The DJ Set that Did Not Happen

Current mood: Cranky as hell....

Well folks, I came up with my 40 or so songs for my Special Guest slot in ssmariner's dj set at Umbra Penumbra in Second Life. I picked out some Brian Eno and some Bryan Ferry; some Arctic Monkeys and some Gorillaz; some New York Dolls and some Pine Valley Cosmonauts. And then technology fucked me in the ass.


I was so looking forward to this evening, too. I was off the computer most of the day, having accidentally taken two Tylenol PMs last night (I had a headache and that's all we had in the house), not knowing that the recommended dosage was just one capsule…. So I slept late, was groggy when I finally awoke, and didn't fully wake up until 3pm or so. When I got online around 4:30, the first technological problem I encountered was that there wasn't a wireless internet signal for the laptop to hookup to. I fixed it, but it continued to go off and on all day. The second technology glitch was my own fault: last week I tripped on the laptop cord and the laptop slid off the couch and hit the floor. It seemed mostly ok, but now it appears that the screen has to be at a very specific angle in order to work. If it's not at the correct angle, there are these lines on the screen and then it freezes up. Finally, the third problem was that ssmariner had problems with his computer, lost the songs, found them again, but would have to reload the set list, and there just wasn't enough time to do that. I don't blame ss—these things happen. I was just disappointed.


With the gig cancelled, I had to notify my SL friends, but off course the Friends list showed NOBODY online, which was wrong, because I was chatting with one of them! Anyway, I did a group notice (or "thingy thingy" as I referred to it to EJ) and let everyone in on the bad news. My son was probably the most disappointed after me, but he said "YAY" when I told him it was being rescheduled—this is why he's my hero….

Currently reading : The Plain Janes (Minx) By Cecil Castellucci Release date: 02 May, 2007

Second Life Librarians Gone Wild! (Part 2)

Current mood: Ecstatic!

The day after EJ and I had picked out the club for our Girls' Night Out, I decided to look a little further by Googling indie music on the Internets. One of the results that popped up was a piece from an online music zine called Subterranean Blog which mentioned a club called Umbra Penumbra. It was the first one listed in the article, so I tp'd over there to check it out.

Turns out that this was the club I had been looking for: the music was a nice mix of 80s through today: some Elvis Costello, Kaiser Chiefs, and everything in between. The owner of the club, Violet Morellet, was very friendly, and was interested when I said I was bringing a bunch of librarians the next night for our Girls Night Out. After dancing there for about an hour I said goodbye and IM'd EJ that I had found an even better club for us. I spread the word to my cohorts that the event was on for Saturday, July 14th.

Saturday came and I agonized over what to wear. I know, I know—it's only a cartoon. But even cartoon gals have to look cute! So I finally decided on an outfit consisting of black low waist flared pants, a black shirt tied under the boobs, and black pseudo chuck taylor gym shoes. All in all, my avatar Vikki looked pretty hot that night.

When I got to the club my friend SF was already there. We chatted for a while and eventually 3 other gal friends of mine (EJ, HVX, and MQ) showed up. We were laughing and joking and enjoying the music and the crowd. Strangely, there was only one guy at the club, ssmariner Flossberg. Violet was joking that ss likes to strip for people, and SF started hooting and hollering for him to take it off. (We librarians can be a rowdy bunch, true to the stereotype of what happens when we let our hair down!) Then, suddenly, we notice that ss was, in fact, taking his clothes off. Ok, well, just his jacket and shirt. But it was still pretty funny!

Eventually the night came to an end and we decided that we had to do it again soon. I couldn't believe how much fun I'd had just sitting at my computer! But the music was great, the chatting with friends was fun, and it was a blast.

The next day I went back to Umbra Penumbra and ss was the DJ in an empty club, so I stayed and danced and talked to him as I folded laundry in real life. He asked what kind of music I liked and I told him some genres and songs that I liked. Then he asked me the most exciting question I've been asked in ages: "Would you like to come up with a 2-hour set list for me to play when I DJ next Sunday?"!!!!!! I gave a resounding HELL yeah!" I am so totally excited about this. I'm a guest DJ! So if any of you are in Second Life next Sunday, July 22, 4pm SLT, stop by Umbra Penumbra (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Esoterica/79/158/24) for a dance, and say hello to Vikki!

