Showing posts with label Motown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motown. Show all posts

Thursday, 11 August 2011

Whats going On...........

So its been very quiet on this blog, reasons too many and all to do with reality biting me on the @rse, creating a myriad of obligations that have not left me much time for frivolous frippery. I have been popping along to Soul Mods, helps me chill and get away from stuff; also listening to the cool documentaries as part of the Soul Week, check it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00przy5

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00gkz4w

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01300fj

Hopefully you can listen in, never sure if BBC links can be accessed outside of the UK but I'm sure you clever techy types know how to circumvent such issues. 

Anyway, back to my virtual life - its hit another hiatus whilst things this side of the screen get resolved; there have been a few really fun nights at Soul Mods with various people on deck its still the greatest place for virtual mods on the grid and if you have not been,,,why the feck not!

Pretty bland post this but hope you enjoy the links and hopefully once this immediate issue is resolved things can get back on track virtuality wise, keep the faith!

ciao

Friday, 3 June 2011

Odd sods, us? Surely not!

Shauna's Birthday

Amazing what a few days away from the screen does, missed Thursday at Soul Mods and a few other trickles of entertainment, but this IT abstinence meant I was in peak condition for Fridays fun fest at Soul Mods. And, it was Shauna's birthday so what a great night to return for. Slate was DJing, there were a good crowd to celebrate the birthday girls aging and the chat and action was nothing but fun. Dugi had a chocolate cake with a dancing pole installed and obviously went balloon insane....he likes balloons y'know. And, its amazing just how many avatars can fit on top of a large slice of cake. You just don't get this kind of present in real life. Shauna got to select pole dancers as befits a birthday girl and danced with lots of sods and seemed delighted with her birthday treat. Another fun fuelled fest at Soul Mods, everyone appreciating the hard work put in by Slate to DJ on these nights, after all he has a real life too, although how he fits it in with his dedication to the virtual life. Second Life stamina, few can match him,,,,party on like it '67.

I had a lot of fun and made it past 11pm for the first time in a while so that was good, great tunes great laughs great people and cool avatars. The future is retro, party til its ninety sixty nine!

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

Albion Spitteler's Newsround


The sun is shining at last and yes I have taken this sunshine opportunity to sit on my @rse and type inane comments into a blog that has a readership of about half a dozen weary souls. But its a laugh! Anyway as I have nothing really specific that I could drag out for more than a ten word paragraph I have opted to lump all the little pieces together in this seventies style update, borrowing from my childhood this is my first ...and last, virtual mod newsround.

First up I was pleased to read Shauna' piece of on Moonletters concerning New Brighton, one of the coolest sims on the grid. All virtual mods should visit this place at least once for that essential mod snapshot with the pier. C'mon we've all done it, some of us more than once, don't blush. Its a fantastic build and the pier looks great complete with a promenade to parade along. I am still waiting that group call for a mod scooter rally along the prom, who knows maybe this week is the week. Shauna's piece however illustrates the difficulties of hosting a sim and the gargantuan costs involved, thought provoking as ever and perhaps the sim is still insecure. A great place to visit one that should definite be on your list. Blogged before but as I mistakenly mentioned that it has vanished this seems an opportune moment to recant such a statement and remind everyone that its still out there. There are more details at the New Brighton website, check it out.


Other stuff I have been up to, I went along to the Hangout club again on Monday which was cool; although Janis is unavailable for these sets due to real life commitments we had a great substitute who played a great blend of soul and sixties standards although how or why the Boyzone track got in there eludes me. I enjoy the tunes at the Hangout and was able to join everyone else on the dance floor this time as the dazzling particle lights were turned off, one [of several] drawbacks of the keratoconus is that my eyes struggle in bright light and so I have been hiding myself away up in the gloomy lounge, its also why I don't participate much in chat as its easier just to listen and keep my eyes averted from the screen. This means I miss out on a lot of laughs and get lost as I often have no idea how conversations have developed and they can be confusing as you read them never mind dropping in and out. But the music is great and at this stage I can read enough to have a laugh and join in occasionally.

