These are just a collection of shots from the recent Netroots in Second Life 2009 build, including some of the booths members of the Cafe Wellstone Democratic Club made to publicise different groups and causes that had a presence either at the real life convention in Philadelphia, or in Second Life itself.
The avatar created for Markos Moulitsas’ appearance in Second Life.
The Books for Soldiers booth, a charity that donates reading material to active duty military personnel.
One of the booths.
I had an intriguing and creative Second Life dream this morning, so in the spirit of Torley’s dream journals (but not so entertaining) here’s what I remember.
It was early morning, and I was still in bed, but had a computer and was looking at Second Life. I stumbled upon a group of costumed actors preparing to perform some kind of Shakespearean play in both Second Life “machinima” but also with live-action scenes. There were images of a bearded man in costume, practicing lines in both close-up and as part of a scene, along with avatars of men and women in abstract, moving in smoothly animated, choreographed scenes to “warm up.” I remember thinking, “These people have been doing some SERIOUS scripting, those are the most lifelike acting anims I’ve ever seen.” I was comparing it in my mind to a recent production of Hamlet that was ambitious, but choppy and un-emotive in performance.
And then it began – a king in his court is receiving gifts and emissaries. A gorgeous quadruped snow leopard is led forward, but it’s a Second Life hybrid boi, with gorgeous pelts hanging down his sides but not completely covering tanned, tattooed skin. He was definitely walking on all fours, and the fur on the pelts was dappled with stripes and spots, and they ruffled in the breeze as he moved. In my minds’ eye the “camera” panned along his side as he walked. He wore the typically disdainful expression of a really expensive kiti boi on his face, with big pointed lynx ears and rock-star dirty blond hair. He did not look happy about being given away as some kind of “pet.”
The dialogue indicated that the hybrid was “a catamount from Spain” being given to the king. A shabby looking character came forward and warned the king – this character carried a battered samurai sword (sheathed) in one hand at all times, and seemed to be called “Cod” or “Coda.” I seemed to have access to program notes and knew that although he was dressed as a peasant, he was actually the king’s most trusted bodyguard. They seemed to have a long history.
People on the screen moved and spoke in very smoothly animated Second Life style, and then the action broke down into more abstract shapes, with several figures twirling and dancing, including a woman with dark hair and a long medieval dress.
There was music, but it was some song I heard on the radio or online yesterday, not what you’d think of “court music.” It was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” in fact. I wonder if it was a clip on NPR’s Saturday Edition this morning? Sometimes my early morning dreams are influenced by whatever the radio is playing. I visited a couple of dancing venues last night in SL and several little details were adapted and given a Shakespearean twist – people dancing, and so on. There seem to be some new dancing anims at Spacejunky Island’s club that are VERY good, very lifelike.
Anyway, the king decided to leave his court and go into exile, and suddenly the dream was in live action, as he walked along a road in a forest covered with snow. Still in costume, he and the Coda character looked like ordinary people, not quite as handsome as their avatars in Second Life – the king was older with shorter hair but still bearded, and his bondsman was younger, slighter, and carrying a REALLY battered wooden practice sword. It had a katana-like hilt wrapped with cordage, and had fabric tape similar to that used on hockey sticks wound around the blade, probably to keep it from splintering.
The catamount paced along after the king, who walked ahead toward a stand of trees. Coda called out that the animal/human was actually communicating with a rival king, and was meant to keep the king under surveillance. There was even a tracking device or bug or phone in its collar… anyway, the catamount was a threat whose actual motivations were as yet unknown, because he was an independent player-character, not just an animal or a robot.
But the king seemed not to think it important and allowed the hybrid to stay with him, telling Coda to remain behind as he had to go on alone. I remember thinking that Coda was very frustrated with his liege’s behavior and, then watched the king and his snow leopard as he walked toward the bend in the road.
The image in my dream of the king walking away was still in live action, but beginning to go back toward Second Life’s beautiful unreality, as the sun backlit the trees with gorgeous golden light and made a very Japanese woodcut-like tableau. Coda was left swinging his sword in great sweeps, forbidden to accompany and protect the king as he wandered away with a potentially dangerous enemy “catamount” padding along at his side. I remember thinking that the lighting and camera angle were breathtakingly beautiful and very cinematic, and wanted to take a still picture. That’s often my reaction inworld when I see something interesting or there’s a pretty particle or lighting effect, but I’ve been somewhat disappointed with my image captures with the new machine, due to the lack of detail on movement shots.
