TOUR

We started a history tour of SL though we didn't get too far due to Katia was lagging terribly, and we got griefed at one. We used the Destination Guide and "Historical SL Places" and started exploring.

 This is The Cornfield, where bad avatars were sent in early years to "think about their crimes" :D It's 4 sims, nothing but cornfields and bats, circa 2003.

There was a rat knawing on my hand. I'm relaxing on my alt, Micah, tonight. No IMs and nothing but peace, quiet, and rats knawing on my hand. And pumpkins.

 We moved onto Pooley, and Char Linden's office.

Once a remote site where applicants for the first Linden Liaison team were interviewed, curious events caused the island to transform into a rather big foot. This is where we were griefed, though. Some band of 4 morons (probably highschool kids out for school break) were cussing up a storm and being assholes and ended up orbiting us.

Next was Governor Linden's mansion. This is located in Clementina, one of the original sims and was built in 2003 by Stellar Sunshine who is SL's oldest resident. She was born in March 2002. (No idea if she's still around.)

 The build is extremely simple and blocky, looong before sculpties and mesh and actually pretty refreshing. (Not a fan of sculpies)

Unfortunately Katia was lagging too badly to continue. Plus, she is surrounded by relatives in RL. So we head back to Micah's Linden Home instead and luckily the beautiful Bebe also joins us!

Maybe if I remember we will hit the other destination spots on the list.

FLAPJACK

So with my leftover 512 premium, I have decided to go back to a Linden Home, for the heck of it. (Maybe builder's laziness) After ditching about 10 of them for overcrowded locations or other problems (one was completely phantom), I settled on a place in Flap Jack. Nice! Jack's Flap Jack in Flap Jack. Yeah.

Linden Homes are very suburbia, you got about 5-8 options in the various subgroups. So it's up to you to make it something unique, and that's not easy with 117 prims. I go for the tattered urban look, putting up brick walls and subway decoations, blackening the windows from the outside for a little more privacy.

This one's really not bad, good view and no one really looking directly into the house or within 10 feet away. Also, there's a Linden bird that keeps flying right through my living room. Nice. Katia says he needs a name. I'm going to have to add bird shit on the floor, I think.

This model is "Skylight" under the Meadowbrook option. I used to have a quad I liked a lot and moved out of just because of restlessness.

 Turnstiles do not come standard. :)

No room or prims for a kitchen? What's wrong with snack machines and a bar? Hey, the bachelor's dream, right?

Jack's Flap Jack

You can feel free to visit, but always wise to call ahead, unless you have a deep-seeded desire to see me naked.

WAR

LET THEM EAT CALEDON CAKE!

You may, or may not be aware, that the Victorian continent of Caledon has been..well, not seeing eye to eye with Bay City.

Katia and I, from time to time,  might have gotten ourselves involved in this wretched mess. Then again, maybe we're just roleplaying M*A*S*H*.

"Breaking News!
War with Caledon on hold! What? Why? What’s going on? I don’t know. Ok fine." -Ever Dreamscape

BAY CITY POST

BUT THEN TONIGHT.... 

[23:25] Marianne McCann: Caledonian spies!
[23:37] Matthieu Manamiko: Attention: there is a blimp rezzed at the airport
[23:38] Matthieu Manamiko: Rachire Andel and Wrath Constantine are believed to be enemy Caledon spies
[23:38] Matthieu Manamiko: Callidus Waydelich is also a spy
[23:38] Matthieu Manamiko: Be on alert
[23:38] Matthieu Manamiko: i think a submarine has been rezzed

 Our Bay City "visitors" offered cakes and tea. In return, "candy" was offered. Fortunately on this occasion Marianne was able to deftly handle a "visitor" in the Hau Koda airport.The Caledon visitor (who insisted she was not dressed in tartan) was quickly dispatched with "candy." Onlookers, particularly noobs, were somewhat horrified but pitched in to help remove the messes.

Dressed as a militant soldier, complete with a detonator, I subtly demanded ID and harassed people for their FDA certificates. Noobs scattered like rice at a wedding. Outside, in the hanger, I came across this sign left by the intruders. Ha, free cake! Foul play is afoot!

