141: We met this great guy, Flat Bock

I can't help it, you know. There's a certain kind of guy who has a kind of ... flat stare, looking off into the distance, it just turns me on. I used to date a lot of pilots. I see a guy like this, I just have to meet him and get to know him. That enigmatic thing just fascinates me.
   So when Alex Thaub and I were out at Pride 2015 today, wandering around, we met this great guy at a booth -- Flat Bock. He kind of reminded me of this Swedish

royal guy who's a famous blogger, Bock McMillan, that I've seen around at clubs and art openings, but gee, you know, I get nervous talking to handsome guys like that. Flat Bock was the strong silent type.
   Alex and I persuaded him to leave his buddy with the jester hat and come and hang out with us for a while on our dock -- then we brought him back to the house and had a few drinks. Turns out he's an excellent DJ, just like that guy he resembles, so we were drinking and

dancing and laughing, and then we thought we'd show him around the house, and the bedroom was right there, and, well, you know, the guy is HOT, okay?  Alex and I have never brought anyone into our bedroom before, probably won't again, but we were both ready to have some fun with Flat Bock.  Not really sure why he wanted us to dress up and do that stuff with the feathers and the peanut butter, but ... you know, WOW.
   God, I hope he phones us back.

Happy Pride, everyone!

133: Koningsdag at Big Momma's Ballroom

I found myself with an unexpected moment of leisure and found to my pleasure that I actually had time to drop in on Big Momma's Ballroom to hear DJ Kahvy Smith lead a celebration of a very important holiday in the Netherlands, Koningsdag or King's Day. It celebrates the birthday of the reigning

King Willem-Alexander.
   Hosting duties were handled ably by Crafty Migpalion Foxdale, and the dress, as you can tell from the pictures, is formal. Specifically, formal with an orange accent or royal regalia. (I'm wearing an orange jewel around my neck to honour the House of Orange, honest, although you'll have to look at the close-ups to see it.) Always fun to

have an excuse to wear my L&B tuxedo and the ladies certainly do formal events justice, as you can see, with each gown more spectacular than the next.
   The most interesting part for me, other than the chance to pay my respects to the cultural tradition of my Dutch friends, was the chance to use their super-duper Intan dance animations. As I understand it, DJ Kahvy is in real life a trained

ballroom dancer and so matches the music to the animations, that he also announces. So when he plays a paso doble, you and your partner can DO a paso doble. Unfortunately my fiancé Alex Thaub wasn't with me but a kind gentleman, Theron Mexicola, took pity on me and danced. It was quite a pleasure to be able to dance so well since in RL I am pretty much the guy

standing on the side of the dance floor bouncing up and down holding his beer because he can't dance. ;-)
   It was a lot of fun, everyone was in good spirits, I saw some friends, including the very regal Bock McMillan and Tomais Ashdene, Helene Dragoone, and the always lovely PuPi. And it was a nice change of pace to have a different style of music and a

different style of dancing. Happy Koningsdag!

116: Seven dog years (my first anniversary!)

It was one year ago today -- February 27, 2014 -- that I made my very first post to this blog. I've remarked before that a year in SL is rather like what we call "dog years"; every year in SL is like seven years in real life. I'll celebrate this as my first anniversary, but gee, it sure feels like I've been posting a lot longer.
   On anniversaries, it's frequently customary to look back over the previous year and try to sum it up, and I wanted to do a little of that today. I went back 116 posts to see what I had to say a year ago, and what I looked like, and to me it's quite amusing.
   I've changed my looks, of course -- like so many people do in SL. I stopped wearing my l'Uomo mesh body and went back to a shape that's shorter than most male avs, and more of what I'll call the "chunky hunky monkey" look; I just prefer myself that way. I've changed my hair a couple of times (no, you won't be seeing much of my huge Afro in the future, that was for a 60s look for a party). I've changed my eye colour at least twice, and gone through more chest hair than an Italian waxing salon ;-) I was a lot more fascinated with black eyes and bruises a year ago than I am today. I still have my trademark caterpillar eyebrows, though!
   More to the point, I've changed a lot about what I blog about and why. I seem to recall starting out with the intention of doing a lot more fashion blogging than I've actually accomplished; if you follow this blog, you know I'm not much of a fashion blogger. Occasionally I find a piece of clothing I really like, and that seems to suit me, but for the most part I think I do a lot better as an interviewer than a fashionisto, and since there are plenty of fashion-forward bloggers covering that ground, I'm okay with where I've ended up.

