For Blanche and the Swedish Cancer Fund

"Blanche" courtesy of Blanche Argus

Yesterday parts of the Swedish community in SecondLife came together to celebrate our dear friend +Blanche Argus, who for a very long time was a part of the core if the Swedish community, as a creator of many cultural events and also as well-known blogger with her blog Blanche's Arena.

Some months ago Blanche revealed to us all that she had been struck by cancer in her right eye and that, as she only has loco-motor vision on her left eye, this meant that she was virtually blind and could no longer enjoy +Second Life.

Yesterday there was an event to celebrate Blanche and what she had meant for us all and at the same time a fundraiser for the Swedish Cancer Fund (+Cancerfonden).

Blanche was with us through Skype and everything that was said in local was read to her by her first life sister, Second Renoir, or by Rultan Zeppelin, one of the event organizers. 

Blanche spoke to all of us at length and told us about how she was presently doing and how much she missed SecondLife and the lovely people in it. Her love was duly returned and shared copiously, in a more substantial way, with the Swedish Cancer Fund. Everyone donated generously!

Bosom buddy Apmel Goosson, one of Blanche's closest friends

Kandinsky Beaumont

For more about this event please visit

My Avatar's Name is Apmel: Blanka's Friday and My View of Second Life (Rultan Zeppelin's blog).

More On NOH8

My dear friend Blanche Argus, with the blog Blanche´s Arena, asks what the NOH8 Campaign is all about. I am grateful to Blanche for asking the question outright because it gives me the opportunity to explain.

The video above should answer some of her, and others, questions but I will nonetheless say a few things more.

The campaign first started out as a grassroot reaction when Proposition 8 was passed into law by a ballot measure in California, U.S.A. The proposition added an amendment to the California Constitution whereby "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.". Same-sex marriages were thus effectively outlawed in California. The NOH8 Campaign has since developed into a silent photographic protest against homophobia and discriminatory legislation all over the world.

An infamous Swedish Internet-troll in a comment to Blanche´s post makes the interpretation that the campaign suggests that we shut down communication by covering our mouths with duct tape. I am guessing she must´ve failed miserably in the courses on "investigative journalism".

Contrary to the troll´s  stupid assumption, the symbolism of the manifestation should of course - as most reasonable people will understand - rather be interpreted as "you may try to shut us up but be will not be silenced". The campaign makes use of the well known adage that "a picture is worth more than a thousand words" which refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image.

For more information you should visit the website NOH8. Campaign.

Elvis, Rock-n-Roll and I

My ex-wife-for-a-day Iendi Laville threw a rock themed party at her establishment The Grenouille Inn (nowadays mostly called The Frog) last evening, which I of course had to go to.

Preparing for the party I found that the only really 50s-60s themed object I remembered having in my vast Inventory were my Buddy Holly glasses with tape across the middle. When I saw Apollon Allen I remembered my panel shirts too, but by then I was already dancing.

The old place was completely redecorated for the occasion by Iendi and her staff, Mrs. Svessa Hax-Beornsen, Mrs. Annabella Lundqvist and Mr. Lelle Kidd. The place looked awesome and supplied the best animations for rock-n-roll dancing I have ever encountered in SecondLife. (Note-to-self, don´t forget to ask Annabella where she got those animations!)

Bock and Elvis/Apollon

As chance would have it I ended up dancing with an Elvis look-alike in the shape of my old friend Apollon with great moves while the ex-missus threw herself at one of her unsuspecting tenants, a gorgeous looking stud named Holy (I cannot recall his last name but I  think it is Charger or something like it) - who turned out to have a few good moves of his own.

Music was supplied with style and flourish by this evenings DJ, Ms. Betty Idler.

Time for some party pictures!

For more pictures from the event - and a far more extensive coverage of the people there - please see Blanche´s Arena; 50-tal på Grodan,

Iendi och sl-mysteriet; Rockabillykvällen på Grodan, 

My view of Second Life; PRESSTOPP!!! (NSFW due to full frontal nudity and no hat) and

Ewas´s LOGOS; Rockabilly Party.

Musings at Haakon´s Bridge

I am not in the best of moods right now and don´t really know why. This shift in my state of mind came after the last weekend and has not eased off yet.

Following the New Years Day debacle I have found that I, more or less deliberately, have avoided mentioning Ars on my blog so as not to draw unfriendly attention to him again and that I have also raised barriers around my first life. This new found habit of self-censorship is a fundamental betrayal of myself and the reasons for the existence of this blog. It has to stop immediately!

I miss my Ars terribly and the big family I once had in my SecondLife. When I was talking with a friend the other evening and mentioned my SecondLife family he said "I have never really understood the concept of ´family´ in SecondLife." This comment made me start to think what it was all really about and I am not finished thinking about it yet, but when I am I will tell you all.

Yesterday I read a post on the Swedish blog Blanche´s Arena that "the avatar formerly known as Sven Idyll" has now shutdown yet another blog and started a new one instead.

