Well, Christmas is coming, and the goose is... well, the goose is hoping that the cost of food continues to rise. You see, it's fast becoming a tradition for me that once a year, I come up with my Christmas gift guide, spotlighting some truly superb consumables you can find inworld, that could well be the perfect pressie for one of your many second life pals. However, when approaching this years price guide, I was aware of two things. Firstly, with the papers and newsmedia shouting and screaming that we are all descending into the abyss of recession hell, the idea that I show you all the sparkly high cost treasures inworld seems a little, well, irresponsible's a strong word, but you get my point. The second thing relates to a story of a friend from not long ago, who had a stand at an sl trade show, and wanted to give away a promotional gift. She got a lot of flack, since this "gift" was set for sale at 1$L. Her reason for the price was that, as she apparently said, that if you offer a freebie, that everyone will think it isn't very good. So, with these two factors in mind, I present to you the 2008 Christmas gift guide, with every item being an example of cool design, funky ideas, and would bring a smile to anyone who received it. Oh, and every one is free!

To hunt down these items of frugal fun and frolics, I went to the sl shopping website, http://www.onrez.com/ and started browsing. The reason I went to this site, as opposed to http://www.xstreetsl.com/ (or slexchange as it used to be called), is that unlike xstreetsl, when using the onrez site you are able to buy freebie items as gifts for others, with the item being delivered straight to your pressie recipient inworld. And here, is what I found:

For the Steampunk Aristocrat:


The RCR Unnecessarily high prim monocle by Spindle Vlodovic
This gorgeously crafted eyepiece has fantastic high tech looks, but still has the quaint Victoriana styling that would not look out of place gracing the face of any steam powered mad scientist. With precise and minute detail, the high prim nature of this piece may be described as unnecessary, maybe because of the addition of an arm and nose bridge to make the monocle a kind of half spectacle, but whether unnecessary or not, it's certainly appreciated.

For the Wannabe Rockstar:


The Xcentric Rock Stage by Jamiecat Janus
This item screamed out of for included, for although it's described as "Freeshit", it is in fact 228 of pure rawk joy. Torn straight out of the filthy dive of your dreams, you can now drop this grunged up stage onto your land, and kick out the jams to your heart's content. The stage comes complete with mics, a drumkit, monitors, a wall of amps for you to throw your guitar at, and a ton of spotlights hanging above it all. LET THERE BE ROCK!

For the Tiny on the move:

Tiny Skateboard by Nanjido Oh
2008 has been the year that the Tiny revolution has really taken over SL, meaning that chances are that you may well have a cute vertically challenged buddy, with a stocking that needs filling. And what better than this funky skateboard, stylishly produced, for them for zoom about on. Good looking and containing the needed animation to make you look like a pro skater, this allows you to thrash in the cutest way possible!

For the Glamourpuss:


2007 BijouxOr Design Freebie Jewel set by Alienbear Gupte
This well created and beautiful set of jewelery, complete with necklace, earrings, and navel ring, manages to be stylish with a splash of sparkle, but since it's bling can be turned off, you can avoid being hunted down by the "blingtard police". The detail in these items means that they will add that little extra glamour to any outfit.

For the Artist:


(Shiny Things) Freebie Painter Shoes by Fallingwater Cellardoor
Is your best friend one of the many artists filling the galleries of SL with their creations? Then why not get them a pair of shoes that reflect the number of hours they spend tirelessly working on pieces of beauty and meaning. Splattered with virtual paint, these comfy looking slip-ons have a sense of Bohemia and childlike enthusiasm to express yourself that should bring a smile to any inworld Pollock.

For the SL socialite who doesn't want to be bothered by just anyone:


Miss Gadgets Personal NoEntry by Maeva Anatine
Do you know one of the many divas, the kind of person seen at all the very best and high class parties, with a friend's list containing anyone who's anyone in SL? Why not give them a little personal space, since they will no doubt be besieged by hapless newbies trying to make a name for themselves amongst the glam and gorgeous. You can bet their land is surrounded by a security barrier, showing that only their prestigious inner circle are allowed access, so why not give them this cute little attachment that puts just such a barrier around themselves, to show everyone that only a select few get access to a person of such stature.

And finally, if your friend is one of those people that just loves this time of year, and would be happy with anything Christmassy, you can't got far wrong with the Giant Sculpty CHRISTMAS CUPCAKE with 2 animated poses by Minke Bailey, but act fast, as this item is only available for this Christmas period. So there you have it. A selection of high quality and creative items to regale your buddies with, and none of them costing a single Linden Dollar. I guess there's still an argument to be made for the best things in life being free. Happy Holidays!

In a quandary what to give this Christmas? Without doubt gift vouchers are as popular now as they have ever been. However as the times have changed, so have our vouchers. No longer are you given a giftcard to buy your own hideous woolen jumper, but you are given a giftcard to purchase the latest and greatest tunes.

