Links Galore

Nothing much happening in my Second Life its all kind of on hold due to the brutality of real life; but anyway there's also a lot of Northern Soul stuff going on in the real world. Great Radio 2 documentary plus a major film for next year check the links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b0186ss5

http://northernsoulthefilm.com/

Also noted from the messages popping up in my e-mail box that Slate is playing almost non stop with lots of impromptu nights happening. hope everyone is having fun and a Merry Christmas to you all.

Albion's gone AWOL

 A month on and the blog is even quieter, anyway basically my mum is ill and that's consumed a lot of time, she's been transferred from home to the hospital down here as its the place where they do this kind of treatment. Shit hit the fan and things went from bad to worse, after a lot of heavy stuff things seem to be back on an even keel, bizarre considering the seriousness of her illness because of what had occurred we are all quite upbeat. Anyway, visiting has consumed most of my evenings or I'm just not in the mood to laugh so I've been absent from my local and favourite virtual club. Indeed I have only done this update to let the sods know I've not abandoned my virtual life, I look way too good for that, and am sad to be missing the fun and madness but hopefully should be able to gate crash the club soon. Its unlikely I'll be updating much but do hope to be inworld soon, need my fill of scouser madness, spanish sophistication, cockney bovver, etc etc.

ciao

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

Modernist Fashion in SL

A while back I bought a trio of cheap shirt from Aqua, they may have been in an end of season sale I forget. At the time I thought they looked pretty cool and for thirty lindens were a real bargain. Neat collar sharp thin tie nice colours well textured ideal sixties look. Anyway as so often they were bought thrown into the mods folder in my inventory and promptly forgotten.

Then as often happens I was at Soul Mods and dressed down when Lupo came in looking sharp as.... Now, although I don't Albion has a definite issue with vanity, I know you think I do too but err nope not much anyway; lets get back on track people. Anyway Lupo was looking good and it was just the push to get Albion looking a tad cooler. I saw the Aqua shirts and put one on then fumbled about looking for something to match up. Opted for a very loud gold Meriken jacket and some shiny pants from Beck and Carter, plus my favourites the classic FKNY Loafers in brown. I thought it was an excellent look and then thought I probably find matching Meriken jackets for the other two shirts if I rifled through my inventory enough. Sifting through the racks of folders I found two perfect jackets and also a couple of pairs of ideal Meriken trousers that would beautifully accompany each of the jackets. Yes colour co-ordinated to the max. I'm pretty certain most of this stuff is still available I bought most of these items at reduced rates, check them out or better still shuffle through your own inventory and mix and match some new stuff with some old to give yourself a nice sharp look. Or better still grab your own Lupo and copy his look...it works for me.

Ah that's a bugger they were so cheap as they were in the stores closing down sale, oh well at least I got them, so that's good. You could possibly tint your own modifiable white shirts. Also bare in mind I'm a profoundly idle sod so its possible these landmark SURLS may be incorrect as they are old purchases and unlike proper bloggers I have failed to rigorously check them, hey look on it as a gamble an adventure have fun!

Meriken
Beck and Carter
FKNY

A film Star is Pixelated*

As I missed out on the uber cool Soul Mods film preview Seren kindly put together a little Albion mini-feature, thank you.

*Did you see, because I'm English and not American I said film rather than movie, because I speak English not an American version of it it so you can feck your 24/7 I prefer all day all week etc. Ta very muchly.

The Modfather truly has Soul

Now many of us eighties throwbacks who sought mod rather than frilly shirts and kilts as our inspiration during our youth are firmly convinced of the immense soul on display during the Style Council years. And, whilst many yearn for a Jam reunification [err not moi I saw them as a kid why spoil the memory we are all older, greyer, balder and fatter] few call out for a revival of the classic Council line up. Yet, the Style Council oozed modernist class and their songs were soul monsters and perhaps the best way to illustrate this is not to link up some Council YouTube but instead to exhibit a few cover versions. Soul indeed...

