My Expirences As A Hostess

                      
By Angel Fencer  (Ender Leven)   

It all began an few years ago when I was in Second Life looking for an job and stumbled upon DJ Uncle Pedro and the club he was DJing in. Since it was an while back, I don't remember much about how I found it. But I do remember the things we did.

I had fun in hosting and made an good income (tips only), traveled club to club with Pedro and sent loads of VIP notices and cheerfully met a lot of people. I even remember Pedro loved me so much, he asked a band to make me a song. I listened to it it, and it  was so beutiful and kind. He really was a gentleman and an amazing Blues DJ.  It only ended when I left Second Life for another grid called OSGrid.

After two years, I returned to Second Life. I tried making Lindens through scripting, but my scripts wouldn't sell. So I was searching for a new job. I went and searched for job groups, found one and then joined Friendlys. I chatted an bit with one of the staff and filled my application, which got accepted. I will have my first shift this Friday. I talked to an few people like Debbie, Tabs, and some others. It was amazing and I hope to have fun and can't wait to hype up people, make friends, party, chill, and hope to earn some lindens with tips.

What do hosts do?

                                       
A club host's job is to send notices, entertain the users, have fun, advertise the club, send notifications, and thank people for tips and such in group chat. It's an amazing way to meet people and earn some hard cash if they like you and the club is full enough.

So I wanna become an host, how does one become an host?

If you go to clubs, ask them for the application format and if your lucky, you get accepted. Be sure to ask them if they train hosts.

Where do you host currently?

At Friendlys at 12pm - 2 pm SLT/PST
                                      
Angel Fencer

SLife and Times: A Thursday in Second Life

By Grease Coakes

 

In the real world I work for Royal Farms stocking the soda cooler among various other grunt jobs. I can’t complain if my job gives me paid vacation. My boss named Mary to protect her real life identity was nice enough to give me a week of paid vacation during the summer. Now that I have been at Royal Farms two years I have two weeks of paid vacation. So today I wanted to write what I was doing in Second Life. 

 

I started in Shadowquine Maltz’s Ark which is one of Second Life oldest clubs for furries about 4:30am SLT which is 7:30am for me. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quarabia/96/128/501 When I first discovered there was clubs for furries in Second life when I was a month old or so The ark (Like Noah and the ark saving animals from the great flood.) It happened to be the ark and at the time I was amazed of seeing a club of only furries when before I was hanging in human clubs not knowing about clubs like the ark. Keep in mind I was a newbie so I had no idea what second life was so I was still exploring around. 

 

The theme of the Ark is anything goes so don’t be surprised if you see adult goings on there. For example I was talking with a vixen in skimpy clothing just being friendly about tattoos and something in her profile on one of the dance poles.

 

I happened to run into Stimpy Tripp an old bear of Second Life that I see around now and again. I remember seeing him at Second Life’s 12^th birthday when I djed. He’s also one of Rita Mariner’s Sunweavers. Another friend I ran into was Zebrathingy Heyse AKA Zee. When Anthroxtacy or AX was alive and well we’d go see the same DJ Aurora Avila a few times a week.

 

The DJ Raven Twang had a cool outfit at first I thought we was the dragoon character from Final Fantasy 8. But he corrected me and said, "If any influence for this character is attributed, it would be Mat Cauthon from Wheel of Time. The outfit I’m wearing is not so much the dragoon but based on Mat’s medieval fantasy attire."

 

I myself have read the Wheel of time written by the late Robert Jordan and it’s beyond words describing how epic the fourteen book series is. Mat Cauthon is one of the main characters as one of three childhood friends who are destined to fight what they call the Dark One. Mat is a trickster and always has a smile to charm women. I won’t say more than that except to start the series read Eye Of The World.

 

Shortly afterwards I went to a 500 word dash at Milk Wood (71/59/22), where’s it twice a day 6am SLT and 6pm SLT Monday through Friday. It’s a writing exercise to write 500 words in fifteen minutes based upon a word.

 

Deva (Deva Westland), a faerie, teased me and said as I lag walked and ended up walking on a table, "You know, you can walk around the table, Grease.... hehe."

Deva wrote a scene of a faerie mother having children making sure her small son didn’t wander into danger by entangling his ankle in a vine. Doyle, who writes stories of war, wrote a fantasy theme about a general asking for merchants for supplies despite the high risk.

Raindrops (Gwen Enchanted): wrote about a famous man Tam Lin who is a ballad and here’s what she said, "Tam Lin is a very famous magical ballad. He's a man captured by the Queen of the Faeries, who's saved by an ingenue named either Fair Janet or Lady Margaret, depending on which version of the ballad you know." Arte or Artemis wrote a poem about snugging Doyle cookies and kittens and puppies.

 

I wrote about one my characters doing something terrible, so she is forever banned from someone’s restaurant. Shannon hit Narcosis several times giving her a bloody nose and a black eye. Narcosis offered no resistance as Shannon cursed and yelled at her for endangering herself and her diner and friends.

