A return to blogging

Hi, there.  Well, it’s been two years.  I’ve been told that I should take up the pen again.  So, I will.

A lot has happened since i last wrote.  Second Life has changed somewhat, I have changed a LOT !

I will be changing the format slightly.  There still will not be too much about RL in this blog, at least, it will not take up a majority of space.  But there will be some additions to what I DO write about.  I have started a large business in SL, I have participated in role play areas, and I have been partnered, and departnered.  Please watch this space for updates to the (second) life of Franklin Lubitsch.

I will also continue with discussions that I started when I was last actively writing for this blog.

And, as always, comments will be welcome.  And, some posts will be reprinted on my ProfileSLive.com page.  (Formerly SL Profiles.com)

Please stay tuned.

Get a statuette of your avatar

Okay, this is really cool!  There is a company, called Fabjectory, that will make an RL statuette of your avatar.Yes, you heard me. 🙂  It’s now possible to have a 3D representation of your SL self sitting on your mantel.  Or on your desk at work.  Or just to have around when you’re trying to explain SL to people who have no idea what in the world you’re talking about (And we all know a few of those, don’t we?)

This has got to be the ultimate conceit, to have a figurine of your in world persona, one that you can touch with your RL hands.  And for those people who have an alt or two, or three, or more…well, the mind boggles.

It’s not cheap, and it’s not easy.  It requires a meeting with a company representative in world who will supervise the making of the model.  Plus, only some types of clothes will work, so you have to choose carefully what you wear in your modeling session.  Still, it’s an interesting idea.  I admit, I’m intrigued.  I don’t know if I’ll actually get one, but who knows, maybe sometime….

Their website has a good FAQ, and a gallery of examples of their work.

And no, they are not paying me for this. 🙂

Fabjectory

Guest link: “Is Second Life a Hobby the way that crack is a hobby?”

For my post today, I’d like to link you to another SL blogger, Casius Masala, who has some interesting thoughts on this addiction we have called Second Life.  Don’t let the title of his post fool you, he isn’t talking about hard core addiction.

I don’t think.  😉

Here’s the link to Casius’ blog.

Sex in Second Life–26 January 2008

Okay, you were probably wondering, dear Reader, when I’d get to this subject.  Well, the fact is, I’ve been avoiding it, for a couple of reasons.

First, everybody writes about it, at some time or other, so I’m not exactly breaking new ground, here.  Second, it’s a controversial subject, and I have tried to stay away from controversy; although I knew I couldn’t eliminate it altogether from these pages.

And third, I didn’t know how to approach it.  I don’t want to end up with a tawdry post, although it’s easy to end up that way.  I don’t want to write about this simply to tittilate, that’s too easy.  I would really like to add something worthwhile to the discussion.  So, how do I go about doing that?

I’ve decided that this is going to take more than one post.  Also, I can use all the help I can get.  Which, means that comments are welcome, dear Reader, as are questions and suggestions.

However, to start off, i know I have to get a few basics out of the way; like, how much do I really know about sex in Second Life?

Tell me, Mr. Lubitsch, have you ever engaged in sexual activities in your Second Life?  After all, why should we listen to you if you haven’t?

An excellent question, and to the point.  Yes, I have had sex in my Second Life.

Did you hire an escort, or have you had sex with someone without paying for it?

I should probably interject here, and explain that the term “escort” is the one used most often in Second Life when talking about someone who works as a prostitute/hooker/call girl, in other words, someone who grants sexual favors for money.

You’re avoiding the question.

Um, yes, I guess I am.  Okay, I’ve actually done both.

Have you ever had kinky sex, or gay sex.

Define kinky.  And, no to the gay part of the question.

Kinky would be, well……  Hmmm.  Different people would define it different ways, I suppose.

Exactly!  And that explains why sex in SL is such a tricky subject.  There are so many different varieties, and so many different opinions on the subject, that it’s hard to get a handle on.

So, I’m not going to try in just one post.  I’m planning on spreading this out.  For now, let’s just say that the subject has been introduced.  Watch this space.

Are you a prim hog?

Prims.  They are necessary, of course, but they are limited.  And sometimes it’s a real problem to whittle the number of prims you’re using down to size.

 For the uninitiated, prims (short for primitives) are the basic building blocks of Second Life.  Whether you’re building a house, a piece of jewelry, an animal, a tree, a gun, a pair of pants, or whatever else you want to create, you need prims.

Which wouldn’t be so bad, but you have to keep in mind that where ever you’re going to put this object that you’ ve created, the region that you’re in allows only so many prims.  You can create an unlimited supply, you just can’t put an unlimited supply anywhere!