The two major players in the internet shopping world are of course iTunes and Amazon. Both companies of course offer gift vouchers and allow shoppers to buy the music from their vast catalogues; these catalogues include some of the SecondLife resident musicians.

Crap Mariner, a keen supporter of live music in Second Life and regular voucher shopper has created two locations in-world for the promotion of music purchases and support for SL musicians. Crap offers us a project focusing on the wonderful and talented SecondLife musicians as well as a new and inspiring way to support them. I managed to catch up with Crap and ask him how this project came about initially and how residents and musicians can get involved.

Trinity Dechou: Tell us a little about Tunes inSL, what set the ball rolling?

Crap Mariner: Last year at SLCC 2007, the musicians, deejays, venue owners, and Lindens were at the business track arguing over shortcomings in the platform and business model, but not coming up with many solutions that resulted in "a rising tide lifts all boats."

I took a lot of notes, studied things for a while, asked a few music performers and promoters in RL, and let it stew for a while as I hosted live musicians in my own venue. While I was saying "I support live music in SL" I constantly asked myself "What can I do to support it more?"

When the holidays rolled around, I got a few iTunes gift cards. Instead of wasting them on ungrateful overhyped tabloid trash like Madonna and Britney Spears and rappers who shoot at each other while shooting up the charts, I wanted to use them to support live musicians in SL.

That's the heart of this project - if you get gift cards, how do you use them to support live music in SL? Everything comes back to that statement. Anything that gets in the way of that or adds unnecessary bells or whistles or drama - slice it off and get back to the heart of the project.

So I had these gift cards, but who can I use them on? I already had the albums by Cylindrian (Grace Buford), Kaklick (Bryan Baker), and Louis Volare (Louis Landon) - who else was in iTunes that I could buy music from?

I posted a call for names and links on my blog, and I got a great response. I picked up Tallguy Kidd (Dale Marsh), EvaMoon Ember (Eva Moon) and a few others.

People who read my blog let me know they used their own iTunes gift cards to buy SL music, so I know this was something that might work if there was more lead time.

As November rolled around, I wrote up a quick notecard, a few blog posts, and spammed my friends lists on various networks.

Keep it simple - one prim per album, link off to the download/review site on iTunes or Amazon. Nothing fancy that can break or go wrong.

Trinity Dechou: How do people purchase their music through SecondLife?

Crap Mariner: There's a few in-world systems like TRAX and SecondTunes, and God bless them for coming up with elegant solutions to allow in-world purchases, but they don't have as wide a footprint as the big players like iTunes and Amazon. They also don't have the userbase, communities, or review/ratings systems that can possibly lead to wider exposure of these talented people in RL.

Most musicians use CDBaby.com to get their music out there. It's quick, easy, and they give a good commission compared to iTunes or Amazon. They'll also burn copies of the music and ship them for live performers in their RL gigs.

But no gift cards yet. And the gift cards are the heart of the project - getting people to use whatever cards or credits they get to support live music in SL.

The industry standard for gift cards, community, reviews/ratings, and a simple storefront is iTunes, Amazon in second place and coming up quickly. If someone wants to make a CD Baby catalog site and build, more power to them. I'll help promote and link them as best I can.

Trinity Dechou: What sort of feedback have you had, both from shoppers and artists?

Crap Mariner: The response so far has been overwhelming - performers volunteering to join in, music fans wanting to see their favorite performers listed, people saying that they're having to cut back on holiday expenses with the recession so they're looking for inexpensive gifts like music, suggestions on how to improve the galleries and the website... Vint Falken made an awesome poster, Hulaboom Voom offered up space for the Amazon side of the project, venue owners and friends offering up space to put up the posters.

Yeah, I started it off as iTunes inSL Project, but since last year, Amazon's built up their site and service quickly, and they also have made a better effort to offer DRM-free music than Apple has.

Quite a few musicians who aren't listed in either iTunes or Amazon have told me they're going to make it a priority to get listed very soon - they've been meaning to get that done, just haven't had the time or motivation. Well, HOWDY BE! GOOD OL' MOTIVATION KNOCKIN AT YER DOOR! HOOHAH! Heh.

Someone suggested that I put out a Subscribeomatic to avoid using up a group slot and make it easier to get the word out, so I set one out there. Quite a few people have signed up for it, and they're going to be entered into a giveaway of at least 12 iTunes/Amazon gift cards. I also got an unexpected bonus from work for an article I wrote, so if things work out I may toss in a few 2GB Shuffles or an iPod Touch.

Another suggestion was to make a website to catalog the music and archive a few helpful hints/announcements. So I repurposed http://riaa.isfullofcrap.com/ to handle the catalog, rigged up a Movable Type template, added Vint's awesome art as a banner, and collected up a few tips on getting listed on iTunes and Amazon - that kind of thing. This way, if the grid's down or you know someone in RL who ought to try out these people's tunes, just point them there.

We'll see how this makes an impact on album sales when the holidays arrive and people start using those gift cards they get. If it's a useful resource beyond the holidays to everyone, then it's going to stay and grow.

