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.

Fashionable Updates

I was again trudging, and yes it is a trudge to find anything really relevant to this blog now, through the Marketplace when I stumbled upon a couple of items when I entered "Carnaby" in the search engine. First up popped a skinhead inspired shorty skirt outfit that might appeal to some of the dancers at Soul Mods, not strictly mod or skinhead but this style appeals to many and so I've put up a link and a snap in case there are girls interested. Yes I am  a nice chap, ta!

Jane Westminster

Next up were a couple of familiar faces and if you cant plug your mates stuff on your own blog your up shit creek. So I';m happy to once again punt forward Eden and Kim's clothes, which can be bought at their store on the Moonletters Sim and now also at the Marketplace. Their design style is probably the most authentically sixties on the grid, just need to get sewing a few geezers shirts. Check it out girls, if you want to look the part at the mod events I waffle on about this is an ideal starting point.

Kim's stuff :-  https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/68479

Eden's stuff :-  https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/69500

So there you go a couple of quick fashionables for all the girlies out there, better get some myself don't want to disappoint Graz and his  conspiracy theory, hahaha.

Being Human

Was the reason I found myself going virtual on Sunday night; which required some intensive searching to locate something entertaining in Second Life. Sunday is not one of my regular virtual nights and so I was somewhat lost. Eventually I teleported to the Old Cave to catch a generic soul set by the DJ Finn Askari. the beats are slower than my favoured Motown or Northern tune, but it was entertaining enough and the people there were very welcoming and all said hello. Thats nice for a new arrival, a friendly hello even if like me they then go quiet and just listen in to the tunes. Sometimes I want to be mellow and just listen other times I'm happy to dive into the swamp of manic chatter. So I was happy enough chilling in my own company listening to generic soul which I occassionally enjoy but wouldnt necessarily be throwing onto my I-Tunes. Very mellow, very nice.

The club has its own wesite, so check it out:  www.oldcave-sl.com

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.

Modernist Fashion in SL

Second Life male mod fashion items are a scarce commodity and so its usual to look outside of mainstream sixties British styles. One valuable virtual aid is to check the Japanese fashion houses of the virtual world. Japanese edgy fashion has some NeoMod crossover potential and I discovered this range of sharp looking blazers whilst muddling through the fashion options at the Marketplace. They come in a wide range of colour, variations and are scripted for sizing and the trousers also have colour scripting; a scripted tie is also included in the package. It seems a reasonable option for 400$l with various colour change options, as yet Ive not bought one but I might just treat myself. If your looking for a sharp NeoMod style with a splash of Asian flair this could prove to be a good option. Its available at either the Marketplace or the store inworld..

The Marketplace

*Edelweiss*

Modernist Fashion in SL

One of the most irritating aspects of my self imposed austerity pact, is when I see fantastic items that beautifully fit the mod brief but are just outside of the price band I've agreed with myself for this month. I have so many suits, most of which never get worn that can I justify buying a whole load more, however fantastic they look. So imagine the beating I gave myself when I stumbled upon Aragane Nishi clothing range at the Marketplace, not one not two but twelve beautiful suits designed and textured in styles that are ideal for the aspirant virtual mod. But with each of the two fat packs rolling in at a hefty 3000$l sadly there is no snapshot of Albion wearing them, its just the store snapshots that made it onto the blog.

Its quite difficult to write an accurate review of items when you don't possess them as the nuances of prim fittings and how the textures look and function are obscured from the reviewer if all he has to work with is a snapshot. But from what I can see and what I have read in the details the suits seem to be a fine addition to the virtual mods wardrobe. There are several variations, multi-layered clothing and the correct prim usage on the cuffs and trousers to give the suits the sharpness required of the typical mod suits. However, six grand for the two fat packs is very steep, even if its providing a significant discount on buying an individual suit. I think I'll opt to buy a single suit but the tough decision then is which one? At 700$l I want to be sure to get the correct one, in and ideal world I'd grab the lot, but I'm just not Chelsea y'know and so over the next few days I'll be wondering which one I should go for.

Now, if you're West London and have no qualms about splashing the cash and want a whole range of sharp sixties suits grab the fat packs, I wont be jealous, honest.

