Commentary

Those of you I hang with in Second Life know that I met Hammer at Toby’s Juke Joint, so it’s a little special to us. And you all know I blogged Toby’s pretty heavily lately. I get a rash if I go too long without the blues, and Hammer named his RL dog after B.B. King’s guitar. So the blues has been the backdrop to our growing relationship.

Dancing to the blues on the deck at home

Now Toby’s is pretty much my regular hang-out (when I manage to pry myself away from the beach house), and since we met there a few weeks back, Hammer and I tend to pop back fairly often. It’s comfortable and feels like home to us.

This has been a difficult week real life and today was the most difficult of all. So I was not amused when I walked into Toby’s tonight, and who was there but my ex and his GF. I know he reads this blog; he knows I hang there. And I know he completely learned about Toby’s Juke Joint from this blog, because he has never, so help me, had an original idea on anyplace to go in Second Life. Ever.

Space Park in Second Life

So needless to say, I didn’t stay. I went out RL for a few hours (I’m a firm believer in the time-honored Friday happy hour tradition), and met Hammer back at the beach house once I was in a decidedly better humor. He wanted to stop by Savoy Jazz Club, which we did, but the dance balls were kind of out of sync. So we did a bit of shopping, and then we decided to head out to the Inspire Space Park, as he hadn’t seen it yet.

If you have not been to the Space Park, cancel all your other Second Life plans and GO. It is beautiful, spiritual and relaxing. We started out having a glass of wine, and could have been happy just sitting there lazily chatting and watching the shooting stars. You see, the sky changes, and you can never be sure what you will see next.

Floating weightless above the Space Park

We walked across some small asteroids to what appeared to be a dance floor. But when we clicked the dance ball, we floated off into space… all very 2001 Space Odyssey.

After awhile, it was time to float back down. I thought a bit of meditation might be in order. I was quite amazed at the calming effect of SL mediation as the platform I sat on slowly rotated among the heavens. The animations were familiar to me, as they are similar (though certainly not exact) to prayer rituals I have practiced so many times before at Hindu temples over the years RL in Bali.  Hammer was feeling a bit under the weather with a stomach bug RL, poor dear, and he said it made him feel better too.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting to be meditating when I put on this skirt!

Hammer and I communing with the universe

While we were chanting, I got a message from Tom Divisadero about an Ozzy concert over at Wild Hogs on the Full Throttle sim, so we did a complete about-face (the sublime to the ridiculous) and headed on over. This is SL at its best perhaps; a pulsating slate for artistry of all types. That, and the fact that Second Life allows us the opportunity to switch gears and attitudes at the speed of light.

Ohhhhmmmmmm

So I guess it is good to get out of your rut, even if you’re forced out of it.  Outer space, even when virtual, can make human idiocies seem small.

Anyone who has spent any time in Second Life at all has gone to a slew of Second Life weddings. I probably get at least two invitations a week. Of course, almost without exception, those couples aren’t together anymore. I knew one couple who booked a Second life honeymoon get-away (yes, indeed, there are businesses that cater to this) and the marriage failed when the bride didn’t bother to show up for the 5-day honeymoon for which the groom had shelled out big bucks.

What strikes me most about SL weddings themselves, though, is the deadly SERIOUSNESS of them. One would think people would have a little fun, and these things would be a bit tongue and cheek. But in fact they are usually about 500 times duller than the real thing. And let’s face it, most real life weddings are not really wing ding times. Though I’m going to admit here and nowhere else that I secretly actually like doing the polka. If you tell anyone, though, I’ll have to kill you.

I’m not naming who the people are in these photos in order to protect whatever it is I’m supposed to protect by not divulging their identities.

Above is one of the many weddings of probably my oldest friend in Second Life. God knows how he got anybody to even go with him for coffee with this look. I got to admit I “crashed” on purpose at this wedding, cause otherwise I would have had to strangle myself at the seriousness. Sorry, hon, but you know i wouldn’t say this if this wasn’t like three wives ago! I’ll give you a call when I pass through Chicago RL in a couple weeks and buy you a beer to make up for it if you’re still speaking to me after this post.

