ASD 1 year anniversary show: Sun 9/14 @ 1:30 pm SL

Yes, it's been TOO LONG since I've had a show in SL. The last one being the Music Isle show--which does make for good watching on your iPod, btw.

But whenever I get a chance to perform at ASD Studios, I'm taking it. So mark your calendars, fire up your recording devices and get ready for an hour of SL parodies, audience participation and as much virtual fun as your internet connection can stream.

Drop me an email or IM in-world if you aren't in the group and I'll get you a slurl or TP.

SLCN - Music Arts on the Isle

Always wondered what a Niko Donburi performance was like? Short of logging into Second Life, take a look at this week's episode of JeuL Resistance's Music Arts On the Isle, a weekly videocast from the Second Life Cable Network, where I perform a half hour or so set of SL parodies including the debut performance of Wasting Away the Day (in Second Life), an SL parody of the Buffett classic.

Thanks to all who logged in just for the show. It was good to see you on so late!

It's official: Niko for President

Evidently only viewable with IE. In the words of Liam Serf, guess that makes me a "single platform" candidate:

The Niko Donburi Fan Club

As do most performers in SL, I have a fan club. Members of this group have given me one of their coveted 25 group slots so that they can get notices of my shows. There is no higher compliment in SL than that. To all of you, thank you very much. I truly appreciate it Ace Clellon, Anjali Lebed, Austin Shepherd, Avalon Chevalier, BD Gilmour, Calypso Monentes, Caroline Fierrens, Chrissy Cordeaux, Christina Guffroy, chugabug Goodnight, cinnamon Daniels, Clever Darcy, Diomy Takakura, Douglas Rishmal, Drizael Doobie, Durzle Darkstone, Eeyore Anza, Elseamae Daviau, Elwood Abernathy, Esch Snoats, Ethan Oxbar, Evan Drake, Flameheart Sol, fmires Brun, Friesian Steuben, Fritzees Fizzle, Gando Thurston, Gomem Desoto, Grave Darkstone, Haffa Gaffer, Harmony Patel, Heidi Okelly, Hunter Maltese, Irelyn Christensen, Jaxom Winger, JohnF Munro, Jovana Qinan, jukeboxxx88 Writer, Kaisolin Woonona, Kaklick Martin, Katronix Serf, Kayleigh Cordeaux, Kikoto Takaaki, Kira Finn, Kronos Kirkorian, Kyla Marshall, Kylynn Kemsley, MarkusMatthew Jonesford, Memzie Sideways, Olive Blachere, Penelope Ofeq, Priya Dollinger, Prometheus Windang, Pukk Abel, Radar Masukami, Robin Dale, Rocky Merosi, Sayuri Collas, Serenity Brezoianu, Silver Claymore, Simeon Kondor, Splotch Bloch, Susie Aleixandre, Talia Rosher, Tux DeCuir, Valerian Romeo, Xerses Goff, Yummie Olsen and Zena Karas.

something amazing

My good friend BZ sent this to me. He was pretty amazed by it, as was I.
I modified it slightly to remove the names. The photo on the left is of the flowers he is speaking about....

Dear family and friends...

Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the death of my mother-in-law. She was an amazing person in many ways, and she is greatly missed by all who knew her. I wanted to share with all of you something I believe is a special sign from her that all is well and that she's watching over us.

My wife and I have lived in our house for 17 years, and every year the space on the East side of the house would get overgrown with nasty, thick weeds. This year I was going to get the strongest weed killer I could find and spray that whole area, but for some reason I just haven't made the time to do so.

Two nights ago as I was messing with the grill, trying to get it lit, I happened to look back at the already overgrown weed patch and couldn't believe what I saw.

There in the middle of all that ugliness was a beautiful bunch of daisies!

Again, we've never had anything but ugly weeds back there, and here on this sad anniversary date we were treated to this amazing sight!... By the way, can you all guess what my mother-in-law's favorite flower was?...

(TM)? We don't need no stinkin' (TM)!

