Articles by Barefoot Pete

I usually don’t like to give advice about who to vote for, but I just can’t believe that some people I know are actually planning on voting Republican. If they won’t listen to me, maybe they’ll listen to Opie and Andy or Richie and The Fonz…

Once upon a time in a land far away, a beautiful, self-assured, independent princess happened upon a frog as she sat comtemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolutted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the princess’ lap and said: “Elegant lady, I was once a handsome prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper young prince that I am, and then my sweet we can marry, and set up housekeeping in your castle with your mother, where you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes and bear my children and forever feel happy and grateful for doing so.”

That night as the princess dined sumptously on lightly sauteed frog legs, seasoned in a white wine and onion cream sauce, she chuckled and thought to herself, “I don’t fuckin’ think so…”

Larry Barrington has been a great friend for a long time. He’s been a performer at Busch Gardens in Tampa for 27 years. Today was his last performance as part of the Hospitality House entertainment. Tomorrow will be his last day at the park playing guitar in the Rock A Doo Wop show.  As of tomorrow night he will be officially retired. It seemed like he’d always be with us. This is the end of an era. Best of luck, Larry, in all your future endeavors. You will definitely be missed around here.

There are scientific standards of proof. This country became a world leader in many areas by adhering to those standards. Lately, though, it seems that as the religious right gain more and more power we have sunk to a very low level. We are no longer the leader in many areas. They are proud of their ignorance. Here’s an example of religious logic at work…

I realize that I am not being politically correct. So I hope I haven’t offended anyone. So if you are one of those thin-skinned whiny butts who can’t take a joke then…

Thank you.

I’ve busy the last few days.

I got an idea… that’s always trouble.

Anyway, I decided to build a house. I started out with a prefab, but changed it completely. I might as well have started from scratch. There is nothing left of the original. It’s been a lot of fun. I make a change here and that inspires a change there. I ended up with this modern style house:

It’s still a work in progress. It will never be done. I like to change colors, or add a deck here or there. There’s a living room and a bedroom, two decks, a swimming pool. At least that’s what’s there as I write this. An hour from now it could be completely different.

Here’s a picture of Pete relaxing in the living room at night…

One of my inspirations for this house is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Bear Run, PA. I’ve always like his houses and was fortunate enough to have lived in an area of the country not far from many homes designed by him. Hmmm… maybe I’ll take out the pool, put in a small waterfall, and have a stream running under one of the cantilevered decks… just like Fallingwater.

I’ve got to stop thinking.

Handle every stressful situation as a dog would… piss on it and walk away.

I’ve been spending a lot of time online in Second Life…

I have really been enjoying building. I pretty much filled up the land I had. I tried to buy some more land in the immediate area to expand into, but there was no more land available there so I went out shopping and bought more land in another area. I sold the original land to one of my neighbors who wanted to expand her business. I bought the land just before the big price drop, yet I still was able to sell the land at a profit.

At ground level I’ve built a nice little meditation garden. There’s a hut with meditation cushions, there’s a papaya tree that you can climb and if you’re not careful it will drop a papaya on your head. A waterfall flows into a nice pool to float in, and my magic mushroom is nearby.

I’ve build a nice little place called The Cupidon Cafe in a skybox for my friends to hang out at. It’s like a New York City loft so I guess that combines my love of New York with my love of SL. There are dance animations available to use and a radio with changeable stations so you can pick what type of music you want to dance to. There’s a stage at one end of the building with a dual dance pole so two people can pole dance in coordinated dances. If you visit you may be lucky to see the world’s best exotic dancing zombie on stage. There’s a little snack bar area at the other end where you can sit and relax.

I have a regular bar with a Budweiser beer tap that I bought from a very talented builder. Click on it… a mug appears… the mug fills with beer… and it then is given to you. The beer mug has a nice animation in it to make it look like you are occasionally taking a drink. As you drink the level of the beer in the mug goes down until it is gone. It really is a very clever piece of work. I build some nice stools for the bar that rotate so you can turn to face whatever direction you wish.

