Killing the Golden Goose

This post was originally intended for musicians and venue owners in Second Life, but it also applies to anybody who does anything "artsy" and then tries to sell their own creations. There is a reason that artists and musicians have managers. The managers are, theoretically, supposed to have at least one foot in reality, and their job is to make the artist they manage understand that there is a difference between what the artist thinks their talent or their creations are worth, and what the public will pay.

Starting in the real world, I live in Austin and we frequently have street fairs, where people can rent a stall or booth and set their wares out for sale to the general public. Over the years, I've seen tons of beautiful things at these fairs....things I might purchase if it were not for one small detail. They are usually so overpriced by the artists who are trying to sell them, that most folks remark on how nice it is, myself included, and keep walking. I have asked these artists why they price their creations so high and the inevitable answer is, "my talent and my time are worth alot of money!"

Uhm...sorry to harsh your vibe, man, but your talent is only worth what the general public is willing to pay for it, not what you think it's worth.

This kind of "you need to pay for my genius" attitude is slowly creeping into the virtual world as well, which is a damn shame.

One of my passions in Second Life is the virtual live music scene, which is quite vibrant. New performers are appearing every day. Some are great and some not so great, but for the most part, the music is amazing and up until recently, most of the musicians were content to take a small payment from the sim owner and take tips from the audience for their performance. There are also a number of sims that are "tips only," meaning the sim owner doesn't pay the talent at all and they work for tips from the audience.

Recently, however, a number of elite SL musicians who are no longer satisfied with the level of compensation received from the venue owners are wanting to charge a cover for their performances. I'm not sure whether this cover will be split with the venue owner to help defray the expenses of maintaing a sim or if it all goes in the performer's pocket. In principle, I really have no problem with charging a cover, per se, but the problem is that the performers tend to think in US dollars and not in Linden dollars, nor do they consider their services relative to what things and/or services go for inworld. They also don't consider the fact that their fans go to several concerts a week and if all the performers charged a cover for their music, the cost to the fans could run into the hundreds of real life dollars in the course of a month. There is also the fact that some, if not most of the music fans do not put their real life discretionary income into the game, but work inworld for their spending money, which covers their living arrangements, clothing budgets and so forth, so a cover charge running into the hundreds or thousands of linden dollars would be excessive and pretty much untenable.

"But it's only 5 dollars!" they say....

Five US dollars in Linden currency is L1295. For that amount, I can purchase a complete outfit, hair, jewelery, shoes and a dress, all of which will reside in my inventory until death do us part...or I use the delete key. I have addressed the SL shopping angle in another essay, but the bottom line is that one gets way more "bang for the buck" as a shopper in SL than in the real world, but these musicians do not see their cognitive disonance, or the unintended consequences of a move to charging to hear live music. In other words, not only do I get an exaggerated value for my linden money, I also have the goods in my inventory. To put out $5 USD for a virtual concert is unsustainable for all but the wealthiest of SL residents in the long run. If this trend catches on, I am afraid that these foolhardy folks will price all but the newest musicians (meaning the ones so new they're willing to play for tips only) right out of the market.

As for the venue and club owners, I have very little sympathy for their complaints about having to fork out thousands of linden dollars to pay their staffs and the talent they bring into their sims. Uhm, sorry, but you buy a sim at your own risk, and if you are counting on the people who visit your sim to pay your bills you are sadly mistaken, possibly bordering on delusional. Anybody with an SL age of over a year knows that sims are expensive. Anybody who opens a club or music venue should know that virtual clubs are money pits and be prepared to run in the red for quite some time, if not forever.

Most non sim owners look at the venue and club owners as social climbers or wannabe big shots who want to schmooze with the elite of the SL performers and patrons, and they seem to want everybody else to contribute to their "vision." What a load of crap. If you have a vision for a sim, wonderful! But YOU pay for it and don't expect those of us who come to your sim to help pay your bills. Your sim may be important to you, but I've got news for you, Mr. Sim Owner, you and your sim are not anybody else's priority and you have a nerve to ask everybody else to pay for your dream. The sim owners may have the noblest of intentions, but their begging really chaps my ass. A discreetly placed contribution basket is fine...but don't use the internal messaging system, or have the performer harrangue the sim visitors for money. You wanted to be a sim owner and wear the vaunted "owner" tag, so don't expect everybody else to pay for it.

