Modernist Fashion in SL

Sometimes you have an item thats been sat in your inventory and you find that you forgot you had it and when you finally throw it on it opens up a wealth of fashion possibilities. I did this the other day with a simple but nicely textured white cardigan, I threw on a suitably mod T-Shirt with some wild free purple trousers I picked up free from the London Freebies Store and decided I was ideally equipped for that scooter rally to Brighton beach...sadly that sim is no more so I had to make do with a scooter ride around Moonletters. Despite the klack of a promanade I still felt cool on my Slate built Vespa, dressed in white like a mod icream-man, hell yeah babeee. One well made item can exhert a strong influence over several other items sharpening them up and imbuing them with a nice touch of class.

Then a quick change into the fabulous Armidi black trousers and a great black button down shirt from the Unknown Boutique, the all black look offset by the sharp white cardigan giving a more sophisticated look: sharper cleaner more cut for that dance at the local club cica 1964. The cardigan still retains the casualness of the look but the neat shirt and trousers upscale the clothing from the T-Shirt on the beach feel to a more,,all because the lady loves milk tray elegance ideal for a night at the Twisted Wheel, gone but never forgotten.

The shades are free too, a simple textured pair which look okay and suit these looks but there are better sculpted pairs of shades on the market but if you like them , they are yours at Alphavillain.

And, the cardigan, I almost forgot, thats available from Alienated.

Alienated
Armidi
Unknown Boutique

London Freebie Store
Alphavillain

The Prodigal Son...

... made his first appearance at the decks of Soul Mods. Yes mod builder, clothes designer, and DJ - a real virtual Renaissance man - took to the DJ booth on Friday to entertain us . Anticipation was high, and we had been a tad cruel to the lad during Eden's great set on Thursday, he knew he had a lot to live up to and being good friends we were determined to make it difficult for him, err I mean easy, giving him lots of confidence boosting advice and not taking the piss. Luckily we failed and he succeeded brilliantly.

I was one of several who turned up to give support and have a fantastic time, not sure how supportive I was but I certainly had a damn fine time. There were a few of the OSR crew in attendance to give Slate a rousing welcome to what is hopefully the first of many Soul Mods gigs. The usual motley Soul Mods mods were in attendance plus a few other newer faces.  An eclectic mix who should have enjoyed themselves as the set had a little piece of everything, hard core Northern folk would have been happy as would mods and those with just a passing interest in the sixties scene. I was dodging that minx Josie who seems determined to get me into the cupboard at every opportunity. Its understandable of course as I'm bloody gorgeous, but I'm just not that kind of avatar. So ghosts beware if Josie suspects you're off making a brew she'll shove you into Dugi's workshop where he'll do wicked things to your pixels, especially if their large.

It was a lot of fun and we all seemed to be having a great laugh at each others expense, and despite the early technical difficulties, curse you Lindens, anyone who was churlish enough to say it spoilt things needs to get virtual more. Slate finished a great set with a Twisted Wheel memory trip playing a range of generic sixties tracks popular amongst the members of that legendary virtual club; before closing in classic style with the three before eight. Awesome, the calf is on the butchers block.

The rise and fall....

During my roaming I made a rather sad discovery learning that the 5.15 Club was no longer in existence, the construction following the Twisted Wheel into the inventory Warehouse. A rather sad affair as I really enjoyed the early days of this club which I felt was a spectacular looking build, indeed I often popped along to use it as a backdrop for snaps. After speaking to Davey it seems time issues just meant he wasn't making best use of the club and so he's shelved it, no drama just part of the cycle of virtual club land. But, its definitely a great loss in my eyes to the virtual mod scene.

So back on board the virtual bandwagon I headed to the AAi Club to catch Kim's 9 o'clock set, pleased to note some mod venues still exist. There was a good crowd present and all seemed to really enjoying the wonderful tunes that were been streamed by Kim. Marvelous stuff had me eyes shut warbling along to myself [thankfully for those present] whilst occasionally dipping into the chat stream. Most of the regular criminal fraternity were present: Dugi, Aston, Graz Shauna, Josie as well as DJ Kim, plus a few others who seem to have become regulars during my absence. Seemed to be brewing for a great nights entertainment but around half way through I got the call from real life that meant I had to shut off and go. A shame but still a great return for me to a fabulous little club with a fantastic DJ stream ice cool tunes to a very appreciative gang of mods and modettes, scruffy gits but hey I'll forgive them that ... err except for the bryl cream boy, you know who you are don't you!

Catch you all at Soul Mods on Thursday, enjoy your Second Life.

ciao

In the Groove

To quote Sam from LotR, "I'm back". My abundant humility prevents me from commenting just how much I have been missed, but I'm guessing hugely, I mean if the modettes are looking for eye candy Albion Spitteler is at the very near front of the queue ... surely, at least I'm sure it was eye candy or maybe something else, answers on a post card ... remember them? Anyway enough of this drivel lets talk virtual.

One huge change since I was last in virtual mod land is the demise of The Twisted Wheel, a wonderful club setting that holds fond memories for many during its various incarnations and one wonders if anybody else will attempt to resurrect this treasured giant from the virtual warehouse. If they do, I wish them luck but once something has broken its probably best maybe not to attempt to fix it without all of its constituent parts. The Wheel at its best was far more than just a magnificent construction ... it had real soul. Oh well, I for one shall miss it.

Other hot topics include the migration of mods to the Moonletters Motel [I think its Moonletters sim or is it Penny Lane, please forgive any incorrect statements its been sunny the Stella was flowing....] Kim and Eden have another new, new shop and it looks unbelievably cool plus stocking everything the sharp modette needs to make a splash on the scene, and just along the road is Slate's Scooter Emporium every mod needs fine transport and there's no finer. During my midnight stroll I even located a pub, so life virtual or otherwise is sweet. Besides the great stores and hangouts it also appears all the iced members of the modernist fraternity have taken up residence in one form or another ... wonder if there's a spare park bench?

So there were a few changes to look into that occurred during my absence which need exploring; but, some things remain the same and despite some tedious teleportation issues I still managed to get my virtual @rse over to Soul Mods to hear Tabby deliver a blinding set of thunderous soul proportions. Outstanding in every conceivable way, great tunes marvelous people and a stream of funny chat. It might be virtual but its bloody more real than watching some nerd fart on BB! There were a few new faces who obviously thought, my god who is this pompous overegoed [ is overegoed a real word, I do have a tendency to invent my own occasionally] twat, err that would be me. I hope they had as good a time as I did and judging by the comments seems certain they did. What a wonderful way to return to Second Life, friends and great tunes. Am looking forward to some coolness at the AAI on Tuesday before finally getting to hear the maestro of modness Lupo playing at Soul Mods on Thursday. Heard so many great things and yet I have yet to hear him play a set, and so I'm relishing that one.

Indeed its great to be back making a div of myself and enjoying a great virtual life with chilled friends who all appreciate the odd good tune. Virtual sex, bollocks to that it the music we are here for ... well aside from Dugi, but Aston keeps his libido in check. Catch you all on the flip.

Blimey

I nip off-line for a bit and on my return I get told the Twisted Wheel is no more ... again! A pity but not unexpected. One good bit of news is Micio Braveheart of the Good Mixer Club has opened a shop above her club selling a few classy mod items for a fantastic price i bought a cool Lambretta T-Shirt for a throwaway 5 lindens, its a multi-layered piece and so is very flexible. There are some chilled earrings for the modettes plus a dress and the T-Shirt is unisex so once more plenty of scope for the modette looking to sharpen her style and the odd piece for the peacock mod geezers. So if you have a few lindens burning a hole in your pocket teleport over and make a purchase. All being well I shall make my majestic mod return tomorrow at the Soul Mods club, unless that's bloody shut down too.

ciao

Wheel on Monday

I opted to log on inworld on Monday for the first time in quite a while and then had to decide where I would head to in order to find some chilled tunes. Knowing bothe the AAi and Soul Mods were closed for Mod business on a Monday I decided to try out the Twisted Wheel remembering they have quite a bulging roster of Js playing mod and soul throughout the week.

