300 Rabbits

I made it home from work in time to change and get to Torley Linden's office hours. Bridie Linden and a few others were laready there when I arrived, including the famous mermaid Natalia Zelmanov! Torley showed up on time and we all started chatting. There were three Pony Club Officers, two Beach Bums, a couple of designers and a handful of other people, a Death Knight and even someone's familiar.

We talked about compter specs for a while, and who was running some program called WindLight. Torley gave us some hints on animations, and there was a discussion on what to do about false accusations causing people grief. I asked Torley about the chances for being able to make a single-arm tattoo? He said "maybe someday." One of the clothing designers there thought that was a great idea - she could make dresses with different length sleeves then too. We also had fun playing musical chairs!


Office hours ran long, but I was able to make most of Friendly Fire's awesome performance at the Bushy Beard Pub. They are a good fit the that place. It was incredibly crowded, I had to stand in the door for 5 minutes before being able to squeeze my way in. Brooke, Daddie, Tkid, Tracy, Moard, Kizza, DJ John and many, many others were there. Willa and Mia showed up late but the show went over so they got a good dose of Friendly Fire ripping up the room. Case and Mack were on fire!


Later I went out shopping and bought a rabbit-hunting outfit. DJ Jocelyn was performing at TNW at 8 and the theme was "Wabbit Season ~Camo". I met Isobela there, as usual there was hardly anyone else there at opening time; Joce Rosie and Argus, then Tracy, then Donna; it was awesome dancing with 5 lovely ladies! Then Farr showed, and it started filling up. There seemed to be many transportation problems yet again; I hope they fix these infrastructure problems soon.

Tracy, Hy, Friendly Fire, Steverino, Natallya, Argus, Farr, Rosie, Donna, Casey, LoveSpell, Morgan and many more all showed. There were some really creative costumes, seems most everybody had a different idea about what was required to hunt wabbits. Maybe my grenade launcher was a little bit much. I did decide against adding my Rambo knife to my ensemble, though.

DJ Joce was playing some very patriotic songs to go with the camo most of us were wearing. Time sure flies when she's on a roll. Everybody was having a great time. There was some spanking going on too, I think. May have been somebody's birthday; I'm not sure what all that was about.

Iso and I were deeply engaged in a conversation and completely missed the announcement of the contest winners. Tracy and Iso tied for the ladies, I won for the guys! I finally caught on that everyone was congratulating us and jostled Iso's elbow whispering "Hey, say thanks, we won!"

We said our thank yous and congratulated each other, and stayed until the end of the show. We wandered around a bit after the show chatting. We went and borrowed some clothes and props from the sets of the movies"300" and Die Hard and had a great time cutting up with them.




I learned a new word of the day when I was at Torley's office hours: OSSM. Synonymous with awesome. Seems kinda silly to me. While there many of the others talked about some new computer game called Crysis. Apparently it's very popular. Who's got time for silly things like that when we're living life large?

High on Hy

One of my acquisitions yesterday was a nice, 2-person hammock with a sunshade you could put over it. I was busy setting it up on my porch when a visitor stopped by. I said "Hi", she just stood there, I said "How are you?" and she started replying. We chatted for a bit but I had to run a quick errand. I invited her to stay but she was gone when I got back. She seemed very intriguing, like she was from another part of the world and new here; I hope she comes back to chat.

I was able to finish setting up my hammock but didn't get to try on my armor as Friendly Fire was about to start at Club Casa Blanco. Case and Mack played a good mix of their newer music as well as their classic smash hits. Suzyduzy was the hostess, on her birthday! The scheduled person couldn't make it so Suzy came in to work. Case sang her a stirring rendition of Happy Birthday; the whole place was just about in tears.

Willa showed up just after the first song started, looking as sparkling as ever. I taught her the Glam Me a Beer Gesture. She had to leave immediately after the show though. I went home to change and headed off to Hy's DJ Debut at Club Group Therapy. The theme was Black something, so that's what I changed into even though I wasn't going to stay for the whole show. I have an early day at work tomorrow and want to get done there early so I can try and make Torley Linden's office hours in the afternoon, I've been wanting to check them out.

Friendly Fire had run late, generously singing some extra songs for us, so I didn't make it to Therapy until about half-past. Tracy, Starr and many others were there. Even though I was late I was able to grab a dance with the lovely and charming Isobela before some other wolf got to her!

At the club there were technical problems with the speakers or sound boards or something; DJ Hy was turning himself inside out trying to fix things that should have been there for him. We were able to enjoy some of his fantastic music, but the problems were frustrating for all of us. Eventually I had to go but felt bad leaving while they were having issues. I sent Hy a text message explaining that I wasn't leaving because of sound problems but because of early meetings at work. He understood, and also invited me to join his group so that I could get notices of future shows. I'll definitely be back to hear him.

Half Re-plugged

I went shopping today, wasn't looking for anything in particular but I found some good deals. I bought a set of Marine Space Armor, among other things. It's quite a complicated piece of equipment; I knew I wouldn't have time to try it on then get it back into it's case before it was time to get to the Friendly Fire half-plugged concert at 5. I had missed Mack and Case yesterday and wanted to make sure I caught this performance. The armor’s still in it's case for later, plugged into the wall charging it's batteries up.

When I arrived at Mack's Gestures at about a quarter-til Alter and Tkid were there, but no one else. No Case or Mack! I started to get worried; it wasn't like them to be late for a gig. They eventually showed; apparently there had been a time change to 6 and the Friendly Fire corporate web operations manager had neglected to have their MySpace page updated appropriately. I was just glad they were OK and would be playing.

Case had asked for requests earlier in the week and I had provided a short list. Two of them were played, which is pretty cool. MiaSnow was there, along with Alter, Sugar, Moard, Tracy and Isobela (who were lucky enough to both dance with me at the same time!), Willa, Tkid, Gavin, takashi, Misprint and many fortunate others. Mack and Case singing tunes, a keg of beer to share, good friends, enough space to dance; life don't get no better than this.

When you're at a Friendly Fire concert time seems to fly by so fast. You're always looking forward to something; what song is coming up next or what will they say on the next break? Before I knew it we were having an after-gig chat.

Later I accompanied Isobela to Fibber's where we jammed to DJ Cher and the incomparable Hostess Ajay. As far as I know it was Ajay first time hostessing by herself and she was excellent. Anybody who has spent as much time at Fibber's as most of us have could likely step into that job and make a reputable showing, but Ajay was picture perfect with nary a drop of sweat crossing her brow. Cher was doing a great job too, very fast with requests. I had requested a song please from her and she came right back with "It's coming up next!"

I couldn't stay long as I was tired from staying up late last night; made a little over half of the show and said my goodnights. It was good to spend some time back at Fibber's; I was tweaking my profile the other day and noticed that oh so many moons ago I had called it "My home away from home." I haven't been there much lately, but the place still just feels, right.

Cops and Jailbirds

The theme for this week's TNW Topless Tuesday was Best in Cops and Jailbirds. I modified my Jailbird shirt per Isobela's suggestion and spent some time on making a cap for my costume. I just couldn't get the cap to fit right until, in desperation, I shaved my head; then it fit fine. The baldness made me look even more like a poor, downtrodden, oppressed prisoner. Hopefully my hair will grow back by tomorrow morning.

I met Isobela there and we caught the end of SazzyLizzy's event. Iso was dressed as a cop which was only fitting for such a pure, shining upholder of truth and justice. It's a good thing that more police officers don't dress as she was, though; if they did we would be overrun with criminals clamoring to be arrested and searched!

The cops outnumbered the jailbirds by far; street cops, motorcycle cops, a detective and a SWAT member. The detective must have come from a very rough area as he was wearing dual-shoulder holsters. The pigs even pulled a squad car into the club and some of them were dancing on top of it!

Prisoner Tracy had a giant iron ball chained to her ankle to keep her from escaping. It was fairly dangerous; she was flinging that thing all over the dance floor! Some of the jailbirds must be multiple repeat offenders as they had personalized uniforms; I was just "Property of SLPD". Amazingly enough my jailers were able to spell the three-syllable "Property" correctly!

Almost everyone there was in costume, which was fun; and all of the costumes were good. Hy ended up wining the contest for the guys, and Gussie for the gals. I missed Friendly Fire's weekly gig at the Beach Bum today, but they'll play again tomorrow. One good day follows another.

Elephantoidea Illusions

There is a foul plot afoot. Those of you who are aware of it, and you know who you are, please - tell no one; especially not a certain author/DJ who shall remain nameless but whose initials are JS.

I didn't get much done today. I spent alot of time turkey hunting an alot of time chatting on the phone. My hunting kept bringing me back by the Lucky Chairs they have near the TNW Mall, plus I would hang out in front of them sometimes while chatting. As you can see, the Lucky Chairs like me!

I started working on a costume for the TNW contest tomorrow night. I threw together a couple of ideas I had and asked Isobela for advice. She had some good suggestions so I've implemented them, or at least I will, soon; my sewing machine was giving me fits last night. I may also need to do some more accessorizing.

While turkey hunting I took a side trip to explore a small cave in the side of our volcano. I found a rock ledge just next to this wall of flowing lava and stashed some emergency supplies there. It will be my hideout in case of giant meteor strikes, nuclear war, or Friendly Fire vacation.

