I saw a preacher man in cuffs; he'd taken money from the church

[10:59] jxxxxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: it's Christmas dammit
[11:00] jxxxxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: all this happy winter holiday....what does that mean
[11:00] Sxxxxx Sxxxxx: it's WINTER

While accurate, that wasn't the main point. What sir lives-in-a-cowboy-hat meant was that everyone should wish everyone a Merry Christmas, specifically, because to do otherwise was offensive. To Christians, one would suppose, even though in Caledon--and on the wider grid as well--there are members of virtually any faith one can comprehend. I know for certain fact that there are many Jewish residents in the Realm of Roses, many pagan residents--of varying "denominations", though that's not really accurate when speaking of larger paganity--and we have a fair scattering of Latter-Day Saints, of Catholics, of Jehovah's Witnesses, of Muslims, and other faiths less well known. We have atheists in Caledon, and we even have one fellow who staunchly believes in Superman, the risen Son of Krypton.

[11:00] Rxx Sxxxxxxx: We still refer to it as Yule in Scandinavia.
[11:00] jxxxxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: so we don't upset a raghead or two

And this single statement, friends and neighbors, wholly perplexed the Caledonians present, and those listening in from farther away, for a good two hours after it was stated by Mr. my-God-I-lurve-horses.

The official definition of "raghead" for the uninitiated:

rag·head derogatory, pejorative

Term used in derogation of Muslims, Arabs, Sikhs, and other groups who traditionally wear headdress forms such as a turban, keffiyeh or headscarf.

If you've never seen a turban, or keffiyeh, let me provide examples:

(from the random album; Maeed wearing the keffiyeh, as seen on his blog.)

(from the random album; Daler Mehndi, pop bhangra singer from India, in a Sikh turban. Picture originally published by the India Times.)

(from the random album; sales photo of a sumayya scarf, or hijab, taken from Alibaba.com.)

There are also some astounding pictures taken by Eric Lafforgue, renowned international photographer, here and on his site, that depict varying forms of keffiyeh, and headscarves and hijabs in general, on women and men in a multitude of countries.

I would point out, especially in the case of certain Americans who are using it specifically as a designating racial slur, that they almost always are using it to refer (and nearly exclusively) to men. But some do expand it to include anyone who might wear any variant of head covering that they think is anti-Christian, regardless of gender.

In the broadest sense, it is a typical insult of its kind: in one two-syllable word, the speaker both insults and denigrates, with added nuances that imply the "raghead" so discussed is also unintelligent, unwashed, and animalistic in nature, thus "lesser" in all important ways, than the speaker. (What's morbidly amusing for me is that I don't think any Arabic or Muslim country has melted any portion of another country into glass with a nuclear bomb...but Americans have. Yet this term implies broadly that "ragheads" cannot be trusted, partially because of the implied tendencies towards violence. Curious indeed.)

[11:00] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: technically in the [southern] hemisphere its a summer holiday
[11:00] jxxxxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxxd: lolol
[11:02] jxxxxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: well i ain't in Scandinavia...i'm in Texas...so it's Happy Christmas....take that as you will
[11:02] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: Ain't it the third night of Hanakkuh come sundown?
[11:02] Cxxxx Bxxxxxx: eet eez.

The beauty of religion, in this sense, is that some of the dates overlap, and thus, in the most expansive sense, can be "shared", so to speak. Witness:

• Bodhi Day: Generally on 8 December; Buddhist day celebrating the enlightenment achieved by Siddhartha Gautama.
• Yule: also Wintertide, Winter Solstice, Jul, and others; refers to celebrations of varying types to celebrate the longest night of the year. Lights are lit, feasts are held, gifts are exchanged, and, depending on the community, there are other traditions (the Julbock, for instance, who used to bring gifts in many Scandinavian countries).
• Hanukkah: Winter celebration of the victory of the Maccabees over King Antiochus; the eight days that the celebration runs honor each of the eight days that the one-day supply of purified ritual oil lasted, when the Maccabees had captured the Temple and begun to drive out the Greeks.
• Christmas: the celebration at the end of December to honor Christ's birth, exchange gifts, hang lights to stave off darkness, and worship in community.
• Kwanzaa: the (relatively) new celebration of African heritage, designed to honor and support African Americans specifically, their ancestors, and the trials suffered and survived.
• Eid el Adha, the remembrance of the sacrifice: Also known as the "solemn festival", remembering the commandment from Allah to Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, who was spared through Ibrahim's faith, and exchanged for a sheep. Cows, sheep, goats, and even camels are chosen to be sacrificed formally, in holy, consecrated ways, and the animals sacrificed are then thirded: one-third of the meat is kept to feed the sacrificing family; one-third goes to the holy men who have blessed the proceedings, and their families; and the last third is traditionally given to the poor, so that everyone can be fed and cared for.
  
• Festivus: A secular, non-commercial holiday, that regardless, has caught on with many celebrants who felt excluded by the commercial aspects of Christmas as currently celebrated. Festivus features an absolutely undecorated steel pole (for the Festivus pole needs no other decoration), and two main themes: the airing of family grievances (because honesty is a virtue, even when it's a pain in the ass), and feats of strength (the feats of strength traditionally only end when the head of the household has been officially pinned and thus concedes).
• Las Posadas: A nine-day festival in Mexico commemorating Miriam and Ioseph struggling to find lodging, the night of Yeshua's birth.
• Boxing Day: Celebrated in the British Isles, this was an after-Christmas celebration where gifts were given to servants and to the poor, and feasts and celebrations were held with friends and family who did not live in the immediate vicinity. Currently, the day also features horse races, rugby matches, and grand shopping adventures.

There are also other, more "minor" holidays celebrated; I'm sure I'm leaving many off the list.

