Anodyne

Nothing more than...

     It's always a little surprising when I meet someone who treats SL purely as a fantasy, a place where actions taken or even simply described don't count in the Real world. It's surprising to me because my avvie and my self are inexorably intertwined, to the point that putting on a furry avatar (I have an awesome Field Mouse) makes me itch. I have no problems with furries, it's just not me.
     When SL and my RL are in balance this close relationship is a great thing. Particularly lately, I've had such great experiences in SL and Ive been taking the lessons learned and the confidence gained into my RL. I wish the energy flow would only go in that one direction, but that's not how the worlds work. Lately the after shocks of some bad RL stuff have affected my SL time.  I've been feeling unworthy, shy and like my skills don't measure up.  However, the evidence seems to show the opposite, I'm freaking Sally Fields  (people like me, they really do).
      Therefore I am choosing to believe. My dad always told me "be where you are", and that's going to be my mantra for the next little while.

    I've had the most fun this weekend. Since we were a listening station for the social track of the SLCC, all of our regular events didn't happen, and that left room for lots of other stuff.

       My friend Rane Mokeev and I did some mushroom hunting on Silent Sparrow and Pontiac. Last night I'd been reminded that I had Time's swank walk and talk backpack so we used that on the Pontiac sim.It was wicked fun despite the lag and bumping into just about everything.

    Later, Fewer Miles set a table onto the dance floor at Timeless Underground and a really neat group of people began to form as we listened in style to the SLCC.   I listened to a lot more than I would have otherwise, and there was just a really good energy communing with those folks.

    I know you can't tell by the following picture, but that is me being a DJ for the very first time. I've been wanting to try it for a bit, because it's beyond frustrating to tell someone how to get hooked up to the stream without ever having done it myself. Also, what happens when a DJ can't or won't show up for some reason? I can be a super secret back up. It makes sense, but I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to handle the technical aspects, and very scared to speak. Clearly then, I needed to try it, and before I knew it, tonight I was. Oh my stars and little garters,  was it fun! Rane was a huge help in getting everything set up, and then nudging me into actually speaking on air. I have no intention of doing this on a regular basis (after all I can't count BPM either) but it's awesome to know that it's possible.

The Rock Factory

I'm guest hosting for DJ Rane Mokeev! HOO! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Danica/242/158/57
posted by Moxie Grumby on Danica using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

    I love living on Ravkom. There's almost always someone interesting and fun around. I usually sign on inside my mailbox. I putz for a bit (answer offline IMs), fluff my hair, and then tumble out to the ground. I love falling. I can tell from there if there are people at Timeless Underground. Then, even though I know it's perverse, maybe even because it is, I walk to work. It would be faster and simpler to fly, but I like taking the time to look around the sim, and get my head in the right space.

    Then I make the mistake of thinking I know what to expect when I walk through the door. Last night CJ needed a Tralsa fix, which meant we all benefitted, and as he played Timeless was scripting new particle effects to go along with the energy of the music. I freely admit to being a particle fiend,  and I was completely mesmerized. The following pictures do not do justice to the magic that was happening. There were moments when it seemed like the room was a glow with liquid metal, like we  were walking on jewels.

    What you want to do now, is make note of the date September 8th, 2007, and hope that you'll be free.

Layer Cake of Win.

    There just aren't words to describe the fantabulousness of yesterday, or pictures either really, because as  Nobody Fugazi pointed out, the place is always in motion. DoubleDown Tandino has some great pix of early on in the event. Plus a snap of our special surprise guest.

    I thought that maybe I'd feel like one does a day after Christmas or a birthday. That particular let down feeling after you've been looking forward to something for so long. Instead, it was such a good experience that I am still up on cloud nine. Everything we hoped would happen did, and then went beyond my own wildest expectations. Everyone worked hard, and we made a great team, and I can't wait til the next one.

    Which will happen, at some random point in the nearish future. Fear not if you missed out on yesterday. In the meantime, we'll continue to have fantastic live DJ events of all sorts.

One super awesome side effect of yesterday, and some in-world t-shirts that Tommy Dragonash made, is that you can buy and wear in your very real life, a Timeless Underground T-shirt from Cafe Press (starting again soon - once we work out the design VS. copyright). I'll be getting one, even though it won't say Miss Cupcake on the back like my SL one does. :D

On being a good DJ

    Amanda Shinji  has a great entry over at Motorati Life about what it takes to be a good DJ. I agree with most of her points, and as a person who hires DJs I have a few to add of my own.

