Never Drink And Teleport

Never Drink and Teleport

and NEVER under any circumstances Drink and Drive in a virtual world

Ooops

Have a Happy and safe Halloween to all of you celebrating together across the Virtual Worlds.

Grumpy Old Avatars

Add caption

Well goodness knows I have had plenty to be grumpy about over the last few weeks. Finally the Linden Lab billing issue seems to have been resolved and I  have  just a few days left in SL as a premium paying customer so  I am definitely going to make the most of it!

For the last year I have,  along with Malburns Writer and  MBCs Dousa Dragonash been running a show called Grumpy Old Avatars. We have had numerous guests who have been more than happy to come in and join  the fun filled hour where we get to moan pretty much about anything online, our virtual worlds and the occasional poke at our ISP services. 

It has historically been held in the Studio  in Menorca since the start and tonight is the last  one to be held there before it moves over to Metaverse TV island.

Last week we held  it partly in Reaction Grid along with special guest Pathfinder joining me there and Dirk Talamasca guesting in SL with the rest of the team

 thankfully due to some great  cross platform filming by Robustus Hax ( MBC) it was aired problem free.

 If you would like to join us tonight, we have special guests Juel Resistance and Foxxe Wilde. Both have assured me that they have lots to  be grumpy about so it looks to be a great show!

If you have something to moan about, you get one hour and  our  grumpy company ( for one hour only) each Friday at 3PM SLT! 

let me know if you would like to be a guest.

Click on link below for the slurl.

                                                                    The Studio

Right after that will be the final  show at The Shell Stage with UK Electronic artist CJ Wray. 

I am SO looking forward to his set tonight being an electronica artist myself.

Click on Link to vist CJs' website

CJ Wray

Since 1987, Christopher J Wray has pursued the unique and unusual for his album soundscapes. With music spanning the ambient, progressive and symphonic electronica genres, CJ has managed to create his own disctinctive style, which has gained him a prodigious fanbase. Here we have another example of emerging symphonic electronica from UK's finest.

His albums Dreamers (2002,) Dreamers Two (2004), The Time Bell (2006) and his debut album on Earth Academy Records, entitled 'BERLIN', have helped him to make his mark on the electronic music scene

More recently, he briefly joined Electro band INTELLIGENTSIA for future projects and performances.  His latest album Retrospect (2009) is a compilation album featuring reworked tracks from his back catalog.  Wray is currently working on 2 major albums for 2010.

Lastly but certainly not least will be Saturdays  Halloween Party at Extreme Reality Headquarters. It's the 4th Annual Scary Do fabulously organised by the wonderful Bevan Whitfield  and I am very much looking forward to DJing my stuff  from 4PM SLT for  an hour or so!

 Click on link below for more info 

Extreme Reality 4th Annual Halloween Party

When it all goes Horribly Wrong ( part 2)

 Continuing the subject of when it all goes horribly wrong, for the last 2 weeks I have been unable to get into SL.

 This is due to Lindens  Labs failure to fix their website and the update Billing Information page. I have now been asked to submit a ticket so they can fix it for me to pay them. I figured ( based on the last few months experience of ticket submissions) that I can expect a wait of maybe 6- 8 weeks before the problem is resolved ( or at least the ticket looked at) 

By which time of course I would be owing 2-3 months tier.

It isn't going to happen

 Currently unable to take any payments over the phone and they have provided no other options for payment, I have the last tier payment for Menorca overdue and cant do a thing about it. Company policy or whatever notwithstanding, I' d love to have the chance to at least get in and clear away the stages and things on my island before they might go  ahead and delete not only my island  but also my avatar.

 They could at least fix the flipping website to let  me pay and clear up!

Anyway, below this you will find a  player that has a live duet between myself and a very talented musician who used to use SL, His name is Ricardo Sprocket and this is a live duet we did back in 2007 

( daisy chain stream) into SL. 

Ricardo on Piano and both of us on vocals

I think the lyrics are quite apt

 so , Linden Labs, If you are reading my blog,

 this song is for you.

 feel free to change the words 'wasted' to 'fed up'

When it all goes horribly Wrong

moi :)

  Having spent the  last 5 years as a performer  using SL  I know how important it is to  present your music well and to run your gig  as well as possible when online. 

 In the beginning, you have to learn pretty quickly how to Multi- task. You need to be able to  watch the screen,  keep an eye on the chat  and visuals in Second Life plus  sing, and or play your instrument. At the same time you need to be watching your streaming software  to make sure  you are connected and live on air and that the audience can hear you.

 Mostly this works..

and then sometimes it all goes horribly wrong.

 Over the  5 years of performing live online  I have had my  share of disasters when streaming. On occasion , due to my internet connection failing,  computer crashes, SL crashes and restarting of sims.

  I have recorded nearly all my  online concerts  into SL. Some of them were great shows, and some of them not.   Just for laughs I though I'd cut out a few clips  of when it all went horribly wrong.

 click to listen below

Toilet Paper and Shower Curtains

In the early  part  of 2006 I teleported off to a live show in SecondLife.  I guess it was more of a house party really.

On the stream were a bunch of people laughing, having a great time and playing some extraordinarily good music in between clinking of glasses and, from what I remember, some dreadful jokes.

Oh yes, and a guy singing a song about toilet paper and shower curtains.

I confess it was probably that song that made me click on the add friend button,

And I did consequently invite that musician  to perform at the official opening of  Menorca.

Not long after the opening, he found himself having to move from the parcel he had rented for his shows and I immediately offered some space on Menorca for him to set up.

