I am not sure if you all are aware, but I am Business Manager for RFyre. For over a year, I have worked for Raven Pennyfeather and her small business on a part-time basis for a real life wage.
Over the year, Raven will tell you one of the things I have firmly impressed upon her is the value of her time in SL and out of it. For Raven, who derives her sole income from her business here, using her work time wisely is incredibly important.
As a relatively well-known content provider, Raven gets a slew of offers and solicitations from people in world. They can be anything from charity events to fashion shows to magazines to freebies wanted. She passes these on to me because, frankly, she's a nice lady. She would like us to at least acknowledge these solicitations. I am not so nice. I have no problem saying no.
Let me give you the bottom line on this one. Raven's time is money. She doesn't give it out for free nor should she. Nevertheless, countless people ask her on a daily basis to do so. And they do it unprofessionally, rudely, and rather foolishly. (I call all of this stuff "foolishness." Raven finds that hilarious.)
That being said, let me share some correspondence that I received today for our involvement in a magazine... or something... not sure what it is because the corresponder was not very articulate (and let say, at least this person bothered to notecard, which is more than most do):
Hello Raven, I am the Business Relations Manager of a new SL publication called XXX that showcases all SL talent/creators from SIM makers, fashion designers, prefab and furniture makers, photographers, and etc. We are currently reaching further and making the publication international being published in 6 different langauges amongst other projects to further showcase SL talent. Currently we are looking for sponsors/partners and the support from (name of comapny) would be wonderful. I have sent you a folder containing the current issue and information on the publication. hope to hear from you soon. :-)
Many thanks for you time
XXX
I am sure you can see I bolded "(name of comapny)." I did this because I laughed when I read it. I responded thus:
XXX:
Thank you for your interest in RFyre. At this time we don't have time budgeted to contribute to your magazine.
Please contact us in three months to fill us in on what you have been able to do with the magazine and we can then reconsider participation.
Thanks for asking for our participation.
Raven Pennyfeather
Empress of RFyre
CEO (name of comapny)
Harper Beresford
Duchess of RFyre
CMO (name of comapny)
She IM'd me back and thanked me. I don't think she read below the first "no." I took the time to read her thing!
Regarding charities, I think it is time we all start asking about the charities asking donations of us. I know Relay for Life has been extremely successful and I fully trust that monies made in Second Life go to the American Cancer Society, which is a fine organization. However, there are many other "charities" and fund-raising things that go on in SL which have no documentation.
Therefore, I have written a policy for RFyre which I am sharing on this blog. You are all welcome to cut and paste and put (name of comapny) in it.
RFyre's Policy Regarding Charities
We are frequently asked to donate time, content, and/or money to charities in Second Life from various people. While we are sympathetic to many causes, in most cases, we feel that money is better given directly to these causes rather than solicited on Second Life.
However, we are always willing to consider any unique possibility for supporting charities in SL if they are viable and if our efforts will be effective.
To best persuade us to participate or donate to any charity event in SL, we need the following information:
1. Avatar name who will be handling the funds
2. Real life name of that avatar
3. Charity name, website and address
4. Means of contacting the charity to insure that the avatar's representation in SL for their charity has been cleared
Thanks for asking for our participation.
Raven Pennyfeather
Empress of RFyre
CEO House of RFyre
Harper Beresford
Duchess of RFyre
CMO House of RFyre
We also get requests for freebies to be offered in hunts on sims where we have satellite stores, for charity hunts, etc. When I was a newbie, freebies were a valuable way for me to learn how to shop, how to dress myself, and what a broad variety of looks can be achieved in SL. They were great--when I got them from Free Dove.
However, there are people who actively seek freebies on SL and blog about this. We have offered freebies. Hundreds of avatars stream in, jam up our store, and stream out. We found no spike in sales. In fact, Raven has packaged a 250L GC in some freebies and never had takers.
There has been a lot of discussion among content providers about this. I spoke to one content person who had a treasure hunt at her sim on Halloween weekend and marked everything 10L to 140L. She convinced me that this was fair and would still draw traffic--but the kind of traffic she wants--people who bring money into the economy and spend it. She had a terrific idea.