Currently listening : Black Holes and Revelations By Muse Release date: 11 July, 2006

Librarians Gone Wild! (Part One)

For the past few months I've been getting more and more involved with library activities in Second Life. As I've gotten to know my fellow librarians, I've felt that we all needed some serious girlfriend time. So was born the "Girls Night Out." I put the word out that we'd be getting together at a dance club in SL to have some time to socialize and let our hair down, and I got some positive response.

In preparation for the event, I contacted a librarian friend whom I'll call EJ. She was doing a build in SL and needed a break, so she came with me to see a few clubs so we could figure out where we wanted to hang out.

If you've never gone dancing in SL, here's how it works: there's streaming audio, usually courtesy of a DJ spinning tunes live, in real time. In order to animate your avatar into dancing there are a couple of options. One is to click an object in the club, either a sphere over the dance floor, or to click on the dance floor itself. When a box appears at the top of the computer screen that asks, "Animate your avatar?" you click 'YES" in order to dance. Sometimes the dance is random, or sometimes a menu pops up and you can select the dance you want. The second way to dance is to use your own animation. Some of these dance animations are free, but if you want a particular dance or something more distinctive, you can purchase the animations from a variety of vendors. At any rate, you click on something, start dancing, and have fun.

The first place we checked out was Bubblegum Music Factory. They play mostly 60s through 80s rock and pop music, and have a different theme for each of the 4 two-hour sets each night. Sometimes it's guitar bands, sometimes the theme is "best in red" and sometimes it's bubblegum music. EJ liked the music and the atmosphere, so we put this one on the "maybe" list.

After the Bubblegum Music Factory we headed out to Blackhearts, an 80s club. Now, I like me the 80s music—it's the music of my youth. But with the Ramones and the Cure, also comes Billy Ocean and Wham, so the set list at Blackhearts is hit or miss. We decided to pass on this club. Besides, not only was the music kind of iffy, but the lag at he club was horrendous.

Club number three was a trance/house music place that neither of us liked; number 4 was another trance club that we couldn't find the entrance to; and Club 5 wasn't so much a club as an alley with wooden crates, and hardcore punk and oi music being blasted through the air. Not crazy about this one either. EJ searched SL and found a heavy metal club that looked promising. The music was loud and obnoxious (in a good way), the atmosphere was fun, and there were lots of people there, but not too many that we had a lag problem. We decided that this was the place. That is, until the next day, when I discovered the club of my dreams. (To be continued….)

Back, with a Vengence....

Current mood: pissed off Has it really been a month since I last posted something? And that last one doesn't even count since it was such a puny piece of crap. Obviously I've not been inspired lately. It's been upwards of 80 degrees much of the last month, so the house has been like an oven (although I'll admit that most ovens operate at well over 80 degrees...). Also, I've been plagued with moodiness and inertia, so when I sit, I stay seated, and when I'm depressed, I stay depressed. That last bit is being looked into by my new therapist, who, it turns out, went to the same punk club that Husband and I went to in 1977. I see that as a really good thing. (And, on a note unrelated to my mental wellbeing, I like my therapist's taste in footwear—he has really cool gymshoes.) Now on to the issue at hand.... I was majorly pissed-off this weekend reading a NY Times piece by Kara Jesella, entitled "A Hipper Crowd of Shushers," (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/fashion/08librarian.html). Now, as you know by now, I love being a librarian. I think it's an amazing profession, and I find it rewarding and exciting and challenging. (I may not like my job, but I love my profession.) But this article was the latest in an attempt to entice more and more people into this already overcrowded field. I was irked, in particular, by the following snippet: "And though many librarians say that they, like nurses or priests, are called to the profession, they also say the job is stable, intellectually stimulating and can have reasonable hours — perfect for creative types who want to pursue their passions outside of work and don't want to finance their pursuits by waiting tables. (The median salary for librarians was about $51,000 in 2006, according to the American Library Association-Allied Professional Organization.)" HA! I say. HA! I'm sorry—I must use stronger language: I HATE THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT! I spent over $30,000 on graduate school in order to find a part-time job that pays slightly over $14.00/hour. And yet the ALA keeps peddling this propaganda about how much money someone can make as a librarian. Here's a joke I heard once: Question: What's the difference between a librarian and a pizza? Answer: A pizza can feed a family of four. And that's the sad fucking truth. p.s. I'm still listening to the Arctic Monkeys' CD, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not." Obsessively. Constantly. Family ready to go crazy....