Friday, September 20, 2013

Spinners; Life Is A Cabaret

Spinners presents: Life is a Cabaret!

Come join us for a night of high drag! Our stellar (and oh so beautiful) entertainment includes:
DJ Karl from 12-2pm slt
DJ Andy from 2-4pm slt and
DJ Hotboy (performing as the always voluptuous Dolly Parton!) from 4-6pm slt

Wanna see how the other half lives? Now's your chance. Come spend an evening in their shoes!

We'll see you there!

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OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! I have absolutely nothing to wear!

Butch darling, get online a.s.a.p. I need you as a stylist NOW!

I hope to meet all you beautiful drag queens and kings there tomorrow, be there or be S-Q-U-A-R-E!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The World According to "Bock in SecondLife"

This is, according to Google Analytics today, the demographics of the visitors to "Bock in SecondLife".

There are still quite a few completely white patches that need to be filled, such as Mongolia, Greenland, Iran and some of its neighboring countries and most of Africa of course.

The tally of which countries my visitors come from (All time)
  1. United States 109,003
  2. Sweden 89,150
  3. Russia 16,511
  4. Germany 15,357
  5. United Kingdom 14,191
  6. Canada 10,723 (half of which are thanks to Ziggy Starsmith)
  7. France 8,994
  8. Netherlands 8,168
  9. Egypt 5,722
  10. Belgium 3,226 (all of which, I am sure, are thanks to Guyke Lundquist)

Autumn Song - Karolina Johnér Bodesand

Although it has been a sunny day today, it was also the first day that I really felt that autumn was on its way. The darkness comes earlier every day and there is a edge of coldness in the air which makes me feel a bit melancholy and wanting to cover myself with a warm and wooly blanket.

Well, actually, a warm and long lasting embrace in the arms of a man I love would be even better, but we cannot wish for everything.



Autumn Song (English translation by Bock McMillan)

The road home was very long
and I have met no one
Now, the evenings are getting cool and late.
Please comfort me a little,
for now I'm pretty tired,
and at once so terribly alone.
I never noticed before,
that the darkness is so great,
thinking of all that one should.
There are so many things
I should have said and done,
and there is so very little I did do.

Hurry my love, hurry to love,
days getting darker by the minute.
Light our candles, it's close to night,
soon the flowering summer is over.

Hurry my love, hurry to love,
days getting darker by the minute.
Light our candles, it's close to night,
soon the flowering summer is over.

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Tove Jansson was a Finland Swedish novelist, painter, illustrator, and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books. She was also a poet, and wrote the lyrics to this wonderful song "Höstvisa" ("Autumn Song") set to music by Erna Tauro.

This beautiful video where Karolina Johnér Bodesand gives her interpretation is a shortened version of the original song. I posted the full length version on October 30, 2010, Autumn Song.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Second Pride Renewed

We have had a couple of truly devastating months in those parts of the gay community in SecondLife that are affiliated to the Second Pride group.
The ugly election campaign and its even uglier aftermath, with the - hopefully - final manifestation when the two resigning directors removed all the landscaping and buildings on the Second Pride sim, leaving the nonprofit organizations and Second Pride itself in effect homeless. The sim was left almost completely barren and desolate, thus mirroring our pride that had been shattered by the internal strife. I couldn't even bring myself to visit the Second Pride sim when I got the news that the main building had also been removed, I knew it would be an ugly sight.

At the last board meeting Jak Calcutt was appointed as interim Build Director to see to it that the sim was ready for a few upcoming events. His workload was of course increased many times when the main building was removed the day after his appointment.

After hearing that Jak had started his work, with help from others when required, I decided to make a visit to the sim today.
I was extremely happy by what I saw. There was a beautiful new main building in place and I could see that work was still being done. While I was there I was lucky enough to be joined by the builder himself. Jak explained to me that due to the urgency a readymade building had been acquired and he was now modifying it for the needs of Second Pride and the nonprofits to see to it that all had roofs over their heads as soon as possible. Additional buildings would come later and in less haste.

I did not know Jak earlier, but while I was listening to him tell me what he was doing and was going to do I felt optimism growing within me again. Much has been lost and destroyed, but we can work on together, regroup and rebuild and start looking towards the future with hope again.
Second Pride will rise again from the shameful depths to which it has been dragged and we will be able to focus on what is important for us and on our goals again. With such pleasant, dedicated and hardworking members as Jak, and many others like him, we simply cannot fail.

I am very proud that I got a new friend today and that my pride is renewed.