Just got an email from Vint Falken notifying me that my new verse for Dear Linden, Dear Linden was chosen to share in the grand prize for the L10,000 Bounty for Best Trademark Parodies with Kanomi's The Tiny Dancing (R) Brand Center. Vint organized the contest in lieu of going on strike, as some other well-known bloggers have done. If I get some time this weekend I'll record the new version and get a link out to all members of the fan club---and post one to Vint's blog as well.

I'd best be transferring that L5,000 before LL gets word of my success... ;-)

Will the fun NEVER end?

In light of the new trademark and copyright issues being enforced by those that run the virtual world "formally known as Second Life" (see Gwyneth Llewelyn's excellent summary of the issue), a new verse for Dear Linden, Dear Linden seemed fitting:


Dear Linden, Dear Linden,
I just don't understand
The new terms of service
About using your brand.
Registered trademarks
And copyright signs,
Must I use them all of the time?
Signed, a blogger

Blogger,Dear blogger
We hear what you say
And at Linden Lab (R)
We don't like things this way
But our lawyers insist
That it must be done
We sincerely hope it won't ruin your fun
Signed, a Linden (TM)

No more calendar :-(

If you haven't noticed, I dumped the web-based calendar system I was using to post gig info. This one was always out of date. Just check my in-world profile for a listing of upcoming shows....

SLUnder the Radar - #26: The Linden

Check out the newest episodes of SL Under the Radar podcast to hear the latest SL parody: The Linden (with all apologies to Kenny Rogers & Company's "The Gambler").

Just a note: all members of the in-world "Niko Donburi Fan Club" received an mp3 download a few weeks ago so log in and sign up!

something sad

Someone sent me this photo, along with a whole bunch of others who are heavily tattooed, pierced, scarred and otherwise voluntarily mangled. This one, however, is the one that caught my attention the most.

What happened to this person during the course of his or her life to cause them to wind up this way? At one time this was a little infant child, helpless and dependent upon the world. Cute and precious beyond anything. And now?

There is much sadness in these eyes. Just look for it. Beyond the piercings, the cuttings, colorings and distortions. Look in his eyes.

something funny

According to the newspaper article, a man named John Beahan sent them this:

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an e-mail to his wife. However, he accidently left out one letter in her e-mail address and, without realizing his error, sent the e-mail.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who had had a heart attack and died. The widow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends.

After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room and saw the computer screen, which read:

TO: My Loving Wife

Subject: I've Arrived

Date: October 16, 2004

I know you are surprised to hear from me.

They have computers here now and you

are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones.

I've just arrived and have been checking in.

I see that everything has been prepared for your

arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!

Hope your jouney is an uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!

So I Married An Avatar.... part 2

Last month Business Week ran an article "So I Married An Avatar" to which I posted a list of the top 10 reasons why a virtual wedding was better than a real life wedding (or something to that effect.) Evidently it wasn't as funny as I thought because it wasn't posted to the comments section NOR did anyone on the SLEducators listserv even comment.

Then, much to my surprise I received an email from one of the editors late one Friday afternoon asking to use my comment in a new section "Featured Readers Comments" and requesting a photograph. Unfortunately I didn't get the email until after the deadline had run, but evidently that didn't matter as a few days later I found myself--er, my virtual self--as one of the Featured Readers. Here's the link.

Contrary to my wife, I am NOT lame. Yeah to Business Week!

Second CD?

Rumors of a second Niko Donburi CD are... TRUE! Yes, I am working on a follow-up to my first CD, Tales from the Grid, which debuted at SLCC2007. While I am not sure if I will be performing live at SLCC2008 in Tampa (check out their new site) in person like last year's Chicago show, I'll certainly be there virtually--if they'll have me!

If you've been to a show in the past few weeks, you've heard some of the new ones: Virtual Stranger, 44 Lines about 22 Lindens, Should I log in or should I go now, The Linden, and most recently, SL Man. I be firing up the recording studio in over the summer and will start circulating demos to my group members so join up if you haven't already.