[11:02] Sxxxxx Sxxxxx: Mr Hxxxxxxxxx, there are people of all faiths in SL - while "winter holiday" is perhaps a bit generic, it IS inclusive - not just the christian Christmas, but also the jewish Chanuka and other seasonal holidays as well
[11:03] Rxx Sxxxxxxx: I dunno. Today is the winter solstice, in a couple of days is the old pagan holiday repurposed by Christians.
[11:03] Cxxxx Bxxxxxx: but it excludes the southern hemisphere ;)
[11:04] jxxxxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: well if they are of diff. faiths...it won't mean anything to them

And this was the second place where many residents in and out of Caledon headtilted. First, did he really mean that everyone should say Merry Christmas over other (one assumes equally heartfelt) wishes, simply because if they're not Christian, then it won't hurt, and second, because Christians are really that touchy?

(Actually, strike that last, I've seen FOX News, some are that touchy.)

And the other point that arose was the seeming inference that if they did not, themselves, celebrate Christmas, then obviously their seasonal celebrations didn't matter, and so they should wish everyone Merry Christmas anyway, because their own faiths were meaningless.

That last one is a very sore point for some, to be sure, but it's also baffling--why would Mr. never-ever-ever-leaving-Texas-because-it's-the-bestest-state-in-the-world want to alienate that many people? Maybe it was just that he really didn't care. Insensitivity, after all, thy name is (in large portion) America...

[11:04] Zxxxxxxx Wxxxxxx: Heck Christmas is a SECULAR holiday. It must be since the US govt observes it, if it were religious in nature then it would run afoul of the Establishment clause of the 1st Ammendment and we would have to deliver mail on Dec 25th

As is known by now, to anyone who adds up the letters given, I don't normally agree with this individual. Therefore, it should come as a great surprise that I absolutely agree with him here, and I never thought about it that way. Because considering the (daily eroding) separation of church and state in the US, were it a religious holiday, the government would be barred from celebrating it. So--while many celebrations privately are held on the same day, in churches and in homes--the day of Christmas, the 25th, at least in America, must no longer have any connection to a religious figure.

There's a mental stunner for you.

[11:04] Sxxxxx Sxxxxx: I generally prefer "seasons greetings" or similar, taking into account the [hemisphere]
[11:04] Yxxxx Bxxxxxxx: Yes it is Day 3 of Hanukkah!
[11:05] jxxxxxxxxx Hxxxxxxxxx: ok......sorry i wished all of you a Happy Christmas.....i won't be doing it again

See, I still don't think Mr. take-my-cowboy-boots-when-I'm-dead-you-varmints really understands. It's not that he offended a wide subsection of Caledon with his ill-considered statements (though he did). And it's not that Caledon as a whole is trying to insist that he be politically correct, whatever that means at this point in time.

It's that his very insistence that everyone wish each other a Merry Christmas, and nothing else, in a clearly multicultural as well as international virtual world, just. Does. Not. Work.

[11:06] Yxxxx Bxxxxxxxxx: Why Mr Hxxxxxxxxx I think that is the beauty of a world of diversity.
[11:06] Rxx Sxxxxxxx: Will we be allowed to wish you a happy new year, or is there some special Christian version of that too?

So I admit, I got curious. I looked him up. His groups, man...Well, here:

• Texas Rangers
• 1st Recon USMC
• ARMOURY WAREHOUSE
• Co. A Texas Rangers
• Corse GP Racing
• FLEET MARINE FORCE
• H********* Ranch
• Hollywood Airport Pilots Assn.
• Independent State of Caledon
• Joyus Living
• Second Skies
• SECONDLIFE RACERS
• Texas 1800's
• The Comancheros
• The road to Deadwood
• WILDER WEST (AIRCRAFT CARRIER)
• ~Amaretto Rance~ Breedables

I get it. You like horses. You like Texas. You love big manly sports of big manliness. You adore the military. Bet you're a Republican RL, too. (And no, nobody jump me for that one--I have Republican friends, I have Republican family, and believe me, you just haven't LIVED until you go home for the holidays with your same-sex spouse to spend it with the folks who proudly voted in DOMA...But I digress: the point being, I understand what Republicans believe, and I can largely support old-style conservative leanings. Where I have a problem is with the current everyone-but-me-sucks-and-needs-to-leave-the-country thinking. Like, I suspect, Mr. Yellow-Rose-of-Texas, here.)

So...other than my personal, abhorrently violent desire to light him on fire and swerve him onto a railcar, to ride off in a merry glow out of Caledon forever, what did he gain by this diatribe early this morning? Really, it depends on whom you ask. For many of us, it made him a figure to watch, and perhaps be wary of further conversations with. Others found him morbidly amusing. Still others were baffled--I had to explain to one genteel lass, for instance, what "raghead" meant as an insult, which is why I'm also defining it here.

I suppose, in the end, there's no accounting for bigotry or intelligence; to be more plain, both the stupid and the religiously deranged can likely figure out enough of how renting on the grid works to rent anywhere. I just personally wish he wasn't renting in Caledon, precisely because we do have such a diverse community, and--until his untimely placement of his pointy-toed boot into his wide-open mouth--for the most part we seem to have hit another peaceful patch where the only arguments are happening at events, in person, over in Caledon chat.

So much for that. Here's to the New Year to come: may 2012 be filled with far less ignorance and religious intolerance. Ramen.

in the half-light, I'll see you in time

There's been more than a few stories on Kotaku recently concerning sexism--some good, some baffling--but this one caused a double-strength arched eyebrow. Mainly because I can't really say there's much difference between a skin-tight organic-metal "armor" bikini on the upper concept art, and then end result of the metal-and-chain bust piece with the bikini-attached-to-silk-strip thong, on the "actual" game shot. (Barring that the color blends are better in the concept art, than in the game costume, at least.)