Aragane Nishi

Two Nights at Soul Mods

Headed to Soul Mods on Thursday to listen to Eden deliver another great set, just when you think you're familiar with her track listing Eden goes off on a sounds adventure and hits you with a barrage of new tunes that blow your mind. This Thursday was one of those occasions and whilst some may know all the stuff I for one am willing to hold my hand up and admit to ignorance, but am much happier for having my ears opened to these great tunes. So it was a great night, lots of funny banter and some majestic tunes both old and new had us all stomping, and in my case coughing but a little bit of suffering is worth the price for such enjoyment, and before you ask yeah Albion is a better dancer than me.

Friday had a new face on decks, Janice Short, whilst well known on the DJ circuit this was her first outing as a DJ at Soul Mods and she delivered a thumping sixties set, full of classic Motown and white boy blues beat bands that kept everyone happy for a couple of hours. Another excellent turn out and the club, with over thirty people resident at some points thoroughly engaged by the music and having a laugh, the sole reasons for Soul Mods existence. It is y'know, just ask the man himself, Dugi's often said once its no longer fun that's it, so do your damnest to keep it fun people its one of very few refuges for us virtual mods lets not lose it. As often happens I got dragged off the keyboard to deal with real life stuff, whilst the missus attended to the post OFSTED mayhem that afflicts all teacher households every now again, but I listened in even though I wasn't at my keyboard. Lucky for me I arrived back before the dastardly Josie and Shauna shoved me into a cupboard; those girls you just cannot trust them Lupo said goodnight twice, I think he does it so everyone say goodbye and shows how popular he is,,,unlike me, boo hoo. Sean turned up as did Graz and they had a prowling contest just off the dance floor. Its not a real contest but it fills up another sentence, filling it served me well through University so why not here. Lots of new faces brought in by the appearance of Janice on decks hopefully a few will visit again, and all in all a great night had by everyone. Fun on a lindens budget, cool.

Whats On? Nuthin' Much.....

So I spent an hour our so wandering the grid looking for groovy mod hangouts as I felt I may have been a little one dimensional on my travels of late. So as Dugi and Aston had been to a mods night at the WestEnd Club I figured I'd go check it out. Its a pretty standard design club some might go so far as to call it bland, but for the mod night they put up some really awesome graphics and it looks quite dramatic. As it was the middle of the afternoon in the UK the club was quite empty, which allowed me to have a good mooch about, nice big dance floor and a couple of DJ booths, ideal for a mod or soul stormer. Hopefully more mod nights will follow and I'll strut my stuff there under a Brighton skyline with mod graphics illuminating my virtual mod credentials.

Later I decided to check out Micio Bravehearts club, sadly as she is based in Japan Micio club misses out on much of the UK based virtual mod action. But her wonderful little club looks fantastic. She has a selection of great mod graphics around the building plus plenty of gadgetry things I don't understand but find very cool. The club was empty as it often is when I visit, timezone issues but there was a nice stream of music flooding in from a DJ on mod radio, so Albion put on his dancing shoes while I listened to some groovy tunes and chilled out. Empty clubs are cool places for chilling if the music is too your taste and empty clubs that look great and have plenty to look at are my ideal hideaway, leaving Albion to pose whilst I entertain myself listening to tunes and getting on with real life stuff, no chat line to worry about; no need to worry about causing offence by blanking people. Just cool tunes no irritating popster DJ talking over tracks, its like I-Tunes only somebody else is picking the set.

Micio does play sets at her club and the few I have heard have been very good, do if you see her flyers or notices in the search section, go check the club and tunes out. It wont disappoint and you'll hear some unique mod sounds, non-UK mod DJs bring an added bit of spice to their sets; often they play tunes us xenophobic Brits wouldn't get to listen too. Widening our tastes and letting us hear stuff that's very new to our ears, we should be very grateful for taking the time out to DJ for us, as I'm sure we all are! Hopefully my virtual life will stretch out a little I'll be online more often and catch a set or two from Micio, however at the moment I barely make the sets orientated around GMT, so I need to pull my finger out and get virtual. Hope to see a few good mod nights at a few different clubs. the punters are there, so are the DJs just need to locate club and a night and then entertain us.

