It could be any other run-down hellhole of urban blight, but Filthy Fluno makes an adventure out of it.

Follow his trail across the city block, poking into buildings and alleyways to find all of his artwork:

He could have just put all his artwork up on a bland gallery's wall, just like everyone else, but this guy doesn't do the boring. He doesn't tolerate the dull. Art, for him, is a journey, and it can strike at any moment, anywhere.

He, quite literally, will drive you up the wall with his art.

Go see The Adventures of Filthy Fluno at Balboa Beach sim.

Oh, and if he and I get off our fat hairy asses, maybe next week we can record some stories behind these paintings so you can get the full immersive experience... art, passion, and purpose.

What was going through his mind and heart as he created these?

You can either flood him with IMs, or just beat us both up and shout GET YOUR FUCKING ASSES IN SKYPE, YOU BOZOS!

Heh.

So, Nexeus and the gang are considering West Coast cities for SLCC 2009.

Interesting.

He's listed Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Francisco as candidate cities, but I think he needs to keep in mind many other fine West Coast locations:

Tijuana, Mexico - PRO: Cheap, fun, and wild. CON: Makes Stroker mild by comparison, and nobody will want to come back to the US.

Salt Lake City, Utah - PRO: Lots of unused hotels and infrastructure after hosting the Winter Games. CON: Curious lack of mosques (Islam), synagogues (Jews), and bars (Catholics).

Bogota, Columbia - PRO: Exotic foreign location, Beautiful Country CON: Most SL-ers are used to the refined crack form of cocaine, can't handle the powdered stuff.

Portland, Oregon - PRO: Strong SL customer base in the city. CON: Everybody would try to cheap out and ask to sleep on their sofas.

New York City, New York - PRO: Many convention areas, great transportation. CON: Weak educational system, especially in Geography (WEST coast, stupid!)

Boise, Idaho - PRO: Cheap. CON: What kind of state makes potatoes and doesn't immediately refine them into vodka? CRAZY, man!

Roswell, New Mexico - PRO: They're used to weirdos wandering around. CON: um... um...

Oh well. See you in Area 51 in August!

This is going out to the list of performers I've found while doing a quick search of MySpace, Facebook, and the SL Search function:

Greetings.

The Tunes inSL Project started with the simple mission to convince fans of live music in SL to use the gift cards they received for the holidays to purchase music from SL musicians on iTunes and Amazon.

Galleries of links were build on Edloe, Selby, and Prancer sims.

A website was also created at http://riaa.isfullofcrap.com/ in case the grid was unavailable (not that the grid ever goes down).

The project has gotten some good buzz from the SL-press, SL-related blogs, and a lot of music venues and performers have posted the landmark and notecard-giving poster for people to learn more about this effort.

Now that the holidays are over and people have used up their gift card credits, I am expanding the project to promote the sale of music by SL performers through whatever services they use and to catalog online resources where fans can get more information about each performer.

The sales sites I have added links to so far:

-CDBaby
-iTunes
-Amazon
-ReverbNation
-Napster
-MP3.com
-Direct sales by performer

The information/social media sites I have added links to so far:

-SonicBids
-MySpace
-Facebook
-Twitter
-Websites
-Blogs
-Flickr Groups
-The 61

But if there's other resources that you use to keep in touch with your fans or recruit new fans (Google groups, Google calendars, Eventful schedules, Yahoo groups, Forums, etc.) I would be happy to link those as well. Whatever online resources you are using to get the message out about your music - that's what I'm hoping to relay to visitors of this build.

As for the website, Thinkerer Melville gave me a few ideas and suggestions, and I'll be looking into adding artist bios, links to online schedules, the name of a performer's fangroup, a SLURL to where they have a subscribeomatic or HippoGroups notifier when people already have 25 groups, and so on.

There are currently 39 performers listed in the galleries as of January 8, 2009 with over 60 albums for sale.

I know that there are at least 50 regularly-performing musicians in Second Life that have music for sale online, and I'd like to provide a resource for all of them to benefit from.

In case you're wondering, no, I'm not generating affiliate sales revenue from Amazon or iTunes, I'm not posting any advertising on the website or in the galleries, and I'm not taking a commission or even accepting free music from the performers as a gift. I'm doing this because I enjoy live music in Second Life, I often say "I support live music in SL" and I felt the need I had to put my money where my mouth was, so to speak.