Then came SL's latest scandal, which is puzzling to say the least. (Though it hasn't been without its up side, to be fair.) I'm still not entirely sure why people are attacking Miss Ohmai: she made a pixel tribute to a vintage fur stole, something that has just not been seen in this form for years, if not decades; so how did she "kill" anything?

(That's a serious question--for all my [former] investment in SL, I never lost sight of the fact that it is a virtual world. And the people that do, tend to scare me.)

Even separating out the tribute from its virtual roots, and placing it firmly as an actual created object in the real world (which it's just not, people, come on now)...something like this is about as close as you're going to get, these days, for new items. And vintage items--like this offering on eBay--are precisely that, vintage. Vintage means--for those who care about such things--that the animal died a long, long time ago, and at this point was not even slain by people one might run into, even were one living in the heart of a fur district. Vintage means the item now exists, but can be relined with new satin, or subtly altered to enhance its natural beauty--the original incident which brought it into being is now long past.

More to the point, animals die. Animals, like people, die all the time. And there are rarely quiet, peaceful, dignified deaths for animals, passing away surrounded by the support of their loved ones, at greatly advanced ages. This is because nature is as harsh as it is beautiful, brutality and shining light combined, and death, injury, illness and trauma are facts of life.

Really, if you stop to think about it, they're facts of our lives too, because we are as much of nature as the fox, the ermine, the rabbit, the bear--for all that we distance ourselves from that fact.

If you haven't gathered this by now, I'm not a member of PETA. I'm for wearing fur. I'm for wearing leather. (Hells, there was a poet some years back who wanted, after his death, his last published volume to be a limited edition of fifty, bound in his own skin. I have no compunctions about that, either.) I do not think it is base and unworthy animal cruelty to use all of the animals slain--meat, bone, marrow, fur, skin, claws--and I am for rational uses of resources.

Do I disagree with animal farms solely to harvest fur and toss the rest of the animal aside? Yes. But I think that's a wasteful practice in general. By all means, keep rabbits for their fur, but for their meat, too. And I'm also against feeding chickens ground-up chicken, because they're not omnivores; I'm against keeping food animals penned in small spaces in general, and fed massive doses of antibiotics to keep them productive, because what enters the meat then enters us, on later consumption. (And no, I'm not a vegetarian either.)

The point behind all of this, though, is that this is not a real, physical item. Let me repeat that again, because it's vaguely important: THIS IS AN ENTIRELY IMAGINARY RECREATION OF A VINTAGE ITEM. IT IS DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE FAUX FUR. SO NO ANIMALS DIED TO MAKE THIS...EVER...AT ANY TIME.

Of course, some people are really, really dim, and will keep complaining to her anyway. My advice? Support the hell out of her designs to spite them.

And this may be the weirdest thing I've seen this year.

On that note, I'm off to celebrate the Longest Night with family, so we're killing City of Heroes' Winter Lord as a group! To battle!

a world with frogs and magic tricks

Wait, what? (That link, btw, is SOOOO not safe for work, but...still, even for SL, it's kind of eye-opening. And don't get me wrong, I have nothing against guys with padding...it's just that he looks so angry in the picture!)

While we're discussing bizarre things on the Marketplace, this one made me giggle maniacally for five minutes. Even better? They directly ripped off the name--and the logo--of Sephora.com! I wonder if there's anyone specifically to notify...Suppose you could drop a message off here.

Also, nice try, Blades, but that's Sonic. Blatant copyright infringement is blatant.

There's a fellow in the Minecraft community named Vechz. Vechz makes evil, evil downloadable worlds. He calls them his Super-Hostile Map series. And he's not kidding--they range from baffling to impossible to survive, and all are designed to be tricky and devious and trap-ridden and monster-ridden in every conceivable way.

Recently, Vechz was talked into playing one of his "Mini-Hostile" maps by his friends and fans. Did he survive the experience? Well, this was the result, so...I'd say no.

While we're discussing Minecraft, there's an enterprising fellow who decided Minecraft's Nether was too bland. So he generated his own. Phenomenal job.

have you ever thought that the sky was just endlessly dark?

I had a small bit of free time yesterday, between holiday demands, and traipsed into world to visit Curious Kitties. Miss Yossarian is having a rare retirement sale (there's more information on it here--and I will admit, I'm not one of her biggest customers. This is due in no way to the quality of her designs; she's always made beautiful skins, hair and outfits, and now she's experimenting with mesh, and what I've been able to see is just as impressive. No, two things hold me back:

1. She's really expensive. Don't get me wrong, her items are likely worth it, but seriously, when I can pay rent for two to four weeks for what she charges for one avatar set, or one week for a skin? Yeah, that's not an impulse buy at that point.

2. I can buy all the hair from her in the world; if I don't have the right HUD to change the colors, I'm pretty much screwed.

How'ver, all that changed with this sale.

(from the shopping album)

This is Erltur, out of the box. I haven't adjusted anything; there's a bit of flicker along the bangs that will need to be fixed, but I can do that later.

(from the shopping album)

This is Erltur tinted in the sage/lilac on the "Wild" color HUD (currently: L$300 for sixteen variant shades), and keep in mind, the "Wild" color HUD only tints the bangs and the ribbons (which I chose to turn purple).

(from the shopping album)

And this is Erltur tinted with the "Old Fashion Brown" HUD picked up some months back on a Curious Kitties' free offer. (Now fixed!--Editrix)

Total outlay (including the HUD) for this hair: L$310. Yes, under this current sale, many of her Nyanotech A and B hairs are going for L$10 each.

Not all of her hairs are anime-inspired, either.

(from the shopping album)

This is Monque out of the box; as you can tell by the flashes of red through my chest and below my left shoulder, the bangs need a bit of adjusting. This is an entirely sculpted style, zero flex.

(from the shopping album)

This is it with candyfloss pink bangs (the back remained black, at least with tints from the "Wild" HUD).

(from the shopping album)

This is it with green-striped bangs; again, the back hair is left black.

