Thumper Boucher

When I first learned of Live Music in Second Life, there were two artist I never missed there performance –Flamingo Moe and Thumper Boucher. Overtime I got busy and lost track of them.

This week I rediscovered Thumper. My friend, ByteDreams and I attended one of his concerts and I was amazed at how he has grown on the SL music scene. He plays bass, guitar and keyboards. His music ranges from jazz, hip-hop, metal to indie rock. He refers to his style as Future Funk –and that it is!

Thumper/Darrell Phillips is former band member of Sister7 and currently plays with Sauce and DirtyWormz. He wrote, performed, mixed, mastered, and produced his current single, Average American Dad. If you want to find check on show dates, check out his blog at Thumper Boucher/Darrrell Phillips or give a listen to his music at MySpace Darrell Phillips.

What is so refreshing about Thumper is he is versatile and brings his own style to his music –funk! My favorites songs are Heavy, Dreaming in Metaphors and Shed. I love his music and hope you get a chance to check him out.

WyckedCanvas

What’s Hot in SL – Article for Esprit Magazine, April Issue

GLAMSL Magazine Fashion Show

It was an honor to be in the GLAM SL Magazine fashion show. I was proud to be among some of the top models in SL . The designers were LeeZu Baxter Designs, Nicky Ree, Serene Sensations, Artilleri, Ghost, Muism, Cubic Effect, Paper Couture, Maitreya and Cachet. The show was fabulous and lag was a challenge of course. I get such a rush after doing a show. I can’t get enough of modeling :)…. view the video below, you can see me, lol.

The Skin I’m In

Well, here I am, my first day in SL working hard on creating my character. Finally, I am presentable to enter this SL world I heard so much about from friends in TSO (The SimsOnline). Venturing out, I roamed the land. One day, standing clueless as I did so well, this avatar landed in front of me. Wow, what a fine specimen!

I pushed myself into him trying to get a good look. I was drooling under his shadow in awe of his good looks. Then suddenly, he teleports his woman between us and she is impeccable as well. She is very friendly and they both offer me friendship. He instructs her to give me some education and leaves us to girly talk. She is curvaceous and well endowed. She had it all –the hair, the attitude, the booty, curves in all the right places and the dark skin. Man! I was identifying. She tossed me some clothes and a skin called Malibu. We part and I immediately go to work on my body to acquire that well endowed curvaceous body.

Now I am really looking good until I step in a store. Confusion set in. I had a difficult time deciding what would look good on my avie. I couldn’t get past the pencil thin models. They just didn’t look like me. Determined, I shopped till that last right click says no more funds and headed back to give my partner a show. The clothes didn’t look right on me and the colors were wrong. Well, he loves my full curves, but the outfits he hated and he announces my skin was not what it should be –dark. He knows how I angst over the right skin tone and not being pencil thin or too big. He took a photo of me nude. I gasp and he give me this big ass grin. Just like a man! He is bias! I go into a slump, a identify crisis. He listens and sighs. Tirelessly I hit the stores again. I don’t want to be just a clone; I am on a mission to find ME. 2 years later and an inventory full of shapes and skins, I am happy in my body and enjoy dressing it. I have found the middle ground and a nice booty.

I am sure the above is a scenario all too familiar with many first starting out in SL. I have observed avies in various shapes, sizes and skin tones. All are an expression of themselves whether it is fantasy, an imitation of themselves in RL or just the desire to create their own identify. I love it when I see that avie with the thighs, booty has the right amount of curve, full lips with an attitude and dressed to play it all off. I smile and think YOU GO GURL!!

At modeling school Makeda Cole was full of surprises. It wasn’t just that she had a large clothes wardrobe, it was also the way her whole look expressed her mood. She was the first one of us to get a professional gig, the first (as far as I know) to sign with an agency. She’s going places! But in this post, she talks about how she started.