Little was I to realise that he would still bloody be here after 4 1/2 years 

Of course I had no idea who this guy really was, only that he was an exceptional musician and singer/ songwriter, with an innate talent for capturing the attention of every audience  and keeping them enthralled to the very end of each set.

I’d like to introduce one of my closest friends DimiVan Ludwig, aka Chris Harlow. Owner of  the Hummingbird Café.

© Courtesy of Hummingbird Cafe Group  Facebook

 He has hosted  the longest running Open Mic  in SecondLife and has probably seen the most  musician debuts in SL there.

© Courtesy of Hummingbird Cafe Group Facebook

Having successfully run the Hummingbird Café on PalTalk for many years, moving it to SL was truly  a great move. 

The  intimate stage area and cosy feel of the whole place has been  one of the big attractions, although after several months of everyone falling into the ‘moat’ by the stage, Chris finally stopped laughing enough  to cover it up.  Although the last time I was there, I  did see that it has come back again, thinly disguised as a rope net.

For Musicians, the Hummingbird Café has what I call a ‘legendary’ status If you haven’t played, there, then you have truly missed out. From the personal introduction of each and every musician by Dimi, and the huge group of regular fans and supporters of not only the music but of the venue itself. Each show is run beautifully and plenty of humour and fun to be had by all.

It  also has a history of 'firsts'. Myself and Melvin Took ( aka Peter Greenstone) did the very first Live singing duet on a daisy-chain  stream there. And many musicians in SL made their debut at the Cafe. 

For a few  lucky chosen musicians, there has been the yearly personal invite from Dimi to Indiana for the Hummingbird Jams.  I have visited Dimi on a couple of occasions. Once when I was in Chicago for the 2007 SLCC and the second time I managed to squeeze an invite for the  infamous Hummingbird  Jams. During both of those times, it struck me just how generous  and wonderful Chris truly is. Imbued with a huge dollop of humour and yet humble in his talent. He even allowed me to interview him. ( under duress and an almighty hangover )

For me,  sharing Menorca with Chris, has been one of the best things  ever. He has been an inspiration, a voice of calm when  I was not, and in every possible way supportive of  all the  madcap ideas and shows I have run.

Menorca is in many ways The Hummingbird Cafe and I owe a lot of the success of the island to that.

The sad part to this  story is that  The Hummingbird Café will close on Oct 31st  2010

 Time seems to have flown by, and whilst the pixels and prims will go, I hope the friendships and memories forged there will remain in place for many years to come.

 I for one, will never forget the Toilet Paper and Shower Curtain song that introduced me to such a wonderful person and, if I could, I would keep Menorca open  for another 4 years  along with DimiVan Ludwig and the Hummingbird Cafe

 I probably haven't done the  Hummingbird or Chris justice by any means in  this post but if  you do have time,  go to the final show on Oct 31 and  take LOTS of pictures and more than anything, enjoy the  music and the company of a very cool guy.

I guess it's about time

So here I am, VERY nervously starting my own blog.

My reason for joining the ranks, albeit on the lowest rung of the blog-o-sphere , is because of course I like to talk about stuff! mainly music stuff, but stuff in general too. (Although in all honesty my past 'talking' has been literally talking about stuff Live on air,or on voice chat, or at a presentation, rather than committing anything to paper or webpage in any great detail and I am pretty sure my 140 character limit on twitter does not count.

With vast experience of being a terrible typist ( ie typo IS my middle name) and a penchant for the Exclamation mark!!!!!!!!! and brackets ( lets get those out of the way right now.) I do hope you the reader will in some small part of your heart understand that this post did take me HOURS to spellcheck before publishing.


Ok I am lying..


it has spellchecker inbuilt..


where was I?


If you are not familiar with 'Slim Warrior' it is the name I gave my avatar when I joined Second Life some 1795 days ago.
that works out at
= 43080 Hours
= 2584800 Minutes
= 155088000 Seconds

or of course 4 Years, 11 Months, and 0 Days.

A pretty good day to start a blog I thought.

It's also the day I decided to leave Second Life

I was the 1st British musician to perform live in SL ( 2nd female) and being in a group of perhaps 8 musicians in total in SL back in 2005 to being one of many hundreds now, it certainly changed my life and mostly for the better.

Probably most will not notice the absence of another red haired avatar, but I will at times, miss those pixels and prims and the fun I had arranging them into a representation of me.

I will also selfishly regret the loss of my island Menorca a music events island , it has hosted so many shows and been the starting point for many musicians coming into Second Life and performing in an online environment for the first time, or online at all for that matter!

Almost nothing beats that sense of achievement or that shout of excitement coming from a musician streaming in Live on air for the first time, That collective 'You did it!' reverberating in your headphones/ speakers, from someone hundreds of miles away on another timezone, who will now be able to make their music heard globally.

Its a GREAT feeling and I cherish each of those moments that I was able to help :)
and No , I am not going to give that up. but I won't be doing it in SL any more.

Parts of my blog I will dedicate to covering my almost 5 years of being in SL, covering Venues/ Shows ,Musicians, as that was always an integral part and reason for me being there, but I will also be touching on new virtual worlds and my involvement with Music and online performances.. I may even bring up and post a few interviews I have had the pleasure of doing with musicians over the years for you to peruse at your leisure.

I will cover new online performance spaces that you can discover and hopefully go and enjoy and maybe now and again ,break out an exclusive here :)


I will also at some point probably ramble aimlessly given my mood of the day, but do give me a chance, I'm just n00b here :)


Slimmie