There’s a creaking stairway to a second level lounging area with a woodburning fireplace, some comfortable furniture, and some classic artwork.

There’s a secret trapdoor that can be opened remotely to surprise unsuspecting guests. The door opens, you hear a scream, and they drop down into a dungeon with few surprises in it…

EVER WONDER …

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why women can’t put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don’t you ever see the headline ‘Psychic Wins Lottery’?

Why is ‘abbreviated’ such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do ‘practice’?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn’t there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

Why do they call the airport the terminal if flying is so safe?

Why do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front?

Why do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke?

Why do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters?

Why do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Why do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering?

A “heads up” for those men who may be regular Home Depot customers.

Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don’t be naive enough to think it couldn’t happen to you or your friends.

Here’s how the scam works:

Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look.

When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say “No” and instead ask you for a ride to another Home Depot. You agree and they get in the backseat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you while the other one steals your wallet. I had my wallet stolen June 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th 29th. Also July 1st, 5th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, three times last Saturday and very likely again this upcoming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful.

P.S. Walmart has wallets on sale 2.99 each

Thanks to dysan.net

http://www.dysan.net/weird/show/705.html

One of my favorite restaurants is going to have live music and a belly dancer…

The Gardens Restaurant

Presents

“Mediterranean Nights”

Starting July 25th

Live Greek - Mediterranean Music

Live Belly Dancing

Full Menu

Friday & Saturday Nights

8:00 PM to ??

5201 E. Busch Blvd., Tampa, FL

(813) 989-2069

Good food, good service, good prices…. and now live music and belly dancing. Can life get any better than this?

This “moran” should get a brain, preferably with spell check…

I usually don’t like it when people forward emails to me, but now and then I get one I actually like.

Ole was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens) called “pullets,” and 10 roosters to fertilize the eggs. He kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced.

This took a lot of time, so he bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells.

Ole’s favorite rooster, old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but one morning he noticed old Butch’s bell hadn’t rung at all! When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, could run for cover.

To Ole’s amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn’t ring. He’d sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one. Ole was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the San Diego County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result was the judges not only awarded old Butch the No-Bell Piece Prize, but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.

Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren’t paying attention.

Vote carefully this year… the bells are not always audible.

Somehow, what they said back then is even more appropriate for the current political climate…

We would like to apologise for the way in which politicians are represented in this programme. it was never our intention to imply that politicians are weak-kneed political time-servers who are concerned more with their personal vendettas and private power struggles than the problems of government, nor to suggest at any point that they sacrifice their credibility by denying free debate on vital matters in the mistaken impression that party unity comes before the well-being of the people they supposedly represent, nor to imply at any stage that they are squabbling little toadies without an ounce of concern for the vital social problems of today. Nor indeed do we intend that viewers should consider them as crabby ulcerous little self seeking vermin with furry legs and an excessive addiction to alcohol and certain explicit sexual practices which some may find offensive.

-Monty Pythons Flying Circus, 1972

I used to have Brighthouse cable, including a high-definition dvr. Hi-def on my TV was incredible. I got to a point where it was unpleasant watching regular TV. Then I switched to Verizon FIOS. Unfortunately, they were back-ordering the HD-DVRs. Without hi-def I just have not been enjoying TV lately, watching only a few special programs that I just can’t miss.

Today my back-ordered HD-DVR finally arrived. I am in heaven again. I’ve got a bunch more HD channels than I had before. It’s like… WOW! Watching TV will now be a pleasant experience again.

Here’s a little illustration showing the difference between regular and hi-def TV. The content is the same, but notice how much clearer the hi-def picture is…

No change on the employment front. I guess I’m just too lazy to go get a job…

If I get a job I’ll really miss the unstructured life I’ve been living. I like being able to come and go as I please. My life is almost entirely on my schedule, not somebody else’s.

I think I’ve found a way to re-structure my retirement account that may produce a higher level of income. As long as the economy is in the shit-house my income won’t be as high as it was, but I think I can get it back up to about 2/3 of it was a few months back, then I might be able to make it by just working a couple days a week.