(Skin I’m In is a repost from article I posted on the MODA blog site back in June 2007)

My Trip to Chichen Itza – Article for Esprit Magazine, Feb Issue

People from all over the world voted for what they felt were the top human builds in the world. Titled, the New 7 Wonders of the World, the top builds were announced in July 2007. One of the New 7 Wonders of the World is here in SL, the Chichen Itza Pyramid, on the Visit Mexico sim.

Interested, I decided to travel to the Visit Mexico sim to take a look for myself. I arrive on the plaza to a breathtaking view of the El Castillo Pyramid. The build is a project of the Mexican Tourism Board and built by Valiant Strangelove and Lester Nefarious of Advanced Virtual, a SL development team. The actual ruins were built by Selena Gateaux. To add a sense of what it was like the builders included structures such as the typical Mayan home, sweat lodges, waterfall and dense greenery. I recommend climbing the 91 steps up El Castillo to get a panoramic view of what was once a thriving commercial center of ancient Mayan civilization. At the base of El Castillo is a door where you will find a smaller pyramid housing the Red Jaguar Throne and Chaac Mool.

Next to El Castillo is the Temple of the Warriors with columns symbolizing warriors; the ceremonial marketplace that sells pottery, rugs, jewelry and art; and the Cenote. A must see is the Virtual Equinox where a serpent shadow is cast down the steps of the great pyramid El Castillo. The Virtual Equinox which runs daily from 5-8pm SLT.

If you are adventurous and love exploring SL, Chichen Iza is one place to add to your list. I spoke with visitors and they all expressed the same thing: they return because they have either researched more about the ruins and want to take another look or enjoy the tranquility of the build. I recommend looking at the reading material in the vendors to get more information about what you are looking at and watch the Chichen Itza in Second Life video at the estate on the beach.

More builds are in the works by this development team and I can’t wait to view them. I welcome the concept of bringing culture and diversity to SL and I hope this build is around a long time for everyone to see. Perhaps it will spark interest and people will make a RL pilgrimage to Chichen Itza to experience its beauty.

I want to thank Valiant Strangelove for meeting with me briefly to give me insight to their goal to bring culture and diversity to SL and Cosmos52 Taurog for giving me a guided tour and historical background of this ancient Mayan culture.

Reggae at its best!

IRIE VIBES IS SIMPLY THE BEST

For entertainment, I like to attend the Live Music events.  This particular night there wasn’t much happening –at least to make me want to’ stick around.  So, checking out events closer I decided to check out Irie Vibes.  I was pleasantly surprised and a venue I did not know existed in SL –Reggae.  DJ Doc Marcus did his thing spinning hot mixes and getting involved with the crowd.  I am glad I attended.  It was wonderful to see the dread heads and everyone was friendly and laidback.

Here is what is said about Irie Vibes:  Irie Vibes is simply the best and most popular reggae resort in SL. Exclusive ‘Irie Rockers Radio’ stream playing 24/7 Reggae, Lovers, Dancehall, Ragga, Soca and Roots Rock Reggae. Live DJ’s.  ome wine’ n grine’, jump up or cool down, dance, chill , swim, smoke and drink at Irie Vibes, the coolest outdoor and waterside venue in SL. All day and all night Reggae music.

Well it lives up to it’s description.  It is a modest club built on the beach.  It is a prime example of not needing to built texture elaborate clubs but play the best music, supply the energy and people will come.  There is also an outdoor mall where you will find everything Rasta. If it’s dreads you want it’s there, Black skins, Rasta T-Shirts, beanies, posters, sweatbands, jewelry, tats, ganja, the bong of course, animations as well as freebies.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Irie Vibes and recommend anyone who is interested in Reggae or like myself limited to a few commercial tunes but want to hear the real stuff –go check Irie Vibes. Get your Reggae on at Irie Vibe!  