So again, feel free to cut and paste, putting your (name of comapny) in it.
RFyre's Policy Regarding "Freebies"
Our policy regarding freebies or "gifts" is that we are very reluctant to provide them. Therefore, if you are receiving this notecard, our answer to you is no, we are sorry--we can not participate.
While we appreciate the traffic that "freebies" can build, our metrics show us that they do not generate sales for us or for our associates. When we have given out freebies on our sim or at other sims, we have never seen an appreciable increase in sales during the giveaway or after. We see a spike in traffic but not in sales.
We can only conclude that the audience that typically looks for freebies is not the demographic that brings money into Second Life. If we are looking for a promotion for getting money-spending customers to see our products, this is not it.
Additionally, our philosophy is that time spent producing content of the level that RFyre provides is worth some compensation. We are RL people spending substantial RL time on this content. Second Life has given us the opportunity to be compensated for our time and skills. Offering freebies devalues those skills and time for us and other creators. It sets into the economy a belief that this work should be free. In other words, it's devalued if we devalue it by offering it freely.
That being said, we have adopted a policy of offering deeply discounted items to potential customers. If an avatar can come up with 50L, that is more than enough to purchase our promotional item. We will gladly set out a promotional item at 50L to supplement your promotions.
Thanks for asking for our participation.
Raven Pennyfeather
Empress of RFyre
CEO House of RFyre
Harper Beresford
Duchess of RFyre
CMO House of RFyre
Let it be said, finally, that we love our customers. We want to be good to them. There is nothing more gratifying to Raven than to hear a customer express their love of her art or tell her a story about how much her creations mean to them. We do offer special promotions, and Raven passes out free outfits rather freely (I know this because she gave me one the day we first met, more than a year ago, for no other reason than she was just a very nice woman.)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
OpenSpaces has been addressed
So it's true. The truth is as simple as expected. Linden Labs rushed a product to market, found out it didn't work, and lost money on it, which had to end. They have heard complaints and HAVE reacted.
Occam's Razor, Hanlon's Razor. Whatever you want to call it. M Linden has responded.
"We wanted to get this product to market quickly. Openspaces was wildly popular.... Since land-owners co-habitate on CPUs, if one owner adds an ocean and one builds a carnival, the shared CPU gets overloaded. The ocean-loving Resident who followed the original intent suffers and we are called in to resolve the conflict. Second Life is much too large to do that."
In other words, Joe rented to sploder-lovers, got his residents on his butt, called Concierge OR filed a lot of tickets and cost Linden Labs a lot of money, just as I suspected. Unfortunately, the ocean-lovers who never filed a ticket and sailed along peacefully got smacked for Joe's or Joe's resident's ignorance and Linden's not-so-great product offering.
Linden Labs' mistake forced them to do something that NO BUSINESS wants to do--raise prices. Linden makes more money if everyone is happy--why would they intentionally piss off their customers? There is no conspiracy.
Linden Labs has come up with a compromise--a week and a day after their announcement. I can bet there were a LOT of meetings about this one but it appears they read the blogs. People will still complain, but M Linden says, "We believe this is fair." I agree.
On another note, "Go Obama Go!"
Occam's Razor, Hanlon's Razor. Whatever you want to call it. M Linden has responded.
"We wanted to get this product to market quickly. Openspaces was wildly popular.... Since land-owners co-habitate on CPUs, if one owner adds an ocean and one builds a carnival, the shared CPU gets overloaded. The ocean-loving Resident who followed the original intent suffers and we are called in to resolve the conflict. Second Life is much too large to do that."
In other words, Joe rented to sploder-lovers, got his residents on his butt, called Concierge OR filed a lot of tickets and cost Linden Labs a lot of money, just as I suspected. Unfortunately, the ocean-lovers who never filed a ticket and sailed along peacefully got smacked for Joe's or Joe's resident's ignorance and Linden's not-so-great product offering.
Linden Labs' mistake forced them to do something that NO BUSINESS wants to do--raise prices. Linden makes more money if everyone is happy--why would they intentionally piss off their customers? There is no conspiracy.