(from the shopping album)

And this is it with the "Old Fashion Brown" tinting (which tints the black as well).

Basically, there are several color HUDS to tint hairs, available for the "A" and "B" derivative lines. You can get sixteen colors, in defined shades, for L$300 to L$700; you can get four-packs of colors for $100; and many specialty shades between L$300 and L$500 (right now, I believe, she still has the "Strawberry Banana" color pack of streaked pink and yellow, and she's newly released an arctic shading pack of white, silver, blue and lilac, I think). If you line up the HUD you want (or already have one, in my case), and find hairs you like to match that HUD--trust me, ten Linden hair? Not easy to find.

**DO** make backup copies, though! I can't stress that enough, because none of the HUDs has a color reset button. If you liked the way the hair looked out of the box, make a backup, because you won't get it back! And keep in mind if you buy one of the specialty holiday hair HUDs (like the Grand Ornament hair HUD, for instance), it will only work to change the colors on that hair.

Still, a lot of different options, for less inventory space. Can't really argue with that.

you were there, you were small; there was screaming down the hall

[20:00] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: I have an emergency.......
[20:00] Txxxxx Wxxxxxxx: what sort?
[20:00] Exxxxx Zxxxxxxx: what would that be?
[20:00] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: my 16year old sl son is at the alter
[20:00] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: anyone do weddings as in minister like right now wedding starts at 8:30

So, several group members halted at that one, but thankfully, others were on the ball with comments:

[20:00] Zxxxxxx Ixxxxxx grabbs first aide kit
[20:00] Oxxx Axxxxx: 16 O_o
[20:01] Sxxxxxx Kxxxxx: Have your pets spade and neutered ...
[20:01] Emilly Orr: 1. Your minister ditched the wedding?
[20:01] Exxxxxxxxxx Sxx: sorry I do hanfasting but 16 is a little young and mine are real
[20:01] Lxxxxx Fxxxxxx: minister???...dont you mean you need a shrink?
[20:01] Emilly Orr: 2. He's getting married *at sixteen*??
[20:01] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: n our person never showed
[20:01] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: more like knocked the bride to be up
[20:01] Sxxxxxxxx Vxxxxxxx: Is this a shotgun wedding? ;)
[20:01] Emilly Orr blinks

Because yeah, at this point, I was trying to process the fact that, in SL, some sixteen-year-old was being forced to marry another virtual avatar because the other virtual avatar had become fake pregnant...I mean, yeah, RP, sure, but guys...

[20:01] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: I need a preist
[20:02] Mxxxxx Dxxxxxx: see what happens when some doofuse closes the teen grid ?

Yeah, really. Which again, not that I haven't run this point into the ground, but still remains the very bestest reason ever to not date on the grid.

[20:02] Oxxx Axxxxx: you need child protective services
[20:02] Txxx Axxxxx: you need parental consent lol
[20:02] lxxx Txxxx thinks someone needed a condom
[20:02] Mxxxx Dxxxxxx: I am minister but I require people to be of age
[20:02] Axxx Yxxxxxxx: 16 yrs old?

People kept coming back to that. Sixteen years old and getting married on the grid. The hell.

[20:02] Cxxxx Axxxxxx: can I assume the actual person playing your SL son is older than 16?
[20:02] Emilly Orr slowly and carefully steps away from the RP, nodding calmly.
[20:02] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: hehehe
[20:02] Yxxxx Nxxxx: In Vegas.
[20:03] Mxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: laughing my ass off
[20:03] Exxxxxxxxxx Sxx: and why are you asking this in TT group chat

And I'm surprised it took only three minutes to ask that question.

[20:03] Mxxxx Dxxxxxx: is someone here his parent?
[20:03] Lxxxxxxxx Sxxxxxxxxx: depends on the [state] there in and if it can be verified
[20:03] SxxxRxxxx Vxxxxxxx: If you have a gun..I can find a priest
[20:04] Cxxxx Axxxxxx: pretty sure this is a RP situation, and the person behind the 16yr old is actually older than 16. In which case, you need to be finding a RP priest, not an OOC one.
[20:04] Pxxxxxx Sxxxxxxx: or someone who can marry them

And the frantic seeking soul here is still not perceiving the difference between RL priests/ministerial sorts (which we, being a building group, had actually been talking about), and SL priests/ministerial sorts. I figured on being impaired somehow, intoxicated on something, because the other assumption was that he was just that dim, and...for a group devoted to learning new building techniques, and discussing texturing, for the most part, that just hurt to think about.

[20:04] Fxxxxxxxxx Ixxxxx: who knocked the bride up, the minister or the groom??[20:04] Exxxxxxxxxx Sxx: whoa is there a baby involved
[20:04] Mxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: omg now I am crying
[20:04] Axxx Yxxxxxxx: hate to say, but you can get in pretty bad trouble for that shit
[20:04] Axxxxxxxx Lxxxxxx: just jump over a broom
[20:04] Mxxxx Dxxxxxx: it still falls under the heading of contributing to the delinquency of a minor
[20:04] Mxxxx Dxxxxxx: i do have a broom
[20:05] Mxxxx Dxxxxxx: swat his hiney with it and tell him to go read a book
[20:06] Cxxxx Axxxxxx: and you reaaaalllyyy need to make that more clear when you ask for something, especially in a BUILDERS GROUP

Yeah, exactly. And again, so surprised it took six minutes to bring this up!

[20:06] Axxx Yxxxxxxx: and do his homework before bedtime
[20:06] Fxxxxxxxxx Ixxxxx: whatever happened to living in sin??
[20:06] Exxxxx Zxxxxxxx: ahh, the good old days!
[20:06] Mxxxx Dxxxxxx: some of us would rather live in grace
[20:06] Exxxxxxxxxx Sxx: sin can be very graceful

Or at least encourage flexibility, if nothing else.