One of the invitations I received for a Second Life wedding this weekend does show some promise. This is a vampire wedding, so maybe they’ll sacrifice a virgin or something and add a bit of spice to the ceremony.

I hopped over to Redgrave this morning cause someone in one of the fashion groups mentioned there seemed to be a heck of a lot of escorts there, and I was hoping to get a photo of prim boobs and body oil for the blog - you know, a man pretending to be a woman in SL. Well, there were a few scantily clad avis around, but the most interesting character was this fellow ogling them. You notice we don’t black out the eyes in a “Glamour Don’t” tribute like the more high-market SL Fashion Police, because here, well, we’re Shameless.

You don’t see many characters like this in SL, where every geek has a muscled avi. But of course, he then proceeded to try to pick me up! It figures. Mmmmm, how tempting!

I can’t figure it out. Is there something about me that attracts this type?  If there’s a loser around, I’ll attract him, as witness my last two SL years with a loser who is now with a newbie avatar who is so brain dead she thinks emo is cool. [Rolls eyes.] Yes, Hans, I know about Huberta. If I were you, I’d be a whole lot more concerned with what I know about your real life relationship.

Celebrating President-Elect Obama!!!

Taking time out from RL celebration to throw this up here, as I’ve delegated making the margaritas. YES WE CAN!

Me riding my bike to a friend's place at Full Throttle

It’s not too late to score U.S. election swag while chatting with like-minded politicos. There are lots of Obama groups, but the blimp with bicycle above and the shirt below are from the Obama for President group. If you are a McCain supporter, god bless, you, but you’re on your own. I can’t even make a pretense at objectivity.

One more day...

While you’re out campaigning, stop by Elate! to pick up the Obama tank and undies below. Walk in the store and keep going straight until you see the freebie boxes. The underwear comes in a thong as modeled in the first photo and underwear with a bit more coverage as modeled in the second. I am wearing a short wig (which looks a LOT like my real life hair) in the last photo so you can see the back of the tank.  For those so inclined, there was a McCain tank there also.

Democrat tank and Obama thong

Obama'08 more modest undies

Back of Obama tank

Those of you who know me, know I have not been blogging due some personal issues. Well, now I’m back.

My first message on my return is a reminder to the U.S. to get out and vote Tuesday. Obviously, I’ve made my choice, but no matter what yours is, remember not voting is like giving a vote to the opposing candidate (or issue).

Please excuse my temporary absence, but real life has a way of insinuating itself. It won’t happen again, promise!

In my last post I mentioned that while hanging out with Joro she mentioned she was late for Druid class! Honestly, I’m not sure why I’ve been been drawn in lately to the world of fairies, ancient history and mythology, but I have to say I was curious to learn more about a Druid cult. (Yes, I know that Druids were quite real, so don’t fire up the email.) Normally I’m happy in my designer jeans or a Boho skirt dancing on the beach with Hans or attending a fashion sim opening gala. It just goes to show that once you open a door, you may be blasted right through it and into next Sunday.

Needless to say I tagged along to Druid class. We landed at the portal to the ice caves of Avilion Mist, one of the six medieval role play Avilion sims. When you land, turn around and click on the large framed glass that looks like Snow White’s mirror, and you will magically find yourself in the ice caves.

I had not been in the ice caves for some time (Hans and I took a little swan ride there some time ago), and I was amazed how large they are. I’m not sure if they’ve been enlarged or I just missed a lot of it last time I was there. Since she was running late, Joro took off like a shot weaving through paths and skipping over ice flows until we reached this impressive meeting place carved into the ice.

The topic of the day was role playing with herbs. The Druids act as healers when the Avilion sims have combat during their Calls to Arms. Apparently this requires quite a bit of education and ongoing classes. After all, it could be disastrous to administer chamomile when the proper remedy is lavendar! Well, the teacher and head Druid, Osiris LeShelle, very nicely let me participate even though it was obvious I had just sort of wandered in and crashed the party. I have no idea about her healing powers, but you have to admit she knows how to dress for effect. Below you can see at least two of her students, the dragons on the left, have a real appreciation for her sartorial splendor.