    Amanda mentions BPM (or beats per minute) a couple of times because they are SO very important!When I started this job, I was glad I already knew what they were, even if I can't calculate them. I learned a long time ago, watching a friend use mostly records to spin with (yes actual records!) and counting out the BPM by hand as best he could. If you  have a handle on  BPM, then it becomes much easier to build up a mood, or even take it down a few notches depending on how the crowd is feeling.  You are in control, and that is what the audience wants!

    Musically, as a DJ procurer, I'm at a disadvantage, Under duress I don't think I could tell you the finer points of Psytrance versus Tralsa versus Deep House. However, I do know what I like and what I think people expect to hear, and, as I seem to have thing for music geeks, I can tell when someone knows their stuff.

I like to keep things positive, but I'm going to digress here and talk about how not to get a job from me.

• On your first visit  (extra points for doing it within 2 minutes of walking in the door) criticize the DJ currently spinning. Automatic Phail.
• Continue to pester me by IM about getting a job during a busy event, especially after I've suggested we make an appointment for a time when I can give you my full attention.
• Continue to insist on the awesomeness and potential popularity of your special mix of Celtic Death Metal Reggae after I've told you what we usually play.
  
• Appear to be an egotistical and generally mean person.

I thought that list was going to be much longer, but I'm realizing now that each of the above situations have happened on a consistent basis, and so it just feels longer.

The DJs that work out and stay on all

• Show up, and have regular availability
• Engage listeners either through playing fantastically, or by using the mic to pump people up. it makes people feel included and special to hear their name on air. At little of that goes a  long way.
• are there to spin for the love of the music, not for fame.
• are generally friendly and helpful people.

    We have awesome DJs right now, they all have really strong points. I realized yesterday that our Massive Event this weekend, was going to bring a lot more DJ wannabes in the door, and that I'd better have my thinking straight about what exactly I was looking for.  I remember starting out, I would casually scope out other places, and I was surprised that they had actual formal applications. Some of those seemed really harsh! I'm beginning to understand why now.

 

Everyone Wins!

    I gotta say, I like voice a whole lot more than I thought I would. It really has the potential to enrich our experience, and for me, there is nothing so good as the feeling when you've made someone actually laugh.
    That said, there are still some things that need working out. Recently I was using voice with some friends, when another friend (let's call him Hubert) popped in. Hubert didn't know my other friends, and doesn't use voice, though he does use headphones. I began to try and make introductions, using both voice and my keyboard (attempting to type as quickly and quietly as possible) all the while trying to explain to each party that they were communicating in different mediums. Shortly there after, everyone left, mostly because people had other things they needed to do, but partly I think because it was awkward. I was left with the feeling that there must have been a better way to have handled it.

    Whether or not to use voice has also come up at Timeless Underground. I've stopped speaking whenever a DJ is playing, even though I usually still listen and occasionally respond by typing. Partly, that's because I need to type at people that come in and can't find the dance machine, and partly because it just doesn't feel right. At the same time, I want people to be comfortable and do what they'd like to at TU. I've been witness to some really great conversations and have no desire to stifle those. Yummy accents (RAWR!) plus very clever people equals my rapt attention! It's been a real quandary for me.



    Timeless came up with a brilliant solution. It's simple, elegant, and everyone wins. The lounges of the club have been separated into different parcels, so that when you're on the dance floor you can't hear what's being said upstairs in the lounge. The best (and most fun) part is, when you move into those areas a temporary forcefield pops up letting you know that you've entered a voice area. I don't think we'll disable voice in the rest of the club, but now we can ask those folks who want to talk to head to a lounge. Plus, you can still hear the music where ever you are. Everyone gets what they want!

I know I'm going to miss hearing those conversations while an event is going on, but it will be easier to put my focus on the people on the dance floor, where it should be.

    Timeless wasn't done coming up with spectacular things either. I'm quite sure he never is. Run, do not walk, your browser over to his blog to see why the pictures below are so cool!

This is where you need to be this coming Sunday!

Call it a Grand Opening (a little late), call it a Massive Event, call it any excuse to have a party, whatever you like, but this Sunday  at Timeless Underground is going to be a really fantastically awesome time.These DJ's make magic with their beats and sounds. I have seen it happen. Plus, the place looks awesome with little lounges and other-worldly plants popping up all over the place. Not to be underestimated is the fact that we seem to draw the less cliched people of SL.