My first published photo,
taken at The Grindery a year ago today

   One of the things I talked about a year ago today was my intention to become a better photographer. And holy moly, was that ever a bad shot I published a year ago. I can see that somehow my chest hair got mixed up with my tank top ... I wouldn't even publish this shot today except to give us all a bit of a chuckle. (These days, I have a policy that I won't knowingly publish a shot where someone is having layering problems or alpha issues with their outfit; I've been too embarrassed too often by that myself to want to document it for anyone for the future.)

I went back to The Grindery this afternoon
and took a similar picture, just to illustrate
the differences a year can make ...

   These days, I have a little bit different philosophy about photography. I realized early on that I was never going to be as good a photographer as some of my friends, and nearly all of my fellow bloggers. Instead, I have decided that my philosophy is that, damn it, I take the same kind of snapshots as a lot of other people -- it's just that I take more of them. I'm a huge Andy Warhol fan, and, looking back at the early days of Interview magazine, that's what he did; he took a lot of Polaroids and published interviews verbatim. I don't know if it's the best policy, but it seems to be mine.
   I don't seem to have any instinctive talent for photographic composition, and I don't own a copy of Photoshop or anything like that; what you see is what I see, and the most I do is set the sun to noon so I can see the details of people and objects. Believe it or not, I don't use poses (well, occasionally, when I find them at a location, or they're built into furniture). I just snap away until I get a picture I like. Yes, it's frequently a bit awkward and a bit naive, but that's the kind of photographer I am.
   As far as interviews go, well, I always ask the same questions; I may branch out a little bit in the future, and I'm thinking of different kinds of interviews for the future, but for now, I think it helps my readers to understand people when they read how my subjects answer the same questions that everyone else has answered. I like talking to people who are DOING things in Second Life, because I think they are people that other residents would like to know about; I'll continue to do that. I'll also continue to try to find unusual places to go and take pictures -- think of it as me trying to find things that it will amuse you to check out on your own.
   I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's been supportive and enthusiastic about what I've been trying to do with this blog over the last year. Especially I want to shout out to my fellow bloggers, all of whom you'll see in the blogroll to the right. Some of those folks, like Eddi Haskell / Ryce Skytower and Ziggy Starsmith and Bock McMillan, have been producing intelligent, high-quality Second Life blogging for longer than my av has been in existence, and I owe them a great debt for leading the way. NakedCarl Paneer and I have become colleagues who seem to cover the same ground, and I thank him for keeping my nose to the grindstone to keep posting. Bloggers like Darkyn Dover, Richmond Damiano, Filippo Bergan / Chary Hera, and Carthalis Rossini spend their time and money making beautiful, intricate images, and I thank them for working at a level that constantly delights me. And bloggers like Ciaran Laval, Hamlet Au, Iris Ophelia, and Strawberry Singh have shown me that Second Life blogging can make people think as well as show them beautiful images. Thank you all, and I recommend that my readers check out everyone in my blogroll. Some of them have become friends as well as colleagues. Every single one of these folks has been an inspiration to me at one time or another, and they're all worth following.
   I also want to thank all my friends in Second Life. There are way too many to name, I'm already beyond my tag limit for this post, and (like an Oscar winner) if I name only a few I'll insult the rest, so -- if you're on my list of friends, in SL or on Facebook or both, thank you. It's your support and kind words that keep me blogging. Thanks for putting up with me pestering you for interviews and photographs and "just a few minutes of your time". Thanks for your comments and likes and thumbs-up on Facebook, and for passing around links on Google Plus, and all your interest and support. Thanks for being great DJs and hosts and designers and landlords and neighbours at 3Bears and everything else that you do. Thanks for telling me about cool things that you think I should check out. Thanks for teaching me how to do cool stuff. And thanks for reading my blog!
   Finally, as many of you know, one other important thing has changed in my Second Life in the last year. I first met Alex Thaub out dancing, and he seemed like a nice guy, and I interviewed him, and we went out on a date, and kept hanging out together -- and now we're partners and we're getting married soon. He's become the most important person in my Second Life and I thank him for his constant love, hugs, support, and understanding, and for realizing that when he pops into the house and finds me chatting with a stranger, it's for an interview ;-) You will all be invited to our wedding in the near future, and I'll be blogging about that whole process. Thanks, Alex, for making this a great time in my Second Life, and thanks for saying yes when I proposed!
   Here's to another year!