Linden Labs has come up with a compromise--a week and a day after their announcement. I can bet there were a LOT of meetings about this one but it appears they read the blogs. People will still complain, but M Linden says, "We believe this is fair." I agree.
On another note, "Go Obama Go!"
Monday, November 3, 2008
The First Hour
Well, Linden Labs giveth and Linden Labs taketh away. I think Linden Labs has taken a right step in the direction of new user experience by deciding to hook up with Big Spaceship to tweak that new user experience. Does this mean we will have newbies who hook into this space, bring in Linden$ and content and make this a better place to be? I am hoping so. We need some good news.
As a Second Life Mentor, I have been frustrated with the questions people ask--not just "how do I fly," but also "where do I get my free land?" (Apparently that little offer is still out there...) Perhaps Big Spaceship is up to this task. It remains to be seen. Prolly just a few guys out of Brooklyn with a slick webpage. Hope they can pull it off.
Good luck!
I encourage all of you to throw your comments about that First Hour on my blog or on LL's blog. Hopefully those guys are reading this and learning something....
As a Second Life Mentor, I have been frustrated with the questions people ask--not just "how do I fly," but also "where do I get my free land?" (Apparently that little offer is still out there...) Perhaps Big Spaceship is up to this task. It remains to be seen. Prolly just a few guys out of Brooklyn with a slick webpage. Hope they can pull it off.
Good luck!
I encourage all of you to throw your comments about that First Hour on my blog or on LL's blog. Hopefully those guys are reading this and learning something....
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Openspaces Debacle... my take
I have listened in Concierge chat, read a lot of blogs and comments to the original blog from Jack Linden, and discussed this whole debacle about the Openspaces with several people. I have my take on it.
I am not sure about these statements about conspiracy regarding the manipulation of "land" prices, the naysayers predicting financial peril of Linden Labs (they have to make $50 more per person quick), or the doomsayers saying Philip is dying so they need to devote processor capacity to his life-sustaining machinery (OK, I didn't hear that last one but I am sure it's out there). If the folks at Linden Labs were clever enough to start a conspiracy, we would have more stability, more groups, and fewer bugs because they would be smart enough to fix those too.
Consider this to be a sort of Occam's Razor--all other things being equal, the simplest answer is the best. I believe that Jack Linden is entirely telling the truth about their problems with Openspaces. The description of their resource allocations (4 open sims per core in a quad core PC) is true, and I believe that people have "misused" the openspaces--simply because they can.
I put "misused" in quotes because I believe Linden Labs poorly managed customer expectations about these sims' performance. They should have driven into their Concierge customers' heads that these were the Yugo of sims and never allowed them to believe they were still going to be driving Tauruses when they moved to them. I also believe they should have limited the opening of these sims with clear instructions to the comsumers about what they should expect and been CLEAR and detailed about what "light residential" meant, over and over and over and then some more.
I believe, as a result, that they bought themselves a customer service nightmare with these Openspaces, and that is what this price increase is all about. I am envisioning this scenario: sim owner Joe is accustomed to access to personal Concierge phone service and calls whenever his regular sims are not working. Now he has Openspaces. He has just lost his butt on the land prices because of the change in regular sim entry costs, so he thinks this is another means of making money. He rents an Openspace to every Ruth and Philip who has $100 a month and a dream of having their own sim. They move in, put down butterfly rezzers and sparkly things and sploders and have parties every night at peak hours with 40 avatars. They have never owned a whole sim and now they can! They don't get fps, physics, any of that. They just know they wanted to have fun on their own little sim, maybe run a little business or start up a club. So they get a ton of lag and unreliability and the other three poor saps also sharing that core get stuck too.
Joe's residents IM him constantly about performance. In Joe's mind, he doesn't delineate between the sims he pays $295 a month for and the sims he pays $75 a month for. All he cares is that LL's sims aren't performing to his expectations. He calls up Concierge. The Linden on the other end goes patiently through a set of diagnostics and then explains for the 10th time that day the truth about Openspaces, which is they are not meant to hold 80 avatars or 120 scripts or whatever. The call takes 30 minutes and Linden Labs uses up half the tier the made on that sim right there in that phone call. The customer hangs up, mad that Linden's idea of "light residential" and his idea don't coincide. The Linden hangs up, and they are down half the tier they got on that sim this month.
