SL Lit Fest 2008 02 02 Basevi

 

[13:05]  Marilena Basevi: greetings everyone -- I have a lovely microphone here,which was working the other day

[13:06]  Marilena Basevi: thank you!

[13:06]  Hollyjean Allen: God, Yummy..did your legs grow?

[13:06]  Amalia Broome: no

[13:06]  Tabitha Broome is Online

[13:06]  Hollyjean Allen: are you sure?

[13:06]  Amalia Broome: yes

[13:06]  Hollyjean Allen: inseam...66 inches.

[13:06]  Amalia Broome: it's just a short skirt

[13:06]  Hollyjean Allen: LOL,

[13:07]  Hollyjean Allen: for sure!

[13:07]  Marilena Basevi: it's very odd -- the talk button is shaded and doesn't respond, and the voice box, the one that lists the voice ennabled avatars, is blank

[13:07]  Marilena Basevi: I will be happy to type out my talk ---

[13:07]  Marilena Basevi: punt, you know?

[13:07]  Hollyjean Allen: a basic SL skill

[13:08]  Stolvano Barbosa: do you ant to type Marilna?

[13:08]  Marilena Basevi: my apologies!

[13:08]  Hollyjean Allen: No need, mari!

[13:08]  Stolvano Barbosa: or cut and paste your book into chat?

[13:08]  Stolvano Barbosa: lol

[13:08]  Marilena Basevi: I will do what I need to --

[13:08]  Marilena Basevi: cut and paste?

[13:08]  Marilena Basevi: lordie

[13:08]  Marilena Basevi: give me a minute

[13:08]  You decline SL Lit Fest 2008 Presentations, Info Island (110, 101, 33) from A group member named Teofila Matova.

[13:08]  Amalia Broome: is it on a notecard?

[13:09]  Stolvano Barbosa: or I wll introcude you and you do what you can

[13:09]  Stolvano Barbosa: ok folks

[13:09]  Stolvano Barbosa: audio difficulties

[13:09]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[13:09]  Stolvano Barbosa: I'm Stolvano Barbosa which you can tell by the sign over my head

[13:09]  Stolvano Barbosa: I am here to introduce Marilena Basevi

[13:10]  Stolvano Barbosa: You are very lucky because Marilena is going to read from a book by Marilyn Johnson

[13:10]  Stolvano Barbosa: Marilyn has been a writer for Life magazine and an editor at Esquire, Rebook, and Outside.

[13:10]  Stolvano Barbosa: That was before she became obsessed with obituaries. LOL

[13:10]  Ilene Pratt is Online

[13:10]  Stolvano Barbosa: In her book THE DEAD BEAT she explores the world of those who write obituaries and those who love reading them.

[13:11]  Stolvano Barbosa: Without further ado here is Marilena.

[13:11]  Stolvano Barbosa: do what you want Marilena

[13:11]  Stolvano Barbosa: oops

[13:11]  Stolvano Barbosa: she just crashed

[13:11]  Hollyjean Allen: she decided to crash.

[13:11]  Stolvano Barbosa: I will now do a song and dance

[13:11]  Hollyjean Allen: Time for the old soft shoe!

[13:11]  Stolvano Barbosa: interpretive dance of Marilyn's book

[13:11]  Daisyblue Hefferman: and I'm sure it will be very entertaining, Stol

[13:11]  Hollyjean Allen: LOL

[13:11]  Abbey Zenith: Murphey's Law :)

[13:12]  Stolvano Barbosa: she is back!

[13:12]  Hollyjean Allen: Nice landing!

[13:12]  Stolvano Barbosa: I encourage you all to buy and read Marilyn's book THE BEAD BEAT

[13:12]  Marilena Basevi: well, thank you stoly

[13:12]  Stolvano Barbosa: I am going to jump off stage and let Marilena take over

[13:12]  Novalli Worbridge: (it's good)

[13:12]  Puglet Dancer is Online

[13:12]  Marilena Basevi: I think it would make sense for me to answer questions about it

[13:13]  Synergy Devonshire is Online

[13:13]  Marilena Basevi: and tell you a little about obituaries....and if you're interested librarians

[13:13]  Maxito Ricardo:   Always interest in librarians

[13:13]  Marilena Basevi: thank you all for coming

[13:13]  Hollyjean Allen: Obits about dead librarians too?

[13:14]  Marilena Basevi: That is how I discovered the topic for the librarian book

[13:14]  Daisyblue Hefferman: old librarians never die.

[13:14]  Marilena Basevi: I read some fabulous obituaries of librarians

[13:14]  Daisyblue Hefferman: they just fade into the shelving (woodwork)

[13:14]  Marilena Basevi: For instance, Henriette Avram, not technically a librarian

[13:14]  Marilena Basevi: but she helped automate the cataloging system at the Library of Congress

[13:14]  Daisyblue Hefferman: I'd love to have read Melvil's

[13:14]  Carolina Keats is Offline

[13:14]  Marilena Basevi: her story made me interested in this era....

[13:15]  Marilena Basevi: one of tremendous change in your field....

[13:15]  Daisyblue Hefferman: If he wasn't already dead, I'd have killed him myself

[13:15]  Marilena Basevi: obituaries also

[13:15]  Marilena Basevi: ha ha

[13:15]  Marilena Basevi: the fact that you can read obituaries from around the world online has affected them

[13:15]  Marilena Basevi: obituaries also went through some tremendous changes

[13:16]  Marilena Basevi: the British style of obituaries, very rude in some cases, has influenced some obit writer in the US

[13:16]  Gareth Otsuka: (we're not rude :| )

[13:16]  Marilena Basevi: does anyone read the London obituaries?

[13:16]  Stolvano Barbosa: gareth?

[13:16]  Hollyjean Allen: these are professional obit writers?

[13:16]  Marilena Basevi: I read an obit for a man today who "could not abide trifle"

[13:16]  Novalli Worbridge: sometimes

[13:16]  Novalli Worbridge: lol,

[13:16]  Marilena Basevi: yes, professional obit writers, journalists who write about the dead

[13:16]  Amalia Broome: the dessert or small things?

