Seven Nights, Seven Clubs - Starfall

The second in my series of "Seven Nights, Seven Clubs" features a place that's dear to my heart, for several reasons.  I got my start as a SecondLife DJ there, and, uncommon in SL, this club was a true product of "community," forged by a group of like-minded individuals who suddenly found their favorite dancing and socializing venue closing down, and decided to build their own.

Starfall 3.0, The Refuge of Awesome, today

The place?  It's "Starfall", now celebrating nearly four years of existence, and going strong, despite humble roots and a spontaneous "birth" from an unfortunate circumstance.


Some will remember "The Wharf", a venue operated by Finnegan Chesnikov and Chester Howley, several years ago, and which became popular almost overnight, with a crowd of cantankerous "regulars" who made our hours of dancing and conversation a real treat, with events often evolving into pure fun, like running popgun battles and silly avatar distortions and clowning-around of the first order.  Go AFK in this crowd, and you usually found yourself returning to an avatar 20 meters underwater, pushed offshore by the pranksters who'd let no opportunity for such mischief go unattended.

When the Wharf was suddenly closed, this little group of alternative music fans and creative minds were adrift, and promptly decided, practically within an afternoon, to "roll our own" club, and continue our gatherings in a venue of our very own.

The usual questions ensued.   Where do we go?  This was quickly solved by the donation of a bit of land from Koen Whitfield, longtime "kliraton" sim owner and operator of "Camerade", a beautifully crafted Neko-centric sim and shopping venue.   What do we call it?  Well, that came about in a funny and interesting way.

My memory of "the day" of Starfall's creation is scrambled... it was a mad, two-day rush, with Kyne Tigerpaw and myself and a relatively new resident and budding DJ, Merrick Ying, as the key "builders" in the effort, Kyne constructing the main structure of the build, and myself and Merrick Ying adding many decorative textures, plants and trees, and a water-feature consisting of a waterfall into a pool, with stars afloat in the moving water.

Springtime at the Parish

After months of being extremely busy, I suddenly found myself with nothing to do last night. I stared at the almost finished issue of Blithe SL Magazine, wandered around kicking a few stones, and pestered a few friends with cries of "I'M BOOOOORRRED!" Finally, it dawned on me: I hadn't fully explored Menswear Fashion Week. Excited and ready to do my part to help the Second Life economy, I tped over and wandered the stores. Honestly, if you haven't been to Menswear Fashion Week yet, you need to go. It is full of the best designers for men.

I've been searching for new spring-wear as warmer weather approaches. It's been difficult to find as designers hold on to the winter styles, but at Menswear Fashion Week, I discovered what I'd been looking for.

An open shirt says, "Bring on the sun."

Virtual Venice

My RL summer travel plans include a trip to Venice, so I thought I'd check out its SL counterpart in preparation for the real thing. 

The tiled roofs and golden colouring of the buildings is quite faithful to the original, and it was a pleasure to stroll around the narrow streets, peeking into shops and admiring the hidden plazas. I felt pretty shabby in my jeans and running shoes, so I ducked into a corner of shop to change. It felt more glamorous, more James Bond-ish, to be strolling the Venetian streets in a handsome suit.

The famous Rialto Bridge dominates the main open area, spanning the Grand Canal and connecting the districts of San Palo and San Marco. On one side of it, a row of gondolas lie in wait for visitors' use. While I was there, a French-speaking family arrived to take a trip in one.

I expected that a member of the party would have to row the craft but then noticed a board near where they were docked that allowed travellers to summon a staff member to serve as a gondolier. In RL, the profession of gondolier is strictly regulated and requires broad knowledge of Venetian history and landmarks, in addition to the skill required to the handle the vessel. I'm not sure if there's a uniform requirement, but if there is, SL Venice seems not to have adopted it.

 I spent some time lingering by the docks, watching the visitors come and go. The French family, rowed by their diminutive gondolier, toured the city and returned to the starting point. A self-proclaimed "SL & RL" master, clad in black leather from head to toe, passed through, as did a lady in an evening gown, who dashed about with her long skirts swirling, looking every bit like Cinderella racing to get home before her coach turned back into a pumpkin. I had a bit of a laugh as I looked forward to my RL trip, imagining myself strolling along the canal people-watching in the same way but without the ability to right-click and view a helpful profile.

Even if you don't have plans to visit the original, stop by Venice in SL. Wear a suit. Take your sweetheart. If you're adventurous, summon a gondolier - just don't expect him to be wearing a striped shirt. Or to be a him.


Find Venice in SL. 

Blithe SL Magazine Launch Party

We've been working hard to bring you the highest quality publication for gay men in Second Life and are finally ready to share the fruits of our labor with you. Our commitment to excellence and style ensures that our magazine will be enjoyable to read. You are invited to join us at the new Boots Beach for Blithe SL Magazine's launch party on April 1st from 5-7 PM SLT. We'll have a sploder, great music, prizes, and fun as we release our project to the grid. We're looking forward to seeing you there.

