Quiet Saturday

Quiet Saturday night spent typing away in both SL and RL. In Second Life I'm relaxing on the deck of our home in the seaside community of South Sailor's Cove by the Blake Seas, while in RL I'm huddled under a blanket while it's nearly freezing outside.

Seriously, why do people ever go back to RL? *grins*

Heaven and Hell Dance at Cafe LaPe'rouse @ Austin

Cafe LaPe'rouse @ Austin held an Heaven and Hell Dance on 2015-3-27.

I upgraded my outfit from the last angels and demons dance by adding rams horns and large demon hands, while my Linda was dressed in a sexy open-midriff white gown with fragile angel wings and a halo.

Poster about Dance. I do have a cute butt!

Two sessions were held during the day, with Melinda Nyn and Aria Vyper (Mili) hosting the events and DJ Abby (Nightgirl Destiny) and DJ Stormy Dench providing the music.

Borg Cube above Austin

The venue was a platform constructed high above the turrets and castles of Austin by Melinda and Aria. As was the case earlier at The Olive Branch event, it looked remarkably like a Borg Cube, with the bluish heaven on top, and the flame-tinged hell below.

Staircase between floors

The two halves of the cube were separated by a translucent floor, and passage between the floors was provided by a glassy staircase to one side.

Heaven and Hell

I attended the first dance at 1 SLT, and the the event itself was awesome. Yes, I do know I sound like some California dude high on surf, but the music was cool and the talk was funny, loud, and continuous.

Most of the dancers concentrated in the heavenly part for the first hour, but our natural tendencies drove us deep into the bowels of hell for the last part of the dance. Matching her songs to our predilections, DJ Abby spent the first hour mixing heavenly songs like Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", then switched to songs that catered more to the damned, like "Devil Woman" by Cliff Richards.

It's hot down here!!!!

I'll have to say I really do prefer the scenery down below. Puffy white clouds and heavenly angels carousing in a deep blue sky keep me calm and tranquil, but the roaring flames that enveloped the floor below got my blood up and running, and  having the delectably delicious Linda in my arms gave an added heat to the festivities.

The damned dancing in the pits of fiery Hell!

Thanks to Melinda, Aria, and the DJs, as well as all the attendees for creating such a fun and sexy afternoon!

More pics below. If you see yourself in one of the pics and would like to be identified, please send me an IM.

If you took pics of the event and would like them to be included here, please IM me as well.

eGoes Alter and Melinda Nyn

Hunter Teodosio and Aria Vyper

Billy Avedon and Sage (SageWisdom)

WW (Worldwide Pedalo) and Melinda Nyn

New Store: Live to Ride

In order to accommodate any gadgets, equipment and accessories we may create for the biking community, we will be opening a new MP store called Live To Ride, which will be partly associated with the Savage Saints Bike Club. Linda created the awesome logo, and the first two items in the new store will be the Cage and the Balance Beam, both of which were first created for the Savage Saints Rally at the end of March.

Josh Groban

We were dancing to live music at a new sim when Linda acted surprised that I knew who Christina Aguilera was, and she mentioned that I somehow "hated" music. Now, that's pretty obviously news to me, since my taste in music is actually pretty eclectic, running from pop songs from the 1970s, to the 1980s and 1990s, and into the 21st century (yes, I know all about that bass)

One of the songs in the dance was something I've never heard before, and a quick search on google revealed it was actually from a singer I knew and liked...Josh Groban.

So, just to prove to some...ahem...heretics...in SL that I DO have good taste in music, here are some youtube vids of some of Josh's songs.

Enjoy!

What I did for Love:

When You Say You Love Me (the song played in the dance)

You Raise Me Up

Remember Me

8 month anniversary

She makes my days better.

East Asian Dance at Alanis Gallery in Xaara

Alanis Gallery in Xaara held an East Asian Dance on March 10, 2015. Linda looked ravishing in an Orients Dress by Muneria that I had first seen in Lori Novos' blog, while I wore a Japanese Samurai kimono outfit that I had bought a long time ago, with a katana strapped to my back for any pesky griefers that might dare show up.

Laura Audebarn (Laura Demonista), who hosted and set up the dance, also had quite a lot of themed photos for sale, and interestingly enough, me and Linda unknowingly bought the exact same item! Fortunately, Laura was kind enough to gift us another painting, a beautiful picture of cherry blossoms.

Linda also had pairs of decorative chopsticks adorning her hair, and when I clicked on them, her blonde locks fell loose in long flowing waves. She's a stunner, my girl.