Talking of laughs, blogged earlier Graz our favourite mocker held a rock 'n' roll night at the Killing Moon at the weekend and as he is such a good bloke several sods turned up dressed as rockers in our best fifties freebies, err well mine were. Keep it to yourself but I quite enjoy the odd classic fifties tune, unlike in my youth where my tastes were rigidly mod I now accept my rather catholic tastes and just enjoy tunes regardless of their origin. It was a fun night and everyone got involved and dressed for the theme, so many quiffs in one room however cannot be healthy, at one point I thought there was going to be an environmental disaster there was so much oil floating about. Albion succumbed and put on his best Elvis wig, said ahuh a lot, and donned some very cheap threads and free shoes and become a closet ted for the evening. As expected with Graz at the helm it was funny with great music and even the ignominy of dressing like a rocker wasn't to bad, surrounded by friends. Look forward to the next one.

Whilst I am discussing themed nights out in the virtual world I'll throw in a little fashion information. Recently I attended a Blues Brothers tribute and to blend in mix and matched various items to give me that Blues Brothers look. And yet whilst I was snapping the trainers at Hoorenbeek I idly wandered around the store and saw they had a complete outfit that is ideal Blues Brothers material. I believe its labelled Angus but surely Jake would be better. As its Hoorenbeek its unlikely to be cheap but if you're unafraid of splashing the lindens I think you'd struggle to find a better outfit. Even competing against specific Blues Brothers outfits I think this one is a tricky one to surpass. It has all the elements of a great costume, the shades, the hat, the suit and even the loose tie and shirt.  Definitely worth a punt if you like costume parties or just like being a Blues Brother, go on treat yourself.


Well I think that waffle should suffice you can all go back to CBBs now.

Wednesday, 18 May 2011

What have I been up to....

An odd week in Second Life shuffling along trying to find things to do. Logged on and visited Moonletters and had a wander around. Evelyn was there in her sharp looking E-Type she gave me a rather slow ride around the Moonletters streets. Then I rezzed my Porsche and we had possibly the slowest sports car race known to the virtual world. After a couple of laps and the rezzing of a few more cars Shauna arrived and rezzed her London Taxi cab and we took another trip around the wider Penny Lane sim. Not your typical taxi journey as we ended up in a pond, stuck down a ditch, and lost in a marshy jungle type prim mess; luckily for us Shauna was able to pluck us from our midden and plonk us nicely on a better piece of land until we finally found tarmac and completed our journey. A very interesting car journey, then Shauna informed me that there was a soul night at the Hangout with Janis Short as DJ.


So, I said my goodbyes and hopped on a teleport to the Hangout to listen in to some great tunes, there were a few sods present and Janis' usual crowd all enjoying some fantastic tunes. A great night and everyone had fun, some great chat in the chat line as people had a few laughs and jokes. A great night in; however, I retreated upstairs to the lounge bar to escape the particle lights which were a tad too bright for me now. Rather strange conducting a conversation from upstairs with those downstairs.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Hangout listening to some marvelous tunes. Janis will be DJing less regularly in the virtual world as she has aquired a real life job, that damn real life interfering with our entertainment, how bloomin' dreadful. I dressed in my best Oirish paisley green mod outfit, and grooved away alone upstairs like a sad Billy no-mates. After a while all got a little tiring and I took my leave and logged out after having a great time. Having so many good nights in Second Life of late its almost a crime to get so much great entertainment for so little effort, log on and have a raft of great DJs play me great tunes. However being a greedy geezers and still like to call out for more, lots more soul lots more mod and more mod fashion but I'm a difficult geezer to please! Check out the flyers and attend the events as the DJs relish the support and everyone appreciates being appreciated! Sermon over....

I also jogged over to Soulsville to listen to a few soul tunes at the club on Tuesday. As ever I tended to stay quiet in the corner and just listen in to the great music. Marvelous music in the virtual world, just wish their was a lot more of it, oops I'm off on my rant again.

These virtual days lets hope they never end,,,,,

Monday, 9 May 2011

My Tuesday Evening...

... fingers crossed.

Frantic real life day abso-feckin-lutely knackered, looking for some virtual light relief so was delighted to read Shauna's piece over on Moonletters that there is a Blues Brothers Tribute taking place this evening at the Wu Wu Bar so I logged in earlier to discard my pirate clobber from Slate's great pirate themed night at Soul Mods; and, donned a cool black suit and hat, all I need now are shades and I'm your man! So if your thinking what can I do this evening grab a virtual taxi and get yourself over, I am hoping for a strong Chicago bluesy nights entertainment listening to some sharp R&B, so shake a tail feather and get on down.

See, I told you I was bloomin' knackered, I don't even know what day it is. Mentally frazzled I thought it was Tuesday today, feck me its Monday!

