Jan's and John's Peripatetic Adventure

Virtual Shikasta

We're in London, continues...

Since the New York Times was so impressed that I put Doris Lessing on MySpace, I decided it was time to put her on Second Life.

Not literally on Second Life, but yesterday I added a virtual version of her book Shikasta (my favorite book ever) to my two islands which are named "Shikasta" and "Rohanda."

It's not the text of the book, of course, just the jacket. There is technology to put an entire actual book into Second Life but that's a project and copyright permissions nightmare I'm not willing to tackle. But it was easy to create a little book and put it on various desks and tables around my islands. I put a script in it so when someone clicks on it the web page pops up.

And what is the significance of naming my islands Shikasta and Rohanda? You'll have to read the book '-)

Dozing and Waiting

We're in London, continues...

I have been missing my little Clyde a lot lately. And playing with Yum Yum last night reactivated my cat desperation.

I get frequent reports from Teresa and Bob that Clyde is doing well and is often spotted on our back porch. When I am in California he sometimes spends all day there, when he's not in the house with me. I really miss him. Sigh.

The Congrats Party

We're in London, continues...

Last night we went to a party at Doris Lessing's house. The party had been scheduled before she won the Nobel Prize so her winning gave us all even more to party about. Doris is completely thrilled. It was such a pleasure to be able to offer our congratulations to her in person which was a feeling shared by everyone. There were several familiar faces and many new ones; it was a fantastic group of fun people. And of course, Yum Yum, who, as always, sensed my cat desperation and let me pet her. These are photos of our taxi journey in the rain. Thankfully it had stopped raining when we left so we took The Tube home, filled with champagne and memories of a wonderful evening.

Bolly

We're in London, continues...

Last night John and I went to dinner at The Red Fort. It was one of the few restaurants we discovered when we were tourists, many years ago, before we lived here. We go there fairly often and it is exquisite. The food, the decor, the service, are all perfection. And, of course, we had a bottle of Bollinger. It is becoming our favorite champagne. It is not pink but the flavor is consistently great and tastes like an older champagne.

Walking there from our house on a Saturday night isn't easy. The streets were packed with shoppers and drunks or drunk shoppers. Or shopping drunks. Anyway it was very crowded and difficult. I'm not a fan of going out on Saturday night for that reason. Although the walk home was easier, perhaps because by then we were full of Bollinger. We did partake in some drunk shopping and stopped into Foyles and bought a couple books. Yummy.

The Shadow and The Spider

We had dinner a little earlier than usual so I could be home in time for my friend Kirsty's Halloween Party in Second Life. In Real Life I do not enjoy dressing up in costumes for parties or events. But in Second Life it's really easy and very fun. I had found a variety of costumes and couldn't decide which I preferred so I wore them all, switching between them throughout the party. The daddy-long-legs spider was the favorite, although I enjoyed being the column of black smoke. I also had a costume that made me invisible but when I wore it no one seemed to notice.

Dancing didn't really work with either costume but it was fun all the same. Kirsty created a spectacular haunted castle for the party and it was hilarious. It's always fun to get our Real Life/Second Life friends together.

Beaming Up

We're in London, continues...

Ok, I admit it. I have been spending a lot of time in Second Life.

I go through phases with Second Life. Although I visit every day, sometimes I only stay a few minutes. Then I go into a period where I spend hours and hours creating fun things. For the last week or so I've been in one of those periods and I'm having the time of my life.

Recently I found a Second Life store that sells Star Trek reconstructions. I am a HUGE Star Trek: The Next Generation fan. I have a collectors edition of the DVD's, etc. Yea, I'm a nerd. No, I do not own an actual Star Trek uniform in Real Life and I have never been to a convention. I'm a fan but I do draw the line.

But I decided not to draw the line in Second Life and bought all the various components to create a starship. You can buy hallway segments which you then join together in any configuration you want. It was complicated and slighly tedious and I loved it. I'm not into the "role play" aspect of it at all, which many people in Second Life are. There are spectacular reconstructions of starships and space stations inhabited by Second Life avatars in Star Fleet uniforms calling each other "sir." I can't even touch that level of serious building or role playing; I just wanted to create something that was fun to hang out in.