But where was Wrath?? High and low, the radar shows nearby Wrath, but alas, no Wrath can be found. After foolishly running about the tarmac (and painfully crashing 3 times) I finally have the good sense to look UP.

Panic ensued. I quickly raced back into the airport, and informed the tense crowd that there was nothing to worry about and the situation was under control. Sprinting back out onto the tarmac, there is Marianne, already handling the situation with ease. And at this point, I crash again, and finding myself completely incapable of getting past "Loading World", I give up for the night and go AWOL, entrusting Bay City's safety to its fearless leader, Marianne McCann.

DANCING

Katia and I take a night off to go out dancing and listening to Christmas music. Green is her color.

We stay up pretty late for a weeknight, dancing and talking. I wonder sometimes, how many conversations and nights out over the last decade with this lady? Always seems like never enough.

 

"Give me she-wolf style..Rip right through me" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

On a side note I'd love to rip whoever's ass has been giving this fine lady some grief in SL, asking her "How does it feel not to be important to Jack?" WTF. She won't tell me who said it, and they better hope I don't find out. If it was RL, you'd be getting the beating of your life. Since it's virtual, you'd only get the worst I could deliver.

 

You are not just important to me. You are crucial :)

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same. - Unknown Author

REZDAY

Bebe Boyd turns 5 SL years old. Great day when she was "born". We celebrated just a small group of friends--Katia, Arzach, Rubi, Lito, Ashlene, Merrik, Destiny, Genghis at "An Undisclosed Location."

Really nice night except for me being 80% asleep in RL, dang work, and had to log early. Was glad to spend the time with friends though.

Next day Micah and Jack get a make-over. Micah is really out of date. $10,000L later we're partially complete. You have to do this more than once a year, sheesh. I am just out of fashion. Working on it. Here's the results so far.

Getting there!

TROUBLE

I AM UP TO NO GOOD!

 ALL STARS GAME!

Looked on paper like it was going to be close, but a lot of the forwards didn't show for the Jericho Hill Reds, so it was a bit painful of a score 10-0 in favor of TreeSong Blues...moda operandus..

Kiba Rubble finally interjected a basic WTF? and things settled down. I think most folks had fun in spite of the score. Now onto Winter Break!

BEAUTIFUL GIRL!

I mean truly could she be more lovely.

BREATHING

The real world has been pretty nuts for the last 13 months--a lot of loss or change. Health troubles, subsequent job loss, pending home loss. A lot of gains too. More time to think, new job, and pending a new home. Everything will work out. I lived through the year! Hey, it's really an amazing and good thing.

SL has been, in that same time, both a blessing and a curse. I was blessed with Katia, who still puts up with me, somehow; Bebe, who I found by good fortune and took as my sub; hosting the official Winterfest last year; discovering some new interests inside SL; winning the Global Cup in my hockey league. Because of everything coming up this year in real life--focusing on my health and moving into the new home--I'm wanting to do what most folks do when they login. That's relax! I got a few new interests I want to pursue in SL on top of the hockey league, so it's a good time for it. Please forward all complaints to Marjan Tomba! :D I will be taking a season off as Head Honcho and letting a small dedicated group manage things with my assistance only as needed.

I will continue to be behind the scenes but keeping my paws off it, allowing our very capable community to enjoy running things themselves for once. In the meantime..here's Jack..relaxing for a change and taking in the scenery wooooooot!

ADVENTURES

RECENT ADVENTURES

CHAMONIX CITY SCENE

Spent a day decorating Chamonix City for the holidays. It was a lot less work this year. Last year we hosted the official Winterfest, and the place was a madhouse! It was a lot of fun though.

HUB XMAS STYLE

I'm puzzled as to why there is no official Winterfest this year? No Lindens vs Residents snowball fights, etc.  At least the tradition went off with a resounding BANG of success last year to top it all off. I hope they will reconsider doing it again--a lot of people really missed Winterfest this year.