107: Saturday, February 7; A Celebration of the Life of Avacar Bluestar

I'm happy to echo my fellow bloggers and friends Eddi Haskell / Ryce Skytower and Bock McMillan (click on their names to see their blog posts) and remind you of a Celebration of Life event for the late Avacar Bluestar. It will be held at the Rose Garden at Greymyst Estates II beginning at 1 PM SLT. Your SLURL is here. From 1 to 2 SLT, Phemie Alcott will be performing at a special memorial concert; 2 to 4 SLT, DJ Thorn Andel and host Esme Capelo will be hosting a dance party. I'll be at both events as best I can manage; I expect to see Avacar's partner Ricogenu Bluestar and his good friend Eddi Haskell there. Your presence will be welcome; if you felt like making a donation to the American Heart Association in Avacar's name, that will be facilitated for you at the party. (Eddi or Rico will be happy to help.)

100: With Tomais Ashdene at his gallery show

I'm trying some new formats for my blogging; one is that I've met so many artists recently, I thought it would be fun to walk around an exhibition with an artist and find out more background than you usually get from the catalogue. A guided tour by the person who makes the art; I like it as an idea. My friend Tomais Ashdene graciously consented to test out this format with me and I think it went very well -- you decide.  Rather than hide this at the end, I'll put it right up front; you can follow Tomais's Flickr stream here.

[18:03] Rusty Redfield: *click* turn this damn tape recorder on.  There we go.

[18:03] Rusty Redfield: I'm here with Tomais Ashdene at the Nilsart Gallery

[18:03] Rusty Redfield: nilsart.com is the website

[18:03] Rusty Redfield: and we're about to get a conducted tour of his latest exhibition!

[18:03] Rusty Redfield: say hi, Tomais! 

LOL

[18:03] Tomais Ashdene: Hiya!  :-)

[18:04] Rusty Redfield: it's called -- I hope I get this right -- "A Photo. A Story."

[18:04] Tomais Ashdene: You got it right.  :-)

[18:04] Rusty Redfield: whew!

[18:04] Rusty Redfield: so -- what prompted this collection of photographs?

[18:05] Tomais Ashdene: Absolutely nothing - other than I like to take photos.  I don't often do themes - I'm pretty eclectic.  :-)

[18:06] Rusty Redfield: there you go.  So you have a great eye and you like to use it, and every so often you show the results?

[18:06] Rusty Redfield: I know you have, like, three or four shows going at the 

moment in various galleries

[18:06] Tomais Ashdene: So I tend to call my exhibits things like "Olio" or "Miscellanea"  "=_

[18:06] Rusty Redfield: haha

[18:06] Rusty Redfield: as an artist once told me, "Untitled #23" means "I couldn't think of a damn title!"

[18:07] Tomais Ashdene: Right now, I have photography on display here, at 

3Bears, and at Zeus.

[18:07] Rusty Redfield: oh well done, thanks, and I'll get SLURLs for those places too.

[18:07] Tomais Ashdene: Titles I can usually manage.  Collections, not so much.  LOL

[18:08] Rusty Redfield: so -- tell me about your process.  I tend to ask dumb questions but -- what prompts you to 

take a picture?  What causes you to go, "Oooh, I want a picture of THAT"

[18:08] Tomais Ashdene: Some stray synapse fires in my brain, I think.  LOL   I tend more towards concept photography, but I live for those moments of serendipity where I just snap a pic.

[18:09] Rusty Redfield: that moment when it all comes together

[18:09] Rusty Redfield: now, I don't 

know if you know this or not, but I bought one of your pictures before we ever met

[18:09] Rusty Redfield: this one here, the boxer

[18:09] Tomais Ashdene: And then there are the painful moments where a pic may take horribly long to set up and get right.  :-)

[18:10] Rusty Redfield: I know, right?

[18:10] Rusty Redfield: waiting for him 

to turn his head j-u-s-t ....

[18:10] Rusty Redfield: oh The Phantom!

[18:11] Tomais Ashdene: That is gratifying to know!  That's one that just popped into my head.   I was able to put the outfit together pretty easily  (there isn't much to it after all!)  but I also made the pose and that took awhile.

[18:11] Rusty Redfield: I'm a Phantom fan -- geekboy that I am -- and I can tell 

you, you got the details right

[18:11] Tomais Ashdene: The Phantom is an old favorite. I am probably dating myself, but I grew up reading the strip in the Sunday paper.  :-)

[18:11] Rusty Redfield: I can't see the ring, but I'm sure it's there LOL

[18:12] Tomais Ashdene: Actually, it is!

[18:12] Rusty Redfield: mm-hmm!!

[18:12] Rusty Redfield: <laughing>

[18:12] Rusty Redfield: you're just like me

[18:12] Rusty Redfield: it has to be there even if nobody sees it LOL

[18:12] Tomais Ashdene: Exactly. *I* know it's there.  :-)

[18:12] Rusty Redfield: right

[18:12] Rusty Redfield: so -- where do you find your models?

[18:12] Rusty Redfield: I think this sleigh 

ride is you and Bock McMillan?

[18:13] Tomais Ashdene: If you're on my friends list, you're fair game.  hehehe

[18:13] Rusty Redfield: hahaha

[18:13] Rusty Redfield: well that's an interesting fate

[18:13] Rusty Redfield: I've seen a few of these in Bock's blog

[18:13] Tomais Ashdene: That is actually 4 avatars:  Bock, fellow photographer 

Bre Czaroux,  myself, and SL son Pook Cypher.

[18:14] Rusty Redfield: the sleigh ride?

[18:14] Tomais Ashdene: Yes!  Pook and I are the horses.  LOL

[18:14] Rusty Redfield: ohhhh they're the horses?

[18:14] Rusty Redfield: wow

[18:14] Rusty Redfield: okay, I am SO modeling for you ROFL

[18:15] Tomais Ashdene: And Bock is really driving the sleigh!  Thankfully, he's a quick learner.  :-)

[18:15] Rusty Redfield: amazing

[18:15] Rusty Redfield: is there a picture here that is a favourite of yours?  Or one that there's a story behind it that no one will know unless you tell me? <grin>

[18:16] Rusty Redfield: this one of the man throwing leaves in the air is brilliant

[18:16] Tomais Ashdene: Thank you.  That was my fave fall pic.  :-)

[18:17] Rusty Redfield: it's so natural -- and you can almost tell what happened immediately before and immediately after, which is what I like to think about

[18:17] Tomais Ashdene: Which is why Anna titled the exhibit as she did.  :-)

[18:17] Rusty Redfield: aha!

[18:18] Tomais Ashdene: There are several little stories that are part of each picture.  And one or two in the make of them.  LOL

[18:18] Rusty Redfield: I like to figure out the stories, certainly.

[18:18] Rusty Redfield: and we have a similar taste for 40s and 50s science fiction illustration

[18:19] Tomais Ashdene: I love retro sci-fi!   A Flickr pal of mine, Jordy Zipdash, does these amazing retro spacesuits.  I used those in both the star cadet pictures.

[18:19] Rusty Redfield: I remember "Tom Corbett Space Cadet"!! LOL

[18:19] Tomais Ashdene: And somewhat later, Tom Swift.  :-)

[18:20] Rusty Redfield: I think Tom Swift was earlier -- but he got revised LOL

[18:20] Rusty Redfield: but yeah, Tom Swift and his atomic cyclotron was part of my youth

[18:20] Tomais Ashdene: Yes, several times now I think.  :-)

[18:20] Rusty Redfield: yeah, way back when, Tom Swift and his AIRPLANE was pretty cool LOL

[18:21] Rusty Redfield: You know, one thing about this show is that it's very "hangable"

[18:21] Tomais Ashdene: We got excited over simpler things then.  No TIE fighters, or starships, or lightsabers.   LOL

[18:21] Rusty Redfield: I thinnk people will want to have one of these on their walls

[18:22] Tomais Ashdene: I'm always gratified when that happens.  :-)

[18:22] Rusty Redfield: well, I have the boxer, but I have this THING about guys with black eyes <grin>

[18:22] Rusty Redfield: but I know for people who are trying to make their personal space have a "feeling", you will find a piece of art here that will help you

[18:23] Tomais Ashdene: Thank you.  That people are interested in my photos and want to purchase them always amazes me.

