Stand by Me – Around the World!

How far would you go to stand with your fellow man, for the greater good?  My SL friend Cotton steered me to this wonderful collection of musicians on literally every corner of the planet, singing together one song, in tune and in time.  Each part is added by the artists as the song itself travels around the world.   It’s a beautiful rendition of Ben E King’s classic oldie “Stand By Me”.  African choirs sing. Russian Cellist Dimitri Dolganov plays in Russia.  There are guitarists in Caracas and bongos in the Congo….Stefano Tomaselli jazzes it up on Sax in Pisa, Italy. Roger Ridley’s taking it on the street in Santa Monica.  Grandpa Elliot (blind and toothless) sings from the French Quarter (There’s a washboard too!) Clarence Bekker belts it out with vocals in the Netherlands.  The Twin Eagle Drum group in New Mexico keeps rhythm. Francois Viguie’ plays the tambourine in Toulouse, France.  Cesar Pope joins in with what looks like a Ukulele in Rio de Janeiro.

 

All of these artists are “Playing for Change”….in a song played and recorded around the world. 

 

The video is an independent release, and comes from the documentary “Playing for Change:  Peace through Music”

 

Want to join the movement?  Visit their site at playingforchange.com

 

Haserot Angel 04

Haserot Angel 04

Originally uploaded by bittermuppet

 

So, I head over to a concert in an art gallery with a show by an artist I had never heard of just to hear my favorite musician Louis Volare….

and there at the top, as I listen to music, I am drawn…I mean sucked into the absolute hypnotic mystery of this one photograph. He’s called the Haserot Angel….and he sits at a cemetery somewhere in Ohio.

The photographer, whom I only know as Eidolon Dreamscape in Second LIfe and Bittermuppet on Flickr has captured him, this mysterious crying angel in such a way that I myself am drawn to tears. Now I do not cry. I very rarely cry. But this picture (not the one here, but the one in Second LIfe…very similar to this but with the wings showing)…it actually made me feel for this ….statue!

Second life, real life, whatever. My real body was crying real tears and still is. Call it synchronicity or coincidence. It’s an incredible thing.

I am humbled by it…..drawn to my knees.

Good job, Eidolon!

See his full stream : http://flickr.com/photos/bittermuppet/

 

Animoto.com

Fun Video I made at Animoto.Com

 

The Mayflower in Second Life?

Wow it’s so awesome!

KK Dallagio at the helm

The ship currently sits by the outdoor theater in SL New England…but won’t be there long!

Lora Chadbourne, a Mayflower descendant who painstakingly recreated the ship in second life, gave a wonderful talk in world. The whole intervew is available, as are free hats and moccasins for all!  (I will definitely wear my moccasins next time I go drumming in the forest!)

The SLNE blog has the interview transcribed as well as more pics. 

You can actually get on the boat and look around. It is truly incredible …the feeling, to imagine how the passengers might have felt on that scary and cramped voyage, full of hope, probably fear, and surviving the ills of storm and disease.  Makes me very thankful our ancestors made the trip!

Great fun!

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

This ship is amazing!

 

Fins of change

Oh my!  New locations, new stuff, freebies, wow oh wow!

New sim just opened up recently and we are exclusive (so far) there regarding the Mer life!

It’s the Neverland Jazz sim and it is so awesome!  Who doesn’t like the whole Peter Pan theme?

Everything is there!  Here is the stage:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Liberia%20Bay/88/166/22

And once there (in addition to the great music) you can teleport to all sorts of wonderful places such as

• Lost boys cave  -  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Liberia%20Bay/115/162/22
• Pirate ship (& shops) – http://slurl.com/secondlife/Liberia%20Bay/90/56/22
• Tic Toc the Crock – http://slurl.com/secondlife/Liberia%20Bay/29/96/22
• The mermaid shop at Mer Lagoon! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Liberia%20Bay/46/47/1

Another new shop is at the Barn in the very popular SLNE (New England) Sim, Nantucket Square:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nantucket/52/182/31

And of course, the main shop at it’s new location, with Mer playground!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Blue%20Lagune/21/22/21

It’s all open and ready for your perusing and exploring pleasure!

Enjoy!

 

Moving the shop and Promoting Performers!

Wow! KK has Never been busier than now in SL!

