Phoenix Again

For the most part, I left my Babylon 5 days when the series ended (though my online moniker hearkens back to those days), but I have to say, this (closeup from a screen grab below) does my geeky heart good:

Not only was "Messages from Earth" one of my favorite episodes (the best of the series, IMHO, was the run between "Messages From Earth" through "War Without End"), but it boasted some of the best scoring in the series.

The DVD is a nifty idea, though I think the idea that future aliens could play one is...optimistic...at best.

Totally unrelated except that my quote brain got engaged thinking about "War Without End," but I must share two of the best quotes from that episode:

• Cannot run out of time.  There is infinite time.  You...are finite.  Zathras...is finite.  This...is wrong tool.

• Why do your people always ask if someone is ready right before you're going to do something massively unwise?

Meanwhile, another filk.  Someone, at some point, will probably ask me to take these down.  If so, so be it. Until then, "The Phoenix" from "Walkabout", because -- who knows?  Maybe Fred, Roger, or Gus is on Mars right now:

In a tower of flame in capsule twelve, I was there

I know not where they laid my bones; it could be anywhere

But when fire and smoke had faded, the darkness left my sight

And I found my soul in a spaceship's soul riding home on a trail of light

CHORUS:

And my wings are made of tungsten

My flesh of glass and steel

I am the joy of Terra for the power that I wield

Once upon a lifetime, I died a pioneer

Now I sing within a spaceship's heart

Does anybody hear?

Before each morning's launch, they know that I am there

To the soul that warms this vessel's hull, they say a silent prayer

I am father ship and spirit of the dream for which they strive

For I am man at the hands of man, see us rocket for the sky

CHORUS

My thunder rends the morning sky; yes, I am here

Though lost to flame when I was man, now I ride her without fear

For I am more than man now, and man built me with pride

I led the way, and I lead the way, of man's future in the sky

CHORUS