[13:16]  Marilena Basevi: they didn't mean trifles, either

[13:17]  Marilena Basevi: the dessert!

[13:17]  Marilena Basevi: He abhored ratatoille, one said -- however that is spelled!

[13:17]  Marilena Basevi: the New York times also has fun with its obituaries now....

[13:17]  Daisyblue Hefferman: I think a lot of cub rep[orters get sentenced to t writing the obits

[13:17]  Marilena Basevi: that used to be the case more in earlier days.....still happens

[13:17]  Novalli Worbridge: i dunno, I met a professional obit writer on my course

[13:17]  Marilena Basevi: because they are so dense with information --

[13:17]  Novalli Worbridge: he loved the job

[13:18]  Marilena Basevi: there are many corrections necessary as a rule

[13:18]  Marilena Basevi: it's good training.....

[13:18]  Marilena Basevi: but what does a cub reporter know about life?

[13:18]  Marilena Basevi: to write an obituary well is a great gift

[13:18]  Marilena Basevi: requiring perspective, knowledge, wonderful reporting skills,

[13:18]  Marilena Basevi: the ability to condense a whole life into a few column inches....

[13:19]  Marilena Basevi: and humor, which is such a part of life, is also part of the obituary

[13:19]  Novalli Worbridge: the telling detail i guess

[13:19]  Marilena Basevi: My interest in obituaries stems from 1986

[13:19]  Marilena Basevi: I read the NYTimes, and noticed that two scientists' obits were side by side....

[13:19]  Marilena Basevi: the scientist who isolated vitamin C....

[13:19]  Marilena Basevi: and the scientist who isolate vitamin K

[13:20]  Marilena Basevi: what a coincidence!

[13:20]  Marilena Basevi: And I collected such coincidences

[13:20]  Marilena Basevi: Antonioni and Bergman

[13:20]  Ilene Pratt is Offline

[13:20]  Marilena Basevi: the voice of Tigger in the show Winnie the Pooh

[13:20]  Marilena Basevi: the voice of Piglet in the show Winnie the Pooh

[13:20]  Marilena Basevi: Mother Teresa and Princess Diana

[13:21]  Marilena Basevi: hello!

[13:21]  Hollyjean Allen: Make yourself at home

[13:21]  Marilena Basevi: I had a great deal of fun writing that book and getting to know the extraordinary writers who have brought such perspective to our lives

[13:21]  Marilena Basevi: And I am having a lot of fun writing about librarians

[13:22]  Marilena Basevi: such tremendously intelligent and thoughtful people

[13:22]  Marilena Basevi: and they certainly like to party!

[13:22]  Novalli Worbridge: what's the sweetest obit you came across?

[13:22]  Marilena Basevi: I had the pleasure of meeting a number of second life librarians in Philadelphia

[13:22]  Marilena Basevi: recently

[13:22]  Barrow Runningbear: oh my excuse me mr barbosa

[13:22]  Marilena Basevi: ah, the sweetest obit....

[13:22]  Barrow Runningbear: silly sim lag

[13:22]  Barrow Runningbear: makes for odd bedfellows

[13:22]  Marilena Basevi: sweet?

[13:22]  Bryte Jewell: i can give you what you've missed on a notecard

[13:22]  Stolvano Barbosa: us? intelligent?

[13:23]  Bryte Jewell: /pardon me

[13:23]  Teofila Matova: I'm sending out transcripts to the group.

[13:23]  Marilena Basevi: hold on....I'm looking for the reference now

[13:23]  You decline SL Lit Fest 2008 Presentations, Info Island (110, 101, 33) from A group member named Teofila Matova.

[13:23]  Bryte Jewell blushes

[13:24]  Marilena Basevi: She was 95 and a 34B.

[13:24]  Marilena Basevi: by helping women find the right bra size, mostly through a discerning glance

[13:24]  Marilena Basevi: and never with a tape measure, died Thursday at Mt. Sinai Medical Center.

[13:24]  Novalli Worbridge: :)

[13:24]  Marilena Basevi: oh the joke is scrambled, what a shame

[13:24]  Novalli Worbridge: mostly? makes you wondeer

[13:25]  Marilena Basevi: I will tell you t he beginning of one of the strangest obits I found researching the book

[13:26]  Marilena Basevi: Jeanette Schmid, the professional whistler who has died in Vienna aged 80

[13:26]  Annie Octavia is Online

[13:26]  Marilena Basevi: performed with Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich;

[13:26]  Marilena Basevi: she had been born a man and had fought in Hitler's Wehrmacht

[13:27]  Marilena Basevi: before undergoing a sex change in a Cairo clinic

[13:27]  Novalli Worbridge: now that's a life

[13:27]  Marilena Basevi: That appeared in the Daily Telegraph in London

[13:27]  Daisyblue Hefferman: and all she did with her new self was whistle?

[13:27]  Marilena Basevi: what's so marvelous to me is the creativity of people's lives

[13:28]  Marilena Basevi: the concision with which it is conveyed

[13:28]  Marilena Basevi: and the sheer exoticness of our world

[13:28]  Marilena Basevi: really, in television and in the movies, and even in many novels,

[13:28]  Kitty Otoole: /hearing you on that point!

[13:28]  Marilena Basevi: not much variety beyond that....

[13:28]  Marilena Basevi: you could get the impression that there are about five regular story lines....

[13:28]  Radio Riel Presenter Elrik Merlin shouts: It's been a great time, everyone... thanks for your generosity, and thanks too to Teo and her fellow staff members who have worked so hard to make this Festival a reality - Thank you all!

[13:28]  Marilena Basevi: not so, the world is marvelously rich and varied.....people are living longer

[13:29]  Marilena Basevi: and leading much more complicated and interesting lives, series of lives, really....

[13:29]  You decline Selina Greene transcripts > SL Lit Fest 2008 from A group member named Teofila Matova.

[13:29]  Marilena Basevi: the woman who found the library for prostitutes....