At this point the dream shifted and I was Coda, practicing holding the sword properly. It wasn’t very well balanced for me, as it was heavier and more curved in the “blade,” and the hilt was a bit too broad for my hands in the dream. I tried to chop at some overhanging branches, but the length and weight of the blade were difficult to control and maintain a proper grip. “It was really easier to do this stuff in Second Life,” I remember thinking, and then I woke up.
What does it all mean? I have no idea. But on re-reading, it seems hilariously Freudian.
I’ve been frustrated with my SL experience the last couple of weeks because a brand-new computer I just purchased just can’t handle the heavy-ish 3D display that SL demands of my video card. I’m otherwise very happy with this computer, but it has a small, sleek case that can only accept a low-profile video card as an upgrade. Also, there are power constraints, as this is a very efficient but low-power system. Otherwise, I like it a lot and it’s an improvement over my former system, which died (my partner was able to copy over essential files). It’s very irritating that this computer gets such high marks from reviewers, but they all mentioned the crap Intel onboard video and I should have known better.
I’ve been doing a LOT of research and determined that there’s only one video card that will “fill the bill” on this slick little beast, and will blog further if it’s a successful upgrade.
With any luck, my dream-machinimas will be a lot more detailed and beautifully rendered.
Live broadcast from Netroots Nation 09 – Daily Kos TV (beta)
5:45PM: Idella Quandry sings blues, funk and soul, with a little jazz thrown in for kicks. Come to Virtually Speaking and listen to a mixture of original music and favorite covers. Then stay for a conversation between Jay Ackroyd and Markos Moulitsas. Virtually Speaking’s InWorld Amphitheatre
And then I’ll be moving along in my busy social calendar:
7:30PM: Opening party – NNSL 09 Opening Party. Come party with us on Netroots Island, immediately following Virtually Speaking’s interview with Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos. Tour the new sim and discuss the days convention event. Zathras Afarensis will be playing a set of live music, and DJ Pb Recreant will close out the night with his superb, eclectic brew. Netroots Nation Ballroom
UPDATE: Change of plan. Some guy sat on me at Virtually Speaking, I tried to move to another seat but got lagged out (this sort of like logged out, except lag is involved. I just made it up).
Then I couldn’t get logged back in, and when I did, I was stuck in my little room. Thanks, Second Life! I’ll play MahJongg now.
Random serendipity seems to be my rule for finding things to do on Second Life, and I happened upon a listing for music in the Search window that looked interesting. Here’s the Community Events listing:
Second Life | Community: Events
Erika is an Austin, Texas based singer/songwriter, with a diverse range of influences from Patty Griffin (another Austinite!) to Nirvana to Etta James to… Come out an join us at Crystal Gardens and hear some amazing new talent to SL music scene
Yeah, astonishing is the word I’d use for Erika’s voice and playlist. And she plays a uke on some tunes, which seems to be her musical attachment of choice for her avatar. Her singing and playing is assured, powerful. Her stage presence needs a little polish – still a bit tentative and cutesy-poo about acknowledging tips and shout-outs in open chat. That’ll probably be overcome fairly quickly as she gets used to SL performance. She’s already awesome as a performer, so I expect she’ll become one of those “name” performers on SL, but she really has chops. It would be interesting to follow her musical career via in RL, too.
I had one of those “ohhhhhhh… I love this song” moments when she played “Mad World” from the Donny Darko soundtrack. I’ll have to keep an ear open for more from the extraordinary Erika Ordinary.
PS… I wish people with hotcha-cha attachments and “naughty” chat sounds and gestures would turn them the frack off in performance venues. Also, the guy that recorded and distributed the annoying “HOOOOOO!” sound effect/chat gesture deserves to be dressed up in badly fitting
Jackson Street Books: David Neiwert in Second Life
David Neiwert, founder and award-winning journalist and blogger at Orcinus and of late, at Crooks and Liars discusses his latest book The Eliminationists with Jesus’ General, GenJC Christian. Eliminationism: a politics and a culture that shuns dialogue and the democratic exchange of ideas in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and ejection, or extermination. Rich in historical and journalistic detail, the book offers a fine overview of the uglier strains in American politics.
The plan was after the interview, our intrepid progressive Residents would dress as clowns and march around a fascist European sim, but that didn’t happen.
Sometimes when inworld, I don’t care for whatever music is offered by shopping sites – especially when “on the hunt” for good quality freebies, popping in and out from one location to another. Some time ago I tinkered with various media players that can access Internet radio, and eventually settled on WinAmp (which has some rather annoying features, but it works for me).
I have a fairly long playlist now of “My Stations” that include several favorite Real Life items, some encountered from trips. Recently via BoingBoing I found out about SomaFM’s amazing Mission Control project.
