Another calm before the torrential storm

First of all a big thank you to Lizzo Dreamscape & Fruit Islands for the honour of asking me to exhibit my art in their gallery.

Almost ready for the big build!  Still a little sorting out with the vendors at Sci-Fi Con 5.  1024sqm and only allowed ten scripts. The mulit-item vendors each have 2 in them.  Teammates have to juggle and consolidate. Also there was this issue about there not really being a booth so much as a blank parcel, so I cobbled together some of my Atomic Age builds to make the Plasma Pool.  If only they let me host media I would link to a Super Chicken cartoon. btw, don't forget to buy our landmarks list for L$0 ;P

Going to have to decide sections and how to break down the space of the RFL Campsite parcel.  We had access to a quarter region space but will have to figure it out on a premium sandbox sometime this week, then start kickass drawing and building.

The Burning Life 2009 Eggphitheatre is currently on display with ALL of its related art including those on burn day.  Check it out at Burning Man - Deep Hole before Thursday evening.

I'll be changing the exhibit on the ArtSpace level in Cartoon World very soon. After having been to many Show n Tells in my time, I got the impression people were very clickie-clickie. Still I get the feeling that nobody looked DOWN and thought to click where they were standing for info and freebies. And even less people know to cam in on floor tiles.  So I'll have the drawn art on display.

SLRFLB292012

Okay, *NOW* "In Every Town" is complete.  The genre tiles (I wrote one for vampires zombies and lycans that didn't make it in), the favourite communities not represented, and freebie tiles, a tile pointing to the egg at "Burn2: Conception"... I guess as usual I left out a tile for a Cartoon World gallery landmark. 

While I was fine tuning the tiles yesterday I got the announcement that Relay For Life's Back to the 50s sim was ready.  I grabbed the corner shop for the team.  The sim looks awesome.  But no time.  I didn't get to make anything new for it.  I'll have to when I get home tonight after my meet with friend.  Also re-packaging my Dog n Hog Snackbar plus another classic Googie build, which may warrant some rebuilding to consolidate a few sides.

I noticed while walking around the 50s sim that someone ripped off the texture of my RFL edition kiddie pool.  Was that very nice?  Someone owes us a bigass donation.  Never mind any royalties...

The weekend will be hectic but not impossible.  Last weekend was impossible. 

DJing 4 times, maybe 5.   There's RFL's Back to the Fifties and New London Village and Bacchus on the Beach Saturday.  Sunday morning is SL9B where they put me in the goddamn Egyptian desert .  I have the perfect remedy.  Let's just say it involves unleavened bread.  There, you blog followers got an exclusive.  Last but not least there's STILL the POSSIBILITY of DJing at the Bay City Pavillion at SL9B on Friday night.  No firmed plans at this late hour.  We'll see if I get passed up again.

Filling the rest of the weekend are doodads and apparel for our booth at the scifi/Trek convention. Another Dalek might be added for donation as well.

But first things first: Making 50s stuff and loading vendors tonight.

You can't see it, but our Relay For Life campsite sim is there.

What's Doings?

Starting  next Monday June 18th look for my spot at SL9B.  An as yet unnamed exhibit;  it's amazing how integral building on site can be, but with photos posting early and  news of a parcel neighbor blatantly stealing ideas from a nearby creator, I've assembled a skybox from which to work.  It's all going on location Saturday and no sooner.

Sneak Peek at SL9B parcel

Sometime during SL9B I may DJ for Bay City.  I did last year and it appears people had a good time.  However I'm consistently ignored for actual in-BC doings, so I'm not counting on it.  There are many ironies to that actually...

DrFran Babcock will be hosting a building class tomorrow (Thursday) night to instruct participants to create an old fashioned cathedral radio.  This was initially planned for tonight but we got famunched with the dates. It's all good, and tips go toward Relay For Life.

With my month at Fruit Island Galleries coming to an end, I have to say most of my friends either they don't give a damn or they're too ignorant of the genre to realize that an art "opening" means the first day, that they didn't have to make the reception (in the real world, people only show up to art openings for the free wine and cheese), and that they had several weeks to check out my art on their own time.  Who looks your way when you need help or bare your soul? Those are who your friends are I think...

So I'll throw a Relay For Life fundraiser at the gallery Saturday night after Bacchus on the Beach.  Intan will be served lol.

What else?  Snurky Snoodle may have another go at Mad Libs before the eggphitheatre meets with oblivion.

June 20th marks Errol Flynn's birthday, and I plan to host a listening party for his radio adaptation of Captain Blood. Also tips to RFL. Location TBD.

Relay For Life's Back to the 50s Weekend is on the 23rd & 24th.  I kick off the entertainment at 10am SLT that Saturday by the carnival (no clue where that is just yet). Our team will have a shop for offerings with all sales going to RFL.  Many of my teammates love the 50s era, so this is a real treat for them :) Expect interesting stuff for sale from Hearts & Souls.

That next day (24th) I DJ in the morning at SL9B.

Sometime by then we'll have firmed plans for the Trek convention. More on that then.

Already under planning is our Relay For Life campsite. I sure hope we get the space we need.

Mixed Signals?

Now there's something I hadn't counted on...

Want to thank all my female avvie friends who helped me pick out those awesome dances for my Intan.  They were for the most part close friends, two of which I know outside Second Life, and none of which I share a romantic interest.

I also want to thank those friends who tried the danceball out or have shared a fun party or event with me and looking really cool in sync or experimenting with dances on someone else's Intan.  It's hard to go back to singles dances when you have a willing partner, even for platonic dances like the Charleston.

I'm amused that a couple of friends' mates (I only know of one whose is their partner and RL husband) have come out to play for events. Regardless of whether they've discovered a nice way to share a time or he looked over his shoulder and got jealous, I feel some sense of accomplishment of the end result.

Sometimes other people's Intans can be treacherous.  Many load non-MoCap dances. There's one that puts one of my arms into my thorax for several minutes (probably was loaded correctly).

There are times when this friend wants to dance, and she seems to wait to be asked. When you're an artist, this courtship protocol doesn't apply among other artists. We're all people, and we split the bill. She suggests something, he suggests something. No complications. I suppose like the 24th century.

Anyway a friend who is very nice is fun to dance with. We basically chat about things like the music, RFL, etc while our characters look good at a party. We've even snickered in IM over having been mistaken for a married couple.

A recent experience at an RFL event has been filed away under awkward:

We thought being a 1950s event it would be loaded up with dances similar to mine in addition to the usual slow dances. However that wasn't the case. All of them were either erotic or romantic. What do you say to a friend you haven't known for a long time when there isn't a non-romantic dance? To blatantly stop in front of people and opt for singles dances?  Awkward is an understatement.  And she didn't say anything, so we ended up doing this - thing - involving uncharacteristic cuddling and such.  I wouldn't even do a dance like that with Seven... Beware the preloaded Intans shaped like spinning red hearts; unless you're an item with your dance partner, don't venture.

We've gone to events since with no issues, but recently hit another awkward moment, when I asked someone to dance and my friend and another whom I've danced with showed up just then. Well, I can't dance with everybody LOL and I just asked someone. And maybe I should have faith that my friends will sometimes show up to my events and wait for them (that's been a recent occurrence and takes getting used to). I may have been reading more into it, but I think my regular partygoing friend may have been disappointed.  After a while my partner and I broke off and her boyfriend came to dance with her (she also wanted me to meet him for a prospective gig in an RP sim; I think the prospect of not wearing trainers may be more concerning than doing well if I take the job), with me joining the others in a 3 way singles thing.

That evening at the beach she came and left after only a few minutes. I may be reading more into things and maybe it was for other reasons that she left. I know things are not ALL about me, and possibly she doesn't feel slighted that I dance with other people - she certainly doesn't object to my dancing with Seven (who always gets priority when she's on; she is a good friend in RL and comes to hang out with me, and Second Life - or Toontown - are each a means to that end). Of course if it's a question of keeping her as a great friend and backing off couples dances, there's no contest.

Just one big step back and hope that doesn't get misinterpreted as any sort of rejection or inadequacy on anyone's part. My profile says not looking for relationships and that still stands. Again if I'm reading into it then I'd just be cheating us out of some harmless fun.

In another mixed signal, I signed up to be in the upcoming IFT SciFi / Star Trek thing for Relay For Life with the prospect of raising money on behalf of the team. It seems DJing for it means not crediting Hearts & Souls with tip donations. It's one thing when a friend asks me to DJ for them and another when I sign up for a weekend.  I can easily enough include two of my vendors for IFT's team to justify our booth, but I'll do a reprise of my Time & Space playlist on my own time. Maybe in the TARDIS. Maybe on TARDIS. I dunno.