 CLEARY ICE HOCKEY ARENA, XMAS STYLE

Bebe and I got kidnapped outside a theater.We were whisked away to a pretty intimidating room where all hell broke loose (in the form of sexual/group roleplay). Interestingly, all I got was locked in a jail cell and shot in the foot! ;) I want my lawyer!! Lot of fun.

awesome club in the sky of some friends (ok, ex-kidnappers!)

Work going on at the Ravenswood theater. GOHA is hosting a winter production of Sunset Boulevard at Chamonix City.

OFF

I might have too many projects going. But I have a day off (or mostly off) work so I'm catching up on some of them since my beautiful ladies aren't around.

--Schedule prep
--Linking the JH rink (Treesong is getting sold, I have to move the rink! That's a lotta prim, but hell I've moved more.)
--Updated and organized the Rules
--Thought about taking a shower (but haven't yet)

 --Working on finding some good info on the barricade for Les Miserables, to build for my friends at Ravenswood Theater Group.

--Updating rosters, community stuff, and trying to get a jersey made for a new community link. 
--Might even eat at some point.

 JERICHO HILL

BIRTHDAY

My sweet girlfriend Bebe arranged a party for me tonight, for my 7th rezday (SL-ang for birthday!)

 SEVEN years. Wow! I am grateful to Bebe for remembering and making a fuss over it. Even Gunner the stripper was fun.

 I am being held prisoner in my own closet?! :)

CATCH-22

I got walked all over tonight.

Naturally, the ones contributing to this for months probably felt pretty damn good about this manuever. Must be very rewarding to "get one up" on someone who's paying a few grand a year so you can entertain yourself.

Makes me realize I have a long way to go before I really understand how to deal with online drama adequately. Seven years isn't enough. Does anyone, ever?

Well, it's one of those things you just have to let go. Better things are on the horizon.

BAG OF BONES

Bag of...Bones. Or fill in the word of your choice. AMC's Bag of Bones, which was a two-parter, aired last night and tonight.

I have to vent. I know there's some serious problems going on in the world. Famine, rampant disease, corrupt governments, Justin Bieber, riots, mass murders, war and terrorism. But Bag of Bones...ARGH

Some of you might know me as "that hockey guy." But I am weirder than just that. I am a tremendous Stephen King fan since I was a kid and read The Stand. I have all the books. Not just all, but multiple copies of all, in limited boxed sets, rare versions, foreign versions, signed versions, comic book versions, picture book versions. My book collection is insured. I paid an obnoxious sum of money once to see the Rock Bottom Remainders in a charity event just so I could meet him. I've stayed overnight at the real Shining hotel, took the "IT" bus tour in Bangor, Maine (fictionally known as "Derry"), and stayed up with a group one night getting drunk by the foot of the infamous Standpipe. Yes, that exists. I buy Dark Tower limited edition prints for the walls. My house is some weird crossbreed of NHL and bookcases full of King and my wife's animal print shit.

No, I'm not Annie Wilkes' male counterpart, lol. I'm a honest to goodness respectful reader. People who haven't read any of his work, who've just seen the movies, don't get it. I'm not going to defend his work in detail, but the guy makes you fall into it completely. The characters are detailed, deep and believable. The level of detail and realism in the backgrounds and lives of his people makes you absolutely positive you have met them. His subject matter is strange, yes. Here's a guy who churned out an occasional clunker like Dreamcatcher, yes, but he also created The Shawshank Redemption, and once you've read any of them, you never forget the characters and their stories.

Bag of Bones is my second-favorite King novel (only behind the Dark Tower series). The character of Mike Noonan was so extremely well-written that you felt his grief at losing his wife, his frustration at his writers' block, right along with him. Every aspect of the novel was eerie, sad, and frightening. I think I fell in love with Mattie Devore right along with him, and when she was killed, I cried (for real). "When she danced", that whole scene still has the power to make me tear up.

When I heard about the novel being turned into a mini-series, my stomach dropped, but once again I decided to give it a chance.