Trinity Dechou: How do artists get involved in the project?

Crap Mariner: Get listed on iTunes and/or Amazon and toss me a notecard with a full-permissions texture of your album cover as well as where I can find your music. If you want to kill three birds with one stone, you can get listed in CDBaby and they have a method of getting your tracks up to iTunes or Amazon through them. (I haven't been through the process, so I don't know how many Advils of a headache it is.)

I've posted links on how to get listed on those systems on the blog sidebar: http://riaa.isfullofcrap.com/

Also, join the subscribeomatic in the Edloe clocktower gallery so you can keep up with announcements of new performers, where the project is heading, any surprise promotions that iTunes or Amazon are having that will make it easier for people to get credits on their systems, etc and so forth.

Trinity Dechou: How can people get involved through using their clubs/ galleries etc?

Crap Mariner: Come by the Edloe clocktower and click the main poster - it will give you a full-permissions copy of the poster that you can display at your venue.

Join the subscribeomatic in the Edloe clocktower gallery so you can get new versions of the poster, learn of new performers, keep up with the stuff that iTunes or Amazon is doing for the holidays, and get entered in the gift giveaways.

If you want the subscribeomatic at your venue, just drop me a line via IM and we'll figure out what we need to do permissions-wise to have that dropped into place. All I need to do is be able to rez and not have the thing return.

If you're a blogger, podcaster, or SL journalist - plug the living daylights out of this thing, guys. Get the word out. Even if it's something as simple as just copy-pasting the notecard with a link to the blog. I know that everyone (but me) is busy for the holidays, so whatever y'all can do to get the word out without losing too much sleep is appreciated (those sugarplums won't dream of themselves dancing, you know)

If you don't see your favorite performer listed in the gallery and you know they have an album out on iTunes or Amazon (or even CDBaby), *politely* offer them a copy of the notecard so they know this is available. They may not be able to get listed in time for Christmas, but I have a feeling that this gallery is going to be around much longer than that.

Finally, if you're a RL journalist, quit chasing down the sex angle of SL for a few seconds and drop me a line. I'll show you how SL can bring people together, inspire, entertain, and make a difference. And, yes, this project has a lot to do with that. Otherwise, well, I guess I'm right when it comes to thinking all of you reporters are just a bunch of worthless sex-seeking perverts trying to cover your asses when your editors catch you poseballing with a half-llama stripper. "Um... I was just doing research for this story about how SL is just a bunch of sex and weirdos!" Yeah, right. We believe you. NOT.

That's right, Guardian, BBC, and The Register. I'm calling your punk asses out.

With over 3 million accounts, Teen Second Life is in place for the younger people (13-17) in our world to enjoy the possibilities of another world. A safe environment where only teenagers, Linden and approved adults may enter the Teen Grid (TG) is a growing community of our young adults and future Main Grid (MG) residents.


On the brink of his eighteenth birthday I caught up with Teen SL Community manager, Daniel Voyager to asking him his thoughts about Teen Grid and his hopes and fears about his forthcoming move to the Main Grid. A hot and controversial topic at the moment is the merging of the two grids, I also took this opportunity to ask Daniel his thoughts, and gauge feedback from others about the proposed merge.


How long have you been playing Teen SL?

I've been playing Teen Second Life, since 31st of October 2006. For the first 2 months, I did not play much, but then in early 2007 to present, i've been playing alot. I've had 2 amazing rezz day anniversarys so far in Teen SL, which was 2 big milestones for me. The first rez day (31st October 2007) was excellent because my friend was a DJ in TSL so we had a big party underground, Blue Linden and Claudia Linden attended. The second rez day (31st October 2008), was full of parties. Here are some snapshots of my rez days

What appeals to you most about TG?

I love that the Teen Grid is a friendly 3D environment to be part of. I like the way people help each other in Teen Second Life to build, script, texture and mentor each other. There are some great places in Teen Second Life and some really historic locations worth visiting which keeps TSL active, I think. The education in Teen Second Life has really improved since beta stages of TG because of growth and opportunities this provides teens to learn and share ideas. Educators can benefit from this because this would leverage the power of new digital online media to engage students and provide opportunities that might otherwise not exist if there were no virtual worlds.


As you prepare to move to the main grid what are you looking forward to the most?

Well, I'm looking forward to a new exciting adventure, that's for sure. I can't wait to explore the all famous and interesting landmarks on the main grid, which i'm looking forward to at the moment to do. I'm looking foward to see what opportunities and possibilities there are over there, as well as content creations because I love seeing interesting builds and being inspired by that :). I can't wait to join the new resident experience help programs/groups on the main grid because I like mentoring new residents and I love giving out helpful knowlege to others on the Teen Grid. Finally, I'm looking forward to meeting new people (friends) in the adult world and socializing with them. WoooT. :)

Is there anything you are worried about?