 

I took a break in real life to eat some cereal and apples and then I come back to Second Life, and seeing nothing of note in my notices I go to the  IYC which is short for International Yiff Center at IYC Addictions (221/62/3001) . I also see Tantari Kim is online so I im her saying hi. She tells me she is applying to the Ark as a dj. She has a library of sets preplanned with different themes like MLP and "Still Alive" which centers around a single song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TERyxFfMqDk called Still Alive by Lisa Miskovsky. I showed Tantari Kim the famous blue vixen this song from electric mudkip.

 

Tantari was nice enough to warp me to Citrus Cove (164/153/2487). an adult sim called Fox Haven Furry City East. Tantari commented it was a nice sim with nice people I mentioned it made me think of Metropolis, Superman’s home, or any other major city. Tantari and I chitchatted about this and that.

 

A little later I took another break in real life, did some laundry and bought a beer and came back logging into the“I Love the 80’s club” at Gecko Isles (215/81/22). I hung out and chilled to Zack Coberts DJing. Everyone was joking that lag was ruining their day and that lag doesn’t exist in SL. I asked the pretty lady Lunavae Longfall to slow dance with me she said sure and I just relaxed and had a good time. There were a couple furries there, not just me. Furries aren’t just staying in furry clubs anymore they come to human clubs now and again watch out humans!

 

I took another break for an hour and played Guild Wars 2, but before I find a LM from Xavier’s A List about some LM that showcases live music. I go to Lionheart Ahadi (121/214/3201). and hear a Zen Arado play ambient music that’s unique and very mellow. In the same sim Tip Corbett came after Zen Arado play live piano music. His live playing was amazing to listen to soothe my soul.

 

Later on 1:30pm SLT I see a notice about a spiritual discussion at New Paris (33/42/22). I warp over to a place called Nirvana Island.RobertDuke Drascol led the spiritual discussion over voice chat with a few other avatars. He was saying to forget ideas of the material world and ignore your ego and listen to your higher self instead. I had tried to leave to see my friend Skunk Mantra Fox Techno (Fox Fraxture) at his DJ set however Robert Duke asked me to stay and make comments about what he was talking about.

 

I stayed until Robertduke said it was time to go. Then I visited Fox Fraxture at Furnication (189/199/27)  and heard his mix of house and techno. I mentioned that he gave me one of his songs that you can hear in my soundcloud mix SL12B called Thouse Paws Up. It has lots of organ sounds and bass booms.

 

A few days ago Amehana Arashi (Amehana Ishtari) and I agreed to meet on Thursday at 4pm SLT for a tarot reading you might recognize the name as she read at Nisa sometimes (the ponydale sim.) She charges a fair price of 300L. I ponied up the cash and asked her where should I look for a publisher for my stories? Amehana suggested look at the local library and perhaps a librarian will help me and suggested to play fair with the editor.

 

At the end Amehana had this to say

 

Elemental Balance:

2 major arcana

1 pentacle

1 wand

1 sword

 

The forces at work here are more spiritual/karmic than material. Physical work is necessary as always, but a good deal of what will be of benefit will only be gained through relationships, the give and take.

Last but not least of about eight months or so of working every thrusday night I go to see Aurora Avila at club midi at Bikini Bay (59/174/1006).

 

One of the club owners,Sky Gunawan, has this to say about Aurora, "Heya everyone~ busy night again. Aurora, you're always bringing in a crowd." Aurora Avila answered, "I can't say I have any complaints about that! "

I asked Aurora a silly question, "Hey if samus aran fought a dragon or two who do you think would win?" She answered, "Samus fights a dang dragon all the time. Ridley just keeps happening. (laughter), so she fights dragons anyway."

 

As per usual everyone has a great time listening to Aurora’s songs based upon video games and dancing the night away. Aurora even called me a Tippyfox for sending tips her way to her "?" block with the mushroom on top. A little later Keesar Cushing one of the dj managers from Anthroxtacy came to say hi Aurora as well as Zee a long time fan of Aurora’s music.

 

It was an excellent Thursday in Second Life and I did a lot. It was fun to share this day with you readers of the Second Life Newser.

Grease Coakes

Becoming a DJ in Second Life

By Grease Coakes

One of the many things you can do in Second Life is share your music with club goers and your friends as a DJ. If you’re reading this article you might wonder how you become a DJ and what kind of program do you need? Well one of the most obvious things you need is music!

Years ago I went to Anthroxtacy or AX for short when I saw a notice for someone named Aurora Avila. The notice said lots of video game noises. Video game songs? Being an avid video game player I was intrigued what video game noises might sound like in a DJ set. So back when Anthroxtacy was alive and well I went to see Aurora Avila and I loved the atmosphere and the song selection where one song was based upon the original Mega Man from the Nintendo or NES for short. The next song might be based on Sonic the hedgehog or perhaps Life Force.