Modernist Fashion in SL

I bought this cheap and cheerful selection of suit a long while back and obviously forgot to blog them; to be honest I buy too much stuff and so the likelihood is I forgot about them and therefore I doubt I have worn them more than half a dozen times since purchase. I grabbed the fatpack in store and was reminded of them as I was trawling the Marketplace and they popped up in my search selection. A neat range of highly affordable suits in some bright colours that have a nice sixties feel to them, despite being labelled as linen suits they fit a mod brief reasonably well.

To be frank in these days of prim cuffs and other attachments developed to give clothing a sense of depth these old school painted textured designs seem to lack a little bit of style. But, despite their old fashion creation they are well made, granted the lapels loook a little ropey but I can live with that. The colour range is fantastic - bright but not startling and matched with a classic white shirt black tie combination it propels the suits into the centre of early sixties fashion. I'm ashamed for forgetting all about them and fully intend to wear them more often.

So, if you're looking to bulk out your wardrobe and want suits with a splash of colour but are restraining your wallet look no further, 500$l for eight suits is a bargain or buy them as individuals for slightly more per item, 150$l for an individual suit. Find them either at the Marketplace or if you prefer inworld at the store.

Marketplace

NachtMusik: a Dandy shop

Modernist Fashion in SL

I first saw this suit on an advert for a complete Asian avatar and thought it looked extremely cool and very sixties in its styling. Since then I hoped the designer would opt to release it as a suit only option, and whilst trawling through the Marketplace for interesting stuff to waffle about I stumbled upon it and thought that's where the remains of this months lindens rations are heading. Its a neat black suit, with prim cuffs variations in the shirt layer and a decent pair of prim shoes [although I opted for my trusty FKNY loafers]. The jacket texture has a sheen to it that gives it a leather type look although its not leather which is quite different and allows it to step out from the morass of black suits. Its reasonably priced considering its a complete outfit including shoes. So whilst some might be thinking 300$l is very steep, prim work on the suit, plus its variant options plus the prim shoes makes it seem very reasonable in today's slightly inflated price market. Should you get one? No because I want to be the only one looking this sharp,,,let me have my wish for a week then get your hands in your virtual pocket and spread some linden lurve.

Buy it either inworld or at the Marketplace.

MrS
or
Marketplace

Whats with the YouTube-fest

Why all the YouTube stuff and other fillers? You may be asking yourself that question more likely you're not. Anyway, I think a conversation with myself is often the most entertaining of the day and so I'll keep tapping the keys and explain to myself, if nobody else, why I keep stuffing up tunes from the vaults of YouTube. Primarily I want to keep the blog ticking over with fresh posts every now and again, but my dilema is that the virtual scene has gone into hibernation. This hibernating state means I am often repeating myself, indeed I think I am doing that right now as I'm sure I blogged this before, when I waffle about club nights. Therefore if I wish to keep a current posting schedule alive I have to come up with something and I decided that sticking up tunes or interesting real life mod news or trivia is an option thats both easy and effective and doesnt lead the blog away from its virtual mod brief. Well not too much anyway. So, the lack of posts for club nights and fashion too is the primary reason.

Its getting harder to locate decent mod style fashion items in Second Life, sure there's plenty of suits and a few dozen T-Shirts out there but distinct mod items are getting harder and harder to find, plus in the current economic climate I'm getting more reticent about spending real money on virtual clothing. I have plenty of stuff in my wardrobe and so am buying merely to give myself something to waffle about ... true vanity projects. So I have got choosy and therefore the purchasing, and thus blogging has slowed down.

However, there is a secondary less cynical reason for sticking tunes up on the blog. It too is wrapped up in vanity, like most of the blog,,,I mean must be a degree of vanity to believe anyone wants to read this rubbish. Not exactly Booker prize literature is it, more like bog door scrawl. Anyway, meandering and losing the plot.... Yes, the secondary reason is to throw out the kinds of tunes and music I would play at Soul Mods if:

• I had the software
• I had the brains to understand how any of it works
• I had the drive to get my arse into gear and do something

On that basis I'll keep flicking yup the odd YouTube gem, in my role as virtual virtual DJ, wow thatrs complicated, have fun and see everyone later at the AAi for some cool sixties tunes.