I built a hallway configuration and then added what you see in the photos. Other Star Trek fans will recognize all of it. For those who don't the photos are: beaming up via pattern enhancers, arriving in the starship transporter room, starship hallways, crew quarters, holodeck (with amazing programs), astrometrics lab, shuttle bay.

It all has sounds, opening doors, and other ingenious scripting to make it very Star Trek-like. It is really fun and completely hilarious. Now that there isn't any Star Trek on television I can get a dose of it in Second Life any time I feel like beaming up.

The Lighthouse

But I'm not just a Star Trek geek. Yesterday, I bought a lighthouse which I thought would be a nice addition to my island. There it is and it's lovely.

Meteors

We're in London, continues...

Here is a short machinima film released this week, sponsored by a company called Millions of Us featuring music by my best friend, Kirsty.

Flash | QuickTime

Direct link: here
The film can also be seen at YouTube.

We met Millions of Us' Chief Creative Officer, who made this project happen, at the Second Life Conference in Chicago in August.

As always, Kirsty's music is gorgeous. She is so amazingly talented. I can't believe I know her. The filmmaker, Rob Wright aka Robbie Dingo in SL, is completely brilliant and his machinima films are all amazing. The idea of him and Kirsty collaborating is really exciting. The result is stunning.

Maze

We're in London, continues...

Yesterday, I had lunch with Mary and Eliza at Maze. It was completely fabulous.

It was my first visit to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. I know, I know, it's shocking, considering how pretentious I am. Well, the real reason is that he doesn't have any restaurants in Covent Garden and I'm not usually inclined to take the tube just to eat.

We did take the tube. It wasn't too bad, hot but not unbearable, crowded but not insane, well ok it was insane. And the urine on the stairs at Tottenham Court Road. Oh well, I'm not bovered, I'm going to eat at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant! Yay!

On Grosvenor Square we passed by the evil U.S. Embassy which I was seeing for the first time. Wow, it's one of the ugliest buildings in London. Of course it is. Sigh. And the area around it is in perpetual construction, building fortifications on top of fortifications. Like a castle in 1400. All that's missing is the moat.

Ok, it's time for lunch. As you can see in the photo Maze's location is discrete and looks like just one of the houses. Nice.

When Mary booked the reservation they said we had to sit at the bar because no tables were available. That's fine, although three lunching at the bar is difficult where two would be ok. When we arrived, the haughty hostess took our coats and then the maitre d' told us that Eliza was too young to sit at the bar so they would give us a table. Awesome!

In fact, there were empty tables throughout our lunch which is often the case for restaurants that claim to be fully booked. Hmmmm... I guess they are keeping tables open just in case someone "special" like Madonna stops by. She didn't.

The menu is in the style of "small plates" like Robuchon . The waitress explained the menu to us, that because the items are small it is recommended to order four per person. Yikes, four? Well, I ordered three, Eliza got the set menu of four and Mary ordered two. The waitress practically sneered and said, "only two?" I'll bet she doesn't say that to Madonna.

The food arrived and it was spectacular. Completely fabulous. I can't wait to go there again with John. In spite of the "only two?" the service was outstanding, even extraordinary. The servers had a sense of humor; the maitre d' was particularly nice and totally hilarious.

Thank you, Mary and Eliza for a lovely lunch and enjoyable excursion!

Dinner with Web 2.0

We're in London, continues...

Last night we had dinner with Tim O'Reilly and his wife Christina, who are visiting London for the week.

Naturally, one of the big topics of the evening was books. Love it! John and I now have a nice suggested reading list that should keep us busy for quite a while. Tim and Christina are both fun and fascinating. It was great to be able to spend some time with them in London.

The Creeping Darkness

We're in London, continues...

You know the time to turn back the clocks is approaching when it's dark at 7:00 a.m. It's hard to get up in the dark.

Amazing Musical Sunday

We're in London, continues...

Yesterday was an Amazing day of music. And that is Amazing with a capital A.

First, John and I went to a concert at the Barbican by Philip Glass performing Music in 12 Parts. It was fabulous. We were in the third row so we got to see all the musicians up close, especially Philip Glass. It was completely wonderful.