[13:29]  Novalli Worbridge: do you think an environment like this adds to or takes away from that exoticness?

[13:29]  Marilena Basevi: the man who used to make buildings in the shape of picnic baskets

[13:29]  Novalli Worbridge: lol

[13:29]  Stolvano Barbosa: prostitutes like to read too

[13:30]  Marilena Basevi: an environment like second life?

[13:30]  Novalli Worbridge: yeah

[13:30]  Maxito Ricardo:   Was the library for prostitute patrons, but the collection was not focussed on prostitution?

[13:30]  Marilena Basevi: oh, that adds an element of strangeness to everything, too

[13:30]  Marilena Basevi: the collection was focused on prostitution

[13:31]  Marilena Basevi: I have not yet read an obituary for an afficionado of second life -- has anyone ehere?

[13:31]  Kitty Otoole: /wow!

[13:31]  Kitty Otoole: not yet

[13:31]  Marilena Basevi: the lag, so to speak, between what we're experiencing in the real world,

[13:31]  Maxito Ricardo:   I guess your obit is part of presence management

[13:31]  Marilena Basevi: and when we read about it, behind the scenes and in depth on the obituary page,

[13:31]  Maxito Ricardo:   Or absence management!

[13:31]  Marilena Basevi: is about 30 years....

[13:32]  Marilena Basevi: we're reading marvelous obits of the civil rights era now....

[13:32]  Marilena Basevi: of feminism

[13:32]  Marilena Basevi: of woodstock....

[13:32]  Marilena Basevi: absence management, ha ha!

[13:32]  Marilena Basevi: of vietnam....

[13:32]  Marilena Basevi: speaking of lag....

[13:33]  Daisyblue Hefferman: in our area, regular obits are mainly written by the families and funeral directors.

[13:33]  Marilena Basevi: I had been reading the early obits of the pioneers of automation for libraries...

[13:33]  Marilena Basevi: taht's what drew me to the subject....

[13:33]  Maxito Ricardo:   So, the average lag time between when the average person "flourishes" and when he/she dies is about 30 years?

[13:33]  Marilena Basevi: and what wonderful pioneers -- in virtual reality and other arenas -- I'm meeting now

[13:33]  Marilena Basevi: it's a rule of thumb --- a generation and a half.

[13:34]  You decline Selina Greene transcripts > SL Lit Fest 2008 from A group member named Teofila Matova.

[13:34]  Marilena Basevi: believe it or not, there are still a few soldiers from WWI still alive....

[13:34]  Marilena Basevi: the last French soldier from the Great War just died, and the last German soldier....

[13:34]  Marilena Basevi: there are still, I believe, three Americans

[13:34]  Novalli Worbridge: we only understand our times through the influence they had...a nice thought

[13:34]  Maxito Ricardo:   yes

[13:34]  Stolvano Barbosa: i hear you

[13:34]  Daisyblue Hefferman: I hear you

[13:34]  Stolvano Barbosa: a little crackly

[13:34]  Kitty Otoole: /we still have a few Chelsea pensioners left

[13:34]  Gareth Otsuka: broken

[13:35]  Amalia Broome: I can hear you a bit

[13:35]  Kitty Otoole: /bless them:)

[13:35]  Bryte Jewell: you are vey distorted

[13:35]  Daisyblue Hefferman: it's laggy, but I can hear

[13:35]  Marilena Basevi: all right, I'll continue to type....

[13:35]  Tristan Meriman: quite broken and distorted

[13:35]  Marilena Basevi: quite broken and distorted isn't good enough!!

[13:35]  Marilena Basevi: I am fascinated by how much more interesting history is when its players' stories are told

[13:35]  Marilena Basevi: for instance WWII didn't interest me very much -- but then I began to read the obits of soldiers

[13:36]  Marilena Basevi: the London papers, particularly the Daily Telegraph, doesn't just name the battles that a particular soldier might have participated in

[13:36]  Marilena Basevi: they actually recreate the battles.....

[13:36]  Marilena Basevi: it's like reading the most thrilling literature....

[13:36]  Hollyjean Allen: wow

[13:36]  Marilena Basevi: harrowing, or full of humor, but real....authentic!

[13:37]  Kitty Otoole: Yes, they wrote fantastic copy in those days..

[13:37]  Carrie Pennell is Online

[13:37]  Marilena Basevi: if I wrote fiction....I would be stealing from the obits!

[13:37]  Marilena Basevi: no, Kitty, THESE days

[13:37]  Maxito Ricardo:   Have you studied the long-term trends and/or national traits of published obits?

[13:37]  Marilena Basevi: the journalists are interviewing the survivors, going to the written record, checking, and recreating the battles

[13:37]  Kitty Otoole: oops sorry -typo!

[13:37]  Marilena Basevi: yes, that is what my book is about -- it's not scholarly

[13:38]  Marilena Basevi: a little too playful and fun for that

[13:38]  Novalli Worbridge: do you think that an obituary is the way a person would like to be remembered?

[13:38]  Marilena Basevi: but indeed, there are great differences, even from newspaper to newspaper

[13:38]  Marilena Basevi: in the US we have pioneered the ordinary person obituaries

[13:38]  Maxito Ricardo:   Do some people write their own obits and then try to force that obit as the "official" obit?

[13:38]  Marilena Basevi: no, if the person left a self-written obituary, then that is how they like to be remembered

[13:39]  Marilena Basevi: and yes, many people do that....

[13:39]  Annie Octavia is Offline

[13:39]  Kitty Otoole: / I think they do...my friend is working on that as we speak

[13:39]  Marilena Basevi: and many places, small town papers, for instance, are very concerned to be reverent toward the dead and write for the family

[13:39]  Marilena Basevi: but that is not the trend.

[13:39]  Daisyblue Hefferman: tv news orgs, for instance have them written in anticipation often. lol to whip out when needed

[13:39]  Marilena Basevi: the trend is, we are going to hear every horriblething Heath Ledger ingested

[13:39]  Marilena Basevi: whether we want to or not!