Hearing Aurora DJ sometimes I wondered could I DJ? I did want to play the songs Aurora was playing, however in real life I also had CD/s from real life DJ/s and being in Washington DC I had easy access to rave clubs and saw DJ/s mix live. I saw local DJs like Scott Henry Deep Dish and Aprhodite from the UK several times. Charles Feelgood from Baltimore, MD gave me a high five when I told him he played a great set which included a remix of Pink Floyd’s the Wall. “Teachers leave us kids alone!” Ignoring the mainstream radio stations I instead listened to CD/s or cassette tapes I bought from Buzz the club or from music stores in the area. Before I even knew video game remixes existed I was always influced and loved hearing rave music which is known today as EDM or electronic rave music.

A few years ago I had the courage to at least try djing so someone told me you should go get a DJ program called Virtual DJ. I looked around the internet and found a copy. When I played around with it some getting used to the controls I decided to apply to a club. One club turned me down due to lack of experience. Another club called Heart of Gold gave me a try.


Compiling lots of music together and lots of practice and listening to mixed CD/s made by professional DJ/s I had a general idea how to mesh songs together. Today I have developed an excellent ear of when to mix songs together swiftly or to take my time and let the two songs blend together for as long as possible.

Recently I was hired by DJ Micah and his Club Culture after applying and being interviewed by one of their managers. The manager was impressed with the experience I had and welcomed me to the team. There’s other genres of music to be djed as well in various clubs in SL. 80’s music Rock music, country or maybe hip hop.

If you think it’s difficult to DJ you’d be surprised. If you plan your DJ set accordly or at least what songs you want to play you’d be set for your dj set. But it’s a good idea to practice before hand before you try tackling playing for a crowd. If you pay attention to the songs and know the right timing to start blending songs in and out you’ll do fine.

Whether your last name is Resident or you got to pick and choose your last name from years past and you have always wondered what’s it like to DJ, why not look around for a djing program like Virtual DJ like I have. If you have the time and energy give a try there’s always clubs looking for DJ/s across Second Life. Chances are you’ll find a club that’s right for you.


Grease Coakes

Interview with Scratchmusikatt Fox (aka Scratchmusikatt Sprocket)

By Bixyl Shuftan

Scratchmusikatt Fox is a DJ in real life whom was making a name for himself a few years ago in Second Life as the "Chaos DJ."  Events forced him to take a break from the virtual world for a time. But now he's back, and so is his music, either on his main account or his alt Scratchmusikatt Sprocket. Recently Second Life Newser sat down for an interview with him. 

Bixyl Shuftan: "So how did you find out about Second Life?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "A real-life roomate of mine, Stripes Waterkat was part of the beta testing for Second Life. I would occasionally look in on what he was doing because he always had some pretty good music coming out of his speakers, and I knew this wasn't stuff he had himself. So I finally asked him one night 'what is that you're doing?', because at the time he was at Club Fur and I could hear the DJ talking on the air. He explained Second Life to me and how to get into it. But It wasn't until a year or so later that I tried it myself."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How did your first experiences go?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Second Life was still pretty basic back then. It was out of Beta by the time I joined, but furry avs as we know them were mostly still a new thing. My first 'avs' were of my main fursona, Johnny Vulpine and The fursona I created specifically for my forray into SL, Scratch Musikatt. I joined Second Life for the sole purpose of getting into DJ'ing because it's something I liked doing in real life.  I couldn't even begin to tell ya who made those first two avs. They were little more than a head and tail and a skin, because flexiprims didn't exist at the time."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sounds pretty basic compared to today."

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Yeah, Second Life has come a long way. but even then there was something that spoke to me beyond the draw of DJ'ing. I found alot of roleplayers and, given the ability to be... pretty much anything you want. SL suddenly had a second draw for me. It was the DJ'ing and the escape from real-life that kept me here through the difficulties of SL's infancy."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How did your experiences go from there?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "As Second Life grew and more people I knew got into it, things got more and more fun. I never got to officially DJ at Club Fur, but I found a place called Club Elite. They were open to furs and non-furs alike. They had, in the past been named the Number One club in SL and they were looking for DJ's. I applied, and Mrs. Rainestar (owner of the club's radio station) gave me a wednesday night slot from 7 to 9pm. And it was there that DJ Scratch Musikatt was really born."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How did it go?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "To be perfectly honest, I was nervous as hell. They had shown me how to setup and run SAM broadcaster the week before and I remember thinking to myself now crazy complicated it looked. As I was preparing to actually go on the air the first time, a million ideas were spinning in my head for how to carry myself on the air. I took a breath, and thought of the Radio DJ's I used to listen to as a kid. Wolfman Jack, The Greaseman, and Dr Demento and I just kinda decided to channel them into my performance."