In other news, no DJing for the Back to the 50s Weekend for RFL. It's either that or letting my team have a shop or tent for the vendors. Never heard back from some folks about doing an arcade booth etc so didn't append my request (because for the day we can put our stuff there as well). Depends on whether we get accepted at all.

The Return of BYOG!

BYOG comes to New London Village on Jubilee Jamboree Weekend!

B.Y.O.G. means Bring Your Own Guitar.  I'll have a special MoCap danceball out with guitar anims.

Play 'em if you got 'em.  If you don't got 'em you can air guitar or - even better - select from a series of low-priced flat guitars with all sales going to either Relay For Life or New London Village.

Be ready for the shortest two hours of your life!

(image and LM pending)

Mutual Nontreadance

You know, I'm sick and tired of having agendas pushed on me that go against my fundamental beliefs or practises.  I'm also sick and tired of people who have the nerve to object because I do not follow THEIR fundamental beliefs or practises.

The art crowd in NYC - when there still was an art crowd in NYC - were comprised of a range of individuals as diverse as a typical SL show & tell audience.  It truly was.  But we got together to discuss comics, what so n so was up to, who was going to San Diego or Angouleme, pass around sketchbooks, xeroxes, or the occasional printed comic or graphic novel.  At the end of the evening he went there, she went there, they went there...  It was a non-issue.  Maybe a piece tied into heritage (like this awesome project Howard Cruse showed us that became Stuck Rubber Baby - there, I namedropped someone) but nobody pushed an agenda, be it to convert to their faith or to badger someone to their lifestyle regardless of what it was.  

Sometimes show n tell audiences are more awesome than the presentations

That's what makes the current gay marriage controversy so stupid: one tyrannical culture deciding how everyone else should live, love, and file their taxes.  No one is asking anybody to go gay or force them to like what others like as consenting parties, and nobody's demanding they watch (it wouldn't be consensual any longer, would it?).

Some people in Second Life confuse the issue.  They feel they have the right to do whatever they want anytime or anywhere they get the urge.  There may be a million places which welcome this, but they can't get off on it unless it's in front of or with someone non-consensual.  This can be construed as a form of griefing btw, and in RL it's prosecutable as harassment in many places.  If I want that experience, I'll pursue it thank you.

I do not get involved with any aspect of slavery, bondage, or confinement. It's not fun or funny to me, and it doesn't serve as any sort of outlet borne of a repressive faith or relationship. My RL and online heritages involve histories of struggle to rise above such circumstances and to be counted as a valid member of society. When on my property, everyone is a free soul and an equal among others. If that troubles people then - as I always say - SL is a big place. Maybe mine wouldn't be for you. No hard feelings. We're all here for different reasons.

When I started hosting sporadic fishing contests, the "No Slavery or Bondage Please" condition was met by a lot of drama by someone who just wouldnt shut up about her being some member of some S&M group. Well that's fine but not on my land. And saying it after a giggle every time I posted my event in group chat was just rude.  Too bad  she couldn't just wear a buttplug under her clothes like RL ones sometimes do and be done with it - and just fish. Cut the drama crap: If you don't want to come to my little parcel in the middle of this massive grid because people are equals there, it's really no trouble. Everyone has a choice and you can't be everywhere.

So we come to someone who I approached as an organizer of an upcoming festival. "Oh we'll have this and that and this and that..." so far so good. But then they went into Jail n Bail.  There's nothing wrong with Jail n Bail - for other people. It's not for me. It attracts attention and raises lots of money for charity. That's very good. But saying it wasn't for me and that my persona has a history of confinement and I don't like to think about it, that it's a cultural thing etc - none of these were enough. Instead of telling me about other things I could look forward to at the festival, they pushed and dug - and twisted - about how great Jail n Bail was going to be and how so n so was going to be there (presumably jailed for a fee) etc. They wouldn't let up. That really was way over the line. I asked them if they could please change the subject and they abruptly said I should contact them by notecard from now on. I told them it takes all kinds to make a world and respect works both ways. Her response suggested I offended her for not wanting her to go on and on about jail and bail.