[13:39]  Maxito Ricardo:   There's an economy of obits, too, correct? Some newspapers make someone pay for a long obit?

[13:39]  Marilena Basevi: warts and all

[13:39]  Annie Octavia is Online

[13:40]  Kitty Otoole: /yes, I heard one news station already has Britney Spears!

[13:40]  Luna Bliss is Offline

[13:40]  Marilena Basevi: yes, they make people pay for thedeath notices

[13:40]  Maxito Ricardo:   lol

[13:40]  Maxito Ricardo:   Maybe there's a futures market in obits

[13:40]  Kitty Otoole: /and it's a well known fact that the BBC kept one for the Queen Mum for a while

[13:40]  Daisyblue Hefferman: steady income in that. lol

[13:40]  Marilena Basevi: and some papers make people pay for the feature obits -- but that is neither kosher, nor journalism

[13:40]  Luna Bliss is Online

[13:40]  Marilena Basevi: oh yes, I have Elizabeth Taylor in my drawer....

[13:40]  Novalli Worbridge: lol, which bity

[13:40]  Kitty Otoole: /oh wow!

[13:41]  Daisyblue Hefferman: she must have lots weight then

[13:41]  Daisyblue Hefferman: lost

[13:41]  Marilena Basevi: It makes sense, you don't want to get caught at the last minute -- on deadline, as it were,

[13:41]  Marilena Basevi: I have some funny stories in my book about writing obits in advance.

[13:41]  Marilena Basevi: and have to sum up an era in a short amount of time

[13:41]  Kitty Otoole: /they must make for awful embarrassments if they are mistakenly published:(

[13:41]  Marilena Basevi: but it does lead to problems.....

[13:41]  Marilena Basevi: well, yes, there's that....

[13:41]  Stolvano Barbosa: fot to have Elizabeth Taylor in your drawer

[13:41]  Maxito Ricardo:   Do writers write obits for well-known people who are likely to die soon, then, when the person dies, try to sell their pre-fab obit to news sources?

[13:41]  Stolvano Barbosa: got

[13:41]  Marilena Basevi: and then there's the problem of sitting on an obit for 60 years, as they did for the queen mum

[13:42]  Amalia Broome: All news shows have predone obits on famous people..so they can get it on the air quickly..

[13:42]  Marilena Basevi: no,I don't recommend that....selling it when the person dies.....

[13:42]  Marilena Basevi: I wrote one of Katharine Hepburn for LIFE magazine....

[13:42]  Marilena Basevi: she outlived the magazine....

[13:42]  Novalli Worbridge: :)

[13:42]  Kitty Otoole: /lol

[13:42]  Hollyjean Allen: funny

[13:42]  Amalia Broome: that's life!

[13:42]  Marilena Basevi: and no one wanted to buy my obit, because....they already had one!

[13:43]  Maxito Ricardo:   the best revenge...outliving LIFE

[13:43]  Marilena Basevi: she'd been near death so many times....

[13:43]  Kitty Otoole: /it must be so hard to know what to include and leave out..

[13:43]  Marilena Basevi: but LIFE books ended up putting together a picture book of her, with my tribute in it

[13:43]  Marilena Basevi: the most challenging thing is trying to figure out what to leave out....

[13:43]  Marilena Basevi: the hardest obit I ever wrote was for Marlon Brano

[13:43]  Marilena Basevi: Brando

[13:43]  Annie Octavia is Online

[13:43]  Kitty Otoole: /that must have been immensley satisfying

[13:44]  Daisyblue Hefferman: wow some life he had

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: everything you could think to say about him, the opposite was also true...

[13:44]  Kitty Otoole: /marlon Brando? wow...

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: a tremendously sensitive person

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: and an oaf

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: a lover

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: and a pig

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: a great talent

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: and a sloppy one

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: and such a tragic life

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: did you read the obit for Christian Brando?

[13:44]  Marilena Basevi: he just died....

[13:45]  Hollyjean Allen: no

[13:45]  Marilena Basevi: One of the saddest (to me) stories in my book is about a theme

[13:45]  Kitty Otoole: I haven't but what a tragic family...

[13:45]  Amalia Broome: yes..a sad life

[13:45]  Marilena Basevi: talk about lag....the people who were there when Bobby Kennedy was shot....

[13:45]  Lludmila Mirrikh is Online

[13:45]  Marilena Basevi: there were some strange stories

[13:45]  Marilena Basevi: they tended to be wonderfully successful people, idealists,

[13:45]  Marilena Basevi: and after his death, they lost it --

[13:46]  Marilena Basevi: rosemary Clooney, a great sucess, ended up in a mental institution for a time....

[13:46]  Marilena Basevi: for instance

[13:46]  Kitty Otoole: /did she?

[13:46]  Stolvano Barbosa: what about people dying in trios? True?

[13:46]  Kitty Otoole: /omg I had no idea that happened to Rosemary Clooney

[13:46]  Marilena Basevi: yes, many people think death happens in threes....

[13:47]  Marilena Basevi: I find pairs

[13:47]  Daisyblue Hefferman: my poor father only got 6 months of peace before my mother joined him

[13:47]  Marilena Basevi: I love to see the patterns on the obit page....

[13:47]  Marilena Basevi: that in face is how I open the book, with my collection of coincidences

[13:47]  Synergy Devonshire is Offline

[13:47]  Marilena Basevi: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

[13:47]  Marilena Basevi: Tigger and Pooh

[13:47]  Marilena Basevi: vitamin C and vitamin K

[13:48]  Marilena Basevi: I think that is a story many people experience and read -- the long-married pairs who leave more or less together

[13:48]  Stolvano Barbosa: ha ha

[13:48]  Marilena Basevi: my great grandmother died three weeks before my great grandfather....

[13:48]  Novalli Worbridge: my grandparents died withing a month

[13:48]  Stolvano Barbosa: we should wrap up in a minute or two

[13:48]  Novalli Worbridge: i think it was the lack of opposition that did em

[13:48]  Stolvano Barbosa: other questions from folks?