I'm mostly worried about about leaving Teen Grid because I fear that the TG community will fall apart once I leave and it will be be hard for TG to pick up again, because i've helped the community in so many ways possible. I'm in the process on selecting residents that can take over and make TSL sucessful I hope. I'm also worried about what kind of adult content/mature/bad content there might be lying about on the main grid. Except from that i'm good.

What will you miss from Teen SL?

Firstly, I will miss all my TSL friends because they have been so helpful to me over the past 2 years in TG and I know that they will miss me badly, :(. I will miss helping people to build, script, learn the basics and knowlege of TSL. I will miss helping out with management for groups and land across TG. Because I won't be able to send group notices out to let people know the very latest news and helpful tips anymore.

I will miss TSL Linden Lab office hours because they are so much fun to go to, because the community and Lindens discuss really interesting topics. I will also miss mentoring and greeting new people at the Welcome Areas and new resident TG areas. The last thing I will miss would be not be able to upload any more TSL snapshots of my travels in the community onto my TSL flickr stream, keeping people informed on what's on. I have taken more than 6,000 TSL snapshots since early 2007 and I hope I have inspired people to carry on when I transfer.

There is speculation at the moment the two grids may soon be merged, what are your thoughts on this?

At this stage, I think the grids will be merged next year or by the very latest 2010/11.

I think Linden Lab wants a grid merge to happen...why?..because on July 3rd 2008, M Linden came to TSL to for the 5th birthday celebrations event saying this; "there have been alot of conversation about the topic about grid merge" and there have been alot complex issues to consider first before merging the grids". M Linden also said "We are working on it.", "And our goal is to better incorporate teens in a much broader way in the future".

This month Blue Linden said this at a recent TSL Office Hour saying "in the past year teens have given LL tons of great feedback on the idea of grid merge", "it's come in handy....we've gone over all of it here at the Lab and some of the idea are perfect" and finally "it's just a difficult process and we'll have to take the time to do it right".

I recently created a survey using SurveyMonkey in TSL called "Should TG be merged with MG", the survey was created for both MG and TG residents to have their say about the issue. In total, 100 residents undertook the survey and here are the results; 85% of residents want the grids to merge compared to 19% saying No it should not be merged. Teen Grid residents have now set up a group called "Grid Merge" in TSL, with over 400 members in the group and it's growing each day. There is another group set up in TSL against "Grid Merge" too. Finally, Linden Lab have been thinking also about a "All Areas Area" in TSL or something on them lines, nothing yet has been announced about that. We will have to see if Linden Lab goes ahead on this idea or not.


You can check out Daniel's TSL Blog on his blog.

I hope to interview Daniel again in the course of 2009 and find out how has move to the main grid has gone, and if his hopes and fears have been realised.

Anyone who has seen me wandering around the grid, either hanging out or searching for my next story, will know that if there is one thing I don't really try to achieve with my "look", it's cuteness. However, with the current love affair that SL is having with the Tiny avatar, I, like everyone else, want to get involved, especially with all the great things and adventures that are available within the tiny community (much like the Loco Poco's treasure hunt that we explored recently). So I decided I would go on a bit of a shopping spree, to see if I could find myself a tiny avatar that was not quite so, well, cute. A badass Tiny, if you will.


The first thing that caught my eye was Tedwood Portsmouth's "Death of Tinies costume" (200$L). However, while this neat little outfit, with it's Terry Pratchet inspired name, has a superb gothic charm, and would make the perfect Halloween costume for any Tiny, it still requires wearing a frankly adorable animal avatar underneath, thus making it not exactly what I'm looking for.


I decided to move away from the gothic, and try out something a little more funky and futuristic. After much searching, I found the "Tiny Kabuki Robot" by AKIBE Sixgallery(300$L). This highly detailed avatar combines intricate traditional Japanese patterns and costume, with funky neon robotic styling. However, maybe it's the fact that it's samurai blade is purely decorative, or perhaps it was the quirky cartoon blinking eyes, but when I took the avatar down to the neon city of Insilico, I felt that, although it looked fantastic, it was hardly intimidating and wasn't really making anyone take me very seriously.


Maybe what I needed was something with more muscle. More macho. So what could be better than a tiny wrestler! "Mary's Tiny ;; Fukumen" by makitan Kidd(110$L) matched the bill superbly, turning me into a mini-luchador totally ready to mix it up with any other Lycra clad warriors. I felt the need to try this out, so I headed down to Second Life Championship Wrestling's Ambrodome Arena, where there happened to be a match on. I hung out amongst the audience and the other wrestlers, thinking, "Well, Rey Mysterio can be short and a champion?". But the nail was hammered into my badass wrassler image when Katheryn Blackadder, winner of the match that night, spotted me, and said "Check out the lil luchador! How Cute!". Failed again, I guess.