Alaska called and we chatted about birthday parties and kids and puppies and all manner of things. I'm sure glad she's back around. Tracy called too, and we each spoke of our latest adventures. I spoke with Isobela at length on costume creation, shopping tips, escape and evasion, and macro-economics.

I'm generally not that much of a talker, and all the chatting and turkey hunting today wore me out. I knew it was time to go to bed when I thought I saw Louisa riding on a pink elephant through the middle of the TNW Mall!

Can I get an Echo Echo?!

I spent most of the morning and afternoon preparing for, attending and cleaning up after my daughter's birthday roller-skating party. 56 million screaming young hellions attended. I would have rather chewed glass, but my daughter sure had a good time. I missed the Saint's shellacking, but I also missed DJ Elwe's show yet again! Good thing I got my fix earlier in the week.

Received a a notice from my landlord today; "Turkey hunting has begun on TNW EAST! 12 turkeys are available to hunt down..they are hidden all over the sim, Each has at LEAST one good prize in it, including gift certificates from mall and shops, gifts from some shops and other good prizes!" I was able to find most of the turkeys and prizes, some hidden very creatively. There were many nice gifts, including a couch. (Please don't ask where in the turkeys these items were placed.)

Friendly Fire rocked the house at a LGBT Awareness event at the Cove on Xenia. As Mack noted it's a lovely "Tropical/psychedelic mix". It seems the regulars at the venue wanted to discuss business and an earlier discussion that they had, which is fine, it's their place; but it did make for a rather unusual Friendly Fire experience. The usual wild gesturing was much subdued, but that let us appreciate the glamtastic music even more. Isobela showed up and joined me on the dance floor, which made it a very pleasant outing. Mack and Case were wearing rainbow-themed clothes, apparently for the event, and I noticed that I had the same shirt that Case was wearing in my pack. I took it out and put it on and we complimented each other on our taste in clothing. After the show we posed together and a fantastic professional photographer took some wonderful pics of us!


All week long I had been looking forward to the debut of the DJ Jocelyn and Tracy show at it's new home, Nightclub Echo Echo - our worlds Premier Rock Club. All of my expectations were exceeded. The club itself, built with love and care by DJ Farr himself, is an excellent place. There's a nice spot for visitors to get their bearings before entering the club itself, there's plenty of room for dancing and even one spot with reverse-gravity for people to dance upside down! Unfortunately this reverse-gravity also kept the ladies skirts down, or up depending on your perspective. I'll need to talk with him about fixing that.



I was blessed to spend most of the evening dancing with the lovely and talented Isobela. Adrian showed up and put out some boxes of free DJ Jocelyn t-shirt for everyone. Friendly Fire was in the house, Hy, Starr and many others too numerous to mention. I had my first sighting of the twins Tani and Emileigh, they are excellent synchronized dancers! It was also DJ John and Jennifer's anniversary, congratulations ya'll! It was a Wonderful Club, Wonderful DJ, Wonderful Hostess, Wonderful crowd and an all-around Wonderful night.

Happy Birthday, Part II

I realize there may be some questions about the title of my last post, Happy Birthday. I hadn't mentioned anything about birthdays in that post. You, gentle readers, are not expected to know, but that day was the two hundred thirty-second birthday of my beloved Marine Corps. As attributed to President Ronald Reagan, "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."

Rest easy tonight. Sleep with a Marine.

Happy Birthday!

I woke up this morning to discover a Christmas tree at the front of our development, towering 6 stories over the place! How Louisa got it up there and decorated it all by herself I'll never know. Plus, as I walked across the bridge it started snowing! The shops in town are starting to put out their holiday decorations. TNW West Residences really is a peaceful refuge, I lobe it.

I went to the Open Latte Coffee shop for some coffee. I forget who told me about the place, but I've walked by a number of times and it seems nice. It's not much more than a coffee pot with tables and chairs nearby, but it always seems to be busy. I've wanted to stop in and meet the people because I figure they must be having some really intriguing conversations to just sit there and chat all day. So I went in, nodded to a few of the regulars, and made my way to the coffee pot. Horror of horrors it was broken! And they only had one! I made a quick call the owner to let her know it was broken then made my way to JCNY - Fashion and Jewelry. They have a small coffee bar just outside the main store with a much nicer machine; you can choose from Latte, Macciato, Mocha, Cappuccino, Espresso and Flat White. No Black, so I guess we won't be seeing Ajay there. I had a Cappuccino this morning.

While listening to DJ Elwe's wonderful performance yesterday someone had commented on her costume saying it would be cool if she could do an optical illusion of her head spinning around. He had a good point, that would really top off her costume, so I sat down to figure out how to do it. Didn't take too long and I had my Head Spin animation complete. It took some hacking of the illusion script to get the head to appear to go all the way around, but I managed. I sent it off to Elwe who got a laugh out of it and said thanks.

Later I went to the DJ Hangout and got Hy on Blues; DJ Hy was playing his Blues music for us. Hy, Tracy, Jocelyn, Natallya, Gussie, Wayne and I were there, and Raven showed up a little later. I just caught the last half-hour of Hy's show, but I can tell he's going to be good. Hy even game me one of his promotional t-shirts. Usually these promo t-shirts are some run-of-the-mill things with logos slapped on them, but Hy's shirts are of an amazingly high quality with stupendous graphics. I've got to find out who his seamstress is!

Friendly Fire played later at Cat’s Club, a new venue for them. A very hot place, it even had lava swirling across the dance floor! The night off last night seemed to do Mack and Case good; they were really working the crowd and having a good time doing it - their mood was infectious. Jocelyn showed up and we rocked to the amazing tunes. Joce was almost dressed in this micro-mini-skirt that came down to her navel, and a psychedelic green and blue halter-top thing. When questioned about her outfit she said she was getting ready for a show later, "it's 60s show, at Group Therapy, doesn't that say it all?" I think she's having second thoughts, though; she may show up wearing long-johns under her skirt. We stayed and and chatted for a bit after the superb show, I showed off my head spin illusion, then we each headed off.

I spent endless hours dealing with fallout from my dingbat sister-in-law, but was able to make it for the end of Group Therapy; another spanking session. I lobe Group Therapy, too. DJ Jocelyn played sixties and came This Close to bringing down the roof. The song list was simply amazing. Sixties music was a little before my time (and way before Joce's, she's only 22), but my sisters are 9 and 10 years older than me and these are the songs of their's that I grew up listening to. Hadn't heard them in years, decades for some. I got a little shook up at a couple of points. Jocelyn bless her dear heart gave me a listing of all the songs she had played so I could look them up later. At the end of the show the place was still packed an rocking so DJ Jocelyn stayed late and spun extra tunes for us. What a gal! She had even resisted the long-johns!

Dinosaur Petals

I went to Reds in the early afternoon with DJ Jocelyn, Tracy, Gussie, Raven and many others. Kick off the 80's weekend event! Joce was her usual phenomenal self. I had a bunch of things to do, and I kept telling myself that "I'll leave after this song", but then the next song is even better so I stay. That went on all afternoon.

A live singer followed Joce at Red's; quite a treat, but I went to see DJ Elwe at Shina Market. There was an intimate crowd, we had a good time chatting to the excellent tunes. Otawan stopped by, too. Poor Elwe had an awful case of the flu, sounded terrible. I hope she gets better soon.

I checked the schedule and there's no Friendly Fire gathering this evening! I don't remember giving permission for that! :) I've been putting off getting their album because it seems like they play here 24/7; guess I'll have to go get it now. They deserve a break every once in a while I suppose. Wait a minute, I just had a horrible thought: what if they ever decide to go on vacation some day? What will we do? The World as we know it will end! Yet another item on my list of things to build: a fallout shelter.

I went shopping for a bit, then went home to get ready for the party at TNW. It was a Native American theme, so I wore the same costume that I wore at BEAR's on Halloween day. There seems to be a pattern developing at these Friday night theme parties - the first half-hour is it's just me and a bunch of lovely ladies! Gotta start coming earlier to maximize that! It filled up, and I had a real nice time chatting with Alaska and Isobela. Iso even shared a pic of her soccer team with me!

After we shut down TNW Isobela, Tracy (who both tied for first in the costume contest), Hy, Jocelyn and I went to Club Echo Echo to check it out for the DJ Jocelyn and Tracy show on Sunday night. We sat around chatting for a while, then Joce, Hy and Iso had to leave. Tracy and I went to see the Dinosaur graveyard that Adrian had given me the directions to a few days ago. It was totally awesome. The attention to detail that went into their dioramas was amazing. Behind the dinosaur valley was a series of ice caverns to explore, some had woolly mammoths frozen in the walls! There was a souvenir shop selling clothes that we (Tracy) had to check out too, of course, and we met a friendly bunch of penguins.

It was nice exploring with someone else. Tracy said that she would probably not have gone by herself, while I would have gone but zoomed through it. Flying around constantly yelling "Come here look at this" made us feel like kids again, and waiting for your friend to catch up was not a chore but rather a chance to stop and smell the roses. Except, far as I could tell, them dinosaurs didn't drop no roses.

