Tsunami R.

I got myself a new t-shirt last week. Nothing spectacular about that, granted. I, like many, have an Inventory full of them (even more since some items have been recovered to Lost and Found!). So, what is about this particuliar t-shirt that makes it worth mentioning and why it is so “controversial”, you might ask?

Well, first of all it’s just a great shirt. The colours are striking and the red is what I call a proper red. It’s strong, commands respect and I can see why it would be a perfect hue for a country’s flag. And that, dear readers, is where the controversy bit comes in. You see, this shirt caused a bit of a furor over at “My Second Life on the D-list” blog, where it had been posted.

It seems a certain Sofie was upset that “for some reason there is no problem to wear symbols that belonged to a regime that killed at least twice as many people”. The “twice as many” she refers to being double the Nazi’s toll. This caused a bit of a reaction and not in Sofie’s favour. And what followed was, let’s say, a history lesson for her in the form of a verbal tongue lashing with many comments pointing out her “misguided” views of what the CCCP was and stood for.

Speaking to the designer, Johann Steuben, a couple of days after the article was posted on the D-List blog, he did say that he was surprised at the reaction to his work as he hadn’t intended it to cause a commotion.

I personally have no problem with the shirt, obviously, or the lettering, or the hammer and sickle emblazoned across the front. In fact, I would be amused if anyone were to even make a comment about any perceived connotations the shirts design may hold. I am happy to wear it in-world and would be just as comfortable wearing similar in RL.

But, that’s enough of that. Let’s get back to the t-shirt. For 100L$, you get he following:

• t-shirt - undershirt, shirt, jacket (untucked) layers
• long sleeve t-shirt - undershirt, shirt, jacket (untucked) layers
• tank (or “wife beater” as Jojo tells me they are called) - undershirt, shirt, jacket (untucked) layers

There is also an underpants layer that covers the gap between the waistline and jeans for any of the undershirt & shirt layers.

So, in my opinion, it is not only a fantastic item of clothing but great value too. If you want one you can get one at the designers store in Delphi. Of course, if you are going to buy it, it should be purchased for the right reasons. If it offends you, then don’t. If you think it will offend others, then don’t. If you like it for what it is, then go ahead and enjoy.

And, to all the “Sofie’s” of the world, as much as you are entitled to your opinion, next time try taking a deep breath, and a moment of thought before jumping in with an unfounded tirade that may well offend.

By the way. if anyone has this shirt, there is a FLickr group called the “~ You Did WHAT? - SL Designer Support ~” where you can post pictures. This particular group is to support all designers that have had their work unfairly berated.

For the first time ever, I have a piece of artwork on public display! yay!

I had given it to Brianna Beresford as a gift from Jojo and I, to celebrate her first anniversay of owning her sim, Tranquil. And here it is on display at her art gallery.

The Pumpkin Patch

If you want to see it “live”, here is the SLurl to Tranquil. Have a look around also, as there are other artistic displays and live music several times a week.

In today’s Daily Mail, Tom Rawstorne wrote a column titled: Living a Second Life, a fantasy world awash with sex and porn. An article that portrays Second Life as a pool of virtual sleaze and immorality.

As if taking up the baton from the late Mary Whitehouse, Rawstorne reports that Second Life is no more than a “computer arcade game and a hardcore porn film”. This he ascertains from the fact that he created an account with Linden Labs and from the moment he arrived in-world, where ever he went he was faced with explicit content and avatars indulging in simulated sex.

Tomahawk Tomsen, the SL name Rawstorne chose for himself (/me wonders if Tomahawk is a euphemism), found what he saw as “most worrying” but, of course, felt it necessary to investigate more. Well, he is a reporter, a professional one at that, right?

So, how did it happen that Rawstorne was presented with this offensive material? Did Linden Labs create a special “Orgy Orientation Island” to welcome him and then go on to set his default Home location to, an unheard of, “Adult Ahern”? No, no, no. Rawstorne found the Search button and actively pursued the content.

He claims that he found a whole catalog of sex orientated places in a list of the top ten most popular locations. I would assume from his statement that he is referring to the “Popular Places” tab in the Search window of the Second Life Viewer. But wait a minute, that option was removed months ago and replaced by “Showcase” which isn’t (supposedly) dependant on avatar traffic numbers. And when, today, I look at the list of places under the Showcase tab, I see the top 3 being Stanford University, Princeton and Harvard, respectively. These locations are followed by a whole raft of cultural, artistic, musical and fashionable locations - but no sex.

Rawstorne implies that he created a virtual persona to explore what he sees as “deeply disturbing stuff” and to write his article. However, his reference to “Popular Places” meant that he had been on to the Second Life grid sometime ago and upon checking his in-world profile you will see that he actually registered his alter ego on 30 January 2007. Which means this story was probably just sitting on his hard drive and was dragged out to coincide with the other story the Daily Mail ran today on a woman divorcing her husband because of his antics in Second Life. Or it was perhaps was as Crap Mariner proffers in his post, Signals, that Rawstorne had to quickly put together an article to cover up being caught in Second Life in work hours.

Either way his account of the virtual world has been written purely for sensationalism, is out of date and fails to recognise the diversity of the environment or the residents, It’s akin to creating a headline “London, a city awash with sex and porn” and writing an article focusing on what goes on in SoHo. I am not saying there isnt any pornographic content in SL (anyone can upload an image file) but, in my experience, it is about as prevalent as good governmental decision making.

In the world of public relations, when a spin doctor becomes the story, it’s time to move on. Now that Rawstorne’s story has made him the focus of attention maybe the Daily Mail will use this as an excuse to exit him from Derry Street. As for a new career, perhaps he can either get himself a job with Linden Labs as Anti-porn Linden or get a freelance hack position with a pseudo SL newspaper - they love to post self-serving, badly researched, no value, content free articles.

Oh and by the way Mr. Tom Tomahawk “Look at my Chopper” Tomsen Rawstorne, “transporting” is actually referred to as “teleporting”. It maybe splitting hairs but it further shows your article to be poorly thought through.

Who would like a large North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) that has brownish plumage and a bare wattled head and neck and is widely domesticated for food?*

For those that celebrate Thanksgiving on November 27th (or anyone who just likes turkey!), I am giving away an animated turkey to run around your plot of Second Life land.

Weighing in at 2 prims, this turkey is totally free range and from my observations, doesn’t appear to eat. Speaking of eating, the ol’ bird probably isn’t that edible itself (I find alpha textures kind of stick in my craw), so it’s a good job we don’t need to find sustenance in the virtual world.

Anyways, if you want one of these fine fellas, here is what you do:

1. add a comment on this post, saying “Tsunami Rickenbacker, gimme a turkey!” (with or without the quotes is ok),
2. make sure you add your full SL name either in the name field or somewhere in the comment field.
3. wait to receive said turkey in your Inventory (will send as soon as I can).

And, I’ll make it Transferable so you can always give it away (in case you have an overly “Meleagris gallopavo curious” local fox!)

BTW, if you would rather just buy it, it is available at our Christmas store (forced landing spot, just follow the red arrow) for 50L$.

Til next time… over & out.

*[source: answers.com]