Then the L$20,000 question arose:

[20:07] Sxxxx Hxxxxxxx: Well since its RP can't someone in the wedding party pretend like they are certified to do weddings? I mean really how do you become "official" in SL anyway?

It's a damned good question. Really, in SL, you're only who you say you are. But then, that goes right to the heart of pseudonymity, doesn't it? When does who we pretend to be cease to be a valid expression of who we really are? And who gets to decide that?

At any rate, this conversation, start to finish, in an RP group? I wouldn't have batted an eye. Even this conversation, start to finish, in Caledon would only have earned an arched eyebrow.

But this question in a store group devoted to textures and building...well. It was bizarre, to say the least.

And I'm still not sure the fellow in question actually got his pretend minister for his pretend son to marry his pretend knocked-up damsel...who may or may not be sixteen in real life.

Either of them, the son or the daughter-to-be. Just odd.

standing in line as we march to the drums of the east

"It's very important for bats to avoid dehydration. If you are a bat, and you're watching this video, please drink at least eight spoonfuls of water a day." Okay then.

Also, this time next year, television broadcasters and cable broadcasters will be operating under a new law which will enforce the same volume for commercials as for non-commercial programming. What bothers me is how long it took to get this passed. People have been screaming about the volume on commercials being higher than regular programming for decades, so what gives?

There's a 2011 countdown of films circling around the net; in total, in under six minutes, there are clips from two hundred and thirty films that were either made, produced, or released in 2011. Impressive, and awe-inspiring.

Santarchy! I love that that's now an "official" term for Santa mobs. In a similar vein, find out more about the sarcastic font movement. And maybe make it a Nyan Cat Christmas while you're at it.

An advertising agency in Mozambique figures it can dodge paying licensing fees by not showing the whole face of several comic superheroines, but beyond that, they've come up with an amazing campaign in support of self-checking for breast cancer. Will the dodge work? Will comic companies come down on them anyway? Do we, the viewing public, even care?

Status cats! Including pictorial tribute to the hypertext coffee pot control protocol. There's variations for everything, I suppose.

Could Netflix bring Firefly back from the dead? It wasn't a question I ever thought to ask, but Netflix is now (re) producing Arrested Development as an original show. So suddenly Firefly--and a lot of other shows who have fans, but have been long-cancelled--are starting to be reconsidered.

The Lindens--at least according to Daniel Voyager--has responded (directly on a JIRA! WOOHOO!) that they're both willing and able to evaluate the naming system again. Mr. Voyager thinks this might lead to restoration of the two-name system used in the past. I'm not so sure, but hey, everyone keep their fingers crossed.

In RL news, something being termed a witch's cottage has been discovered at a dig site in Lancashire. More news when they excavate and analyze more of the dig.

Finally, I bring you Nyan Cat eyes! (There's also a video tutorial link on that post at deviantArt.) Knock yourselves out. (She's also got other pretty eye-makeup tutorials. Hint, drop, thud, Mocksoup.)

people throw rocks at things that shine

Another clip entry, yes. First, this right here explains in one place why we hate the new enchanting system in Minecraft. Because on average--and that's assuming you have the levels for this--it takes 2,480 attempts to get one level 50 enchantment on anything, and that doesn't assume any particular type.

And the enchantments themselves are so widely varied...There's a rather labyrinthine list of possible enchantments on armor, equipment and weaponry available on the Minecraft wiki, but remember the above--to get, say, an enchanted sword with Smite V and Knockback II (just to pick two at random) you're going to be making at least seventy attempts, up to three thousand attempts. Keep in mind, too, that even when the enchantment table is properly built (the table surrounded by two levels of 15 bookcases each, leaving room on one side for a door), you have to make your item, enchant your item, and blindly hope you get lucky.

If you're not opped on a server (so as to freely allow you to summon iron or diamond to make base enchantable items and armor), then this is exactly what that means:

• 1. Dig deep enough to find diamonds in the first place.
• 2. Mine out two of the ones you find.
• 3. Go back to wherever your enchanting room has been built; make your diamond sword (also requiring one stick for the hilt, so if you don't already have wood, go punch down a tree nearby).
• 4. Place the diamond sword in the enchanting table's enchanting screen.
• 5. Using only the bottom enchantment values (because apparently slots one and two are bugged, leaving only slot three as an active enchanting slot), place (then lift out, and place again) the sword, until you hit the number you want (keeping in mind that enchanting uses up player levels, so to get a level 50 enchantment, you need to have at least 105 levels).
• 6. Make your sword.
• 7. Take out the now enchanted (and glowing faintly) sword. Mouse over it to read what it now does.
• 8. If unsatisfied (as in, you wanted Knockback and you got Bane of Arthropods, or you wanted Smite V and you got Fire Aspect II), do it all again by either repairing the sword (merging it and another diamond sword on the crafting table screen, which removes any enchantment on the weapon), or going back down to the depths and finding more diamond.

It's a ludicrous, draining, exhaustive waste of time at present. While some good things are coming out of it, mostly it's just a time sink, in a game that really, really didn't need another time sink option.

Two missing Doctor Who episodes have been recovered! Why this is such a big deal takes a bit to explain, though there's an article on Mightygodking's blog that does a better job of getting this across, but basically, this is one of the (many) reasons Doctor Who fandom isn't like other fandoms.

Imagine, say: if Star Trek, for instance, had retained bits and pieces from the first season, two seasons from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and one season from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Your best bet to get other people interested in what you're interested in, always, is to just show them the episodes.

But what if they don't exist? While this seems baffling beyond all reason today, the BBC routinely had a habit of destroying the master tapes after initial (and very short) rebroadcasting rights had expired. That, combined with a later fire in the BBC archives, meant that many of the early episodes of Doctor Who aren't just rare, they're outright gone.

And to find even bits of the lost story arcs is a phenomenal thing. Understand: these aren't complete, start to finish episodes even now--they're essentially chapters of larger works. The intact larger works may never be found, and that's something that most fandoms just don't struggle with.

There will likely be some DVD release of even the episodes bit, likely with heavy commentary and still shots fore and aft, but Doctor Who fans are durable and enduring: we'll take that. We're just happy to have more of our show back.

Speaking of Star Trek, have some offbeat Star Trek cameos...For me personally, I knew about most of those--and others not listed!--save for Mick Fleetwood as the giant fish-man. That was just baffling.

How to make a LAN-party-optimized house! Great instructions, great construction, and what seems like a level-headed, good guy working at Google. Good to know they're not all small-minded, tin-plated dictators with delusions of godhood.

Ever wanted to throw a ball and have it walk back to you? Soon you'll be able to.

There's an upcoming LEGO/Minecraft partnership. Though I don't get why that article, and others, are saying Minecraft is saving LEGO with this move. LEGO has their own theme park, and has LEGO-built national monuments that are sent out on secure tours--once you reach that point, there's really no way to fail.

Also, have a Creeper fetish? It's made it into actual fetishwear. (Also winterwear, but latex makes it shinier.)

And Rodvik Linden makes an announcement. I will admit, I have dread based on the language, because it doesn't sound like he's speaking to other people, but directly to other middle managers, using obfuscating business-speak. And the whole statement of making the naming system "intuitive" with "more features" just chills me.

Plus, of course, the fact that he's mentioned they're going to intensely analyze and look at how to better this particular system? That means it's the new shiny. So Marketplace will continue to not be fixed. Merchants will continue to be hard-hit by the global economy and close up shop. Sims will continue to be abandoned. The not-at-all-slow attrition level at this point will continue.

Honestly, by the time they get to the end of the first quarter of 2012, to make the initial announcements? Well, I'm fairly sure there'll be a grid left, but three more months of people giving up and wandering off SL will make even more changes, and none of them good ones.

I'm just staring at the ceiling, waiting for the feeling

On my wanderings tonight, I came across quite the opinionated little vixen at one of the stores I'm frequenting for their lovely Advent fare. In addition to the rest of her groups, she was, notably, in these:

• *Animal Rights Advocates*
• Stop Child Pornography
• AGAINST DOLCETT & -TORTURE RP
• Feminists
• Gender Square
• Second Life Anti-Gorean Council
• SL Left Unity Feminist Network
• Stop Violence Against Women

Hmm. That's rather a lot of strident scolding all bottled up, there. Now, to make my position clear, I'm not pro-animal cruelty, or for abuse against women. And, as irritated as I am at the movement in general at times, I still consider myself a feminist.

However, in her picks, she has this statement concerning the "AGAINST DOLCETT & -TORTURE RP" group (and yes, the group name does have that perplexing dash):

This group is for everyone who is beware of the danger of role playing Dolcett, snuff and torture phantasies in SL.

I refuse to take you seriously on any of your issues until you learn to spell. Or at least use proper grammar.

So, it's taken me some time for processing, beyond the screen, but I think I've finally figured out part of why I'm just not drawn to Second Life at the moment. I think a lot of it's tied up with abandoning my store.

To be clear, I was never an effective merchant. I had fun designing things, but over the entirety of my business history--under any business name--I've sold less than twenty objects total priced over five Lindens.

I've been in SL more than five years. That's less than five objects a year.

So I was never a success as a business owner, I want to make that clear. Whatever the trick is to running a successful operation, I wasn't doing it, and I never really did make much of an effort to, past the first year. I'm not blaming anyone other than myself for the business failing.

But I'm now reflecting back on other things, and adding them up again. I never broke the bank as an escort, either. While I did do pretty good, overall, as a dancer, the bottom dropped out of dancing (at least my style of dancing) when the casinos left. I failed as a madam; I failed as an event hostess; I failed as a virtual real estate agent; I failed as a land manager.

At this point, I am facing squarely two facts: the Lindens I have, to spend on rent, shopping, and parcel decoration, are solely being funded by other people; and, while I have a strong virtual work ethic, I'm just not drawn to doing anything I've failed at in the past.

And I haven't yet found something I want to take on as a new career.

More to the point, literally the only times I'm entering into Second Life as a whole is for the various Advent calendar presents (and to be ruthless about this, I'm over 75,000 items in inventory now, and adding to that with new items is just making me depressed), or to pay rent.

And I sold off my last Caledon parcel, so I'm only paying rent to Lady Serra. And I'm even reconsidering that...as much as I love Winterfell, and want to support it, is it worth it to continue paying rent if I'm not coming into world for any other reason than buying more virtual time on a virtual medieval (ish) server?

Overall, all of these considerations are also not doing much good for the guttering holiday spirit. Part of that is that we haven't dug out any of the holiday lights, or ornaments; I haven't had the inclination or the finances to make my own ornaments (as I've done most years); and I have zero idea what to get people, either in SL or in RL.

I'm at an impasse. I'm hoping this feeling of being frozen in place will ease at some point, and I'll at least understand what ways forward remain (even if they lead to places where I walk away from Second Life). I mean, at least it would be doing something, not just standing, frozen in indecision and regret.

(Of course, the other part of the problem is currently feeling overwhelmed by the amount of fun ideas I've run across this year. Just a brief sample of the things I've been trying to decide between:

• Making hot air balloon ornaments
• Making vintage ice skate ornaments
• Making needle-felted holiday lights
• Crocheting round teddy ornaments
• Making twig trees from found objects
• Making balloon and string ornaments
• Making waterless snowglobes

...and all of that? Just came in to start perusing this past few days.

So...lots of things to consider in the background. Hopefully, I'll manage to thread this needle--so to speak--and continue on, in some capacity, as a Second Life resident. But it's far from easy...and, as usual, the Lindens aren't helping in the least.

Not that they ever did...

I'm always in the twilight, in the shadow of your heart

I never, ever, ever want to see this. That said, the concept of a Watchmen prequel comic isn't automatically a bad one; it's just that--as with so many other mythic concepts--getting it wrong is a higher likelihood than getting it right. It likely won't be Sailor Daleks wrong, but the potential's definitely there.

Kotaku, on another front entirely, weighs in on the official review of Minecraft, now that it's in open release. Yes, Minecraft is finally out of beta, and unfortunately, the general reaction has been--it was better in beta, Notch. Which is never where a game designer wants their game. Hopefully--since Notch has stepped down as CEO and lead of Mojang--Jens will listen to the game's fans, and maybe work towards improvements.

Still, what are people complaining about? Well, this for instance. Also this. And these two. And another door glitch. (Though to be fair, this is less a bug, and more a feature...) And almost countless others, including things that work in SP, but not in SMP (basically, single-player versus multi-player).

Generally, the impression is not that people are tired of Minecraft now that it's no longer 'experimental'. (Or even 'independent', by at least traditional definitions.) But many are saying--and I'd say I'm among them--that some of these bugs were reversals of earlier bug fixes, and, more to the point, should have all been fixed before leaving beta.

The Walktopus is going to be a reality! In bronze, no less. Larger-than-life sculpted version, yes. (I keep thinking I've linked this, but then I remember, I haven't updated the Train Wreck to anything in December yet...)

And I want to talk about the double-dozen hours' war between Regretsy and PayPal. To bring everyone up to speed who doesn't know: Regretsy, in addition to being a repository for pointless, surreal and bizarre Etsy crafts (and makers), has also come up with several innovative ideas to get necessary funds to people that need them--including children, the poor, and those in hospitals and hospices.

The latest round was a mini-fund to support two hundred deserving families in poverty, to help them with actual financial donations (to pay bills or pay rent), as well as buy toys to give to the children of these families. (That's covered in this entry, by the way, and also touched on in greater depth by the Green Geek Girl.)

So what went wrong? PayPal did. Both by deciding--spuriously, as it turns out--that Ms. Winchell was rooking vast numbers of unaware donators, but also, by deciding on a whim that their vague internal policies didn't matter if they decided they didn't.

And, as a result--at least, a couple days' back--killing the entire charitable effort, because PayPal not only froze Ms. Winchell's business PayPal account, but also her personal account, which has never been used for any of her charitable efforts on behalf of Regretsy.

There was outcry. There was a great deal of outcry. People on Twitter freaked out. People on Tumblr freaked out. The Consumerist blog published a long list of every single PayPal contact address they could find.

Then PayPal posted an official statement, which is still--slowly--filtering through to the screaming mobs hungry for PayPal's blood. But to be absolutely fair to both sides, all of this could have been avoided if they'd have had more concrete, less flimsy and vague policies established in the first place.

Now, at this point, PayPal's made their own donation to the needy families, as well as refunding seized funds from both her established PayPal accounts (which is severely after the fact, as she'd already refunded, on her own, more than two thousand dollars' donated to the charitable effort). I suppose it's a case of all's well that ends well, but as Ms. Winchell puts it, "We see the erosion of customer care in every sector. No one knows your name. No one makes eye contact. No one thanks you [...] And Paypal forgets your fees are attached to people who are trying to make a living, or facilitate something good for other people."

She's absolutely right.

Finally, Discovery's long-running and highly popular show, Mythbusters, has been placed on indefinite hold while an investigation is conducted on what exactly launched a seven-hundred pound cannon through a house and a car, and could have (five minutes before or after--seriously killed or injured people. I don't think Discovery (or parent company ABC) will find them at fault, but it's a scary, scary brush with an almost-disaster.

Hopefully, more later. Still severely disenchanted with SL. Trying to work through it.

out of the wreckage that I do

We start with this:

Sxxxx Hxxxxx: I got tossed out running from rolling restarts and came back wearing an egg and standing in a flower planter

And this:

Axxxx Zxxxxxxxxx: Yep, they broke the code today and are rolling back on it. Apparently they found an issue that can cause sims to crash. Not sure why that's such an issue now when it wasn't 6 weeks ago....

No clue. But this is from the status update:

[POSTED] Rolling Restarts BlueSteel, LeTigre, and Magnum RC servers

Posted by Status Desk on November 29th, 2011 at 04:35 pm PST
[Posted 4:30PM PST, 29 November 2011]

Rolling restarts on the BlueSteel, LeTigre, and Magnum RC server channels will be starting at approximately 5:00AM Wednesday morning. Please refrain from rezzing no copy objects, making inworld L$ transactions and please save all builds. We will also be introducing a new channel named Second Life RC KT which is a temporary channel that will be used to test an upgrade expected to roll out to all of our servers over the next 30 days. This will not impact region functionality

and later:

[POSTED] Rolling Restarts Main Server

Posted by Status Desk on November 29th, 2011 at 04:52 pm PST
[POSTED 4:15PM PST, 29 November 2011]

Rolling restarts for regions on the main Second Life Server channel will commence shortly. Please save all builds and refrain from making purchases during this time.

Now, I won't lie, for the past week I've been severely disenchanted with SL. I think I've been in exactly twice since Thanksgiving, flat out. I'm not employed on the grid anymore, I'm not particularly loyal to anyone, I'm not dating, and we don't currently have excess funds to spend on Lindens so I can't shop. Until another project hits me, that I actually want to build, or a hunt comes along that I want to participate in, I think I'm feeling some understandable disconnection from things.

But this still bothers me. What did they break today, that required such an extreme rollback of the entire grid, that was different from the sims crashing randomly last week? What was so vital that it required kicking more people off the grid, that they didn't manage to fix during the last mass rollback and restart?