The Wall

Went to the Wall again. First time was twelve or so years ago; on a cold, foggy December morning. All alone, spooky. Was all alone this time, too; but the weather was different. Dead leaves falling from the trees. They were reading the names. Cried again.

The 3rd Jar

Guess where I went last night? Friendly Fire was playing Club Casa Blanco, seems that's going to be a regular gig for them on Thursday nights. BEAR was there and talked about featuring Mack and Case on BEARintheMorning on Friday. I need to look up his stream to see if I can get it at work. I've tried Fibber's stream before and it can't get through our firewalls, but maybe BEAR's can.

There was an emergency closure of the club right in the middle of the show, not sure what it was, but we all came back as soon as it opened up and Friendly Fire finished their show for us even though it meant staying significantly longer than they had planned. What troopers!

Jocelyn came back from her business trip, called and came right over to Casa Blanco when I told her who was playing. Apparently she's forgiven me for heckling her last weekend, I did not get run through. We chatted a little but she had lots of other calls to make and we were busy jamming. After Mack and Case were done she was heading over to TNW to see DJ Lovie. From the advertisements that looked like it was going to be an amazing show, and I really wanted to go, but it was starting too late. A very hard decision to make. Hopefully Lovie'll be on again next week. I'll try and catch up with Jocelyn more tomorrow.

I had a long, serious discussion about sports art with Isobela. I've never really thought about it that way; I mean like Sports Illustrated always has cool covers, but I haven't thought of them as being art. Now I do. The human form in competition is a most fitting subject for artistic expression.

I went to Fibbers to catch a couple of songs before calling it a night. DJ Daddie was there and that nut Anutte was hostess. As I was tipping them I noticed a 3rd tip jar; it was labeled Ajay! Ajay is a hostess in training! She'll be there Saturday, also. I tipped her too of course and gave her a small gift to help celebrate her new job. She couldn't open it right away as she was working, and I had to leave shortly after. I sure hope she likes it.

This is Live!?

I finished up my current project and started on a new one - making greeting cards. I danced with Tracy at Morning Coffee at the Blarney Stone with DJ Eagle and hostesses Ginger and Starchild. They put on a good show; not too much coffee was being drunk as everyone was dancing. Later I went to a great Friendly Fire gig then went off and did some other stuff.

Oops, wait a minute, back up one. Mack and Case were playing at the DSL Records Club. It was their first time playing there, my first time visiting too. It is a very interesting place, lots of strobe lights and laser effects and such. The usual Friendly Fire backdrop was off to the side; they played in front of a menagerie of swirling colored spotlights stabbing through a drifting smoke wall. Quite cool. The crowd was fairly quiet at first, but when Mack and Case played my favorite of the songs they debuted at the Beach Bum the day before the crowd really woke up.

There was a new guy there, he's only been around a couple of days and didn't realize we had live music here. He freaked out, but that is understandable; Friendly Fire is a rather overwhelming introduction to the vast array of art available to us. One beautiful lady there named Lela looked like she could be Mack's twin sister, especially when they were standing together after the show. I don't know which one is luckier!

After the show I worked on projects some more then went furniture shopping. I also tried to track Alaska down in Belfast, but no such luck. Looked around a bit for the audio/visual project she had been working on there but couldn't find it either. Later I danced with Tracy again at Fibber's, but just for a short time. I was tired and despite the wonderful company I could barely keep my eyes open. I headed home to rest up for a new and wondrous day tomorrow.

Fire on the Beach!

A friend had sent a note asking for help in one of the few creative areas I'm good with around here. As I was considering it a notice of the weekly Friendly Fire concert at the Beach Bum popped up so I headed right over.

Looking back on my posts I've realized that I've been doing Case and Mack a disservice. I'll say things like "went to a great Friendly Fire concert then went off and did some other stuff". Half of a sentence just can't describe how good they are and how much I enjoy their shows.

I got there a little early and enjoyed some pre-gig banter with them. When they started up they said they would be doing Two new songs in this show! They started with "Radio Show" and it's enticing string intro. A few songs later Mack sang Catfight. A quick look at their MySpace page will show that Catfight is played six to seven times more than any of the other tunes they have there; Mack really should sing more. Their two new songs were both very good, but I think I liked the second one that they sang a little more. During the show they keep up with all of their crazy gesturing, said Hi to all new arrivals, and a couple of times went around the room saying Hey to everyone that was there. Their shows are really audience-participation events, and they attract the best of audiences.

The Nanogunk entertainment calendar had said that Dj Lovie and Sazzy would be at TNW from 6-8. I like that time slot alot alot better than the usual 8-10 at TNW because 8-10 there is 10-12 where I live, and midnight is kinda late to stay up during the work week for this old man. Time zone issues are one of those things about a establishment with a world-wide clientèle though; I'll just have to deal with it.

I had met Sazzy before, but had never heard DJ Lovie play. Lovie is good; what struck me about her is the way she can gage the mood of the crowd and play songs that fit right in. Sazzy complimented her well and kept things rolling. I had worn a striped shirt that I haven't worn in a while to fit in with the contest theme of Stripes. All too soon it was time for voting, and I ended up winning! Not too many guys were able to stay until the end of the show, so it wasn't like a major victory, but nice all the same.

Topless Tuesday followed, and I stayed for a few minutes of that chatting with some people that had shown up, but then I had to leave. I went back home and was able to figure out the problem my friend was having and talked with them about it. Upon hearing the solution they said "I was just about to try that!" Yeah, right.

Another rejuvenating day here. Went to a great Friendly Fire concert then went off and did some other stuff; heard a real good new-to-me DJ and helped a friend.

New Surf!

I cruised around town looking for the parts I need to finish my hot water heater. As is usual, I was easily distracted. Next door to one supply company was a decent-sized Men's clothing store, so I went in to check it out. Their costume department first caught my eye so I was browsing around there when Tracy called and wanted me to come over immediately - she had big news to share - she had bought another plot of land!

We went to the new place to check it out; she had already started on customizing it for herself by making a nice tidal pool to catch the edge of the surf. And what a surf it was; I immediately grabbed my board and boogied a couple of waves. We checked out the rest of the place, and talked about her plans for it. She had to run off on an errand, and while she was gone I tried parasailing; she's got some nice thermals there!

While cleaning out her old house in preparation for the move she came across a box of old hot water heater parts that she let me have. They helped alot with what I needed; just a couple of more minor things to do and it'll be finished.

I met up with Tracy again at The Blarney Stone where she was working; when she wasn't busy we danced. The DJ Colette / Soulman show was in full swing; they really are a good team. Not in the same league as the DJ Jocelyn / Tracy dynamic duo, but very good all the same. Ham and Emmie stopped by; I didn't see Emmie come in and she said Hi to me before I could say Hi to her.

While I was there I caught Alaska on the phone! She was working in Belfast setting up some type of audio/visual thing, so we couldn't chat for long, but we made plans to catch each other up on things later. We counted it up and she's been gone a whole week!

Curm showed up just before I left the Blarney. I fiddled around the house some more, ate and then caught a guitarist named Scotty at NP. Tomorrow I'll try and see if I can finish up my project and start some new ones.

Madcow the Magnificent!

So Adrian had called me up one day and asked if I wanted to meet "The best builder in SL, almost unknown. Madcow." Of course I said yes and immediately headed over to Adrian's Builder's Sandbox.

Adrian was there with Madcow and Bam, standing in front of an amazing line of sculptures. Madcow called it the Circle of Life. It started with one tiny, incredibly detailed creature. Behind it were 13 others, each larger than and preparing to eat the one before it. They were all quite unique and never before seen on this planet. They spanned all the colors of the rainbow and well beyond. Some were vaguely amphibian with webbed feet, others were avian, some seemed reptilian and quite a few were completely undefinable. A true xenobiologist's dream!


The whole time we were admiring it visitors stopped by to gawk and stare. When I arrived Madcow seemed to be a short, stout gremlinish crustacean fellow, but he's also a master of disguises. Before my eyes he changed into this monstrous canine with an exoskeleton that towered high over me; he also appeared as a classic ogre, a 60 foot tall molting killer beetle, and was even able to summon a carriage made from the bones of creatures long forgotten.

By far my favorite disguise of his was as a humanoid skeleton with a trick top-hat. On command, the top of the hat opened and a smaller skeleton appeared from the shoulders up wearing a smaller top-hat. The top of that hat opened and an even smaller skeleton appeared wearing a smaller top-hat, etc. Before I knew it there was a chain of increasingly smaller skeletons and top-hats extending up into the trees.


I've been getting bummed lately, and Madcow re-opened my eyes to what a wonderful place we live in. I, we all, owe him. But I never did get a chance to ask him what he was so mad about.

Radio Joce

I stopped in this morning to do some chores drop off a couple of pics that I took of the Builders Jam to Case. I'm getting burnt out on constantly jumping from one club to the next, I'm planning on spending the day in sports then going to TNW this evening. I also want to get a little work done on my hot water heater project, tee hee, so I started that. It gets chilly in the mornings sometimes.

As I was working Louisa stopped by to say hi and to see if I wanted to move to a different house that they had available. We went and checked it out, and it is a little better, but I didn't feel it was worth the pain of moving. It's great when your landlords think of you and try to help you out like that. TNW West Residences is a very fine place to live.

