Disconnecting Can be a Very Good Thing

For the past several days I have been tense, stressed out, edgy. My RL work includes managing the finances for a research group funded by an endowment and federal grants. With the economy taking a nose dive and the US government bail out of the financial industry, I expect little to be left to fund climate change research. The prospect of good, hard working people doing important work losing their jobs is very real in my day to day life. On top of that there is an election here in the US -- you may have heard about it? (insert eye roll here) It seems my worry about the election is shared as everywhere I go people are talking about it. Throw on top of these worries another ill-planned business decision on the part of Linden Labs and the resulting community outcry that has many of my friends positively distraught. It has been a wild ride over the past few weeks.

This morning I visited Strawberry Holiday's new installation called Disconnected. The installation consists of a dome inside which there is a person who is sitting on a sofa surrounded by technology. She has a cell phone in her hand and is sitting across from a television. There is a table with a laptop and another flat screen mounted on the wall. The dome itself is dark and the objects have the signature Strawberry glow. Outside the dome is a large field of the most lush tall grass I have ever seen in SL. There are glowing, pulsing trees and the dark sky is covered with stylized stars. Ambient music completes the scene.
(click for bigger images -- well worth it)



The message I took away from this wonderful installation could not have been more timely. When SL and the input from technology is too much, I become disconnected from what really matters. At that point it is important to turn it off. Step away from the polls, the predictions, the fussing about tier, the bad business decisions, the worries about the future. It is time to step away from all of it and enjoy some art, play in the grass, look up at the sky and appreciate the stars; spend time with the people I love. I needed the reminder.


Strawberry is having a photography contest so you may want to consider entering your photos. I will say I found it a little hard to capture good images at the installation due to the glow. I will keep trying as I think it would be fun to contribute an image to the flickr group.

To Enter:

Between October 30th, and November 20th Take a photo @ Strawberry Holiday's "Disconnected" and write a caption then post it in flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/strawberrycontest/ .

You may submit only one entry per Flickr account. That's all you have to do! You retain rights to anything you submit, but you could win a prize.

A panel of three judges WendyofNeverland Fussbudget, Savannah Nihilist, and Strawberry Holiday will choose the winners by the closing party for "Disconnected" on Sunday November 30th, where the winner will be announced and prizes awarded!

1st Prize (to be awarded to one avatar on Nov 20, 2008):

5,000L and a full collection of more than 15 Strawberry Holiday Trees including some no longer available for purchase in Second Life.

2nd Prize (to be awarded to one or move avatars on Nov 20, 2008):

A full collection of more than 15 Strawberry Holiday Trees including some no longer available for purchase in Second Life.

Stellllaaaaaaaaaa...

As a general statement I dislike when SL musicians play against backing tracks. Until today the only real exception to this little rule of mine was Kim Seifert. Kim writes her own songs and has been playing guitar lately as well. By including original music and tracks recorded by other SL musicians Kim never sounds karaoke to me at all. Having said that, most of the time I do find that commercially available, pre-recorded backing tracks do not make for a live music experience I enjoy.

I have been in a musical rut in SL so I have been trying to branch out to musicians I don't know. When I arrive at a show and find the singer is performing to tracks my first instinct is to just poof, I admit it. Tonight when I tped to Red Rock to hear Stella Silvansky at first I was disappointed to hear the backing tracks. I am glad I stayed for a bit because as it turns out I enjoyed Stella's show. She performs songs by Norah Jones, Jewel, Indigo Girls, Kt Tunstall and others along similar lines. Learn more about Stella here and check out the live music listings for her shows in world.


Perhaps I will have to consider my stand against backing tracks because Stella and Kim both clearly make it work.

Back in the saddle with Damian Carbenell

The Dell parts showed up on Saturday. The very professional technician came to my house late in the day and replaced my fried video card in short order. Then I lost power for 10 hours in a storm that blew in and destroyed a stained glass window I had commissioned less than a year ago. All in all it has not been the best weekend ever.