Meanwhile, I'm soliciting names. Thus far suggestions include: Tales from the Grid 2.0 and More Tales from the Grid.

So I Married an Avatar...

Having just read the article on the Business Week's website ("So I Married an Avatar"), I couldn't help but make a list of

The top 10 "best things" about a Second Life wedding

(10) No rubber chicken dinners;

(9) Virtual wedding gifts are cheap;

(8) The bridesmaid's don't have to worry about looking fat in their bridesmaid's outfits;

(7) If you don't want to attend you can blame it on your internet provider;

(6) If a guest gets drunk and obnoxious you can mute him/her/it;

(5) If the bride spills red wine on her dress it can be removed with a click of the mouse;

(4) no need to invite that aunt you don't like 'cause she ain't got broadband;

(3) you can play solitaire during the speeches;

(2) everyone looks good dancing;


and the #1 "best thing" about a Second Life wedding....




(1) the honeymoon suite is just a click of the mouse away!

Free - Niko Donburi Ringtones!

Found this website via Sonic Bids which allowed me to make some ringtones for you. They're free so you have NO excuse for not having the chorus of Dear Linden, Dear Linden or Escape - the Second Life song ring when your sweetheart calls.

More from Niko Donburi at Myxer

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More from Niko Donburi at Myxer

Black is the Colour

What follows comes from watching too much YouTube. Tuesday evening as I was cleaning the studio I had YouTube up and was running through some of my favorite clips. Two in particular, Johnny Cash's searing rendition of Trent Reznor's Hurt and the Holohan Sister's version of Black is the Colour of My True Love's Hair some how got mashed up in my brain while I was sleeping. The next morning I tuned to DADGAD, a notorious Celtic guitar tuning, and came up with my version called Black is the Colour. A click on the song title should bring you to the song on last.fm.

In case you aren't familiar with the song, it is a traditional Scottish Song which somehow found its way to the Southern Appalachians. It was originally about a woman whose lover had failed to return from sea but I have changed the gender of the narrator given I'm the one singing it. Us guys can mourn too, you know....

(My version) of the lyrics:

Black is the colour of my true love's hair.

Her face is like some rosy fair,

The prettiest face and the neatest hands,

I love the ground whereon she stands.

I love my love and well she knows,

I love the ground whereon she goes,

If you no more on earth I see,

I can't serve you as you have me.

The winter's passed and the leaves are green,

The time is passed that we have seen,

But still I hope the time will come

When you and I shall be as one.

I go to the Clyde* for to mourn and weep,

But satisfied I never could sleep.

I'll write to you a few short lines,

I'll suffer death ten thousand times.

Black is the colour.

_ _ _ _

* In case you were wondering, the Clyde is a "a river of southwest Scotland flowing about 171 km (106 mi) northwest to the Firth of Clyde, an estuary of the North Channel. The river is navigable to Glasgow for oceangoing vessels." See here.

SL Under the Radar Episode #22

Radar was kind enough to chat abit about 44 lines about 22 Lindens in this recent episode which is fitting given that he interviewed Cogsworth Linden. Do yourself a favor and check out one of SL's best podcasters--you know it is good when Crap Mariner is a fan.

A Public Thank You to LL

Over the past year and a half I've admittedly done more than my share of complaining about Second Life and its troubles. Before the year ended, it was my goal to write a song giving "thanks" to all of the Lindens that make Second Life possible. Despite my grumbing and poking fun at you in song, I do appreciate all of your hard work.