I took a break to watch the Saints win their fourth straight game, totally shellacking the Jaguars. I'm predicting a 12 and 4 season. I was also able to get my hot water heater just about finished. Everything is functional; I just need to find some cosmetic parts. I was trying to decide between surfing or snow skiing when I received an announcement of a swimsuit contest in the Mist.

Now I know I had told myself no club jumping today, but I have a weakness for swimsuit contests. Plus, it had been too long since I'd been to the Mist; they've been very friendly to me and I should do my part to support them. I put on my Hawaiian trunks and some sandals and headed over.

The Tavern in the Mist was the usual lively place I've come to know. I had a good time listening to the DJ, chatting with the group and just enjoying the people. Some of them looked very pleasantly different when you get them out of their chain mail! Near the end of the party I get a call from Joce who has some free time and wanted to show me around her island.

The Sands Subcontinent (aka Joce's Island) is an amazing place, which is fitting. Jocelyn showed me some of the buildings she had made, then we stopped by a fish pond. It has the largest Carp I've ever seen in it. I took out my fishing pole to try to catch dinner, but Joce had walked off to show me Castle Sands so I hurried to catch up. We just looked at the castle from outside; it's still under construction.

The atmosphere on Joce's Island is very relaxing. We sat on some rocks near the edge of her bay and chatted for a while, then went up into the tree house where we said Hi to Adrian, who was working. Then it was off to visit their Roman marketplace and to meet Silver the Unicorn, a most pleasant fellow. We stopped by her duck pond; we didn't have any food for the ducks and boy did they let us know about it! On a side note, I learned something about Jocelyn that I think I should warn you of: she fenced competitive foil in high school, so don't get on her bad side!

The tour was winding down when we both received notice of a Friendly Fire concert starting, so we headed off there. Just after we get there I get a call from Adrian telling me about Madcow, arguably the best builder around, inviting me to come meet him and see some of his work. I'll be writing much more about Madcow later; he deserves his own post.

I made it back to Friendly Fire to hear the last half of their last song, and join in some of the after-gig chat. I had also been chatting with Tracy, and she invited me out to her place to lounge on the beach and enjoy massive quantities of coffee. Hy stopped by too, and Tracy gave him her beach chair and pulled out a very nice lounge chair and ottoman from the house for herself while we all chatted.

She had a fire going in a large, fancy pot to keep the night chill off, and I found out that she had made it herself! Hy has one of her fire pots on the dock at his place too, and has concerns about the burning embers that escape from it. Tracy's didn't have that problem ; I think Hy may be using too much or the wrong kind of fuel.

Tracy brought out a radio and tuned it so that we could listen to the DJ Jocelyn show, coming to us all the way from Fibber's. I would call Joce up occasionally as she was DJing to joke with and heckle her. She's going out of town tomorrow morning on a business trip and hopefully by the time she gets back she will have forgotten about this and not run me through!

We All Need Therapy

I went to see a new DJ at Fibbers, well new to me anyway; DJ Nomad. Padula was the hostess and Tracy was helping out too. Ajay, Isobela, Jocelyn, Eria and Otawan showed up along with a host of others. DJ Nomad is good; I'm looking forward to listening to him again. After that it was off to Mack and Case's Builder's Jam. Isobela and I had chatted about this a bit, and I was encouraging her to enter the contest it since she did such a good job with her house.

Builder's Jam is yet another way that Friendly Fire is helping to bring creativity and good music to our world. The idea was to give everyone a chance to build some mystery object, and the most creative one would win some cash. We met in Mia Snow's sandbox. I hadn't been planning on building anything, I've done very little building so far. I was just going to enjoy the music and enjoy watching other people work their butts off. At the top of the hour they announced the mystery object: a spaceships. There wasn't anybody standing near me, and somehow my hands sort of just autonomously started building a spaceship in the open space.

It wasn't much, just your basic cylinder on it's side with fins on one end and pointy on the other. I added a chair to the top, a steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedal then textured it up. Case's comment was that you would end up getting space bugs in your teeth. Took about 55 minutes, then I walked around to see what the others were doing. Some of these things were amazing! They were huge and exquisitely detailed. World-class builder Adrian was there and had a very nice entry, made even nicer by the fact that is was compact and not one of the monster dreadnoughts some of the others had pulled out of their packs. Jocelyn did a command deck for a star cruiser, and Isobela made a flying saucer with little green aliens inside.

As we were building Friendly Fire kept us entertained with their music. They forgot the keg though; it was hot out there in the sun! At the end of the hour Case, Mack and Mia went around to judge the craft. When they were looking at mine Mia even jumped into the pilot's seat! Good thing I hadn't left the keys in it; if she'd hit the wrong button who knows where she would have ended up.

The judges did a very thorough job, spending time considering each entry on it's merits. I was feeling a little down while comparing all the other craft to my junk heap. If there's a next time, and I hope there is, maybe they can have fewer, smaller prizes in different categories. That might give a fighting chance to people who don't use tools or textures other than what each newbie is issued on arrival. In any case all is well because my good friend Isobela won!

She didn't think that she deserved to win, but I did; of course I'm biased. In chatting about it afterwards my friend Adrian made a superb comment: "And the right person won." I think it was the little green aliens that did it for her. I hope she let them go afterwards.



I went home to get cleaned up, change clothes and re-hydrate, then headed out to the Bushy Beard pub. DJ Tracy was due to play but there were technical difficulties so we all ended up dancing to the satellite radio instead. After that we headed to Club Group Therapy where they were having a special Spanking Therapy session. DJ Jocelyn even participated! I've been owing her for the longest. Throughout the night she was a prime target for almost everyone there, but I got her first! Vengeance was mine!

The crowd was another one of what DJ Jocelyn referred to as a "who's who." Ajay was even there! It''s been like weeks since I've seen her, and now I see her four times in two days. We had a nice chat as we were spanking each other, and everyone else we could. She hasn't heard from Alaska in a while either; still gotta track that one down.

Club Group Therapy is an awesome place. It's on the beach, has a huge dance floor and a nice spot for DJs and live acts. One one side there's a handful of neat stores (I bought some "Censored" signs:) and on the other is a tiki bar and various chairs, loungers and umbrellas. Now if only they would put out a beer keg and get some of Brooke's famous cooking!

Another Wonderful Day

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by the Blarney Stone to listen to DJ Steve and Ajay was there! I didn't get a chance to actually chat with her, but we did share a few words over the noise of the crowd. She had to leave right after the show so I left too, did some work around the house then headed over to Mack's Gestures for a beer.

Mack's Gestures is a wonderful place to relax and unwind, glam some free beer (or cocoa), snack on some of Brooke's delicious pastries and confections, and listen to the radio or occasional live concert. A very cool place. Oh, and I think they have some gestures for sale there, too.

I stayed there until right before the Friendly Fire show was to start and headed over. Traffic was absolutely atrocious, and I was late getting there. It seemed like many others got stuck in the traffic too because there was a rather limited turnout for the premier rock band of our time. By about half-past the place had filled up, and I get a call from Tracy. She was working at the Blarney Stone and it seemed like she wanted some company. I figured there must be a rowdy crowd there and she needs some extra muscle in case things get out of hand, so I head over.

My presence there quiets things down, so Tracy and I danced and chatted until the end of the DJ Otawan/Soulman show then head back to the Jungle Club where Mack and Case were still playing. After their show I try to get to Mack and apologize for leaving, but things were very chaotic. Tracy and I head over to the Bushy Beard to listen to the DJ there and dance some of their new dances. We talked about the costumes we were going to wear for the Hayride-themed party at TNW later that night and made plans to meet there.

After being late for Friendly Fire I showed up early at TNW. It's just a short walk from my place but others seemed to be stuck in traffic still because it was only rockin DJ Jocelyn, Argus and I there for a while. Louisa showed up, then a couple of other girls, then a few other girls, and I was enjoying being the only male in this crowd of attractive females. Eventually some other guys showed up as the place filled, and then finally Tracy who had been having costume issues.

I gained a new appreciation for the lovely dancers at TNW; they are much more than pretty faces. They keep the group chat lively and make sure that everyone is having a good time. As people come and go the flurry of hellos and goodbyes make it a place you want to come back to.

Tracy had to leave a couple of minutes before voting on the costumes began; and Iso had said she would try and stop by but couldn't make it until the very end. I ended up in a four-way tie for first place for the guys and had a fabulous time teasing both Tracy and Isobela how just one more vote would have made me the big winner!

DJ Jocelyn stayed late spinning tunes for us, so Isobela was able to enjoy part of her great show. After Jocelyn left the radio played, then eventually it turned off so Iso and I decided to take the hint and leave. There were two others still there dancing as we left; not sure how long they stayed. I got home and continued my chat With Tracy. After a bit she invited me to her home so we could chat in person; something I had just been thinking about, too.

Tracy has beautiful beach-front property. We sat in lounge chairs on the beach enjoying the warmth from the fires in a couple of braziers she had set up, the gentle sounds of the surf as it met the shore, and had a nice long chat. It's too easy to consider her blond moments, like if she were to ask if it's too late to vote after the contest winners have been announced. She is a deep and focused person, and I had a wonderful time chatting on her beach with her.

