Book Island Open Mic

By Grease Coakes

Selina Greene is a busy lady as she owns Book Island the sim that's all about reading and writing and promoting aspiring authors. Wanting to change avatars I come on to Second Life after getting home from a hard day of real life work.

A short time later I see a notice for Selina Green's Open Mic at Book Island at Book Island (42/48/25). I say what the hey, if i'm online anyway I can go check it out.

I warp into the Book Island library and there's a large group of avatars there already at 1pm SLT. Selina mentioned earlier that she does hold Open Mic every Sunday at 1pm SLT. She says hello Grease glad to see you come over voice with her smoky british accent. By habit I respond to her over voice when she's done speaking. She asks me politely in IM to use chat instead of voice.

Now I know so for the rest of the event I chat only except when I read my own writing then I was allowed to use voice. Several avatars took advantage of Open Mic wanting to read his or her story. Klannex Northmead went first reading his own writing with a voice Selina seemed to like. His poem was about the spring.

I was next as I took a sample from one of my stories that I wrote for one Rio The Otter. I announced in main chat that I was bought by him at a tail sale. Selina asked what a tail sale was intrigued never hearing the term before. I told Selina, "Yup I was auctioned off so he bid the highest for me. Here's part of what I wrote for Rio."

Rio walked to the end of line which in his good fortune wasn’t very long. Despite the short line a red dragon tried to fly to the front. A pink griffin male fearlessly put his hand up to block the line cutter. He wore a black Club Zero shirt with baggy black jeans but they were well buckled to his waist. 

“Just because you can breathe fire doesn’t mean you’re getting in quicker than anyone else,” the pink griffin spoke with authority, and his eyes could cut through stone the way he glared at the seven foot dragon. The griffin was tall and he had a large frame, but the dragon towered over him. The Dragon tried to fly above the griffin but he merely flew up with him and blocked him again. Everyone in the line gasped.

“He’s a perfect hybrid!”

“He’s muscled and he can fly!”

“They are one in 100,000 or so!”

I stopped reading after a while keeping in mind that Selina gives everyone a time limit making sure everyone gets their fair share of reading time. Leslye read poetry about clementines about their taste. Selina herself read a sample of her story about a collar around someone's neck.

Bhelanna Blaze AKA Bhelanna Resident read a poem named stew which her mother loved. It talked about her stew reciepe was passed down from generation to generation with various herbs and spices put into the stew. She was very sad that her mother passed away due to cancer back in May. She braved on despite her real life loss and read another poem later related to porches and homes.

Klannex Northmead read another poem about god and ego. Another reader James MacCloude read part of a story that sounded something Stephen King would write. Everyone's cellphones were dying as if something really scary was going to happen in his story.

At the end of the event there was a drawing for 300L just for showing up. Sisterbutta resident won the 300L as Selina announced a summer soltice event for the following weekend. Looking over the notecard I saw events like boat rides and tarot readings for both days Saturday and Sunday.

Like the SL Newser celebrating four years Book island is holding on strong always having events to draw in readers and writers to particpate and have fun. If you have a story or poem that you would like to share stop on by at 1pm SLT every sunday for Open Mic.Even if you don't wish to read your own literary work you can ask someone else to read for you. On top of that you could make new friends sharing in your writing and reading interests. And everyone could always use new friends.

Lyle Lindman and his Mythology Class

By Grease Coakes

Lyle Lindman a long time avatar of Second Life every Mondays and Tuesdays at 4pm SLT tells stories from Greek mythology. It’s neat to hear stories told in voice chat in Second life or also in real life. Sometimes you can hear a storytelling in real life, but here in second life it’s as close as your computer.

I asked Lyle why he tells stories in Second Life? He answered that he enjoys reading the stories as they connect to issues in real life as well as language and words we use today. With his German accent he tells the story in voice chat.

The day I wrote the article he spoke stories about Apollo and Oracles. The main theme was about kings and others who asked to have their fortunes told. For example the king of Persia asked an oracle will he destroy an empire in his exposition. The answer he got back was when he crossed a river he will destroy an empire. When he crossed a river, he ended up destroying his own empire.