No virtual night out yesterday, I spent the  evening ...asleep now tonight, Tuesday as Shauna has said, I'm putting my shades on and getting virtual, see you all there!












Well it was a truly spectacular show full of glitz and excitement, however on my arrival I was unable to hear the stream and so whilst it was a marvelous spectacular and yet without the tunes it was turning out to be a damp squib. Then triumph I got the stream the tunes roared through and the whole experience lifted off; Dugi and Shauna were present but both left early - other commitments, as I had myself and after just under an hour it was time for me to go too. But, it was a fantastic night, brief but great! Such is the virtual world a brief but bright shining star, top entertainment all over the grid just check it out.

Friday, 22 April 2011

Bit of Northern Soul Literature

Just discovered this on Radio Four a trio of short stories about Northern Soul at Wigan Casino; I enjoyed listening to them and hope you enjoy it too. Have a listen:

They say the floor at the Casino is amazing - a sprung wood floor! And they can fit 1200 people in the ballroom there. Twelve hundred people dancing!'
David's mate Batty converted him to Northern Soul: lending him obscure records, teaching him dance moves and describing the legendary club. The plan is to hitch-hike to Wigan to experience the Casino for themselves.
Between 1973 and 1981 Wigan Casino was arguably the ultimate venue for Northern Soul music. Young people from all over the UK regularly made the trek to Wigan to dance to the latest Northern Soul artists. Queues to get in were sometimes five or six people deep, and stretched quite a way up the road.
The highlight was the weekly all-nighter, with Russ Winstanley as DJ, which traditionally ended with three songs that became known as the Three Before Eight: "Time Will Pass You By" by Tobi Legend, "Long After Tonight Is Over" by Jimmy Radcliffe and "I'm On My Way" by Dean Parrish.
These three specially-commissioned stories by Laura Barton (herself from Wigan) hark back to a time when the town threw off the image created by George Orwell and the Casino was voted 'Best Disco In the World' by American Billboard Magazine.
Laura Barton was born in Lancashire in 1977. She is a freelance writer of features and music columns, notably 'Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll' for the Guardian. Her first story for radio, The Carpenter, was broadcast in 2009 as part of Sweet Talk's We Are Stardust, We Are Golden series for BBC Radio 4. Twenty-One Locks, her debut novel, was published in 2010. Laura lives in London.
Written by Laura Barton. Read by Bryan Dick.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

Afternoon Reading - Tales from the Casino, 1. Ten Miles High

Rita works in the cloakroom of the Casino, and hasn't been on the ballroom floor since the days when it was called the Wigan Empress. But then Frank starts calling.
Between 1973 and 1981 Wigan Casino was arguably the ultimate venue for Northern Soul music. Young people from all over the UK regularly made the trek to Wigan to dance to the latest Northern Soul artists. Queues to get in were sometimes five or six people deep, and stretched quite a way up the road. The highlight was the weekly all-nighter, with Russ Winstanley as DJ, which traditionally ended with three songs that became known as the Three Before Eight: "Time Will Pass You By" by Tobi Legend, "Long After Tonight Is Over" by Jimmy Radcliffe and "I'm On My Way" by Dean Parrish.
These three specially-commissioned stories by Laura Barton (herself from Wigan) hark back to a time when the town threw off the image created by George Orwell and the Casino was voted 'Best Disco In the World' by American Billboard Magazine.
Laura Barton was born in Lancashire in 1977. She is a freelance writer of features and music columns, notably 'Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll' for the Guardian. Her first story for radio, The Carpenter, was broadcast in 2009 as part of Sweet Talk's We Are Stardust, We Are Golden series for BBC Radio 4. Twenty-One Locks, her debut novel, was published in 2010. Laura lives in London.
Written by Laura Barton. Read by Melanie Kilburn.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

Afternoon Reading - Tales from the Casino, 2. What Shall I Do?

