Live Music With Bronze8020

Please pardon the pic. My SL photo editing abilities have gone in to the virtual toilet. 

Due to a recent change in SL relationship status, I've suddenly realized that over the course of the past couple of years, I've distanced myself from friends to the point that I've become the lone wolf (or kitty) of the grid.

Sitting in my treehouse alone, rearranging my inventory and contemplating the position of the couch leaves my second life looking depressingly like my first.

We can't have that.

So, I've been gingerly dipping my paws back in to the Second Life live music scene. Saturday night, I checked out Bronze8020 at  Kameleonz - Pub With No Beer, Alanya Bay (90, 138, 501). Bronze's show wasn't the first I've checked out in the past week or so, but Mama always said if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. There are still lots of acts out there that will make your teeth itch, but I have to give them credit for having the cajones to get out there and belt it out.

Fortunately Bronze8020 is an act worth mentioning. His soothing voice paid homage to classic songs geared toward those of us with more "experienced" musical tastes. 

And his av is kinda hot too.

The crowd was great, it seems this cat has quite the following. Loved this guy's style as well:

VincentSantino

So if you find yourself sitting around the beach, counting your toenails or if you just can't stand the thoughts of going on one more excitement filled freebie hunt, look for Bronze8020 on the event calender. You won't be disappointed.

Butterfly Hollow: A Better View

Sex and Gambling

Remember my awesometastic boat? Remember how I went on and on about how much I loved it and the little pier I'd leased for it?

Well.. the sim it was on is no more. Such is life in SL.

This time, however, I won't be looking for a new home. Before I lost the pier, a friend offered me squatter's rights on some land they're not using and I promptly sprouted a great, big tree house smack dab in the middle of it. I built a pond for Alexandro, tossed some fireflies around and parked a nookie bed in the attic.

What else do you need?

Okay so, I'm planning to add more furniture and a few flowers. I'll take pictures for ya'll when I've got it all situated.

In other news...

The Second Slice Cafe has been redecorated. I added a "Yango" machine (like Zingo, but not) and a new stream to the jukebox, playing old timey radio shows. I'm hoping to plan some get-togethers around the radio schedule (for you youngins, radios are what we had before iPods and MP3s) where we can chat about the show or the price of gas or whatever tickles your pixels.

Sound cool?

I've also been kicking around the idea of adding a virtual world forum to Second Slice (because what the innerwebs needs is one more SL forum.. apparently.) I'd love your input on the idea. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Now With Moving Pictures!

Learn more at the Gaming Wiki

I've been tinkering around with video in SL using WeGame. As you can see, I've not mastered the settings yet, It's a little jerky and the quality is sorta sucky.

I'll sort it out, eventually.

Swinging On a Star

The turnout was a little light at the social media discussion at the Second Slice Cafe Saturday night, but it was still a great group and we met some new folks, so it's all good. I was excited to see one of my old Bear buddies there, I really miss those guys.

Sunday he and I went exploring a bit at the Drill Factory. Now.. I'd never heard of the Drill Factory before then and I was a little nervous. Mental images of some weird, dental fetish sim or a violent, sexual fantasy sim involving power tools and oil rigs ran through my head, but it was none of that.

Cool carousels, steampunk style carriages and glowing neon puzzle pieces, seemingly suspended in space are not what I expected.

The scene pictured above was taken inside a snow globe. If you get a chance, you should really check it out.

After the social media chat ended, a few of us headed over to the Longhorn for some country music. I'm not normally a big fan of country, simply because my RL is and always has been saturated with it, but I've said before that talent outweighs genre and I had some inside information that the performer that night was not to be missed.

We had a great time showing the brand spankin' newbie we'd adopted (it was his first day!) the wonders of dance balls, couples dances and live music venues. While we were there, I met someone special. His soulful dark eyes attracted me immediately, his salt and pepper hair giving the impression of someone who'd really lived life and was now content to kick back and enjoy the ride.

Oh yeah.. I forgot to mention he's a real stud...

... and sorta horny.

The constant mooing took a little getting used to.. but that means he likes me, right? I'm sure we'll be very happy together.

Happiness Is..

Tymmerie Thorne from Girl Wonder Speaks (and also one of my Plurk buddies) issued a proclamation suggested that today, everyone should either blog or plurk something that makes them happy. Normally, I'm not one to go along with the crowd, but she kinda scared me with her authoritative voice and the way she was waving that riding crop around inspired me with her search for happy thoughts on a day when everyone seemed to be in sort of a slump.

And? RL is kicking my kiester this week and I was thankful for an idea to work with. My brain is limping along in safe mode.

The above picture features a nice view of Wando, where my little magic cabin is located. It's been touch and go there for a couple of weeks. It looked like we might lose it, but after a change of ownership, I'm happy to announce that we all get to keep our homes.

Weird how you can get attached to a virtual place, isn't it?

By the way, a cute little Gypsy vardo was added just a skip or two from my front door. I'm excited that I'll have a neighbor to share my little corner with. If anyone's interested, give me a holla in-world and I'll send you a tp. I promise not to hang around outside naked.. when you're home. There's also a new, smaller pirate ship available for lease across the island.

Next, this dress from Azul is my current favorite fashion.. and yes.. it makes me happy. I can wear it to those venues where Mr. Voice Crush is crooning which require formal attire, yet it's got just the right amout of skank factor to keep it interesting.

