CSI:NY in SL: Trying to solve the latest case…

A new case came afoot on CSI: NY Island last March 21st. As usual, I went to the site, downloaded the latest tool bar, collected the evidence and went back to the lab. For some reason, this time around, the audio clips do not seem to work. The text version will appear for each piece of evidence analyzed, but for some reason, the list of suspects does not appear. So I’m stuck. I thought it was perhaps lag. Tried to listen to the clips on my home turf, which is pretty lag-free, still no luck. Asked one of the CSI managers, who suggested I check my Audio/video settings. Everything was setup as it should be. I’m stumped. Wow! A mystery within a mystery. I’ll keep trying. Stay tuned.

There’s a second life for disgraced politicians

Another interesting video surfaced during today’s meeting at the CNN Amphitheater in SL. We were encouraged last week to start filing video reports. Hugo did just that, while offering a possible new work avenue for Eliot Spitzer, the now ex-Governor of New York state.

See story & video: NY Governor Spitzer to retire in Second Life

Playing Live in SL: [insert up-and-coming musician name here]

Thinking back to when I joined SL in October of 2005, the abundance of activities now present was negligible. Point-to-point teleporting (TP) was non-existant, and half the fun getting anywhere was flying from the teleport hub to the actual location, indicated by a red beam of light. There were clubs you could dance in, new lands to explore and people to meet. SL was definitely in building mode. However, even back then, live music was rapidly gaining a foothold. Today, you can find pretty much any genre of music played live, from folk to jazz, blues, rock and bluegrass, it’s there for the listenin’.

A couple of months ago I tumbled upon a musician who goes by the name of Hep Shepherd. Actually, I stumbled upon a free download offer of one of his songs through SL: Last Goodbye. Not one to pass up free music, I downloaded the song and liked what I heard: Acoustic guitar, for a nice blend of soft rock and folk. His MySpace profile highlight Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pearl jam, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews as his influences.

I dug deeper and found out that Hep in RL is New York musician, Jeff Kranz. I signed up for his newsletter and his SL group. I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago when he announced he would be playing live in SL at The Vibe. I’ve caught two of his shows now and look forward to the next show. Jeff/Hep is currently working on his first album. I don’t know when the album will be released, but I’m looking forward to that. If you’re in Austin next week for SXSW, you can hear Jeff on March 14th at 7 pm.

More info on  Jeff can be found on MySpace and Facebook.

You can listen to a couple of his songs through his website at: jeffkrantzmusic.com.

Are you a musician interested in reaching a worldwide audience? Check out the Second Life Blog here on what you need to stream on SL. To perform at The Vibe, contact Bratt Lunasea or Dior Flanagan in-world or through The Vibe website.

CSI:NY in SL: The mysteries keep comin’

One of the advantages of hanging out at Club Random, late at night, is you pick up some valuable info from project managers. Many of them hang out at the club as well. On one of those nights, I learnt there would be more mysteries appearing in late February, early March. Though this news was already on the CSI:NY News website, none were live yet. However, a week later they became active and I jumped right in for not one, but two new cases to solve.

The first one, Frozen Margarita read as follows:

The highly-publicized “Still Lifes” exhibit at the Museum of Art in SL just got an unexpected addition. Among the perfectly preserved corpses lies Margarita Vanderville, the sole patron of the show — preserved just like her beloved exhibition pieces.

Like the others, this one involved collecting the evidence, questioning the suspects (the young nephew of the victim, the owner of the museum, who was having an affair with Margarita, and the wife of the owner). I proceeded a little too quickly with this one and ended up guessing the wrong culprit. Still, I managed to upgrade my status one notch.

The second one, was a new multi-dimensional blog mystery by Zuiker, titled Wheel of Misfortune. Unlike the other mysteries, this type presents all the evidence, visual & audio, and you have to determine what happened. There are no hints, no analysis of evidence. You’re on your own. Once you think you’ve figured it out, you can post your theory on the CSI:NY blog, where a winning entry is chosen every week. I call this multidimensional because some of the actions are not in SL. There are websites to go to, and in this case, a phone number to call. Though it was long distance (212, New York exchange, natch), I did call it and got a recorded message by Anthony Zuiker. The cool thing about this number is that it is referenced in an earlier episode of CSI:NY, notably part of the 333 storyline.