For the past 3 years, the Second Life musicians and venue owners have benefited from the unstinting generosity of the fans, some of whom tip them until it hurts, and from those of us who have supported SL music from day one with our lindens and our time. I fear that if they try to fix a system that ain't broke, they will end up killing the golden goose that has been so good to them. I'm also afraid that it's not about the joy of sharing their music anymore, but has become about getting a piece of the linden pie, and in the end, this attitude will hurt us all.

Spectacular Failure

As of today, the Rassmusen poll has President Obama's "passion index" at -11, which, though it's not the lowest it's been in his short time in office, but it's down there around the lowest. Geoffrey P. Hunt, writing at The American Thinker says that Obama is setting himself up to be the worst president since Woodrow Wilson. That's a total ouchie.

I'd like to think I've been somewhat more generous....I think Obama will knock Jimmy Carter out of first place on the list of Worst Presidents Evah, and since presidental history isn't my strong suit, I'm fairly willing to take Geoff's word on Wilson. In point of fact, Woodrow Wilson was the first "progressive" president of the 20th century and this just proves that Americans, by and large, don't toe the socialist/marxist/progressive line in politics....mainly because it goes against everything America and American's think they stand for.

I haven't written much on Obama since the election because I was trying to "give him a chance." A friend of mine who is center-left leaning in politics and I agreed that Obama owns the economy come January 1, 2010, but I'm not sure it's going to take that long for America to realize that Obama is no more than an empty suit, ill prepared (although he had an education that most of us would envy) for the job he has been given by the guilt ridden white progressive political class, and a general populace fatigued with the relentless criticism and left wing hate of George W. Bush. Obama's election was the American population's "can't we just all get along?" moment, and now reality is sinking in to bite them in the ass.

I lived through Jimmy Carter's presidency. It wasn't fun, and I remember lines for gas that stretched several city blocks, stagflation, and a smug Mr. Carter in his little "Mr. Rogers" cardigan telling us all to turn down the heat to save energy while he ran the economy into a wall, and handed the country of Iran over to a bunch of apocalyptic clerics who rewarded his support by promptly taking our embassy staff hostage for over a year. Then they further humiliated him by releasing them at the very moment Ronald Reagan was taking the oath of office. His domestic policy was abysmal and his foreign policy dangerously short sighted....we're still cleaning that mess up as I write this and the threat of nuclear attacks on Iran is being considered because of Carter's shameful meddling in the politics of what was, at the time, an ally.

There is a story on the internet right now that the President of Iran is now ready to have talks with the west regarding their nuclear ambitions (funny how they're all reasonable in the wake of a badly botched, rigged election, huh?) and Obama could fuel the fires at home by actually sitting down at any table with them. This is unacceptable to me and it should be to any Americans who actually still believe in our brand of republican democracy. Should Obama decide to give these goons legitimacy, and ram through a very unpopular domestic agenda, he will certainly pass Carter as the Worst President Evah.

Will Obama Legitimize Ahmadinajhad?

There is a headline at Fox News online that says the Iranians are ready to have talks with the West, with "no preconditions" regarding their nuclear plans. Funny that they should be so reasonable now that the world knows their election was not only rigged, but badly so.

Will Obama legitimize this travesty by undertaking these talks?

Time will tell, but given what he's said and done in the past, I suspect he will go ahead with these talks under the guise of "not meddling" in another country's politics.

Disgusting.

Thoughts on Second Life and Child Avatars

As most of you who read my blog know, I play a game called Second Life, and from time to time I post an essay on my views of or about things that happen within the virtual world called "SL." Today I am going to offer my opinion on people who insist on playing child avatars (called AVs in SL) and taking those child AVs into what should be, and are classified as, mature, or adult simulators (called sims in SL).