Life is good… but could be better.

I took out my earrings today. It’s the first time they’ve been out since I put them in fifteen months ago, right after my last day working at that certain theme park. I must admit it does feel a bit strange without them. They had almost become part of me.

The title of this post is Monthly Update because I just realized that it’s been a full month since I’ve posted anything.

Let’s see… What’s happened in the last month?

The renaissance festival drew to a close. It occupied seven weekends of my life. I had a lot of fun. Met some wonderful new people. Had some great weather and some horrible weather. A couple days it rained so hard that I actually left before the festival closed for the day. Being a loner, I’ve decided that I really prefer to experience the festival alone or with just a couple friends. Hanging out with a big group every weekend is anxiety inducing for me.

In the last month I’ve had to give up on an old friend. He’s one of those friends that everything is his way or the highway. I decided since he can’t respect my feelings I’d chose the highway. I’ve experienced a great sense of relief after making the difficult decision to give up on the friendship.

My finances took a turn for the worse. Due to the faltering economy my retirement income has dropped dramtically. My income no longer covers basic expenses so I guess I’ll be going back to work. Since I have rehire status at my last place of employment I’ll probably go back to work there since it’s the easiest job to get. I’ll definitely work in a different department, though.

I am still experiencing Second Life on a daily basis. I’ve acquired my own little piece of land and commenced building. I’ve put up a nice little semi-Japanese teahouse, some extensive landscaping, built some things from scratch, and scattered many pose balls around for meditating. My main goal is to create a relaxing atomoshpere and so far it seems to be working. It’s been a lot of fun building my little corner of Second Life. Maybe one of these days I’ll post some pictures of it.

Life is good.

Be careful if you ask a kindergartner to draw some scissors…

Never argue with an idiot. They’ll lower you to their level and then beat you with experience.
~ Unknown source

There’s a guy in the Tampa Bay area that creates avatar animations for Second Life. This story ran on Fox News 13 recently and gives us a glimpse at how he does it…

Okay… think machine + cinema… what do you get? Machinima.

Here’s a look at how movies are made in virtual worlds…

Gametrotting Eps #3 - Machiniwaaa?

That’s right, folks, it’s that time of the year again. The Bay Area Renaissance Festival opens Saturday, February 23. So now you know where to find me for the next seven weekends…

We live in a climate of fear. The neo-conservatives funded by big business want us to believe that everything is going to hell in a handbasket. Perhaps the tide is starting to turn…

9:15

Now you can own your very own tornado in Second Life. Head over to Dejavu (40,70,22) for a live demonstration. Here’s a demo film shot in Second Life showing the tornadoes in action….

Runtime 6:50

“Doc, I can’t stop singing The Green, Green Grass of Home.”

“That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome.”

“Is it common?”

“Well, It’s Not Unusual ”

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer Store. How may I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks. I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don’t know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Window’s.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.

COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That’s right What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer Store. How may I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’

Sometimes I feel like I’m just going in circles…

“I’m not a member of any organized group. I’m a Democrat.”
~Will Rogers

I don’t like clowns. I’m not afraid of them like some people are. I… just… don’t… like… them…

One place you will often find clowns is in the children’s wards of hospitals. Oh, how nice! Some entertainment for the kids to enjoy while they are in the hospital. Recently there was a survey of 250 four to sixteen year hospital patients. Well, according to the results published in Nursing Standard magazine not one single kid in the survey likes clowns. That’s right… ALL 250 dislike clowns, with some finding them quite frightening. So let’s subject our kids to the discomfort of being in the hospital and then terrorize them with clowns!!!