If you would like to be added to the galleries and website, please drop me a notecard with information about the albums you have for sale and the social media/online information services that fans can use to keep track of your performances or new music releases.

You can also reach me at crapmariner@isfullofcrap.com

Thank you
-ls/cm
Crap Mariner

I figure I'll take a break for a few days before gathering up the names of each performer's fangroups in SL.

Hrm... I should ask if they want to hand out landmarks to their "home" locations where fans can find their stores, etc... I know that JueL's got The Living Room and Kaklick's got his music props shop...

Remember when I mentioned that Thoth Jantzen had a super-cool kaleidoscope thingy?

He's made it even more super-cool. And it's neat to select the thing to see how the prims are arranged to make the effects work.

If I recall correctly, It's a part of some island's exhibit/opening.

I'll try to remember to post a landmark or something, or see if Bettina's already blogged it in NPIRL like she did the original one.

I finished updating all the scripts in the Tunes inSL main gallery to now use llDialog commands.

If you click on an album cover, it will give you:

• A variety of sites to buy it from (Amazon, iTunes, CDBaby...)
• A variety of sites to listen to the music (ReverbNation, The 61...)
• Any Flickr fangroups for the performer
• Social networking sites used by the performer (MySpace, Web, Blog, Twitter)

There may be a few errors in the data and inconsistencies in the order of the buttons, but I'll get that cleaned up in the next few days as I QA the thing. If anybody runs into any oopsies, feel free to IM me with them.

After I get home and gorge myself into a coma (I had to fast for a cholesterol check today), I've made a note to search for any SL musicians that have albums for sale on the Internet but haven't joined the project yet.

I've got 8 on my searchlist, and I can always make room for more. (There's space saved for both Kim Seifert and Fish Fry Bingo when they get their albums online, and I'm still waiting for JueL's second album to appear on iTunes.)

Of course...

I should get back to listening to music life instead of dorking around with all these albums.

I had one of those "I could have sworn I contacted them!" moments the other day, but I guess following up helped - and that's how Dann Numbers got into the gallery. (He's also playing a gig on 2/3 in the tower)

I'm almost done updating the scripts in the album covers in the Edloe Clocktower Tunes inSL Gallery.

Slow and steady has done the trick. One here, two there, a few while waiting for something - only nine more to go. Then I'll update the Selby and Prancer locations.

DJ GoSpeed will be spinning in the clocktower tonight starting at 5PM SLT, so that will give me a chance to enjoy good tunes while getting more done.

If you're unable to make it, well, you can always listen to KONA's stream directly through their site

One suggestion that I may end up implementing is putting each performer's in-world fangroups on their website listing.

Would it be overkill to add a "Join their fangroup" link to their albums?

I've also been asked to add listings for any Google calendars... that might be helpful, too.

Givers for t-shirts and other freebies might be a bit of a burden to keep updated, since performers tend to have those with them at shows. But generic freebie-givers like ravepoles and sparklers and maracas and applause-gestures and such might be useful. Thoughts? Stuff to contribute to that stockpile?

Links to general resources like SLMC, a FAQ on how to get listed, and other helpful items might be helpful.

Finally, some venues have asked to be listed in a catalog. I'll think about this one, but my focus has been on performers. Perhaps someone might want to develop an atlas/travelHUD for the venues?

If you have the old notecard and landmark giver signs, please drop me a note requesting the updated llDialog-driven sign (1 and 6 prim versions).

The gift certificate giveaways aren't completely over... I plan on one or two a month with the susbcribe-o-matic list. Announcements on new performers as well as the completing on the script updates will go out tonight or tomorrow morning.

Nexeus bemoans the absence of quality ethic avatar skins, clothes, and accessories for sale.

I agree with his sentiments, because quality items for sale means that people will seek out and buy those items. Even if you don't use them yourself, other people will - and their enhanced appearance will enrich yours.

I disagree with him that a fair is not the answer. At least a fair provides a challenge to existing designers to come up with items and it also offers the chance of a dialogue between customers and content developers afterwards.

I mean, fashion-shows don't just have to be "OOOOH! AAAAAH! YOU'RE SO WONDERFUL! YOU MAKE AMAZING STUFF!" over and over... they can also offer up content for the consumers to make suggestions for improvements or enhancements, right?

Anyway, my thoughts:

As the foundation of the avatar, a skin is so important - I know firsthand that Pandora Wrigglesworth’s Clockwork skins have changed my avatar’s appearance and visual personality considerably.

