the Western World stands for, a man who had no problem ordering suicide bombings in civilian centers, who had no problem ordering the deaths of children, a man who benefited from the misery of those he pretended to represent with their full support to boot, ignorant people that they are. Today a true villain has died.

And before you can say anything, understand that I do not rejoice in the fact; at the end of the day he was just a sick and decrepit old man of 75 who died alone far from his home. But I am glad he passed away, and even more so that he died like he did, of natural causes. God simply said, "You're time's up, Arafat. It's time for your judgement." What happens to him in the afterlife is of no concern of mine, but I know he will have to answer for every single life he took, directly or indirectly.

Psalm 83
A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.
O God, keep not Thou silence; hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, Thine enemies are in an uproar; and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. They hold crafty converse against Thy people, and take counsel against Thy treasured ones. They have said: 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.' For they have consulted together with one consent; against Thee do they make a covenant; The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them; they have been an arm to the children of Lot.

Do Thou unto them as unto Midian; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook Kishon; Who were destroyed at En-dor; they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and like Zebah and Zalmunna all their princes; Who said: 'Let us take to ourselves in possession the habitations of God.' O my God, make them like the whirling dust; as stubble before the wind. As the fire that burneth the forest, and as the flame that setteth the mountains ablaze; So pursue them with Thy tempest, and affright them with Thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek Thy name, O LORD. Let them be ashamed and affrighted for ever; yea, let them be abashed and perish; That they may know that it is Thou alone whose name is the LORD, the Most High over all the earth.

Amen.

Thoughts From The Weekend

Two things have stuck in my head from the weekend and have prompted some thoughts.
First, my rabbi, Rabbi Dalfin of Ohr Menachem Chabad of North Bay Village, made a comment on this week parasha (weekly Torah portion), Vayeira (Genesis 18:1-22:24), specifically on the moment when Abraham "argues" with God to save the city of Sodom if there are enough righteous people, starting with 50, then 45, 30, 20 and ending with 10; less than 10 is not enough to spare the city. This is one of those places in the Torah where we see clearly the value and importance of a minyan, the quorum of 10 adult Jewish men.

So the rabbi tells a story of the Alter Rebbe (the 1st Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe) of a time when he was travelling in Russia and lodged at an inn run by a Jewish man and his family for generations in a somewhat isolated area of the country. The Rebbe asked the man why did he live so far from a Jewish community, to which the man answered that his family had owned the inn for many years and this is how they made their living. The Rebbe asked the man what did he do for prayers, to pray with a minyan. The man answered that, except for the High Holy Days, when he would travel to the city, the rest of the year he would have no minyan to pray with; a few Jewish travelers here and there, but hardly ever a minyan. The Rebbe spoke to the man about the importance of praying with a minyan, and went to his room, only to be awakened some time later by the sounds of furniture being moved. The man had take the Rebbe's words to heart and decided to move to the city to be able to pray with a minyan. The Rebbe said later to his students that he had been moved by this man, who was not his student or one of his followers, but that had taken his words to heart so thoroughly. It's a great story, and it indeed points to the importance of praying with a minyan.

But there's another side to the story, a side-effect, if you will. Because of the Rebbe's words, this man closed his inn and moved, thereby removing the one small presence of Judaism that there was in this remote area of the country. While the man was there, a Jewish traveller could be assured to find a host sensitive to his special needs, assured to find kosher food in the middle of nowhere, assured to find a candle in the middle of the gentile darkness around. With the man moving away, that candle was extinguished, who knows if ever to be rekindled again. My rabbi took this as a great example to be followed, while I was bothered to no end by it. What if this man's mission was to be a roadside candle for travellers? What if the true difference he made in the world was by being a spark of Judaism where you wouldn't think of finding one? Yeah, it's important to pray with a minyan, but it is also important to bring light to the nations; that's our calling after all!

At its core, this bothered me because one of those "perhaps one day" dreams that I have is to move to Europe (the Dingle Peninsual in Ireland is at the top of my list), open a little B&B, and enjoy peace and quietness while having the wonders of Europe just outside my door. This would most likely mean being the only Jew around for miles, and not being able to pray with a minyan. But this would also mean that I'd be a little spark of Judaism in a place where you wouldn't exactly expect to find one. I'd be that opportunity for a Jewish traveller to find a kosher meal in western Ireland; to find that timers and pre-cooked food (perhaps even some cholent) come Shabbat; to find someone who understand when this traveller says he/she wishes they had some kugel or burekas; to help all the gentiles around get used to the idea of Jews being normal human beings, respectful and amiable, living with the laws of God while fully being a part of this world. In short, to be a Jewish beacon in the midst of a gentile ocean. God knows I wish I had found this when I was travelling in Ireland two years ago! How can we be a light unto the nations if we only keep to our all-Jewish communities?

The other weekend subject I was thinking about was Halloween. I think I'm over it. I used to like Halloween, a lot, but over the last few years that interest has dwindled and it has nothing to do with my conversion to Judaism; while Orthodox Judaism certainly does not endorse the celebration of Halloween (read more about it here), it is not as dire as, say, the position on celebrating Christmas (which is a big no-no). I just, I don't know, don't care anymore. Dressing up in costume is fun, but I don't really want to do it (not even for the Renaissance Faire lately, either). I'm not sure why, either, but I just don't. Though last night I did go to my friend's house to their little party and had a good time (see the pictures). We took their 1-year old baby girl Alexis trick-or-treating and got lots of candies that we ate for her (she didn't mind). Maybe once I have kids it'll be fun again, though by then I'll also have to decided on the issue of Halloween and raising an Orthodox Jewish family... Things don't really get easy as you grow older, do they?

So, to end on a high note, here's a really good article on the position of Judaism in regards to the occult. In short, no, we're not like the Christians at all (thank God for that); Judaism is very much a way of life that stresses the middle of the road and the understanding that EVERYTHING is a part of God and part of His plan. With that in mind, the occult can be understood to be just another tool of God that can be used for benefit or harm (remember that good and evil are human inventions). The article is well-written and is completely non-dogmatic; I invite you to read it.


by Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky