Last nights charity show to mark the end of The West Of Ireland Festival went well. Things were looking distinctly dodgy 10 mins before the gig as none of the staff were present and the one name I had who was online was not responding. Audience members started to arrive as I squirmed awkwardly at the impending disaster. Then a helpful soul piped up that they could set the stream on the land for me and one hasty soundcheck later we were away and the parcel looked pretty packed from where I was tinkling. Much fun was had and the hosts turned to be very gracious indeed :) And the best thing was the $L5k or that was raised for Project Children; a charity caring for children affected by the troubles in Northern Ireland. A great night and a great cause.

And so today my thoughts turn towards the official opening of the Music Island venue created by Shadowen Silvera. This place is totally lag free and Shadowen has lined up great string of fine musicians to have a day long party to mark the opening. Expect to see Pa Decosta, Hugh Dench, Fable Sinatra and Kim Seiffert along the way. I am on an 2pm SL time. I know this will be the first of many great occasions at Music Island.

While knocking around SL today I was exploring some of the sims dedicated to their builders nationality. Upon arriving at Wonderful Denmark I was immediately accosted by someone asking me if I was going to sing for them. I think I surprised them by saying yes as their exposure to live music has been limited to only a little karaoke through voice chat. Without anyone there to set the media stream we retired to my listening lounge where I played 30 mins or so to some of Denmarks finest. We chatted about the time I worked in a suburb of Copenhagen called Ballerup and how it had been the inspiration for my choice of surname when I first logged on to SL. We had some fun and they said they would be talking to owner of Denmark about getting me to play there. I hope that comes together :)

 

My self imposed exile from SL continues as my partner Janine and I take a theatre trip tonight to see victorian play Hobson's Choice at Bath Theatre Royal. We used to go to the theatre alot so this will be just like the good old days. Meanwhile regarding SL I spotted a competition to find the best singer in SL. My credentials for this are patchy but I think I'll give it a go.

The fact that we live on a former farm and I have been taking medicine for my bad cold are the source of the wildly leftfield title of this post. My break from SL performing is going to stretch until next Monday as I devote time to my family instead of music. Janine's birthday is on Saturday so with babysitters forewarned we are able to have a night at the theatre just like the old days. Those of you who know me know that I have a rapidly expanding family consisting of my eldest son Theo 4, my daughter Raya 2, and twins boys Coby and Addy just 16 weeks old. Spending time with them is a joy of course if a little tiring :)

The recording sessions for Waiting For You are taking a little longer than expected after both Toby and I have been busy with RL work. I am re-recording the piano part today. Vocals may have to hang on a little longer as I recover from a cold.

Yesterday's shows were fun with 2 hours of music and only 1 song featuring in both sets (doo doo doo). Thanks to Lister and Rocky for hosting me. I finished off the night by working later on a new song tentatively entitled "Suffer". Still got work to do on that one but the other newer songs "Incomplete", "Amazing" and "Wildfire" seem to be going down well.

I am having a rest from playing for a few days. Next show is on Monday 29th.

After a night off from playing (watching England's defeat at the hands of South Africa in the rugby union world cup final) I return to SL later today for two shows. In the fuzz of Sunday morning I reflect on the fact that, although I have had a burst of doing two shows in a day lately, this is unusual for me. Firstly I return to The Piano Man Park, home of the massively talented Lister Lameth whose expertly crafted pianos can be seen all over the metaverse. After that I debut at ASD Hollywood hosted by Rocky Merosi. Hope to see you there. 

No.not a bizarre 70's TV show but a day of surprises as I decided to swing by the Merry Pranksters open mic in SL this morning only to find myself roped in as an act did not show up. It was fun and I had a great reception from the folks there who made me feel really welcome. Marieke Cloetens was running it for the first time and did a first class job.

Later that day I returned to one of my old favourites Casablanca run by Mikeytwo Frangili. A great jazz based sim with always a good audience. Throughthesewalls Moody turned up at the start. We had had some informal discussions about her helping me get shows but she really helped by handing out information to the crowd and generally being a great influence on adding value to the gig. We had a chat after the show and it seems there will be more welcome collaboration between us.

Ended the day by noticing that the site had had over 200 hits. This was a bit of a shock and I wonder if this is accurate. Seems crazily high but if it is true then...ummm...wooooo!

I have overdone it. Staying up late and doing a few too many shows have resulted in me feeling pretty rough. If only the timezone for SL could be moved to the eastern side of the states all the interesting stuff that goes on could be scheduled at a better time for europeans and I wouldn't have to stay up until 1am to finish a show (and later allowing for the slow fade of the post gig glow). Nevertheless the opening of my little hangout spot was a great success with 69 guests showing up at some point. Pretty good for a 512 parcel on a mainland sim!!

Once I have recovered my constituion I can turn my mind to some great shows coming up in the second half of October. My monthly spots at Casablanca and Piano Man Park are always fun. Then it is my RL partners birthday on 27th so I have promised to stay off SL for the whole weekend. The only exception I have made is to finish off the West Of Ireland Festival on 29th. The West Of Ireland sim is a charitably run organisation that raises money to give special experiences to children who have had their lives affected by the troubles in Northern Ireland. Although a welcome peace has prevailed the legacy of 30 years of violence has left its mark on the lives of many families with the children who have lost parents, brothers or sisters the most tellingly touched.  

Hi Folks,

Well it is an exciting day for me as I am having the official opening of my own little venue in Second Life, The Djai Skjellerup Listening Lounge. I am going to do a couple of shows there tonight to start things off and I hope that people will consider a place where they would like to hang  out. Hope to see you there later!! The first show is at 12 noon and the second at 4pm (sl time).