One thing I noticed was that although the event was called an "Asian" dance, most if not all of the other people in the crowd were attired in outfits hailing from China or Japan. That was an interesting observation because it seems to confirm the view that when Americans think about that region of the world, they tend to think about the Chinese or Japanese (or less likely, the Koreans), all of whom are northern peoples with similar cultures and physical traits.

If one looks south though, one will find many other cultures, some of which have traditional outfits that are just as beautiful as the kimonos and qipaos from the north.

For example, Malays in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines have batik clothing and traditional costumes for women such as the kebaya, and traditional outfits that are still heavily used like the barong tagalog for men.

Kebaya

The Thais too have their outfits, as do the Cambodians and Vietnamese. All these southeast-asian groups have their own unique dress and attire.

Barong Tagalog

Hopefully, the next time you think about dressing up for some Asian-themed party, you'll consider some of the less well known national costumes from that part of our world.

There's something about dogs

There's something about dogs that draw us to them. Perhaps it's because they're social animals like us, and so we reciprocate when they easily develop feelings of loyalty and protectiveness towards their owners.

We don't have a dog nowadays, but when I was young in my home country we had a succession of dogs who were very much a part of the family. Unlike here in the USA, dogs were kept outside, but they played with us, ate the same food we did (well, ok, leftovers, but that still counts), and received lots of love and care from the family (in addition to occasionally gifting us with ticks...hmmm...yes, i believe that did happen)

Back in 1981, legendary actor James “Jimmy” Stewart, the star of “It's a Wonderful Life” went on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” to share his hobby: poetry. The piece that he read was titled "I’ll Never Forget a Dog Named Beau" about Stewart’s golden retriever.

It was a long but heartfelt poem and brought tears to his and Carson's eyes, just as it did to mine. Listen to it.

He never came to me when I would call

Unless I had a tennis ball,

Or he felt like it,

But mostly he didn't come at all.

When he was young

He never learned to heel

Or sit or stay,

He did things his way.

Discipline was not his bag

But when you were with him things sure didn't drag.

He'd dig up a rosebush just to spite me,

And when I'd grab him, he'd turn and bite me.

He bit lots of folks from day to day,

The delivery boy was his favorite prey.

The gas man wouldn't read our meter,

He said we owned a real man-eater.

He set the house on fire

But the story's long to tell.

Suffice it to say that he survived

And the house survived as well.

On the evening walks, and Gloria took him,

He was always first out the door.

The Old One and I brought up the rear

Because our bones were sore.

He would charge up the street with Mom hanging on,

What a beautiful pair they were!

And if it was still light and the tourists were out,

They created a bit of a stir.

But every once in a while, he would stop in his tracks

And with a frown on his face look around.

It was just to make sure that the Old One was there

And would follow him where he was bound.

We are early-to-bedders at our house -- I guess I'm the first to retire.

And as I'd leave the room he'd look at me

And get up from his place by the fire.

He knew where the tennis balls were upstairs,

And I'd give him one for a while.

He would push it under the bed with his nose

And I'd fish it out with a smile.

And before very long He'd tire of the ball

And be asleep in his corner In no time at all.

And there were nights when I'd feel him Climb upon our bed

And lie between us,

And I'd pat his head.

And there were nights when I'd feel this stare

And I'd wake up and he'd be sitting there

And I reach out my hand and stroke his hair.

And sometimes I'd feel him sigh and I think I know the reason why.

He would wake up at night

And he would have this fear

Of the dark, of life, of lots of things,

And he'd be glad to have me near.

And now he's dead.

And there are nights when I think I feel him

Climb upon our bed and lie between us,

And I pat his head.

And there are nights when I think I feel that stare

And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,

But he's not there.

Oh, how I wish that wasn't so,

I'll always love a dog named Beau.

The Austin Revue Players and "A Short History of D/s & Love Through Time" at Austin's Speakeasy Theater

Full credits and cast at the end of post.

The Austin Revue Players held their second presentation called A Valentine's Day Show featuring "A Short History of D/s & Love Through Time" at Austin's Speakeasy Theater on February 13 and February 22. I was not able to attend the first show, but did manage to sneak in near the end of the second show.

Encore Show on February 15

As always, I was impressed by the venue, Austin's Speakeasy Theater, which can be reached by going down some steep stairs that are located near the sim's outdoor discussion area, is a two tier structure that absolutely radiates elegance and refinement.

The Speakeasy Theater during a downtime

The theater has working pool tables at both levels, as well as a roaring fireplace behind the balcony seats, and the plush green chairs below at the orchestra level are comfy and large (though I've never found a sitting pose that I really liked in them).

Linda and I settle in for the show

The show itself was a departure from the last presentation in that it was composed of a series of vignettes that detailed the history of D/s through the ages. This gave a feeling of greater variety for the audience, though perhaps at the expense of a deeper connection with the various characters in the play.