[18:24] Rusty Redfield: You must use a lot of tools like Photoshop and Windlight manipulations?

[18:24] Tomais Ashdene: Bock will jokingly say that I must try out every Windlight setting available when I'm shooting a pic.  I am really not that bad.  LOL

[18:25] Rusty Redfield: hahaha

[18:25] Rusty Redfield: and I'm learning that light is SO important

[18:26] Tomais Ashdene: Most of my photos don't get much more than cropping and color adjustments in Photoshop.  Like many people I probably don't always use Photoshop to it's best advantage.  :-)

[18:26] Rusty Redfield: I'm probably very naive, but I can't really tell when people do that

[18:27] Rusty Redfield: these just look like absolutely tremendous versions, carefully lit and staged and composed and conceived, of -- illustrations from stories

[18:27] Rusty Redfield: am I making sense? I never know, when I'm talking about art

[18:28] Tomais Ashdene: In a few cases that's quite true.  I may think for weeks (and in a few cases months) about a picture before I shoot it.  Others come together in a few minutes.

[18:29] Rusty Redfield: So how long would it take you to put together the pictures for this show, for instance?

[18:29] Tomais Ashdene: There's one photo in this exhibit that I actually took 6 years ago.  LOL

[18:30] Rusty Redfield: wow

[18:30] Tomais Ashdene: Sorry, that is not quite right - more like 3 or 4 now that I think of it.  :-)

[18:31] Rusty Redfield: well, I don't want to give away the entire exhibit -- believe me, folks, there are beautiful pictures here I deliberately haven't shown you

[18:31] Rusty Redfield: can I ask some of my usual interview questions?

[18:31] Tomais Ashdene: Of course. :-)

[18:31] Rusty Redfield: You've been in SL six years

[18:31] Rusty Redfield: Why do you stay in Second Life?  What keeps you here?

[18:35] Tomais Ashdene: Mostly because I am having too much fun to give it up.  There's so much to do and see here.  It's a pretty sad thing if someone becomes bored with Second Life - there is always something exciting just around the corner. :-)

[18:35] Rusty Redfield: very, very true

[18:35] Rusty Redfield: amazing things to do, and see, and learn

[18:35] Rusty Redfield: what are the qualities that attract you to people in Second Life?

[18:37] Tomais Ashdene: I've been lucky enough to meet some really amazing people here.  With the rare exception, they are all brilliant, honest, fun-loving folks who are genuinely enjoyable, mostly because they too really enjoy what they do here.

[18:37] Rusty Redfield: so those things go together.  Makes a lot of sense

[18:37] Rusty Redfield: If you could give advice to your earlier self in the first month that you spent in Second Life, what would you say?

[18:38] Tomais Ashdene: Don't stop.     LOL

[18:38] Rusty Redfield: <belly laugh>

[18:38] Rusty Redfield: good one!!

[18:38] Rusty Redfield: yeah, weren't we all there at one point?

[18:38] Tomais Ashdene: I'd actually tried SL a year before my official rez day.  And I didn't get it at first.

[18:38] Rusty Redfield: such a huge, huge learning curve

[18:38] Tomais Ashdene: A year later I gave it another try, and I've been coming back ever since.  :-)

[18:39] Rusty Redfield: And one last question -- What’s your favourite place to spend time in Second Life?

[18:39] Rusty Redfield: (Believe me, folks, if you ask this question you get some amazing pointers!!)

[18:41] Tomais Ashdene: Probably the Blake Sea area of Second Life.  There are hundreds of sims that link to the Blake in some way, and Bock and I are often out there boating, sailing, flying, or scuba diving.    :-)

[18:42] Rusty Redfield: Wonderful! I haven't tried that stuff but it's on my SL bucket list LOL.

[18:42] Rusty Redfield: Now, before I let you go, do you have any upcoming exhibitions or things we should know about?

[18:42] Rusty Redfield: I'll put in SLURLs for the three exhibitions you CURRENTLY have going of course.