Then we hurried home because our friend/houseguest Mary had prepared a very special evening: a private concert by our friend Laurence Cummings on my new harpsichord!

I'm verklempt!

He played Couperin and Bach and then for a special surprise he sang some Purcell. Gorgeous. He is such an extraordinary musician. I can't believe I know him.

After the music we all had dinner that Mary and Eliza had prepared and it was yummy. The champagne flowed all evening.

It was one of the most special evenings of my life. Seriously. To have a musician who I have admired for years playing in my house just for me is something I would never have imagined happening. Thank you, Mary and Eliza, for making it happen. And a huge thank you to Laurence for your generosity and kindness. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends.

Artwork Excursion

We're in London, continues...

Yesterday, John and our friend/houseguest Mary went to the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park.

I was delighted when John arrived home with a new piece of art for the house. It's a beautiful piece made of dichroic glass by artist Chris Wood. The first photo shows it on the wall with the house lights off. Then when we turn on the lights it comes alive. It changes again in the evening with the absence of natural light and only our halogen lights shining on it, making the colors more intense. Lovely!

Apples and Music

We're in London, continues...

I'm still working on losing those few extra pounds I gained recently. I guess I can't blame them all on Luxembourg since John and I go out nearly every night here in London '-)

Apples and sparking water for me until further notice.

But in the meantime, I can indulge one of my other passions: music. Since I subscribe to eMusic, I can download 90 tracks a month. As I discover music I put it in "save for later" so I can download it on my monthly download renewal day. This week I downloaded some of the most beautiful music I've heard in ages.

But eMusic isn't my only source of music. I am an iTunes addict. Especially iTunes Plus, where they have removed the DRM.

Unfortunately, the new download store at Amazon.com won't work from London. It worked for the first few days after they launched it but then they started checking ip addresses and now I get a message that I am not allowed to purchase anything because of "geographical restrictions." Bastards. Well, I can indulge when I get back to California.

In the meantime, eMusic and iTunes keep my music addiction happy. Of the 25 albums I bought this week, these are my 3 favorites:

All Is Violent, All Is Bright by God Is An Astronaut
Bitter Hands Resign by A Northern Chorus
The Last Days of Gravity by Younger Brother

An Evening of Monteverdi

We're in London, continues...

Last night we went to the English National Opera to see Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea. Like last year's Orfeo, it was exquisitely conducted by our friend Laurence Cummings and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng.

We went with Mary, Eliza and visiting friends of theirs from Boston. Really nice and fun people. There are me and Eliza having some Bollinger before the opera. Dahling!

Daytime Moon

We're in London, continues...

Nothing to blog about. I must be very relaxed. At last.

We did go out to dinner last night to Moti Mahal. Since I gained 2 pounds in Luxembourg I was determined to have a lighter dinner than usual so I skipped the naan which wasn't easy, believe me. They have also changed the menu so my old favorite is gone but now I can find a new favorite. We just can't get enough of that restaurant; we love it.

The weather is finally changing and is beginning to feel like Autumn, chilly days and beautiful skies. I've always been fond of watching the sky and the London sky is very entertaining.

Yes We Can Can

We're in London, continues...

Today is video day on Jan's blog, yay.

Here is a video of John's presentation in Luxembourg on Monday. C'est bon!

Also, John put video up of our recent house concert by Daniel Berkman:

More videos from the house concert of Daniel are here and here.

This morning I woke up to email from my friends Chuck and Dayna sending me the following video. OMG, it's hilarious!

http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/1585718

Luxembourg to London

We're in London!

Here is the last part of our trip to Luxembourg:

This morning we had a little breakfast in the hotel and then checked out to explore some more. We walked through a lovely park and then a residential area, back over a bridge and then into downtown.

It was early so not much was open. We were in search of lattes and found a little cafe. While waiting for our coffee a little dog walked over and plopped himself down right next to me. Adorable! I tried to tell him what a good boy he was in French. I have no idea if he understood me but when I scratched his head he turned and gave me an approving glance.

After our coffee we once again walked the beautiful streets of Luxembourg. We spent about an hour at the National Museum of History and Art which was incredibly impressive. It extends underground 5 stories and appears to have been carved out of solid rock. It was beautiful, as were the exhibits.