Bixyl Shuftan: "And it went without a hitch?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "To my surprise, Yes, Rainestar had told me a good formula to follow is to do at least 20 minutes of music then either an ad or a voiceover. I found it easier to keep to a 30 minute schedule and by the third set of my first show I felt like I had it down pretty tight. I did have a bad habit at first of forgetting to turn off my mic after a voiceover. So, sometimes the listeners would get treated to my singing along with the music until someone would poke me to turn off the mic."

Bixyl Shuftan: " Heh ... How did things go after that?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Things were great @ Club Elite for a good while. But unfortunately, all good things must eventually come to an end. The club wasn't making enough money to keep running and eventually had to close its doors. As a parting gift, the owner of the club gave me a copy of the club's dancefloor. at the time it was one of the most unique dancefloors I'd ever seen. And to this day, I still use a dance floor based off of it's design whenever I put on shows in my own places or a place that allows the DJ to provide a floor. I made quite a few friends at Club Elite, and was able to get into other clubs thanks to those connections.

"I played for Club Abydos when there were only three Furnation sims. DJ Inferniel ran the place he and I were both alumni of Club Elite, so it was no surprise when I got an invite to play there. Furries were rapidly becoming more and more widespread in Second Life and so I was doing alot of looking around at other furry clubs too. Abydos eventually shut down, for the first time and I moved on to the club which I will always think of as Scratch's first home: Rainbow Tiger."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How would you describe this particular club. What made it stand out among other clubs, furry and otherwise?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Rainbow Tiger? well, it was bigger than anyplace I'd played for before and it's roster of DJs was huge. There was someone live on the air almost 24-7, I'd never seen that before. The atmosphere at Rainbow Tiger was really hoppin' too. there was always people there. Club Elite, Club Fur and Abydos all had times when there was just nothing going on, but not Rainbow Tiger. It was exciting and fun knowing that was part of a club that entertained so many people so much. Of course, that just makes how Rainbow Tiger finally shut down even sadder. I haven't found a club since that had the same feel to it as RT had back then. I'll admit, a few have come close. But I honestly don't think that kind of magic will ever be duplicated. Rainbow Tiger just had the right combination if elements and I'm proud to have been a part of that."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How long did it keep going?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Well, I know that Rainbow Tiger had been a well established place by the time I started my backup Second Life account in 2006. And I know that somewhere around 2009 or 2010 RT had to shut down. I don't know for sure when because I had fallen on hard times and was not able to get on Second Life for almost a year. Before then, the last time I played at Rainbow Tiger had been in 2008. I was playing for there and another fairly popular club called Fur Dungeon. I was unemployed in real life from 2010 to 2013 and so I wasn't able to do much in Second Life at all unless I was at a location where my aging laptop could get a good enough signal to get into SL. When I finally got back into Second Life effectively, I found out that Rainbow Tiger had closed.

"Then early in 2014, I began to hear rumors that somebody was trying to bring Rainbow Tiger back. I kept tabs on this rumor until finally a notice popped up in the old RT group that stated they were back and looking for DJs. I immediately signed up. ay this time I had begun playing for a licensed furry radio station, 'Raging  Dragon Radio,' owned and operated by the con chair of my local area's first furry convention 'Furthemore.'"

Bixyl Shuftan: "So you never found out why it closed?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "I spoke to Spike about it when I found out that Rainbow Tiger was back, and the way it sounded to me was that the place just wasn't drawing the crowds like it used to. So, I thought this could be a win-win situation if I could get Rainbow Tiger associated with Raging Dragon Radio. That way RDR would finally have an official venue in Second Life (they didn't at the time) and RT would have the support of RDR. Unfortunately, it seemed it was too little too late. The place was almost always empty. And so, Spike finally sent out a notice that Rainbow Tiger was shutting down for good, just a couple months ago. Even the brightest stars eventually burn out."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sorry to hear about that. So for a few years your DJing in SL was a little spotty?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "I Yeah, between 2006 and 2010 I did alot of hopping around to different clubs, I played GYC for about a month ... Don't even get me started on THAT place. Let's just say for the kind of club they were running they hiring DJ's was just kinda a waste of time and they would have served themselves better by just using a radio stream tuner. I played for some of the clubs that my good real-life friend DJ Rory ran; The Coco Beach Club and the Blue Parrot to name a couple. I met one of my best SL friends ever at the CBC, Muertos Ashbourne. I Played for a mostly human club by the name of Club Zapp for a while. But by then it was pretty much the end of 2011 and the beginning of the really hard times when I pretty much had to drop out of Second Life completely.

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Well, it was during the Spring months, I was doing sidework for a real-life friend's father and staying at his place while I worked. SO I was able to use my laptop to get online there and get back into SL. At first, I didn't do a whole lot. Certainly no DJ'ing, all the clubs I was familiar with were gone. Even, as I found out upon my return, Rainbow Tiger. So, I kinda took a break from the club scene for a bit, my RL schedule didn't really work for club DJ'ing at the time anyways. So I got into new roleplay groups. I had begun getting into 'My Little Pony' by that time and I discovered the Fallout/MLP crossover called 'Fallout: Equestria.' Did alot of RPing there as well as alot of other places Muertos and I found in our travels.