Today I searched for some new music to perk up my Sunday evening. I came across a listing for Damian Carbenell who I had never heard before. Damian is a singer songwriter who you can learn more about here. Damian has an enjoyable voice and I had a great time at the show. It seemed like he might have had a little bit of a cold which detracted somewhat, but I prefer the occasional cough and the "realness" of live performance to recorded music anyway.

There were over 40 people in the sim for much of the show so clearly Damian has developed a following. He played to the crowd expertly, taking lots of requests. He covered Jason Mraz's and did the songs that are so close to my heart justice. I will absolutely catch Damian again. Hopefully next time he will be over his cold.



Damian Carbenell's Song List

Damian Original-Me and You
Damian Original-Come Inside
Damian Original-I'm Not Alone
Damian Original-Justified
Damian Original-Reasoning

30 Seconds to Mars-The Kill
Adam Sandler- Grow Old With You
Aerosmith-Don't Want to Miss a Thing
Ben King-Stand by Me
Billy Joel-New York State Of Mind
Blues Traveler-Hook
Bon Jovi-Living On A Prayer
Bryan Adams-Summer Of 69
Cohen/Buckley-Hallelujah
Daniel Powter-Bad Day
Deep Blue Something-Breakfast At Tiffanies
Edelweiss
Edwin McCain-I'll Be
Eric Clapton-Tears in Heaven
Fastball-The Way
Garth Brooks- To Make You Fee My Love
George Michael-Faith
Gin Blossoms-Until I Hear It From You
Green Day-Good Riddiance
Hoobastank-Reasoning
Howie Day-Collide
Incubus- Drive
Jack Johnson Banana Pancakes
Jack Johnson-Bubbly Toes
Jack Johnson-Rodeo Clowns
Jason Mraz-Geek in the Pink
Jason Mraz-I'm Yours
Jason Mraz-The Remedy
Jason Reeves-Reaching
Jason Wade-You Belong To Me
John Mayer-I'm Gonna Find Another You
John Mayer-Why Georgia
John Mayer-Your Body Is a Wonderland
Lifehouse-Everything
Lifehouse-You and Me
Lionel Ritche-Hello
Lynard Skynard-Simple Man
Maroon 5-She Will Be Loved
Matchbox 20-Disease
Matchbox 20-Long Day
One Republic- Apologize
Patrick Swayze-She's Like the Wind
Pink Flloyd-Wish You Were Here
Plain White Ts-Hey There Delilah
Puddle of Mudd-She Hates Me
Ray Charles-Georgia On My Mind
Richard Marx-Now & Forever
Righteous Brothers-Unchained Melody
Snow Patrol-Chasing Cars
Snow Patrol-Run
Sublime-Santeria
Three Doors Down-Here Without You
Tom Petty-Free Fallin
Tonic-If You Could Only See
Tracy Chapman-Give Me One Reason
Travis Tritt-Anymore
UB40- Red, Red Wine

Breakfast? Not so much

My Nvidia graphics card is


Therefore my laptop is

Replacement parts are on the way from Dell and the local geek squad is on alert and ready to run to my house and install new parts the moment the delivery guy shows. In the mean time I will be borrowing a much less robust laptop than I am used to from my son. After last night's episode during which I attempted to build and crashed hard about 17 times in a row I have a new appreciation for people's frustration with SL. You really really really need to have a computer with some guts to run SL well. Dual core and tons of RAM make an enormous difference.

Anyway, no photography and a diminished SL capacity make me crabby.

Montian Gilruth

If you have not yet attended a Montian Gilruth show I strongly suggest you do. He has one of those silky rich voices that feeds my soul. From his profile:

Monti discovered the SL music scene about 18 months ago and has embraced it strongly. He is an amateur musician from Montreal Canada, and has been involved in the musical world for a very long while. He still plays the same three chords he learned when he was thirteen...but they seem to serve him well.

I was not able to find Montian on myspace or a link to a webpage or anything. You are just going to have to use search to find his next show under the live music tab. I will see you there.