Mmmmm! Ribs!

I stopped by the Blarney Stone after work today just as a live performer was finishing. What rotten luck. I chatted with the after-gig crowd for a bit then was heading back outside when Jocelyn called. Observant readers may have noticed that I've mentioned her in this journal a time or two. She had just finished reading and wanted to correct the various appalling inaccuracies this blog contains. No such luck, Joce.

As I'm standing outside the Blarney chatting with her I didn't notice Isobela sneaking up behind me. Iso starts giving me a hard time about being a streetwalker because I've been standing on the corner for so long. She had talked about putting up a waterfall at her place the night before, so after I finished my conversation with Joce I accompanied Iso to some waterfall stores to help her search. Waterfall stores are land-intensive so they're usually located in areas where land is cheap. Not the kind of neighborhoods for delicate young ladies to be wandering around alone.

She showed me the two waterfalls she liked, and they were both good, but the questions was would either fit into her yard? She invited me to her home to check out where she wanted to put it. Her home is an awesome place; multi-level, airy floor plan, beautifully decorated and has the most amazing patio out front where she sips wine every evening as the sun goes down over the water below. She built it all herself; what an amazing lady!

She measured the side-yard area that she wanted to put he waterfall in, and we went back to the stores where I took out my own 10 meter by 10 meter measuring stick and judged that they would fit, barely. As she was making her purchase I receive notice of a Heath concert starting in about 25 minutes at some place called Bedrock that I hadn't heard of before. Iso notices me being quiet as I read the notice and asks if I have a hot party to go to. I explain that a new-age jazz pianist has a performance in a bit. We start to talk about music and both like just about everything, but agree 80's are the best. Seems like most people I talk to say 80's music is the best. (I wonder if they like it because that's what DJ Joce plays the most of?) I ask Isobela if she would like to go hear Heath after getting the waterfall set and she says sure.

We get the waterfall back to Iso's place; boy those things are heavy. She starts to arrange it, and it seems bigger than it was in the store. After knocking out some of her fence line and putting a conversation piece inside her living room wall we finally get the thing set. There's still alot of work to do fixing the fence, landscaping around the pond the waterfall forms and fixing all the ruts in the yard caused by dragging the waterfall's rocks over it; but it is obvious that this waterfall is going to be the cat's meow. Or, in Iso's words, bomb-ass. Another beautiful place to watch sunsets from.

I'm always nervous when I invite someone new to go hear Heath. I'm worried that they'll either be bored or hate him. That never happens, though; they've all found him amazing. It seems Iso did, too; I think she may have bought both his CDs while we were there! He was playing more of his Christmas music; that album still isn't out. He played his signature Snoopy, plus my favorite song of his that he always plays in the middle of his show. As usual when I'm there with a new listener I ask them to identify the song. Iso caught on to it much faster than anyone else ever has; well, except me.

We said goodnight there in Bedrock and each headed home - she to work on her waterfall some more and me to crash. I'm still hurting from my Halloween dance-a-thon. I need to go back to Bedrock later because it seems like a cool place and all I saw of it was the darkened amphitheater that Heath was playing in. Plus, they have the absolute best brontosaurus ribs!

What a Blast!

After Jocelyn was done at BEAR's place Tracy invited me to go to Schmoface Park in Bruges with her. The usual crowd from the Bushy Beard pub was in the park for a Halloween party. We had a good time dancing and chatting but all too soon she had to leave for work in the Graveyard outside of Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin. I didn't think she should be wandering around a graveyard by herself so I accompanied her there. Tracy was hostess for the DJ that was setting up, so I wandered around the place for a bit while they were busy getting ready for the show.

I usually don't get to Dublin at this time of day, so I didn't recognize many of the people there. With the holiday and so many parties going on at the same time all over the place people's schedules were off; before too long there weren't many living people left in the graveyard. Tracy was naturally upset at this, but I tried to re-assure her and soon enough the place was filling up again. Ham showed up - that helped alot. The gig ended on a high note, and Tracy and her DJ handed things off to the next team. I chatted a bit more with her, then she had to go home to rest; she was exhausted.

I started to head home to get to work on the projects I had planned for the day but got a message from Starr that their new club, Group Therapy, had opened and they were jamming. I stopped at home long enough to change costumes - a bandit - and headed over there. Quite a few of my casual friends were there, and I had a good time chatting with all of them. Isobela showed up too, so I danced near her for a while and chatted. There was a costume contest going on of course, but there were technical difficulties with the voting boards; they had to be reset a number of times. Iso said she would vote for me, and did multiple times, but she must have missed the last reset because when the contest finished it said Votes for Tycho: 0. I plan on teasing Iso at length about not voting for me when she said she would.

Tracy showed up while I was there. She called over and we chatted for a bit but then she had to go do Trick or Treat stuff. I received the expected notice that the party at Wheelies that I hoped to cap my day with would start at 7, but then received another notice that a Friendly Fire concert would be starting at the same time! What a quandary! I decided to compromise and go to see Mack and Case for a bit then head over to Wheelies. I had misplaced the notice about where Friendly Fire was playing, and Iso couldn't find her copy either, but with some help from our friends I eventually made it to the Landing Zone and high-class Rock. Thanks again, Alter!

In hindsight it was silly of me to expect that I could leave in the middle of a Friendly Fire show. They were their excellent selves, and had added a twist by having a costume contest. One look at Alter's costume and I knew I was totally outclassed so I didn't bother joining the contest. Near the end of the show Case opened the boards for voting and had the same troubles they had at the Group Therapy club earlier.

One thing I noticed was that both sets of boards seemed to have trouble when a person of the wrong gender signed up on a board. Not sure if this was the cause or not, but there was one person who kept putting their name on the guy's board who was quite definitely mammalian. She'll never drown! In any case Case got the boards working, Alter won for the guys and there was a tie for the ladies. By now the party at Wheelies was well past it's halfway point, so I said some quick goodbyes and headed over there.

DJ Natallya was rocking the place; Ivy was there and Simon too but just a handful of others. Joce had said she was working a private party, I assume as a DJ; Tracy was still out; I had seen some of the Bangers at Group Therapy and they were probably still there. I really felt for Natallya, it was quite different from the wild crowd that was there Monday night. Perhaps people were a little burnt out; I know I was getting there. I had danced for 2 hours at BEAR's, 2 at Schmoface Park, 2 in the Graveyard, 1 at Group Therapy and 1 at the Landing Zone and my tootsies were tired!

I stayed until the end of DJ Natallya's show; it wouldn't have been right to leave. Ivy won the costume contest there, no voting boards to cause problems we just IM'd our votes to the DJ. Tracy eventually finished her holiday duties and called. We chatted through the end of the show then decided to call it a night; I was exhausted.

My first Halloween here was a blast. It's a good sign when at the end you just fall into bed unconscious, especially when you haven't even been drinking. I think I'd better start resting up now for next year!

To the West!

I just missed the end of a Friendly Fire concert yesterday, but was able to join in the after-gig chat with them, Joce, Tracy and Jenda. The main topic of conversation was the costume party at TNW later that night. We danced for a while, and gave each other help/advice finalizing our costumes. We were done well before the party was to start but we decided to head over there anyway.

DJ Farr was of course ready for early arrivals and already had the music rolling. Others started showing up soon after us, a parade of ghosts, goblins, ghouls and other beasties. As we're nearing the end of the Halloween season people were bringing out their best costumes. Some were changing costumes throughout the night, each one better than the last. It was even better than the usual sights there on Tuesday nights!

I had a great time juggling conversations with Tracy and Isobela. Iso and I have been making a semi-serious study of factors affecting one's chances in winning costume contests. A factor I've been studying is how much to tip the dancers to generate their goodwill and hopefully votes without spending more than the eventual prize. I believe I've found the sweet spot. The actual dollar amount is classified, though. Iso has studied this factor also, with significantly different results. We both agree the differences in effectiveness are gender-related. If we can keep at it a few more months, and show statistically-significant winning results, we may be able to sell our research for the big bucks!

Tracy and I had a much longer conversation that the night before at Wheelies. We talked about different clubs we had been to and the good points about them, SPAM, different people's costumes at the party and all sorts of stuff. She even got me - I had made a ridiculous comment but she took it to the next level and it flew right over my head. It's very nice getting to know her.

I stayed home from work today and had a whole list of things I wanted to do. Not on the list was partying at 9am, but when Jocelyn sent out a notice she was at BEARinthe Morning's and they were rocking I just had to go. I put on an Indian costume I hadn't worn yet, and when I showed up I found Jocelyn dressed as a Cowgirl! My friend Tracy couldn't make it then, but I snapped a pic of Joce and I and sent it to her.

After an hour or so I was able to tear myself away and get my bare minimum of chores done. We have a new puppy, and I had forgotten the joy a cleaning the lawnmower after mowing a lawn full of puppy-poop. So a shower, back into Indian costume and off to where Joce is now DJing at BEAR's place. They are streaming her show live across the entire planet and even into near-earth orbit, as well they should. Tracy is here and we're reliving the best parts of the party at TNW last night and laughing about the funny things people say. She has to leave for work in a bit, and I'll probably take a break. I need to rest up for all the trick-or-treaters that will be visiting tonight. I hope to be able to make the party at Wheelies with DJ Nattalya later, but I just have no idea how things will go tonight. Sure would be nice to see everybody I saw there on Monday night.