I was curious about this change and asked Crux Maximus, the lead organizer for the show, about this decision on the structure of the play and how future presentations would be done, and he noted that:

I decided to make a smaller, less demanding show because "Her Christmas Gift" was just exceedingly complex. It was a great "BANG!" we're here kind of statement, but not the kind of thing to be taken on lightly. The idea is to do 3, maybe 4, of those big "plays" per year with lighter apertifs (Vday-like shows) mingled in. There's a variety / talent show in the works too which you'll hear more about soon.

As far as degree of difficulty... the four scenes here comprising "short history of D/s & love through time," for me, represented a bit of a vacation from the enormity of creating 11 scenes with movement et al as in the first "play." So in that sense, it was less mentally taxing to do four than 11 full scenes with a story arc.

The first scene in the presentation is a journey back in time to visit with those that made it all possible. In it, the Earth Goddess Og (Dani/Naughty Glimmer) mentors Ba bal (Crux), a new shaman, on the ways of lifting a child-carrier (Dakota0therbee) to new heights, while forming bonds that make each more useful. He does this by tying her to a frame then exploring her body in such a way that makes her cry out "take me higher father! Let me see the fire!"

The word "hole" is also mentioned quite a few times ;-)

The next scene is a dance number, with the girls (Naughty Glimmer, Ulrika Tomsen, SageWisdom, Sassy Snoodle, Dakota0therbee, AisleyRansom) swaying and jiggling to Beyonce's "Naughty Girls" and Crux playing the piano. I'm sure quite a few of the audience members were entranced, as there's nothing quite like watching a beautiful sexy girl who sucks one fingertip into her mouth and pulls it out slowly gliding it down her throat -- down down down to the valley of her cleavage.

A doctor (Crux) and a nurse (Dakota) get it on in the third scene, while some girls (SageWisdom, Reni (Serenity Streusel), Sassy Snoodle) continue the sexy dancing with Robert Palmer's Addicted To Love...and what red blooded man can resist the robotic sexiness of the carefully rouged dancers in that music video?

I do have to wonder though what the patient (Letty - skarletterose) was thinking as the doctor and nurse started panting after each other with insinuations such as "I could do some major labia on her for sure....." and "I have a sudden urge to get into ear nose & throat specialties....or maybe.......ye olde anal probe?"

A threesome perhaps?

The repartee continues in the fourth scene, when a lord (Crux) meets a "cuntry" girl selling flowers (Reni/Dakota) on his way to Canterbury. They then indulge in some serious innuendos, with the lord asking "Can you shine a belt buckle til it fairly glows?"and the girl later noting that "my garden, my Lord, is always well watered and flourishing."

The girl then dances for him to show her heart, and the scene ends with the lord telling her to kneel before her new Master, perhaps setting a new world record for the time between meeting and "collaring".

The hot and heavy insinuations are replaced by more direct overtures in the fifth scene as some sexy gals show their stuff and encourage each other, asking the men "lets play a love game, do you want love, or do want fame?"

There is much thrusting of breasts, wiggling of butts, and licking of lips, not to mention lots of shimmying and shaking. All in all, a wonderful interlude for the audience.

There is no denying that the sixth scene is pretty hot, as it's an intimate look at what your neighbors across the way just might doing while you're parked in front of the boob tube watching Geraldo find absolutely nothing in Al Capone's vault (yes, yes, that was a reference to some 1980s stunt show for all the youngsters out there).

In the scene, a suburban couple (Crux and Cara Olivieri/Dani) share an intimate moment at home after a busy day and nice evening, with said intimate moment involving lots of flogging right in front of a window.

We move from the 1980s to the 1950s as Ol' Blue Eyes himself stages a comeback - or at least provides background to two girls (Naughty Glimmer and Sage Wisdom/Sassy Snoodle) as they dance the day away to his tune "Fly me to the moon", which to be honest I haven't heard since I was a wee lad in the 1970s and poring over my grandfather's music collection.

I liked the next scene a lot, because in it Dakota, a Girl in Study at Austin, shared her thoughts about her submission via a poem she wrote. It brought the house down.

A girl

Repressed

Needing to break out

Find a place a new place

Vines from the old

Ensnaring her feet

Reaching out, to you Austin

So close

With freedom still out of reach

Pushing

From the inside out

Stretching her skin

Burning her inside

Taking a step

To Y/you

Finding the vine

Was never round her feet

Was only in her mind

All this time

All this time

All this time

She was free

Never let it be said that the Austin Revue ladies (Naughty Glimmer, SageWisdom, Dakota (dakota0therbee) & AisleyRansom) don't know what is really important in life. Yes, I'm talking about them dreaming about all sorts of sweet and sticky stuff...like sugar-coated lips, and gooey centers, and sweet cherries, and where the hell their candyman is at.....

