New Year, and Anniversary Reflections

I was amazed this week when I realized I had been DJing one year as of January 13th.

They say that "Time Flies When You're Having Fun." That seems to be very true. It hardly seems possible that I started spinning tunes at the Wharf last year, and it has been a full year plus, now. I've probably done 130 sets - I'll have to go back and count to verify, just for my own knowledge - but its not so much how many, or how long, but whether people enjoy what I'm doing, and as importantly, do I still enjoy it.

My friend Kaj has been DJing for I about 2 1/2 years, and I remember an interview he did for VR Style. To make a long story short, he said he still loved DJing. I reflected on that as the realization hit me this past week. And I came to the conclusion that like my friend, I enjoy DJing. Sure it can be hectic coming up with a playlist on the spur of the moment, or you can get frustrated with technical problems like a hard drive crash, or a misbehaving stream. But thankfully those problems have been few and far between.

I hope I keep an interesting combination of various tunes playing to entertain people. I think I do. But something else seems to have come to me as well during this past year that means as much to me on a very personal level.

This past year has helped me sort of re-connect with something I love, rock music (in all the glorious sub-categories that I really enjoy). Its helped me reclaim a part of my life that had been lacking in the daily RL grind, and inject it back into the forefront of my life. That has been a most excellent experience. I found and breathed new life into a part of me that needed that attention. I have Finnegan to thank for giving me a chance to DJ at The Wharf, back on January 13th, 2009 (the first set where I streamed for a crowd). While DJing itself maybe wasn't stopping me from connecting to music, it certainly has been a catalyst to keeping me active in being involved in music as much for my benefit as those that listen to what I like to play.

A big thanks goes out to all the people that have supported/enjoyed/encouraged me along the way as well. I wouldn 't necessarily *want* to DJ if I didn't have people at my sets.

Special thanks to Kev Darkfold for being at the "Graveyard Shift" at the Wharf during my first late Friday sets.

Special Thanks to Kaj for advice, support and friendship over the last year.

And special thanks to Pookie for encouraging me to be a rock and roll star *LAUGH*

I couldn't have done it without my best friend RL either. You know who you are.

Plans are a wonderful thing if you make them

I can't get over how things work out sometimes. Between Friday night and Sunday night, it was a strange and cool journey - really, you just don't know how things will work out. I'm just going to talk about Friday here.

Friday - I didn't mention to very many people that I was home sick on Friday - I won't get into the sordid details, but suffice it to say I was not at my best. In fact, I spent a good portion of my time in bed or on the couch watching TV or sleeping. By the time the afternoon came around, it was closing in on time for Esmi's set at the Wharf, and my set was still far off, so I logged on and got to listen to him spin, and mostly just sit back and enjoy the sounds from someone else's play list that I haven't had the opportunity to hear much lately.

Finn did the heavy lifting as Host, which was fun to watch. And it made me feel better. I think I mentioned in the Wharf blog that at the end of Esmi's set, the crowd started talking about how there wasn't a lot to do, and where could they seek entertainment.. and that's when Esmi and I think Finn gave me a nudge and "suggested" that I start now, and play tunes for everyone. Considering my earlier statement about being ill, I had hardly even started to prep for my set - I had some ideas, but really, I didn't have a lot of idea what I was going to do. But that's never stopped me before. So, I kicked it into high gear, started throwing tunes into the cue, grabbed the stream, and away we went.

I played a lot of requests Friday - and I love doing that, and I love announcing it. Sometimes though I am trying to DL a song for someone, and miss the opening of the song request, because sometimes there's a variable lag between you transmitting it to the stream, and when its actually playing on SL - and that sucks when you're busy and still want to mic an announcement, dedication, or tell someone who requested what.



Something to note - sometimes, its hard to fit requests into your set, if the styles of music (slow, fast, angry, lovey, hard, soft, dance, metal, etc). But in this case, I had a lot of good requests and I picked up on "topical" comments, and moved some songs in as I needed them. I don't think I had more than a half hour's worth of songs ahead of deadly silence at any particular time during the first 2 hours I played. But I will say everyone enjoyed the tunes.
The things I like most about requests - 1) it helps you get to know your audience and what they want to hear, 2) it exposes you to different music 3) Its a danger element because you just don't know sometimes if the song you are putting up is going to be something that fits.
At one point, Esmi and Finn were identical bunnies. It was disturbing. Especially when they started making reference to their ears being semi elongated and such.. I don't know how else to put it, but bunny smex is rather disturbing. I have felt that way since the bunnytube vid on Ches's blog a few weeks back.