[18:42] Tomais Ashdene: I have hangar space at New Horizons Airport, but I often fly out of St Martins or the new Seychilles Airport.  :-)

[18:43] Tomais Ashdene: Nothing upcoming as of yet.  But who knows what tomorrow brings?  :-)

[18:44] Rusty Redfield: indeed.  Well, thank you SO much for your time here, and talking about your work -- I know it can be tough explaining things to the uninitiated like me LOL

[18:44] Tomais Ashdene: That's very much for asking me.   :-)

[18:44] Rusty Redfield: wasn't so bad, was it? LOL

[18:45] Tomais Ashdene: Hmm... do I have to answer that?  hehehe

[18:45] Rusty Redfield: <grin> Tomais is a little shy but he's been wonderfully forthcoming.

[18:45] Rusty Redfield: Okay, thanks again, and I'll let you off the hook -- I'll just turn this off *click*

This show runs until March 31 2015. Check it out!

099: #DoTheRightThingforAvacar

I can't say this any better than the man who wrote it, my friend Bock McMillan:

http://bocksl.blogspot.ca/2015/01/dotherightthingforavacar.html

This has to do with the estate of the late Avacar Bluestar, about whose extraordinary memorial service I wrote here. As the owners and operators of Gay Fun World, Avacar and his partner Ricogenu Bluestar were together for more than three years ... but the Gay Fun World sim does not automatically transfer to Rico's ownership, as might be the case in a sensible world. Apparently Avacar's real-life family doesn't want his legacy to continue (read Bock's blog for all the information) and, as I understand it, Gay Fun World will therefore be finished.

There's two things Bock is asking us to do, and I'll put them clearly here for you:

I would like all of my family and friends - straight or gay - to join me in telling Ebbe Altberg, the CEO of Linden Lab, and Linden Lab itself that it is time for them to take a stand against homophobia, to make an exception and to transfer the GFW sims to Rico.

and

If you have a Twitter account please retweet my tweet and ask your friends to do so too. (#DoTheRightThingforAvacar). 

Please help Bock McMillan and Ricogenu Bluestar to regain control of Avacar Bluestar's legacy for the benefit of the LGBT community in Second Life.  

084: #weareALLclean (yes, a naked picture challenge!)

Rusty Redfield, #weareALLclean

I learned about this through following Jack Mackenroth, the former Project Runway contestant and, frankly, extremely hot HIV activist. The project is #weareALLclean and I'll let him tell you what it's about in his own words, as I found them:

"I was inspired by the use of the word 'clean', especially common in gay culture, to describe oneself as STI/STD free. Indirectly this implies that HIV-positive people are somehow 'dirty'," says Mackenroth. I thought a PG or PG-13 shower selfie ... would be a fun way that everyone could easily show their support on social media for finding a cure by using the hashtag #weareALLclean when they post their photo with the link. They then nominate 3 other people to participate and hopefully donate to the project as well. 

Jack Mackenroth, #weareALLclean

It's getting close to World AIDS Day, December 1st, and I liked this idea a lot. I didn't find it all that terrible to take an adult-level picture of myself in the bath -- I don't take showers, for the most part -- the only tough part was avoiding explicit nudity!!  I think it's worthwhile supporting finding a cure for HIV and I'm going to make a donation that's a little larger than usual; I think this is a great idea for a social media campaign that will certainly raise awareness.

And for my three nominations: I challenge my fellow Second Life bloggers Ziggy Starsmith, Bock McMillan and Eddi Haskell -- all of whose blogs are linked by clicking on their names -- to take a selfie in the shower or bath, **No explicit nudity**, etc., as per the five points below. Gentlemen, I know it will be a terrible strain to strip off in the name of charitable endeavour and tantalize your readers with a glimpse of some VERY fine-looking stuff, but ... try to bear up for the sake of charity. And if anyone reading this is interested in showing it off in a good cause, consider yourself challenged.

1) Take a selfie or Vine video of yourself in the shower.**NO EXPLICIT NUDITY**

2) Post your photo now on all social media platforms with the caption “Take HIV Shower Selfie Challenge raise $$ for AIDS cure bit.ly/CUREAIDS #weareALLclean”

3) Nominate 3 or more other people to participate!

4) (Optional) DONATE!! Please consider a small donation if you are able. Every penny counts! bit.ly/CUREAIDS

5) On World AIDS Day (or before): Monday, December 1st, please change all your social media profile pix to your shower selfie photo and spread the word!!