PatSine

Last night I tried something new. I attended a concert. But this was a bit different. This concert was held in Second Life and performed by the avatars of musicians and attended by the avatars of fans. Second Life is a virtual world where you can be anyone you like and participate in all of the things you might ordinarily do or might just want to try. My avatar is pretty ordinary and I do pretty ordinary things. Except I can fly from place to place! But let me take you back to the beginning. A few weeks ago I first listened to a podcast from Popular Science magazine. I really like the theme music and noted on the web site that the writer/performer, Jonathan Coulton, had another podcast called Thing A Week. He’s been using the podcast to keep him on track with his creative output. Some weeks the songs are very good and others they are fair. Then he announced this concert and I figured I’d attend. Yesterday, earlier in the day I got into Second Life and found the right venue. I didn’t know how to make things work, but there was another friendly avatar nearby who offered me all the help I needed. When I got back last night, almost every chair was filled. I went in and sat down and swayed along with the rest of the crowd as we watched the stage and listened to the concert. What amazes me this morning is that every bit of the experience was digital and I can speak and write about it and other people get it. This is sooooooo 2006!