Personally, I think people who insist on playing children in an essentially adult world have some mental issues to begin with, and those issues are multiplied exponentially when these people take a child avatar into a mature (meaning sex beds are in use in said sim or that the sim has sexual or adult activities) sim, as their mere presence, in my humble opinion, makes most of the other adults in the area very uncomfortable. It certainly makes me uncomfortable, and for obvious reasons, if one uses common sense. Of course, people who play child avatars tend to abdicate common sense in their zeal to make the rest of us "tolerate or accept" them in any situation. Sorry, but no, and I'll detail my reasons in the subsequent paragraphs.

1. There are many reasons why people choose to play children in SL and I'm ok with most of them. So you had a crappy childhood and you feel that you need to "get that back" by playing a child in a virtual world....ok, fine. Stay in the sims where children are welcomed, and there are picnic areas and playscapes abounding. No sex beds and no noobs with huge phalluses running around naked and jerking off every 10 meters.
2. The whole reason that SL had to set up an "adult" continent is because they were taken to court by some incensed parent who caught little Johnny watching cartoons fuck. Do you think those outraged parents are going to be comforted to see a child AV on the new "adult" continent, dancing with an enormous cock? I don't, and these militant people with the child AVs know it too.
3. To me, the only reason a child AV is present in an adult sim is to suck a potential pervert into trying to play with them. This is entrapment in it's purest form. Get the perv to make a move and zap them with a report. Seems to me that if the temptation isn't there, the perv would never make a move, because there wouldn't be anything to move ON.
4. Lastly, we have "child" AVs who have baby talk on their profiles, telling the world that they're 8 years old, yet they have an SL "partner," meaning a wife or a husband. How many 8 year olds do YOU know that are married in rl? If you're going to present yourself as a child, either do it all the way or put on an adult AV when you are in an Adult area.

The thing that chaps me most about people who play child AVs is their utter hypocrisy. They present themselves as "children," complete with the baby talk and the sexed up, Bratz doll look, and then they want to say they're adults when they're confronted in a place where children don't belong.

You want to play a kid? Great. Stay in the Disney sims where you belong and stop forcing the rest of us to look at you in places where no children should be found and we'll get along just fine. I don't hang out in sims that are child friendly and the people who play child AVs don't need to invade the places where the rest of us go to be rid of them.

Thank You

Today is July 4, 2009. America is 233 years old and we are celebrating the anniversary of Her birth, so I would like to pause for a moment, between the tragedies and crises of the day to say a profound and heart-felt Thank You to the members of our past and present Military.

Thank you for understanding that there is something bigger than yourselves.

Thank you for doing what most of us cannot or would not...your sacrifice of time and physical abilities in the service of protecting our country.

Thank you for the fact that I, as a woman, can get an education, can drive, can have control over my daily life.

Thank you for defending our shores from hungry tyrants that would see us, as Americans and Westerners, on our knees in submission.

Thank you for ignoring the peaceniks and haters who would denigrate your service. We who are grateful see their ignominious behavior and are embarrassed for them.

Thank you for keeping America the "Home of the Free and the Brave," for you surely rank among them.

The Chinese have an interesting curse...."May you live in interesting times..." It seems that we do. Evidently we are poised on the brink of history, watching as it rolls over us, times that seem to challenge the very foundations of what liberty means to each and every one of us. Are we so soft and bloated and apathetic that we will allow the destruction of such a beacon of light in the dark and ugly world? Only time will tell, but for now, our nation is safe because of your sacrifice.

Sleep well, brothers and sisters in arms, I fear we will need your courage again in the not so distant future.

I Am a Virtual Shoe Whore

Since this is a blog with the word "confession" in the name, I'm going to do a little confessing. I am a virtual shoe whore.

I'm a shoe whore in real life too, but in virtual reality (aka, Second Life) you can have shoes that are impossible to have in the real world, because they would never hold your weight. They are 10 inch, spike heeled, ethereal works of primage that set my heart aflutter with a mere picture, let alone the real thing. Behold the Stiletto Moody shoe.

In virtual terms, Stiletto Moody is the Manolo Blahnik of Second Life shoes. Her shoes are walking works of art. As I write this, her rabid fans are waiting with bated breath and itchy fingers on the mouse for her sim's grand re-opening and several new styles. I can't wait. I intend to be the proud owner of at least one pair in each style. I'm quivering with anticipation.

