Laurel’s Places to Go – The Roadhouse

A new Country Music club has opened in Second Life called the Roadhouse.  I attended the grand opening this morning and feel it will become the #1 Country Bar in Second Life!  Friendly people, good music and so much to do in just one location.  The music is Country/Country Rock/Southern Rock without the full sets of rap, metal or hip hop you can find at some other country venues, which puts it ahead of some of the larger clubs already in this genre like Southern Oasis.

The sim has available quality shopping, 7 Seas Fishing, bull riding, swimming in a pool with a big ole curly slide, contests, cars you can drive around as you explore and more! It’s not just a pub but a whole entertainment zone.  The line dances here are a bit different as you sit on a “hat” spot on the floor then click on a much larger hat floating above the dance floor to animate, but once going the dances operated quite smoothly except I had a problem stopping dancing as reclicking the floating hat didn’t help.  A relog did fix the problem, however.  On a second visit, the dances worked smoothly and stopped just fine.

The venue will also bring live music performers to perform on the Roadhouse stage!  Jewell Schnyder will be appearing there tonight (8PM to 10PM) and I enjoyed her last performance at another club.  A very good turnout at the Grand Opening, with more there than my picture shows as it was taken shortly after the event started.  I am told the Roadhouse has been lining up quality veteran DJs from around the grid to make this club a sure sucess.  However, the one they opened with had a wonderful voice but sounded very nervous on mic, didn’t speak often thus was like dancing to radio and oddly repeated several songs during her set.  I was told she was fairly new and this was most likely her first time doing a grand opening so I don’t need to mention a name as most likely she will have improved by the time many read this review.  I believe they could have only improved by starting out with a veteran DJ, as all else was perfect.  The Grand Opening crowd was even given free motorcycles (his or hers) which was a nice gesture.  I will certainly be back again to visit as I had a really good time and this new club shows so much potential. 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lilac%20Island/193/190/23

Store Update – Mens Boxers

 I made something new for the Men’s store after a friend told me he couldn’t find boxer shorts for men at a reasonable price in SL that looked decent.  200L per pair he said the price was. Thus I made 6 pair in convient 3 packs.  They are on both the pants and the underwear layers so if your avatar has leg tattoos or leg hair you can wear the pants version.  Sporty enough to be also used as shorts or a swimsuit!  Modifable so you can adjust the fit and Transfer so they can be given as a gift. 200L for a 3 pack of boxers.

Found only at the Mid Mall Store for Men.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Albena/37/78/33

Live Music in Second Life – Keith Madsen

I discovered Second Life’s version of Cat Stevens (now Yusef Islam) in Guthries’ this morning.  Guthries’ is a place Nitram and I have gone to hear singers together before but a real gem was there today.  Keith Madsen has Cat’s voice and accent…perfect!  Hailing from Birmingham, UK Keith played songs by Cat Stevens, Alan Jackson, Dr Hook and some amazing originals.  It was so good to hear a British accent again, miss you so Nitram sweetness. Nitram was always interested in supporting UK artists in Second Life. I was very impressed by Keith’s voice and would strongly very very strongly recommend hearing him in concert.  Cat Stevens fans especially will be in heaven!

About Keith :

Based in Central England, Keith Madsen streams from his home studio and plays both electric and acoustic guitars. Keith plays a mix of Classic Rock, Folk, and Country style tunes.   He writes songs about Second Life in hopes that you will enjoy the show! 

Here is a You Tube Video of him singing a song by Steve Earle.

The Landmark for Guthries’ for still more music as they have some really talented singers there.  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kissena%20Park/21/220/22

Live Music in Second Life – Wombat Quinnell

A friend in SL, Brianna and I caught Wombat Quinnell in concert this morning in Second Life’s Club Retro.  I got to make over Wombat’s mate Kollas who was just hours old.  He came to hear his RL friend sing.  Wombat has a delightful Aussie accent and played lots of requests,  very good voice and guitar playing. Wombat ended with a great cover of the Bread standard “IF”.   Well worth hearing him if you get a chance to!

A bit more on Wombat : 

Coming to SL from Sydney, Australia, Wombat Quinnell has been playing music for 15 years and, for the past 6 years, he has been playing for the pure pleasure of entertaining his audiences. His unique stage presence and crowd involvement make him a truly exceptional performer.  He is known to randomly Google songs and play them upon audience request.  He also plays some of his originals.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Epic%20Fail%20FTW/138/134/22

Laurel’s Places to Go – Southern Oasis

A great place to check out is the Southern Oasis!  No, Del it isn’t all country music.  They do have the best line dances in SL and I say that as a person that doesn’t normally line dance at all…these I do.  Music here varies as to DJs, with DJs working from early morning to late at night so Euro and UK friendly hours as well as American time.  Most often you hear Classic Rock, Southern Rock or Country but DJ Lindsay has a hip hop set here too if you enjoy that.