Finally, a way to get darker colors in the oversaturated, vibrant landscape of Diablo 3. It's about damned time. But the truly sad thing, for me, in watching that video? Is that Blizzard could have done that themselves, at any time. Come on, people. Is it really that hard to listen to the people who will buy the game and maybe not paint everything vibrant teal and gold?

Moving on. You've seen the horses. You've seen the sidekicks. You may have seen the auto-deathing, or the strangely animated cart. You might also know that hopping can save warriors from giant attacks.

But did you realize bears cannot attack you when you're spinning through the neck of your horse? (It's a unique riding position, I believe only found in certain sections of Skyrim.)

In other bear news, freezing bears in Skyrim is still a really bad idea.

Finally, you will notice a pop-up that's activating (should be only once per unique viewer, tell me if that glitches) with a little widget to help American citizens call their Senators to stop the passage of PIPA through the Senate. If you're not American, it's not for you; just close it, and it shouldn't pop up again.

If you are American, however, please consider filling out the form. The site does not share your personal info, and tells you up-front what will happen--a staffer will take your information, call you to discuss talking points, then transfer you to your local Senator. It's about as painless a process as it gets, and believe me, this is really important. Please help if you can.

I scrape my knees, I scrape my hands until they bleed

You may notice a small censorship logo to the left of this entry. I've read enough on SOPA to be really, really terrified at the implications. Just concerning this blog alone, there would be major changes. To wit:

• If ANYONE entered a complaint, I could not criticize the Lindens, or Second Life, or use Second Life as a phrase without official permission (plus, face felony jail time);
• If ANYONE entered a complaint, I could not link back to content anywhere else that I did not originate (plus, face felony jail time);
• If ANYONE entered a complaint, I could not use graphics containing content that I did not originate, but instead, only manipulated (in artistic or photorealistic ways) (plus, face felony jail time);
• If ANYONE entered a complaint, I could not mention musical bands, artists, songs, lyrics (including the blog titles) or descriptions that could be matched to existing bands, artists, songs, or lyrics (plus, face felony jail time);
• If ANYONE entered a complaint, I could not quote literary sources, literary quotes, or writers in small ways or large (plus, face felony jail time);
• If ANYONE entered a complaint, I could not display ads, or pictures from Amazon, or graphics linked to other blogs, or text links to YouTube (plus, face felony jail time);
• And all of this could be completely pointless anyway, because if ANYONE complained about copyright violation to my website provider, for ANY reason, this blog could disappear entirely (And I might still be sent to jail with felony charges).

It's a very, VERY badly written law. If you're reading this, and live in the States, please consider joining the fight in any way you can.

In the meantime, while we live in fairly uncensored (ish) lands, have part one, part two and part three of MightyGodKing's Literal Titles series. Some of them are really, really accurate; some of them are really, really funny as well.

While I have ethical issues with the parenting evidenced in this Skyrim video, I will also say that if both parents are gamers, that it's going to be part of her environment growing up anyway, and her father, at least, seems determined to integrate that--and her choices as a budding gamer--into parenting education. So it's not all bad. Still, I agree with many respondents after the article--"People don't want to be sword" is really good advice any way you take it.

New World Notes mentions the departure of Kim Salzer, former VP of Marketing, from Linden Lab. Based on information read there, and information I've tracked down from other sources, I'm thinking she's responsible for three things I really, really loathed hearing about in connection with the Lab:

1. She tried to co-brand virtual animals (especially Ozimal bunnies) with Linden Lab, which was both a slashing mark of nepotistic favoritism, AND encouraging the wrong thing for customer retention;
2. She regimented communication between departments, so whereas before, anyone could talk to anyone, now the people behind Concierge support can't get answers on anything without three emails and a priority-courier envelope sent across the hall;
3. She was responsible (though perhaps not solely) for the proliferation of "Be a sparkly vampire just like those characters you've read about!" campaigns that are now seen EVERYWHERE (and hey, she might have ALSO been responsible for the insanity of the "Be a Na'vi in Second Life!" ads).

Based on the above, I'm thinking I'm happy she's gone, but on the other hand, I'm a cynic and mistrustful, so there you go.

To bring up another reference for "Navi", have Meekakitty's take on Link's little fluttery helper from Zelda: Link to the Past. It's a plaintive, sweet, and oddly sincere tribute to what's essentially the most annoying thing in the game.

Did I mention the new Saint's Row Zombie option? I'm not entirely sure what it means by doing the sounds yourself, but maybe that's exactly what it says--you get an option for "Zombie" to record you grunting, moaning and asking for braiiiins...

In the meantime, back to Skyrim, there's now a downloadable mod to remove all spiders from the game. I haven't played Skyrim, I don't know how annoying the spiders are; what I do know is that both Miss Kamenev and my WoW-playing friend are utterly, utterly scared of things with eight legs, so for them? This mod makes Skyrim playable!

Well. As playable as self-impaling followers, floating wagons and circus performers in armor can be.

The Key of Awesome returns with some questions on the missing plot points in Dark Knight, which...yeah, I'm kind of behind. Unlike some of my friends, I liked the film, but there are some glaring plot holes that refuse comprehension.

For those of you who play Minecraft, there's now a sound mod, along with an assortment of sound packs people have created. If you're like a lot of us, and really, really hate the new sounds, this is an option to deal with that...that doesn't feature waiting for Notch to fix things, if he ever will.

And just in time for the holiday season, you can get Vat19's 26-pound gummi Party Bear! It's not a prop, it's fully edible, but it doesn't go cheap. Still, it pretty much is a party sensation, guaranteed.

Finally, to wrap this up, have a taste of the Extra Credits team taking on Deus Ex: Human Revolution as an exercise in transhumanism and wealth disparity. Those are pretty hefty weights to hang on a video game, but watch the video and you'll see why the game not only shoulders them bravely, but does it in style. Enjoy!