[13:48]  Marilena Basevi: any last minute questions?

[13:49]  Faber Loring: Vonnegut had a term for couples like that -- "duprass"

[13:49]  Novalli Worbridge: a karass of 2

[13:49]  Marilena Basevi: I am so grateful to the fine people who put on this festival....what a marvelous idea

[13:49]  Bryte Jewell: did you tell us your absolute favorite?

[13:49]  Marilena Basevi: duprass? wow

[13:49]  Marilena Basevi: I have a new favorite everyday!

[13:49]  Kitty Otoole: I wish I had been here for teh beginning-this is fascinating stuff

[13:49]  Synergy Devonshire is Online

[13:49]  Stolvano Barbosa: favorite to write yourself?

[13:49]  Marilena Basevi: but the recent obits of Hugh Massingberd, often called the father of the modern obituary,

[13:49]  Marilena Basevi: were marvelous....

[13:50]  Novalli Worbridge: very modern, obituaries of obituaries

[13:50]  Marilena Basevi: here's a quote from his obit:

[13:50]  Marilena Basevi: "He knew instinctively that it is our peculiarities -- our failings, our embarrassments --

[13:50]  Marilena Basevi: that make us who we are. This view of mankind as fallen,

[13:50]  Marilena Basevi: but redeemed through eccentricity,

[13:51]  Marilena Basevi: ran like a golden thread through all his obituaries....

[13:51]  Marilena Basevi: you can read excerpts from two of my obituaries on my website

[13:51]  Marilena Basevi: www.marilynjohnson.net

[13:51]  Hollyjean Allen: Marilena, how marvelous you are...golden thread!

[13:51]  Marilena Basevi: and of course, you can read the marvelous work of the obituarists for the NYTIMes,

[13:51]  Kit Jimenez: hi, judi

[13:51]  Marilena Basevi: the LATimes, the Washington Post,

[13:52]  Marilena Basevi: the Guardian, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph

[13:52]  Marilena Basevi: the Globe and Mail

[13:52]  Marilena Basevi: the Rocky Mountain News....

[13:52]  Maxito Ricardo:   Does the writing and study of obits have a name? Obitology?

[13:52]  Kitty Otoole: Will definately read that Marilena

[13:52]  Marilena Basevi: etc etc every day....

[13:52]  Kitty Otoole: gotta have an ology! :)

[13:52]  Stolvano Barbosa: Read the BOOK too!

[13:52]  Novalli Worbridge: :)

[13:52]  Elan Neruda: is strange workings today

[13:52]  Marilena Basevi: we are called obituarists.....though some prefer journalists!

[13:52]  Judi Newall: KK :)

[13:52]  Kit Jimenez: shawna -- you and angie have great taste!

[13:52]  Elan Neruda: please do

[13:52]  Maxito Ricardo:   Obituary Science?

[13:52]  Kit Jimenez: an introduction would be good. i need to go plea bargain with my computer for a sec.

[13:53]  Shawna Montgomery: thank you Ma'am

[13:53]  Marilena Basevi: Tahnk you all for your wonderful patience with our -- my-- technical problems....

[13:53]  Elan Neruda: I need to get opal workign I think

[13:53]  Stolvano Barbosa: YAY! (yay!)

[13:53]  Hollyjean Allen: Its been wonderful!

[13:53]  Amalia Broome: thank you so much!

[13:53]  Amalia Broome: it was really interesting

[13:53]  Marilena Basevi: please feel free to ahve a conversation with me ANYTIME about obits or my work with librarians

[13:53]  Judi Newall: You don't have tip jars do you? The library has created on if you'd like it put out?

[13:53]  Daisyblue Hefferman: TY, Marilyn

[13:53]  Stolvano Barbosa: big had for Marilena!

[13:53]  Stolvano Barbosa: hand

[13:53]  Marilena Basevi: Thank you Stolvano! Thank you Theofila!

[13:53]  Kitty Otoole: Yes thank you Marilyn!

[13:53]  Deckard Jameson: thank you ... enjoyed it!

[13:53]  Bryte Jewell: thank you!

[13:53]  Marilena Basevi: Abbey....Marimar....all of you!

[13:53]  Liatris Tidewater: /clap

[13:53]  Stolvano Barbosa: WooT

[13:53]  Stolvano Barbosa: woot

[13:53]  Marilena Basevi: Maxito...

[13:54]  Stolvano Barbosa: blushes

[13:54]  Teofila Matova: Thank you, Marilena!

[13:54]  Stolvano Barbosa: ok

[13:54]  Marilena Basevi: oh Hollyjean saved me also!

[13:54]  Maxito Ricardo:   Thanks!

[13:54]  Teofila Matova: You are so kind to present for us!

[13:54]  Marilena Basevi: thank you Hollyjean....

[13:54]  Stolvano Barbosa: need to let next speaker set up

[13:54]  Marilena Basevi: my pleasure....truly

[13:54]  Kit Jimenez: judi can you give me the url for the right opal room?

[13:54]  Elan Neruda: are we in right place?

[13:55]  Judi Newall: Yes

[13:55]  Hollyjean Allen: I saved her! Single handedly! LOL

[13:55]  Judi Newall: That will take you into the OPAL room Tom Peters is there

[13:55]  Kit Jimenez: thanks

[13:55]  Judi Newall: and me too

[13:56]  Hollyjean Allen: tom Peters of the Peter Principle fame?

[13:56]  Maxito Ricardo:   I wish I were the "real " Tom Peters

[13:56]  Franja Russell: Is this where Steven Miller and Sharon Lee are speaking today?

[13:56]  Novalli Worbridge: hello, i picked up your book on a whim last week

[13:56]  Marilena Basevi: thank you so much!

[13:56]  Novalli Worbridge: read it on the bus home, it was good

[13:56]  Marilena Basevi: thank you!