I made the decision to move The Merry Dolphin (my mermaid shop and playground) just before things started really heating up for SL Peacefest! Not smart, but things just kinda happen that way sometimes!

The shop is no where near ready…I can’t find half my inventory or the playground itself!
( Lesson #1 create a temp folder when you move so you can find it all quickly when you unpack! Lol didn’t I just post about this? Don’t you just love it when you don’t take your own advice? )

I will post new landmark when it’s ready for you.

Meanwhile I’ve gotten a good start on the page for the Performers on the peacefest blog. Please stop by and visit your favorite artists’ page, and leave a comment! This helps them and it helps Peacefest by getting the word out faster. More links is good!

So visit and link away my friends!

SL Peacefest Performers

 

Getting Organized and Preparing for Events

It’s all so easy! If only in rl could we manage to be so fast an efficient. I toured a sim last night that was used for a large event put on my friends at Cafe Wellstone. They pulled in lots of newbies to Second Life, and I was amazed at how organized and well thought out the whole space was. A nice “mall” area with tutorials, skins and tips for those just getting in so they could get up to speed quickly and enjoy the festivities. Beautiful grounds, well mapped, and user friendly for new and old Secondlifers alike. The whole thing would be a massive logistical nightmare in rl.

Funny too the tour was just after a “meeting”, for SL Peacefest (coming up in just over 3 weeks!). Like real life only much easier, faster, and cheaper! The whole group is really pitching in as we get closer to the event. I feel a real sense of teamwork happening!

A friend invited me to a group as they prepare for a wedding. So clever! Just start a group, then send one message to all as things progress. No stamps, no “save the date” cards. Just a group. Simple!

One of my favorite organizing tools in SL is the inventory window. You can set up multiple folders with names to help que you for what you are looking for, such as “dresses”, “home decor”, “hud apps”, “skins”, etc. Now if I could only carry over 4 thousand items on my person at all times and simply click on a folder to make it jump out for me in rl! That would be Sweet! Maybe someday….

 

“Sail for Peace” event huge success!

SailForPeace_003

Originally uploaded by kkmbahome

Hey SL friends!

Last week we had our SL Peacefest 08 kickoff fundraising event. We had an anonymous matching donor and made over $L50,000 for our peacefest charities!

Woot!

What fun this was for me! I had never sailed before….Thanks so much to Julia Ceres for letting me ride along!

See full photo set here:

 

Free Music from SL Musician….in the name of Peace!

Second life musician Louis Volare, (aka Louis Landon) has posed a challenge to his SL friends, and real live counterpoints. He is offering a daily free download of a brand new performance, a daily improv, for those of us who wish the war in Iraq to end. In the name of peace, he plays freely, every day. All he asks is that we share this gift with as many people as possible.

HIs music is so powerful it has brought me to tears….on more than one occasion. Here are his words on his gift to world peace:

• I have decided to add a new improv to my MySpace page every day until the war in Iraq is over and our troops come home. It will be a free download. When possible, I will have a very short concert at the Peace Revolution! Center and will perform the improv that I will post at 9 pm SLT. If you take advantage of the free download, all I ask in return is that you e-mail the music out to as many people as possible and that you ask them to pray for peace. Together we can change the world.
  Love and Peace Always and Everywhere,
  Louis Volare aka Louis Landon
  http://www.myspace.com/louislandon2

Go there now and spread the word!

 

The Music….it’s all about the music

heathatslne_001

Originally uploaded by kkmbahome

Yes the people are wonderful…in fact, that is a necessary part of the whole SL music experience. Go to a live concert right in your own living room? Yes you can. I am a business owner, sometimes companion, friend, and other things on Second Life, but after all, it is the music experience that keeps me logging in again and again.

Musicians pay a huge price to perform in world. They work for tips only, no tickets necessary. And with the low Linden to Dollar ratio, they really do work for peanuts…make that Less than peanuts.

Yet were it not for these fearless few who sing and play their souls out for us, I would never have lasted so long in this realm. It is more than soothing and uplifting. It is knowing you are there, with the performers and audience in some way, all experiencing the same live performance at once.

We don’t deserve such joy. Yet we embrace it happily, and sometimes take it for granted. Let us appreciate these selfless SL musicians and tip them heartily whenever we enjoy a performance. Go often, and be entertained…soothed….even lifted up, with our SL live musicians.