It is all about ritual. Saturday comes and Rob, a seasoned DJ at the Casino, is sorting through and packing his records for the night.
Between 1973 and 1981 Wigan Casino was arguably the ultimate venue for Northern Soul music. Young people from all over the UK regularly made the trek to Wigan to dance to the latest Northern Soul artists. Queues to get in were sometimes five or six people deep, and stretched quite a way up the road. The highlight was the weekly all-nighter, with Russ Winstanley as DJ, which traditionally ended with three songs that became known as the Three Before Eight: "Time Will Pass You By" by Tobi Legend, "Long After Tonight Is Over" by Jimmy Radcliffe and "I'm On My Way" by Dean Parrish.
These three specially-commissioned stories by Laura Barton (herself from Wigan) hark back to a time when the town threw off the image created by George Orwell and the Casino was voted 'Best Disco In the World' by American Billboard Magazine.
Laura Barton was born in Lancashire in 1977. She is a freelance writer of features and music columns, notably 'Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll' for the Guardian. Her first story for radio, The Carpenter, was broadcast in 2009 as part of Sweet Talk's We Are Stardust, We Are Golden series for BBC Radio 4. Twenty-One Locks, her debut novel, was published in 2010. Laura lives in London.
Written by Laura Barton. Read by Daniel Rigby.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

Afternoon Reading - Tales from the Casino, 3. Three Before Eight

Northern Soul life in literature, not sure how much longer these will be available for but have a listen if you can, I enjoyed the stories and think they may trigger a few memories for some of you.

ciaio

The Virtual Bubble

Been very quiet blog wise for quite some time, but its a lazy bank holiday weekend and before I plunge into the hectic maelstrom of real life Easter activity I figured I would blab on here about whats been happening in my virtual bubble.

Obviously most of this revolves around the great club nights at Soul Mods and the crazy wonderful people who bring the pixelated world to life with their music, their chat and their laughter. Lupo and Slate; Eden and Kim and now Shauna all entertain us with their great selection of tunes but those in attendance play their part whether its Josie dressing as a tuna, or Seren rifling back our idiotic sentences, yeah be scared of what you say the stupid within you will be revealed. Everyone in the club plays a role in making it what it is, and I for one appreciate everyone who turns up and contributes to making Soul Mods such a fun place to be. Right that's the simpering gushing praise over with I shall return to my ego ridden, grumpy self.

Before that though, I must comment on last nights set at Soul Mods. Last time out Kim had horrendous software issues that prevented her from delivering her set and we were very lucky that Eden stepped in to fill the gap. Last night was Kim's return to the decks with all such software issues resolved. And what a joy her set was; so many outstanding tracks were played Kim was really applying the pressure to Slate who is DJing tonight [expected the unexpected from him, as we are all too well aware, Ive seen the boxes of Bud so am anticipating a riot of fun and musical mayhem, but I digress]. I had a great time listening in ,the chat lost me a little on the computer game discussion as I am still struggling to come to terms with the demise of old favourites that I did understand. Go on treat yourself you remember these :

Stand out track for me was a sharp French disc that I was utterly unfamiliar with, and that's the marvelous thing about Soul Mods Ive been introduced to so much new music, I am happy in my aged musical orbit and then the DJ will spring something new on me that sends me spiralling off into new sounds, its bloomin' great. Still grooving to this track today although its been replaced by the wonderful Redskins at the moment. Enjoy the tune and thanks to Kim for delivering it, hopefully see you all at the mad house that is a DJ Slate Soul Mods gig!

Monday, 11 April 2011

Charity, its good for the Soul


Logged on to the grid on Saturday and headed off to the Acropolyse for a Race for Life Charity (a UK based cancer charity similar to the Relay for Hope US charity) event, a mammoth eight hour event hosted by three soul DJs, as I arrived I was given a great welcome by Baron and a friendly group of dancers. Joined by Aston and Dugi we settled into a groove to hear some standout tunes. Baron never disappoints on that score, and was soon throwing out the popular, the cool and the rare and entertaining us all, even some who were new to Northern Soul, Baron's set is usually an education as well as entertainment and once again he didn't disappoint.

Unfortunately, I was again a passive presence at a club that had great tunes and some lively chat, I'd expect nothing else if Dugi is present. Even if a club is quiet Mr Rubble soon puts an end to that. I occasionally dipped into chat but for the most part enjoyed the tunes and rested my old peekers, hahaha. But from the glimpses I caught on my HUGE chat text it seemed like everyone was having great fun. And, fantastically after a brief chat with Baron, that Real Life can be a real bugger, I later learnt that the event delivered a whopping 40k plus for the charity. Okay its confessional time. A weakling such as myself failed to last the pace and I logged off around 23.00 UK time, but I feel certain those that stayed had a marvelous time, each one a hero of soul.

ciao.

Saturday, 9 April 2011

Silent Crashing

For the second night in a row I secretly crashed whilst at Soul Mods, this happened a lot during my early virtual days but has not happened for many many months. Basically the musical stream continues and my screen shows the action of everyone dancing only there's no chat as I have been disconnected. In a quiet club this means you think you are still in there, luckily Soul Mods is a rowdy friendly place and so the lack of chat alerted me to the fact I was logged off. Linden arses!