At the same time, I got to wondering about who the "Lindens" are, what they do, etc. Thanks to Google, I stumbled upon the Second Life wiki article about Linden Lab employees which yielded enough information for the following creation:

44 Lines about 22 Lindens

Torley is the famous Linden
He's the one that does the blog
Robla works in management
He's just another Linden cog
Meta is the data cruncher
for the common metrics team
Poppy Linden finds the bugs
that cause us residents to scream

Pathfinder sends his snapshots
to his famous Flickr page
Mia rounds up volunteers
who do good work but don't get paid
Chiyo Linden is Japanese
we all call her Chiyo-chan
Colossus works with Jesse
keeping live music going strong

Brad is making Windlight
to turn the weather on and off
Bridie helps to fix the grid
when it starts to hack and cough
Elle is the french Linden
she's the one I'd like to meet
Blue Linden is famous
for the avatars that look so neat

He's also known as Cyan Linden
on the teen grid

Frontier's techy articles
I can never understand
Ginsu made the final call
on who or what got permabanned
Catherine's gift at marketing
helps Linden Lab stay in the press
Steve makes the SL Viewer
so Second Life will looks its best
Phoenix works on open source
for which he gets a lot of grief
Harry's making help search better
that should give us all relief
Cory's Linden Scripting Language
is what our world is based upon
but Philip Linden had the vision
so he's the one that ends this song

Thank you Lindens.
44 lines about 22 Lindens.

something funny

Received via e-mail, original author unknown:

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York City two days before Christmas.

'I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing,' he says. 'Forty-five years is enough.'

'Pop, what are you talking about?' the son screams.

'We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the father says. 'I'm sick of talking about this, soyou call your sister in Chicago and tell her.'

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.

'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts. 'I'll take care of this!'

She calls her parents immediately, and screams at her father, 'You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing!'

The father hangs up his phone and turns to his wife.

'OK,' he says; "the kids are coming for Christmas and paying their own way.'

Open Letter to Readers of ontohollywood

From a post to the Music Dev list, I learned that there is an interest be YouTube performers about coming into SL to perform. I posted the following to the ontohollywood blog and am reposting it here:

As a member of the live music community of Second Life, I'd like to welcome all you readers to come into Second Life and check things out. It's a great place to catch a gig, make some friends or do just about everything that you can imagine.

It is also provides a wonderful opportunity for those of you looking for a place to perform YOUR original music, as long as you keep the following in mind:

(1) Second Life itself is pretty CPU and Graphics card intensive. Adding audio capture and streaming software to the mix will push your system to its limits, not to mention your broadband connection.

(2) Don't expect to learn Second Life AND performing in Second Life in the same day, or even the same week. It is going to take you a while to learn how to get around, communicate, find shows, listen to audio, rez something, search your inventory, buy stuff, etc. You HAVE to learn how to do all of that before you can even be in a position to consider live performing. My advice: get a SL account and spent a few weeks checking out gigs. You'll not only learn how to operate in SL, but you can get an idea of the venues that are available, meet some performers and make a determination as to whether or not SL is for you.

(3) Learning to stream audio is not as simple as "plug-n-play." After you get comfortable in SL and have settled on a virtual instrument to play, head over to one of the open mics that cater to new performers and introduce yourself. They can direct you as to which streaming application you should use and will walk you through the steps of accessing the stream, setting levels, etc. You are going to have to be able to juggle two or three different activities while performing. It's not hard, but does take a while to learn.

(4) Forget making any money in SL, at least at the beginning. No one is going to pay you to play if you don't know what you are doing, are an "unknown" in SL and don't have a following. Play for tips only. It will not only get you more gigs, but it will quickly give you some feedback as to whether or not performing in SL is for you. Think of it as virtual busking.

(5) Contrary to what you may think, SL is not a game to us residents. It is a place. We make friends, enemies, lovers; earn an income and spend a lot of time (and money!). There is a social protocol that is expected to be followed (e.g. use "/" before your typed chat at a gig) and an understood vocabulary. Behind every avatar is another human, some more fragile than others. Yes, there are some assholes in SL. There are also some of the finest people I have ever met. Please be one of the latter, and not the former.

(6) Audiences in SL prefer original music.

Feel free to email me and/or IM me if you make it in-world.

Best of luck,

Niko Donburi - The "Weird Al" of Second Life
www.nikodonburi.com