Now if that cant convince you of the Style Council's quality, not sure what else can! And while I'm wittering on about quality any techy sods [like Kim Slate Eden et al] who know how to "capture " these tracks from YouTube I'd be very grateful for a copy ta very muchly.

However don't assume all covers are great.....Weller goes all Bon Jovi courtesy of Rod the plod, err I mean mod.

....and lets be frank the Manfred's don't do much better do they?

Now it would be churlish to leave this little post on such sour notes so chill to this better cover if you please.

ciao, more actual Second Life stuff next time I promise hahaha

Paul Weller- Starlite by IslandRecords AR UK

And much as we adore the past we also look to the future Weller single release for the summer, chill

But thats not Mod...

....I know, but a lot of the virtual Soul Mods sods are big Beatles fans, and I have a soft spot for the mop tops myself so. Anyway I read Jellie's Warhol post over at Moonletters, which took me on a visit to a virtual NYC to have a wander around the Chelsea Hotel, this lead me to explore a little further and I discovered there was an Imagine garden just outside the hotel near the performance stage. Knowing there are a lot of Beatle fans in the virtual world I thought I would stick up a very brief post with a SURL for those interested in such things. It looks cool and there is a nice wooden box with suitable animations for you to sit on and strum your guitar whilsts absorbing the mood. A nice chill spot for you to explore your inner hippy.

the Imagine Garden

Bits of this and Bits of that......

Despite my miserable posting performance and the fact I have missed a lot of Soul Mods nights out whilst sat in my chair; there have been a few cool things occuring in my somewhat limited Second Life.

First off, Shauna gave me a really groovy cap that matched my Hoorenbeek suit and Muism sweater perfectly, put a twenties spin on my modernist look but I thought it looked great and wore it whilst I grooved at Soul Mods a while back. Shauna is producing a lot of sharp designs at her store so I suggest you retro girls head over to Moonletters and check out all the stores as its a great place for retro clothing stores. For girls obviously, us blokes are as a rule too tight to splash our lindens on clothes,,,surely not! Looking at the sharp dressers at Soul Mods you think not but sadly they are generally the exception.

I bought myself another military mod outfit in my pursuit of the 1967 look, not sure if its quite right but I'll probably blog more on it at some point. Anyway, it looks kinda cool just need to find some trousers to set it in its sixties retro context. Also bought a wildly pink suit from Shiki, to show its not just Graz who does pink y'know. I'll blog more on this later too just thought I would mention it as an excuse for fiddling with throwing up a couple of snapshots.

Other madcap adventures followed reading Jellie's post over at the Moonletters blog which I saw as a challenge, okay I admit I cheated, whilst I went for a cuppa and watched TV I weighed down the page up key to gain height whilst I chilled, I felt it was only fair after Albion crunched his head on a floating platform, I realised how dull climbing to over 100,000m on your own can be and thirdly my finger dtarted to forget what its role in life was beyond depressing that key. And to be fair, there is really nothing up there, try it yourself, go on go on....

Albion chasing the moon, but eventually you leave all this behind and the sky is just full of stars, the guy who hit over a million meters must have gone crazy. Orbitting myself might get me to that hieght but as for flying there, werr I leave that to jellie, 103,000m give or take is probably my limit. If however you fancy it yoursef, feel free to fly high and send me a TP when you get there. Chilled in space, starring Albion Spitteler. Not much to do with virtual modernism, altho Mods in Space has a kind of freaky B Film ring to it, flying scooter anyone. Besides it gives me an excuse to post two awesome tracks, one is from the mid sixties pop art mod genre the other is mod suspect but a fantastic tune so what the feck. Have you guessed them yet, no? I cant hide my disappointment.

ciao

More Virtual Magic

Admittedly it lacks a degree of Albionawesomeness but its my own fault for not getting my @rse into gear, and Seren did kindly give Albion a sequel all to himself.But this is the club I witter on about the most in this blog; and these are the wonderful people who populate our marvelous little mod metaverse with magnificent avatars full of good humour kindness and style. Roll film......

Its great isnt it!

Lets not forget...

we all have real life issues going on. All the sods wish our dear friend Lupo the best and offer our condolences.

Now back in the virtual world Lupo had to cut his brilliant set short after some personal issues arose. Slate took over and was doing great right up until I crashed so I'm guessing everyone continued to have fun, whilst sparing a thought for Lupo.

I hate my computer, its typical i miss lots of Soul Mods events and thejn when I finally make it online the bloomin' thing crashes. Never mind Second Life I'm thinking of inventing terminal life for this poxy PC, curse you PC World for replacing my defunct faulty PC with this pile of poo. Ahhhh vent over, so lets see what shall I witter on about. Not much to say really, set cut short at Soul Mods followed  by my crash, and that's about it. Hardly worthy of a blog post but I note I have been a bit tardy of late with the posting so felt compelled to put one up. I was feel slightly '67 mod yesterday so went with a mish mash of items to affect that kind of pop art dandyism sported by the Small Faces and Who amongst others, plenty of ruffles on show.

 The jacket is an old favourite from Meriken, the shirt and ruffles are from the SF Design lord lace in black, the shoes were FREE from Kalin, [I am aware you cant see them but what the feck] and the stripey trousers are new from ,,,hmmmmI forget where but will update this post next time I log on and get the details. Anyway not much of a colour splash just greys and blacks but it still has a very '67 feel at least I think so, style over substance every time, but only in Second Life obviously. Typing this Saturday morning after missing another night at Soul Mods, I miss so much not sure I'm entitled to call myself a sod anymore anyway hope you all had fun at the Slate extravaganza!

Friday Night

So how was your virtual Friday night? Hope it was kinda groovy. Mine? Well mine was shite!

The day started well I logged on to Second Life to have a stroll and received an IM from Dugi telling me Soul Mods was having a big party night for Jellie and Josie, plus there'd be a virtual guitar-fest. All sounded cool and I said I'd see him at the club later. Now Albion being so vain I teleported over and began sifting through my wardrobe keeping it simple I opted for a plain polo and jeans then grabbed my hidden treasure my Hawley guitar as played by the man on his tentative dip into virtual gigging. Yes my only encounter with real life rock stardom in Second Life [that's Albion in the grey jacket lounging in the deck chair]. So all was set clothing plus guitar now go and loiter in the cupboard, log off and take the dogs out cool.

However, I had not anticipated a bits of pollen floating about in the air which meant rather than listen to cool tunes and have a laugh with all the sods; I spent my Friday night lying on the bed in the gloom with my eyes shut, thinking I'll open them in a minute and log on. Then through the blur I figured I would give them another ten minutes to sort themselves out, I kept giving them ten minutes right up to 22.45 when I finally capitulated pulled the duvet over my head and went to sleep.

Anyway, hope all the party goers had a great time, hope those whom the party was thrown for had an even greater time and apologies for not making it, especially after I said I would. Would happily have swapped the eyes for marbles and plunged them in the washing machine last night,,itch!!!!!

So, missed another Friday at Soul Mods as a week early I was home for a Wedding, £9.25 for a Guinness and large white wine think I'll stick to virtual nights out, back again in three weeks or so I better start saving up.

As for Second Life my logging in is on the whim of the old eyes if they're good I'm in if they're not.....fingers crossed there'll be more good than bad. Oh and by the way Albion even made it onto the BBC for the Hawley gig. Stardom at last.

ciao

Modernist Fashion in SL

One of the great stores in Second Life is Style Extrem, Upper Man and Happy End who stock many items worthy of inclusion in a revivalist, casualist, indie NeoMod wardrobe. I have several items from here, and one of the best features of the store is its weekly FREE gift. Free clothing is always nice, and should always be appreciated but when its FREE cool and mod our gratitude should enter the realms of monstrosity. My latest cool freebie is an excellent track jacket very casuals or indie and thus an ideal NeoMod item.  Worn with a classic pair of Hoorenbeek trainers and my favourite Unknown Boutique white jeans it helps create a very sharp casuals look. I have also received several cool sweaters, shirts and other jackets. All this can be yours if you join the group and teleport over to the store and grab the selected freebies as they are announced. Be sharp, be mod be free!!!!

Style Extrem, Upper Man and HappyEnd - Mainstore

Virtual London Fashion Week 14-18 June 2011

No guarentee its mod, or cool. But the poster looked sharp its based in swinging virtual London so what the feck I'll give it a plug. Fills up some space, if you attend hope you enjoy, I'm a couple of days late but nobody here cares anyway, chill.

Virtual London Fashion Week

Check the blog

Real Talent...

Quick reprise of the talents available amidst our wonderful little mob of sods. Unlike me many of the people who are regular attendees at Soul Mods are actually quite talented and able to do all kinds of things. What kind of things? Well, lets rifle through them..there's Kim and Eden who make wonderful clothes; joined now by Shauna with her Subculture range. You can find their store over at the Moonletters sim. Not only are they great sixties designers able to craft cool looking items all three of them can also DJ, no mean feat and way beyond my abilities. Then of course there's the mad hatter Mr Slate McLead - builder, clothes creator, DJ and I think he even understand scripts too. Yeah, Slate's a  veteran of Second Life [2006 I think, OAP in virtual terms] and there are few skills in the virtual world he has not mastered, his greatest creation the much beloved Twisted Wheel is what brought most people together in the first place and inspired others to do likewise. And lets not forget Dugi much mocked for his love of denim and cheapness, its true he gets his clothes from virtual Oxfam, yet its he who built Soul Mods and created a small oasis of modness for us all to inhabit. So, despite all the mockery we are grateful to him and Aston, Aston's talent,,,putting up with Dugi, meet him and you'll soon understand why. D'oh more Dugi mockery its just a habit I cant break. I'm sure there are others, indeed I know there are all the varied DJs that have played at Soul Mods have exhibited talents and technical skills that bamboozle me. And last but not least lets not forget our favourite real life pop star our old mate Lupo the mod from Madrid. Not only is Lupo a great virtual DJ but in real life he can put his own tunes together. This is glorious its mellow its serene I just want to wrap myself in it...a great tune. Doesn't need lyrics its captivating...take it away Lupo.

Find more Tarik y la Fábrica de Colores songs at Myspace Music 

Careful, its so chilled it might just bring a tear to your eye

Modernist Fashion in SL

Well there I was wondering what drivel I could scribble this morning and decided my mind was blank and therefore I would cop out and basically shove up a lot of links to items I'm too careful with my lindens to snap up. However if I had an unlimited supply there'd be a kerching all over the place. I have also tried to put up a lot of cheap items. Its easier to find virtual mod items for several hundred lindens but getting something for less than fifty is a tough trickier.

King : Lies - Black

Onix Couture Sweater/with sculpted prim cuffs and collar

Turtleneck Sweater [ Border ] for male

BalAni's Mountain Henley

Men's Blue Sweater

Turtleneck Sweater [ Indigo ] for male

Arie; retro sweater

Black Irish Pullover 

nM The Prep Cashmere Sweater Fatpack 10L

Men's Black Sweater

Black Couture Sweater 1.2/with prim Collar; white under Shirt

Lazy blogging rules.
ciao

Its Thursday and I made it!

I  attended Soul Mods on Thursday for the first time in a couple of weeks, wouldn't say I was the most active member there but I strung together the odd line of chat. It was a treat just to be there and hear a great set delivered by the coolest of the cool virtual mods, Lupo the mod from Madrid. A very healthy turn out of sods heard some great music and delivered some great chat, topics this week were:smoking, Canon versus Nikon; oh and whether Stevie Nicks had coke blown up her @rse, yes we are eclectic in our conversations at Soul Mods. I was mostly a silent participant but as ever the chat was busy and funny and everyone was having a laugh. Shauna paraded another of her wonderful subculture outfits, those damn girls [Eden, Shauna, Kim as so clever being able to produce cool sixties outfits] and master fixer Slate was modelling a nice jacket based on a real life Weller jacket, surrounded by so many talented people - arrrgh makes me want to boil my head hahaha. Anyway head boiling apart I had a good time, forgive my silence folks I am honestly having fun I just find it easier to listen in these days, keep the tunes going.

ciao.

Mens Stuff Fashion Hunt

Hunting prizes seems to be an endless activity in the virtual world, with hunts organised for fashion items on a regular basis. Some are themed for specific genre others are based around the stores on a sim and they are generally heavily biased towards items for the girls. However a while back a few hunts started targeted directed at men, the prizes all being for men. One such hunt is the Mens Stuff Hunt currently running until the 3rd of July 2011. Whilst these hunts are stuffed to the brim with items to find, spending hours scouring various stores to locate the gift item its not often that there are items suitable for the aspiring virtual mod. I had a brief potter about and located the odd one or tow items. So, if you're bored and fancy a look why not participate, join the group find the Blue T-Shirt symbol click on it and away you go.

So what did I find, I liked the Alphamale prize, the preppy sweater which had a revivalist feel to it, I also liked the trousers from another prize, the Brocade Tiger cargo shorts looked good for my Style Council Long Hot Summer romp, plus the Philo shades looked awesome contemporarydesign but so sharp I'd add them The Duh shoes look cool plus I'm sure there'll be a few other pieces out there just need to filter through the items to find them. Have fun.

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!

Self Pity Grump over

And so as its Albions rezz day I have decided to play DJ today and just pile a load of , what I think are, cool YouTube videos on here until I get bored of adding them. As Captain Oats said,,,,I may be some time.

Well ten seems like a good number, obviously its easy to fill up the entire blog with great YouTube tunes, but these ten were the first that caught my eye as I typed in Northern Soul to the search facility. Anyway listening to them made my foot tap. This DJing malarky its easy, oh yeah all I'm doing is copying and pasting this is virtual virtual DJing!

Grumpy, me?

Okay well maybe a little. Whats got me so grumpy its the miserable array of items available to the male shopper looking for sharp sixties items. Specifically the options I'm provided with when I cycle sixties, apparel, men through the search facility at the Marketplace. When I do so I am given a choice of wild Aerosmith style rock leathers in vividly ugly patterns, or similar soft rock ankle boots, next to this dismal offering is some silky styled shirts. Obviously sixties style mean US style camp rock Morrison-lite; shoddy at best. Next to this rock bounty are the Austin Powers inspired frippery of velvet suits from circa '67. And so after again putting myself through the rather pointless task I hammer at the keys and sulk in silence. No, chaps not today; today I'm biting back and voicing my bitterness to all err three of you! And there you have it disillusioned and grumpy, ah well its Soul Mods tonight that's going to cheer me up a little.

Errr laugh a minute the mod from Kansas* take me home Toto.............

When I saw this I immediately thought, wow that's a challenger for the uber mod Lupo Lexington, no really,,,hahaha

*I don't think he is really from Kansas but it just felt like a Kansas moment.

Grumpy, me?

Missed last night and had to bail out half way through Shauna's set on Thursday; cant read all chat and am having to spend plenty of time looking away from the screen. Virtual life is a touch difficult at the minute and I'm missing most of the fun stuff, still hearing some great tunes, just its all become a little less easy than logging on and staring at the screen. Funny how easily I took all this for granted, few years back I was happy to indulge in 12 hour Second LIFE SESSION, PARTYING UNTIL 4AM, NOW i CAN BARELY MAKE AN HOUR AND A BIT TOO MUCH TV OR SUNLIGHT FECKS ME UP SO i DONT FEEL LIKE LOGGING ON. bOLLOX YEAH, i'M GRUMPY BUT IT'LL PASS. hOPE sOUL mODS WAS BOUNCING WITH wHOVIANS AND MODS GETTING GROOVY. tRY AND GET TO A FEW THINGS THIS WEEK AND WAFFLE INANELY ABOUT LIFE IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD.

See case in point eyes failed to register caps on and to be honest I cannot be arsed retyping. aLREADY HAVE ONE EYE SHUT AND SQUINTING WITH THE OTHER, KNACKERED, HAVE FUN AMIGOS. Just done it again arrrrrrrrgh!