Other than my crashing they were good nights at the club, uber Madrid mod Lupo played a blinding set on Thursday with a few stand out tracks, Wild Thing by Wilson Pickett from the Hey Jude album set my ears on fire and I have had a daily listen since. The usual nutters were in attendance, but something very fishy was in the air, and it wasn't just Josie. How often can you get a fish into your conversation, endlessly it seems, cant say the clubs not got sole!


On Friday, with Slate in Spain enjoy Sun Sea and Sangria [was that him in the back of the van on Benidorm*] Soul Mods played host to Janis Short on decks. Janis plays a mean sixties set and kept the troops entertained in the maniacs absence. I had fun even if I was quiet, the new non-reading regime. Then I crashed, bugger. Well hope the virtual world treats you kindly I might even post some more and stop being an idle git.

ciao

*Benidorm trivia, I know the fat lad who got his hat nicked in last nights episode, and was doing the Benny Hill chase near the end, Benidorm the sit com not the town, lol.

Sunday, 3 April 2011

A Quick Plug

Failed to make it at the Killing Moon on Saturday, but you can catch up with events there here: http://slfix.com/?p=14242 . Have fun y'all.

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

The Silent Dancer

Last night I ventured onto the grid and visited an old club in a new guise. The Soulsville Club unveiled a new construction for PT's rezz day, and from the chat I think its to be a permanent fixture, fingers crossed. Its a great concept, the club is housed just off the platform of a tube station, on the Northern Line. The club itself is minimalistic fitting the stark tube architecture. Old school white tile [as used for the In the City album] with various suitable graphic posters dotted about. Personally I thought it looked great and is a welcome addition to mod architecture since we have lost so many great builds over the recent past. Anyway, enough architectural waffle, lets talk tunes.

The set was a soul inspired set, lots of Motown and Northern Soul, with a diva section from Miss Diana Ross, PT was DJ, for his own rezz day - best option then you get to hear all your favourites. I enjoyed the set was fun listening to some familiar tunes and a few new ones. As ever the early start at the Soulsville means I have real life stuff to attend to so I was my usual silent dancer in the corner listening in and enjoying the tunes, singing along on occasions, the wife loves that! There was a big turnout for the event and the club was buzzing, always nice to see a club full, or even half full, and judging by the chat rifling up my screen everyone seemed to be having a great time. I left as the party was still in full swing, great tunes and a fantastic looking club. I look forward to occupying that corner a few more times, maybe I'll even join in the chat.

Soulsville UK Club

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

Great Nights, Great DJs

A couple of good nights at Soul Mods last week. Huge blow that Kim had some techy issues, as I love her heavy ska laden sets; but, lucky for us Eden stepped in and delivered a great impromptu set. The usual reprobates were there and a good time was had by all. Friday was the usual wacky weekender from Slate, with much craziness, great tunes and bizarre happenings as always.  A Northern Soul heavy set this time out Slate delivered some really fine tunes that kwept us all bouncing in virtuality and in reality, at least I was bouncing, no mean feat at my age, I'm 87 y'know [applause...haha, wonder who really believes that]. Lots of Gene Hunt activity near the end of the set as Slate handed out masks and we dipped our toes in seventies Glam. I had to leave before the end [up at 7am for real life dad stuff Saturday morning] but am certain the madness and laughs continued for a while longer.


Its marvelous that the virtual sixties influenced entertainment carries on into Saturday at the Killing Moon, and Shauna's efforts to set up the event is much appreciated. Indeed Shauna debuted as DJ there this weekend and did a great job. Strong words of encouragement from old hands like Slate and Eden helped I think, and at least there was no swearing, kicking of computers or toilets interludes like one great DJ I could mention......

A great night with some great tunes, generic sixties rather than pure mod but no less entertaining with some fine tunes thrown into the mix. I really enjoyed myself and judging by the comments flowing through chat so did everyone else. Hats off to Shauna for providing a fresh venue and getting on decks herself,,,err Dugi, hahaha. I admire anyone who does this techy DJ malarkey as its so beyond my meagre techy talents they are like ancient metal smiths of the dark ages. Weird clever geezers and geezerettes capable of strange wonderfully magical feats. Good on you all, and thanks for the tunes. Time to rest my weary eyes, ciao.

Tuesday, 15 March 2011

Virtual goings on....