Seven Nights, Seven Clubs - PluggedIn2

In this series I'll be discussing, photographing, and visiting seven SL club venues, and presenting here a few snapshots and discussions of those events.  Those who know me, know that I'm a pub-crawler of the first order, and try to make it to every new club or event in SL's active and vibrant gay community, to see and be seen at the hottest and most active party locations available.  I try to tip well, support the venues when I can, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to blog about, IMHO, the best of the best that's "out there".

PluggedIn2's amazing sky platform

Kharissa rockin' the wash tub!

On Saturday night, March 24, 2012, I once again joined the "late set" of clubbers at Xade Undamann and Kharissa Indigo's "PluggedIn2" at Gay Riviera, a late-night (10pm - 1am, SLT) event that's run for several weeks now, each time an ingenious "theme" applied, open to broad interpretation and providing an opportunity for inventive costumes and gadgets to be worn in competition for a Linden prize. Situated in the skies over Gay Riviera sim, the most striking feature of this venue is the club build, itself. I contacted Xade to get some photos of his build, and was stunned to find out that Kharissa and Xade build these fantastic creations to theme, each week, and only rezz them onsite the day of the event, a rather ingenious use of resources that makes the quality of the builds just that much more respectable.  Here's an image of the March 24th "Rubber Ducky" version of the build.  The week prior, the theme was "Pink Elephants", and every week a different theme results in yet another amazing build and expression of the decorative talents of Kharissa and Xade, who've come up with an amazing late-night venue to enjoy.

 Xade's inimitable DJ stylings, his "hard style" electronica, house, and dance music selections, along with Kharissa's well-known talents for hosting, welcoming, and chatting up the crowd, make PluggedIn2 a welcome refuge on a late Saturday night.  Indeed, the events tend to begin with sparse attendance, the club filling with more and more residents as the late hours progress and other venues come to an end.  Typically by 11pm the dance floor's packed with some of the SL gay community's hottest and "danciest", cavorting among the stunning decorations and lights.  The theme of "Rubber Ducky" found us cavorting in a

Xade duckin' it up!

huge puddle of Xade's self-crafted "low lag foam", a nice departure from typical foam parties, with avatars still visible, rather than covered to the chest level in textures.

Rubber Duckies of yellow and blue, bars of soap, and bubbles everywhere,  and naked and semi-naked beauties cavorting in outfits of bubbles, shoulder-pet rubber ducks, or whatever expression of "bath time" seemed like fun for them.

Mmm, scrub-a-dub!  Guess who?

The foam was thick, the guests were heating it up with hot outfits of soap bubbles and not a whole lot more... naked, slick bodies whirling beneath the lights, the pounding beats, all the elements of a great Saturday night party, with the added fun of a contest for best in theme, frequently loaded 'sploder, and great conversation, humor, and pure hedonistic fun.  If you've not made this a Saturday night destination, you've missed some really rockin' parties, and I suggest an extra cup of coffee and a late-night stop at Gay Riviera for this event!

Menswear Fashion Week 2012

All the best for men, all in one place? It's true. Stop by the Menswear Fashion Week sim and rest assured that every store you enter will cater to your male styling needs. Anything a man needs to fill his inventory has been gathered to make shopping a dream.

In addition to shopping, Menswear Fashion Week offers a variety of runway shows, demonstrating the designs of talented creators across the grid. Earlier, Aleida's runway show displayed the new male releases of a talented designer who has been creating gorgeous feminine fashion since 2009.

Aleida's designs brighten up the runway.

Orange isn't really a color that appeals to my fashion sensibilities, but the sexy Edmilson Blazer in orange by Aleida challenges my preconceptions; not only can orange be worn well, it's sexy.

Tourism in SL

I love when people use the tools of SL to create fantastical and otherworldly creations that could never exist in RL, but I love it just a little bit more when someone re-creates something from RL in SL. I found the SL Eiffel Tower to be as lovely and romantic as its RL counterpart, and I followed the same path out of the train station in RL Amsterdam when I was there as I had in SL Amsterdam. I really enjoy being able to (virtually) visit a site I may never have the chance to see in RL. So it was with real pleasure that I discovered the Terracotta Warrior Army of Xi'an, China.


The Terracotta Warrior Army is "a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China." This UNESCO World Heritage site has thousands of warriors, generals, and horses, standing in formation in excavated pits. The site has been produced in SL on a slightly smaller scale by Pravda Core with impressive detail and is well worth visiting.


The entrance to the subterranean site is a simple dip into the ground, not unlike the entrance to a mine shaft. 

The opening to the Terracotta Warriors Army exhibit doesn't reveal much about what's to come.