A story he told about Apollo who is the god of the sun was his son Eros AKA cupid got upset and shot Apollo in the heart. There was a mortal woman named Daphne who enjoyed hunting and praising the gods and goddesses especially Gaea (which translates into Mother Earth). Apollo when he was shot by Eros fell in love with the mortal woman Daphne. Apollo pursued the woman, but she had no interest in men so she ran from Apollo. Eventfully Apollo did catch up with her and caught her in a loving embrace. Daphne resisted Apollo and prayed to Gaea, and to save Daphne Gaea changed her into a tree. Apollo was angry and snapped off a branch from the tree. And from then on, the laurel branch was sacred as Apollo is always seen with a laurel branch in his golden hair.

Another story about Apollo told of a satyr, a half man half goat creature, of the woods. His name was Marsyas and he boasted no one could beat him in his skill as a double flute player. Apollo was angry about this and challenged him to a musical duel. Whoever won may inflict any bodily harm on the loser. Apollo and Marsyas were equally skilled musically, but Apollo defeated him by playing his lyre upside down. Marsyas could not play his double flute upside down and thereby lost the challenge. Apollo flayed Marsyas alive and took his skin and nailed it to a pine tree. The tears of the woodland creatures crying in sorrow filled the river Marsyas. This story teaches not to be prideful or else your own pride will destroy you.


In addition to the storytelling at his amphitheater there’s also a pond area for meditation and relaxation close by. I sat on one of the rocks relaxed as I wrote this article.

I commented that Lyle seemed to know a lot about Greek myths. He responded modestly and said,  "Wow, I am not really an expert. (smile)." I told him he seemed to know more than most people. He took credit by saying this, "Most of it can be found in a book by EM Berens, it is called myths and legends. I chose some parts I thought to be interesting and read stories from other books. (smile)"

Greek stories like any other set of stories from any culture are written for entertainment as well to teach life lessons. Lyle said he wanted to contribute to SL among the many other things you can find in Second Life. When I heard him in voice chat he did a great job telling the story in voice and leading a discussion afterwards. If you’re not in the mood for club hopping and instead want to relax and hear a tale stop by Lyle’s amphitheater and stay for a spell.

Lyle’s amphitheater is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Laurier/223/77/200.

Grease Coakes

Reading of 100 Word Stories at Book Island

By Grease Coakes

When I was at Book Island last time, Jackson Arthur told me about a beta reading for 100 words so stories for the following week. This sounded fun to me, so taking a mere 5 minutes or so I write a 100 or so story (It went over 100 a little bit but don’t tell Book Island that). I warped over to Olivia Whitsend’s office as she hosted the event. I ran into Relish, the small tiger from last time, and I found out that he is also Brokali the blue alien!

Then my Exodus viewer kicked me off, and I had to log back in. I was telling everyone in the Book Island group that I had a good story, and here it is. Danger Dave had created a notecard launcher where when you send the white square in the middle of a table your notecard goes to everyone in range.

At a telemarketing job was a man and woman. One day Sally pleaded with Phil to borrow $5. Phil said he didn’t like lending money as most times he did not get paid back. But eventually Phil caved in. One day Phil asked Sally if she could he pay him back when Sally got a fat check from a lot of sales. Sally smiled and said she had bills to pay. When Sally was short on money she asked around and no one lent her any money. Phil would have of said yes, but she didn’t pay him back. That night after work Sally had no bus fare and had to walk ten miles in the rain back to her house. As a result she became sick and was unable to come to work the next day.

I got positive feedback on grammar and Relish/Brokali suggested words to add to the power of my story. Everyone’s comments did add to my story.

Jackson Arthur wrote a piece of him using words like jink and pirouette, his character used many fancy words to describe his character wanting to get away from Robert. It ended that he only has enough time for one word.

I will have to be rude. Might be fun! Use your imagination to think of what word Jackson Arthur may have used.

Brokali/Relish’s story was about a lemonade stand at the corner of Filth and Poverty. He told his story about a lemonade stand that was left behind by the current day and age of adults hating having to drive to work. Also the lemonade stand was ignored as people went to get drugs or beer instead or any fast food joint. The point was powerful saying how the lemonade stand is a bygone of more innocent times.

Silver’s poem also had a strong message of a woman walking towards an abyss with footsteps of sorrows and sins. The message I got from her poem was someone thinking of ending their own life after living a depressing and sorrowful life.