Anyway - like clockwork, Malden popped in at the start of the usual Friday 6pm set, and started doing his awesome hosting. And things kept on rolling and picked up steam. We had a great time.

One of the things that happens sometimes is that people start to roll into the Wharf during your set at the end. Now, if you have something planned to do after the end of your set, its great to go ahead and end the set at the usual preset time. But when you have people rolling in, and swelling the crowd, it makes sense to keep going.
And I did that, for another 45 minutes or so.

But eventually, you have to pull the plug. My energy levels started to fade rapidly after 7:30, but I ignored it and kept going for more than an hour, until I started to feel like I did that morning. I realize Mal was very tired, and I should have been more considerate of that.
I consider that a lesson learned on my part, both in consideration and in taking care of myself. Its important to make plans, and sometimes you have to deviate from them, or operate totally by instinct or whatever. But when you do, you leave out important details.

Yeah, Friday was fun, but it felt weird when it ended. But I still love it when a plan comes together.

DJ Night Sunday - and The Wharf

Sunday – I had the honor and privilege of playing during DJ Night at the AquA Lounge. It was unbelievable! A packed house, over 50 avi’s were present at the start, rockin’ out during my hour set.

I was a little nervous at first- I wanted to make sure I put my best foot forward – there was a lot of lag – I had to reset my graphics preferences to a lower setting simply because it was such a packed room – I haven’t seen anything like that since the Mardi Gras party at Ironhorse. Another reason for a bit of nervousness – I have never played with that sort of expectation before. I mean, I play at the Wharf and Migs, and I have a lot of friends there, and its really more relaxed.. but this crowd was mostly all new people, and I guess it was more of a mental thing, wanting to do well. I think I did great, and I think I played a strong set. The crowd seemed to dig my stuff, and I know I had a freakin’ awesome time.

Thanks to my friend Kaj, and to InsyX, Sasch, and all the great staff at Aqua for their support. I had a fantastic time, and I hope I get the honor again.

Later at the Wharf, Fuzzy had his set at 4PM, with me hosting. The crowd was sparse at first, with all the other events going on such as DJ night - but in the end it was a good crowd, and it worked out great.

And then I played my 6PM set at The Wharf, too, right after Fuzzy. It was a little slow for part of it, but things picked up and it was good. Charley and Gage were once again among us after their RL adventures xD I could write a whole post about that, and how I feel so great for them.. But that's more of a private thing, and my oblique references will end here.

Its one of those things - you have good friends in a place that you love. Our friends we consider close like family, and I thank them all for their friendship and support.

Kewl Friday, Bizarre Saturday

It was quite the weekend, from Friday to Sunday night late (for me at least). I had my first Friday without playing at the Wharf in the last 3 months. This was an adjustment for me, as I always felt that I had a decent crowd draw, and did a good warmup for Kaj on Friday nights. Maybe that will change in the future – but for right now, its nice to know that I can sit back on a Friday evening and enjoy just hanging out.
We all speculated about 2 of our dearest friends, and whether they were having the time of their lives, or if they were hating every moment.. We thought it more likely that things were going well, but.. people speculate when there is a lack of current data – and even if there is, they can still view the data through a smoky lens – the opposite of rose colored glasses. I was wishing the best for them – I said I had everything crossed that could be crossed. and I was really hoping the best. Turns out that, yes, things were fantastic for them. I just grinned ear to ear when I heard about it. I’m still grinning about it.

Anyway, Kaj, displaying his usual awesome DJ might, played an awesome set. I was able to spend a lot of time chatting with friends and all the great people that come through the Wharf for the party. As with most parties, this too ended, and it was late, but me and my man went and spent some time, just the two of us. And life was good.

Saturday was strange. I hate it when people don’t get along – and I walked into one of those situations when 2 of my friends were on different wavelengths over a really stupid joke. I mean, Unicorns? Come on. Well, in the end, it did not turn out well. It might have been worse. I just wish there was some way to fix it. But I guess that’s not my place – I’m only elven in a very human sort of way, and when you have strong personalities involved, emotions running high, and personal codes of honor or whatever, then it gets even more complex. I really believe that even best friends can take a joke too far, but there is personal responsibility on both sides, and someone can cry “enough”, before we reach def-con 1. Stupid Unicorns.