Up until that point, unable to design anything of my own with a darn (I do not have the skillset or patience for it), I felt frustrated - probably just a fraction of the frustration you feel.

The lack of choice in ethnic skins sounds like both an opportunity and a challenge. And as the market saturates with more and more of the same, people will want something new, exciting, and of quality.

Yeah, I know. It feels wrong that something that you think ought to “be there” is, instead, waiting for the fad-wave to hit.

Perhaps a fair isn’t such a bad idea at all if it raises awareness of both the absence of options out there in the market and the challenge of filling that need? Not only could it put out skins, hair, products… but also perhaps have the designers explain the difficulties and the process of developing these skins? At the absolute worst, it would be an opportunity to see what designers come up with and work with them on improving their products on a friendly basis.

One thing that provides incentive to many designers is raising funds or awareness for a cause… RFL always brings out designs (even though quite a lot end up just being life-support-for-the-logo). Perhaps linking such a challenge to a worthy cause?

Oh well. Here’s hoping that the current population of designers rises to that challenge, or that people with time and talent come in with this new wave of residents who recognize there’s an untapped market.

I know. I should stay out of fashion and stick to writing goofy short stories.

Hrm... a short story about buying a new skin...

Awake at 4. Itching, scratching.

The rashes have become unbearable.

I check the calendar. One more week before my contact is up.

Sure, I can afford a new skin now, but if I wait out the contract, I'll get a new one for free.

The free ones are nothing compared to the designer skins, of course, but those are at least at a discount with a contract renewal.

I look at the mirror. The bags under my eyes are hideous, the wrinkles like canyons across my face.

I cheaped out the last time, and ever since it's been an endless series of dematologist appointments and increasingly expensive cosmetics purchase.

Yak butter creams? Tungsten wire therapy? Pore flensing solutions?

I won't make that mistake again.

One more week.

I put on my happy face - my porcelain doll-mask with the vacant, vapid stare - and head to the kitchen.

I'll wordcount and edit it later.

I have been avoiding making any predictions of my own for 2009, but I have been commenting on the predictions of others.

Dedric, our Blue Haired neighbor to the east, made a few on his weblog, and I've pondered them a bit before adding my comments.

I think third-party development and preferred partnerships (with ensuring screams of FIC from various locations) will continue to be the norm, with occasional mistaken forays in content-creation with mediocre results.

A smart landlord provides the building, then gets the hell out of the way of the kitchen-builders to build the kitchens and the chefs to make the food.

Or as my friend Uncle Guido likes to say: As much of an asshole that camerawhore Donald Trump is, at least he's smart enough to keep his bad hair out of his tenants' business.

Mark your calendar for January 11 - 11AM SLT.

Mitch Wagner is starting Copper Robot.

I got together with a couple of my Second Life friends, and we decided to launch Copper Robot. It’ll be available in Second Life, or for later download as a podcast. We’re working on setting up a live, Web audio stream as well.

Our first episode is Sunday, Jan. 11 — that’s six days from today. Am I nervous? No, of course I’m not nervous — my palms are normally this sweaty.

The format will be talk. Just talk. I love shows like Fresh Air, and This American Life, and the old Tomorrow show from the 1970s, where interesting people just sit around and have a conversation about interesting things.

We’ll talk about anything I’m interested in: Technology, politics, literature, television, science fiction, science, LOLcats, business, Twitter, Facebook, Second Life, and more.

Yeah, some robots are old-school and insist on the whole clunky-clanky look.

So I added Silas to my Twitter follow list.

I've been gathering up Twitter, MySpace and Facebook links to performers for the project, you know.

Anyway, I caught this notice:

I'll be playing tonight at The Rain Forest at 7:00 p.m. SL time

Good heads-up for folks who aren't members of a group, watching Events like a hawk. Very useful. More performers ought to consider that option.

So he gets things fired up:

And then... um...

Silas ran into a streak of rotten luck yesterday when he broke two strings during a gig.

First guitar - pop.
Tunes second guitar... plays... pop.

So, he spun for a bit, chatted.

And, yes, I paid The String Tax. (Started doing that when Cylindrian used to break strings like an IHOP grilljockey breaks eggs.)

Got a note from Linus Radford with updates.

Cool.

I'm hoping to finish the scripts for the album covers in the gallery this week... slow and steady does the trick.

I booked Kyle Beltran for a gig in two weeks.

I will book a few more folks in the gallery for tower gigs.

Hrm... you know, I'm thinking Silas.