After lunch, while we were looking for a taxi we passed the headquarters of Skype, one of the most amazing software programs ever. The taxi ride to the airport was really fast, security was also fast and pleasant and we were on the plane in the air in no time. OMG, another propeller plane. In fact, the same plane we flew over on. LOL. Our seat was right next to the wheels which was a first for both of us. I took photos of the wheels leaving the ground and folding up into the wing, and then back down again for our landing in London. Hilarious!

Even though our trip was so short, I'm really glad I went and had an opportunity to experience such a lovely city.

Luxembourg Launch

We're in London! Here is our trip to Luxembourg part 2 ...

The launch of Creative Commons Luxembourg:

Ok, I definitely need to learn French. The presentations were in French so I had no idea what was going on. Well, I sort of had an idea but not much. Even John presented in French! Yikes. The last presentation was in English so I was glad I finally understood something '-)

After the presentations there was a reception with drinks and then a dinner for the presenters and a few others. Everyone was really interesting and very enthusiastic. I met some fabulous new people, as well as old friends like Laurent Kratz from Jamendo. It was a great evening. Thank you to Patrick from Luxcommons for making me feel so welcome.

Luxembourg Excursion

We're in London, continues...

This afternoon we flew from Luxembourg back to London. Yes, that was a very quick trip. We went so John could speak at the launch of CC Luxembourg. I went along because I've always wanted to see Luxembourg and I'm so glad I did, it's an amazingly beautiful city.

Yesterday we few from London City Airport which is our favorite airport because it's so small, efficient and easy. When it was time to board the plane I freaked out a little when I discovered it was a propeller plane instead of a jet (see photo). It is the smallest plane I've ever been on. It only holds 52 people but I liked the fact that all the seating is 2-across, with no 3-across seats. Take off was very different from a jet, a little wobbly, but fine. The flight itself was very easy and was only 1 hour 15 minutes to Luxembourg. Amazing.

Luxembourg airport was also very easy and we took a cab to the Old Town because it was too early to check in at the hotel. We didn't have any luggage, we just took backpacks since we were only staying one night. The shops were just opening as we walked through the beautiful streets. We looked at a few possibilities for lunch and found a charming restaurant called L'Entracte. We had tartiflette that was one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten (see photo). It turns out to go really well with champagne. '-)

After lunch we walked around some more, taking photos, and then walked across one of the bridges to our hotel which was in a different part of town. We checked in, relaxed a bit and then took a taxi to the Creative Commons Luxembourg launch. Which is next...

Double the Press, Double the Fun

We're back in London from Luxembourg.

We came back to discover that yesterday the New York Times did an article about BookMooch and an article about my Doris Lessing MySpace page. John and I are amazed that both of us are in the New York Times on the same day. Wow!

All about our trip to Luxembourg next...

London to Luxembourg

We're in Luxembourg...

This morning we are flying to Luxembourg for a couple days. We are going for the launch of CC Luxembourg where John will be speaking. I've always wanted to see Luxembourg so I'm going too. I'll be taking lots of photos and blogging when I get back to London tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday, Teresa sent me photos of Clyde! Sigh. He's been hanging out on her porch lately and has even let her play with him. What a cutie, I miss him so much!

Space: The Virtual Frontier

We're in London, continues...

I spent all day yesterday in Second Life. Yes, all day. And if you think that makes me a loser well then move along, you're at the wrong blog. LOL.

Originally, I went shopping in Second Life to look for a costume for Kirsty's upcoming Halloween Party. I found some really good ones, which I'll blog about closer to Halloween probably. While I was searching for costumes I came across some amazing things, one of which is a space station that orbits Second Life that you get to by rocket! I know, I know, none of it is real. But it is still really fun. I'm amazed by the ingenious and beautiful things people create in Second Life.

Dustin in Piccadilly

We're in London, continues...

On Thursday, when John was on his way home from lunch with Ramsay, he walked past the Royal Academy of Art and took the nice photo below of the enormous er... sculpture in the front court.

Then he was walking through Piccadilly Circus and saw Dustin Hoffman being filmed. Oh dear, it looks like yet another one of those "heart-warming" films where people end up crying and hugging each other at the end. I'll catch it on the plane.