What it amounts to is that Linden Labs put out a product that is unprofitable and not working for them. They are raising the price. That's business. It was bad business and now they are righting it--the best way they can. They are giving two months notice. They were honest about their error. They are saying they are reading people's suggestions, struggling for some compromise (and I really think they are because they can see people are unhappy). And they will suffer for this when some customers flee and find alternative virtual spaces.
That's my take on this. Linden Labs screwed up. Occam's Razor. That simple.
I am not sure about these statements about conspiracy regarding the manipulation of "land" prices, the naysayers predicting financial peril of Linden Labs (they have to make $50 more per person quick), or the doomsayers saying Philip is dying so they need to devote processor capacity to his life-sustaining machinery (OK, I didn't hear that last one but I am sure it's out there). If the folks at Linden Labs were clever enough to start a conspiracy, we would have more stability, more groups, and fewer bugs because they would be smart enough to fix those too.
Consider this to be a sort of Occam's Razor--all other things being equal, the simplest answer is the best. I believe that Jack Linden is entirely telling the truth about their problems with Openspaces. The description of their resource allocations (4 open sims per core in a quad core PC) is true, and I believe that people have "misused" the openspaces--simply because they can.
I put "misused" in quotes because I believe Linden Labs poorly managed customer expectations about these sims' performance. They should have driven into their Concierge customers' heads that these were the Yugo of sims and never allowed them to believe they were still going to be driving Tauruses when they moved to them. I also believe they should have limited the opening of these sims with clear instructions to the comsumers about what they should expect and been CLEAR and detailed about what "light residential" meant, over and over and over and then some more.
I believe, as a result, that they bought themselves a customer service nightmare with these Openspaces, and that is what this price increase is all about. I am envisioning this scenario: sim owner Joe is accustomed to access to personal Concierge phone service and calls whenever his regular sims are not working. Now he has Openspaces. He has just lost his butt on the land prices because of the change in regular sim entry costs, so he thinks this is another means of making money. He rents an Openspace to every Ruth and Philip who has $100 a month and a dream of having their own sim. They move in, put down butterfly rezzers and sparkly things and sploders and have parties every night at peak hours with 40 avatars. They have never owned a whole sim and now they can! They don't get fps, physics, any of that. They just know they wanted to have fun on their own little sim, maybe run a little business or start up a club. So they get a ton of lag and unreliability and the other three poor saps also sharing that core get stuck too.
Joe's residents IM him constantly about performance. In Joe's mind, he doesn't delineate between the sims he pays $295 a month for and the sims he pays $75 a month for. All he cares is that LL's sims aren't performing to his expectations. He calls up Concierge. The Linden on the other end goes patiently through a set of diagnostics and then explains for the 10th time that day the truth about Openspaces, which is they are not meant to hold 80 avatars or 120 scripts or whatever. The call takes 30 minutes and Linden Labs uses up half the tier the made on that sim right there in that phone call. The customer hangs up, mad that Linden's idea of "light residential" and his idea don't coincide. The Linden hangs up, and they are down half the tier they got on that sim this month.
What it amounts to is that Linden Labs put out a product that is unprofitable and not working for them. They are raising the price. That's business. It was bad business and now they are righting it--the best way they can. They are giving two months notice. They were honest about their error. They are saying they are reading people's suggestions, struggling for some compromise (and I really think they are because they can see people are unhappy). And they will suffer for this when some customers flee and find alternative virtual spaces.
That's my take on this. Linden Labs screwed up. Occam's Razor. That simple.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Eshi's Second Rez Day
Well, it's that time. My sweet baby Eshi is two years old!*
Please help celebrate this auspicious occasion in a build Eshi created on my sim, Avant Garde, Saturday, November 1, 2-4 pm slt. We will be soothed by the techno tunes of Azrael Hax, and there will also be a special surprise for Eshi.
In honor of her creativity, we are asking you all to dress up in your best Halloween costumes to suit the spooky environment she built. (Recycle the ones from the night before--we don't care.)