Arriving early I grabbed a pew and listened to the chit chat, occassionally joining in and chilled to some cool tunes, some not so good, while I waited for the DJ Markus Arkin to arrive and start his set.For a short while Markus ran his own club Soul Suite but now has a residency at the Twisted Wheel, he can be counted on to supply some cool soul tunes so I was happy to wait for him to turn up. Then typical of all things virtual real life made a call and I had to log off, when I relogged Markus' set was in full flow to a small but appreciable crowd. Why clubs seem emptier trhese days was a topic of conversation and we guessed its the summer sunshine drawing people away from their overheating keyboards and out into the real world. But felt confident numbers would rise with the first of the autumn chills. Obviously the coolest people are virtual clubbing with their lap tops on wi-fi sat out in the sun slurping chilled beers. Moi? I am sat by a hulking desktpo drinking tea, guess that puts me out of the circle of cool .. fortunately I'm virtual ice, hahaha.

So I began to enjoy myself to a scinterlating soul soundtrack, and strutted my dance animated stuff. We briefly chatted about the sim and who conceived, designed and buolt it. We all know the answer to that and if your stuck, check out the photo on the pillar, no it was'nt Boonie or Lupo, so... I was having a fine time when once again the boring necesseties of real life intervened and I was dragged away. When I got back the bloomin' thing had shut down, I'd forgotten I had re-installed the programme and not utilised the advanced function to over ride a few basic Second Life irritants. I had failed to do this basically because I had forgotten how to activate the advanced column. Hints welcome, cheers.

Another great night brought to an abrupt halt by the twin inadequacies of my real life and my utterly feeble technical skills. A great set from Markus with some stomping Northern Soul, pleasant company and interesting chat, not a bad return for a tentative log on and a gamble that there'd be some cool mod entertainment somewhere on the grid. May not be a pounds shillings and pence victory but it put a smile on my face.

ciao.

Modernist Musings

Big Brother Watching You

Interesting times in the virtual world, I finally get to log in on a Saturday and ...     ! Precisely, bugger all happening just my luck, missed two great nights with Slate DJing, then when I make it there's nowt on. Thankfully Sean stepped in last minute at Soul Mods on Friday otherwise I'd have drawn a blank there too. 

The surge in mod nights and Northern Soul nights appears to have waned. What seemed to be a flourishing scene a few months back seems to have died on its arse with only the Soul Mods club regularly providing solid mod northern soul nights. There still some awesome soul/funk clubs such as the OSR operating but the mod scene appears to have been shafted. Where did all those small DJ run clubs go ... into the virtrual ether it seems. Annoyed? moi? Okay, just a tad. We seemed to have a nice pattern of mod nights with good turn outs then the week got swamped and clubs closed and now the swamp has receded and we are left with feck all! Thank feck that Soul Mods still sails serenely above all this other shite!

Hopefully some clubs will get resurrected or at the very least the band of vagrant Northern Soul and Mod DJs will find somewhere to spin their discs and entertain us again. I would hate Northern Soul to be restrictecd to one or two venues, its in the virtual world now and we need to support it ; else we'll be back to spandex inspired US AOR crap all over the grid.

My pointless grumblings aside its been a good week music wise in the virtual world. Kim played two excellent sets Tuesday and Thursday and Sean stepped in to cover on Friday and played some awesome tunes. In fact they were so good and I was so busy I didnt even have the time to take the piss either there or in here. Poor lad will think I'm neglecting him! A quiet night Friday but enough of us to have a laugh and as stated earlier the tunes were awesome.

Hahaha thats what I call a happy blog post. ciao

Kings of Spin

As the election is in in full swing and the spin doctors are rife and shovelling their stuff across the media I figured I too would engage in spin; although I thought I would have a quick waffle about the Mod/Soul DJs that royally entertain virtual mods and soulies aross the grid, 

There are several virtual DJs focussing their sets on mod/soul tunes at the present time, and whilst the number of clubs seems to be in decline the number of DJs seems to be increasing. The healthy number of DJs can only be good for the scene as after all , fashion, scooters, club architecture are merely decorative features that hang off the crucial foundation of the scene ... the music!