Two for One

Brighton Rock

The Graeme Green novel and nineteen forties [I think] film has recently been remade and shunted forward chronologically into the sixties. The book and original film are great, violence and love intermingled combine this with some classic mod on film and it might be worth investing your pennies to catch it at the cinema. Its not the story of mods its merely the setting for a gripping thriller but interesting enough to be worth a punt.

There are loads of clips all over YouTube filmed by amateurs of the mod scenes so check it out. Hopefully these splashes of amateur footage give a sense of the mod feel of the film, whilst the  official trailer identifies the plot in its setting. Right bacon and eggs and a brew here I come, two posts on a Saturday morning I'm bloomin' spoiling you.

* spot the classic mod film link up?

Kaleidoscope of Name Tags

A very busy night at Soul Mods on Friday, lots of new faces, even some noobies and yes we were kind to them. It was Slate's regular DJ slot and as ever his blend of eighties revival and sixties standards had us all animating our pixels excitedly as we typed our typical stream of drivel and laughed away a couple of hours. Lots of sharply dressed mods in tonight and others whilst not mod looked wildly exotic and wonderful, a fabulous virtual night out whilst not moving from my chair, unless you count trips to the fridge and the odd stomp around the study to an old favourite or two. C'mon admit it, I'm not the only one singing and dancing in real life too, oh I am ... feck!

Regular virtual nights out meeting up with old friends and new has pretty much become my reason d'etre for inhabiting the virtual world these days. I rarely visit the track anymore so my legion of cars and bikes lie dormant; its not often I explore new sims and its unusual for me to go to new clubs,,I think my virtual life has become a little predictable, a good or bad thing? I'm unsure but so long as the predictable is as much fun as it was on Friday I couldn't give a rats arse.

It was also good to see my old friend Cough who jumped on a TP and spent an hour or so at the club, old friends and new its the crux of a virtual experience.

ciao

Virtual versus Real...only ever one winner,,,,

,,,,and so, its time to log out, again

The problem with the virtual life is that its subject to the vagaries of the tandem existence of my real life which so often interferes with it. So there I was at the Soulsville clubhouse listening to a cool Northern Soul set which Marcus was valiantly streaming in, battling against the fragility of failing servers and other techy issues that bewilder me. As I listened to the cool tunes Albion funked his heart out on the dance floor. I enjoy the quiet relaxed atmosphere at Soulsville, I'm probably quite a dull presence as I am generally quietly enjoying the tunes whilst performing some mundane real life task on the web. Could be that the stream is an interactive radio where you and your avatar are part of the show. So there I am having fun when the call comes, real life intervenes and its time to log out and leave the fun filled virtual life for the task driven existence in the real world. Have fun soul seekers, see you all later at Soul Mods.

Soul Mods is the heartbeat of my meagre virtual existence, I have missed a couple of nights and am a failing regular as I am an unreliable member at the moment, the curse of real life affects me here too. Oh well fingers crossed I'll make it this week.

Arrived early and yet still ended up being a late arrival, thankfully Josie was kind of occupied so I didnt end up in a cupboard, aha how sweet. Kim was on deck and her set was very eclectic and very wonderful with some storming tunes that had everyone happily gyrating their pixels in a frantic dance style. A busy crowd tonight, with plenty of new faces and some very familiar ones too. From my corner it looked like everyone was having a blast and after all that's the ethos of Dugi and Aston's club for everyone to have fun with no drama while we chat nonsensically and listen to great tunes. Its still working for me so if you're roaming the grid get yourself over here. In fact there is a good ten minutes left so why not do it now! You know you want too, just watch out for Graz he is hunting for his prim I think some girl ripped it off, ouch! More fun needed in your Second Life, grab a scooter and get over to Soul Mods.

Modernist Fashion in SL

I was scanning the Marketplace looking for some interesting suits and came across a series of startling bright textured suits that had a real mid sixties feel. Finding something dramatically sixties can be difficult in the virtual world and these suits seemed to fit the bill; but, at 400$l I feel these suits are a touch beyond my virtual wallet. For non-prim simplistic styled suits this price seems a tad high for my taste and so whilst I think the fabric textures are wildly sixties and an ideal option for a midsixties mod suit sadly I wont be buying one. At half the price I'd take a punt but its too steep for me however if you have the cash to splash and want to make a dramatic mod statement these suit provide a very nice option.

Freda Fredriksson