And the post has run full-circle.

The expansion of the listings on the Tunes inSL Project website has been slow-going. I haven't gotten much response from those I sent out notecards to, but those who did - thank you for giving me ideas on what to link.

I've added the CDBaby, ReverbNation, MySpace, and other sites for buying and downloading music. I've also added TheSixtyOne links for those on that site so people can listen to tracks before buying.

Now to add those to the album covers in the main gallery. This LLDialog Script is working pretty reliably. Doing one at a time until I'm done - slow and steady does the trick.

I'd like to add Facebook, Flickr Groups, and other social networking resources for fans, both current and future.

I'd also like to add general music resources, such as links to the SLMC forums, tutorials on how to perform live music in Second Life, Flickr pools, YouTube groups, music review sites, etc.

Thinkerer has some ideas on bios and schedules and such. Adding a bio column might widen the site a little too much, but I'll figure something out.

Suggestions for other resources are welcome.

Finally, I'd going to do another Google search for performers in Second Life who have music for sale and broadcast (aka Spam) yet another invitation for folks to join. I've had a few folks say "Yes, I'm interested" and then not follow up on that.

No, I can't take a hint. I'm going to ask again.

Then there's those who have been stone-silent that I would have expected to be enthusiastic about such an effort. Is it my breath?

Oh well. Won't let those get me down. Too busy getting things converted, improved, and coming up with ideas with those enthusiastic about this thing.

I will be thankful for those who have helped, contributed, offered help, and cheered this on.

Dedric Mauriac posts the following on his BlogHUD:

I've started to prepare the Woodbridge sim for renting out its quarters. After cleaning up the extra prims, I went to work on the land. Korii is sticking with her mountain overlooking the 5 islands. I removed all the rivers going through Woodbridge and the infamouse wooden bridges. Now I need to educate myself into how to rent out the land and get with one of the main people on the five islands and toss around some ideas so that the creativity that people may bring through to the islands doesn't get out of hand.

Harbour, Edloe, and Nowhereville are currently top-class in appearance so that the neighbors can extend their draw-distance without fear of Mainland nightmares, and I'm hoping the new neighbors continue to show the same level of pride in their appearance as well.

I looked back and realized that the main residents of Edloe have been stable for over a year. There's been changes here and there with the builds (the tower was changed from matzoh to brass-and-glass in April), but aside from a few partners and minor builds, the core names on Owners and Estate Managers are solid.

Nowhereville's stabilized, too. Looks good, and I look forward to the Spring thaw for both islands.

If you'd like to have that view on your West side, why not drop Dedric Mauriac a line when he's ready? He's good folks, honest, and brilliant when it comes to finding solutions to things in SL.

Now, if PenisPalooza opens up there, well, I'll be the first one knocking on the door to... um... er... okay, that doesn't sound quite right, does it?

I will be on the High Tech Texan Show from 9AM to 1PM SLT today.

http://kprcradio.com/ is the website for KPRC 950AM in Houston.

The website for his show is http://hightechtexan.com/.

I will convince Garf that he can have even better hair in SL as his avatar HighTech Texan.

I was working on the Tunes inSL gallery album cover script, adding "Flickr" buttons for Cylindrian and JueL because those two have Flickr fan groups.

"Are there other fan groups on Flickr for other performers?" I thought.

I went through the groups search, then dug a bit in my own snapshots.

Over 5,000?

Egad.

You know, when it comes to SL photography, I specialize in taking snapshots of musicians in Second Life. (Only surpassed by the sheer volume of ego-shots)

I don't get PhotoShop fancy or effects-crazy with it.

When I have the time (if I have the time) I will go back through my Flickr snapshots and collect up the best snapshots I've got and post them in this set.

This one of Charles Coleman from Triumph last night got me going:

If you would like to use any of these or invite them to any group, go ahead. Tag 'em if you think they need tagging.

The original sign for the Tunes inSL Project was a single prim.

The idea was to create a minimal prim-footprint so that venue owners and businesses could easily make room for such a sign.

It also allowed them to customize the sign and add stands, frames... whatever they wanted to use to embellish it.

However, for those who want an already-embellished sign:

There. It's got a stand and my copper note as a post. Six prims.

The new sign also has a menu, uses IMs to keep the chatterspam down, and will hand out landmarks, notecards, URLs, and the link to the Flickr group.

The 1-prim version isalso available.

I've marked them version 4.2, and if anybody needs it, just IM me.