The crowd is very friendly and the line dances allow you to jump right in and start having fun.  The red dots are for the ladies and the black for the gentlemen so couples can dance together or you can dance solo.  Intan dances also available for couples.  A full service bar for hanging out at or to sit at while waiting for a friend to arrive.

Southern Oasis runs contest nearly every shift and they are proportional to win so even a few votes can win you a linden prize quite often.  The contest theme was Winter Wonderland on my visit.  You will need a Southern Oasis VIP tag to enter the contests and vote in them.  You can also catch some live music programs here.  A new singer, Jewell is one not to miss at the Oasis!  Definately worth a visit if you are looking for a friendly new hangout with consistant traffic. Nearby shops also available for last minute contest wear or to rent.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Agapi/111/237/27

Laurel’s Places to Go – Ambrosia Dance Club

Late night in SL?  Looking for something to do?  You can usually find a hopping dance floor at the Ambrosia Dance Club.  The music depends on the DJ present but they do generally have DJs even in the wee hours.  Lady GaGa was there on my visit (in the cyan blue), I detest her but fortunately she didn’t attempt to “sing”.  My partner is still away so I couldn’t get his opinion on this venue.  I prefer it to say…Dance Island but would like more consistancy to the music.  The music during my visit was modern rock & dance with some oldies and an occasional vulgar hip hop song tossed in. 

Dancing for couples and singles are available.  Give it a try? Follow the red carpet from the tp point to get to the club.   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ambrosia%20Dance%20Club/55/150/304

Music Break for Julianna

For Julianna one of your favorite Ben Taylor songs (son of James Taylor and Carly Simon).

Grats to Del and Frannie and Other News

My ex SL Husband Del and his new wife Frannie have recently married.  I wish them the best!  Yes, really I do…no sacarasm at all.  I was invited to the wedding actually but thought my presence might be distracting on their happy day. Thought it was best to feel good that I was invited but yet stay away. I had a wedding day with him, her turn now without me hanging around which might have been awkward for her.

I have about an hour left of my RL birthday left and missing Nitram so have a music video for him which follows featuring the gorgous voice of David Gates. Looks like a Great Lake in that illustration, dear.

Emotional Griefers

Emotional Griefers is what I call them, you might not have heard the term before but I’m sure you have run into them before.  “Griefer” is a term used in the on-line gaming world for someone who intentionally causes problems for others.  Emotional Griefers are to me people that for some reason known only to themselves like to create emotional pain for others any chance they get.  A friend of mine has a much simpler name for them…simply “Scum”, which is also quite accurate.

The same friend of mine quite recently left a position she loved in SL because an emotional griefer she was avoiding (which seems to be the best way to deal with them because they love attention even if it is negative) was hired misguidedly it seems at the club she was working at.  Unfortunate, but I guess once you have seen someone deliberately cause problems for others while falling back on a sympathy story when caught happen many times.  The best move is to stay away from them at all costs.  The people at that club will learn but learn the hard way it seems. 

An emotional griefer seems to target someone or a couple that “seems too happy” in their mind and the higher the profile the more potential impact because then they can draw more people into it to take sides thus creating the most havok possible.  College Psychology classes would suggest to me that the griefer does this because they are unhappy in their own situation and somehow think if they could just put themselves in the other person’s position they could find the happiness that eludes themself.  So they systematically, try to ruin another person while trying to worm themselves into their position so to speak.  This particular griefer seems to have made breaking up other people’s partnerships a speciality.  After acheiving the goal, the griefer gets bored very quickly and moves on to the next target leaving behind the busted up remains of a partnership and friendships too. 

If you observe an emotional griefer in action….a one time occurance could be considered a lapse in judgment…a mistake but serial episodes gives much less reason for sympathy and more reason for scorn and avoidance.  I think my friend made the best decision she could considering the circumstances.  She’s not one that likes high drama situations so leaving to let the next chapters play out without her would be best. 

How to spot one without having to observe for awhile? They are the type of person that does anything they want without any concern for the feelings of others. They seem to be proud of that so will display something of that nature in their profiles. Something like “I’m with him and don’t care what others say or feel about it. *sweet smile* ” a kind of a “so what” statement that shows a general disregard for anyone that might be in their way. So many wonderful people in SL that we can choose to avoid those which just so happen to be the worst of what social atmospheres can offer.

It’s Been A Long Time

It’s been a long time I know but I think I should be back at least somewhat regularly now.  Nitram and I had our vacations. I got back from mine…his was longer and he came back to a family emergency that kept him away much longer than expected.  Such things do happen and I waited of course.  He’s still dealing with that so I have just been keeping busy and my time in SL is less at the moment but I do log on to see friends and think I might be around more often especially when Nitram returns.  Right now, what he needs to deal with has to come first.  Can’t wait to see him again but know it will be better if he’s not trying to squeeze time in for me while trying to cope with other issues too.