Back searching again, I decided that if anyone could make a tiny avatar with attitude, it would be a brand called "Fucker Family". "Skeleton Boy" by Karshr Demonia(150$L) mixes urban street style along with a dark supernatural monster charm. An undead dude with punk sensibilities. You can even buy a rock and roll guitar or bass, that plays a kickass riff when you type. What could be more badass than that! I was all happy to call it a day there, and say that I had found the avatar I'd been looking for, but it just so happened that I had bought a gift for someone that I couldn't transfer. I called the creator over to my land, and was discussing the problem, and once I'd finally come to an agreement with her, as a parting comment, she turned to me, and said "btw, your avatar is very cute". ARGH!

So, I decided, I needed something that could never be called cute. Something that, regardless of size, would strike fear into the heart of any avatar. I needed to get properly scary. And then I found it:


"Evil Clown Tiny Avatar" by Jenne Dibou's Mechanical Toy Factory(490$L) is NOT cute. From it's automaton metal skin, to the burning red eyes and little razor sharp teeth, and the fact that it is an evil clown, it has everything you need to intimidate any avatar you bump into. Pleased that I had finally found something that no-one could call cute, I started showing off my find to my friends. And they all agreed that it was indeed a completely uncute tiny. They also agreed that unless I changed out of the avatar, they might feel the need to run away screaming.

So, in conclusion, it is possible to find a tiny avatar that is not cute. However, whether it is possible to find such an avatar, without your friends hiding behind sofas and pretending not to be around when you call, is quite another matter. I guess there are worse things than being cute.

Tomorrow, November 24th 2008, marks the beginning of the week long film festival, Admit One, which brings together audiences in Second Life and Real Life, to experience some promising short films by up and coming film-makers, hungry for their big break. What make this even more interesting is that this is a project of the Mexican university, Universidad Anahuac Cancun (http://www.anahuaccancun.edu.mx), with the films provided by students, and the event itself completely organised by pupils on the Mass Media course there, all under the watchful eye of Mildred Milev, teacher at the university, educating students in uses of technology, and in this case, Secondlife. I managed to get some time with Mildred, not only to talk about the festival, but also to putting SL on the curriculum:

By Allanah Tomsen

We all need to have a few Linden dollars in our SL life. Without them, the creative residents of this artistic haven, would be unable to or possibly less inspired to design and produce the incredible array of fashion, furniture, vehicles, games, entire sims, that make the majority of residents, keep entering that log in password. If your new to this strange and alluring world, looking to progress your avatar and lose that freebie fashion attire (although there are many wonderful freebies out there), or whatever it is you want to buy on SL, there are loads of different money making activities to be had. Of course I would say that probably buying your lindens is the easiest option and to be fair they are very cheap, 1000 lindens costing around £2.40 ($4), but I was a newbie once and was wary of putting my card details online, or sharing my information with someone calling themselves a Linden, and was in fact a cheap skate to start with, although I blame my Scottish heritage for that:D

Camping…..ah the sweet memories. Probably the most boring and mind numbing experience I have ever had the misfortune to try. You can plonk your avatar on a bench and basically sit there…….and sit there…….and Aaaaarrrrgh!, sit there, and after an hour you may just have the enthusiasm to take your 8 lindens (earning 2 lindens for every 15 mins) and head over to the Yard Sale to grab that bargain! If having your av sitting all day bores you, then there are dance pads, although there’s something very wrong and embarrassing about being chatted up while your both doing the Chicken dance. I should really include Zyngo in this list since I am myself an addict of this “while away the time” game and have won many a linden on it. Of course you could “Just get a job” or get creative and build and sell your fine artistic ideas. There are many many ways to earn your living in SL.


Now I am a music lover and it wasn’t long before I had my first taste of what SL had to offer and attended my first live music event. I stood mesmerised by the very talented and amazing Djai Skjellerup singing songs he had himself written, he sang from his soul with a passion that touched my heart and I have somewhat become enthralled by the endless musical talent accessible in SL.

It occurred to me recently that I’ve never actually come across a busker on Second Life. I’m sure there are some, but they are obviously few and far between and this got me wondering how much a busker could actually make using their singing and musical talents, turning up here and there, putting down their tip jar if the sim allows and just singing and playing his/her heart out? Now I have a love/hate relationship with my RL guitar, I love it and it hates me, but I know enough chords to strum a tune together so decided to give it a wee shot. Firstly I needed a guitar and managed to pick up a lovely Martin D35 acoustic guitar from Nortique Musical Instruments, found a cool guitar case tip jar and was set for the life of an SL Busker. Where to busk was my next dilemma and decided that if anyone would accept me it would be the Hobos and off I teleported to The Hobo Island Sandbox. There were about three avatars in all, standing around building and creating.

I was actually petrified since I am very mediocre on guitar and my voice is less than mediocre, but I decided if I was going to write this article I should at least have the guts to be a part of it. So guitar in hand, strumming animation on, tip jar rezzed, I clicked voice and started singing and playing the Streets of London, which I thought was quite apt for the place I was currently at. Within about 3 seconds a very scary gesture of “I will KILL you” could be heard echoing around me, geez knew I was bad, but give a gal a break. I carried on regardless, sang a few other little ditties and could not believe, when the same person who I thought was out to get me actually turned out to be a lovely guy and tipped me 20 lindens (still trying to convince myself he actually liked my songs and didn’t tip just to get rid of me).