"As I said before I hooked back up with Spike and the Rainbow Tiger crew and did my best to try to help the place thrive, but it turned out to be a lost cause. Early in November (2014), a group notice went out from this place I'd shopped at before called Furry Fashion saying they were looking for DJ's Hosts, and Models. Hell, I never even knew they had a club. Now, I've never been the kind of guy that DJ's for the money. NONE of the clubs I played for before paid the staff. We always worked for tips and that was it so I was used to playin' for peanuts. But hey, like I said, I was never in it for the money. BUT, I will admit, it DID perk my ears when I heard that this place not only paid the staff but you also get tips, it was just like an real-life club.

"So I figured, what the hell and I applied. Well, not to toot my own horn, but it was no surprise when they showed interest in hiring me. There's alot to be said for having a good resume backed by years of experience. I was contacted within the week, played my first show there that Thursday. And I do believe, I made them fall in love with me that very same night."

Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds like you were a real hit (smile).

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Well, so far, I've heard nothing but praise from the Furry Fashion staff. They're a really fun bunch too. They run a staff chat outside of Second Life in Skype that way we can keep up to date of things going on at the club on or off of SL. We get together and play 'Cards Against Humanity' online sometimes. It's just a very friendly atmosphere and very family-like. I'm enjoying it a lot. I still play for Raging Dragon Radio on Thursdays. Unfortunately tho I don't think I could host RDR at Furry Fashion because there are rules to how I have to play on RDR and there are rules to how I have to play at FF and the combination of the two would make running a show very difficult for me. I'm good, but I'm not that good and trying to follow both sets of rules would totally suck the fun out of the whole show."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "So aside from these places, what are your plans for the future?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "Well, I'll play for Furry Fashion for as long as they'll have me. Meanwhile, I am looking for a place that can accommodate my schedule and be a good fit for hosting Raging Dragon Radio. Kit, RDR's owner has recently gotten back into Second Life himself and a few weeks ago we went club hopping looking for places to apply to that might be a good fit."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Anything else that you'd like to mention?"

Scratchmusikatt Fox: "*Giggles insanely* "well I could bore ya with my mercifully short forray into trying to run a club of my own. But I don't think you want to write about a train wreck. That's one thing I'll NEVER do again."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Well, if that's all, thank you for your time and good luck with your music making."

Raging Dragon Radio: http://streamlicensing.com/stations/dragon/

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview With Graine Macbain

By Fritter Enzyme

Graine Macbain is one of the best supporters of live music and the arts in Second life.  For close to five years she has had clubs giving newcomers a chance to get up for open mic night and test the waters.  Bringing live music, poetry readings, live comedy and particle shows to fans in many venues, starting with the Azure.  Now the owner and operator of two venues and galleries:  The Riverside Café and Galleries, and The Avian Retreat.  A third location is often rented just for special events, seasonal music festivals like the Holiday Festival coming on December 12 – 14.  She is definitely in it for the love of doing, as, with most club owners, there is no profits being made. 

Fritter Enzyme: Was the Azure your first club?

Graine Macbain: Yes, it was. I sort of adopted it off the previous owner.  Dem Uriza  I was at a point in SL where I had grown tired of just wandering around and exploring, or hanging out at other people's clubs, so I thought I would try running a club. I couldn't script or build or sing so it seemed the only thing to try.   I also must admit I thought I might make so small profit, but that was a dream,(laughter).

Fritter Enzyme: Hehe, a dream many have had. Many of the same artists that came there come to your two venues.

Graine Macbain: Yes, I have kept in touch with most of my former Azure performers, although some have left SL or otherwise become too big for my small place.

Fritter Enzyme: You have always supported the arts in a big way, do you make art in real life?

Graine Macbain: I went to art school, and I realized there that I was just another mediocre artist, so I never pursued art in real life except for my own amusement. I tried to do it here in SL as well, but no one ever seemed impressed with my work, other than a few SL photos.

Fritter Enzyme: Do you know how many people have you given a SL career start to?

Graine Macbain: Well, that is hard to say, but I only know of one who claims I enabled her to have an SL career, and unfortunately she no longer sings in SL. I think Smilemaker Mathy gave more people a start in SL through the Open MIc Nights she used to host at the Azure every Sunday night.  I still see many of those names in SL playing.  So I provided the space but Smile did the work.

Fritter Enzyme: Most venues are not there because there is money to make this way, what are the other benefits to the time and love you put into a club in SL?