YouTube Treat

Sixties Fashion

Scooters

Tunes

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.

Modernist Fashion in SL

Returning to an old chestnut here, trainers. Flipping around the grid I stumbled upon an urban street wear store, immediately bringing up some shades to protect myself from the glare of unreconstructed bling I decided to take a peek. And, was very pleased to discover a range of Adidas trainers for sale, priced at 290L each or a very reasonable 690L for the fat pack they are a nice option if your looking for something more mid scale than the brilliant but expensive SoReal or the mega store Hoorenbeek, much as I adore Hoorenbeek trainers sometimes its good to support smaller creators. So, if you're thinking you need to get more casual in your mod styling and are looking for a good, reasonably priced, range of Adidas check out the URBATIK *Urban store* and pick up a pair or more wisely grab the fat pack as I am sorely tempted too. Damn this new austerity covenant I made with myself. Anyway if your looking for a stylish slice of footwear grab a pair of these, judging from the product images they look a great buy.

URBATIK *Urban store*

Hoorenbeek are so fantastically crafting that its hard to blog against them so for those who seek reassurance from a grand virtual brand here are the Hoorenbeek options. But you'll pay 520L a pair for these trainers almost twice the price of the above so why not give them a go. Much as I love top end virtual fashion brands I am beginning to think the pricing of items is getting rather extreme. Or maybe that's the skinflint in me beginning to seep out.

So whilst the Hoorenbeek brand is rightfully highly thought of in these fiscal times I am tempted to try the cheaper option, I can get the fat pack for a little more than the price of a single pair of trainers. But, as ever you take your choice flip the lindens and get into the groove. Whatever option you select you'll acquire an excellent addition to your wardrobe.

Hoorenbeek trainers

QUESTION: Why do Hoorenbeek trainers feature so often in the blog.
ANSWER: Simplicity itself, because they're bloody good, despite the cost.

Grab It

Uncut Magazine

Flicking through my Facebook links I came across some news that Uncut magazine was giving away a FREE Mod CD and also has a cover photo and lead article on the majestic Small Faces. So it may be worth grabbing a copy and having a read whilst you listen to all those free tunes. So while you're clicking your heels in real life wondering what to do while waiting for the next virtuoso virtual mod night in why not head off to the newsagents and grab a copy. Scanning the details on both the Facebook page it looks well worth a read and I shall be jogging off to get a copy in the morning. Reading the article will be a pain so don't look to me for quotes but hearing the tunes should compensate. I'm just too good to you three readers y'know.So, if your on Facebook check the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Modculture/44295876670

And if you're not don't despair just head directly to the Modculture web site here:

http://www.modculture.info/2011/05/uncut-with-mod-soundtrack-cd.html

There are track listings and further details on the piece here, plus loads of other mod related items for you to catch up on.

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,,,,,

Modernist Fashion in SL

During my rooting through the over inflated inventory I found a great FREE shirt I picked up from SF Design, I thought it looked great with the black Meriken Napoleon jacket and the vibrant Armidi trousers. So I figured a green paisley would look even better, heading off to the Marketplace I did a quick search and found that SF Design had four versions of the shirt available. They come in an open shirt and closed shirt option, plus an underwear layer and prim kipper ties, very late sixties early seventies styling but can fit the mod criteria, especially the Carnaby Street styles of the midsixties. At a sharp hundred lindens its a reasonable purchase for anyone seeking to add a bit of classic sixties paisley to their mod inventory.

As it gets harder to find new mod items I have reverted to trawling through my inventory to find half forgotten items that are acceptable as mod stylings. Its amazing what stuff you can find in an inventory bulging with over 50k of items.

Not very Mod

But Graz is barmy so its likely to be a great night out, take a punt and have a laugh, Friday mad house with Slate followed by the loon fest with chief mocker Graz on Saturday, I canna tak' it cap'n.

Killing Moon Pub @ Moonletters

So....

whats been happening.