Building in the sky

Zha and I are building again. The idea is to create a space based on the four elements -- air, water, earth and fire. Right now I am working on the air section, which I think looks much more like I have created a new element called "flower" since there is very little that suggests "air." The base is a cloud so if I define "air" as girly pink flowers floating on a cloud so be it. Here are a few photos of the work in progress. I am most definitely at the "tinkering with a bad idea" stage of this process so please don't groan too loudly.

(Please click on the photos for a far better view)

The screens that make up the outside "wall" of the space were a freebie from the talented four yip. The big pink tree, which I adore, is from Nirvana. The benches are from Pillow Talk as are the blanket and pillows under the tree. I made the fountain from a sculpt map I had floating around and I also made the big sculptural flowers. I am searching the dark corners of my mind for an element to add as a counterpoint to the cotton candy sweetness so I don't go blind from a pink overdose. Not sure what that will be right now. I am open to suggestions even if it is "trash the whole thing and start over."




I am not at all sure where this build is going to take us but I will post progress photos. Hopefully we will even finish this build some day!

Virtual Privacy is an Illusion

As I scanned my bloglines this morning I ran across two posts that touch on privacy in SL. The contrast of the perspectives made me sit upright in my office chair and think for a long moment.

Alicia Chenaux penned a simple request that visitors to her island be respectful to people they encounter there. It seems like we should not have to ask for this common courtesy but sadly we do. Alicia went on to request that visitors stay out of her sky box as she values her privacy. Again, its common courtesy to respect people's space. But is there such thing as privacy when anyone can cam in to your home from beyond the range of your Mysti Tool without your knowledge or consent?

Today Dusan Writer posted a somewhat startling piece in which he asserts that using a widely available tool anyone can track any avatar on the grid. Did you get that? For $10,000 lindens anyone can track you anywhere you go in Second Life. You don't have to give permission and you won't know it is happening. The realization that we have no privacy with respect to our movements across the grid is disconcerting.

Dusan's post got me to thinking. I wonder if there is a way to make the virtual world secure -- is it even possible? I am optimistic enough to think there are technical and policy choices that can be made that will protect the most basic right to privacy. At the same time I know every key stroke I type is retrievable, every website I visit is recorded, every sim I tp to may be tracking my presence as well. We all leave a traceable footprint as we wander the virtual world.

I suppose the best course of action in a world where your privacy is not assured is to live honorably and make sure you would not mind other people knowing what you are doing or what you are saying. Sadly, you never know when someone might be watching.

photo credit: Sue Longley

Loco Pocos Sets an Example

Loco Pocos is running a Halloween hunt which I read about on Alicia's blog so this morning I hopped on over. I had never been there and the idea of winning a free avatar was enough motivation for me as I sipped my morning latte.

Damien Fate and Washu Zebrastripe the creators of Loco Pogos have done a magnificent job from start to finish. I want to compliment them especially on how they have thought about how to make the visitor's experience to their island easy and fun. Rather than offer notecards with paragraphs of instructions about how to maximize your visit they make excellent use of simple visual instructions. I think this approach works beautifully and I would hope that other content creators and event planners would look at what these creative folks have done and use it as a model.

When I landed here at Loco Pocos the first thing I noticed is the instructions for how to find the Halloween event are so simple and clear. Note the big arrow..note the pretty shimmery pumpkin. See the sign with the big bold letters saying Halloween with yet another arrow? It seems clear enough to me -- click here dummy. And so I did.


This second set of signs are just as clear. Click the sign to get your candy bucket. Knock on the doors. Receive some sweet treats or suffer harmless pranks like being set on fire, win the grand prize. The sign that really caught my attention was the one on the right. Turn your music on, no local lights please and set to midnight. I did not get yet another notecard added to my inventory that I will forget about and carry around for months before I sit down to waste an hour of my life to clear 50 other useless notecards from events I have long since forgotten. The sign tells me everything I need to know. How elegant. Nicely done.


