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.

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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.

and a quick bitchslapping to ...

The Beautiful Beast

Forgive me a moment of utter self indulgence. But it's a journal. Utter self indulgence is the point, c'est non?

He is:
articulate
humorous
generous of spirit
calm
decisive
respectful
sensual
ethical
rational
whimsical
curious
loyal
affectionate
honest
talented
beloved.
In no particular order. I am proud and delighted to have his company.

That is all.

okay, so I'm a little bit hooked on this now O.o

Sometimes I find myself at a loose end these days. I dropped some of my commitments in order to have more time to spend with friends and to free myself up for intriguing one-off projects. Which are rarer than you might think.

When I posted the last entry, it was my attempt at showing off my latest purchases. Quaintly's comment got me thinking though. I do wear a lot of black, it's my favourite colour (and yes, Blogger, both those words have the letter "u" in them), but I also have a lot of colourful clothes that I could show. And I really rather like going to my favourite pretty places to take photos. So yeah ... here we go, I'm a fashion blogger /irony.

First, a word about the hair. I have new hair. My honey chose it, and I love it. I have always been fanatically loyal to Analog Dog's cinnamon range, though I have a few from Damselfly. I wear, as much as possible, the same colour, because it's part of my identity. Yes, I named myself after my hair. In case you didn't know.

The new hair - Natural, by *CRISS* - is blonder than I would have liked, it's actually a lot blonder than it looks in the photos. I like to think of it as having had a fabulous style cut and some highlights put in.

The dress is, of course, Musashi-Do's glorious Tender Blossoms. It's rather well-known in fashion circles, and rightly so. It's a beautiful texture with wonderfully rendered details. This dress draws comment every time I wear it.

The shoes are B&G's Melody in Rosa. I have almost all of Lolo Luo's shoes, I believe they are as good a product as Stiletto Moody, easier to use, and at a far more reasonable price. They are transferable, too, and in fact, my only complaint is that the range is small.

I'd like to put a shout out to Eryn Republic for the one item I am never without - my ERD A.V.8.R sunglasses. Scripted with show/hide, radar, flight assist, sim record, bling, opacity, glow and 40 colours, they are hud driven and my essential item. When Y first taught me to build microprims, he showed me the ERD range in order to articulate what tiny prims could be used for, and I have not been without them since. We all have cartoon dreams, but if I have a cartoon nightmare, it is that proposed script limits will part me from my A.V.8.rs.

The sim you see here is the extremely romantic Midsomer Gardens. This a gorgeous, if busy, sim, good for a date or a photoshoot, and the highlight is definitely the sky garden seen here. I met a most interesting avatar while I was there, he was on the prowl, of course, but provided some amusement while I posed my narcissistic ass off.