Well I missed Thursday at Soul Mods, had a lot of real life stuff buzzing around in my head. But, I believe Kim was on the decks so no doubt everyone got to hear some great tunes and had a lot of fun. I did make it to Slate's Friday madhouse and had a lot of fun. Some great laughs and great tunes, the usual sods were in attendance and the quotes flowed, that Seren is like a wikepesdia of Slatisms. Aye the poor lad was at it again, dafter than the Krankeys he types and Seren quotes, memorable. However, I did notice its mostly blokes who get quoted. Conclusion we are just more verbally stupid than our lady brethren. Anyway, next time you attend Soul Mods don't be phased by the amount of Slate chat, after all most of it is not him....

What else have I been up up too, rooting through old inventory items, obviously. Wandering around Moonletters and getting lost. Oh and grabbing thirty minutes at an impromptu party over at Soul Mods on Sunday. I had hoped to spend longer at the club but the missus demanded I spend time with her watching Mad Jack Sparrow on TV. I suggested I spend ages with her asleep in bed but she wasn't wearing it so I left the sods to enjoy the grooves and watched TV, which was nice.

Finally, anyone who reads all the drivel I put up on here will note I'm quite adept at the odd typo, as I am in world. Well I feel legitimised in my typos now as I've been diagnosed with keratoconus so its likely I will start to write less both here and inworld as things deteriate,just have to see how things turn out I'll still be a dedicated sod even if its all a blur.

ciao.

Modernist Fashion in SL

Enjoying my Carnaby moment I went delving into my virtual wardrobe to pull out an old favourite that met the pop art Carnaby mod criteria. A nice piece of crafting from Meriken, the "Napoleon" jacket comes with a sharp prim collar, hem and sleeve cuffs. All needed slight adjustments to fit Albion's Hyperion Studio Endymion shape. Its a simplistic design without too many frills but still very sharp and eye catching. The subdued black and subtle tones allow for a splash of colour elsewhere. Therefore, its well suited to the dazzling range of trousers supplied by Armidi. Both the flame orange and vibrant green are able to lift the dull black of the jacket and are a nice match. Worn with a cool mod graphic T-Shirt the Meriken jacket fills the pop art mod niche beautifully. Nice trainers/shoes from J's add to the look whilst the classic Strike bowling shoes [unseen] look as cool as ever.

Alles Klaar

were you Paul Weller in a previous life, perchance?

The T-Shirts from  Action (The Jam) and Juice (the target) help the look achieve a stylish indie Britpop NeonMod style that looks cool and marries sixties fashion classicism with the more gritty indie look of the nineties. The Carnaby Street look popularised in the media is for several the mod look of the sixties, reinforced by the Austin Powers franchise, whilst not classic mod [as seen in Quadrophenia et al] its still a legitimate mod look as its what many sixties mod fashionistas developed as their style and so its suits my NeoMod fashion etiquette sublimely. As mod fashion moved into the brighter pop art period the classicism of the look may have been lost but other fashion possibilities were uncovered, and this is replicated in Second Life. Modernist fashion encompasses much more than drab grey and brown suits, with white shirts and ties; explore the fashion possibilities whilst remaining in the modernist culture and further fashion options become apparent. After all its not real life and we can afford to be far more daring with an avatar than you can with the frail ego of a forty seven year old.

Continuing the rummage through my engorged inventory I discovered other Armidi outfits, including a wonderful NeoMod styled leather jacket that Albion wears with the Armidi green trousers and Strike bowling shoes. Another neat mod visage following more nineties NeoMod design than classic early sixties mod, but nevertheless easily achievable and worth taking on if you're looking to expand your virtual fashion profile.

Was kind of fun rooting through old purchases to see if any would fit the mod style, and talking of fun Soul Mods regular Josie sent me a YouTube link of a great tune, with plenty of old scooter action, and I have been listening to it quite a lot. Check it I'm sure there's plenty of Soul Mods sods who appreciate this kind of tune. So 1..2..3...hit it!!!!

Absolutely top tune, have fun amigos