[13:56]  Marilena Basevi: I wish I could autograph it! ha ha

[13:57]  Novalli Worbridge: thought it a strange co-incidence this

[13:57]  Novalli Worbridge: lol

[13:57]  Franja Russell: Hi. Am I in the right place to hear Steve Miller and Sharon Lee?

[13:57]  Marimar Berchot: Yes Franja

[13:57]  Marimar Berchot: you are

[13:57]  Marimar Berchot: :)

[13:57]  Kit Jimenez: ok. it's not telling me service unavailable this time. whew :)

[13:57]  Franja Russell: Thank you.

[13:57]  Novalli Worbridge: but co-incidences do seem to happen

[13:57]  Novalli Worbridge: i've been to a few book talks, but never a virtual one - there's a lot more calling out

[13:58]  Marilena Basevi: indeed! I hope you enjoyed some of those in the book...

[13:58]  Kit Jimenez: elan

[13:58]  Luna Bliss is Offline

[13:58]  Marilena Basevi: yes, there is....I think I might have missed a few comments, I was working so hard to type....

[13:58]  Novalli Worbridge: yeah, it's one of those books that cheer you up that get funny looks in public

[13:58]  Luna Bliss is Online

[13:58]  Marilena Basevi: isn't that half the fun?

[13:58]  Novalli Worbridge: except my friend's mum who came round today and said it was a book about me

[13:58]  Annie Octavia is Offline

[13:59]  Novalli Worbridge: i don't think she likes me

[13:59]  Marilena Basevi: oh dear....

[13:59]  Annie Octavia is Online

[13:59]  Novalli Worbridge: yeah - i got this book called 'curious pleasures' is another good one to leave around

[13:59]  Kit Jimenez: shall we go up to the stage, elan?

[13:59]  Marilena Basevi: ha ha....thank you for coming, Novalli --

[13:59]  Puglet Dancer is Offline

[13:59]  Novalli Worbridge: yeah - dead beat see -

[13:59]  Novalli Worbridge: cheers adios

[13:59]  Marilena Basevi: fareewell!

[14:00]  Abbey Zenith: Thank you Marilena :)

[14:00]  Novalli Worbridge: hello again,

[14:00]  Hollyjean Allen: Hi

[14:00]  Marilena Basevi: hi....

[14:00]  Novalli Worbridge: i made the hair fit - i shrunk me head

[14:00]  Oberon Octagon is Online

[14:00]  Hollyjean Allen: that's one was to do it!

[14:00]  Hollyjean Allen: creative of you

[14:01]  Novalli Worbridge: it was a shock to have a writer i have heard of on the stage

[14:01]  Hollyjean Allen: cool isn't it!

[14:01]  Novalli Worbridge: yeah, and you organised some of it?

[14:01]  Hollyjean Allen: Me, no...

[14:01]  Hollyjean Allen: I just give moral support

[14:02]  Novalli Worbridge: oh, well everyone needs support with their morals.

[14:02]  Kitty Otoole: I love the books that when you pick em up you get funny looks

[14:02]  Hollyjean Allen: so true!

[14:02]  Judi Newall: Problem?

[14:02]  Kitty Otoole: In fact..it's worth aiming for em if you ask me, lol

[14:02]  Novalli Worbridge: reminds me of student life, festivals, even virtual type ones

[14:03]  AnneMarie Alsop is Online

[14:03]  Teofila Matova: I believe it's time for Judi to now introduce our next speakers....... so I will hand the time over to Judi. :-)

[14:04]  Kit Jimenez: Judi, I have a glitch -- opal is giving me an error message that even baffles

[14:04]  Kit Jimenez: tom

[14:04]  Kit Jimenez: Steve may have to carry on alone

[14:04]  Teofila Matova: Several of us seem to need to relog (including myself)

[14:04]  Judi Newall: Partly it may be that the sim is so full here

[14:04]  Teofila Matova is Offline

[14:05]  Judi Newall: I don't see a white dot for SL voice for you eitehr Kit

[14:06]  Carrie Pennell is Offline

[14:06]  Annie Octavia is Offline

[14:07]  Kit Jimenez: break a leg

[14:07]  Kit Jimenez: lol

[14:09]  Judi Newall: Yes

[14:09]  01 Hifeng: am i supposed to hear something already?...

[14:11]  Judi Newall shouts: if you have problems hearing. Please get a notecard from the blue box and you can listen on the web via OPAL

[14:12]  Oberon Octagon is Offline

[14:12]  Judi Newall: I think it's off again Elan

[14:12]  Maxito Ricardo:   Your voice can be heard in OPAL

[14:12]  Maxito Ricardo:   But not in SL, I think

[14:13]  Maxito Ricardo:   I don't see any green waves over your head

[14:13]  Tornad Oh: The blue box is just giving me a teleport card to the ref desk

[14:13]  Free Radar HUD v1.1 by Crystal Gadgets

[14:14]  Teofila Matova is Online

[14:19]  Judi Newall shouts: Anyone not using OPAL IM me I will try to help

[14:19]  Alexander Basiat is Online

[14:22]  Maxito Ricardo:   I can hear Kit

[14:22]  Anhayla Lycia: hear you both

[14:23]  Alexander Basiat is Offline

[14:29]  Luna Bliss is Offline

[14:31]  Luna Bliss is Online

[14:32]  Lludmila Mirrikh is Offline

[14:33]  Anhayla Lycia: yes

[14:33]  ecxa Medusa: ia demasiadop

[14:33]  Judi Newall: In OPAL only

[14:33]  Synergy Devonshire is Offline

[14:35]  Rocky Vallejo:  Barrow Runningbear has found the treasure hunt prize and is declared the winner of the contest

[14:36]  Synergy Devonshire is Online

[14:36]  AnneMarie Alsop is Offline

[14:37]  AnneMarie Alsop is Online

[14:39]  Znetlady Isbell is Offline

[14:40]  Znetlady Isbell is Online

[14:42]  Teofila Matova encourages folks to start thinking about questions for our presenters......

[14:43]  Abbey Zenith is Offline

[14:43]  Teofila Matova audio for this presentation is through OPAL, please click on the blue triangle

[14:44]  Teofila Matova: Are there any questions from the audience?

