Week 3 - Trick or Treat

So there was me thinking Halloween would be some kind of a big deal in SL.  One of Min's good friends had been astonishingly kind enough (on first meeting me mind you) to present me with an awesome "costume" which I could wear so, for a change, I might actually look half decent compared to the still uber-noobish look I was otherwise sporting.  What I hadn't accounted for was that the AAI crowd are mostly Brits and we don't really do Halloween on quite the same scale.  As a result, it was pretty much business as usual at the club that Sunday night with Thom spinning the tunes and Pixie somewhat undermining the evil malevolence of my costume by......well, see for yourself!  I get no respect I tells ya!

As you may have guessed, much of my time in SL is still being spent with the great people and great tunes at AAI but the kindly and warm hearted Pixie Arcana took pity on me this last week and decided to expand my horizons (not like that you filthy minded people) by showing me around some other SL sights and sims.  She owed me for pulling that stunt with my Halloween costume mind you, so it was the least she could do.  Not to mention she blew the cover on this blog so people might actually read it!

So it was that I got a guided tour of the rather fine Penny Lane sim, home of the Moonletters.com folks.  I'd certainly recommend that you stop by for a visit but if you see either Pixie or myself anywhere nearby on a scooter its probably advisable to seek cover immediately since our control of the vehicles is erratic at best.

Particularly impressive was the Moonletters Theatre, a virtual cinema where I was treated to a screening of a great little short called "Validation".  Do yourself a favour and go take a look, its something of a little gem (much like Pixie herself).  

I was also introduced to the Global Online Hockey Association (GOHA) after happening to mention that, as a Brit, I can rarely get a decent fix of ice hockey back in RL - I suspect watching The Mighty Ducks on DVD doesn't count.  Turns out there's a Second Life hockey league so I'll be looking to take in a game at some point which I'm very much looking forward to.  I also tried my hand at shooting some pucks on the virtual ice myself and, although I clearly sucked, I wasn't quite as bad as I might have feared.  In fact I was so busy scoring on that poor goalie that I forgot to even take any pics.  It's all in the hips yknow ;)

So I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to a great DJ, a fantastic tour guide, half-decent goalie and just generally a pretty awesome friend to have here in SL.  Ladies and Gentlemen, please give it up for Ms Pixie Arcana (I did warn you I was gonna be unspeakably nice about you this week Pix!)

Back in the world of AAI, I was delighted to be able to invite Min and her chums from the Jewell Theater to experience the awesomeness and borderline chaos that is Wednesday night there (great double set from the aforementioned Pixie Arcana and Graz Firecaster, not to be missed!).  As a noob, the introductions to new people and new experiences have of course tended to flow the other way since everyone invariably knows way more than me.  It was therefore a rare treat indeed to be responsible for somebody else's first taste of AAI, knowing that the guys and gals would be just as welcoming as they had been for me.  Sure enough Min had a fantastic time as we all danced the evening away to Graz's finest selections and I got to bask in that warm glow which comes with knowing you've done a nice thing.  As an added bonus, and as some indication of the type of thing which passes for normal behaviour at AAI, I got to pretend to be in a band with the lovely Josie "Guitar Hero" Ceriano and Colin "better than Ringo" the Camel.  Ah, I always did just want to be a rockstar!

AAI - Awesomeness And Insanity!