twelvetoeleven

twelvetoeleven
Originally uploaded by idlerogue

You are the music, while the music lasts ...

One of the great joys of my Second Life has been the discovery of "virtual" band, Deep Sky Traveler, and it is no secret that I am devoted to their cause. I try never to miss an event, I buy their albums, and where possible, I try to promote their efforts.

My association with them began when I heard FacelessAPe Mefusula perform his live show. For a time I had him booked to play regular shows at Idle Rogue, and I became aware that he was part of a band performing concerst in Second Life.The emphasis is applied becaue it was always my desire to showcase the "band" experience at Idle Rogue. I am still guilty of it lol. I will sign bands to perform without hearing them, so much do I desire to be a "live band" venue.

For many months, Deep Sky Traveler played a regular monthly gig at Idle Rogue. And, of course, as soon as I heard Bowie Bravin was doing solo shows, I booked him, because to me, Bowie Bravin is simply the finest vocalist working today. I am now managing his bookings inworld, and consider him to be a great friend, so that point is probably moot.

I feel the need to address the "track singer/not live" issue, because the bias is so entrenched in the live scene in Second Life. It is not, at least at this point, possible for complex music to be played live into SL. Music of the calibre of Deep Sky Traveler's would be difficult enough to stage live in a real venue, let alone to stream from three different locations into SL. The cost would be prohibitive, and the fact that the economy in Second Life is akin to that of a third-world country means the effort would not be worth the return. When you are ready to pay $100-200 in real money for tickets to a gig, you will see changes.

Until then, our musical choices are limited by time, distance and resources. At the moment you can listen to a range that goes from your grandad banging away on his guitar to a few of his friends, to the multi-layered tracks and loops used by some very fine musicians to augment their more or less live input to music they create.

Music is fundamental to my personal needs. I must have it. I go to hear djs, including those who mix "live" and those who simply have great playlists. I go to hear live musicians, whose quality varies wildly, and whose material may be original or covers. To me, Second Life blesses us with the many musical options we have, and I am delighted that I can hear fresh, well-made original music, no matter how it is presented.

I tell you all this because I plan to write an entry about their two recently-realeased albums, Into The Blackwater and The Sacred Science Of Souls, and wish to establish my obvious bias from the outset. I read enough sycophantic gushing from the fashion feeds to know it's perfectly acceptable to review a product when you are clearly going to be biased in its' favour, but let me clear: I ❤ Deep Sky Traveler. I would like to tell you about their recordings, and I feel privileged that we are able to communicate with the musicians who choose to engage with us using Second Life.

Teardrop featuring the Guerrilla Burlesque Dancers

My girls rock. Practicing for a Guerilla strike on Bowie Bravin's show (for my rezzday), we were captured by the eagle eye of Ormand Lionheart. This is his machinima.

Is it enough to have some love?
small enough to slip inside a book
small enough to cover with your hand
because everyone around you wants to look

it is enough to have some love?
small enough to slip inside the cracks
the pieces don’t fit together so good
with all the breaking and all the gluing back

and I am still not getting what I want
I want to touch the back of your right arm
I wish you could remind me who I was
because every day I’m a little further off

but you are, my love, the astronaut
flying in the face of science
I will gladly stay an afterthought
just bring back some nice reminders

and is it getting harder to pretend
that life goes on without you in the wake
and can you see the means without the end
in the random frantic action that we take

and is it getting easy not to care
despite the many rings around your name
it isn’t funny and it isn’t fair
you’ve traveled all this way and it’s the same

but you are, my love, the astronaut
flying in the face of science
I will gladly stay an afterthought
just bring back some nice reminders
and I would tell them anything to see you split the evening
but as you see I do not have an awful lot to tell
everybody’s sick for something that they can find fascinating
everyone but you and even you aren’t feeling well

but you are, my love, the astronaut
flying in the face of science
I will gladly stay an afterthought
just bring back some nice reminders

yes you are, my love, the astronaut
crashing in the name of science
just my luck they sent your upper half
it’s a very nice reminder
it’s a very nice reminder

and you may be acquainted with the night
but I have seen the darkness in the day
and you must know it is a terrifying sight
because you and I are living the same way

ugh

I feel so alone at the moment. None of the people I can usually reach out to are available. The things I normally fill my time with are on hold or gone. And things are changing ...

chain of events

tip, noun, verb
a small present of money given directly to someone for performing a service or menial task; gratuity: He gave the waiter a dollar as a tip.