In the new blog he tells us how he and his female "partner in crime" have been successfully researching the SecondLife blogs written by Swedes to find out the bloggers first life identity through compilation of the information they give about themselves in the blogs or elsewhere and by technical data. I am hoping that the collecting and compiling of this information has given them a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment and power so they can find more worthy causes to focus their talents on.

People who feel powerless and frustrated can get dangerous as we have seen many times before and are now witnessing in a trial in Oslo, Norway. I am doing all I can to avoid the radio and television coverage of that trial, it gets too close, and am instead sticking to the reports in the printed media (not the tabloids).

Life Is Like a Bottle of Ketchup

Whiskey with Blanche

...first there is nothing and then - suddenly - it all pours out.

The object of my secret meeting with a woman the other day has now been disclosed.

Blogger and friend Blanche Argus has now published the interview she was doing with me at the time so you  can stop thinking that I am venturing to "the other side".

The interview is in Swedish of course but if you wish you can read it on Blanche´s Arena: Interview with Bock McMillan. I must say that sharing the bottle of Jack Daniel´s with Blanche seems to have worked; I talked too much!

"Ich Bin Ein Prim Teamer"

The title of this post of course alludes to a famous speech given by the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Berlin, West Germany, on June 26, 1963,

On February 21, 2012, a new Swedish virtual worlds blog appeared. The blog, called Prim Team, was not really discovered by anyone before blogger Blanche Argus posted about it on her blog Blanche´s Arena on  February 28.

Little or nothing was known of the blogger/bloggers as they chose to remain anonymous, other than that they claim to be a group of people with technical interests "who together have more than 25 years of experience in virtual worlds". All might have run smoothly for them if they had not chosen to unearth and regurgitate the old Scandinavian civil war in SecondLife by four posts focusing on the old witch hunt theme again.

With those four posts Pandora´s box was opened and the scab was ripped off the old wounds which have seemed to be healing since summer. Their rehashing of history made it very interesting to know who was really behind the "insightful" blog.

For me knowing who wrote something is of interest in determining how much faith to put in what they write. Admittedly most of us in the SecondLife blogosphere go by our avatar names, all except my bosom buddy Apmel Goosson who is out there with his first life information also. But even if it is "only" avatar names that in itself is important information, because we know them as well or little as we know people in first life by their identities.

Three people came forward and declared emphatically they had nothing to do with the blog. These three were Blanche Argus, Gittrika Mint and Walentine.

In comments on the Prim Team blog and/or on other Swedish SecondLife blogs it has also become apparent that neither the mudslinger or her"cousins" are part of that particular team. The team behind the blog have also chosen to clearly state in a post that my buddy NEO Timeless is not part of the team.

I am rather sensitive to the use of language and after reading the blog for more than a week I ventured a qualified guess, by the language used in and the topics chosen for some of the posts, that one of the persons in the Prim Team is in fact Sven Idyll, latest known in the virtual world blogosphere for his blog Svens(k) Idyll (recently shut down).

Strangely this time the Prim Team chose to respond that "maybe he is or maybe he isn´t". Based on the fact that they have previously stated outright if someone wasn't a member of the team this answer - in my mind - is a confirmation though non-denial that Sven Idyll in fact is a member of the group.

In my response to this I decided to declare myself as part of that team. I still await their answer to that claim, which should be interesting however it turns out.

Oh and I should add that I have a growing suspicion about another member of the team. She is a highly intelligent woman, who has always been kind to me but is vehement in her dislike and disapproval of the so called "witch"

They should have discussed their policy on the anonymity issue better.

Celestial Wrath

Click to enlarge (Bock himself doctored this picture found on the Internet.)

"Celeste" (a.k.a Blanche Argus with the blog "Blanche´s Arena") is angry with me for my recent post "Hatred".

As usual with "Celeste" she isn't really clear on what her objections are. All the same she seems to try to make me responsible for people quitting SecondLife and stop blogging. I don´t know anyone who has left SecondLife or stopped blogging because of me or anything I have posted.

However, I had a very long, good, openhearted and honest talk with another avatar the evening after I had posted "Hatred". That avatar was clearer and more specific about it´s objections. I am still digesting what we talked about and will most likely post something when I am good and ready. 

Two Solutions to a Womans Problem

Blanche Argus (blog Blanche´s Arena) is having problems with the fact that time in SecondLife is mostly announced in SLT (SecondLife Time). SLT is the same as PST (Pacific Standard Time) because the SecondLife computers are placed somewhere in California, United States of America.

I suggest Blanche does what I did and adds two clock gadgets to her desk, with one showing her local time and the other set to the time in Los Angeles, California, USA.

To make it even easier she could choose a digital clock gadget that also tells her if the time shown is AM or PM

Another solution could be to add the clock gadgets supplied by Blogger and set one to her local time and the other to SLT/PST.