Olivia hosting the event gave out a notecard of ideas for next week for 100 or so stories. One of the ideas was gangnam style! I complained saying, "Noooooo! I don’t want to write about that!" Olivia said of course you don’t have to write about that it was only an idea. I assured her that it was an attack on gangnam style not on her. Another suggestion was “Rock and roll is the hamburger that ate the world.”

It was fun hearing everyone’s story and sharing mine. I hung out for the next event Jackson Arthur’s for a little bit, but I wanted to do some real life stuff as well so I did not stay for that. He said you can never have too much coffee I said you can never have too much coffee, ha ha! Book Island is a great place to hang to talk about anything word or book related and hang with fun people.

Grease Coakes

Crap Mariner's 100 Word Stories

 As a personality in Second Life, Crap Mariner's not an easy one to label. Perhaps the best thing to call him is a man of many hats. As a self-described "troll with a heart," or "lolligagger" in reference to one former Linden's pet name to those never satisfied with Linden Lab, he's always taken the Lab to task with it's shortcomings. He's also taken on the role of volunteer, such as his helping out the Relay for Life, and this spring his series of "Prim Reaper" videos promoting the volunteer-led Second Life Ninth Birthday celebration. He's also been a comedian, such as under his alt of SecondLie.

And then there's his talent as a short story teller. But he does so with one self-imposed rule. His short stories come with a 100 word limit, no more or less. And so, Crap Mariner's "100 Word Stories" was born, and became a weekly event at his place in Clocktree Park in the Edloe sim, every Wednesday at 5PM SL time. One can tp directly into the treehouse, arrive via a portal door at the base of the tree, or climb up a rope to the place.

When I dropped by on Wednesday Sept 19, it was "Talk Like a Pirate Day." So it was no surprise the theme was pirates. Crap Mariner was in a pirate outfit, as was many of his listeners that night, and he spun a few tales about George the pirate, taking the sentence "George was a pirate, but he wasn't a very good pirate," and going from there. He would tell the stories in Voice, and once they were finished, the whole story would appear in type.

R. Crap Mariner [Crap Mariner]: George was a pirate, but he wasn’t a very good pirate.

Most pirates got their sea-legs in a few days, but George had never gotten used to the rocking and swaying of the boat, and the best place to find him was leaning over the rail, vomiting.

Even when the ship was docked. (He hadn’t gotten used to the swill served by the galley, either.)

So, he volunteered for land raids, and constantly asked the captain about a desk job.

“You know, with headquarters,” said George.

The captain smirked, and chained George into the crow’s nest for a week.



R. Crap Mariner [Crap Mariner]: George was a pirate, but he wasn’t a very good pirate.

All the other pirates had some sort of disfigurement, such as a pegleg, a hook hand, or an eyepatch.

George tried to wear a pegleg, but it’s much easier when you have an empty pant leg.

The same goes for hooks and empty shirtsleeves.

George flopped and stumbled around on the deck like a fish out of water, his peg and hook waving in the air helplessly, and the entire crew laughed.

The captain couldn’t bear to watch the spectacle, so he put on a second eyepatch and sighed.

While Crap Mariner spoke the story, the others in the room continued to chat, often joking. "Wait, there was a helmet incident?" "I know your head is very hard, but those helmets really are supposed to be one-smash-only." "REPLACE!!!" "What's all this s*** about helmets?" "let's take up a collection to replace Crap's helmet."

Eventually the stories about George ended, and other pirate stories followed.

September 19 is International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

All across the world, people say things like “Yarrrrr!” and “Avast, ye scurvy dogs!” and “Me hearties!” and silly pirate-speak phrases like that.

Especially to pirates they meet on that day.

Pirates don’t find this amusing.

It’s like walking up to someone from Australia and saying “Throw another shrimp on the Barbie!”

So when a pirate draws his cutlass and shouts “I’ll have ye guts fer garters!” the proper response is not to applaud at their impressive diction, but to run like hell.

Although, to be honest, pirates rarely wear garters.



The day before a pirate raid, you can go down to the beach and watch the men doing their pre-raid warm-up exercises and stretching.

It’s very important to limber up before shivering any timbers, keel-hauling, or walking the plank.