Currently found playing at Soul Mods and the AAi  Edensky Cortes and Kimbereley Sixpence played one of the first mod sets I attended on the grid. Kim and Eden play some sharp tunes, lots of ska and beat bands alongside some classic soul and monster mod favourites from The Who and the Small Faces. Often found playing at the same clubs is Sean Bernheim, an esoteric style Sean plays some of the coolest tunes on the grid, its unstructured its unusual and its always got tunes that spiral in from the nether regions of mod.

Northern Soul plays a huge role in the virtual mod scene and there are a couple of notable DJs playing this classic style. Atop the Northern pile sits Baron Ansome who seems to possess an endless supply of Northern Soul stompers and sixties delicacies, he can be found plying his musical wares at Soul Mods and a few other select clubs, join his group to keep informed. Northern Soul at its best from the best. Thats not to say there are not other outstanding DJs pumping Northern Soul into the grid. Another great champion of the genre is Dragon Bogbat late of the Twisted Wheel and who can now be found at his new club Dragons Den, he plays a great blend of classic Northern Soul; check his club here its well worth the trip. Speaking of The Twisted Wheel, where essentially it all began and still a mod hub despite its reincarnations and heavy leather presence, it plays host to many DJs playing a variety of sixties inspired sets, check their DJ calender. A new DJ to their roster is Marcus Arkin who had his own club at Soul Suite but is now a regular at The Wheel, he also plays a mean selection of Northern Soul and is worth checking out.

One of the best and most eclectic DJs on the grid is Micio Braveheart who along with her partner DJ  JarvisMudhoney Blackheart, play awesome mod tunes over at the Good Mixer. Yet another DJ worthy of mention is Nero Basevi who plays a mellow brand of soul at his Fabulous Soul Club. The final piece of a majestic Japanese soul triumvirate is Fujiyama Yokosuka who also plays a very chilled set of soul. Alas because of time zone differences I do not get to hear these talented DJs as much as I would like too, but they are well worth checking if you can fit them into your virtual schedule.

Now for a DJ that is always on my schedule: Boone Blanco, more known for his soul and funk sets at the Original Soul Rebel Head Quarters, can often be found coming out of his mod shell at special events, club openings and the like. He plays a blend of generic sixties, Northern Soul and sharp mod tunes and its worth listening to, and he draws a friendly crowd wherever he plays. The OSR HQ also plays host to a stable of DJs who play a blend of soul and funk that is worth checking. On occassion you'll find master builder and scouse superstar Slate Mcleod spinning his Northern Soul delights, or mod classic and revivalist masterpieces. The geezer is mod hardcore, albiet with a dodgy goatee. Other DJs to check are the wonderful Divine Law who whilst not playing mod does play a rather fine blend of soul and funk .. so check it!

Another worthy of mention is Davey MacIntyre of the 5.15 Club who appears to have gone quiet of late, real life commitments maybe. He plays a great classic mod set: soul, sixties and revivaklist tunes and well worth a listen too.

Returning to Soul Mods for the final DJ worth looking out for is Tabby Galthie who has begun regular Friday night sets, wonderfel Motown and awesome Northern Soul appear to be stalwarts of her Friday night set and I'd advise people to get along for a great night out.

Undoubtedly I have missed other outstanding virtual DJs but as my virtual time is limited I am unable to check every DJ online so these are a selection of MY favourites, its not an objective DJ critique far from it its wholly subjective with me choosing to pump up the profiles of the DJs I like to listen to. The Mod/Soul DJ department seems healthy with many more on the grid than when I entered the virtual worl couple of years back, hopefully the crowds keep coming and the scene grows from stength to stength. But DJs need clubs and there appears to be a decline in the number of viable Mod clubs hosting events, hopefully a recovery is on the horizon. Many events clash which means I cant get to everything I want to but rather that than a return to the spandex Friday and endless steams of US inspired insipid soft rock. So rejoice in our Mod Soul champions and dance til your feet burn, oh and Mods please lose some of the leather you look like a greaser mate, hahahaha.