They have a sort of hearty, hale fellow well-met attitude over in Avilion, unlike those gorean sims where they all take themselves sooooo seriously. (Yeah, they hate me in Gor. I went on a little self-guided tour once and quickly learned those kneeling women get really pissed off when I offer them a cup of coffee. I mean, I figure if they are so tired they can’t even stand up, they can use a pick-me-up.)

I have to say that I was impressed that the cards Osiris handed out were grounded in real beliefs about the properties of herbs and not just made up for the role play. We were asked to practice healing role play, so below you see Joro and I doing just that. I’m telling her I burned my arm when I got accidentally pushed into the fire while trying to break up a brawl back at the castle. Some of those knights like their mead, and there was no AA in medieval times. She prescribes a poultice of lavendar. (Okay, I admit I have no idea if lavendar is good for burns or not.)

Much as I’ve enjoyed my little foray into this subculture of Second Life, I think it’s time for me to get back to my beach house, slip into a sarong, mix a pitcher of margaritas and turn up the reggae. I’ve enlisted the aid of Joro’s fried, Devi Moonbeam, who is both fae and a Guardian Avilion, to make guest posts from time to time to update us on the life of fairies and other medieval topics.

We hear a lot of talk that Second Life is one of the pioneers in the next phase, the 3D Web. Web 3.0 is envisioned as an extension of Web 2.0, which has spawned vibrant growth in social interaction and community growth. The 3D Web of the future, as BusinessWeek phrases it, may be ” slicker, more realistic, more interactive and social than anything we experience today through the Web browser”. We are just now envisioning how businesses, educational institutions, non-profits and communities might interact in this future web environment.

On the other side are the naysayers who seem to think that Second Life is just a game destination filled with sex and gambling, and not part of a movement of any importance whatsoever. (Well, we all know that SL gambling is under cover these days, but not eradicated.) This, despite evidence that goes beyond subjective anecdotes, evidence that shows people spend most of their time in Second Life shopping and just socializing. For example, a Reuters survey of 657 Second Life residents in 2007 before casinos were banned from SL showed that only 13.6 percent said they “often” practice cybersex, and only 2.2 percent patronized casinos regularly.

But with big brand businesses, universities and conferences holding real time events in Second Life, it’s exciting to watch. Just this week in the Second Life Reuters Auditorium, the interested could sit in on live interviews from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. We heard Richard Edelman, president and CEO of the world’s largest public relations firm, Martin Sorrell, CEO of the world’s second-largest advertising and marketing company, Robert Scoble, well-known tech geek blogger, Linden Labs CEO Phillip Rosedale and others. (Course, Scoble was banned from SL last year for letting his 12 year old son play in Second Life with him, but then he was banned from FaceBook at the beginning of the month too… but I digress.) Here you can see a bit of turn-around as Robert Scoble interviews Phillip Rosedale, which he sent as a live feed via qik.

A lot of real life businesses are in Second Life, but to a large degree as an effort to position themselves as on the edge, rather than due to any expectations of driving immediate sales. I for one would love to hold conferences in Second Life for my real life clients, but it’s still a bit early to use Second Life to market to consumers not already Second Life residents or to use Second Life as a replacement for WebEx. However, as the technology becomes more stable, and Second Life and similar, future applications become easier to use, it will be fascinating to watch how the Web evolves.

Not long ago people were rolling their eyes at social media sites like YouTube, FaceBook and Twitter. (Well, let’s face it, businesses are still figuring out how to interact with their customers in this new world of consumer generated content and social networking.) But like today’s Internet (and any other media format you want to name for that matter), the future Web is bound to run the gamut of human interests - and savvy entrepreneurs will find opportunities around all of them.

I had been planning to write a long dissertation this week about the future impact of the 3D Web on business. This is in no small part due to the fact that Sapphire has been nagging me relentlessly to start doing my part as the business correspondent. Of course, Sapphire and Shameless both always fall asleep whenever I discuss business. They’re such light weights!

But it’s two days before Christmas, and business will have to wait. I am filled with the holiday spirit, and I’m off to buy party supplies and gifts! Happy Holidays everyone! And, hey, Sapphire, your mother wears army boots!