Tonight I was lucky enough to head on down to the AWE, and catch on of the live music performances happening throughout the exhibition. Phemie Alcott is a real life singer/songwriter who has been entertaining audiences in SL for some time now, and armed only with her guitar was keeping the audience enthralled with her soulful music and lyrics. Phemie is very influenced by other female artists like PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, and Joni Michell, and very much wears her influences on her sleeve, including performing a cover of Amos' song "Winter" in her set. Also, since the event was at the Writer's Exhibition, she also performed a song where she had taken a poem by an sl poet, and then put it to music, much to the delight of the crowd. Once she had finished entertaining the throng in attendance, I managed to grab her to have a quick chat about what it's like to be a performer in SL:



Voodoo Buwan: So, what inspired you to start performing your music in SL?
Phemie Alcott: Well, when I first signed up I had noooo idea what this place was about and then someone told me to check out a show so I did and was fascinated by it. I watched shows for like 4 or 5 months alone just watching and listening and then realized that I could do this myself cuz I have been singing since high school..
Voodoo Buwan: Have there been many challenges getting yourself set up and established inworld?
Phemie Alcott: Hahaha…yes…I got a six-channel mixer and figured everything out myself and read Jaycatt's article on streaming which was very useful. I'll never forget the first time I tried to stream…laughing…but once I got it going it was fine…except getting a good balance sonically.
Voodoo Buwan: And have the gigs been easy to come by, once you got the technical stuff out the way?
Phemie Alcott: at first I just blanket IM'd venue owners...some were really nice and gave me a chance right away and others were not so responsive but mainly I've achieved my gigs through word of mouth and just being persistent.
Voodoo Buwan: You mentioned that you have been singing since high school. Do you perform in rl?
Phemie Alcott: I sang for four years in a very serious rock band in the nineties and did pretty well and then quit for a myriad or reasons and then stopped writing & singing for about 7 years and SL has inspired me to start again. I do not have a RL band now..just my career in SL.
Voodoo Buwan: So, apart from the fact there there are computers between you and your rl audience, what kind of differences are there between performing rl and in sl?
Phemie Alcott: that's a great question. You kind of have to rely on chat a bit to feel if there's energy in a crowd as opposed to being in a live room. You have to close your eyes and just believe that people are interested in listening...but the really cool thing is that there are some very intimate moments I've experienced performing in SL that I don't believe you could have in a live room. People really tell you what they think while you're singing which is a unique experience and very cool. You can feel if a crowd is into you or not…
Voodoo Buwan: So, what advice would you give to any other budding musicians thinking about making the leap into performing in SL?
Phemie Alcott: You have to practice and work at it just as much as in RL. I don't like it when I go to a show and the artist is unprepared, unpractised and just sloppy. I would like SL to have a reputation for good quality performers and there really are a ton of them to be had. I think learning a wide range of songs is good too. Stick to your style and don't try to be anyone else. And DON'T get a big head...I hate it when people get cocky just cuz they are getting attention or feel like they are some SL star...grrr...respect the music...that's what it's about.

Tomorrow marks the start of the Autumn Writers' Exhibition (AWE), a fortnight long event organised by a group called Written Word, centred around the fantastic Cookie sim (Click here to visit). Throughout the festival, which has been put together to spotlight writing in all it’s forms, by the many talented residents of SL, there will be events ranging from explosive fireworks displays opening and closing the event, magic shows, writers performances, music acts, lectures, plays, and even book launches (including one being released by some bloke called Voodoo Buwan, who’s launching a collection of his inworld interviews).

To try and find out more about how this whole thing came into being, I managed to corner the organisers, Jilly Kidd and Hastings Bournemouth, who have put together this non-profit organisation and literary festival, to find out the inspiration behind this mammoth undertaking, and get a little peek behind the scenes at the organisational level of this landmark event.

