Rest In Peace, Whitney

"God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?"

Whitney Elizabeth Houston 

August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012

My Second Home is Closing

It is with heartrending sadness I keep rereading this note card from my amazing friend Circe Broom entitled "Closing Notice". I had somehow missed it in the onslaught of messages that meet you when you log in to SecondLife but my reliable friend Diana Gilderoy forwarded it to me.

Circe Broom

"It is with profound regret that I must announce the closing of my Laurel Arts Isle venues (Sunset Jazz Club, Memphis Pavilion, Luxor Stage, Cairo Theater, and Sanctuary), which will take place on February 20, 2012. 

I have run venues since 2004, but can no longer sustain the cost of maintaining the sim. I thank you all for your visits over the years. I am grateful for all the wonderful music and poetry that has taken place in my venues. It is hard to let go, but I simply must. 

Thank you. I will never forget the wonderful times we've had. Join us during these last weeks of our existence, take pics, post them, send them to me, whatever - so that we can remember Laurel Arts for another 8 years! 

I want to thank those of you who have donated at the venues, helping to keep the Laurel Arts venues running this long. Due to the recession and a seeming paradigm shift in Second Life, not many people deem it necessary to support entertainment in SL, causing many venues to close down. Sadly, my venues now join those who have come to this bitter end. 

The final shows on Laurel Arts Isle will be held on Sunday, February 19, 2012. 

Special thanks go to my assistant, Angelstar3 Stonewall, and my partner, Vincent Merricks, for their staunch support, especially during my illness and absence. 

The Circe's Circle of Sounds group, which is over 4,000 members strong, will remain intact, and artists/poets can use it to announce their shows anywhere after February 20. 

Warmest regards, Circe Broom"

I have been a regular patron at the Laurel Arts sim during the last four years of my existence in SecondLife. In the beginning with Ars and later alone. We especially made it a habit to visit there for Elfay Pinkdot´s "Coffee and Pajamas Jazz Show". I have met countless of sweet, wonderful and supportive friends there who have become dear to me.

Today Sunday 12, 2012, 10 AM - 12 PM SLT, Elfay will bring us the last Coffee and Pajamas at Circe´s Sunset Jazz Club. So dig out your PJ´s from your overloaded Inventories and

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

My Wedding Anniversary

Soon after I had logged into SecondLife on February 12, 2010, my beautiful Ars also logged in.

After we had said our hellos, he asked me to check my email. When I asked why, he told me "Just check it now, Bock!"

As I opened the mail a message popped up from SecondLife which read:

"Dear Bock McMillan,

You have received a Second Life partner proposal from Ars Northmead.

Please visit the link below to view the proposal:

https://secure-web39.secondlife.com/my/account/partners.php

This proposal will expire on Friday, February 19, 2010."

I was totally elated and hurried to go to the SecondLife website to accept the proposal. When I have done that I got the message "Congratulations Bock McMillan you have now entered into a partnership with Ars Northmead!"

I was both laughing and crying with joy when I came back to my Ars, because this had been a very surprising move on his part after more than two years together. Both of us had often declared a rather skeptical and dim view on SecondLife partnerships, after seeing some acquaintances going through a series of partnerships that never lasted for long. However, we both believed that with our long past together we would do a better job of it so we spent a very happy day together.

Not too long after this Ars went missing for a few days. I could not reach him either by e-mail or any of his phones. Those days were awful and I was very worried for him. When I finally got hold of him again it turned out that Ars´s father had found him in a very poor and weakened state and had taken him to the parents house so they could look after him.

Ars still had a fever and sounded very weak when I talked with him, but he told me he was going to the hospital for a check-up the next day. At the same time I talked with Ars sisters and they promised to keep me updated on Ars condition. 

The medical examination the next day showed that Ars had double pneumonia and was in a terribly weak state so the doctors admitted him for further care and treatment. Although the doctors were hopeful in the beginning this changed when complications set in and Ars passed away on March 12, 2010, exactly one month after we had been partnered.

About a fortnight after Ars had passed away I was asked (for the first time), "Do you think Ars married you because he knew he was going to die?" The question really surprised me because it hadn't even crossed my mind and was blurted out by someone not close to either of us. I just told the person "No! Please don´t talk to me ever again." 

However the question made me think if that could be the case. The following occasions I was asked the same question - in kinder ways and by people who mattered - I was better prepared. 

I have told those who asked, that I honestly do not believe that Ars knew he was even sick, let alone would be dead soon, when he proposed to me. After a few months of pain and agony due to a broken femur things had actually just started looking up for him again. He had signed up for a gym to get back in shape and we had also begun discussing some changes on the sim. At the time of the proposal Ars was happier again. More than anything I felt like I had passed some sort of test, by sticking with him and supporting him through the bad time that he had just gone through. 

We were happy together and no one will ever convince me of anything else. This was, is and will always remain a happy day for me!

The pictures of Ars in this post were taken in December 2009 by Kent Hutchinson of KH Photography.

NEO Shares Jewels

Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol

My friend and co-blogger NE0 Timeless shares two interesting clips with me - and you all - on his blog Free Your Mind.

The first clip To Bock McMillan (url) shows the creator of our dreams and our amazing world Philip Linden, in first life also known as Philip Rosedale, talk about the origins of SecondLife and the directions we may be heading.

The second clip To Bock McMillan (nr 2) (url), is the first part of three in a series of conversation called "BAN6 Conversations @ YBCA - Radical Identities". In the first part we can hear a mind boggling conversation between anthropologist Tom Boellstorff (url) and Philip Linden about our identities in first and second life and the interactions between them.

Celebrate with Mid

My friend the beautiful, creative and always busy Midnattsdotter Fride (Mid or Fride, to those of us who love her) is celebrating her rezday today and invites us all to join in.

Teleportation service to the Legolas Beach (SLurl)

Happy rezday, dearest Mid! I am already getting excited to listen to strum Diesel at your beach again, the very same place where I heard him the first time:

Kandi´s Rezday Party

 Here are some pictures from Kandinsky Beaumont´s rezday party! All the the five Apmels where there and quite a few others.

After arriving back home today from a two day visit to Stockholm I was too tired to stay long, but as long as I was there the party was going strong!

The rezday girl Kandinsky dancing for the camera

Apmel Goosson shows NE0 Timeless some new moves. NEO doesn't seem too impressed...

Four Apmels and one ush

Happy Rezday, Kandinsky

Young Kandi partying while old Bock looks on (last weekend)

Tonight is the night that we celebrate my friend the beautiful Kandinsky Beaumont on her rezday. In polite society a lady´s age is usually not discussed because women are forever young.

This rule of discretion does of course not apply to the oldest living Swedish female avatar in SecondLife, Ms. PetGirl Bergman, who will be seven (7) eight (8) years very old later this year, which is almost equal to 95 100  in first life.

Our mutual friend Apmel Goosson has sent out an invitation welcoming everyone to celebrate the rezday girl.

Apmel tells us that Kandi isn´t much for celebrating her age but that some friends will join her at her house tonight just to show their love and respect.

The celebration will start at 12:30 PM (noon) SLT and will most likely go on for a few hours at least. You are more than welcome to join us!

Landmark to Kandi´s home in SecondLife (SLurl)