I don't care how high falootin' you think you are, every girl needs a little skank in her closet.

Of course, there's alot more about my second life that makes me happy, but I'm going to save those until the next time RL decides to turn my happy place into a mosh pit.

We'll talk again soon!

Special Occasions

I was hanging around Second Slice Cafe last night, waiting for some retro decorating inspiration, when an old friend stopped by. He looked alot different than the last time I saw him, much thinner and.. well.. HOT!

Nye and I share the same rezday, even though we didn't realize it until we'd been friends for quite a long time. It's sort of a tradition for us to meet up around the anniversary of the first days of our Second Life to get caught up and see what the other had been up to.

I love that we've been around long enough to have a  yearly tradition.

Do you mark any special events in SL? Engagements? Partnerships? Divorces? How do you celebrate? Drop me a comment and let me know. I'd love to hear how you mark special occasions in SL.

Three

Has it really been three years? Saturday, October 17, 2009 will mark my third year in SL. When I signed up, I was one of those annoying newbs who show up and ask for directions to the nearest place to get rich.

Three years later and I'm still not a millionaire.

My life has been enriched by experiences I wouldn't have had any other way and in that sense, I consider my Second Life to be pretty successful. I've met all sorts of cool people from the farthest corners of the globe, dressed as tiny bunnies, tranny vampires and one annoying bulldog who'll do anything for an argument, as he wanders the grid chewing an old stogie while sporting his very fashionable KFC bucket hat.

I've been partnered twice, been involved with a few others, had drama, tears and a broken heart or two. I ran a semi-successful business for a while, spent way too much time parking my cute little pixelated butt on a brick wall, chatting up newbies and verbally bitch slapping the neighbors.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

These days, I'm still learning, still discovering and in many ways sometimes I still feel like a newb. In years past, I celebrated my rez day by donning my Godiva hair, hopping on my big black horse and riding him, nude, through Bear Infohub. I'd never do that now, it would violate the new terms of the L.L. T.O.S.

*cough*

So, in celebration of my rez day, Saturday night's discussion at the Second Slice Cafe  (6pm SLT) will be about what you expected to find in SL when you first signed on, be it riches, romance or adventure and how your experience differed from your expectations. Everyone's welcome, whether it's your first day or your 1200th. We'll hang out, chat and make some new friends while we listen to some oldies.

I hope to see you there, but for now, I need to go find my Godiva hair...

Zombies, Rooftops and Restless Hearts

The spooky season is upon us. I tped to the Second Slice Cafe the other day, turned to walk inside and spotted this in the window.

What the crap?

I didn't know if it was the ghost of an attempted suicide by hanging, one of those mournful, whiney assed spirits who don't believe they're dead, no matter how hard you try to convince them, or if I was witnessing the pre-brain slurping zombie state of some poor, unfortunate soul.

Because seriously? If it were the latter, I was going to need to rez a baseball bat. I don't like zombies, the sonsa biatches ticked me off when they invaded my last SL business. I have a strict bash-heads-ask-questions-later zombie policy.

Fortunately, it turned out to be a newbie standing on one of the tables in "away" mode. She probably has no idea how close she came to dying alone in a deserted cafe with Dean Martin singing in the background.

Dang.. that would make a killer opening scene for a horror movie...

But anywho...

I've been hitting the music scene in SL alot the past week. I checked out some great rock performances, one or two country singers and one phenomenal singer who blew me away.. but I'll have more on all that later in the week.  I also did some sprucing up around the cafe, I redid the 45 records/dance floor out front (free to copy if you want to grab one,) and did some tidying up around the cabin.

You never know when company might stop by.

The discussion group Saturday night was fun, two guys showed up with snakes, one of the regulars morphed into a giant eyeball and I got to freeze/eject/ban my first booger brain!!  It was an eventful evening. The next chat will be this Saturday night, but I've not settled on a topic. I'm open to suggestions, leave yours in the comments or drop by the cafe (follow the slurl in the advertising area of the sidebar) and drop a note in the suggestion box.

Oh and I almost forgot, Second Slice has it's own domain, so now you can get a second slice of your second life by typing asecondslice.com in your browser. Coolness!

While it's true that I've been taking in all the live acts available in SL lately, I always end up going back to my favorite, Davide Paravane. His golden voice makes my heart flutter, I could listen to him for hours. He's added more acoustic tunes to his repertoire, you should check him out if you get the chance.

Don't look for me though, I'll probably be around but I tend to hide in the rafters or dance on the roof like I did Tuesday night:

That's where I'm less likely to commit any social faux paus by doing something stupid or saying the wrong thing. I guess I'm one of those people who just don't belong in certain social situations. I chalk it up to spending too much time sitting at infohubs, honing my verbal combat skills.

I guess what they say is true.. you can take the girl out of the mountains.. but.. well.. ya'll know the rest.

We'll talk again soon, ya'll take care.

In Love

There's a new man in my life. He moved in a few days ago. His name... is Alejandro. He doesn't need to be fed, he doesn't have babies, he doesn't leave eggs laying all over the place and there's no molting.

He's perfectly content to swim around under my little magic cabin on Wando.

Oh and.. he listens to me ramble on those long, lonely Second Life nights.

He's also trained to attack and likes to eat toes, so be careful if you're wandering around my back door.