Nobody wants to be in the middle of a raid and then suddenly get a sprain or a charley-horse, dropping their cutlass from a twisted wrist.

And then there’s the basics: port, starboard, bow, stern.

No landlubber mistakes here, mateys.

Is that a stuffed parrot?

Argh. Go requisition a real one.

Either straighten up, boy, or we’re all in deep poopdeck.

The audience continued to listen and joke, often in piratespeak, "Yar!" And it wasn't long before the hour was up. Crap Mariner invited pointed to the pile of gold coins in front of him, and invited everyone to jump in. Several did. After some more jokes, eventually everyone began to go their own separate ways.

Once again, "100 Word Stores" is from 5 to 6 PM every Wednesday at Edlow (139, 123, 71).


Bixyl Shuftan

Heartspeaker and the Vison Quest

I reported earlier on the storytelling of “Heartspeaker” on the Native American sim “Spirit Nations.” When I wrote the article promoting Heart’s storytelling every Thursday at 1pm SL time, I earned his trust as he said “There is thunder with your words.”  Also that more people came to his storytelling session when they read about it from this very paper.

Heartspeaker recently invited me to a special occasion: a vision quest.  What’s a vision quest? It is an initiation for a young man or woman in Native American cultures to give the young person spiritual guidance. It involves 3 days of fasting and no water. At the end of the vision quest the young person sees his or her animal totem and then is now welcomed into the tribe as an adult.

For the vision quest here in SL I didn’t have to fast for 3 days to participate, but it was for the benefit of a man named Traverse Slade.  He spoke of how he had dreams of his totem animal as a crow. Meeting with Heartspeaker and Traverse wasn’t exactly a vision quest, but more like Heartspeaker shared his life experiences with Traverse and I. I shared along with Traverse, talking about how my totem animal fox helps me sometimes in various ways. For example I said that fox helps me hear danger like a car coming.

Heartspeaker told Traverse and I about his life experience when his own tribe sent him on a vision quest. As a 17 year old Heartspeaker spent his 3 day vision quest in a small hole in real life. The elders and one of his mentors Charlie Ironshield gave him beef jerky and water to tempt him. Heart spoke of how “Coyote” the trickster tempted him during his vision quest. Coyote is used in Native American stories as a trickster and a goofy personality who teaches folly and what not to do through his antics. Coyote was telling Heartspeaker “Go ahead! Eat and drink something the elders will not know.” Heartspeaker gained willpower to sustain fasting by singing his power song. He mentally fought coyote using his power song. Over time the lack of water made his voice weaker, but heart kept singing anyway. Eventfully Heartspeaker began to focus on his environment in the small hole he was in.

He said there was something he could not share with Traverse and I, and it was something his could only tell his spirit quest teacher Charlie Ironshield. He could tell us his animals spirit were both owl and Otter. Owl teaches wisdom and helps him see better in the dark. Otter may not sound like an impressive animal like owl or wolf, however otter teaches how to share and joy. An important part of any tribe.

Another lesson Heartspeaker said learned from his childhood was when in a Native American summer camp he was told to go around and keep in mind what he saw and perceived in nature. As a young man Heartspeaker blew it off, thinking he would rather play. Later in the evening with his talking stick he felt embarrassed when he had nothing to share. The next day he made sure to look around in nature and see what was all around him and he was excited.  That evening Heartspeaker didn’t eat out of excitement wanting to share what he saw that day. When it was his turn the elders skipped over him. Later Heartspeaker asked why he was skipped. Charlie Ironshiled said “When there is an opportunity don’t waste it” the lesson hit Heartspeaker hard as he learned the hard way.

At one of Heartspeaker’s storytellings, I brought that up. Especially when I found my computer mike. Instead of blowing an opportunity for me to tell a story I took advantage and told a classic coyote story in voice chat about how coyote thought he would be first in line to get the most powerful spirit medicine when the Great Spirit was giving out powers to the animal people. Coyote’s antics screwed him up instead of helping him. he was last to get his powers as the Great Spirit gave him powers of folly and wisdom to teach people what not to do.

