and it's up and away in the morning

Neko in SL? Be neko in RL!

And like the concept of building your own steampunk goggles, but don't have the tools to machine lenses out? Neverwas can help with that.

Secret number eight amuses me greatly. I didn't write it; it just tickles me.

Neil Gaiman completed his several-city book tour for The Graveyard Book; you can order copies and listen to the entire book read by Neil himself.

And MMORPG brings us five MMOs that do it differently--and Second Life is on the list.

New World Notes advocates SL mass adoption--I'm not sure, but I think that's part of what the Lindens are trying to do, with (so far) disastrous results.

Now, this is going to be a short mini-entry, just to tell folks I'm still here, because I've been working the last three days on an actual researched article. The horror. Hopefully that'll go out a day or two from now and I can get back to more inconsequencia and temper tantrums.

In the meantime, meet the Poxy Boggards. They advertise themselves as "the drinking group with a singing problem". Mostly heard around various Renaissance Faires, they have a...unique take on folk singing.



An all-male folk group formed in 1994 from various touring comedy acts, game developers, and geeks (one of their members was the CEO behind Hellgate: London, and their music has been heard in at least one of the World of Warcraft expansion sets), they are rowdy and most usually found at the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire, and they are based in Pasadena. There's fourteen members now, though sometimes more on albums--where the extras are credited as "Proxy Boggards". Hee.

The Drink 'Til I Die video reminds me of so many SCA/pagan parties I've been to. Plus--an amusing conceit--the women in the video get more attractive the longer the song--and the drinking--go on.

(And oh yes, the refrain is not safe for work--or sensitive ears.)

Hey Nonny Nonny is another example of their boisterous, irrepressible style--a loving (?) tribute to the prowess of ugly girls in bed. (I'm not kidding, listen to the lyrics!) And they imitate a fair madrigal style on I Wear No Pants--in other languages, even!

They seem to split their time between humor and serious folk singing--and what's more, they're good at both. They currently have six albums to their credit, in addition to touring between various California theatres and the Great Southern Faire.

Bawdy Parts was their first album; Barley Legal their next; Lager than Life started people actually recognizing their name what didn't attend Faire. Liver Let Die was a ten-year retrospective, followed by Whiskey Business, Anchor Management (mostly songs of the sea), and Bitter and Stout. All are available at CDBaby.

If you like lyrics about drinking, sex, girls, intoxication, and decidedly lowbrow comedy; and if you love traditional and improvised folk music played on folk instruments--these are your men. Give them a listen.