Finn found an awesome skybox - its a rabbit warren, and its so awesome! I snapped a quick pic prior to beaming out to go to my set, and I'm glad I did. Kewl, ain't it?

I had good set @ SDC – The house was packed, and the Euro crowd was awesome. Towards the end of the set, the crowd thins out considerably – its 3am in the morning when I finish. Dodgey was there for my entire set – it was a wonderful surprise to see him there.
I hosted for DJ Blaise at the 6PM set at the Wharf. It was quiet at the start But things picked up within a half hour, and we had a good crowd. Blaise did a fantastic set – he’s become one of my favorite DJs, since he plays a lot of the stuff that I love to listen to. I wish I wasn’t playing at the same time he is, so I could go to listen him play at his other venue.

Finn, Sebastiian, and a few others like Dodgeguy, were in rare form, shifting into avis that were hilarious and cute, if not weird and insane. Dodgey make a big splash by becoming The Staypuft Marshmallow Man, from Ghostbuster - Finn mentioned this in his blog entry - and I laughed and had a ball watching the shifting game of avatars that Finn, Sebastiian and some others played. I just stayed my own little ol' elfie self - I might have taken off my glasses - and watched the parade of awesome.

Oh, Chester and MTD1952 Timeless decided to mudwrastle (yes I said wrastle instead of wrestle) with Chester using his super buttonpushing ability to dominate the circle of mud. I think Mikey let Chessy win, but I can't prove that. You can see the mudpit in the middle of the Wharf in one of the pictures.

Wild stuff. Fun stuff. Good memories xD

Busy weekend, strange weekend

I read a blog entry from Finn yesterday - he was asking what can we do to make the Wharf a better place for everyone.

He said it right, the Wharf has had excellent success. We expanded because there seemed to be a demand for what we offer - and slowly became a place that had events going on 6 days a week, with multiple days having many events. Hell, I wound up as a manager (more like a cruise director) because things expanded to the point where this was needed.

However, there has been something of a steady decline in .. attendence, and I hope not interest...

Perhaps this has happened due to a number of issues, and not just one thing.

As I've taken on the Manager role, I am at most of the events. I've taken a hand to try and help troubleshoot problems, and keep the schedule on track.

The DJs and hosts themselves are excellent, and the content of sets has been great.

One of my friends observed that maybe we have too much of a good thing. Too many events running constantly, and the freshness has worn off. Our DJs and Hosts are consistently awesome. But people will seek out the new and different. We have fantastic folks - but we aren't the "new" thing every week.

Other factors that may have influence - "big sploders" or lack of them, like we did in December and January.

We don't do big contests, either - with the exception of the $L5000 Alien costume contest for Abduction.

These activities do draw people, and sometimes they stay.

We don't ask people to blindly TP their friends to the Wharf. Other clubs make it a policy to do so regularly. I personally ignore blind TPs and regularly send a TP request back to the requestor, telling them to come to MY event instead. Of course they don't respond. Many of my friends or aquaintences would be at the events if they weren't already engaged in other things.

I remember what it was like when I was trying to find a good place to hang out & fit in. I think the Wharf is welcoming or inviting - but maybe we need to do a better job at engaging new visitors? As a host or DJ, you just don't have time to pay attention to everyone - but maybe we can find a way to engage new people better?

Right now, Spring Break is rolling across the university/school-going segment of SL's population, and this probably has something to do with attendence. We have a lot of Teen and 20-something patrons that have been absent. It makes me wonder how much this influenced our current state.

So, what is the answer? Need for something different? Spring break? Big sploders vanishing? Not enough PR or personal contact with new visitors?
What is the reason?
I'd say a combo of several of these.

Like Finn, I'm looking for answers, and would appreciate opinions. We do have some actions and ideas to refresh the Wharf - and I'm sure Finn and Chester will roll out some amazing things as we cope, grow, and learn more about the nature of this beast.

Changes, they keep on a-comin'...