It’s the ultimate in “space music;” lengthy samples of Apollo lunar mission radio feeds mixed on top of ambient (electronic) music. It’s very nice to listen to while working, as it’s both relaxing and “mission focused.” Please toss them a few Lindens/real world ducats if you like it, too.
SomaFM: Recently Played Tracks
Our fundraising for the first half of 2009 has been $30,000 less than we need, and we can only put off the bill collectors for so long. Please support SomaFM today and keep commercial-free radio on the air.
Mission Control: Celebrating NASA and Space Explorers everywhere.
Next week Second Life celebrates its sixth birthday, and I’ve been painfully slow to follow all the activities and exhibits planned. (Then again, I usually space on real world birthdays too.) There’s over 300 SL6B exhibits listed here, based around the theme of “The Future of Virtual Worlds“. One of them is featured in the machinima above, Loki Eliot’s ambitious time-traveling information kiosk. What others should we make an effort to visit? Post descriptions and SLurls in Comments. (Yes, rampant self-promotion encouraged.)
I really need to get up to speed with this year’s big event, I can’t spend all my time dancing and changing clothes. Or, I could, but there’s more to Second Life than that.
The other day I attended a really nice music event: Jana Kyomoon did an exhibit opening at the Pyramid Gallery – really must make an effort to attend more of her DJ gigs, her electronic music is so great. And ooh hey, she’s on iTunes…!!
Yeah, yeah, I’ve been hunting treasures again, and now I think it’s time to knock that shit off for a good long while, because I’ve got a ton of stuff to sort through. I also have a lot of pictures to upload from fun events in the last week or so. So I’ll be online a lot, going through boxes and getting rid of unwanted stuff.
My SL neighbor Mist started a blog for our home sim, and things are already starting to happen over there.
Welcome new people… « Northfarthing
I’ve got a handful of invites sent out, and a few new folks here at the NF blog and on WP. Welcome welcome, make yourself at home. Clean my kitchen. (Can’t blame me for trying…)
Here’s a question, to get some conversation started: what do you like best about NF?
It’s a quiet sim… not much happens there. People peacefully go about their business and nobody bothers anyone else, except for the odd kidnapping, or that time a real red dragon came to the Green Dragon pub. Oh, and Mist turned evil.
Nope, nothing much going on in quiet, peaceful Northfarthing, except when pirates bellow for everybody to come over to the castle for an impromptu party on the roof. It’s kind of hard to ignore the summons when a pirate bellows, of course, and I was more or less dressed for an event or a happening, since I was planning to go to an okiya (Japanese geisha house) for a celebration of Kodomo no hi (Children’s Day, or Boys’ Day).
So I left my simple cell in the Abbey of St Christopher (where I spend my time in contemplation of all the crap in my inventory, incessantly trying on outfits and hairs) and walked over to the castle.
On entry through the open doors, it’s an impressive place… I bumped into furniture for awhile, and then stumbled up the stairs. As it was Rhianon’s birthday, the party was on the roof, according to the shouted instructions… nice place, with a beautiful tree in bloom, an elven drum circle, and a fire. I was relieved that I managed not to crash-land in the middle of the bonfire.
And then something magical happened.
That’s me, somewhere in there, with the wings on, doing the “flying dance” (also known as the “horizon loop” with our pirate host. I usually don’t go in for performance art, but this was exhilarating.
It’s all done with poseballs, animations, particle attachments, yadda yadda blah blah blah.
No… it’s magic.
This is what it looked like with the camera view at maximum distance. Pirate Braveheart’s particles were the rod-shaped ones, and the ones I had were the fuzzy globular once. I had no idea what mine looked like when I found them in my folder; they were a freebie from some hunt or other. Fortunately, the colors were pretty much the same.
Maybe I should really re-think my whole “I’m not a creative person” stance, as this was way more fun than changing outfits all evening in my little cell.
After “sunrise,” everyone started in on the elven drums in earnest. I’ve done this before with friends, but not with such a purpose in mind – to produce dance music for someone. Soon enough, the Pirate and his lady began a couple dance, and the rest of us played on for them for awhile, before drifting away to other events. It was a nice beginning to the evening.
From there, I went on to the geisha event after a quick stop at another birthday party. So many great, fun things to do, but the most colorful event was the impromptu party in my home sim.
Yes, the roleplaying has begun at my home sim, Northfarthing. So far, it’s playful and not too serious and there’s a lot of banter, so don’t be shy, drop by and bust a medieval move.
Greetings my lovely gray maiden. « Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures of Cats – I Can Has Cheezburger?