Allow me to mention that this party is being sponsored in party by Straylight/Botanical and the very generous Kriss Lehmann, who put the trees into Eshi's hands so she could make the beautiful build you will see. Thank you, Kriss! (Hug a tree--buy one from Kriss and wrap your arms around it.)
If you had not received this invite, blame me. I flipped this one out and probably missed scads of people. It's an open invite. Come celebrate with us and come crash my sim. (I wanna see what happens when that happens.. I am so excited!)
*Everyone is asking me what the invite says. Eshi made it but I can read it: "Some day I am going to grow up and spend endless hours in front of a super advanced Commodore 64 and I will make all kinds of otherwise non existing stuff, and I will also be a boy sometimes, and I will be Asian and I will have robot friends."
Monday, October 27, 2008
I fly in space with Asterix
My old pal Asterix called tonight. When Asterix calls, I know I am in for an adventure. He is my one friend who owns every plane, boat, and it so happens, rocket ship on SL.
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: i have this theory
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: that sl is round
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: everybody tells me its flat
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: but i say thats just because we're used to seeing it on maps
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: so, i thought i'd try for orbit tonight
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: but i need a witness
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: wanna come along?
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: another personal first?
[20:54] You: sure ~Smiles~
[20:54] Harper Beresford gulps
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: you know what it is to do this kind of thing with me
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: and how it coiuld end
[20:55] Asterix Whiteberry: i wouldn't ask just anybody to go along on this trip
He rezzed it. It was not pretty.
I had to gulp down my fear (and vanity) and climb in....
[20:59] You: do we get astronaut food in here?
[20:59] You: i heard it sucks
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: yeah
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: it does
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: gotta take it thru a straw
[20:59] You: do i have to pee in a bucket?
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: or it gets all over the place
[20:59] You: i mean
[20:59] You: a bottle?
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: thru a tube
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: in a bottle
[20:59] You: ack
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: you need to pee?
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: gads
[20:59] You: well
[21:00] Asterix Whiteberry: we shoulda taken care of that before
[21:00] You: come to think of it...
You can see where this is going....
OK, yeah.. space! The final frontier!
[21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: see
[21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: sl is round
[21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: what'd i tell you
[21:01] You: it IS!
[21:01] You: dayum
[21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: thats how they get so much packed in
(I prefer to differ. There are simply not enough prims for me.)
Being that Asterix knows me well, he interrupted the flight to comment on my outfit.
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: that's a great spacesuit you're wearing
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: just perfect for orbiting
[21:03] You: you like it, hm?
[21:03] You: bax coen boots.. only the essentials
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: i have on my topsiders
[21:03] You: as always
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: never go sailing without them
[21:06] Object whispers: 5 minutes before the end of the power.
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: uh oh
[21:06] You: OMG
[21:06] You: what?
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: power only good for five more minutes
[21:06] You: oh shit, i didn't want to die like this
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: yeah
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: they'd never find us up here
[21:06] You: having to pee up in outer space
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: lemme tell you we're way out
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: i have a space station
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: up here
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: somewhere
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: you can pee there
[21:07] You: thanks
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: if i can find it
[21:07] You: i hope we make it
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: in the next five minutes
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: geez
[21:07] You: feel any pressure?
[21:07] You: i sure do
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: why does this always happen to us
(Cuz I always agree to go on these cockamamie trips with you when everyone else is sane enough not to do it?)
Asterix, being Asterix, decided to take the quick way out. Sometimes that's a quick tp. Sometimes it's a nose dive. This time...
[21:08] Asterix Whiteberry: if we give out of power we'll take the fast trip down
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: hell
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: lets just go for an emergency landing
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: game?
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: hang on
[21:09] Object whispers: LANDING PROCEDURE ACTIVATED!
[21:09] Object whispers: LEAVING ORBIT!
[21:09] You: eeee!
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: whoooooaaaa
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: hell
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: fire
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: damn
[21:10] Asterix Whiteberry: you hanging in?
[21:10] You: yes
[21:10] You: eeeee!
(Howzat for blowing someone's head off. Didn't think I would get that in here, didya?)