Voodoo: How did Written Word @ Cookie come about?
Jilly Kidd: Well, when Thinkerer Melville started organising Cookie, he wanted to create a parcel for writers. He asked me to organise it and I asked my good friend Hastings to join me as a partner. He did the build, all the tents, stages and dance floors, and i started getting the writing community together. That has been my dream since I came on to SL in January. i asked INKsters to join in too as they're the biggest writing group and I gave them free space where they've built a beach club for events and socialising. Thinkerer provides it for free and so do we.
Voodoo: So, very much a community spirited collaberation?
Jilly Kidd: Yes. We really work as a team on Cookie

Voodoo: The Autumn Writer's Exhibition is your first big event.... what sort of response have you had?
Jilly Kidd: The artist spaces filled in a few days. We were amazed
Hastings Bournemouth: There would have been more people, if we'd had the space. It was very popular... We've squeezed in a few more people where we can... but it ended up being a lot bigger than we'd originally planned
Voodoo: So, this really seems to be something people have been waiting for? Why do you think it took so long for someone to do this?
Jilly Kidd: One reason, I suppose, is that all of this takes so much time, so not many people would want to do it. I've just really loved it all
Hastings Bournemouth: It was an interesting challenge! And I liked the idea of getting a lot of writers together.
Jilly Kidd: When i came on to SL I looked for a writing community but it was all divided into separate writing groups. I loved this one - the Blue Angel open mic. I really wanted to get the writing community together on a larger scale and connect the groups

Voodoo: Which particular events at the festival are you personally most looking forward to?
Hastings Bournemouth: Me? Well the one I'm doing probably, which is the inaugural writers' circle! It’s happening on Wednesday I think, and is a place for people to gather and share their writing. We’re centring it on fiction but could be whatever people bring along.
Voodoo: And what are you looking forward to Jilly?
Jilly Kidd: i'm really looking forward to the Meet the Author show. The author is Wayne Hoffman talking about his novel Hard, which is about gay life in NY in the 1990s. I'm also really looking forward to the original singer songwriters. Thumper Boucher is fantastic and Djai Skjellerup.
Voodoo: Sounds like there's a wide variety of stuff to look forward to
Jilly Kidd: Most people are looking forward to the fireworks and we have fundraising for Amnesty International. There will be fundraising during the Media Alliance event as they introduced the Amnesty speaker on human rights, Jim Roberts, plus the magician Tuna Oddfellow will be donating all tips from his show to the cause. We will also keep supporting Amnesty International after the event

Voodoo: So... I guess the only other question is what's next for you guys?
Jilly Kidd: Well I want to take the exhibition to other places too and give writers more chance to share and display their work for free. Johnny Austin has said we can have an exhibition at the Joysco Convention Center, so people can see writing can be shared and performed in different ways. That will be called the Writers on Tour - WOT. On Cookie we have a few plans. I want to encourage hobbyists but also help others get to performance and publication stage. We have videos being made and contests monthly, L$5,000 for fiction in November and the same for a one act play in December, and the sim gives writers the chance to perform and film that writing. We'll have workshops for fiction and plays, the poetry reading on Mondays, Meet the Author show on Sundays, and I'm encouraging translation and writers in languages other than English. Plus just having fun and meeting up.
Hastings Bournemouth: When the exhibition is over, we'll be thinking of what to build too - the tents and huts are temporary, for the exhibition. We want to make it interesting and unusual, the sort of space that people will want to visit, and will encourage all these writers to keep coming back.

Voodoo: Well... best of luck with the exhibition, and all your future projects

What's your Achilles heel in SL? You know the kind; the place you ALWAYS go either to hang out or to spend money? One of mine is DE Designs. A wonderfully, beautifully different clothing shop in SL. With a real sense for fantasy, gothic 3D designs DE catches my attention each and every-time.

DE is approaching its 3rd birthday (I know this from the fan group!). With a new outfit planned for the birthday (previews on the blog).

I had the privilege of speaking to DoC Eldritch the owner and sole DE artist.

Trin - DE Designs is approaching its 3rd birthday, can you tell our readers the highs and lows of the last 3 years?
DoC - The high for me is what I have learned personally as far as creating these designs. Taking the 2-D aspect of clothes in SL and making them look as 3-D as possible. This has also allowed me to get into doing more art work. Something I had never done before. When I get im’s from someone saying how much they enjoy and outfit, or how they love a background, that’s my high. Lows, hmmm, I try my best not to get down about things. There are going to be those days when SL isn’t running right, something happens and you get dozens of im’s, someone “sets” you off so to speak or everything just piles up at once and I have to step away. You’re going to have those days in any business be it SL or RL. You learn how to deal with situations, take a breath and focus that energy in what you enjoy doing. It’s easier said then done at times.