Au Revoir Grenouille Inn

Photo courtesy of Belze Fraker

Well last night was wild and crazy. Almost all the Swedish glitterati had assembled at Grenouille Inn for a send-off party before the establishment was moved to a yet undisclosed location (or I may just have missed that piece of info).

I was busy talking with two prominent members of the Norwegian SL-community, Mialinn Telling and Starry Sweetwater, most of the evening.

The beautiful couple Apollon Allen and Iendi Laville gave us all a wonderful party, with loads of beer and music from the 80´s.

As has become my (bad) habit at Grenouille I immediately jumped up on the bar to dance, and was followed by Ikaros String and Maffe Carlberg. We were soon joined by some of the other guys, Frosty Muggins, Frostland Beornsen, Jesper Prinz, Bejiita Imako, marcuz Palen and Sunshine and perhaps some more.

My conversation with the two charming Norwegian ladies distracted me greatly. After all I am a man and have very limited mutitasking capabilities. I can really only do one thing at a time. Suddenly I noticed there was an impromptu contest for "Best Male Avatar" going on and hurried to join and we were all losing articles of clothing to attract attention and votes.

Unfortunately I could not manage to get my darn computer to obey me, so I got no pictures on my own.

My modesty prevents me from telling you who won ... to his own surpirise, but Frostland and Frosty got up on the bar after the voting had already started otherwise I am sure one of them would have won, both of them seem to have been woring out a lot lately and they were gorgeous.

On Blanche Argus blog I found a picture which I show you a detail of here. I wonder where my hair went - LOL.

Nakna avatarer i SL 108

Picture courtesy of/stolen from Blanche Argus

Picture courtesy of/stolen from Iendi Laville

Sometimes one just has to shout "Wooo get naked" and things start happening in Second Life!

This is a scene from Iendi Lavilles and Apollon Allens "The Grenouille Inn" tonight. Apollon was DJ-ing for a few of us Swedes, and I used my gesture that shouts "Wooo etc. etc.". This is what happened after I left to go to Andreys set.

You see the girls Blanche Argus, rultan Zepelin and Stella Guardian up on the the bar having a great time. It was all done with loads of charm and humour. Hell, if I had still been there I surely would have joined in the fun.

The pictures were stolen with love from Blanche´s blog Blanche´s Arena and from Iendis blog "Iendi och sl-mysteriet".

P.S. Yes, they are not completely naked, but I make the rules on this blog and in that special project of Peace and Art, but this will be the only exception allowing clothing til I decide otherwise ;P

Grottfolk

I går var jag på "Grottfolksparty" på OrmDricka. Bra musik av PJ Whybroe (nåja, det mesta) och trevligt.

Blanche Argus fotograferade som alltid medan jag glömde bort det som vanligt, så bilden är stulen från hennes blogg Blanche´s Arena.

Jag är endast iklädd skinnet av en fläckig katt, för att hedra min vän sirhc DeSantis, fast det är osäkert hur hedrad han kände sig...

Kommunikationsmiss

Det där med kommunikation är inte alltid så lätt, vilket jag vill ge ett exempel på här.

Igår var jag på OrmDrickas reptilparty utklädd till en hiskeligt grön jätteödla av något slag. roby Orellana var också där bland väldigt många andra. OD var synnerligen välbesökt igår.

Av någon anledning så kände jag plötsligt för att försöka prata lite med roby, som jag annars inte brukar tala med alls.

För att inleda konversationen frågade jag honom i local, varför jag fortfarande inte hade fått hans nakenbild. Jag tänkte då naturligtvis på en bild till mitt konst- och fredsprojekt "Nakna avatarer i SL", dvs. en nakenbild på hans avatar.

roby svarade då, "för att jag bara gillar tjejer, Bock". Han tänkte sannolikt på någon helt annan sorts bild och känner antagligen inte ens till mitt lilla bloggprojekt.

Svaret gjorde mig helt ställd och jag blev våldsamt generad över tanken att han kunde tro att jag verkligen vill ha en RL nakenbild av honom. Ärligt talat så kände jag hur jag rodnade våldsamt där jag satt framför datorn.

Konversationsförsöket fick alltså ett snabbt och lite snöpligt slut och strax därefter loggade jag ut.

Så här i efterhand känns det lite kul, så jag tänkte roa er med det. För tydlighetens skull vill jag framhålla att jag med detta inlägg inte på något sätt vill driva med roby, utan snarare med mig själv eller hur fel det ibland kan gå med kommunikation.

Bilden på roby har jag stulit från Blanche Argus blogg, "Blanche´s arena", och den är från ett helt annat tillfälle.

Har karln ingen skam i kroppen?

Jag på OrmDrickas tattoo-party igår.

Contest Board V2.20 Pro: 1. Winner is Bock McMillan and receives L$500.

Contest Board V2.20 Pro: 2. Winner is Polleswe Knipper and receives L$333.

Contest Board V2.20 Pro: 3. Winner is Tor Takacs and receives L$166.

Foto: Blanche Argus på bloggen "Blanche´s arena"