Wheelies Rolls, and Rocks!

There was a live performer playing at the Rotterdam so I went to see if Alaska was there; nope. DJ Colette has just started spinning Celtic at the Blarney Stone so I went there hoping to find Ajay; nope. I settled onto a stool at the bar to sip a few, listen to the tunes and watch the girls dance.

I chatted with a nice young lady named Leigha for a while. Robt came in for a bit, then went off to get that nut Anutte and they both came back to dance and play kissy-face. Mack stopped by in this superb getup; it was like a Cat-woman costume had been shredded by a disgruntled werewolf and Mack was wearing the tattered remains of it. Ham came by, and rocking DJ Jocelyn also. I stepped away for a second, and when I came back Joce and Mack were gone. I called Mack to apologize for not saying goodbye, and she explained that Joce had rushed her off to a girls night out. Then she asked if I wanted to join them. Well I didn't want to be a third wheel, so I was a little reluctant. Mack was trying to explain something, but we lost our connection; something on my end.

When I got back there were no pending messages from her, so I figured they were off doing their girly thing. Leigha had talked about an 80's bar she liked, so when Colette was done I decided to go check it out. It's called Blackhearts: Crimson and Clover. DJ Kace was there playing Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party as I walked in. I like that group and I like that song so I thought: this is a good sign. The people were cool, but I wasn't really dressed for the place; it's probably not a good idea to keep wearing my favorite beach sandals there. I saw some decent engineer boots in a store yesterday; I'll have to go pick them up.

I tipped the DJ and was scanning the crowd when my friend! Jocelyn calls. She said that everyone was at Wheelies dancing and listening to DJ Nattalya and asked if I wanted to join them. This must have been what Mack was trying to explain. I was there instantaneously. Well, as close to instantaneous as you can get without the theoretical physicists becoming too perturbed with you. Don't want that.

I had heard of Wheelies before but for some reason thought it was a dance-floor associated with a Hot-Wheels themed race track. I never got off of the dance floor, but I did notice a stairway leading down, so maybe there's more to the place than just the club. The club rocks. DJ Nattalya was playing nothing but the best for us and the place was packed. Jocelyn, Tracy, Case and Mack, Robt and Anutte, Isobela, the Banger Sisters entourage and many, many others were there. To quote Joce: "this is the who's who of SL."

I hung near Joce and rocked the night away. Friendly Fire and the Bangers kept the group chat rolling. I had a short, deep conversation with Jenda about people's fears, gave Mack some French/Cajun language lessons and chatted with Joce a bit about her web site. Turns out Jocelyn is a writer, too; a new facet to an amazing person. I also had a short chat with Tracy. She seems maybe a little shy. I'm very shy. I'll have to make more of an effort to find things to talk about the next time I see her.

I didn't catch up with my friends Ajay or Alaska like I had hoped. I could of course just call them but if I did they'd be in the middle of something else. I know many of their haunts; I'll find them sooner or later.

Dancing last night at Wheelies was one of the best times I've had in this place. I really owe Jocelyn for inviting me; I guess I'll forgive her for not believing I won that TNW contest a few weeks ago. Mack gets kudos for trying to invite me, too. At one point a guy showed up and most everyone called out hello to him. Instead of replying to each individually he just said "Hello family." I felt that family too. It's nice.

Found It!

MiaSnow's Zombie Graveyard party featuring Friendly Fire was way cool, lots of wild costumes; my pumpkin-head was just an acknowledgement of the season. We took some group pictures afterwards. I need to track them down, people have told me I'm in some of the published ones. Or at least my big pumpkin-head is.

I worked on my one-arm tattoo some more. The problem I expected didn't occur, but two others did. I fixed one and another popped up. I understand more about what is going on with it now, and for me the challenge is more an intellectual one. Once I understand the theory behind things they tend to lose my interest. I may have one more go at it, but then again it may just join the pile of half-completed projects cluttering up my basement.

Sunday afternoon Friendly Fire was having a gathering in Mack's store, playing cover songs, trying to generate some foot traffic to the place. While there I thanked Case for the Certificate of Attendance he sent me for having made all three Friendly Fire shows the day before; it's displayed proudly in my home. Afterwards I hung around and chatted with Case, Mac, Alter and Sugar. At one point we talked about some of the weekend's football games, so Alter and I put on our team jersies. Mack had expressed a desire in having a Reggie Bush Saint's jersey, and asked me where I bought my Deuce McAlister one. I fibbed a little and said I didn't remember, and ran out and got a Bush jersey for her as soon as the group broke up. It was nice giving something to her after all the things she's given me; shirts, gestures, massive quantities of beer, pumpkin pie, hot cocoa and such (the candy apple I stole for myself).

Sunday evening I went to the Discover Ireland Weekend in Dublin. I really need to keep up with the news more; I didn't know it was missing! The DJ was Jocelyn and Padula was the hostess with the mostess. I chatted with Elwe, Iso and Brooke. I apologized to Elwe for missing her weekly Zurich concert yet again, but she understood. Brooke's expanding her store. She gave me a tray of cocoa and potpourri; it'll go perfect on the new bar I put in my living room. Iso and I chatted on all manner of things. Friendly Fire, Tracy, the Spookster, Smitty, Gussie, Raven, Ivy, DJ John and BEARinthe Morning were all there along with many other regulars, plus the scattering of new people that always wander by. I didn't see Ajay or Alaska, I've been missing them lately, and the only reason I saw Iso was a jump she did while dancing took her flaming red crown over the top of the crowd. I recognized it even under a World Champion Red Sox cap!

There was another party at TNW after Joce shut down, but I was too tired to go. Tuesday night there's a Halloween party there that I need to get ready for. Pumpkin-head has been worn too much, I need to come up with something else. VAT-man? Scary, but hard to dress for. I guess I'll go though my closets and see what I can come up with.

I saw a Linden!

Well I've finished my certification exams and volunteer work, at least for a while. I'm looking forward to spending more time checking out all the amazing people and places around here. When I got in and finished reading my mail today I sat down and began to think about where I should start. As often happens Mack and Case came to the rescue - they were about to start playing. They were opening for Dark Aeons at Sublime Goddess. I headed over and the place was packed, with most people in costume. I had on black jeans and an orange-ish shirt, so I didn't stick out too much.

Friendly Fire was their usual excellent selves, and after a few songs I noticed this little robot-guy near the front of the crowd. I checked out his name: Cogsworth Linden! His tagline was Live Music Listener. Mack noticed him too, and pointed him out. There was widespread speculation that he was here to shut down the show at first, but he was really just there to listen to awesome music. The Friendly Fire shall not go out!

Dark Aeons followed Friendly Fire. I listened for a bit but he wasn't my cup of tea, so I went back to the house to re-arrange things. I didn't get much done before getting another notice from Friendly Fire that they were playing for Maximos and Shelby's wedding. I dressed up in my favorite Halloween tux and joined the reception. I was a little worried about being a crasher, but there were so many of us crashers one more didn't matter. Isobella showed up and we danced the Tango for most of the show. DJ Jocelyn was going to follow Friendly Fire at the reception, but both Isobela and I had to go and were heartbroken over missing Joce. I finished my errands and was able to make the end of Joce's show; fantastic as usual. I hadn't realized the subtle differences in DJing at a bar and DJing at a wedding reception. Of course Jocelyn, a professional DJ, does; it was very educational to see how she handled things. There's always something new to learn around here.

There's another Friendly Fire performance later tonight; at MiaSnow's Zombie Graveyard. Three Friendly Fire shows in one day - woo hoo! Should be some pretty wild costumes there. Guess I'll jam a pumpkin on my head and go find out!

Curses! Foiled Again!

I thought I had a pretty good outfit for the TNW Jungle theme party last night, a tiger-print suit open across the chest, tan cowboy hat and sandals. I even had a whip I could crack to keep the wild animals at bay. In the end I lost to a guy that wore a leafy bikini. It was a good idea a guy wearing a bikini - I wish I'd thought of it. A number of people told me that they thought my costume was better, but C'est la vie. I had a really nice conversation with that Wild Irish Woman Isobela while I was there; we talked about everything from computer problems to catty comments about others at the club. That made the night well worth it.

Earlier I had been working on a tattoo for my left arm. All of the tattoo artists I've talked to around here refuse to put a design on one arm without placing a matching design on the other. Very strange. I've made a successful proof-of-concept, but need to decide on a pattern and try it on to see if it turns out well. I'm tossing around "USMC", an Eagle, Globe and Anchor, or a Bulldog pattern. I'll probably try the letters first since they wold be the easiest. Iso's good with all this artistic-type stuff so she may be able to help me if I get stuck.

The pause that refreshes

The newly redecorated Blarney Stone is open, and they have a bathroom in it! The old one may have had a bathroom, but I could never find it; in the new place it's in the back on the left. Hopefully the alley behind Fibber's won't stink so badly now.

They've added a second floor to the Blarney Stone so many more people can see the performers. The stage was moved to the right corner. Large speakers are attached high on the walls, and they're large enough that crazed fanatics can perch on them to watch the shows.