One of my favorite times of the week has been Wednesday evenings, hosting for Finn. Not only is he a really good DJ, but he’s a good friend. When you DJ, no matter how much fun you have entertaining people, you still have a pressure and time constraint. Finn has said a few times that its been a struggle for him to align what he wants and needs to do RL with the SL side of things. I know how rough things can get when you run into technical snags, or fall behind and have to rush into your set less prepared (or unprepared) than you would like.

Regardless - Finn did an excellent job with his sets, whether planned or on the fly. I enjoyed the music, and the experience of entertaining a room full of our friends (family) and patrons with him. Since he has now taken himself out of the DJ rotation for the time being, there is a change to my routine that I will adjust to… it seems that’s been the theme now for the last few weeks – Change.
Life is change, I believe the saying goes. I hope that the change for Finn relates to less stress and more fun. Because he’s crazy enough as it is. And if he REALLY goes off the deep end (in relative terms that is) he’ll take a lot of people with him. xD

I hope he’s just taking a break for the time being – and will DJ on occasion as his time and mood suits him.

I managed to get one of my closest and dearest friends to climb down a ladder and step into the footprint that Finn left behind on Wednesday night – Xavier. He’s a semi-reluctant DJ – only because he wasn’t sure if his musical bent was what the Wharfies would like. I told him it would be something different - he would be a success, and the crowd would love him. He has a more gothy/industrial-ly feel to his tunes, and a cool (if somewhat twisted) sense of humor, with a funny personality to match. Also, a heart of gold (figuratively speaking) underlying it all - though he would not admit it. His set went down as a smash hit I think. I stood post as his host (I’m a poet and didn’t know it? Ugh) – and it was different. It wasn’t Finn. But it was something good. I think Xavier had a fantastic (finntastic?) time, and succeeded very well. And I get enormous satisfaction from that. And like life, change happens. And it was good.

By the way, for some reason, the pictures I thought I took of last nights events did not save correctly. So no images for this post. Sowwy!

UPDATE>. DODGEY came through with a picture! So the blog has been updated.

March 1st SUNDAY! Bunnies and the Dancing Chester

Chester was dancing - he must be feeling good...how is that possible?


It was Sunday night.. and it was MY Sunday night.. Things clicked and we all had a blast @ the Wharf. I have to admit I did not prepare my set like I normally do - I did have strong ideas for some of my set, but when I added that up, it was only about an hour, so I dug deeper into my brain, and did some search-surfing in my music inventory, not to mention the regular stream of requests I played tonight - and what came out was one of my best sets yet!
I really appreciated the compliments from Kaj and Finn - and well.. everyone that mentioned they liked the music.

I think the only note that seemed to bother anyone was the final song - Love Shack - Finn and Ches both commented that they were tired of the song. So, I will likely not play that one again while they are around, or.. at all.. for a while.

One thing of note - Chester was seen DANCING on more than one occasion tonight, and I captured one of those times in a picture - Ches is dancing on top of his teleport kiosk.
The other picture I've included was of the gang listening to my set - and Finn was on Fire.. or a earth elemental.. or some damned avatar thingee he loves to swap into.

A special shout out to buster - my awesome host! He was fantastic as always - and I could not focus on requests and the music without his help. He really does a fantastic job - and I like the way he does it.

I did not copy my play list down yes - I will have to go into my SAM history to pull the list, and I'll update the posting later.

Becoming "the Man"

OK, so .. Thursday night, I'm minding my own business, prepping to log and go to bed.. and I get this job offer.
I didn't have to think it over long before I said yes.. what was it .. like 3 minutes, with lag?

I was a bit speechless at first, since .. well.. I was pretty much being offered a job doing what I do anyway - so it was pretty easy to say "sure". But I was rather chuffed that Finn and Ches wanted to have me involved in this way.

I mean, I guess when I see a problem, I sort of try to fix it right then and there, or let someone know who CAN take care of it. I just like to help out, not because I wanted a "reward" (getting promoted is not always a reward..anyone that tells you different is usually selling something, or doesn't want to give you a raise).
Nothing special about what I do, or have done - in my mind. I can give myself credit for helping my friends succeed and to try to smooth out the rough patches where needed - its what friends do for each other.

That Finn and Ches have asked me to step into this role says a couple of things about them -
- They trust me to do right by them and to do right by our family of Wharfies.
- They are paying me for doing what I was already doing - Suckers. xD