Thaylon Singh!

Be the first to accurately punctuate the subject line. Muse Of Fire welcomes Thaylon Singh in his return appearance to SL (well, after Immaculate Misconceptions). We hope to be hosting him frequently, and have begun working on some theatrical presentation pieces for his performances. (Hint: watch for the whaling ship during "Men at Sea.")

If you are unfamiliar with Thaylon, he's a singer/songwriter, "sound distortion specialist," writer, composer, and sound designer--among other things. Join us in being touched by the Muse with this multifaceted, multitalented, multi-instrumentalist and musician, performing original music at Muse of Fire. We're at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Runtrop/110/156/502, and Thaylon performs at 4pm SL. Check out his website at http://www.mindspeak.com/, and follow the link there to cdbaby to check out his CDs.

Stick around and make him play some encores until our own DJ of the Muse, Meghamora Woodward, spins 80's tunes for your dancing and listening pleasure. She ushers in the New Wave at 7pm SL.

Hiatus

We at Muse Of Fire are on a brief hitaus after Megh's Motown night last week. Megh is in Michigan and then I travel to Denver for a conference. But things continue Wednesday as Thaylon Singh makes his long-awaited return to SL , performing at our new venue. Check out that rusting hearse. Megh will follow immediately with another cool DJ event.

We are already scheduling August events: more Thaylon, singer Debi Latte (who has been doing very well around SL in several venues), and more poetry. Our production of Zayante Hegel's Orphan Train Poems is coming soon, though may be delayed for an RL interruption.

The Silent Oracle

With Immaculate Misconceptions over, you'd think we'd rest on our Delphic laurel branches. But summer is only half over, and what else would we do with our time? So Phorkyad Acropolis presents "The Silent Oracle," which will feature poems and spoken word pieces with music that include reflections on Muses and inspirations, and observations of human existence--which is sometimes illuminated by love and at times shadowed by its loss. Pieces that are well-known ("Private Dancer") and oft-requested ("Dancing With My Stalker") will be interspersed with new pieces that will be heard tonight for the first time anywhere.

4PM SL time, at Muse Of Fire: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Runtrop/110/156/502)

Our premiere event

Following our after-parties after Immaculate Misconceptions, we celebrated our inaugural week with a performance by Allister Westland. An hour of excellent guitar work and vocals, accompanied by a good sized crowd visiting our new venue. During the set, twilight set in, and out came the stars and the fireflies, to enhance the natural ambience of the surroundings.

We hope to follow this with many more musical and theatrical performances in the months ahead and are already working on the schedule.

Hancock

I'm never sure if anyone reads my blogs, nor if they really care, but occasionally I feel the need to say something about...something, and here we are.

Before seeing the movie Hancock, I had seen some headlines about "critics and audiences torn over plot twist." So going into the movie I was a bit wary. As it turns out (from my post movie-going reading) the twist was blown entirely out of proportion. We KNOW, from the close-ups and the acting that these two have history. When we find out what it is, it comes as a surprise (yes, Hollywood, PLEASE surprise us! instead of recycling old TV shows) but one that fits the world the film has set up.

One of the cool things about the ending was, it sets up several possibilities. (Yeah yeah, spolier alert.) Either superhero could die, sacrificing him/herself for the other. Or both die, and the husband realizes that the world may not have superheroes, and "normal" people have to act. (In fact, he does this by helping Hancock when swinging the sharp instrument.)

I do have two minor criticisms of the film. One, some of the special effects look a little cheesy. Okay, enough about that. Two (and this is coming from years of teaching screenwriting) it seemed that some things were missing. WHY was this film only 92 minutes long? An additional 10 minutes (at least) would have allowed time for us to see more into the husband's psyche. He is madly in love with this woman, who is--for all intents and purposes, as they say--the mother of his child. Not only is she suddenly a superhero herself, but is essentially married to another man, the man he has been helping. He arrives at the hospital, and sees his wife with her "lover." But we have no time to examine his emotional response to this discovery--we move right into the violent confrontation, and he's behind a product-placed soda machine. Unfortunately, this does not allow for any tension. Should he help Hancock, or let the badguy kill him? No, there is no hesitation, he just does it. Perhaps the filmmakers were in as much hurry to get to the end as the theatregoers were to leave at the end (and miss that PS from NYC).

Thaylon Returns

Thaylon Singh, back from a trips to see Italy and then Tom Waits, made it into SL tonight. Megh and I gave him a tour of the the new venue, and he seemed quite delighted to be viewing the rusty hearse. We prepared a bit for Immaculate Misconceptions (yes, sister, Basilica Cardinale is the place to shop for your religious needs), and discussed future performances. Another musician and his manager stopped by to check out Muse Of Fire, Megh has the new tshirts ready, and so it looks like we are ready to begin!

Beginnings

Welcome to the official blog for Muse Of Fire! This blog will feature updates on events happening at the Muse Of Fire performance venue in Second Life, as well as other artistic endeavors produced in Second Life under the Muse Of Fire banner.

We at Muse Of Fire look upon our venue as a labor or love, and not a source of financial gain. Our desire is to bring the touch of the creative and artistic muse to as wide an audience as possible.

Our venue features a beautiful outdoor pavilion mainstage 500 meters above ground level. We plan to host live musicians and DJs, poetry readings, theater performances... whatever the muse inspires! We have also installed an Intan Dance System for our audience to enjoy, including both solo dances and the finest couples dances available on the grid. At ground level, we will have a gallery displaying artwork from various Second Life artists, as well as a second stage and a vendor area.

We will officially open our venue the evening of Wednesday, July 9th, following the premiere of "Immaculate Misconceptions" at the Greek Theater on Cookie. Click on the calendar on the right side bar for more details on that event and all scheduled future events.

If you are interested in performing or displaying artwork at Muse Of Fire, please IM Meghamora Woodward or Phorkyad Acropolis in-world, or send an e-mail to us at musofyr@gmail.com.