Another thing that Heartspeaker brought up was asking people where the most comfortable place to sit in a forest was. Most people don’t pick up on the simple truth that there’s no wrong answer. It’s wherever each person feels most comfortable when he or she sits. As everyone is a different person there is always a different answer. He spoke about seeing a fox a few months ago I said I’ve seen a deer a few times. He suggested talking to an animal with my mind I had never thought about that before so I said I’ll give that a shot.

Heartspeaker said today that he never stops learning as he learns something new every day. A vision quest just seems like a part of life as part of a journey. Maybe it’s not a quest or journey to gain a magic sword like in a fantasy moive, but maybe a quest for yourself to never stop learning and live life.

Home of Many Nations, Spirit Nations (99, 172, 21)

Grease Coakes

Meet Afsaneh Metaluna: Artist, Filmmaker, and Storyteller

I recently met resident Afsaneh Metaluna, a story-teller and award-winning filmmaker in both SL and RL. Freed from real world limitations, Afsaneh is able to create and perform her art in SL in ways that would never have been possible otherwise. She currently resides and performs in Falathrim in Elf Circle. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Falathrim/66/222/46. On September 18 at 11 AM SL, she will present a workshop there on storytelling techniques.

Falathrim is owned by Fleure Homewood, her friend and a patron of the arts who hosts many music performances and also has an art gallery there. As you can see in the photo, it is a colorful and imaginative site. Afsaneh is also a member of Myth Systerhood & Company, a group dedicated to providing opportunities for storytelling to flourish in SL.

Afsaneh has been a storyteller since she was in primary school. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D in Folklore, but it was an informal storytelling event that changed her life. That evening, as she listened to the storyteller perform an Irish tale, "The Golden Fly," Afsaneh said she “felt that I sojourned in Ildathach -- the "Land of the Bright Shadow". Prior to that night Afsaneh had been drifting away from storytelling due to academic and other commitments, but that experience revitalized her. “The story was very moving and gave me a deep longing to return to the art as a performer. For the next several years, I told stories at every opportunity. I gave numerous paid performances, attended festivals, told stories for radio and was a featured performer in libraries, schools and museums in the Maritimes.”

When a disability that limits her mobility caused her to limit her RL performances, Afsaneh came to SL. Now, without those constraints, she is free to concentrate on her art. She estimates that she has given over 150 storytelling performances in SL since 2009.

Her real-life husband initially suggested that she come into SL, and together they created their own “Ildathach”, a sim and group dedicated to storytelling. After about a year, however, she decided to close it because it required so much time and resources that her ability to be creative in other ways was hampered. She has since transitioned to the storytelling group, “Myth Systerhood & Co.” This is her main performance group, and it also provides opportunities for residents to participate in the stories she tells.

When I asked Afsaneh about the origin of her name, her sense of humor sparked. “It may be derived from a Persian word for ‘fairy tale’,” she said, but then she explained that since she doesn’t speak Farsi it could mean ‘lamb kebab.' But it had a fairy-tale sound to it, and she liked the way it went with the Linden last name she chose. “The surname is cool,” she said, “because I can offer group members the alternative tag of "Metalunatic."

In addition to her stories, the RL Afsaneh (Dr. Seana Kozar) has been a full-time filmmaker since 2002. Her transition to filmmaking came about when her storytelling was limited by RL issues of bad weather, budget cuts, and mobility. Her first work, “Almost Normal: Stories From the Well Within”, is about women with invisible disabilities. Produced in 2003, it combined video, experimental animation and oral storytelling and was broadcast in Canada in 2004. Her latest film, “Nothing Like Her” was produced in 2009 and has screened in 23 festivals worldwide and has received two awards to date. However, she missed being able to interact with a live audience. Now, through SL, she is able to do both. She has screened some of her films in Second Life and says she will do so again when she completes her latest work.

In addition, she will be returning to storytelling on a regular basis this fall with “1001 Storied Sunday Nights", beginning on September 12 at 6 PM SLT. Each story will be between 30 and 45 minutes long, and after that she will play music that ranges from Eastern and World techno to medieval. But she promised that it will all be suitable for dancing. Additionally, on alternate Saturdays starting Oct. 2, she plans to host "Elevensies with Afs", which will be broadcasts of her previously recorded live performances with chat transcriptions for those residents who like or need text support.

Grey Lupindo