Yep, we're back in allusion city ;-)

The tenth and final scene featured some special effects that really got the audience's attention. In it, the earthling Major Cum (Crux) and Cyborg-human hybrid Machinamama (Dakota) have been isolated in a spaceship close to Uranus for five years now (perhaps a reference to the 5 year mission of the starship Enterprise in Star Trek), and Major Cum is going quite literally bonkers due to his attraction to the always logical cyborg, though the two ultimately get their groove on and he is propelled into space by her machined vjj to propagate and produce more BDSM for the universe.

I particularly like the tie in to the first scene, when the cyborg exclaims "welcome back, Major Cum........ it's gummmmmmm to see you.... ", which calls back the advice of the Earth Goddess Og in the first scene, when she pushes the two primitive lovers together and says "gum".

The cast takes a well-deserved bow

I thought the Revue did a spectacular job on the settings, and especially the costumes this time, and from what I understand this was more of a group effort, where many people chipped in to produce the final version....a commendable team effort. Crux himself notes that "we're moving like a troupe now. It brings tears to my eyes to say it but from an insecure, frightened group two months ago, we're now a team that can pound our marks and deliver the scene on time and with great emotional import. I had moments... glimpses of a sublime team joining to form a machine during the encore performance. Awesome to see emerge, and it will be so gratifying to watch going forward."

I'll note in closing that dances and discussions are fairly routine events in Second Life, so I am always happy and excited to see unique spectacles like this being offered in the grid.

Bravo Austin Revue! Bravo!

Cast and Credits

Authors and Costumes:                

Act 1 - First mentors: CM, Naughty, Crux, Dakota
Act 2 - Naughty Girls - Naughty, - company emotes   Naughty
Act 3 - Lovesick - Dakota / CM - company emotes
Act 4 - A Cuntry Tale - CM, Isabellachristmas  CM
Act 5 - Love Game - Naughty, company emotes - Naughty
Act 6 - Fireflies & Floggers - daniela.mcginnis, cara Olivera, CM - birthday suits!
Act 7 - Fly me to the moon - Naughty, company emotes - Naughty
Act 8 - Pouring Out - Dakota  
Act 9 - Candy Man - Naughty, company emotes - Naughty
Act 10 - "The Final VJJ!" - Dakota, CM

Choreography / Movement:

Naughty did her sets and choreography;  I did the "Short History" sets and choreography, as well as the sets and movers for Dakota's "Lovesick" and "Pouring Out."

Stormy Dench was the DJ both times and boy is that nice! Nothing moves without a DJ.

Act 1: The First Mentors
Music: Whispers
Cast: Crux Maximus, Dakota (Dakota0therbee), and "the Shaman / Earth Goddess" Dani/Naughty Glimmer

Act 2: Naughty girls
Music: Beyonce's "Naughty Girls"
Cast: Naughty Glimmer,Ulrika Tomsen, SageWisdom, Sassy Snoodle, Dakota0therbee, AisleyRansom, Crux Maximus

Act 3: Act name:  Lovesick
Music: Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love
Cast: Dakota (Dakota0therbee), Crux, Letty (skarletterose), SageWisdom, Reni (Serenity Streusel), Sassy Snoodle

Act 4: A Cuntry Tale
Vox Vulgaris - La Suite Meurtriere
Cast: Crux and Dakota (dakota0therbee)/Reni (Serenity Streusel)

Act 5: Love Game
Love Game - Lady Gaga
Cast: Naughty Glimmer, AisleyRansom, SageWisdom, Dakota (dakota0therbee), Letty (SkarletteRose) , Ulrika Tomsen & Sassy Snoodle, WillTitus Resident

Act 6: Floggers & Fireflies
Music: Monkey Man (Rolling Stones)
Cast: Crux and Cara Olivieri/Dani at window

Act 7: Fly me to the moon
song: fly me to the moon by frank sinatra
Cast: Naughty Glimmer, Sage Wisdom, Sassy Snoodle

Act 8: Act name:  Pouring Out
Music: Matt McAndrew - Make It Rain - Studio Version
Cast: Dakota (dakota0therbee)

Act 9: Candy Man
Music:Candyman by Cristina Aguilera
cast: Naughty Glimmer, SageWisdom, Dakota (dakota0therbee) & AisleyRansom

Act 10: Space! The final VJJ!
Music: 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY - 04 The Blue Danube
Cast: Crux and Dakota

A good day

Dancing with my baby girl at Cafe LaPe'rouse @ Austin