Albion fulfills virtual DJ fantasy

Tunes at the Twisted Wheel

I have been dragged into a virtual clubbing slowdown of late. Two causes of this, firstly my inability to spend as much time inworld as I once did and there's a myriad of readons for this; and secondly, the demise of good mod nights out. The 5.15, undoubtedly one pf the best looking clubs on the grid appears to have entered hibernation, the soul clubs are still functioning but often clash with each other, the AAi seems to be suffering low turn out of late, although I am culpable as I've missed a few myself. Soul Mods continues to fly the flag, but real life affairs have put a stumble on Friday Northern Soul, but I believe a remedy is at hand. Despite this shift I have been to a few cool night on the grid and strutted my funky stuff.

I headed to the Twisted Wheel on a couple of occassions and heard some great sets from DJ Dragon, Boone and Evenstar who played their regular slots. A wide range of tunes on the various nights I was there: generic sixties, classic mod, authentic Northern Soul and some chilled soul tunes too, providing a wide appeal for the range of clubbers who wandered into the club. So, although I was pretty quiet I had a couple of fun nights listening to some sharp grooves during my time ion the grid, just wish there was a touch more variations in venues sometimes and am pinning my hopes on a fantastic 5.15 relaunch, you never know it might happen, fingers crossed it does. Until then I'll enjoy myself at the cool clubs that are providing smart sixties beats on the grid.

Mod for the early evening

Often I log into Second Life before the mod pulsing hour of nine o'clock and wonder how I can entertain myself until the big British mod/soul clubs kick off. Generally I aimlessly wander around the grid checking out pointless stores and clubs solidly plugged into my I-Tunes, although I will sometimes listen to a club stream to see if it passes muster ... it rarely does. So, imagine my delight to discover the Twisted Wheel has a schedule posting early sets by their DJs. This now means my virtual mod clubbing can begin as early as 12pm SLT. Therefore when I logged on this Wednesday I checked the Wheel's rota and discovered DJ Dragon Bogbat was streaming in a solid Northern Soul set from 12.30. Left me with a single option really, I had to get myself there.

Shockingly the club was empty on arrival, but as the tunes rolled out we gathered a few lost souls and the music soared on! Dragon played a solid set of Northern stompers delighting a small but happy crowd of punters who danced wildly and made full use of the Wheels dance floor. However, it was destined to be one of those slow virtual nights and the crowds failed to arrive. A shame really, and much as it pains me to admit it, eventually there was so few of us the club lacked atmosphere despite a terrific stream which deserved better, perhaps more group calls to taxi in the punters next time. I'll be there for more early feed sof Northern Soul and hopefully a few more will bus themselves over to the Twisted Wheel to soul out on some shudderingly good sounds. An after thought, hope nobody views this as a criticism, its more of a rallying clall I had fun listening to some great music just wish it had been more of a shared experience.

Wednesday 12.30-2.30pm SLT @ The Twisted Wheel!!

Modernist Musings

Another busy real life weekend meant I missed the happenings at the 5.15 Club [7am starts, walking for five hours followed by four hours in the pub equals falling asleep on the sofa, its a middle aged equation, sadly]. But enough of my sleeping habits I hope a good crowd turned up and had fun. Aesthetically the 5.15 is one of the best architecturasl club coinstruction on the grid and for that alone deserves to be a huge success. I saw a few messages on my e-mails and I'm certain Boone and Slate entertained you royally.

I have noticed there are more and more nights opening up for mods on the grid just hope schedules dont start to clash and the crowds thin out, the virtual mod scene is small and can only sustain a finite number of clubs, nights out ... would be a pity to have people double booking and so reducing peoples options on where they can go. Remember, its not a competitions people, its all about having a laugh and if you lose signt of that you might just lose the point of why you came inworld .