John said it was hard to get an actual photo of him facing forward because they were "acting" and moving around a lot. We were both surprised at how short he is '-)

I spoke with Doris yesterday to congratulate her on winning the Nobel Prize. She is so thrilled and I'm really happy to see her finally getting the admiration she deserves. I'm still getting MySpace friend requests/messages and emails from the web site for her. They are amazingly kind and enthusiastic. As expected, there are a few messages, a very few, that are completely nuts. They're not unkind, on the contrary, they are as enthusiastic as all the other well-wishers, if not more. But the nutcases make the most outrageous demands. It's hilarious and more than a little disturbing. I'm just glad that I'm the one who gets these messages instead of Doris so I can shield her from some really creepy people. Yikes.

I was stuck in the house all day yesterday waiting for the plumber to come and replace a part in our toilets (we have 7) but he didn't show up (welcome to London). After being cooped up in the house all day I was ready to go out for an amazing dinner so we went to Moti Mahal. The food is so fabulous and the staff is charming; it remains one of our favorite restaurants ever. Last night it was packed, so my previous concerns were obviously unnecessary. Yay!

The Nobel

We're in London, continues...

Wow, yesterday was quite a day! Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature. Hurrah!

We have known her for several years and have enjoyed many theater, lunch and dinner excursions with her. She's also been to a couple of our house concerts. She is one of our favorite people ever and a great friend.

Her winning ended up being a busy day for me, oddly enough. John was out for lunch with our mutual friend Ramsay, who got a phone call about Doris winning. John immediately called me to tell me the exciting news and I was amazed and delighted.

Because of my web site and MySpace page, my mailbox was swamped with email within minutes. My web logs were through the roof.

I answered email questions from the Washington Post, spoke with The New York Times on the phone and replied to the BBC's request for my phone number. Yikes! Whether any of my answers show up in the press is anyone's guess. Not likely, which is fine with me because this is not about me, it's about Doris who deserves all of this love and admiration, and much more.

My mailbox is also flooded with email from fans who want to congratulate her. Many, many, wonderful messages for her. I assumed her phone was ringing off the hook all day and I didn't want to add to that chaos so I faxed her instead. I also included an email from her relatives in Africa congratulating her. The internet really is amazing.

The response on her MySpace page has been the most overwhelming. I spent most of the afternoon accepting/denying friend requests and reading messages to her. I will forward them to her so she can see how much people love her books, it's wonderful.

Of course, she is very pleased to have won but the video of her getting out of the cab and hearing the news for the first time is great. The media usually portrays her as dour and serious but the Doris I know smiles all the time so I'm really happy to see so many photos of her smiling and happy.

Also great is the Nobel Committee member's description of her. I have never heard anyone speak about her who was so well-informed about her books. Fabulous! Take a look:

The Magic Flute

Last night we went to see Mozart's The Magic Flute at the English National Opera. After the chaos of the afternoon it was fun to dress up and go to a beautiful opera.

And it was so very beautiful. It was the first time John and I have seen it and it was hilarious. Amazing music and wonderful performances, we loved it. We have always wanted to hear the famous aria by the queen of the night, you know the one with the ultra-high notes, and it was fabulous.

When I got home from the opera there were four pages of friend requests on the Doris Lessing MySpace page. Well, I know what I'm going to be doing today! LOL

Plaisir du Dejeuner

We're in London, continues...

Yesterday we had lunch at Mon Plaisir.

We had been there a few years ago but it was a smoking nightmare which is no longer the case so we thought we'd try it again. We loved it. When I walked in the combination of the decor and the French-speaking staff really made me feel like I was in Paris. Ah, Paris. Sigh. John spoke French to the owner and I have no idea what they said to each other.

The food is basic French, with no posh overtones. It was excellent. I had a tomato terrine followed by the coq au vin which was one of the best I've had. John had salad and then lamb. Very simple and very delicious. We had champagne with lunch again. Yummy!

In the evening we went to dinner with Mary to The Forge. It was packed! I mean, really packed. We could hardly hear each other talk and the service was slow. But the food was excellent, much better than recently disappointing sister restaurant Le Deuxieme. We all had sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Perfection.