Trin - What was your inspiration behind DE?
DoC - For the most part I wanted DE to be somewhere anyone could shop for clothes. Regardless of your appearance and or preferences, I had something to fit. As far as the designs, it really all depends on my frame of mind in a given week to be honest. Some weeks I want to create complex Ladies and Men’s matches, while other weeks I rather do a trendy or formal design.

Trin - Do you do all work on the outfits including promo pictures etc?
Doc - Yes I do. In the last year in particular all my backgrounds have been drawn in Photoshop. A lot of times it may take me just as long to draw the background ad as make the outfit but it is something I enjoy doing now. I have always done all of my ad’s however since day one.

Trin - Roughly how many outfits do you have and what is your favorite style of clothes for designing?
DoC - Its over 1000 I know. I’m not really sure on an exact number however. At this time I enjoy doing the Fantasy style the most.

Trin - Do you have any fashion experience in RL?
DoC - None at all, most of my items lean towards an art, fantasy and or gothic old world look however.

Trin - What does the next 3 years hold for DE Designs do you think?
DoC - Hard to say, I take things day by day. I have expanded somewhat into other things outside of SL but I won’t to the point where it affects me creating for SL. Hopefully there will be more options within SL to expand creations, such as in the last few years with Flex and Sculpt options. A couple more clothing layers as well as another face layer would be great.

I personally adore DE Designs and turn into a child at Christmas when I go there. Its never out of my cache! Check it out in world here and the official blog here.

I do enjoy looking at my map, you see ALL sorts of things, like today I found this cluster.

What is it a hear you ask! Well it’s the CSI: NY sims, all closed access but they are here! All sims look the same from the overview, sure that’s just to keep us all in suspense! Certainly working on me right now!!!

Look at the map, it can be great fun!

There's a lot of press given to RL businesses coming to SL, and investing in the media of the virtual world to reach whole new markets. Big name Companies specialising in almost every industry imaginable set up shop, in a flare of pomp and publicity, to spread the word of themselves and their products through this untapped new market. Mobile telephone companies set up sims to allow users to send texts from inside the game. Record companies set up sims so you can listen to new album tracks before you buy. Finance companies set up sims to give advice to potential customers on what loans are on offer to them. Each of these stories get reported on, another example of how our little game is the future. It's the new way. Coke know about SL! MTV know about SL! Even rock band Oasis know they should be in here, to boost sales of their new DVD.... but there is another story.

The movie production company Fox Atomic, burst into SL with a high profile competition in SL, providing avatars based on their films, to allow people to take pictures or record a sl film to win big prizes. They set up a sim, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Fox%20Atomic/122/141/23, where sets from the films were set out, and movie making equipment for people to make their own inworld films. However, since that time, they made one more appearance, to plug their presence at the San Diego Comic Con back in February, and the only person who ever seems to be at the sim these days is the guy who pops in to clear away the griefer debris that gets scattered around the this ghost town. The only thing they contribute to sl these days is that their sim has the same eeire deserted feeling as their film "28 weeks later", only without the promise of zombie related excitement on any horizon.

American television company, NBC, set up sim NBC1, http://slurl.com/secondlife/NBC%201/128/128/0, and created a fantastic New York sim, centered round a central skyscraper. This building contained the Peacock Room, a venue where NBC would proudly broadcast a live performance once a week by a signed musical artist, both via video link, and also with an avatar representing the artist or band, in order for them to take questions from the audience. These events were so popular that the sim would be full every week. I personally went and covered one of these gigs, and had to turn up half an hour early to have a chance to get in before the sim filled to capacity. For those who could not get in, they were able to go and view the event at various satellite sites, showing the video of the performance in rl, and also at the Peacock Room, complete with avatars dancing away in the stylish venue. What more could NBC want? What better publicity that hosting possibly the premier weekly live music event in Secondlife, that has people beating at the door to your sim. Making yourself the biggest name in SL entertainment as well as being one of the giants in RL. And yet, the events concluded with Joan Osbourne back in June and since then this site also sits empty. In fact, the posters from the Osbourne gig haven't been cleared away, and some kind soul has chucked rugs all over the reflective floor, and there are no signs anyone is gonna clear them out either.