Things you may not know about me: In my country, "tipping" is not a cultural norm. Here, we are paid wages for work, and rarely, a gratuity for a job well done. I have many years of RL work history in the hospitality industry and can count the instances of tipping on one hand.

No matter where you are from, however, it only takes a few days in SL to realise that "tipping" forms the basis of the economy. At almost every venue and many shops, you will be invited to tip the venue, the performer, and sometimes the staff working for the venue. In every venue I have been to, this "tipping" is, in fact, the only payment for any entertainment enjoyed by people using the venue. There are no cover or door charges, and very few membership or subscription fees.

Since I started working inSecond Life, I have worked for tips. To me, from my cultural perspective, this means, in order to be tipped for my work, I must do a "better than usual" job; as an entertainer and as the owner of an entertainment venue, I have struggled at times to ensure that my work was the best it could possibly be. I did what I could to make sure my work as a performer was diligent and committed. I made sure my venue was competently run and outfitted.

As a performer, I was aware I was not to everyone's taste. Knowing I was "light" on the standard themes and practices (grrr@emoting). I always assumed I would appeal to a "niche" market, and was comfortable with that.

But lately my niche has dropped away. Lately I have made consistently less in tips than the other performers. And it has occurred to me, as I watched my ability to provide for my virtual life dwindle, that perhaps times or tastes have changed. Often, at shows, the audience would be filled with friends of one or another dancer. My friends either couldn't attend, or were broke. And I was not reaching the audiences who were in attendance.

On Saturday night I made a clear 500L less than the other dancers. All of them. I am well aware of how and why it occurred, and there IS reason, but let's pretend that I am wrong, and I am just 500L less quality than other dancers. That's a significant difference. Particularly at a Factory show. The Factory is supposed to be the flagship venue of Virtual Burlesque. In my opinion, if a dancer is 500L worse than the rest of the team, she is below the required standard.

So I retired.

And as I considered retiring from burlesque, I remembered that I took up burlesque to pay some of Idle Rogue's expenses. And that my work has not, for some time, come close to meeting the weekly outgoings of running Idle Rogue. And that was when I realised that Idle Rogue had to stop too.

more to come ...

t3h boots

I am a boot girl. In both lives. The photo to the left is of my RL favourite boots. The happiest day of the year, for me, is the day it's finally cold enough to pull out t3h boots.

Boots are sexy in the feisty way (my favourite kind). They say "don't fuck with me". They are feminine, but they are never sissy. Even high-heeled boots make you feel like you could climb mountains or kick heads.

In Second Life, of course, boots are the easy option. No matching skin tones, no scary Linden feet, no cankles. And they still send that feisty, head-kickin' message ;-D

My first boot love in SL was for League's Sinaed boots. I wore them everywhere for months, until J bought me a pair of Stiletto Moody pumps. I finally took the League's off, though, when Bax Cohen (note the new slurl, if you didn't know) released the Prestige boot. They are divine, it is true. They are also on every well-shod boot-lovin' avi on the grid, as has been pointed out several times (thank you Marnix).

Slappy Doobie released her Blitz boots this week. You can buy them on xstreet by clicking here, and you should, because these are some mega-feisty sexy boots. They took me to At World's End and made me take off my clothes and play cello. It's true!

Seriously ... please visit At World's End. Take a treasured companion. It's a great place to try out your new boots :-)

Mislead

Knickers are my business. I am 90% certain, by the time I actually get down to my lingerie, no-one much cares what it is (and perhaps cannot even see it), but I care, and so my search for pretty knickers is unending.

So when I heard Akosha Eales had gone into lingerie, I hopped that tp before they were even hung on the walls at Phoenix Rising. I'm certain it would have annoyed the hell out of the team there, but I waited until it was all up, even knowing there was obviously a problem. I was late for work, too, because of it, but I loved them so much I had to wait for the red, which I wanted to buy for a friend (on a side note \o/ for designers who make transferable items, the shoppers love you. Cus when you've run out of excuses to buy for yourself, you can buy gifts!)

Lingerie - Mislead by Phoenix Rising
Jewellery - Memories by DECO
Hair - Cafe in Cinnamon by Analog Dog
Skin - Kate Medium Fuschia by League
Tattoo - Glorybox by Ellie Criss of Sharkey's Tattoos (custom)
Piercing - Custom by :smc:

By the way, my bed is by Lovers Playground. It cost a fuckton of lindens that I'm not really sure it's worth, but their customer service is excellent, and you can change the sheets, and those are both nice things.

chry TART

I have fallen a little bit in love with iheartsl and its' constantly busy spoonfuls of fashion, so, yesss, it's time for a few more fashion posts. One thing I have noticed is that the same items appear over and over again - I'm not sure if this is because contributors only blog the "latest" thing or the free thing, but I figure the three of you can stand it if I do this my own way.

Slappy Doobie mentioned TART to me just days before I found them at ZombiePopcorn carnival. I have since been to their mainstore and raided like a viking. TART is hot hot hot and I expect you'll be seeing a bit of it if you see a bit of me.


Dress - TART Alexandra (camo) by TART
Boots - Prestige by Bax (yes Marnix, I know)
Jewellery - Enigma by LouLou & Co
Hair - Kelly by Analog Dog
Skin - Kate Medium in Fuschia by League
Eyes - Emerald by Devious Minds
Tattoo - GloryBox by Ellie Criss of Sharkey's Tattoos (Custom)
piercing - custom by :smc:

sim: The Next Day

Factory act: Children of The Sandstorm

Snapshot_1770
Originally uploaded by knowledgetomorrow

In a not too distant future, man's pillaging of the earth, her forests and oceans, takes a deadly toll on human society

All that remains is an arid landscape ... a dryness that has penetrated the human soul. Humans huddle in caves, seeking the damp that seeps from stone, thirsting for the elemental water they need to survive

Powerful tribes roam the dunes, commandeering any water source they can find, oppressing those who would strike out from the caves and forge new lives

But 'tis human to hope, as it always was, as it always will be ....

Solitary, rogue, adapted for survival, She, too, braves the hard dry dunes

Her life is hard, and dirty. The battles are daily, fierce, interminable. But she will not surrender. She will not squeeze the life from her kind ... and she will not dwell beneath the earth ...

:::: Skin and costume by Tiera Cioc. Kudos to Ludo Sabetha for another great find ::::

Just Married

Snapshot_1251
Originally uploaded by knowledgetomorrow

Dear Remy -

Yes, it's another letter to you, that everyone else can read.

You married me today. It seems fair to give you your own entry.

People are being very strange. They are acting as though they're surprised, or even shocked. I don't understand why. It was always you, from the moment I met you, with your demanding, cute, noob ways. Demanding is the wrong word, it sounds like a negative thing. Do you know that one of the ways you won me was that way you had of tping me, as soon as you or I logged on? I liked your confidence. I still do.

I like that you've maintained your integrity, and your sense of self, throughout your journey through this second life. I like that you keep a weather eye on reality, and that you remind me where it is. I like that you are always brutally honest, and still charming as hell. I like how you know me so thoroughly that I can never rattle you ... and that I know you so well that I know when I have.

I do adore thee, Remy de las Lanzas. If partnering someone in Second Life is simply, as it seems to me to be, a statement that one's loyalty is publicly aligned to another, then you are it, and you have mine.

much love
Mrs Fretwerk

Beautiful Freaks performance - Crow Garden

chry-jun12.png
Originally uploaded by dkart

A few weeks ago, as we were preparing to re-open The Beautiful Freaks Burlesque Circus on the Viva La Glam sim, I logged on to receive a landmark from Ludo Sabetha. Ludo has a wonderful eye for beauty in all it's forms. Off I went to alpha.tribe, and of course, my muse awoke.

The costume is actually called "moth", but to me it spoke bird. The act is called "Crow Garden", and is set to "The Garden", by John Foxx. I used a poem from the much-maligned poet laureate, Ted Hughes (he was Sylvia Plath's husband)

A Childish Prank
Man's and woman's bodies lay without souls,

Dully gaping, foolishly staring, inert
On the flowers of Eden.
God pondered.

The problem was so great, it dragged him asleep.

Crow laughed.
He bit the Worm, God's only son,
Into two writhing halves.

He stuffed into man the tail half
With the wounded end hanging out.

He stuffed the head half headfirst into woman
And it crept in deeper and up
To peer out through her eyes
Calling it's tail-half to join up quickly, quickly
Because O it was painful.

Man awoke being dragged across the grass.
Woman awoke to see him coming.
Neither knew what had happened.

God went on sleeping.

Crow went on laughing.

I think the poem has a witty insight into male-female relationships. Without the sex organs, man and woman are soulless and dull. Crow "enlivens" them by creating an unquenchable yearning. It's delicious and dark, and, I think, works well for The Beautiful Freaks

"It's like she's smiling"

chrymore
Originally uploaded by lingual.markus

I am interested in the way time passes. Things happen fast in my Second Life, and I know from observation it is the same all over.

When you are nursing a broken heart, it feels like it will never end. I have seen this, and I have seen people stunned because they are nursing their own pain while they watch a former partner move on. Part of the hurt seems to be that the other recovered so quickly.

Of course, sometimes a thing is just wrong, and not "meant to be". To my mind, it's still preferable to bring it to a close without deception; it's hard to say to someone "look, it's not you, it's us", but congratulations if you are one of the ones who can. If you're one of the ones who can't be alone, and who have their next lined up before the first even knows they're packing, then shame on you. And yes, I'm advised it's human nature, but shame nonetheless.

That said, I gained a great deal from my dip in the shark pool. Not least of my rewards was a sharp insight into what it is that I am seeking. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun.

But, honey, I'm home. I know you read this, and are probably wincing right now. Thank you for being there when I got back, thank you for being every shade of cool.

And yep, I'm aware that my posts are oblique. I do that to preserve the privacy of others. If you know me, then you know all the gory details, anyway. Cus that's how I roll ;-P

grace

grace
Originally uploaded by Else Barnard et al.

I had envisioned using the rest of Else Barnard's photos to tell a little more of things from my perspective, using Else's work to provide eye candy.

But this is too beautiful. Thank you Else. All grace is yours xx

leading by example

leading by example
Originally uploaded by Else Barnard et al.

My friends are awesomely clever, did I mention it? I spent a little time with my favourite pyro, Else Barnard, and this is (I hope) the first of what she did to me.

Else has done other pictures of me, and one thing I love is her use of light. There's an almost otherworldliness to it, or maybe a "vintage" feel. Any time I spend with else feels a little vintage - which is odd, since anyone who knows her arsenal knows she's a thoroughly modern girl ;-D

After all the sighing of the past couple of months, I was looking to recapture a sense of my normal assertiveness. This is the chry who knows what you're up to, and is comfortable she can handle it. For the four of you who read this blog and know me well, I swear, she's making a comeback.

As always, the skin is by Nena Janus of League. The outfit is by Graves (sorry, but any other latex simply is not as good) and the tattoo is a custom work by Ellie Criss of Sharkey's Tattoos (omg <3 Ellie xxx)). The hair is Charlie, from Twisted and Spoiled, and as always, the eyes are from devious minds.

Regrets, I've had a few ...

I am a creature of impulse, it's unfortunate, but true.

Recently, I have made bad decisions, and they have been decisions which have hurt other people. I let expert flattery go to my head and cause me to be less mindful than I prefer to be. I fell into the shallow pool. See ... my Second Life has been very protected. I am treated with love and respect by both my friends and my fans. Yes, I've heard the stories, who hasn't? But I guess I thought I was so adorable the usual rules did not apply.

But Second Life moves fast, and my karma caught up with me quickly. In other crowds, love and respect are not the usual currency. And flattery is easy. You could say I found the shallow pool filled with sharks (god knows, I have, many times). And (cue violins) now I get to play out that same old story ("all men in SL are sluts or vagrants" etc etc).

I believe karma works like this: If you're a lousy human, as time goes on, you'll find yourself surrounded only by lousy humans, and everything you have done will be done to you, because that's what lousy humans do. I try not to be a lousy human.

I'm out of the pool, and I'll live. I regret being so impulsive and absolutely being so shallow. But there's been a lot of regret so far this year, n'est pas? I promise to do better. Especially by those of you who have always done well by me. And I promise to make happy posts, and maybe more of them. Ehhh ... I promise to try.

chry xx

capax infiniti

Yesterday, I found a myspace account that I didn't know existed. Of course there is a blog attached to the profile, and in it the writer mentions how wonderful life is. How much it has improved since he freed himself of certain poisonous influences.

Of course, it's the blog of someone I used to be very close to. Close enough to know that I (and my virtual world) was not the only poison in his life then. But I certainly was one of them. And yes, it hurts to know that's how I showed up in the debriefing. It hurts even more to not have been invited to the debriefing, but ehhh ... I was ever a symptom, and not the disease.

I wish him well. He shaped my Second Life. He taught me what I could absorb. He showed me what was possible and influences my aesthetic decisions to this day. From him I learned to work for my Second Life, and the satisfaction of self-supporting in game.

If nothing else, I have to thank him for anime, for Corey Taylor and for the beautiful build that is Idle Rogue.

Along with all the other poisons, I have been removed from his system. I guess I'm okay with that.

Consummatum est

Dear You

Dear You,

You came into my life when I was very broken. And you were a joy. You didn't understand why I was broken, but you understood that I was, and you set about making me smile. I always thought of you as a gift from a dear friend, who may not know what he had given me. As I healed, I came to look forward to seeing you.

We had the best fun.

I want you to know that every minute we spent together was brilliant. Every thought that you expressed found a home here. Everything I ever said to you, and everything I ever said about you, was real, was true, and remains true to this minute.

you move like I want to
to see like your eyes do
we are downstairs where
no one can see
new life break away
tonight I feel like more
tonight I
you make the water warm
you taste foreign
and I know you can see
the cord break away
cause tonight I feel like more
tonight I feel like more
tonight I feel
feel like more(tonight)
you breathed
then you stopped
I breathed then dried you off
and tonight
I feel like more
tonight

The Big Show

Inspiring, exhausting, intimidating, creative, time-consuming, rewarding.Way more good than bad.

Idle Rogue is producing a show. It is my current obsession, so much so that disappointments in other areas of my life are rendered disinteresting. If you're finding yourself a little ignored, sorry, but I'm busy.

It all started when I discovered the singer for my favourite band was launching solo performances. I immediately booked him and he performed following a performance of The Beautiful Freaks Burlesque Circus. The dancers loved him, I've always loved him, and he loved us right back. It seemed a natural progression that we should work together, but the project took months to warm up, because of commitments on both sides.

Bowie Bravin is a prolific and talented musician. He collaborates electronically with musicians across the globe. He is a buoyant and dynamic personality and a pleasure to work with. His voice is an absolute gift, and lucky me, I spend a portion of each day listening to it.

Bowie and Deep Sky Traveler both give an amazing show experience, with lighting, special effects and warm personalities. Beautiful Freaks likes to hand out an experience, too. So the challenge, for us, has been to make a show that looks astonishing and provides a foil for Bowie's talent, but equally, ours.

Enter Slappy Doobie. Friends will know that Slappy is my not only my best friend, but my collaborator, mentor and yes, idol. I have yet to see her fail at achieving something she set out to do. She is a legendary builder and a gifted graphic artist. She brings a wealth of rl experience to every project, and her imagination is completely unconstrained. To Slappy was given the unenviable task of building s stage that would, as a minimum, equal the work Kentarr Vendetta does for Deep Sky Traveler, and, preferable add in features specific to the show we want to present. Did she succeed?

Does she ever fail?

wtf is this crap?

Crap Mariner is a robot whose internet "presence" is undeniable. Being a robot, Crap is presumably gender moot, but I have no idea. I love Crap's name, it's been rolling around my head for a few days. I love Crap's blog, which I've only just begun reading and do not yet profess to understand. I am very aware that Crap is highly regarded in certain circles, and Crap's opinions are touted across the length and breadth of the grid.

My morning lately consists of reading blogs and perusing the network sites. This morning I read that Crap Mariner "will only tip performers that are listed in Tunes inSL" and "will only tip venues that display the sign" for the same entity. Immediately, I thought I had better check out this thing called Tunes in SL, because I would hate to miss out on a life-sustaining venue tip simply by not having understood the importance of the Tunes in SL venture.

To be honest, I was expecting something worthily connected, perhaps raising awareness, or funds for some righteous cause. But no. Or not, at least, at it's inception. "I started off Tunes inSL because I had been given a bunch of iTunes gift certificates and wanted to buy music from SL performers with them." Oh, okay. So this is Crap's personal project. Right. Well ... it's a good idea. And it supports live music, which many of us enjoy and which needs support.

In case you didn't know, here's a quick rundown on how live music works in SL. This is the generalised version. We all have friends, god knows, Idle Rogue would not survive without them. And friends make special concessions to friends, that's understood. But if you are a new venue or a new artist in Secnond Life, the procedure goes something like this:

* Artists equip themselves to stream effectively into SL, with such musical instruments, hardware and software as they can afford to provide the best quality performance. They then seek venues to perform at and hopefully deliver performances that encourage a fan base. Common wisdom has it that startout artists will work for tips. Artists with a small fan base will work for 1000-1500L. Artists whose group has more than 100 members can command fees starting from 4000L.