The same holds true if you’re renting someplace to live, or put a shop.  You are limited to a certain number of prims in your space.  That limits the amount of furniture (or shelf space in a shop) that you can have.

 I’m curious.  Do you, dear Reader, run into the problem of limited prims?  And if so, what do you do about it?

Yay! I’ve got a computer again!

Okay, folks, I’m back.  Please let your friends know that Lubitsch Land is back up and running!

I’m temporarily without a computer

Hi

For the last few days, I have been without a computer, and will be for a couple more days.  I’m limited to occasionally borrowing a computer, like I’m doing at this very moment.  I hope to be back up and running ASAP.

In the meantime, I’m not able to be in world.  Bummer!!!

I’ll see you all soon.  In the meantime, don’t forget me!  😉

Wednesday shutdowns as a way to get things done

Well, I was able to get a lot of RL stuff done today, mainly because Second Life wasn’t available.  The Lindens had one of their scheduled maintenance sessions, today, which meant that they disabled Second Life entirely.  The (virtual) world, for six hours today, didn’t exist.

This is great for those of us who spend a lot of time in world.  When the temptation’s gone, you have no choice but to  go and do something you’re supposed to be doing.  I know of many people who depend on these shutdowns as a way to get laundry and other chores done.  Which tells you a lot about the level of interest (read: addiction) that people have in SL.

Yes, my tongue is in my cheek, but not very far.  After all, there are a lot of serious activities going on in SL all the time.  There have been charity drives, churches built, serious discussions carried out.  And let’s not forget the commerce, which is disrupted during maintenance.  But there is still a powerful attraction to being in world that very often works to the detriment of Real Life.

What do we do about it?  A lot of us don’t do very much, or not enough.  We sleep when we can, eat when we get hungry (how many of you keep snacks close to the keyboard?), say hi to the kids (and the spouse) when they walk into the room.  And the ones who have jobs keep up with them—I hope!   (Although I know of several people in SL who have the client installed on their computers at work and spend a significant amount of their workday in world.  That will be covered in a future post. [I will not name names!])

I don’t see this changing in the foreseeable future.  We seek that which makes us happy, or at least less miserable.  And Second Life does that all the time.  The status quo will remain so.

What do you do during downtime?

Clubs–The Lonely Yak

There is a thriving club scene in Second Life. No matter what your interests, you can find a club that caters to it.

Yes, I’m referring to what in RL would be called night clubs. You can find anything in world; and I do mean anything. Some of the clubs are very adult in nature, even kinky, but a growing number of them are just great places to hang out, listen to music, and dance. One such place is The Lonely Yak, owned and operated by SL partners Rocky Torok and Jane2 McMahon. I visited this club last Saturday night.

The music in the Lonely Yak is not like anything you might hear anywhere else. A mix of blues, rock, pop, country, and whatever else Rocky wants to throw in, it will definitely entertain you. And the dance balls are not the usual type, either

Since Rocky was busy DJing, I did most of my talking with Jane. She was friendly, articulate, and very laid back. She proved to be conversant with the SL music scene, which you need to run a successful club. She’s also open to everyone; although this club has its share of regulars, I get the feeling that there is a real effort to keep it from becoming a clique. She even spoke approvingly about the many non-English speaking folks coming into Second Life. I was interested to learn that she herself speaks three or four languages.

The patrons seemed to be the usual bunch of regulars that gravitate to these clubs. They were also friendly, and not all in their mid-twenties. I get the feeling that the median age is a couple of decades higher than that, which suited me just fine. I even made a new friend, which is always a plus.

The clubs are different than the concert venues I spoke about in earlier posts, because the music is recorded, not live. There is also more emphasis on the patrons dancing and otherwise participating, rather than just listening to the performers. Let’s face it, not everyone is willing to just sit and listen to someone else do something, a lot of folks like to enter into whatever’s going on. The clubs are an excellent place to do just that.

Once again, here is the slurl for: The Lonely Yak

Updates 6 January 2007

Periodically, I’ll be updating previous posts on this blog as the situation warrants it, and also the pages in the sidebar, especially the glossary.

I hope you find the glossary useful; it’s been there since day one of Lubitsch Land. There are terms I use occasionally that someone who has never experienced Second Life (or any other metaverse or virtual world) will not know. From the first, I knew that explaining these terms would be necessary; as I use them, I’ve been adding them to the list. So, in just over a week since I’ve started, I’ve added terms at least three times. I’m adding again today.

If you see terms that you think should be added, please comment on them.  I don’t mind a bit!

The other update that I’m doing today has to do with comments from other sites where some of these posts appear. Right now, there’s only one: SLprofiles.com.  My post “Addiction? Or Not?” appeared there, and I received comments from four people plus there is a comment from myself. Those comments have been added to the post on this site.