Linden Labs would like you to believe that RL companies have a love affair with SL, that will prove a cash injection that will continue to keep our community on the cutting edge well into the future. Yet, it seems less of a love affair, and more of a one night stand, as big business has it's fun with us, gets the heat and the glory, then sneaks out, leaving abandoned sims like stained bedspreads as they tiptoe out the door, looking for the next flavour of the month to claim conquest of, and we're left behind, like yesterdays news, wondering how long the big shots will keep thinking we're attractive.

I do love to wander the binary hallways of sl seeing what people do here.

I am sure everyone is aware of ‘Moulin Rouge’. Of course notably the film with Ewan Macgregor and Nicole Kidman, but Moulin Rouge actually does exist and has since the late 19th Century. Literally meaning ‘red windmill’ Moulin Rouge is a cabaret venue to be found in Paris. The Moulin Rouge is known most notably for the can-can, the arousing and energetic dance that courtesans perform to arouse their male clients. The Moulin Rouge is also awarded with the credit for the striptease. Unknown in older times, the courtesans worked on this manoeuvre and perfected it for 19th century France.

I wandered to Moulin Rouge island today to look about. First thing that struck me was the fact I landed on a beach…. Not very Parisian. The building itself from the outside looks rather similar to RL complete with a little red windmill and bright red lights. Putting the beach and tiki huts behind me I wander inside.


You enter on the top arena and look down to the dance area and stage. Leather bound seats and dance pose-balls are scattered everywhere. Theatre style red drapes hang from the sides and the stage comes out to meet you. I can tell even though the venue is currently empty the possibility of having a truly wonderful night in here is very real.


I walk to the sides of the auditorium and down to the main action area. Clicking my heels off the floor I can imagine can-can dancers ruffling their skirts and showing some leg here. Shame that there are no can-can poses.


I use the tp and go to the named Dungeon. Now I should point out that the so called dungeon is 300 metres up in the air!

Here there are smaller pockets for more private sessions, most torture devices you could think of and even ones you couldn’t!

/me tilts her head trying to work out what way is up

The rest of the island has market stalls, private paid for entry sex rooms (including directors office and school classroom) to mention a few.

I am confused as to how I feel about this place. I went along with an open mind but obvious knowledge of a few things. The main area is well built and looks as though it would be a wonderful experience. The rest I find…. well I find odd frankly. Beach and empty market stalls don’t float my boat so to speak. I feel I need to comment on the sex. I am by no means a prude; I did for a while manage dancers at a club. I understand sex sells and that business is big in SL. The Moulin Rouge in its day was considered risqué; it was entertainment with an undertone of the erotic. The sim goes for the same look but sex is stuffed down your throat, so to speak. With a menu on the wall and I don’t mean drinks they make no attempt to hide it.


I think the best way I could sum it up is to say I would go back, I would like to go back when an event is on. I would like to experience the atmosphere, the sexual desires here don’t interest me but I know they interest some, so if you want to take a walk through The Moulin Rouge please do so here.

Hello there, and thank you for navigating to our little corner of the world wide web. My name is Voodoo Buwan, and with my literary cohort, Trinity Dechou, we would like to welcome you to our new online publication. This site is dedicated to reporting on the most interesting sights, sounds, issues and happenings in the online game / virtual community that is Second Life (and if you don't know what that is, head on over to http://www.secondlife.com and sign yourself up). We'll be telling you of some of the best and worst things you can find ingame, speak to some of the more interesting people wandering the virtual streets, and try to have our fingers on the electronic pulse of this brave new digital world, while of course having a laugh and an occasional joke along the way.
Trin and myself have an established history of SL journalism, having written about the subject for another website for some time, but have finally decided to go independent. By independent I not only mean that we are doing this for ourselves, but also that we will be self funding this project, meaning that you can rest assured that we are reporting to you our own opinions, and you will never read anything on this site written because someone paid us to say it. You may also be able to find some input from other talented writers who we deem fit to entertain you, but only if you're very very good.
We hope that you enjoy the forthcoming articles, and that REZ Magazine becomes the bible for the intelligent SL resident that it will surely deserve to be. Remember to check back regularly. We'll be doing our best to make sure it's worth your while.