In the past couple of days we've had two last minute, on the fly events and they were both great fun. Last night with Rane Mokeev didn't get huge but there was such fun going on the whole time. Rane is great with his audience, and he's very smooth. Perhaps it's due to what he wears behind the booth!

Today CJ Arliss played. CJ who taught me the word Tralsa, CJ who has a lot of pride for his country. I only had an hour to list the event, so I wasn't sure if anyone would show up. The first hour was quiet but then the momentum started, both with people and with the music. Perhaps he was stirred up by some heckling or maybe he's just that damned good, but the music combined with the lights, plus the good energy mixed itself into something more than the sum of it's parts. It was an experience and it was glorious.

I hope you'll come celebrate with us this weekend.

With voice, they can hear you be speechless.

This is hard to start, because I want to talk about such a wonderful thing that was given to me yesterday. I was speechless at the time, and I still want to pinch myself.

The long and short of it is that I was surprised, in a most dastardly and crafty way, with a reward for my work at Timeless Underground. Timeless and Jiminy built an awesome Mailbox for me to inhabit within spitting distance of TU. I had no inkling that they were up to anything, in fact they'd been so quiet in the last few days, I thought I might have overstepped my bounds. So it was a double whammy of the absolute best kind. I have never in RL or SL been surprised in such a way, with such a meaningful thing, so successfully.

I don't know if this is actual irony or not, but the thing is, I really, really, like all the work that I have done. So much so that a lot of the time it doesn't feel like work. Sure there is drama (everyone getting blown to bits "by accident" during an event for example), but it's never boring, and it is drama I know I can walk away from. There are great tools in SL we don't have in RL and I like knowing they're there. Plus, I'm hysterically grateful to be connected with this group of people.

I mean, look! there are pink pillows on the couches! And it's way up, so down on the street, you might not even notice the giant Mailbox way up in the sky. I love the semi-hidden yet out in the open aspect of it. Also it's a great excuse to get some grappling hook practice in!

This is my friend David and I from later that evening, after I'd moved some things in. I've never had this much space to myself before, and I'm excited to play around. I plan on wasting prims for awhile just because I can. It's such a luxury! I don't know if it will stay this pink.

And this is a little vanity, thinly disguised as a photo trying to convey just how happy and grateful I am.

Embarassing social problems you never saw coming, or, voice in Second Life

     Once upon a time I was pretty skeptical about voice in Second Life. I tried There.com before I tried SL.   I believe you had to be a paying member to use voice, and it seemed to me that the There folks were really snotty about Avvies that had voice and those who didn't. I did not last long in There. I'm all about including people, and I hope we don't get that snooty in SL.

     I've been on Skype a few times recently with my SL boss and company, and once I got over myself (mostly) it was a very friendly experience. Certainly speaking is a much more efficient to communicate information, and it's nice to hear people actually LOL.
    Being on skype, I'd already tried to avoid coughing and snarfling, or making too many ambient noises. No one said anything, so when Voice came to SL I was feeling pretty cocky. Also, I've been told I have a very cute voice. That's not quite what I would have chosen for myself, but I'll take cute over say grating or nasally any day.
After downloading the viewer, I thought everything was going swimmingly. I went to Last Call, and listened in on a train wreck of a conversation between two women. I could hear them smoking and drinking and bitching on and on about a mutual friend and who did what to whom a year ago. . It was deliciously horrendous, especially thinking about how I would never, could never, be that annoying.
    It turns out I was wrong.  Here is where I have to admit my embarassing problem; much like Close Talkers of Seinfeld fame, I am a Loud Typer. It feels good to admit, and get out there in the open. I do not know if it's curable either. Perhaps there are padded keyboards sold over the Internet to people with my problem. In the mean time, I am trying to hide my shame from others, by listening and not speaking, unless I know I won't have to type for awhile.

All joking aside, I know that there are good uses for voice in SL, and that it will find a good balance. I can imagine talking about building with my friend David will be soooo much easier, though he pointed out it was fun to realize the other person actually could read you mind. The other night when we thought we might have a griefer, Nos and I were able to locate and watch him much more efficiently than we would have if we had to type it all out.
We have yet to find the etiquette on voice. Is it polite to talk over a live performance? What about a DJ playing songs live? We had one person come into the club using a voice changer and that was very amusing. Then however he started saying in funny voices what people were typing. I didn't think that was cool at all, so I told him to get his own material.

And how long is until SL's first Karaoke Bar? I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner.