Epic Post is Epic

No, no, nothing you’ll see here.

No, for this level of epic, you need to go here.

I’m such a geek, I read WAY too many Conan comics as a teen/young adult because I recognized the reference right around the “jeweled mantles” line.

Catch a Wave And You’re Sittin’ on Top of the World

Last night my good friend PJ and I went surfing off the west coast of Ireland, at Bundoran Reef, to say “screw you” to winter and to just do something we haven’t done in over a year.

Caoillte Skytower packs the Wee Little Irish Pub

Excellent show last night! I’m glad that our pub’s “first time” could be with someone so special. 😉 Yes, Caoillte brought an outstanding performance to our ittybitty stage last night and the place was thronged. So much so that I took out the “table for two” and TV, and eventually even sent Bridget on break, to make sure there were enough prims to rez dance poseballs. From beautiful and romantic tunes to the raucous “Limerick Song”, it was one smash after another. This isn’t some teenage hack with a guitar and no direction; he’s a professional all the way and well worth his asking rate to hire.

I’ve downloaded his “Live at Almont” album, as well as a track from his “Song of the Savage” album (“Health to the Company”), all of which he’s given me permission to play on my stream, so be listening for him at DJ sets in the future as well. For info on how to get either album, or individual mp3 tracks from them, contact Caoillte Skytower inworld.

So, in short, four-and-a-half-stars, will hire again.

A fun Grand Opening!

The Wee Little Irish Pub enjoyed a fun and successful Grand Opening last night. The big advantage of such a tiny place: I made rent more than three times over just last night. And we had eight people.

So let this be a lesson to you nightclub people: START SMALL.

All Ages Benefit Dance Today, 4PM SLT

I want to pass this message along, as it is in support of Love 146, a cause which I hold very dear.

Join us for an all-ages dance party in the Seven Isles, to benefit Love 146. DJ Hopalong Easterling will play oldies and silly songs for 2 hours, so come and kick up your heels (or fins, or hooves…)!

Donations from this event will benefit Love 146, an organization that combats child slavery and exploitation, and provides aftercare for young people who have been rescued from trafficking. Did you know that in the U.S. alone, as many as 100,000 children are bought or sold per year? You can learn more about Love 146 at http://love146.org .

April 16th is celebrated in Washington DC as Emancipation Day, so guests are encouraged (though not required) to incorporate cherry blossoms, red or pink, or the number 146 in their outfits. Though this is a fantasy RP sim, medieval/fantasy garb is not required for this OOC event.

So bring your friends, your kids, your date, or just yourself to make new friends to the Clubhouse at the Seven Isles! Together, we can make a difference in helping to make slavery history.

This is the place! See you at 4PM SLT!

My favorite n00b comeuppance moment…

[13:48] Clover Windlow: ((OOC)) Ok funny storry.
[13:48] Clover Windlow: I-as-Mistletoe am making the rounds in Northfarthing
[13:49] Clover Windlow: and a couple of noobs have let themselves into [name]’s castle and were helping themselves to her bed
[13:49] Clover Windlow: so I ride up under the window and hear that they are in fact speaking Italian
[13:49] Clover Windlow: so I throw on a translator and tell them they have 10 seconds to get the hell out of the private house
[13:49] Clover Windlow: They totally ignore me of course
[13:50] Clover Windlow: So I kicked just her
[13:50] [redacted]: lol
[13:50] Clover Windlow: and since I had the translator on I could tell he said
[13:50] Clover Windlow: “Oh, yes, so beautiful… where did you go?”
[13:50] [redacted]: lol
[13:50] Clover Windlow: by this time the sim owner is there too, so he’s hearing this all
[13:50] Clover Windlow: now if there is any kind of benevolent SL god
[13:50] [redacted]: oh dear, that’s a good one
[13:51] Clover Windlow: then I kicked her to a newbie infohub
[13:51] Clover Windlow: where she arrived, nekkid as a jaybird, dryhumping the air
[13:51] Clover Windlow: I don’t know if that’s where she went but I like to imagine it that way
[13:51] [redacted]: *evil snigger*
[13:51] Clover Windlow: Some noob walking around “Where cna I to get teh sexxx?” *poof*
[13:52] Clover Windlow: “Best game ever!!!”
[13:52] Clover Windlow: lmao
[13:52] Clover Windlow: I says to the sim owner, hey boss, I learned the Italian word for cock, wanna know what it is?
[13:52] Clover Windlow: so now here’s the guy, his gf gone
[13:53] Clover Windlow: authorities outside, mocking him
[13:53] Clover Windlow: He disappears in a hurry
[13:54] Clover Windlow: never saw them again
[13:54] Clover Windlow: Christ I miss that sim

Where Everybody Knows My Name

I don’t talk much about RL here because I have other blogs/places to do that. But let it suffice to say that today in RL was an emotional whirlwind to match the blustery weather outside. It started with dragging myself unwillingly out of bed after a pep-talk from Himself, continued with a physically demanding work day which included sudden news and a visit that left me thinking “Of all the sub shops in all the towns in all the state…”, went on to have jaw-dropping surprising news, and now I’m wiped out.

You know what’s good after a day like today? A pint.

Course I don’t drink IRL. And the weather out there isn’t fit for man nor beast, what with roads flooding and a rattling wind. And so I turn to the wish-fulfilling element so appealing about virtual worlds: I turn to my virtual pub.

I have one, you know. A new one. It’s called the North Star, and it’s not “officially” open but folks are welcome to come in anytime to unwind and hang out. Which is just what I did.

Seamus the bartender’s a great listener. He listens more than he talks: a good quality in a barman. I’ll want to make him a t-shirt and apron.

Pay Seamus a visit at the North Star in Merina (in OL). That is, when we can go to OL again after the maintenance.

“Plus Ça Change…”

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Plus c’est la même chose, plus ça change.” –French, “The more that changes, the more that stays the same. The more that stays the same, the more changes.”

I’ve closed up the western goods shop in OL, though I do still have a small location in Talian. I’ve also closed up Creek. Just not time yet.

I’ve rented a parcel in Merina, high above which I’m building a tiny quaint village. It includes the manor house I’ve always wanted but never had primmage for, a small pub, a couple small shop buildings, and some trees and fountains and pretties. The whole to-do is 4096 sq. m. The manor house is going to have a kind of Norman castle look about it, with some timbers and some wonderful “bumpitty” stone edging at the top wall. The dining hall has arched alcoves in the wall and a grand fireplace. There’ll be stained-glass windows with Celtic designs, torches, tapestries, all that good stuff. I still have some 800 prims left to play with. The pub will be called “An Réalta Thuaidh”, meaning the North Star, and have plenty room for a dance floor and a stage. The varied shopfronts will give a good venue for the varied items I make. One for clothes, one for household goods, etc.

Pics forthcoming.

For the first time in ages I was excited about building, without being overwhelmed by scale. I know it sounds appealing to have a whole region to play with, but I have to admit, having experienced it, I have more fun with a tinier workspace. It may not be logical but there it is. I had a hard time tearing myself away from doing “just one more thing” on my parcel tonight.

Also, Clover’s Kitchen is making a reappearance in SL. There are a few items now in the Role Play Market sim (see the Medieval/Renaissance section, third floor), and before long at least one officially authorized vendor will have pretty near all 150 of Clover’s items available. Will Clover make some brand new items? Probably. I just can’t say when.

So, there’s the news for now. I have got to get some sleep now.

Virtually Live Events opener yesterday

Other than some glitch that wouldn’t make me stop dancing (no matter how many times I clicked “stop animations”, it would start up again), I had a very nice time at yesterday’s big opener for VLE. I don’t know what the final peak number of attendants turned out to be (was it 32, did I hear?) but I know it was very well attended and a quality performance.

The first performer to take the stage was Junivers Stockholm. Personally, his style of music isn’t my favorite; the phrase “if you like that sort of thing” comes to mind when I think of what to say to anyone who didn’t make it to the show to hear for himself. It was a lot of techno background and effect-pedal tricks which made for lengthy, meandering songs. Kind of like the longer intros into newer Pink Floyd songs, only to me it was like the song never quite began. Again, this is my personal taste in musical style and not meant to disrespect Junivers’ musical ability. The guitar playing was clean and harmonious, the sound quality very good. Technically very good, stylistically not my cup o’tea.

Next was Zorch Boomhauer, whose performance was a sharp contrast to the previous one. He didn’t have dancing girls or an electronic orchestra or effect pedal; it was just him and his guitar and his own original songs. I can best describe his voice as a blend between Cat Stevens and Jimmy Buffet, with the addition of a charming accent when he speaks. I have to brag a little: his suit and hair were my own creation, commissioned by Shai a few weeks before his performance.

So the performances seemed to me to be a fascinating contrast: the first felt more image than substance, the second more substance than image. All in all, a fine opener. I think VLE is/will be a fine starting point for musicians in OL, but I hope it doesn’t take the attitude of becoming the only venue.

An elf only turns 315 once!

Happy 315th birthday to me! Incidentally, I had a look, and had he lived, philosopher Hermann Samuel Reimarus would be exactly the same age as me today. Also born in the same year were Voltaire and Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (I’m about a month younger than both). Leopold was best known for hiring Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kappelmeister, and was in fact godfather to one of Bach’s sons.

So, wow, 315. The 300s in elf years are roughly equal to the 30s in human years, and I’ve got to say I’m really enjoying them so far. There’s a sense of “figuring things out” that comes in this century– not like where you think you have them figured out, when you turn 200– but at the same time there’s still a feeling of it not being too late to do whatever it is I want to do. But with that I also feel like I should know what that is now, and I don’t. I keep thinking I do, but then it changes.

Well anyways. YAY!