Des Amis

We're in London, continues...

Thank you to everyone who left nice comments yesterday. I only got one nastygram that was so ridiculous that I realized that an insult from a guy like that is a badge of honor. Click and delete.

Since it was raining buckets yesterday, we didn't want to go far for lunch so we went to nearby Cafe Des Amis. We had not been there in over two years because it used to be a smoking nightmare. Well the ban fixed that so now it's a lovely experience.

It finally stopped raining in late afternoon, yay. John went out to dinner with a friend of his and I stayed in.

I have been wanting to make the Magnatune in Second Life space more interesting and recently redid the landscaping and built a bistro. Last night I was exploring Second Life and stumbled across a sitar and tablas which have animations and sounds. Very cool. I bought them and added them to the World Music section at Magnatune in Second Life. Now I'm going to try to find instruments for each genre so people visiting can play them. Yea, it's totally weird and really fun.

I also built a little place on my island for the sitar and tablas and Kirsty stopped by to give them a try. Beautiful.

Grey, Rain and Hate Mail

We're in London, continues...

We woke up this morning to a rainy, grey day so my energy level is pretty low. Of course, this being London, the sun could be shining by 10:00.

Last night John and I went to dinner at our favorite Le Deuxieme which is no longer our favorite restaurant. Sigh. Apparently they have a new chef and although the menu is the same, the preparation of the dishes is not. So when I ordered my all-time favorite crottin de chavignol it was completely different and I was very disappointed. The other dishes appear to be different too. The restaurant is so lovely, and so nearby, that we will probably not give up on it entirely; it just won't be the favorite it has been for years.

Meanwhile John is dealing with a backlash in response to some changes he made to how BookMooch works. Thankfully there are many, many positive reactions but, as usual, there are some really nasty ones.

John and I have been getting nasty email since 1994, when we entered the WWW. What I find completely amazing is that people send us vile emails about our web sites that we provide for free. We don't expect everyone to agree with how we do things all the time. But the fact that complete strangers feel that it's ok to send horrible, evil comments to us about something we provide to the world for free is completely hilarious to me. Ok, not hilarious, disturbing. Ok, both hilarious and disturbing.

You would not believe some of the nasty comments I get on this blog. Am I bothered by the fact that complete strangers hate me? Hmmmm, let me think... No, not at all. We worked incredibly hard to get where we are and live the way we do. You have no idea. Well, some of you do because you've known us since we had nothing. I remember very clearly when we had nothing so when I get hate mail criticizing us for the life we live I just delete it. And, no, we don't feel that we can do whatever we want because we're financially successful. Click and delete.

But it's not just the blog. John and I also get hate mail about our web projects. At this point, the only commercial project is Magnatune, although it does not make enough to pay for itself and we support it with our own money. It's doing well, it just needs to do better to meet its expenses.

Our other web sites are totally free including John's BookMooch and my various ongoing web sites. I realize that there is always going to be criticism, which is fine. But there is a difference between polite, constructive criticism and obnoxious hate mail. Why anyone would send hate mail about a web site that is free to use is a mystery to me. Oh right, because they're losers. LOL!

On the other hand, we do get lots of love mail which is very enjoyable. Some of it is so lovely it brings tears to our eyes. That's why I just can't give a shit about the hate mail. It is definitely the exception. I don't respond to hate mail and I don't take any of it seriously, so don't bother sending me any. I'll just click and delete. Works every time. Losers.

House Concert No. 12

We're in London, continues...

Last night was our house concert by Daniel Berkman. It was completely wonderful. Many of our favorite people came so it was a great opportunity to see everyone. What is also fabulous is that some of our friend have become friends with each other after meeting at our house concerts. I love it when that happens.

Daniel's instrument is the Kora and he played a combination of acoustic and electronically enhanced music. At a couple points, one of the guests who was from Africa sang along which was an extraordinary moment. Everyone truly enjoyed Daniel's performance. A couple of our friends who grew up in Africa were particularly delighted.

John cooked another great meal, with awesome assistance from Mary and Eliza. It was another amazing evening with gorgeous music and fabulous friends.