KINGSTON TOWN IS REBORN

Having been energized by my visit to Irie Vibe, I decided to check out another place called Kingston Town.  There I was greeted by and delighted to meet two lovelies, Cleopatra Bingyi and Angelique DuCasse.  They were very friendly and eager to share.  Cleopatra gave a warm shout out to Irie Vibes where she started out a year ago.  Kingston Town is about a week old and plans are being made to connect with the rest of the community to promote unity and love.  I am impressed.  Isn’t that what SL allows us to do? –connect with like minds and taking it universal through group effort.  It is sweet build with romantic areas to relax and dance floors.  There is also a teleporter to other clubs in SL.  The Kingston Town group is also committed to the Warchild, a charity for children that are victims of war.  I have to bow down to their concept and wish them great success.  I hope to return their often for great music, good people and a good time.

It feels good finding unknown places in SL and meeting people doing their thing.  I have only begun to tap into what SL has to offer.  I suggest exploring SL and finding out what others are doing, break out of the ordinary and think about connecting global. 

I hope add a list of more Reggae spots for those interested.  If you are reading this, IM me in game or note in comments the clubs you recommend and I will add to the list below. 

If you want to listen to Reggae on your computer, click here for Burning Rockers and the crew playing for you in SL–listen and enjoy. 

REGGAE CLUBS:  Irie Vibes, Kingston Town, Tenchtown, United Rastifarians

 <Peace>  

Another Great Weekend for Charities

Lately I haven’t had anything exciting to write about, but this weekend I took part in an exciting show with FACES. To celebrate the re-opening of the GLAM sim, I participated in a fashion showcase benefiting the SOS Children’s Village of Africa orphans with all donations going to children with HIV/AIDS. Participating designers were: Artilleri, Chez Fine Clothing, Insolence, Leezu Baxter Designs, Maitreya, MG Fashions, MM Skins, Nicky Ree, Serene Sensations, Surf Co., Truth and Veschi. The African skins worn are from MM Skins. Click here to see slideshow and glimpse of the fabulous setting. Everyone did a great job and it was a thrill to participate.

In addition, on Sunday MODA. We had an exciting evening modeling fashions which were auctioned off and proceeds went to Toys for Tots. The audience was generous and everyone had a great time in trying to outbid each other. Some outfits went for as much as 3000L and for a worthy cause too. Events were all weekend featuring various entertainers and over 500,000L was raised. MODA raised over 56,000L in the auction.

2nd Place in Art Contest

One of my favorite things to do in SL is entering art contests. I received 2nd Place for the piece above on the topic City Streets. The one below was an alternate entry. Every few weeks Osprey Therain has a SL art contest and awards cash prizes. The themes are always fun and you’re able to give a loose interpretation and be creative. Snapshots as well as manipulated ones are welcome. I love her contests. It’s a chance to display your work, meet other artist and see what others are doing.  If you are interested, Osprey posts the latest contest and information at her photography studio in Grignano or you can join her group “Photography Studio at Grignano” for notifications. You can also view her website Second Life Art New.

I selected NYC sim for my entries. The tall buildings in NYC are very interesting and the textures photo nicely. They are composite of different area of the sims. The piece below, I was intrigued with the graffiti wall and took lots of snapshots hoping to produce something. I am not 100% satisified with this one and may do more with it in the future.

You can see some of my artwork Cole Photography and Art Gallery. If I am around, don’t hesitate to say hello.

12Avatar Contest

First here is link to winners of the 12Avatar Calendar Contest.  Those who entered the contest were told the following: “ Be part of the premier printed calendar of Second Life’s hottest avatars! We’re looking for Second Life’s most stunning women to showcase the heights of virtual world beauty and fashion…..”  Instead the winners are not the most stunning or the hottest avatars in SL but happen to be the most influential women in Second Life.  These women have achieved alot and we all have benefited from their talents and having them on a calendar sold RL would be a big plus for Second Life.  However, the promoter of the contest was disingenous in his selections and didn’t follow his own rules.  There were 600 or more entrants whose time was wasted.  The buzz is that this contest was a scam like all the others. What’s your thoughts?