Graine Macbain: Well, I heard a lot of great music I would never have had the opportunity to hear otherwise and made a lot of friends who I wouldn't have had much interaction with had I not hired them. I hope I helped many people have a good time on their computer for a few hours that they might otherwise have spent watching TV or something else totally passive. I learned a lot and I a lot realized that running a club in SL was almost as much work as doing one in real life. Almost...

Fritter Enzyme: You have always brought in the new and unique things, live comedy, poetry readings, and the annual festivals, like this coming Christmas one.  Are there any new plans on the horizon for The Riverside Café?

Graine Macbain: Well, not at this point. After the Holiday Festival we will host another ambient/classical festival after the New Year, and of course, as you know, trivia continues every Thursday night from 5.30-7 PM SLT. I was thinking of having more activity at Avian Retreat again, but right now I am just trying to survive the holiday season in both SL and real-life.

Fritter Enzyme: You have preserved some of the Apollo sim at your sky gallery, and award winning photographs have been taken there.  Are you interested in keeping pieces of SL for a museum with that basis?

Graine Macbain: I have thought of that but it is beyond one person's ability to do that and do the effort justice. It is something the Lindens should have been doing for years now.  There was a fellow who passed away about a year ago, whose name escapes me now. He was mostly a fox furry, one of the first in SL, He used to do a blog dedicated to preserving SL. He would visit the earliest sims and give their histories with data and photos. He should have made a book about the subject, but even he found it too time consuming. He eventually moved to InWorldz, but then came back to SL. He died not long after that.

Fritter Enzyme: I would love to see that blog.  With the festivals and the booking for the club there are many times when things don’t go right, what keeps you going? 

Graine Macbain: Well, I just have a sort of inability to give up. I feel obligated to honor a commitment and not just give up once I start something. Not that I've never cursed myself for being a fool and taking on too much work. And I've known a few moments of panic as well, but ultimately, no one has died yet at one of my events, so I keep my fingers crossed and keep plugging.  If you try to control things too tightly they get even more out of control, oddly. Its best just to relax and let things go their course.

Fritter Enzyme: It is very nice that you have a gallery for Edward Vintner here.

Graine Macbain: Yes, I wanted to ensure that his name was not forgotten, and his art as well.  The nature of SL is ephemeral, so it takes some effort to make sure people don't forget.  And many new people will who never have heard of him.  I couldn't stand the idea that his art would disappear after his death. And I knew that Skye Gravois wanted to preserve his memory. It means so much to her.

Fritter Enzyme: Thank you for the interview, and thanks for the friendship.

Graine Macbain: You are most welcome, and thank you for yours, not to mention the great bartending (smile).

Graine has a blog at http://grainemac.blog.com/ . 

Fritter Enzyme

How to Run a Club

By Kitacelia

There are many ways to run a club. Several have different themes for the club itself, steampunk, country/western, biker, outer space, beach club, fantasy, retro/classic, techno, gothic, heavy metal, punk etc The music  played may or may not match the club style or a contest theme  Some have contests with prizes to bring people in. Boards can be set up in a number of ways, everything from everyone can join and vote, to only group members may join and only those in the contest may vote.  Some clubs have a single board, while different clubs may have two, separated by gender or contest entries, some are even designed so that those who stay for the entire event have more of a chance to win.

It can be winner take all or split so that everyone with a vote gets something. Sometimes there is a fee to enter the contest, which adds to or even makes up the entire prize. Certain clubs welcome all sorts of avatars within reason(nothing insanely huge or that breaks terms of service rules)  Others are limited to say humans, men or women only.

 Some clubs have bars, games, trivia and or exotic dancers to bring guests into their clubs.  Several clubs use hostesses to run contests, promote events, support DJs greet people, give out tags and make conversation with guests. Hosts and DJs may be paid an hourly wage on top of tips in some cases, in others they may work for all tips, where you provide your own tip jar, usually they don't take a cut of tips, in other cases in which they provide the tip jars, a percentage of tips is often given to the owners which can be anything between 10-20 percent of tips.

Other clubs may only have DJs, and rely on the DJ , club manager or even the other to send notices.  Most clubs send 2-3 notices, one a few minutes before the event, one at halftime and occasionally at the start of said event as well.  Sometimes the DJ and/or host is required to promote products/services or nearby shopping.

Some clubs have sploders, which is a kind of gambling allowed in SL.  In some cases they give a little money back to each participant.    Many clubs prevent currently working staff from entering the contests.  In some cases the host and greeter are separate jobs, the greeter is basically just that, says hello, welcome to the club etc and possibly gives out group invites/tags.      

Some clubs have a bar tender who both roleplays and uses bar props to simulate a real life bar style experience.   As far as applications they can be anything from name, times available and one or two basic questions to a few pages, describing a number of hypothetical scenarios.