Yes, Stiletto Moody shoes are probably the most expensive shoes in Second Life (her *Bare* styles with sculpted feet run L2300 per pair and L8k for a color set), but they are also the most technically advanced as well. They come with beautifully sculpted feet and toes, have tons of skin color and toenail color options, as well as prim toe rings, and they also come with a little prim bag that allows you to save the settings from one pair to another, and believe me, that's convenient! Second Life skins have such a broad range of texture colors, so it's very difficult, especially if you tend to wear different colored skins (as I do), to color one pair, let alone half a dozen. The little back up bag is great for storing your settings and recalling them at the click of a mouse, instead of spending a half hour trying to match your skin color every time you put a pair on. The new styles will also be featuring alot more toenail colors, as well as tattoos for your feet! Sounds very cool and I just can't wait to play with those menus!

I must also mention another shoe creator. She has the most amazing coloring system in her newest style of shoe, the Wow. 2408 Alexeev has worked her little virtual fingers to the bone and come up with a hud for her sculpted foot shoes that uses textures instead of a monochrome sculpted foot, using the standard SL coloring system. The difference in using textures on the sculpted foot, as opposed to the system that all the other creators use is that the foot does not become a chalky, yucky color in different sim lights. The textured foot never changes color, and 2408 has done her homework in matching pretty much any skin that comes down the road. Her shoes come with 2 huds, one for pastel tones, and one for other skin tones. You wear the hud that matches your skin the closest, then there are about 100 different shades to choose from...you select the one that comes closest to your skin. The shoes themselves are nice, but not quite as hot as the Stiletto Moodys, though I think this lady is still in her educational evolution (still learning to sculpt), so I think the appearance of her shoes will continue to develop. I have high hopes....

The King is Dead...Long Live the King

Michael Jackson is dead.

Called "the King of Pop" in his day, Michael Jackson has reached his ignoble end. Most of us knew it was coming, but like a train wreck, we couldn't look away. It's hard not to be ambivalent about his tragic demise, because on one hand, MJ had a huge influence on the popular culture of his day, not to mention his musical genius that leaves us with a huge body of work, spanning close to 40 years, and on the other hand, his life in the past 10 years was a freak show worthy of the heyday of Barnum and Bailey. I grew up with Michael Jackson. He's a year older than me, and I remember my love for the Jackson Five and their cutest member at the ripe old age of 12. I wanted to have his babies.....*sigh*

Both his life and the tragic quality of his death are certainly reminiscent of other mega-stars of their day....Elvis Presley coming to my mind almost immediately. Both stars were the "it" pop stars of their time and both wore the mantle of "king" of rock and roll and pop respectively. Elvis died of a legally obtained drug overdose, and as I write this, the autopsy on Jackson is underway and will probably reveal a toxic cocktail of drugs in his body as well. Which begs the question, in my mind...when did people in these men's lives stop saying "no" to them? At what level of celebrity, or wealth, do people begin to abrogate their obligation to keep someone from killing themselves with excess?


Celebrities of the recent and not so recent past...all died of drug overdoses administered by supposed doctors, whose first vow is to "do no harm." Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and now Michael Jackson. The list is larger, of course, but it would do no good to list them here. All huge celebrities in their times and all fabulously wealthy. When do the hangers on and their families and the people who allegedly love them take the bull by the horns and intervene? Can someone who hasn't heard the word "no" in 20 years actually change? Do these people become so self centered, that, like actual kings, their merest desire is fulfilled instantly without thought for the possible consequences? Do the enablers surrounding these people think so much of their golden goose that they would allow it to kill itself? Evidently so.

When I heard of Michael Jackson's demise, my first thoughts were..."I wonder how long it's going to be before the report comes out that he died from a drug overdose?" Not long. Within hours, there was a report on the web (the UK Sun) that his personal physician administered a dose of the drug, Demerol, several hours prior to the emergency 911 call to his home. Fancy that. Funny, the same thing happened to both Anna Nicole and Elvis. Their personal physicians enabled their deaths....

It's truly a shame that talents like this live fast and die early, but it's a further shame that their deaths are hastened by the people who are supposed to have their best interests at heart, and who, firstly, take a vow to "do no harm."