I headed to the second sixties event at the Killing Moon on Saturday to spend some time chilling out to some tunes. The DJ for this event was Magdalena Bing and she played some great tunes, mostly generic sixties rather than mod, with the odd seventies and fifties tunes hurled into the mix. A lot of Beatles and Kinks were played along with a few other standard sixties tunes and everyone seemed to be having fun. It was the usual Moonletters suspects in attendance at the pub, which is encouraging and hopefully means that the Saturday session will continue.

Other goings on over the virtual weekend were limited, grabbing a couple of freebies and getting some clothing from the Marketplace which undoubtedly I'll waffle on about at some point. Need to speed up though I think as some stuff I buy at the Marketplace seems to vanish soon after; a few items I had locked into my favourites section have vanished so apologies if I blog something and you follow a link to a vacant page. My procrastination begs your forgiveness, right time for some breakfast. I may log on this evening I wonder if there's anything worth attending, AAi maybe?

It was a quiet night gridwise and I ended up at the Soulsville club, there were not many there but I enjoyed a nice set of sixties soul tunes from PT whilst I attended to some real life issues. So I was pretty much a non-presence at least Albion bulked out the dance floor. A shame it was not better attended as there were some cool tunes. Later I did head off to the AAi, it was also very quiet here with one of the smallest crowds I've seen there fdor quite some time. Claire was playing some fine tunes and I was settling down for the duration when I was reminded of an early morning start and therefore had to cut my visit short, pity! Anyway, that was the virtual going ons in my Second Life over the last couple of days.

Saturday, 12 March 2011

Friday night Fun Factory

Friday night, nothing on the telly, no babysitters so how do I fill my evening: only one course of action...Soul Mods! Friday is a fun night Slate plays great tunes, some old some more recent and his set list is lively and very entertaining; however, its the huge sense of fun he imbues into his sets that make it such a please to attend. He takes time out to create daft links, voice overs and other stuff merely to give us a laugh or put a smile on our faces. Absolutely fantastic, marry that with his excellent tune selection and it creates a marvelous atmosphere that all who attend enjoy. I left before the end but it was gone 11pm when I left, Slate is fairly flexible on that score and his gigs don't so much over run as flow on past the 11pm slot.

So, it was another great night although the new fad for gesture quotes leaves me a little confused, especially when there are dozens being fired off simultaneously I lose track of who is saying what. Ah I guess I'm just too slow to keep up. One quick reminder that Saturday now has a viable sixties/mod venue at the Killing Moon, its well worth supporting this event as there are too few venues playing what I like to call our kind of music*. To read more on tonight's event read this

*Bollox, I have morphed into David Jascobs

Friday, 11 March 2011

Great Tunes, in my Real and Virtual Life

This popped through the letterbox today, best four quid I've spent in a long time. Almost sixty tracks, some familiar [have to expect that with compilations] but most are new and join my I-Tunes canon. So as my fingers nimbly dance, I wish, OK lets be more honest: as my digit clods over the the keys I'm listening to some damn fine soul. And, talking damn fine soul that leads me nicely into Thursday at Soul Mods where Lupo was making a welcome return to the DJ booth, he has so much going on musically in real life that his visits are less frequent but no less warmly appreciated.

Lupo themed his set so the Hammond organ featured prominently in the tracks he played which kept the crowd very happy, Sadly, for me, I had to exit an hour in so I missed an hour of great tunes but such is life.

However, the hour I did spend at the club was great. There were some great tunes getting an airing, some classic originals others European covers of standards. There was a great cover of "Dancing in the Street" by a Spanish band whose name I've forgotten [blame early onset....] which reminded Slate of a travesty...the dreadful cover of this track by Bowie and Jagger. Now just because it was all for charideee let us not be fooled into thinking it was anything other than abysmal! Those long flapping coats, ugly dancing and the butchering of an upbeat soul classic...terrible. The consensus in Soul Mods was that each and every copy of this '45 should be demolished. Other interesting topics were the new wibbly wobbly boobs function in Phoenix, I saw no bouncing and believe me I looked,,,forensically. Great night shared with the lovely Stella, and her sister Stella, lovely Belgium emigre family but very unimaginative with the names, I was going to introduce a third daughter,,,but time eluded me and she remained in the fridge. So another night cut short I'm convinced that tonight Slate will entertain us royally, who knows what madness he has planned.

Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Whats on at Moonletters

Saturday was the debut night of the mod sixties nights that are planned for the Killing Moon pub over at the Moonletters sim. Eden opened up this new venue with a sharp mod based set with a good sprinkling of sixties classics, the Doors to keep the girls lusty haha. There was an excellent turn out for the opening night and I'm sure Shauna can see it was worthwhile opening up the pub to DJ nights. Weekends can be somewhat barren for the virtual mod in Second Life; so, the opening was much appreciated by those virtual groovers seeking to escape the morass of disco, eighties and thrash metal rock sets that seem to dominate the search engine inworld.

Albion had a great time, and was out modded in the fashion stakes by the utlra groovy NeoMod style of Icabod Gealach. He was wearing some sharp NeoMod threads and had a very cool Akeyo dance animation, I forgot to tap him up for a landmark for the sharp jacket so if anyone can get it pass it on, cheers. Luckily I copped the landmark for his grooving moves and immediately set off for the store the following day to grab a few silky moves of my own. So if you want a few smooth of your own get yourself over to the Akeyo Animations store.

Relogging in a few days after the Killing Moon gig I decided to take a tour of the sim so I jumped on one of the sims rotating cars and was given a little tour of the sim whilst idly chatting to Dugi in IMs. Its amazing what follies you can uncover whilst killing a few minutes.

Akeyo Animations Store

Further details on the Killing Moon opening night can be found here

Friday, 4 March 2011

Royalty.....

Well officially Soul Mods Friday session has ended, but as its Slate on decks time is flexible and he plays until he's had enough and that takes some time! So far its been a great night with some fantastic tunes getting played, few techy issues, wouldn't be a Slate set without those, plus the truly inspired and brilliant jingles/ composition that have become Slate's trademark: Gene Hunt/Bowie mix this time. Quiet night, a lively crowd but not so many tonight and I never did get my post 10 surge, only ridicule...they're a cruel lot at Soul Mods y'know.

Friday also solved one burning question. Who is king of the virtual mods? Is it uber cool Lupo, who dresses to impress and has the tunes to go with it? Or is it my very own Albion sharp as a tack and ego driven. Perhaps its Dugi club lord and all around soul blaster. Nope none of these three its DJ and scooter lord Slate, after all he has his own mod throne!!! Yep its difficult to defeat someone who can build a mod throne and so its now official Slate is the rightful heir to the Mighty Boosh and the lawful king of the mods. Its inevitable really, who could compete with that!

So, once again its been another barmy night at Soul Mods, so much fun its worth coming just for the craic even if your a metal head. But if you like the finer tunes in life, they tumble off the deck as quick as the DJs can load them, and that's pretty damn fast so get your dancing feet over here sharpish.

Thursday was also another great night, less daft than the manic Fridays but no less quality. Eden played a host of storming tracks that kept the room buzzing for a couple of hours where does she pluck these gems from. Definitely a DJ to catch, which is lucky for you all as she is playing an impromptu gig at the Killing Moon pub over at Moonletters,* starting around 1pm SLT so get yourself there and hear some of the best sixties music anywhere on the grid! Once Slate's finished playing I'll be tping to the pub to set up a SURL to make it easy to find, feck me I'm a generous old soul. I have already got my spot booked, after Slate and Maddie nicked my corner on Thursday, scoundrels.


* jobs a good un, nighty nite amigos.

The Killing Moon Pub

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Something to subscribe too

Almost everyone in the virtual world drops into YouTube, I have even seen YouTube videos on peoples virtual TVs; so, bearing that in mind this looks like a great channel for virtual mods to subscribe too:


Check it out, full of great tunes and aging real life mods, just like me, chatting the breeze away. Just a tune taster, enjoy:



Been a little virtual lite of late, hopefully I will reverse that and start waffling again soon.

Monday, 21 February 2011

Opportunities for virtual DJs

Not sure how many visitors here also read the excellent Moonletters blog edited by the wonderful Shauna but she has been wondering whether to open up the Killing Moon pub to DJs to provided a little entertainment: Killing Moon More than a Hang Out. After much thought Shauna has decided to throw open the doors of the Killing Moon to prospective DJs looking for somewhere to play,  DJs Wanted Impromptu on an ad hoc basis, which keeps me smiling as the more possible mod venues the better.So anyone looking to DJ get involved check Shauna's blog and if you match the criteria I look forward to listening to your set.

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Its been a busy Week...

...full of mayhem and belly laughs, culminating in a bizarre night at Soul Mods, but I'll witter on about that later.