I thanked him rather enthusiastically and with a new found confidence headed off to my next pitch in Central Park. I was a little disappointed to find out that it wasn’t actually based on the real Central Park as I had been planning to do a whole repertoire of songs by Phoebe Buffay from Friends, which both suit my guitar playing and my voice. Sadly there was no-one about and was just about to take back my tip case, when I noticed someone lurking about, obviously intrigued at what I was up to. Soon found out it was the owner of the Sim, JadzOr Conover. Got ready to be sent straight home and banned with no chance of showing off my Pheobe skills, but to my delight he seemed quite keen to have a wee listen. My Smelly Cat tune went down pretty well I thought and he had invited a friend of his to eavesdrop by phone to my obviously delightful, enchanting tones. Did the Grandma song, Cow in the Meadow (my personal favourite) and the Shower Song. It wasn’t long before another of his friend’s teleported in, which hilariously was a cat avatar named Ed Bumstead. I of course did an encore and readily dedicated my Smelly Cat song to him and between them they tipped a nice 300 lindens.


So all in all, I earned an impressive 320 lindens within approximately 50 minutes of busking. Not bad me thinks considering the quality of play on offer. So, from this I have proved that it could very well be an SL Busker’s life.

So if you feel that you may have what it takes to whip out your instrument and give it some and I’m speaking about artistic talent here, give it a try, who knows, you may even get some recognition and move on to the big time and I will be standing at your gig, secretly wishing it was me. If you already feel that you are ready for the stages of SL, then check out this link http://slmc.myfastforum.org/about2137.html where Djai is eagerly awaiting to hear from you to take part in a very special Christmas event, which is a collaborative recording project, although he does stress “no comb and papers please”, so sadly that leaves me out.

Just over a year ago, when we set up Rez Magazine, Trin and I had a vision of what we wanted the site and mag to be, and I personally had some fairly definite goals with the standards of my writing. Amongst those goals was the fact that I wanted to make sure that I was out on the grid, interviewing some of the most interesting, influential and intriguing residents out there. With my first article for Rez, I definitely managed that when I interviewed the much loved king of the Secondlife Hobos Group, Orhalla Zander.

Well, seeing that we have just celebrated our 1st birthday, I decided what better way to mark this, than to catch up with Orhalla (or Oz to his friends, of which there are many), to have a chat with him about what the past year has brought to him and the Hobos, including their move to the new Hobo Island, how (and if) the grid changes have impacted them and ultimately to see what a difference a year makes:

Voodoo Buwan: Ok, so generally how has the last year been for you and the Hobos?

I first walked the SecondLife grid a little over 2 years ago. Introduced by a friend I was almost instantly hooked. Like many I lapped up the SecondLife experience. Did all the right things and even the 'in' things. Now almost 2 years later, I'm seriously considering leaving.

I started in the virtual world by working in a fairly successful club. At this place I found many of the very good friends I have now. When this club moved to it's own sim I was able to have my first taste of a virtual home. I, at the time played SL with my RL partner. We were in a position were RL living together was impossible and for a moment, we could capture the ability to live together in sl, it perhaps isn't RL but it was the closest we had. I spent 5 happy months 'working' in my friendly 'pub up the road' and living in my beautifully manicured home with my partner. I progressed with her to a rented 1/4 sim where we grew our home.

Suddenly my partner passed away, and in the very tricky, and complex real live situation I was able to find sanctuary in my secondlife. A small number of friends knew about our relationship, and as the shocking news spread of her death, more and more were told. I was unable to lean on many people in RL because of the complexity of this relationship, however unquestioningly our SecondLife friends offered a support network that was unimaginable. I can genuinely say that without this unconditional support, I wouldn't have been where I am now, RL or SL.

In order to fill my days with things I began to write for a well known news site. I also began to estate manage a friends sim. During this time I was re-introducted to someone I'd known at the old club - Aimee Trescothick. Aimee helped with the rental sim and we found and grew our friendship. Using the medium of SecondLife we both realised that we fitted together. We explored together, did work together, had fun together, spent time with friends together. Ultimately we moved in together in SL and met in RL.

The love you imagine, the kind that sells millions of dollars worth of tickets at the box offices around the world, I was exceptionally lucky to find. We discovered we fitted together in RL also. I owe SecondLife an awful lot; the support network, the confidence building and of course the love of a woman.

I learned in SecondLife how to write. I know that sounds rather strange, but writing is something I'd never tried before. SecondLife gave me the confidence to try, I found it was something that gave me enjoyment. From the news site I founded Rez Magazine with Voodoo. Rez is a passion of mine, a truly independent medium for us to write about many things in SL. It gives me the freedom to 'be my own boss' and to cover the things I want too in the way I want too. I opened my Rez Office on the 1/4 sim in a building made by Aimee. Together it was a culmination of lots of work.