* Venues rent or buy the land and build or buy the premises they will operate from. They undertake to meet the costs of running the venue and can do this by sourcing revenue in any of the usual ways - subletting real estate, retailing content, and tips from avatars to the venue. They also use these funds to pay the artists the fees mentioned above.

* The theory, as I have come to understand it, is that artists with a large following will bring good "traffic" to the venue. That traffic will then spend money in the various ways mentioned above. That money goes to the venue operator and is used to, at least, offset, the costs of paying for the performer.

* The problem, as I see it from a venue owner's perspective, is that staging a live performance actually brings very little return to the venue. Avatars assume that the artists are working for tips only, and naturally give their lindens to the talent. Large or popular gigs are extremely hard going for a lot of fans, and lag prevents them from camming around and purchasing something that might take their fancy. And fans, by their nature, follow the artist. They do not stay on after the gig, have a look around, purchase items or join the group with the intention of returning on a regular basis.

So when Crap Marriner announces that tips for the month of February will only go to those who support Crap's personal venture, I cringe on behalf of Idle Rogue, and on behalf of the artists who so generously share their time with us there.

Because it's not just about me and my little club, though in the past few weeks I have watched several well-known and loved venues fold. It's not even just about all clubs. Because, you see, the only artists who can be on Tunes in SL are "performers with music for sale".

So, for my fledgling artists - who are scrambling to get up to the speed of real world money earners like The Follow; who are in beg/borrow/steal mode to get good equipment in order to compete; and who haven't even begun to consider how or whether to record and distribute their music - the tips of Crap Marriner, and those who follow Crap's advice, will not be a prospect. At least for this month.

The Follow, incidentally, cost a venue 15000L for an hour's access. Please tip your venues. Take my word for it, they are hurting.

EDIT: To his credit, Crap Mariner has taken the time to respond to this post in his own blog, and I urge anyone with further interest in the matter to give him a fair hearing. I appreciate the time he took to consider and respond to my opinion.

.

it seems that once you've said a thing in blogger, you can't unsay it without deleting it. So .....

Once again I face change in my Second Life.

100124 Burly Factory on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I would like, when I remember, to post my acts from E&S Burlesque Factory's Saturday Night Revue. This show is always a spectacular, and a great deal of hard work goes into the performances.

This week I wanted to do something for Australia Day, simply because there is so much celebration of other nation's national days.

The dress is from Violator. It is the ludicrously expensive Eva And The Snake, which was a gift from a friend. It's an amazing creation, I'll grant you, and looked stunning. Based on today's earnings, I will only need to wear it fifteen more times for it to have paid for itself - but since I didn't pay for it, the point is moot. No disrespect to Soraya Vaher intended - I certainly understand her philosophical leanings, and more power to her, she's making real money from her work.

There are a few more pictures from the act at Tilly Theas' flickr page:

100124 Burly Factory on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

While you are there, check out her stunning photos from the Deep Sky Traveler show at Idle Rogue. What an amazing night!

Tweak Tweak

I have spent this week making changes to the Idle Rogue Complex.

Before Y left SL, the parcel next to Idle Rogue became available, and it seemed a bad business decision not to take it, not least because, like all landholders, I will always need more prims. I joined the 3000 club with the idea of putting in a retail mall, with affiliate vendors to generate some income and space for group members to rezz their own vendors. The store complex didn't take off, really, partly because of the build (mine) which gave it a shrouded air, and partly because I didn't give it the attention it deserved. Beautiful Freaks was born just one epiphany later, and my emotional energy was going into acts for BF and for Ellie's Burlesque. I am extremely creative when I am miserable ... but not especially good with people.

I have always wanted Idle Rogue to be a "hub" for like-minded souls. The people who associate with Idle Rogue are all generous and spirited people. We like to socialise, we prefer chat to gestures, we love to make new residents feel a little more comfortable. There are so many "people" people around Rogue, it seems a shame that we're not there more often.

Mainstream media who have lately addressed Second Life often point out that it's hard to find anyone. To new arrivals, the grid seems a vast, though pretty, wasteland. I know when I rezzed, my ISP had a well-developed presence inworld, which made it considerably easier to find other avatars and begin the journey. The Pond Estates closed in December last year, and an amazing number of avatars attended her to her death. We are all a little less anchored without her.

For all of these reasons, and a few more, Idle Rogue has undergone a small renovation.

There are photos of the old layout here, and shots of the new Idle Rogue here.