This mystery looks at the puzzling death of a couple who have fallen off a ferris wheel cabin at the newly opened Linden Park.  You get to use your flying skills once more as you examine the cabin from which the couple fell. Thankfully, for us, a platform is located right next to the cabin. That platform, though, might be where the marksman was. If there was a marksman. Looking through the blog submissions, recurrent themes occur, pretty much in line with what I thought happened, though I’m more in favour of an accident than a murder. The key words leading me this way: metal projectile. Doesn’t mean a bullet…

The next mystery is scheduled for Friday March 21. It hope this is an indication this project will continue. There is a healthy crowd at Club Random every Thursday night, when Nexeus Fatale DJ’s live, and you can find some people every other night as well, dancing and chatting the night away. There are weekly photo contests to keep everyone busy, and winning entries are posted on the CSI sim and on the CSI:NY News site. Check out the results on Flickr, here.

New episodes of CSI:NY are scheduled for the beginning of April. I hope we see a conclusion to the Venus case, though not a conclusion to CSI:NY in SL.

MaxieM

Catch Me If You Can Musical: now in workshop

In the works since 2003, a musical version of Stephen Spielberg’s film, Catch Me If You Can, has reached the workshop stage. Helmed by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the Tony-winning composing team behind Hairspray, it will star Nathan Lane as Carl Hanratty, the federal agent played by Tom Hanks in the movie. After a lengthy search, the role of Frank Abigail Jr, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie, was awarded to relatively newcomer, Aaron Tveit.

The book is written by Terrence McNally (Love, Valour, Compassion, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class, Corpus Christi).

Nathan mentioned the workshop during an interview on The View this week. Video here.

BroadwayWorld.com has a video montage of Nathan’s current play, November, here.

The economic side of Second Life and theatre

Came across a couple of interesting articles this weekend, dealing with sides of SL and theatre not often talked about, though both very important for each: sex and producing.

The National Post had a special feature this past weekend: The Love & Sex Issue. One of the article, Virtual Babylon, looked into the phenomenon of virtual sex in SL. It’s not a side of SL I’m much acquainted with, to be honest, but it was an interesting read. Not surprising that it can be a very lucrative business in SL

The other article came by courtesy of The New York Times and is an interview by Stephen J. Dubner, co- author of Freakonomics, with Broadway producer, Rocco Landesman (Big River, Titanic, Guys and Dolls, The Producers…). Mr. Dubner had solicited questions from his readers and this was the result. It’s an insightful look at the economics of running a Broadway show. Strangely enough, I saw Mr. Dubner on 60 Minutes this evening, discussing the economics behind the production of pennies in the US.

(photo: screen grab by Craig Offman, National Post)

CSI:NY in SL: Venus Found!

With new mysteries appearing weekly in CSY: NY in SL, I took a look late last night to see if anything new was afoot. Although there was nothing reported in the crimelog at the lab, a look at the CSI: NY news site revealed a new murder had taken place.

I teleported to the penthouse of Sophie Belove in the Upper East Side, nearly rezzing right on top of her dead husband, conveniently laid up in a flower box, a bullet through the heart. Collected the evidence and scooted out to the lab for analysis.  The clues introduced a new organization: “Amor Mortis”, a secret business society. They also led us straight to Venus, the trigger-puller in this latest murder. In a video, we saw her finally nabbed and led to prison. Or was she?….

Looking for my promoted status, I went to the lab today. I couldn’t figure out why I was still not registering at the top of the rankings. I asked a manager and turns out there might be more coming, as there are three weeks still to go in the project.  A pleasant surprise, indeed.

Stay tuned!

MaxieM

The Musical Theatre Meme – My take

Picking up the cue from Steve, author of the best blog on Broadway (IMHO), Steve on Broadway, I thought I’d give this meme a try. Not living anywhere near New York, however, I’ll have to expand my area.

1. The first musical I ever saw on Broadway was (or if you haven’t seen a musical on Broadway): Dancin’ (1978). I was with my parents for a shoe tradeshow in New York. I was hooked!

2. The musical I would most like to see again is: The Producers. I never saw the Broadway production, but the Canadian one in Toronto, starring Seán Cullen as Max.  It’s become my favourite musical. It’s coming to the Arts Club in May. Can’t wait to see it again.

3. The musical I never want to see again is: Sunset Boulevard.It played in Vancouver with Diahann Carroll as Norma Desmond and Rex Smith as Joe. I won the tickets from one of the radio stations. I ‘m glad I didn’t pay for those. I don’t remember much of it, except I was glad to get up and go home at the end.