The pajama party at Fibber's went well. (Of course it did Tycho, Jocelyn was DJing there!) The ladies all got to show off their fuzzy bunny slippers, and I found a pair of yellow smiley-face boxers to wear. The smile was kind of lopsided, with a tongue hanging out, turning the smile into more of a leer. I loved it!

I thought I had a good costume for the 'Night of the Living Dead' theme party at TNW, but was outclassed by almost everyone there. One guy even had dozens of nails driven into his face. People around here are scary sometimes. I did have a real nice chat with my friend Isobela though, turns out she is Seamstress to the Stars!

I've been shopping around for a hot tub to put on the deck at my place. I've found a good one, but it's not exactly what I want and rather expensive, so I'm holding off for now. I found a place where you could win a free one and was hanging out there when my friend from the old country called. We chatted for a while, and then I won one of the hot tubs so she met me at my place to help install it and then try it out. It's nice, especially for free, but I'm still looking for the perfect one.

While we were soaking I heard that Heath was having another piano concert in Nantucket, so I invited her to go. I just dried off, changed clothes and zipped over there but of course it took her significantly longer; having to decide what to wear, do her hair and whatever. She did make it in time for the start of the concert, so I guess I shouldn't pick on her too much. Heath put on a good, lively performance. Long-time listeners could tell the stress of finishing his thesis was off of his shoulders. My friend really liked it, but had to leave before it was over. She was able to stay long enough to hear my favorite Heath song: Scarborough Fair so jazzed-up you can hardly recognize it. It's nice to take new people to events like this.

Congratulations Duke Speedy and Lady Collette!

I was finally able to check my mail today and found an invitation to the Royal Wedding of Duke Speedy and Lady Collette. I wasn't able to make it because of previous commitments, and that's a real bummer. I've never been to a Royal Wedding in a castle; I'm sure it was awesome. I even missed the bachelor party! I bet Royal bachelor parties knock your socks off!

When I got in today there was a notice about a Friendly Fire gig starting in a few minutes, so I hurried over to Selene Castle. They were their usual fantastic selves; it's kinda weird but listening to them was almost relaxing after the hectic weekend I've had. Iso and Jocelyn stopped by to listen, and I noticed Jocelyn wearing like pajamas and fuzzy bunny slippers. I asked if she was in so much of a hurry to hear Case and Mack that she couldn't change, and she said there was a Pajama party at Fibbers later and she was getting ready for it. Just then I received a notice of a 'Night of the Living Dead' theme party at TNW later in the evening. I guess I know what I'm doing tonight!

I have a good Zombie costume for the TNW party, but I don't own any pajamas; don't wear them. Joce suggested shorts and a t-shirt, but that's not really pajamas. She said that boxers would be acceptable, and I figure I ought to wear a white t-shirt too; don't want to drive the ladies too crazy. Now I gotta go find out if I own any underwear...

Vana Nore

Vana Nore means Beautiful People. It is the tag-line for the DJ Elwe fan group. It is an invitation-only group and I was lucky enough to score an invite to a month or so ago. I've listened to Elwe many times at Fibbers, but by far my most enjoyable listening experiences are her weekly Sunday afternoon gigs at Ligeia's Emporium in Zurich. Ligeia's Emporium is a "Vintage Decor Designs" place that features an open courtyard in the middle that make a perfect place for Elwe to set up her equipment and the rest of us to rock. I have two of Ligeia's chairs at my place; she makes some real nice stuff.

What's so special about Elwe when she plays in Zurich is the wildly eclectic playlist. She'll go from playing my current favorite song to my favorite song from 25 years ago to a song that I've never heard before that becomes my new favorite song. It's truly amazing. The crowd never gets too big there, and sometimes there's language barriers to group chit-chat, but everyone is very nice an we all have a good time. A couple of weeks ago a young lady there taught me a new dance called Lime Jelly that I've since taught to a few others.

What's brought this up is that I missed her show last weekend, and I'm going to miss it tomorrow too. I made too many obligations for volunteer work. Next year I'll have to tell them that I'll just be working one day for the Fair, not six. My knees and back will thank me, as will my ears!

Ya think ya know someone, and then they drain your blood...

Actually Dea Mama asked for volunteers, and I was quick enough to be first in line. I was in The Mist for a vampire-themed costume party, at least I think it was just a costume party. Many of the people there seemed to fit right in with the theme. Especially the Queen. We even had the Queen of a neighboring kingdom visit us with her staff. The other Queen - a natural vampire too. I sure hope I have at least a little neck left when Halloween is over!

After the party I changed and went over to Fibber's and had a grand old time. Mack had called me earlier to let me know it was rocking. Daddie was the DJ, that nut Anutte hostess, Friendly Fire was in the house, Brooke, Featherfoot and a cast of thousands. I wore a black outfit with red trim, and Isobela was similarly attired. We danced together most of the night and would have looked like twins if only I had remembered to dye my hair.

Daddie spun for an extra half-hour and by then it was pretty late. I have a very busy weekend ahead of me so I may not be around here much until Monday. It was good to get some fun in and get a good night's sleep. Off to don my chef's hat.

I'm Famous!

I found out last night that I'm read from coast to coast! From the sunny beaches of Florida to the sunny beaches of California. One comment was that my writing style seemed to be that of a 1930's radio show. I think this was meant as a compliment, or at least it wasn't derogatory. I'm not sure, I wasn't around in the 1930s. I'll just have to take Alaska's word on that. :)

I saw one of those Support Our Troops ribbons at the O'Club and wanted one for my place. I tried asking around about where they got it, but no one knew, so I just made my own. I'm very pleased with how it came out, it's much better than their store-bought one. I put it out next to my front door and made it so that anyone wandering by could take a copy of it if they wanted.

I heard of a shop having a treasure hunt so I went by to see what I could find. There was a nice men's shirt hidden out back behind some trees, but before I could search much more an old friend stopped by. We hadn't seen each other for a while and started chatting. I received a notice that a Friendly Fire show was about to start, so I matter-of-factly asked my friend if she wanted to go listen to some music, knowing she would likely drool over them. She agreed, and I headed over but she had to go change clothes and mess with her hair and do girly stuff first.

When I got there Case called out "Sir Tycho" and I knew I was in trouble; he must have found this blog. Mack chimed in about hiding the candy apples claiming it was all an innocent misunderstanding. My friend eventually showed up about the time Alaska calls to see what I'm up to. I was very busy juggling conversations for a while, but once the show started things settled down and we did some serious bogeying.

DJ Daddie, DJ John and Brooke showed up. The place was filled and really rocking. As expected my friend loved it, especially the signature song that Friendly Fire always close their shows with. After the show we hung around to chat a bit. Brooke chided Mack about hiding the candy apples from me and Mack denied everything.

I invited my friend to go to Belfast with me. I wanted her to see the Rotterdam bar and hopefully meet Alaska, who often works and hangs out there. The place was deserted, though. Alaska must have been off in one of those Blues dives she likes so much. We hung out on the bridge for a while chatting then headed off.

Tuesday night I went to the party at TNW. The theme was Bling. I was worried that there would be so much bling that I might be blinded, but it wasn't bad at all. I wore a flashy watch and ring, and also had on the POW/MIA bracelet that I had picked up earlier in the day. I wasn't too blingy at all, but I guess it was enough because I won their contest again! Joce wasn't around to dispute it this time. Steverino wasn't there either; he's usually a lock to win these things. It's nice winning, but I hope he's OK. I don't want to just win by default, I'd rather earn it by going up against a master.

A dear friend has been going through a very hard time lately. I made a small gift for her, a t-shirt, and gave it to her yesterday. In chatting about it I was able to get that magical, four-letter word out of her: rofl. It was bothering me that I couldn't do much to help her; making her laugh made me feel better. Life is worth it.

Pumpkin Pie!

I had wandered by Mack's Gestures yesterday afternoon. Mack was there with a couple of customers, Case showed up then another guy. Most of us were wearing our Friendly Fire t-shirts so Mack insisted on a group photo. Afterwards she served us a delicious Pumpkin Pie that Brooke had baked earlier. There was also Apple Pie and Candy Apples; I grabbed an apple for later.

I stopped by Brooke's store to thank her for the pie, but she wasn't there. I went back to the house to do some odd jobs for a while, then got a notice that Heath was playing in Nantucket. I got dressed up and headed over there. Heath hasn't been around much, he was defending his thesis and it went well. Hopefully he'll be around more now, though with his degree he's looking at getting a real job. He played some songs from his upcoming Christmas album - very nice. I'm sure I'll get it when it comes out.

After the concert I talked with some people about interesting places they had found. I have the directions to a few new surfing, hang-gliding and other places I'll check out later. I stopped by Brooke's again and she was there so I thanked her for the Pumpkin Pie. She asked if I had a Candy Apple also, and I said that even though Mack tried to hide them so she could have them all for herself that yes, I did get one.

All in all a very pleasant day; listening to music, chatting with old friends and meeting new ones.

Who Dat?

We Won! 28-17! What an awesome game; we're playing like the Saints of last year. If we can keep it up we still have a chance at the playoffs. Special teams scored a touchdown, the offense had many long, sustained drives and the defense played good enough and closed it for us at the end. Woo Hoo!