An example of a particularly poorly run club, is one where they spam members with notices every 20 minutes.  As well as not removing old staff who do not actively work there.   Gesturbating by guests is tolerated.    There is no set schedule.   Hosts are expected to promote the radio, with no contest, in a club that lacks, games, a bar, and other forms of amusement to draw in guests.  Staff is required to put up their own money for contests, and even when the contest is paid for they may have to front the money as it is not given to them in a timely fashion. Come as you are is a common theme and being naked always qualifies.  This results in many people bringing in alts, who vote for each other, knowing they will win something with any votes, who stand there unresponsive for most of the event.

While I don't pretend to be an expert on this subject, this is based on what I have observed/ experienced over the last almost year, working in clubs and being a guest at various clubs.

Kitacelia

Nydia Tungsten and Her Impact on Second Life

             I reported on Nydia Tungsten before as the owner of  the cool Club Castaway with its pirate theme. But there more to the white vixen then just being a club owner. In fact she also owns the Club Zero Gravity and the Happy Vixen. in addition, she runs Angels Beach Land Rentals. The most she has run at one time was 11 clubs. She does a good managing those clubs at the real-life price tag of under $500 for renting the land every month. However she did say, "I am almost to the point of making real-life money."

Thanks to her Second Life mother Skylark Lefavre, Nydia is an expert of running her own clubs, "She is my SL Mother…. I met her my second day here, and she has been a guiding force in my life here.

Lucky Nydia. I’ve been in Second Life for 5 years and I don’t anything about running a club. I didn’t even know where to look for furry clubs when I was a newb.

Nydia is a successful club owner as she always listens to what everyone wants to see at her venues. I used the example of what the original owner of the real-life fast food chain McDonalds Roy Croc said, “Take care of the customer and the business will take of itself.” Luckily Nydia’s clubs are healthier than fast food, but Nydia’s clubs are very successful nonetheless.

Also she’s a counselor to her friends. She helped out Dusk, one of the Sunweavers who was dealing with the real-life death of one of her friends due to cancer: Artistic Fimicoloud, who was deeply loved by all the Sunweavers and her freinds. Dusk is one of the Sunweavers in the Second Life group of the same name. The Sunweavers is a furry group headed by Rita Mariner.

Dusk is also one of the leaders in the Relay for Life fundraising team "Passionate Redheads,” which I reported on in one of my earlier articles with Sabine. Nydia Tungsten told me, "She is one of the most loved Sunweavers and one of the new leaders of the RFL team 'The Passionate Redheads.' I recommend that team to anyone wanting to join a team, by the way."

She also talked about a friend whom said she has a year left to live, "She made a comment I have heard so many times before....when she told people about it they go quiet. If someone tells you something like that ... yes it is from left field and a shock. But you need to talk to them, let them talk about it, because they are more in shock than you and need to talk, so let them." I commented a few times that listening is also a good part of being a telemarketer to make sales. Seems like it’s a great way of being a friend too.

To top it all off, Nydia is also a DJ for her clubs. "The music I like to play," she explained, "(is) well... up beat, the type that makes you want to get up and move. And I also like to play the stuff that makes you laugh." One of her heroes in Second Life is Shockwave, who Nydia just told me is a great songwriter. For a Sunweavers party, she told me about a song parody that he wrote of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," an Xmas song that was very funny. She also said he is an excellent builder for RFL (Relay for Life) events

Next time you come to Second Life, stop by one of Nydia’s clubs. You may catch her djing. Or if you have something that’s bothering you she’ll be glad to lend an ear. Or if you just need a laugh, ask her about the reindeer song Shockwave wrote.

Castaway Cove - Kalmeere Paradise (18, 184, 21)
Club Zero Gravity - Purrfection Estates (229, 11, 3365)
The Happy Vixen - Purrfection Estates (249, 61, 22)
Angels Beach Land Rentals - Kalmeere Paradise (159, 98, 21)

 Grease Coakes

Goodbye Perri, Hopefully Only For Now

A little sad news from the HV Community sim, where I make my home on the Grid. One of my neighbors, Perri Prinz, has made a name for herself as a DJ in Second Life, in my opinion one of the best in her selection of 60 and 70s music. She would play at Cutlass, Club Zero Gravity, and other clubs. With her partner RECoyote Mindes, she also owned a club of her own, the Green Meadows Club, which friends also called Perri's Xanadu. Her music got her many fans, and her gentle manner a number of friends. And of course there was her partner RECoyote.

Outside of Second Life, Perri, or "Hunny Bunny" as she sometimes calls herself, was also known as a writer. She wrote the chapters for Spectral Shadows, a long series of stories that mixed themes such as time travel, Fantasy, and Science Fiction, going back for many years. A teleporter at Xanadu would take one to a gallery of Spectral Shadows Illustrations. She would also put some thoughts in a Livejournal, which went across a number of subjects, such as music.

Her latest Livejournal post however was a sad one.

Perri suffered from health problems in real life, and as much as she loved her friends and playing her music, the technical glitches could sometimes just be too much, requiring her to take occasional breaks to rest up. Running her club had proven to be a bundle of nerves, so friends from the FCA club alliance, including myself, had recently been helping her to try to get Green Meadows/Xanadu up and running again.