Mistake. Cheesy. Over- and under- dramatic in all the wrong places. Pierce Brosnan. Funny instead of frightening. Mattie Devore turned into a characterless stick figure. Max Devore and Rogette turned into cartoons. Vapid lines and senseless plot twists. What the HELL was that stupid bath scene with Mattie at the end? I just wasted 4 hours of my life.

I am Jack's wasted life.

By this time in my life, I should know damn well that daring to watch anything "Based on the Novel by Stephen King" means you have about a 90% chance of being disappointed, scornful, disgusted, or a combination of the three. But I can't make myself not watch and see, just in case it's another Stand By Me or Shawshank. Someone please remind me of this post when they decide to come out with the Dark Tower mini-series. Thank you, my vent is complete.

BEBE

My beautiful Bebe.

with her elf ears
I went looking for her one day in March, and there she was on a discreet board in a discreet corner of the grid. "Seeking my Dominant" she was, and just so happened I was seeking her, too.

standing with me at the rink
En sa beauté gît ma mort et ma vie.
égyptien violette
elle es prêt à se soumettre

I love this sweet girl. 

Best sub/lover/friend you could ask for. She is so stuck with me. You poor thing.

BEBE

EXIT

So, yesterday was both a really crappy SL day and, as it turns out, kind of a good one.

I usually spent most of the Sunday in SL catching up on league stuff from the week. Yesterday I log in and get (once again) multiple reports about the behavior of an ex-GOHA Player while I was offline Saturday.

So Sunday morning, here come the day's notecards. Again. Ex-GOHA Player refused to play the position the Blades captain directed, then started verbally harassing the captain, then refused to leave the ice when benched, and actually pushed the captain to the bench. Gerhard Hesse, the captain, is probably one of the nicest people I've met in SL. Ex-GOHA Player starts arguing with the ref, too. Ended up with a 5 minute penalty and then everything rolled over to the next day, and me. 

It always sucks to deal with discipline/behavior issues in SL--managers of any community/business will agree--but I'm the boss, it comes with the territory.  I had already had to give him game penalties, private talks, and conduct warnings. So yesterday morning I have to give him a one week suspension. 

Then the dude seriously tries to trade me off the team for "actions against him" and a forums post I made informing the league that the season would be shortened due to unanimous captain vote. 

What level of stupid do you have to be to make an enemy out of the person that runs a virtual activity you want to be a part of?   

I mean wow, the stench of Stupid.

Anyway, on the positive: The reason I say it turned out to be a good day was this: The level of instant support and agreement from not only the league in general, but particularly my team, was stunning. It really made me feel good. Ex-GOHA Player was a very strong player, and I had some fear the team would be pretty pissed. He also made it seem like other people on the team felt I wasn't having fun or contributing, that I wasn't a worthy player but just "getting a free ride to the cup like in S11". That wasn't no free ride, if someone told him that they are as full of shit as he is. Wonder where he got the idea S11 was a free ride..but that's off topic. Anyway, my team: Instead, they immediately reacted by retracting the trade offer. Ruffian Lane told the team last night we will change nothing but continue to play like we've been playing. The team was kind, made it clear how they really do feel about my skills and team participation. 

League members scoffed at Ex-GOHA Player's group notice and behavior and a lot of them cheered and drew sighs of relief that he's gone. I got private messages left and right of support. So the day ended with sort of a warm and fuzzy feeling after all. Really shows you the depth and community aspect of the league when getting rid of one bad apple, even if it's in a dramatic fashion, brings the rest of the community closer.

To me it's indicative of a strong community. Even when you got those folks who think they can walk all over anyone and everyone, and have no gratitude, sportsmanship, or maturity, there's the other REAL 99% who has all that and more.

HOCKEY

Storm and Ravens get ready to play.

Kiba Rubble and Tammed Ember

Destiny Tremor looks a little stressed about the upcoming game.

Euro, US and Canada flags flying over Blueliner.

Kacey Rossini takes her reffing job seriously.

Ma, look what I made!

A nice close game.

Ashlene McMinnar.

Colby Naxos, seconds before his crease penalty.

VISIT US:

OUTDOOR HOCKEY RINK