Opera in SecondLife

I attended the premiere of an opera at the Theater on the Hill yesterday. The company performed the first act of Richard Wagner's "Die Walküre" with Silvano Korobase, Oliver Elton and Richardson Nootan.

The storyline of the first act (according to Wikipedia) with pictures from yesterdays performance:

"During a raging storm, Siegmund seeks shelter at the house of the warrior Hunding. Hunding is not present, and Siegmund is greeted by Sieglinde, Hunding's unhappy wife. Siegmund tells her that he is fleeing from enemies. After taking a drink of mead, he moves to leave, claiming to be cursed by misfortune. But Sieglinde bids him stay, saying he can bring no misfortune to the "house where ill luck lives".
 Returning, Hunding reluctantly offers Siegmund the hospitality demanded by custom. Sieglinde, increasingly fascinated by the visitor, urges him to tell his tale. Siegmund describes returning home with his father one day to find his mother dead and his twin sister abducted. He then wandered with his father until parting from him as well. One day he found a girl being forced into marriage and fought with the girl's relatives. His weapons were broken and the bride was killed, and he was forced to flee to Hunding's home. Initially Siegmund does not reveal his name, choosing to call himself Wehwalt, 'filled with woe'.
When Siegmund finishes, Hunding reveals that he is one of Siegmund's pursuers. He grants Siegmund a night's stay, but they are to do battle in the morning. Hunding leaves the room with Sieglinde, ignoring his wife's distress. Siegmund laments his misfortune, recalling his father's promise that he would find a sword when he most needed it.
Sieglinde returns, having drugged Hunding's drink to send him into a deep sleep. She reveals that she was forced into a marriage with Hunding. During their wedding feast, an old man appeared and plunged a sword into the trunk of the ash tree in the center of the room, which neither Hunding nor any of his companions could remove. She expresses her longing for the hero who could draw the sword and save her. Siegmund expresses his love for her, which she reciprocates, and as she strives to understand her recognition of him, she realises it is in the echo of her own voice, and reflection of her image, that she already knows him. When he speaks the name of his father, Wälse, she declares that he is Siegmund, and that the Wanderer left the sword for him.
 Siegmund now easily draws the sword forth, and she tells him she is Sieglinde, his twin sister. He names the blade "Nothung" (or needful, for this is the weapon that he needs for his forthcoming fight with Hunding). As the act closes he calls her "bride and sister", and draws her to him with passionate fervour."
It was overall an extremely interesting experience to watch and listen to the performance, although I am not an opera buff myself and cannot tell you who the singers were. Opera is in itself an acquired taste and will, in my humble opinion, most likely prove to be so in SecondLife also.

Those of us at the premiere and sharing the experience with the cast and crew were overwhelmingly enthusiastic, but more so for the effort the company had put into this production than anything else.

You have a chance to catch the performance on Sunday September 22, 2013, at 12:00PM SLT. Your limousine to the opera (SLurl)

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Results of the Poll On My Ass

Recently I asked you, my dear friends and readers, how you would react to my stunning derriere.

The poll concluded after a week and I am now happy to present the results.

Fortytwo responded and of these
25 respondents (59%); proved that they have excellent and impeccable taste while
4 respondents (10%); proved they have no taste at all and
13 respondents (31%); proved that they are jealous as hell of my plump, cute, awesome, perky, fluffy and furry ass.



"Over the Rainbow"


The American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato sings "Over the Rainbow" at BBC's "Last Night of the Proms 2013".

From the WXQR Blog: "Last Night of the Proms Tinged With Themes of Equality" by Brian Wise

"DiDonato has long been identified with the song popularized by Judy Garland, but this will be the first time she has sung it in public since Russia passed anti-gay legislation earlier this year. Writing on her blog, DiDonato said:
'We programmed ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ ages ago, but as the Russian law came into focus and I felt this impending sense of dread wash over me, I knew that I simply had to personally dedicate my performance on Saturday to all of those brave, valorous gay and lesbian souls whose voices are currently being silenced – either by family, friends, or by their government.'
Acknowledging that the Proms has strict rules against political messages, DiDonato said she will not speak from the stage, however.

"It’s not as if she’s doing it in Russia, where the problem is," noted Morrison. "The UK is a pretty tolerant place for gays and everyone else. I think she’s using the global televised audience for this event to make a point. That's fair enough."


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I would like to thank Loan (Loo Berensohn) deeply for her kindness in bringing this performance to my attention. I have never in my life heard the song sung better and the hairs of my whole body stood in salute at the end. This is magnificent and totally incredible!