[14:44]  Teofila Matova: I realize audio has not been the best -- love IT! -- however, for those who had sound, any questions?

[14:44]  Judi Newall: Have you had any interest from otehr publishers due to the response you have had?

[14:44]  Tristan Meriman: It seems that you have had it a bit tough in many ways, What keeps you motivated?

[14:45]  Anhayla Lycia: the note card for saltation is in front ofyou

[14:45]  Saltation Sign owned by Anhayla Lycia gave you 'Saltation and The Storyteller's Bowl Format'  ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/102/119/32 ).

[14:48]  Teofila Matova: :-) Thank you so much!

[14:48]  Znetlady Isbell is Offline

[14:48]  Anhayla Lycia: Have you seen the same sort of response for Saltation as you saw for Fledgling?

[14:48]  Kit Jimenez: They're updating their blogs.

[14:48]  Karl Nostram: *applause*

[14:49]  Irina Amadeus is Offline

[14:50]  Lludmila Mirrikh is Online

[14:50]  Judi Newall: Do you see this as being a feature of your work from now on, or will you take a break from this format?

[14:52]  Anhayla Lycia offers addresses http://kinzel.livejournal.com/ and http://rolanni.livejournal.com/

[14:52]  Kit Jimenez: ty!

[14:52]  Anhayla Lycia: :)

[14:52]  Judi Newall shouts: To hear the speakers at a later date: www.opal-online.org, then click on the archive There is a stall with links to these books and a lot of information. It's just along the walkway to the EAST

[14:52]  Anhayla Lycia: Where can we see you in person this year?

[14:52]  Teofila Matova: Thank you Elan & Kit!

[14:52]  Anhayla Lycia: Thank you! :0

[14:52]  Maxito Ricardo:   Thanks!

[14:52]  Anhayla Lycia:    ...Yay...Woooh...

[14:53]  Shawna Montgomery: thank you!

[14:53]  Tristan Meriman: /m claps in appreciation

[14:53]  Kit Jimenez: thank you!!

[14:53]  Teofila Matova: :-) The pleasure is our's!

[14:54]  Judi Newall shouts: Please collect a notecard from the from blue box and take a card with a link to ALL the talks for later

[14:54]  Teofila Matova: Our next presentation will be from Tristan Meriman (RL: Glenn Manewell); he will read excertps from the "Summary of the Last War" of the Ashivah Series.

[14:54]  Shawna Montgomery: lol

[14:54]  Kit Jimenez: Thanks a lot, guys

[14:54]  Teofila Matova: We'll be setting up now.

[14:54]  Judi Newall: Maybe if we move to the stall folks may follow?

[14:54]  Kit Jimenez: head bumps, sigh

[14:54]  Kit Jimenez: that might work

[14:54]  Teofila Matova: I would appreciate assistance from the audience in getting feedback with sound. OK?

[14:55]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[14:55]  Karl Nostram: ok Teo :o)

[14:55]  Teofila Matova: Tristan, did you receive the tip jar?

[14:56]  Teofila Matova: wonderful

[14:56]  Teofila Matova: I hear you in SL, do others?

[14:56]  Karl Nostram: I hear him OK Teo :o)

[14:56]  Lois Allen: I can hear you Tristan

[14:56]  Maxito Ricardo:   yes, you sound just right

[14:57]  Teofila Matova: you are good

[14:57]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[14:57]  Teofila Matova: a rich artist!

[14:57]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[14:57]  Franja Russell: I'm not hearing ANY speakers right now. When Sharon and Steve were speaking, I heard only a few partial sentences.

[14:57]  Teofila Matova: As you like

[14:57]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[14:57]  Teofila Matova: And I'm no Shakesperean groupie!

[14:57]  Maxito Ricardo:   yes, through OPAL, too

[14:57]  Franja Russell: Now I'm hearing Tristan...at least I heard one sentence.

[14:58]  Maxito Ricardo:   loud and clear via OPAL.

[14:58]  Teofila Matova: Franja, what is your problem with sound?

[14:58]  Teofila Matova: Maxito, could you help Franja?

[14:58]  Maxito Ricardo:   Maybe Franja should try the OPAL route.

[14:58]  Teofila Matova: Welcome everyon!

[14:58]  Teofila Matova: *e

[14:58]  Teofila Matova: Please have a seat

[14:58]  Teofila Matova: lol

[14:59]  Teofila Matova: Australia is nice, isn't is Karl?

[14:59]  Lois Allen: giggle

[14:59]  Teofila Matova: yes, we'll let folks settle in

[14:59]  Karl Nostram: yes baby, Aus is nice :o))... I'm from Brissy :o)

[15:00]  Teofila Matova: Welcome to those who are joining us....... Tristan Meriman will be reading excerpts from the "Summary of the Last War" of the Ashivah Series. He'll be using both SL voice and OPAL.........

[15:00]  Teofila Matova: please click on the blue triangle to get OPAL access.

[15:00]  Teofila Matova: Mr. Meriman has been a pleasure to work with!

[15:01]  Teofila Matova: I'm delighted to have him today.

[15:01]  Teofila Matova: Yes, we are nearing a close to a fabulous, full-day festival.

[15:01]  Karl Nostram: *applause*

[15:01]  Teofila Matova: Please, welcome Mr. Tristan Meriman. :-)

[15:01]  Marimar Berchot: Welcome Tristan

[15:01]  Lludmila Mirrikh is Offline

[15:03]  Tabitha Broome is Online

[15:04]  AnneMarie Alsop is Offline

[15:05]  Fleet Goldenberg is Online

[15:06]  Teofila Matova grips her seat..........

[15:07]  Fleet Goldenberg is Offline

[15:09]  Luna Bliss is Offline

[15:09]  Luna Bliss is Online

[15:10]  Teofila Matova holds her breath

[15:12]  Teofila Matova gently reminds folk to tip our passionate reader and presenter...... tip jar is on stage.