I was disgusted and disappointed with someone I thought better of. They are since no longer an organizer. And you know something? For a change I have absolutely no regrets. They probably do this to others who take it instead of speak up when they're offended. But really: You shouldn't work with diverse groups of people if you lack empathy or cannot respect others who may have a different perception of fun than you, or that one person's fun may be another person's persecution. You need to listen for that. The point of big festivals for mixed crowds are that they have much to offer for people into different things.  Tap in, not dig in.

At a Cuckoo's Pace

Okay, taking a big deep virtual breath...

A day with no deadline save a playlist for tonight.  Ahhhh

It's been crazy!  As some of you know, about ten days ago while helping my team with participating in the Home Expo (I still haven't seen any hunt cupcakes  beside ours whenever I pop in) and making some purple flat guitars for BYOG, I got an IM from some curator about hosting an exhibit of my work for June.  When looking back on that log, it's absolute chaos between fishing at the beach, speaking with the team and the Expo contacts, being directed to and speaking with IFT organisers for a team booth at an upcoming Star Trek convention, and the art show invite. btw I must have done something right; I occasionally see 25L pass through me from someone clicking my hunt cupcake.

When some of the smoke cleared and I could focus on the offer - while planning the next RFL event, writing a 100-word story for Crap Mariner and pondering both SL9B and the upcoming RFL campsites - turns out I was already in installation week!  They cleverly had a mirror building in the sky for the next artist to place, then bring their pieces down enmasse once the current one vacated.  Given the number of pieces to scan throughout the week after work and other things each evening, I never got a chance to use it.  Everything was in place less than one hour before the opening.  This included notecards for every level to explain the pieces.

A peaceful calm at night in the empty Fruit Islands art gallery

 Then that other curve thrown a week earlier: "Who would you like to play at your reception?"  I'd been to enough in RL to know there would be one for me.  Just not used to all the attention; artists seldom are. And we're bad with praise.  We don't trust people who praise us.  We don't know whether they're just being nice. 

Sometimes it's the most simplistic comments that earn our trust. "I like the pictures of the movie stars," someone said.  They didn't know me and looked with a clear mental palate at what they saw.  We trust strangers and their gut reactions.

But I'm ahead of myself.  A building plus a lush garden for my use.  A tipjar and a Relay For Life kiosk, plus a gallery show shirt for a modest minimum donation to RFL. 

The Eggphitheatre demands attention on the landscape, parked in the garden just outside the gallery. As she had during Burning Life 2009, GoSpeed Racer set up her DJ station beneath it for the reception.

A modest turnout.  Considering it was a holiday weekend I've no complaints.  GoSpeed knows what I like for music; last week marked three years I first hired her for my own gallery's opening in Bay City. It was neat to have this all arranged for me.

For those unfamiliar with these happenings: yes, that was an opening.  Don't throw out the landmarks.  The gallery has my art for the next few weeks.  Other than a comic set as a slideshow on a prim, everything else is new and never seen before on the Internet, including an additional one-shot comic.

I want to thank Lizzo Dreamscape for inviting me to the Fruit Islands Art gallery and her patience while I addressed everything in turn those first few days.  Please visit I Sing the Body Projected when you can.

Also: look for Snurky to host MadLibs in the Eggphitheatre a few times to raise money for RFL.  It's what the egg was made for: to rewrite history.

That night I hosted Mersey Mersey Me! A dance party with early Beatles and influenced bands including The Spongetones, Utopia, The Rutles and ReBeatles Projekt, as well as some others.  It was a great turnout and people had fun. We raised some more for Relay For Life, closing in on the US$500 mark.

Mersey Mersey Me! winds down after sunrise.

Speaking of re-writing history and people who do it with a passion, it seems some karma has caught up with everybody's notorious drama queen.  Looks like Victor's left the Katrina team - picked up his toys and headed for another sandbox so to speak.  Of that, the expo is his and he's taken it to his teen Who sim. Nodster has a pissed off but sufficiently cryptic message for a profile; I was going to express my genuine condolensces on the sim shutting down but god knows what transpired. Only those directly involved would know for sure. No doubt there will be a blog post about it, and I'm sure Victor will find some way to work New London into it.  Speaking of which: guess which sim has welcomed Dr Who fans the longest in Second Life?  Better be nice to them; you can't have sucked and been around for over four years.   

The info came from out of the blue when Vicki posted a notice about it in the Trek group. No, it didnt seem on topic to me either.

Anyway things come and and things go.

Next: Snurky's MadLibs, New London's Jubilee Jamboree (w/the reprise of BYOG) and SL9B