Phifty

4703 days after I was an idiot. The chamber always feels cold. I wake up, fully armored in proud greens and blues, and hop out, long black gun in hand. A few other soldiers are milling about, standing at similarly colored holographic consoles looking through deployment options, trying to decide where best to go. There is no best. I shoulder my rifle, its weight unfelt by my boosted body, and march--double time--to the closest flying transport. The ship is massive, as befits its enormous armor, engines and weapons. It too wears my colors, greens and blues, smeared across it as if by a finger-painting child with square fingers, at various spo

Tonight is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, which literally translates to 'head of the year.' It's the first day, One Tishrei, of the new Jewish Year 5772. The Rabbis teach us that Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of man and woman. Isn't that sort of odd? There were six days of creation (and one day of rest) in the first week of the world. We are not starting at the beginning of this biblical week, nor really at the end. Instead we start our calendar, and every new year, at the anniversary of day 6, the creation of man. Why day six? Is it because humanity might, perhaps, be a bit egotistical? I think there is more to it then

There was a gravelly sound as Jill scooped the ice into a ball and dropped it into the paper cone. She and her three friends worked in concert, each one contributing their hands and eyes to the work. They rotated throughout the day so that no one got tired of their task. Right now Jill was working the scoop, taking the ice, running it through the grater, and fitting her hand around the metal half-sphere that molded the ice into shape so it would fit in the Ice Hut's trademark paper-cones. She'd pass the cone on to the next girl in line, the youngest of them, Mary, who stood out in the group of girls by being the shortest and the only one wit

In this week's Torah portion, God fulfills his promise to Moses, that the greatest leader of the Jewish people will not enter the promised land. What could Moses possibly have done, that he was forced to stand on the very border of Israel, still lively after 120 years, but unable to enter? He struck a rock twice. Going back, there seems to be a lot of context that the Lord should have considered. In Chapter 20 of the Book of Numbers, we find the Jewish people in the wilderness of Zin. Moses's sister Miriam has just died and the well of water that followed the Jews through the wilderness,  because of her merit,  has stopped flowing. Moses, w

There's an old story, I'm sure most of you are familiar with it. There is a town gossip. He wants to change his behavior and comes in one day to his Rabbi for advice. The Rabbi hands him a pillow and says "Here, take this pillow and drop the feathers inside all over town, and then come back to me." The man leaves the Rabbi, goes out into the streets, spreads the feathers to the winds and returns to the Rabbi. The Rabbi sees the empty pillow and tells the man, "Go back out and collect all the feathers." The man looks at the Rabbi and says: "But Rabbi, that's impossible." "So too," the Rabbi replies "is retrieving all the things you've said a

I have to admit that I procrastinated a little more then usual before writing this sermon. But, it wasn't all my fault. I was distracted by Grand Theft Auto Four. Now, I know the controversy has pretty much boiled over at this point, but now that I'm playing it, I have to admit to seeing more than a few good life lessons in the game. Don't drink and drive, because if you do, you'll hit a pole, flip over three times, skid across a major freeway and fall into the Hudson River. Make friends, help them out, and they'll return the favor… by referring you to a high level Mafia don. And finally, when the police try to pull you over, if you d

"Sometimes, war is cheap." -Arkady Sardais, Hegemon - Fifth Degree.   We got lazy. It was that simple. We didn't do a proper pre-scan before we jumped. I'm sure some would disagree with me. It wasn't like we had the time. Command didn't know that separatists were sitting just outside of scanning range at the Luet terminus. They certainly didn't expect for the Taurians to throw their entire force at one minor terminus.   We came out to complete chaos. Orders had been to take the entire 58th Roving Protectorate Fleet and sneak it through a fairly minor arm of the Thriacia wormhole network. We'd out-put to a backwater system and

Homeworld: Arctus Gordivia IV (Diorga) Affiliation: Founder, White-Wing Foundation (NGO-Humanitarian). Antarean in origin.  Varis in the house of Gallientus. Born: 944 A.E. Status: Deceased Bio: Lania, of House Gallientus, was born 944 A.E. to the then junior Senator Claetus Gallientus and his wife Riea. She was the latest, and last, of the direct bloodline of the house's founder  Varis Gallientus. Like all members of the direct bloodline from the house's founder Lania was given the title of Varis. At the age of 14 (958 A.E.), Lania moved with her father to Antarea Prime and was thrust into the limelight as the daughter of one of the Ant

The novel "The Human Stain," by Philip Roth, centers around an event. The main character, Coleman Silk, is a professor in a small town college who, when confronted with the consistent absence of two of his students, asks, “Does anyone know these people? Do they exist or are they spooks?” Despite his intent to use the literal meaning, a specter or a ghost, his phrase was considered racist and he was drummed out of his university and sent into a spiral of destruction, deceit and despair. An interesting story, but what, you might be asking, is the relevance? On Oct. 25, this previous Thursday, Michelle Guobadia, assistant director for

These days David Benoit takes his home along with him. He plays Nicky, Trekkie and a Bad News Bear in the traveling cast of Avenue Q, which will be coming to The National in Washington D.C. from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9. The tour brings its stage with them, “three old dilapidated brownstones, not that different from Fall River,” Benoit’s Massachusetts hometown. Benoit has been playing the two major characters for over a year, spending time in both the Broadway and traveling cast. “The show really pays homage to the children’s television shows we grew up with, shows like Sesame Street.” Benoit said. “Shows that tau