[21:11] Asterix Whiteberry: i think i peed my pants
[21:11] Asterix Whiteberry: how bout you
[21:11] You: no i held it
[21:11] You: you said i had to
[21:11] Asterix Whiteberry: yeah i guess i did, didn't i
We landed in the ocean in a ball of smoke. I made it and my Bax Coens made it!
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: i have this theory
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: that sl is round
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: everybody tells me its flat
[20:53] Asterix Whiteberry: but i say thats just because we're used to seeing it on maps
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: so, i thought i'd try for orbit tonight
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: but i need a witness
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: wanna come along?
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: another personal first?
[20:54] You: sure ~Smiles~
[20:54] Harper Beresford gulps
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: you know what it is to do this kind of thing with me
[20:54] Asterix Whiteberry: and how it coiuld end
[20:55] Asterix Whiteberry: i wouldn't ask just anybody to go along on this trip
He rezzed it. It was not pretty.
I had to gulp down my fear (and vanity) and climb in....
[20:59] You: do we get astronaut food in here?
[20:59] You: i heard it sucks
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: yeah
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: it does
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: gotta take it thru a straw
[20:59] You: do i have to pee in a bucket?
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: or it gets all over the place
[20:59] You: i mean
[20:59] You: a bottle?
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: thru a tube
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: in a bottle
[20:59] You: ack
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: you need to pee?
[20:59] Asterix Whiteberry: gads
[20:59] You: well
[21:00] Asterix Whiteberry: we shoulda taken care of that before
[21:00] You: come to think of it...
You can see where this is going....
OK, yeah.. space! The final frontier![21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: see
[21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: sl is round
[21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: what'd i tell you
[21:01] You: it IS!
[21:01] You: dayum
[21:01] Asterix Whiteberry: thats how they get so much packed in
(I prefer to differ. There are simply not enough prims for me.)
Being that Asterix knows me well, he interrupted the flight to comment on my outfit.
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: that's a great spacesuit you're wearing
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: just perfect for orbiting
[21:03] You: you like it, hm?
[21:03] You: bax coen boots.. only the essentials
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: i have on my topsiders
[21:03] You: as always
[21:03] Asterix Whiteberry: never go sailing without them
[21:06] Object whispers: 5 minutes before the end of the power.
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: uh oh
[21:06] You: OMG
[21:06] You: what?
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: power only good for five more minutes
[21:06] You: oh shit, i didn't want to die like this
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: yeah
[21:06] Asterix Whiteberry: they'd never find us up here
[21:06] You: having to pee up in outer space
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: lemme tell you we're way out
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: i have a space station
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: up here
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: somewhere
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: you can pee there
[21:07] You: thanks
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: if i can find it
[21:07] You: i hope we make it
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: in the next five minutes
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: geez
[21:07] You: feel any pressure?
[21:07] You: i sure do
[21:07] Asterix Whiteberry: why does this always happen to us
(Cuz I always agree to go on these cockamamie trips with you when everyone else is sane enough not to do it?)
Asterix, being Asterix, decided to take the quick way out. Sometimes that's a quick tp. Sometimes it's a nose dive. This time...
[21:08] Asterix Whiteberry: if we give out of power we'll take the fast trip down
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: hell
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: lets just go for an emergency landing
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: game?
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: hang on
[21:09] Object whispers: LANDING PROCEDURE ACTIVATED!
[21:09] Object whispers: LEAVING ORBIT!
[21:09] You: eeee!
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: whoooooaaaa
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: hell
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: fire
[21:09] Asterix Whiteberry: damn
[21:10] Asterix Whiteberry: you hanging in?
[21:10] You: yes
[21:10] You: eeeee!
(Howzat for blowing someone's head off. Didn't think I would get that in here, didya?)[21:11] Asterix Whiteberry: i think i peed my pants
[21:11] Asterix Whiteberry: how bout you
[21:11] You: no i held it
[21:11] You: you said i had to
[21:11] Asterix Whiteberry: yeah i guess i did, didn't i
We landed in the ocean in a ball of smoke. I made it and my Bax Coens made it!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
5 X Real 55 X SL
Shameless Plug right up front: PLEASE come to the opening of the art show at TowerVisions Bethanienturm TODAY, October 3 at 3 p.m., featuring the smooth sounds of DJ Todd Action and the photography of Harper Beresford (SL), the painting of Vindi Vindaloo (SL)/Vinya Cameron (RL), the RL photography of Parker Noriega (SL), the paintings of Mario Dalpra (RL), and the photography of Gundrun Senger (RL). Meet Harper (me), Vindi and Gundrun in SL. Vision will be giving tours of his "vision" (see below). End of Shameless Plug.