After the hunt I took some time to explore the island and wander the store. All I can say is the buzz about Loco Pogos a few months back was well deserved. I loved everything about this place. The avatars are adorable and the build is superb. As I was walking around I noticed yet again how well the creators have managed the user experience. Do you see the flags at the bottom of the sign in the photo below? If you click the flag the text on the sign changes to the main language spoken in that country. Remembering that SL is multi-lingual and making the effort to be sure your business is easily accessible to most people is just smart.




If you want to learn more about Loco Pogos island please check out the website, blog and forums which you can access here.

Pay it Forward

"Paying it forward" is the idea that we can all help make the world a better place by doing a favor for another person without any expectation of being paid back. If the recipient repays this kindness by doing favors for others in the same way, good will builds upon itself and is spread. This concept is not new but has been popularized due to the success of a book by Catherine Ryan-Hyde, a movie by Warner Brothers and the work of Pay it Forward Foundation.

Paying it forward is a feel good Utopian idea, which is why it fits perfectly with the work of Shenlei Flasheart, CEO of the Fashion Research Institute and visionary of Shengri La. The title we residents of Shengri La wear when our group is activated says "Utopian" and I suppose it is true. We live in a beautiful place and we are working in our own small ways to make an intentional community that is positive, growing and gives back to Second Life as a whole.

Recently Shenlei asked Michele Hyacynth to curate the Shengri La Vintage Marketplace which provides free vendor space for 6 months to new clothing designers. During this time designers can build their business until such time that they have a body of work and a customer base to support them in a flagship location elsewhere.



There are no strings attached, no hidden agenda. Shenlei is providing free space to designers as a way to pay it forward. Read more about it all here. If you are a new designer send Michele a notecard inworld and she can help you get started. If you know a designer who might be interested in free retail space for 6 months have them talk to Michele. This is a rare and wonderful opportunity so please help us get the word out to designers who want to get started in business.



Here I am in a fun fall inspired dress by Xand Nagy who is a designer with a shop in the Marketplace. The texture work is rich and I adore this cute little dress. So, stop by and have a a look at Xand's other pieces and I am sure you will be inclined to buy something to round out your fall wardrobe.



I hope that in a tiny way blogging about this designer and the generous work both Shenlei and Michele are doing is paying it forward just a little. How can you pay it forward today??

Midsomer Isle "Step into the Dream"

Zha and I visited Midsomer Isle this evening and it is a lovely place. Gentle music, pretty landscape, places to sit and talk or cuddle. If you are looking for a sweet spot for a relaxing moment hop on over here. (click the photos for a better view)

Trax Live Music Resource Center

I caught the opening of the Trax Live Music Resource Center today. Trax is operated by Bones Writer and Tangle Giano who created this innovative place to support musicians, venues and to help the live music industry in Second Life thrive. There is a main stage area where this evening where some of the greats of Sl performed to celebrate the opening including Ayden Kruh, Grace McDunnough, Noma Falta, Srv4u Conacher, Freestar Tamas, Bones Writer and others. There will be shows here and one intent is to encourage musicians streaming together from different locations using NinJam.

Trax has videos that demonstrate how to use the most popular live jam and streaming software packages. So if you ever wanted to learn how to use Sam, WinAmp, NinJam or Reaper now is your chance! I did not spend any effort to learn how the tools work because even my kids ask me not to sing to them, but if you are interested these videos seem to be a great resource.



There are posters and LMs to many of SLs most popular venues. If you are looking to find new and interesting music you can got to Trax and click on any of the 35 venue posters for a LM. If you are a musician and you need help managing your booking you can find an agent. There is an incredible amount of information about just about any aspect of the live music business that you can think of at Trax.




Musicians who don't have their own land can test their stream at Trak. Perhaps one of the most interesting services offered is the opportunity for people to create and sell CDs in SL. These are tools that many musicians may not have at their disposal so Trax is providing a service that will hopefully help musicians and venues to make a steady income in SL.


Finally there are listening stations where musicians can post music for people to listen to and advertise upcoming gigs. You can see Lyn Carlberg has taken advantage of this resource.


I think Trax has great potential. I look forward to seeing where Bones Writer and Tangle Giano take this interesting concept.