[15:14]  Teofila Matova raises her fingers to her lips, eyes wide open

[15:25]  Hypatia Dejavu is Online

[15:25]  AnneMarie Alsop is Online

[15:26]  AnneMarie Alsop is Offline

[15:28]  Hypatia Dejavu is Offline

[15:29]  Teofila Matova grips her seat tighter......

[15:30]  Hypatia Dejavu is Online

[15:35]  Teofila Matova holds her breath

[15:36]  Honor Riederer is Offline

[15:42]  Karl Nostram: wow, amazing Tristan

[15:42]  Lois Allen shouts: MORE

[15:42]  Teofila Matova: oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[15:42]  ranxid Mathilde: !!appppplause!!!

[15:42]  Teofila Matova: yae!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[15:42]  Franja Russell: We definitely did enjoy your reading, Tristan.

[15:42]  Teofila Matova: fabulous!!!!!!!!

[15:42]  Karl Nostram shouts: *Standing Ovation for Tristan please"

[15:42]  Mosseveno Tenk: always bring rooten fruit, just for you tristan

[15:42]  Teofila Matova: oh my

[15:42]  Tamraen Dryke: rottne fruit?! aha never Tritan! that was amazing

[15:42]  Teofila Matova: You are wonderful!

[15:42]  Teofila Matova: lol

[15:42]  Mosseveno Tenk: i'd take a picture but you look like ruth

[15:42]  Teofila Matova: may I smear fruit on you?

[15:43]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:43]  Karl Nostram: *Standing Ovation for Tristan please*

[15:43]  Leeorie Alter: clap clap!!

[15:43]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:43]  Teofila Matova: You were fabulous and it was wonderful.

[15:43]  Maxito Ricardo:   fantastic

[15:43]  Tamraen Dryke: Can you continue reading on Lyonesse?

[15:43]  Tamraen Dryke laughs

[15:43]  Mosseveno Tenk: lol

[15:43]  Lois Allen: when do we hear the rest of it?

[15:43]  Tamraen Dryke: :D

[15:43]  Teofila Matova: Very sensual, very tender

[15:44]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:44]  Mosseveno Tenk: real estate prces are goign to soar on lyonesse

[15:44]  Tamraen Dryke: FABULOUS

[15:44]  Tamraen Dryke: I'll be happy to listen if you do

[15:44]  Teofila Matova: Tristan, you are so great!

[15:44]  Teofila Matova: I'm still a bit numb from the reading.

[15:44]  Tamraen Dryke: hahaahhahahaha

[15:45]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:45]  Tamraen Dryke: LOL

[15:45]  Maxito Ricardo:   My avatar has a mind of his own

[15:45]  Karl Nostram: you done real good mate

[15:45]  Tamraen Dryke: you're still the coolest av I know

[15:45]  Leeorie Alter: maxito are you the go to guy for audio problems

[15:45]  Tamraen Dryke: stading ovation for that! lol

[15:45]  Leeorie Alter: ?

[15:45]  Teofila Matova: Tristan, this was remarkable.

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: This day has been remarkable.

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: No, don't vacate

[15:46]  ranxid Mathilde: very good work

[15:46]  Karl Nostram: *applause*

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: please

[15:46]  Maxito Ricardo:   I'm the audio guy for OPAL, but don't know more than the average bear concerning audio in SL

[15:46]  Tamraen Dryke: Thanks for having Tristan ont eh stage Teofila!

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: there is no other act

[15:46]  Leeorie Alter: o....

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: You are beautiful!

[15:46]  Leeorie Alter: I haven't been able to get audio...

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: no, my dear Mr. Tristan.

[15:46]  Mosseveno Tenk: yes

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: Please

[15:46]  Mosseveno Tenk: bugger

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: no

[15:46]  Teofila Matova: one moment

[15:46]  Leeorie Alter: I signed in to opal a couple years ago....

[15:46]  Lois Allen: tap dance can be arranged

[15:46]  Tamraen Dryke: do that cool floating cross blue smke thing

[15:46]  Leeorie Alter: not sure what password I used then...

[15:46]  Maxito Ricardo:   Leeorie, no audio here in SL

[15:47]  Leeorie Alter: O!

[15:47]  ranxid Mathilde: what was the underlying current of this series? the message as you saw it as you were writing it?

[15:47]  Maxito Ricardo:   in OPAL, any username should work, and just leave the password field blank

[15:47]  Leeorie Alter: ok

[15:47]  Teofila Matova: Would you be so kind to have this dance with me, Tristan?

[15:47]  Leeorie Alter: I thought I was in opal, ....

[15:47]  Leeorie Alter: :)

[15:47]  Teofila Matova: You are officially our last speaker.

[15:47]  Leeorie Alter: thanks!

[15:48]  Teofila Matova: this dance!

[15:48]  ranxid Mathilde: sorry was just curious

[15:48]  Teofila Matova: behind you, darling!

[15:48]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:48]  Tamraen Dryke: LOL.. Tristan doesn't dance... or does he?! :P

[15:48]  Tamraen Dryke gets her camera ready

[15:48]  Lois Allen: only in full armour lol

[15:48]  Tamraen Dryke: :D

[15:48]  Tamraen Dryke: /is dying laughing

[15:48]  Maxito Ricardo:   Is it Sunday morning in Australia

[15:48]  Teofila Matova: yae!

[15:48]  Teofila Matova: Good morning Australia!

[15:48]  Tristan Meriman: yes, Sunnamorin

[15:49]  Teofila Matova: I thank you for being with us, Tristan, and giving us a fabulous reading!!!!

[15:49]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:49]  Teofila Matova: Very nice!

[15:49]  Tristan Meriman: Thank or inviting e

[15:49]  Tristan Meriman: me

[15:49]  Teofila Matova: :-)

[15:49]  Mosseveno Tenk: hmm, he still ooks like ruth... so i'm getting a completely different story here

[15:49]  Teofila Matova: Everyone! We now have a social and happy hour starting in a few moments. then the Mystery Theatre starts at 5P SLT