I found the Tavern in the Mist on Friday. I realized that I would have enough time to go there for their event and make it to TNW for their's. Mist was having a costume party with a Cowboys and Indians theme, I bought a new Lone Star shirt for it. The people there are very friendly, but they know each other very well and it was kinda hard for me to figure out who was who and what was going on. I just need to keep going back and figure things out. Saturday night was a Superheroes and Villains theme, and I ended up in a three-way tie for first place! As a villain, of course.

The Friday night party at TNW with DJ Jocelyn was a blast as usual. The theme was dress up so I wore my new tux with the red bow tie and vest. Steverino was there and dressed to the hilt as always, tails and a top hat. He had to leave early though, so when we had the voting for the contest at the end of the evening I won! Joce missed the announcement, and after the ladies' winners were announced (another 3-way tie) she asked who won for the guys. Everybody said "Tycho won" but she didn't believe them; she was like "No, really; who won for the guys?" That's another one I owe her.

Jocelyn said she was DJing for Starr's birthday party Saturday afternoon, and I made most of that. It was at a newly-redecorated club that had a good design - round and open with little wasted space. There was also a large dance area outside of the club with some Stonehenge-type stuff around the edge; pretty cool. Saw Joce again on Sunday night as she DJ'd for a Dublin street party.

The street parties had been going on all weekend. It looks like they may be redecorating the Blarney Stone, which is good. The place was a little cramped, as is Fibber's. The good thing is that they're cramped because they're wildly popular. They're victims of their own success. Dublin rocks. So does Joce.

Finding The Mist

I knocked together a rough draft of my sauna yesterday. It was easier than I though to get the walls and roof the right sizes and connect them together, but haven't tried to hang the door yet. I was able to get the two levels of seating in it along the back wall, and when I sat on the top level for a test I realized that the thing was pretty huge; I was almost lost in it. May have to re-think turning the whole kitchen into a sauna. In the meantime I created a box to hold the heating element I didn't have and started going through old notebooks because I remember seeing a mention of where to find such a thing. I came across some directions I couldn't recall, with a strange acronym as a mnemonic, and decided to follow them and see where I ended up.

Well it turns out it was a clothing store. A mostly women's clothing store, but they had some things for guys too and I picked up some clearance stuff I might use some day. I stepped out the front door to take a better look around and found myself in a wonderfully quaint village. I took the road to the next building up on the right and stepped into a larger building that had a couple of young ladies chatting in the middle of it and some items for sale along the side wall. I didn't want to disturb the ladies conversation so I just walked over to check out the display cases. They had some nice stuff, but nothing I was immediately interested in, so I was about to leave when one of the ladies said hello to me. Of course I said hello back, then exchanged pleasantries with the other young lady as well.

I explained that I was just looking around and was about to be on my way when one of them called me friend and we started chatting. I talked about finding the mysterious directions to the clothing store and my quest for fire, well OK steam actually. The Lady happened to have a steam engine for heating a hot tub and kindly offered it to me. I haven't looked at it closely yet but should be able to adapt it for my needs. I asked about the village and she explained they were a Medieval-themed area with shops and houses and such - and that she was the Queen. I looked at the signpost of where I was - Kidd Island, and at her name tag - Queen Kidd, and suffered a major D'Oh moment. We had been chatting this whole time and I didn't realize that I had been in the presence of royalty! I probably should have been down on one knee the whole time or something. Thankfully she is a gracious and kind ruler and let me keep my head. I gotta start reading name-tags sooner.

When I stepped outside I saw behind the clothing store this massive castle taking up like half the island, obviously the Queen's home. D'Oh number two. I did a quick tour of the place; most of the shops were occupied which is nice to see, their small 'rental castle' was occupied but a nice seaside chalet was available at a reasonable price. A small schooner was in the harbor past the shops. There was a jousting field near the castle but oddly enough I didn't see a quintain. I bet that would be fun to make. Hmmmm.

Later at home I did some research on "The Mist - Kidd Island," which is the places formal name, I think. Seems that they have activities planned there most days in the Tavern and occasional ballroom dances. They also host weddings and receptions and other events in the castle. I don't explicitly remember seeing a place called "Tavern" there, but as noted above sometimes I'm not the most observant person in the world. I'll bet it's the place I met the Queen; there was stuff for sale along one wall but most of the building seemed empty. Maybe they were there redecorating, or it's all one big dance floor? In any case, I plan to find out. Tonight Jocelyn is DJing at TNW, but weekends are usually slow for me so I'll be heading out there then. It's a kick to be called Sir Tycho!

Hot in the Kitchen

I never cook in my kitchen of my rental house. I'm not often at home, and there are so many good places to eat and junk-food vendors and bars with munchies, etc. that there really isn't a need to cook. It bothers me that one-third of my house is essentially wasted space, so I've come up with a typical Tycho cockamamie scheme: I'll wall-in the front of the kitchen and turn the whole room into a sauna!

I've spent part of this morning researching wood. I'll need to create wooden walls, a roof and floor for my sauna. I'm thinking of Mahogany, Butternut or maybe a nice Rosewood. Cocobolo would be ideal, but I'm not sure of it's availability. I see an L-shaped, two-level bench inside. Most of the saunas I've seen around here have single-level benches, and I'm not sure if I'll have room for two, but it'll sure be fun finding out.

I'll make a smoky-glass door with a large window next to it. I'll still need some sort of light fixture inside and of course something for making stream. It would be neat to come up with some sort of variable / High-Medium-Low steam setting; all of the sauna's I've seen have just on or off. Some saunas also have towel racks inside, but I think that's rather silly.

I'll still have some room at the front of the kitchen I could do something with. I'll likely end up putting a couple of potted plants there; this sauna will be taking a good bite out of my budget.

I wonder what the house's owners will think of all this?

Still a Perfect Record!

Yep, the Saints are a perfect, winless, 0 and 4. This weekend we have another prime-time spot on Sunday night. I wonder how bad we'll embarrass ourselves this time?

Monday was Columbus Day and I had off from work. I spent the day in a sports extravaganza; I went surfing, mountain-biking, roller and ice-skating and snow skiing. The skiing was my favorite. A few weeks back I had found a place in the mountains that sold the skates I was looking for. I went back to skate there, noticed a ski-lift up the mountain and decided to try skiing too. I met a very nice young lady outside of the lodge who gave me an old pair of skis she wasn't using any more. I had trouble skiing at first so I went back to the lodge, talked to some people, and they helped me out. After that it was a blast.

The lady who gave me her skis also mentioned a place in the Alps that was popular with skiers. On the way there I picked up another pair of skis, the kind that come with instructions :). The Alpine place was awesome; it not only had a slalom run that you could time yourself on but also an Olympic-style ski jump. I did the slalom run a few times and found my new skis were much faster than the old ones, but also much more difficult to control. I had to go very slow if I wasn't to miss any of the gates. That got boring so I made a high-speed run, missing every gate except the first, and crashing into a storefront at the bottom of the hill. It was great!

Next up was the ski jump. It has a seat at the top for you to sit down and put your skis on, with a ramp in front of you with guard-rails on the sides. The bottom of the ramp curved up a bit to give you a boost to go sailing through the air. At least that was the theory. With my control problems the first few times I found myself falling over the guard-rails before I was even halfway down the ramp! That was fun, but wasn't what I wanted, so I tried going very slowly down the ramp. I didn't go over the rails, but at the end of the ramp I was going so slow I sort of just teetered over the edge, falling 40 feet onto my face. Good thing the snow was deep there!

I'm definitely going back someday to tame the ski-jump beast, but last night at a Friendly Fire gig I overheard some people talking about a beach with the longest surfing runs in the Metaverse. Steel Pier Beach here I come!

A Real Place

I've been bouncing back and forth between Dublin and Belfast nowdays; good thing the travel time is so short. I've also been catching Friendly Fire performances whenever I can. I've gotten t-shirt making thing down pretty well, and have been playing with scripting a bit. But the big news is that I finally have my own place! I rented a house at TNW West Residences. It's small, and the neighbors are close by, but they are hardly ever home so it's almost like I have the whole island to myself. There's a living room and kitchen downstairs, and a bedroom and patio upstairs. I'll probably be spending most of my time on the patio; the view over the water is just breathtaking - especially at sunrise and sunset. I've put a couple of chairs, a hammock and a keg of beer up there for now. I have a couple of living room sets, I set one up but think I will try the other to see how they compare. I lucked into a nice flat-screen TV a few weeks ago, and it's set up in the living room, but I have to wait for the cable guy to hook it up. No kitchen furniture yet, but I have my eye on some. In the meantime I have a large aquarium set up there.

I bought some wood-slat blinds for the place. They're radio-controlled or something because I can hit the switch once and all of the blinds on both floors of the house go up or down at the same time. Pretty cool. The front of the development has a small store with all sorts of snack food and drinks, and free bikes and roller skates for residents and visitors to cruise around the island with - one more thing on my to-do list. Right after I started moving in Lex the manager stopped by to say hi and helped me with a bunch of questions I had, this being my first rental place. He's a great guy, I have been to his TNW club many times - it's just across the bridge and past the gas station from the house.