For those of you who did not read the last post in my blog, I was in Berlin. I was there for a party for DU Diedrichs--an architecture firm in Berlin--in which I was one of the featured artists for their firm's celebration. Over 200 architects, clients, and artists from Berlin came to see the renovation of the Berlin Economic Ministry building, which DU Diedrichs had orchestrated, enjoy hors d'oeuvres and see one of my pieces as well as the painting of Vindi Vindaloo (SL)/Vinya Cameron (RL) (yes, Vindi Vindaloo, the famed fashion designer!), the RL photography of Parker Noriega (SL), the paintings of Mario Dalpra (RL), and the photography of Gundrun Senger (RL). We had a wonderful time.
I have to say, when I visited Berlin, Vision was an excellent host--he took me to some fabulous restaurants, drove me to see some great places in Berlin, and even invited me to his personal home to meet his family. He also, as I said before, took me to see the real Bethanienturm.
This is the story about Bethanienturm: Vision Planer is a noted architect in Berlin in RL. He purchased the church as seen in photos at Plush Avenue South and also seen on his website. Vision had the idea of turning this grand church into a living or office space in the heart of Berlin. After reading an article about Second Life, he saw the perfect opportunity to "envision" his idea.
So I saw the church and I saw the sights and I ate well in Berlin. The chocolate in Germany is, by the way, delicious, as are the Haribo gummy bears (as Vision's daughter will confirm).
I needed to return the favor. Well, you know what's coming.... I felt it was my DUTY to offer Vision a piece of MY candy. He is such a nice (and gullible) man. He has done nothing wrong--he bought the shoes I suggested, got an AO, let me build him a fireplace. He just.. you know.. needs a little Harper treatment.
So I offered him a humbug...
He said it tasted "fine." (He always says "fine"--it's a German thing.) He is a kind and gentle man.
So come meet Vision today, at the show. (Another Shameless Plug.)
For those of you who did not read the last post in my blog, I was in Berlin. I was there for a party for DU Diedrichs--an architecture firm in Berlin--in which I was one of the featured artists for their firm's celebration. Over 200 architects, clients, and artists from Berlin came to see the renovation of the Berlin Economic Ministry building, which DU Diedrichs had orchestrated, enjoy hors d'oeuvres and see one of my pieces as well as the painting of Vindi Vindaloo (SL)/Vinya Cameron (RL) (yes, Vindi Vindaloo, the famed fashion designer!), the RL photography of Parker Noriega (SL), the paintings of Mario Dalpra (RL), and the photography of Gundrun Senger (RL). We had a wonderful time.
I have to say, when I visited Berlin, Vision was an excellent host--he took me to some fabulous restaurants, drove me to see some great places in Berlin, and even invited me to his personal home to meet his family. He also, as I said before, took me to see the real Bethanienturm.
This is the story about Bethanienturm: Vision Planer is a noted architect in Berlin in RL. He purchased the church as seen in photos at Plush Avenue South and also seen on his website. Vision had the idea of turning this grand church into a living or office space in the heart of Berlin. After reading an article about Second Life, he saw the perfect opportunity to "envision" his idea.
So I saw the church and I saw the sights and I ate well in Berlin. The chocolate in Germany is, by the way, delicious, as are the Haribo gummy bears (as Vision's daughter will confirm).
I needed to return the favor. Well, you know what's coming.... I felt it was my DUTY to offer Vision a piece of MY candy. He is such a nice (and gullible) man. He has done nothing wrong--he bought the shoes I suggested, got an AO, let me build him a fireplace. He just.. you know.. needs a little Harper treatment.
So I offered him a humbug...
He said it tasted "fine." (He always says "fine"--it's a German thing.) He is a kind and gentle man.
So come meet Vision today, at the show. (Another Shameless Plug.)
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