4. The best performance in a Broadway musical by a woman I’ve ever seen is: This one will have to be close to home, Jennifer Lyon as Eliza in the Arts Club production of My Fair Lady.

5. The best performance in a Broadway musical by a man I’ve ever seen is: Seán Cullen, as Max, in the Toronto production of The Producers; Nathan Lane in the film version of that play; Richard McMillan, as Pooh-Bah, and Eric Donkin as Koko in the Stratford Festival 1982 production of The Mikado. I saw that show four times… Roger Bart is also excellent in Young Frankenstein.

6. The person I wish they never cast was: Matthew Broderick as Felix in The Odd Couple (I know, not a musical, but…). I didn’t actually see the show on Broadway, but there was a cellphone videoclip for a while on YouTube of the “linguini scene”. I couldn’t believe how stunted he sounded and acted. I don’t think that performance helped him at all.

7. The person they should have cast was: Lee Evans. Nice chemistry with Nathan (Mousehunt, The Producers (UK))

8. My favorite Broadway choreography was in the show: Susan Stroman’s, The Producers and Young Frankenstein. I saw Young Frankenstein in its Seattle run and loved it.

9. The lyric/line that always brings a lump to my throat is: I can’t think of a single lyric, but I find “Somewhere” from West Side Story moving, as well as “I Know Where I’ve Been” from Hairspray and “Will I” from Rent.

10. The stupidest lyric/line I’ve ever heard is: Can’t think of any at the moment.

11. The first musical I had to go back and see twice four times was: The Mikado (see my answer in #5)

12. The first musical I ever walked out of was: Never happened.

13. The most under praised and overly deserving show in my opinion is: Young Frankenstein.

14. The most overly praised and under deserving show in my opinion is: Can’t think of one right now

15. The song show tune I’m most likely to sing while I’m dancing around at home is: “I Love to Travel”, from Sondheim’s The Frogs and “Voulez-vous?” from Mamma Mia!.

16. If I could recast any role in a current Broadway musical with a performer of the past it would be: Jerry Orbach in his original role of Billy Flynn in Chicago

17. If I could recast a current actor in a Broadway musical that was before their time it would be: Nathan Lane as Koko in The Mikado. 

18. The show they should never change a word of because it is already perfect is: The Producers.

19. The show I’d most like to get my hands on and rewrite is: Yeah, right…Beyond my skills…

20. The role I was born to play on Broadway is: Being void of any acting and singing skills of any type, this is a challenge. Personality-wise, Donna, of Mamma Mia! comes to mind. Though I would love to play one of the lil’ old ladies in The Producers, just to be part of a chorus. I’m definitely more of a background/backstage person. (I’m getting butterflies in my stomach just at the thought of being on a stage…yeeech…)

David Mamet: Pulitzer Prize playwright, novelist, blogger!…

David Mamet’s latest play, November, a comedy featuring a dysfunctional President seeking re-election, opens this week at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Previews started in late December and reviews from the blogging world have been mixed.  Nonetheless, with Nathan Lane at the helm, tickets will be a rare commodity before long. The play is scheduled to run at least until July.

For those of us unable to make the journey to Broadway, David Mamet will be extending the November experience by blogging, as Charles H.P. Smith, on the official November site.

I subscribed to the blog but have yet to receive any notice of new material, although a new post was uploaded on January 10th. Perhaps it will really go live on Opening Day?…

(Photo by Scott Landis, USA Today)

Happy New Year!!

2008 is now underway and I can’t wait to see what it has in store for us. I’m stoked. I’m tickled as to where the whole virtual world, and Second Life in particular, will be going. I spent my last moments of 2007 and my firsts in 2008 in Second Life, dancing with other CSI fans at Club Random (darn good classic rock music and great company). As sad as this may sound to some people, it was a nice and relaxing way to ring in the new year.

Venus has been sighted around SL and I’m keeping track. But with the writers’ strike still going on, it’s anyone’s guess if this mystery will ever get solved. I was sad to read shortly before the holidays that Electric Sheep, the company reponsible for marketing and managing the CSI:NY project in SL, among others, had to lay off a third of its workforce. Clearly, the virtual landscape as a viable marketing platform still has a ways to prove itself. What does this mean for the CSI:NY project?..No clue.

Stay tuned…