Unfortunately, one event she had spent hours preparing for happened to occur right on the very day the Grid was hit with its "Unscheduled Maintenance." Not only was getting online difficult, but nothing seemed to work, notably her music stream. It was then she felt there was nothing better to do but leave the Grid for good, saying goodbye to her friends who managed to show up despite the glitches that day.

Since then, Perri's gotten a number of messages from friends and well wishers.  And she responded she might return after an extended hiatus to heal, "REC and my friends … I'm missing them already. … I hate the thought of never being with … the others again. … We'll see what happens. I just pulled the plug. I didn't throw out the computer." Perri's Livejournal entry and responses can be found here: http://symphonic-rp.livejournal.com/203000.html .

As for Club Green Meadows, events there have come to a close, at least for now. It's possible later on the FCA club alliance will try to get the club running again with others playing the music Perri was noted for.

Goodbye our friend, at least for now,

Bixyl Shuftan

*Addition* Perri did come back a few days after this was written.

"The A List"

               Within the vastness of Second Life there is a great deal to explore and any person, unless guided by a friend or knowing where to search or what to look for, can easily get overwhelmed. There’s so many clubs and places to hang out at, it’s easy to get lost.

When I was a noob in SL almost 5 years ago (My rez date is 6/12/2007), and didn’t really know anyone as I aimlessly wandered around looking to make new friends and see where the hot spots were. When I first started SL I didn’t know I had to be in a sandbox to open a furry avatar box. Luckily one of the people I ran into was a lady named Raftwet Jewell at a club named TJ Icey’s, which is now dance Island. Raftwet is Xavier’s wife as Xavier Thiebaud is the founder of the group you may have heard about from hearsay called the “The A List.”

Now there’s good news for someone wondering where the best of the best resides in SL and where their digital self needs to go. “The A List” compiles all of the best events into one group. It’s pretty handy when lots of clubs ask for a group to become a VIP to get the heads up on their events. At 42 groups max that would take up lots of space getting a VIP at every club you liked. Plus there’s non club groups you may like. Even worse is when you only had 25 groups a few years ago. The A List solves that one problem.

            In the words of Xavier Thiebaud the founder of the SL “The A List,” “It seemed as if there was a need to be filled. Raftwet and I collectively travelled the grid and invited those who had excellence. Before that everyone was segregated and very cliquey. It was not easy but we successfully tied many people from many walks of life and interest into our group.”

Xavier and his longtime wife Raftwet worked hard around SL nurturing their A List making it grow. For the past four years since its birth Xavier and Raftwet looked in every nook and cranny of the digital realm of Second Life looking for the best to add to their list.

One great thing as I got answers back from Xavier and Raft is that anyone would find something of interest from the A List. For example my buddy Qwark Allen when I logged on SL happened to DJing 80’s music and pop music along with some house. The only way I knew he was DJing by checking the A List under notices. I quickly ported over and had a great time.

Xavier told me that everything from Opera to Country music is on “The A List.” Art gallery openings to opera to grand ballrooms to dance with that special someone. Opera or art not your cup of tea? There are also notices about DJs playing electronic music like Trance, house, techno or psytrance from a popular DJ like Healer Ladybird or Qwark Allen. You’re not into a techno beat? There are live rock performers on the A List as well to warp to and listen in and have a good time. Not really in a music mood but you would rather laugh? The A List has comedy acts too!

Any Joe or Jane resident is allowed to join the A List after being in SL for one year sorry for those who just started SL a month ago or so. However if you just started SL you could still follow them on Facebook under the A List. Some A list members have the ability to send notices to promote their clubs or live performers to promote their live music act.

For example if a live performer or DJ wanted to promote him or herself they have to talk to Xavier and or Raft to be able to send notices.  This helps keeps the group spam free keeps up the high quality of the A List’s musicians and artists etc. Nobody wants to see a notice about to keep their teeth clean in Second Life either. Also not being a drama Llama helps and Xavier doesn’t want any D listers however in Xavier’s words

Xavier Thiebaud, "We look for people who are at least a year old, so most of the time it means they are established on the grid."

Xavier hinted there was celebrities within the A list that you could see with the tag “A List Celebrity”  around SL. Xavier told me that as of now there’s a little over 400 people within the A List.

Xavier says to join the A List as a year or older avatar you have to pay a one-time fee of 2,500 Linden UNLESS you happen to know a friend to refer you. The good news is I Grease Coakes am a member of the A list so if I know you I could refer you to the A List if you’re a buddy of mine.

So if you want the very best of SL and you have been around a year at least look into the A List by searching under groups “THE A LIST!” Xavier and Raftwet are always looking for fresh pixelated avatars to expand their A List and as I trade off you can tell your friends and family you’re a grade A avatar as a furry, human, robot or whatever.

Grease Coakes