I am now listing my complaint, that git Sean used some strange hacking technology to pass his bloody man flu through the virtual streams and into to my head. So closetted in my cocoon of self pity I have become even more grumbly than usual. Bloody Scots ... dont trust them, err sorry gran.

Got some cool clothes over the last few weeks. Remember mod designers need a little linden lurve otherwise they fold. Check out the stores if you can.

Other good news Amazon recovered from its post Christmas torpor ans I finally got my cds through, so alongside snotty tissues I am surrounded by great music like this:

..its a cool scooter in the video too.

Back to virtuality, had another great night at Soul Mods on Friday although I left early I was there long enough to enjoy some outstanding Northern Soul choices from Baron and some great laughs too. Follow the red arrow girls .... I'd encourage anyone who has nothing to do on a Friday to log on and tp into the Soul Mods for a great Friday night. Then catch the late late show that Micio often provides at the Twisted Wheel.

Plenty out there for the virtual mod to do, so long as the schedules dont overlap too much we can have plenty of fun in our perfect pixelated world* of scooters, parkas and tunes. Or is that tubes, I do have a SEVERE cold y'know, oh how we men suffer, childbirth pah try having man flu missus.

* All it lacks is bacon butties.

EDIT

Blissfully unaware of this, but its come to my attention that several -if not all- of our wimmin readers are utterly unaware of the severity of man flu or its true debilating effects, let this youube Health Warning be your guide, I am now sinking back beneath the bed clothes achooo!

Ciao

Twisted Tuesday

Dancers at the Twisted Wheel

 Arrived at the AAi to find Eden on her own Kim had a blow out and so couldnt make it in, and surprisingly the room was empty, its generally busting as I arrive. Despite the slow start it didnt take long for the people to gently start tping in and Eden to get the tunes humming and the club buzzing.

We were soon viciously savaging poor Graz's out of countrol 'fro and Josie lost herself in their more than once, while the rest of us danced around it like some hairspray maypole- the weirdness of virtual life. As Kim's computer had crumbled Eden had to do the full two hours and played some great tunes that kept the crowd more than happy. Interestingly I read Shauna's piece on hiring a good club DJ, over on Moonletters, it reminded me why Eden and Kim are such a success at the clubs they play ... they meet Shauna's criteria, and the regulars appreciate their efforts. Cool music for cool customers and no drama, a blissful virtual night on the town.

Sadly technology is not quite so cool, and the stream crashed taking Eden with it, if their was a bright side to this it was close to the end and we had already had over ninety minutes of top tunes. Sean plugged the gap with a track before sloping off to bed before Graz's took the helm and bumped a few mod tunes while we waited to see what would happen. Eden made it back, but the night was over .. another cracker, much appreciated and despite its early finish still beats snoring in front of the TV.

Because of the unexpected ending at the AAi I opted to again head over to the Twisted Wheel to catch the Janice Short set, a more generic sixties set than some other mod DJs it nevertheless plugged the gap in my musical entertainment while I got on with some real life stuff. A decent crowd were in the club and the floor was busy with dancing divas enjoying some classic sixties pop and terrific soul. Quick click and Albion was stepping out with the rest of them.

Janice plays a sharp set of tunes, her set keeps you rolling on and humming whilst tapping your feet. Full of great sixties tunes [I even forgive the inclusion of Marc Bolans seventies hit, afterall he was a London face at one time, yep Marc the mod]. And, she too matches her tunes to her crowd who appreciate her blend of sixties beat bands and soul. I saw Dragon who plays a mean Northern Soul set dancing in one corner and the uber cool Lupo arrived after the midnight hour, Micio was also there as she was due to take over from Janice once her set was over. It was getting very late for a UK virtual lifer but I danced on.

At 1.00am GMT Janice finished her set and Micio took over, I would have loved to have stayed longer as Micio plays a marvelously eclectic set but it was already way past the pumpkin hour and I had to get some sleep. The wonders of the global village mean unfortunately we cannot be there for everything,,my loss, Dance on you groovers.

AAi
The Twisted Wheel