From the 1/4 sim, we moved to a rented OpenSpace Sim. The main purpose of this sim would be our home. It might be pixels held on a server in San Francisco but hitting the 'go home' button actually means something. To climb into bed and virtually cuddle, means something. Spending time perfecting the look of home, means something. It is called Your World, Your Imagination, and the ability to create your 'dream home' here, for me at least, is exceptionally appealing and fundamentally needed. We would create our home, but we would firstly create our dream wedding setting. Having complete control on this island, we would take time to create the area that we wanted to marry in. To virtually stand up there and in-front of the collected friends speak of our love for each other. Sounds perfectly twee doesn't, but after-all isn't that the beauty of secondlife?

Aimee and I spent 6 months creating what WE wanted. Arranging the finer details, and asking the relevant people if they would do us the honor of being our bridesmaids, reverend, best man, or the guy who gives (a) bride away. The invites were beautifully crafted and sent out, the flickr group created, even a windlight recommended preset has been made. Two weeks before our 'I Dos' Linden Lab announce the changes in Open Space pricing.

In my two year existence as Trinity Dechou I have been in the middle of drama on a few occasions. VAT price changes, club related drama, estate drama, recently IP theft (unfounded) allegations and now this. I love SecondLife, I love the people in SecondLife. I love the beauty of SecondLife. I love the creation in SecondLife. However, all this drama, all this stress.... isn't this supposed to be fun? It is no longer fun.

In the last two years I remember LL increasing the private estate tier rates, introducing VAT and now this. You will never own your land, you might think you do, but the power belongs to the self appointed Linden Gods. We fight for what we love, we fight for what we believe in; there is only so much fight in us all and I think I've run out of fight.

At this moment there is hysteria and panic. Many people are 'homeless'. Linden Lab did that, no one else. I see no benefit of their action other than making many residents homeless and even questioning their life here. The powers that be have effectively killed off many of their residents and murdered the land market with one fell swoop.

I do consider leaving, strongly. However a few things hold me here at the moment. Rez Magazine is one, but how long before LL govern the freedom of speech, surely it's within their mandate (somewhere). Friends of course being another. I owe so much to these people, my developed relationships, the people who have touched my heart, and hopefully the hearts I have touched. It would be with a VERY heavy heart I pressed logout for that last time, believe me. Thankfully Aimee and I are more than SL, and we don't need it. It would change our relationship, as it is still heavily used as a way to spend time together in the evenings but it's not essential.

In a nutshell, LL have sucked the enjoyment out of SecondLife over the past two years. The harsh reality that these people can do as they please with no way for us lowly residents to shape the change.

IF I stay it will be for my friends, not Linden Lab.


This is my story, as the change in Linden policy is not just a matter of prices and budgets, but people and their lives. If you would like to share your story, please leave a comment

I’m sure many people have often wondered what distinguishes one place from another. In Second Life there is a plethora of clubs; what makes one place stand out from all the rest? Is it is the decor, the build, the themes or does it come down to the people who go there?

Regular readers of Rez will remember I tracked the demise of Durell Celts Lava Pit; a club originally devised by Lord Leafblower and Aava Jeego. The original Lava Pit closed early 2007 and Durell, one of the many members attempted to reintroduce the club. In my controversial and scathing article I noted that the reincarnation of this formerly successful club was rather disappointing.

Since that article was posted, Durell’s version of the club has gone, leaving no trace on the Second Life network. However, Lord and Aava’s Lava Pit has still left its mark even with its suspended absence. That was until September 2008 when The Lava Pit once more opened its doors under the careful wings of the original owners.

The new Lava Pit has a completely different build, different decor and somewhat different themed events. However, whilst the club itself has had a complete makeover the experience remains and same and the new prims have recaptured that genuine family feel. Clearly in answer to my original question, this club stands out from the others because of the people; particularly because of its owners.

I caught up with Lord Leafblower and asked him to explain The Lava Pits journey to date.

Trinity: What did you think of the resurrection club provided by Durell Celt

Lord: It is unfortunate that I agreed to hand over the name and legacy of the club at that time. Contrary to the hype and promises made by the new owner, the resulting place added nothing to the earlier successes and popularity of the original. The Lava Pit was about Lord Leafblower, Aava Jeegoo and all the friends, without those personalities there, it wasn't The Lava Pit.


Trinity: The Lava Pit on Kiva Island closed early 2007, why have you decided to bring the Lava Pit back to SecondLife now?



Lord: Well, to understand why we brought it back, you need to understand why we closed it.


By March 2007, working and personal life for both of us was getting extremely busy. At that time we had already started to think about the forthcoming Boxapixels company and Lava Inside products were just starting to be produced. We were no longer able to commit as much personal time to being in SL as we previously had been.

