Am I good or what?

The answer is: Or what!

I am sitting here this morning reflecting on what should have been the perfect evening in SL. Mind you it doesn't help that I have a headache, but I am left feeling slightly uneasy. I hadn't done a DJ gig in six weeks due to RL issues, so this was somewhat of a comeback-event. Maybe I was feeling slightly too cocky, or maybe six weeks is simply not long enough to be away, who knows... But the gig surely wasn't the material that makes say, Elvis's Las Vegas TV special.

First of all, it was a Halloween themed event. I picked a costume that was ultra-cool. To look at that is... I had hardly any control over my movement, so that left me with a serious lack of control of the room. The lag last night didn't help, but as an MC I need to be able to "pan" to see who is coming and going. I was in a blind spot! I had the distinct feeling that my song selection was way off. Sure people liked the music, but to me... It didn't seem to flow as nicely as I had hoped. I am gonna let the cat out the bag, the genie out of the bottle... I think that I have awesome timing. My announcements are always perfectly timed to the intro of a song. That is because I practice . I listen to each song, look for cue points, and when I am satisfied that I know the flow of the song I test talking over it. Sometimes I am reciting a grocery list for lack of anything useful to say but the point is that my speech should end right before one of those cue points. My sister Emy heard me do it last night before the show when we had an impromptu dress-rehearsal.

I had never used Rockwell's "Somebody's watching me" (which is one of those Halloween only songs) but in rehearsal I aced it at the first try. Not so during the gig. I crashed that intro completely! As I did with many others... I don't know what was up with me... Maybe being away for six weeks killed my skills?

Normally on Thursday's at Linri's I have no event's following me. I am it! The last event of the day, the head-liner if you will. I always jokingly call BBall's show my "warm-up act" Unbeknownst to me, yesterday there was an event scheduled following me... OOPS! I had selected a play-list that was slightly longer than my allotted two hour slot. I found myself having to cut songs from my set-list. I don't think I made the right choices. All in all, I was less than impressed with myself last night.

And people think that all DJ'ing is, is playing a tune and talking in between. Damn this is hard work!

About (virtual) money...

Unlike my RL, in SL I am pretty well to do... I never have to scramble to pay my rent and buy 500/1000 L$ outfits on a whim. If I did that in the real world, well lets just say I'd be walking everywhere... As long as I have a good internet connection, I can run a pretty successful business playing music (some call that DJ-ing) and it actually pays my bills. Now, mind you, even the biggest house in SL costs less than a case of beer RL.

I just teleported away from a very dissatisfying negotiation about a fee for doing a two hour gig. Mostly I play music in SL for fun... Having said that, there is cost associated with doing so, not to mention the time involvement. I ask a minimum of 500 L$ for two hours. In the real world, that doesn't even buy me a pack of cigarettes. If Walmart could get away with paying their cashiers like that the American economy would be even worse than it is now!

Still there are club owners in SL not willing to commit to beer money. I just had a conversation with one... Their argument is that they provide me a venue to perform at and access to their "clientele". I am putting the word clientele in quote marks here, because the notion is ludicrous!

Let's face it... What is a club in SL? It's a place for people to talk to other people. So it' a chat room? No wait this chat room has decor! Ah! It's a chat room while staring at a painting? Close, but... They play music in a club! So it's a chat room while staring at a painting amidst listening to the radio? BINGO!! In an SL club you can't even get drunk! Now don't get me wrong, the social aspect of these clubs is priceless. But having me spend two hours out of my day to entertain your guests without compensation, sorry that's not flying with me. Why not you ask? Let me explain!

As I said, your club is nothing but a chat room. A chat room with trees, but still... Are your guests really your guests, or are they there because you are throwing on an event? One that I am at the epicenter of. I can easily argue that most clubs are utterly and completely dead until a performer shows up. Go to any club, do it right now, where no performer is scheduled and tell me what you find... So is the club in business because I am there? Or am I in business because the club is there??

Like George Carlin said "A house is place to put your stuff while you are out looking for more stuff". If you own a club, and you keep paying the rent (or the tier, as the case may be) that club will remain. What you own is a building. A virtual one at that! People will not come to your shack unless you do something special. That something special is me...

Your patrons are there to see/hear the show, not to stand around in a nicely feng shui-ed virtual hangar. So having those patrons pay the performer... NO!!

If you tell me that most performers make 750 (plus) Lindens in tips and I ask you to back that up by a guarantee... Ask you to pay the difference if your "clientele" somehow do not tip me as expected... If you are unwilling to do so, all I can say is... You are bluffing! In other parts of the world we call that "liar liar pants on fire". All you have to do as a club owner is, put me on your calendar and maybe advertise me on the SL event list, a time investment of all but 15 minutes. On the other hand I am expected to entertain your chat room buddies for 2 (plus) hours.

Bottom line: You don't pay, I don't play!

Bye Goblins...

It came to my attention that to some my Halloween rags should have stayed a surprise. I didn't think anyone was reading this (then why do I write here huh?) but it came to my attention that my selection for Halloween outfits already made the rounds thru' my limited circle in the Metaverse.

So the cat is out the bag, the upside... yes there is one...

Now you can prepare to match!

Hi Goblins!

Ready for showtime? After a much too long hiatus, I am preparing for my return. And since my comeback show will be during the week of Halloween, I had to go look for a costume! Well, a previous SNAFU (making my legs disappear) in SL, inspired me to go hunt for... something. As it turns out I am not the only lunatic that thought of it. Found a cheap thingie that was just what "the doctor ordered". (Yes, pun intended)

Look at the photograph. This is as close as having my head on a platter (just in case you virtually hate me) as you'll ever get.