Touch of real life sobriety, as I was wheezing like a geriatric scaling Kilimanjaro early this week I avoid Second Life as I sat slumped in front of the TV occasionally sucking on an inhaler, steroids plus anti-biotics plus gloopy syrupy things appear to have me on the mend and so I returned to the virtual world. Sadly it was a Wednesday and just like real life nothing much happens in Second Life on a Wednesday.

As I was bored I opted to take a trip to Moonletters, as I sat there thinking I wondered if I could race down the high street dodging cars in my Ferrari. Well no point in thinking in the virtual world its all about doing. So, I rezzed a nice shiny red Enzo on the street and revved up the engine. Sitting in the drivers seat i wondered if I should let rip or play it safe, I opted for the latter. Ive let rip in virtual cars before on short tracks and found myself firstly flying through neighbouring Sims in a spinning car, before the car vanishes and I fly onto Sim limbo, so I figured I'd avoid that and go slow,,slow being a relative term of course.

At first I found it quite simple to slip past the trundling traffic, but as the speed increased it got slightly trickier and I began mistiming a few turns and began thumping into the odd car and sent them bouncing along the road. Shamefully I found this more fun than slipping around them and went crashing and smashing up and down the main strip at Moonletters. Eventually, however, temptation got the better of me and I and let rip on the road heading back up to the HQ; brakes were not so hot and I mounted the steps and smashed into the front door, sorry Shauna! I did think of leaving the car there as an exotic art installation but thought better of it and popped it back into my inventory.

So, a fair bit of waffling but absolutely nothing that relates to the virtual mod scene, just me whinging about being ill and smashing up Shauna's Sim. Hey before Soul Mods I lead a varied virtual life.

Thursday saw Lupo DJing at Soul Mods again, and he took us on a global tour of mod tunes. Lupo's knowledge of non-English mod music is so far ahead of the rest of us its a real education to listen to. The tunes are brilliant some original other covers of famous US or UK artists. Again we had a good turn out at the club and all who came seemed to be having fun. The usual mob of waifs and strays were in attendance and so the chat was its usual eclectic mix of mod music, real life whimsy and the bizarre, Kerouac's stream of consciousness has nothing on a typical Soul Mods chat line. One minute its Motown, the next virtual fashion and then dogs eating pork pies and flatulence, we should be on the bleedin' telly. However Thursdays daftness was dwarfed by Fridays events when Soul Mods went mini, no not German big little cars masquerading as British icons, this was more Shagadelic than that my swinging friends, oh deary me indeed.

Friday began as most Friday's do, Slate had a few technical issues then got going and began pumping out fantastic tunes. There was a good crowd in attendance and we were having plenty of fun laughing and joking, surprisingly at Lupo's expense, but its his own fault for rezzing in short with big feet! Then I crashed, first of several strange occurrences I've not crashed in an absolute age. When I relogged Lupo was no longer short, sadly. The evening continued more great tunes and further mad laughs and chat before the bizarreness exploded with the passing around of bebe. Wearing bebe shrunk you to a tiny little mini version of your avatar, soon the room was full of them finally Jelli and Seren got to tower over us all and bully us into submission. A room full of tiny avatars looked very odd, even odder when they opted to have an impromptu scooter rally soon there where dwarfy avatars and scooters everywhere, the tunes were belting out and everyone was in hysterics as the tunes continued to belt out and the banter went into overdrive. Eventually people began to revert back to there original size and shape leaving poor Dugi and Lupo stranded as the only minis left, Maddie and Slate were too but that was by choice rather than by accident. Dugi attempted to resolve the situation by donning a huge condom, and y'know what surprise surprise...it didn't. All he succeeded in doing was encasing lil mini Dugi inside it; meanwhile Lupo suffered in noble silence. Eventually they solved the mini riddle and changed back; not a moment too soon as some people were suffering from laughter fatigue. Then thinking we hadn't had quite enough insanity, Dugi threw on his pink tutu and hat....

What a night, great music; wonderful people, cool DJ, madhouse activities and all for free. As we stumbled off to our beds Slate put us to shame and tp'd off to further parties and further madness. I just don't have the stamina.

Oh I forgot to mention Albion's boxing Josie walloping Albion, Graz's cool robot, the cybermen all of which unleashed Slate's Dr Who fetish. Yeah Soul Mods is so much than a collection of cool people enjoying great music its a whole entertainment system in itself, see you there.

*ps thanks to Aston for the mini boys.snapshot.