Secondly The Lava Pit had gotten away from its original small, friends-based hang-out. It had become another overloaded club in SL with gambling, contests, virtual-sex and all the trimmings that come with those aspects. It was totally out of control! And that's entirely my doing as I got carried away with the success of the place.


Another reason was purely personal. The Lava Pit had become too well known. As a result I was the target of constant abuse in IM, notecard drops and whatever other mechanisms from complete strangers. There are quite an extraordinary amount of people that want to be pissed off at anybody seemly ”doing well” out of Second Life. The constant stream of abuse grinds you down eventually even if you try to ignore it. A lot of misinformed people seem to think that so-called ”clubs” in SL are making money for the owners. They couldn't be more wrong :D establishing, promoting, maintaining a successful club or hang-out in Second Life can cost a fortune.


Anyway, those are the major reasons that we closed it down. It went out with a bang, at a popularity high-point and I was happy with the decision.


So 1.5 years later, I felt like I wanted to re-open The Lava Pit, but bring it back in the style of the ”original” small Lava Pit that started on mainland in September 2006. That was small, a low membership count, some mad friends, randomly having events and so on... it didn't need to be occupied 24/7 and was a no pressure situation for us. I had originally started the place in 2006 as I got frustrated at the ”rules” of The Shelter. I couldn't find a place that was a friendly hang-out without being analy retentive. So, true to the nature of Second Life, I figured I would make one.


Now I hope that the new place will become that thing once again.



Trinity: How has the response been to the new Lava Pit?



Lord: When I sent out the invitations to the ”opening” to the people I wanted to know about it, the up-take was practically 100%. So that was kind of fun. 
The response to the ”change” of the place is mixed, but generally people like the place, the new style, the new look and the original idea.
 There is no active promoting for The Lava Pit going on, and the events are not regularly timed, so it's difficult to compare it's attendance and acceptance with the previous place. The objective is totally different, and there is no camping, so... =)



Trinity: The design of the club has changed significantly can you tell me why?



Lord: The original Lava Pit on mainland was built in ignorance. I didn't really know my way about building in Second Life so well. So the result was basically a box with stuff in it. It grew of course.


Then by the time I bought Kiva Island and put the new Lava Pit there I was in such a rush to get the place moved, that I just built a Bigger Box :D If you remember, the place was constantly evolving, but I never really liked the build as it was so ad-hoc.


The new Lava Pit today is how I would have liked it before. It's round (ish), small enough to not be intimidating, but large enough to cope with 20+ people.


If you make a big club place, you need to fill the spaces to allow it have any kind of "atmosphere". That invariably leads to a large place full of unrelated crap that follows no theme or style =) So it was good to avoid that.


The newly opened Lava Pit has set out with very different themed events. Opening night was “Worst in whatever” and one of the most notable events since then was “Big Fat Av”. I wanted to know Lords inspiration for these events and what some of the feedback had been to the particularly non PC themes.



Lord: I'm not sure there is any inspiration other than "be controversial", but I will explain a little about why they are as they are.


Well the place has one rule, ”don't piss each other off, everything else is OK!”.


That rule is a bit subjective, what pisses one person off, makes another laugh.
So I thought, the owner should at least be able to piss everybody off! =)


No but really, the main reason was being utterly bored with the mundane ”Best In ” contests that are done to death in Second Life. Best In Black, Best In Leather, Best In Blaaaaa and so on. So I vowed never to have a ”Best In” contest, and that lead to some unconventional and controversial events like ”Big Fat Av” and so on. The funny thing is, the people that attend those events have split their sides laughing at themselves and their friends. And *that* is what it should be about. Anybody getting on their high-horse about ”immoral event themes” needs to take a deep breath and worry about something serious in life =)



Lava Inside, club products range, was born on Kiva Island alongside the Lava Pit. Even after Kiva Island closed, Lava Inside continued to grow. Lord added a Lava Inside main store to his estate which also includes The Lava Pit sim, Boxapixels Sandbox and Mall and the under development Leafside Heights weapons area. I asked Lord about the growth of these sims and the creations born from the original Lava Pit.


Lord: Lava Inside grew out of two things. Firstly my programming skills in RL and secondly the need for devices and gadgets for the Lava Pit as it was growing. Lava Inside started to take over my SL time away from The Lava Pit. It was nice to see some revenue coming from efforts in Second Life rather than just being a money ”pit”. Then it just kept growing as I thought of other things to create and sell. Now, Lava Inside is a thriving supplier of items in Second Life.

Leafside Heights is a new project and still under work. It is a free-for-all weapons area with damage and push enabled. But rather than just be a weapons sandbox I wanted it to have some theme and atmosphere. So I thought it would be fun to build it as a run-down urban place. It's a fun playground =)


The Lava Pit was certainly held sacred in the hearts of its many members in SecondLife. It is responsible for my personal development here. Like so many, the reincarnation of the club under new ownership, clouded the wonderful memories of THE Lava Pit. I certainly believe this particular club owes its success to the people and I for one am very happy to see it back where it belongs. Here ends The Lava Pits happy ending.