It’s nice to know that I am not alone in my dislike of clowns. I don’t think clowns should be outlawed because I believe they are protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech. I usually just do my best to avoid them. Unfortunately, the undercover clowns who blend into society in plain clothes are the hardest to spot coming and I often find myself face-to-face with some Bozo without any warning…

After countless theories the true identity of the person known as Mona Lisa may have been discovered…

“Deep in the archive of Heidelberg University, researcher Veit Probst says he has found a book that once belonged to Agostino Vespucci, a friend of da Vinci. In the margin of one page is a note from October 1503 which, the researcher claims, confirms the identity of the Mona Lisa as the Mona (for Madonna) Lisa del Giocondo, the third wife of a Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo.”
(from the Irish Times 1/15/08)

Well, I know that I’ll sleep better at night now that I don’t have to worry about her true identity anymore…

Last summer my dad’s cell phone broke. The display stopped working. It’s a flip-phone and it there is a tiny wire between the main body of the phone and the flip-up screen. The wire had broken. It cost quite a bit to fix.

A couple weeks after my dad’s phone broke, another friend’s phone broke. Same model phone, same wire broke.

Wednesday my phone broke. Same model phone, same wire broke, at least that’s what I’m assuming. I am able to receive calls, but can’t see the caller ID so I won’t answer. If whoever is calling leaves a message I can retrieve my voice mail using the voice-activated dialing feature.

So now the question is… should I get the phone fixed? The phone cost a lot because it has a lot of features so you might think it’s worth it to get it fixed. It costs almost a hundred bucks to get the phone fixed. However, the contract is up for renewal in a couple months so I can get new feature-packed phone with a new contract.

I’m thinking I’ll just get my old phone reactivated. It was a good phone, smaller and lighter. I charged the battery and it still seems to be in working condition. Then when the contract runs out I can renew the contract and get a new phone or just go with one of those cheap prepaid phones from a discount store.

In the mean time, don’t expect me to answer the phone even if you’re a friend. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you eventually. Who knows, maybe I can tear myself away from Second Life today long enough to go to the phone store.

Watch this amazing video as Robbie Dingo creates a 3D version of Van Gogh’s Starry Night in Second Life…

Read about how this video was made here.

Um…. Happy New Year

A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter.

‘”What are you doing?” she asked.

“Hunting Flies,” he responded.

“Oh? Killing any?” she asked.

“Yep. Three males, two females,” he replied.

Intrigued, she asked, “How can you tell them apart?”

“Easy,” he responded. “Three were on a beer can, two were on the phone.”

If you’ve been watching The Next Great American Band, then you’re probably aware that The Clark Brothers won the competition. I just want to say congratulations to three very deserving people–Adam, Ashley, and Austin Clark. One of the judges on the show said, “They’re the real deal…” Well, he’s right, they really are the real deal.

They were raised in a musical family doing ministerial work as Freddy Clark Ministries. They worked very hard in the family band and have obviously kept up the hard work. They didn’t just get lucky to win this competition, they earned it.

Congratulations, boys, for a job well done.

“My Religion”
In the winter, I’m a Buddhist,
In the summer, I’m a nudist!
~ Joseph Ferdinand Gould

Check out this animation of baby boomers singing Bored Tubby Mild, it’s hysterical. I’m sure you’ll recognize the tune immediately…

Looks like the great rift valley of Africa may be slightly off. Shouldn’t it be a bit farther to the southeast?

The last couple months have been rather hectic around here.

Several rounds of out of town guests have finally returned to the great white north.

My father has been in the process of getting his new condo ready to move in for the last couple months and that’s coming to a close. We’ve been moving a lot of small things over to his new place. The movers are coming tomorrow to move his big things over and then he’ll start living in the new place and settling in.

I’ve been able to get rid of a couple large pieces of excess furniture that have been taking up space at my place and I can once again walk through the upstairs bedroom to get to my desk.

Things are slowly returning to “normal,” whatever that is…

Life is good.

“It’s like a cow’s opinion; it doesn’t matter. It’s moo.”
Joey in “Friends”

The Second Life Community Convention has announced that it’s 2008 convention will be held in Tampa, FL. I guess I know what I’ll be doing next September…

Top Gear, a car show in Great Britain, recently reviewed a 1964 Peel P50…

Here’s hoping you had an interesting Halloween…

A bald man with a wooden leg gets invited to a Halloween party. He doesn’t know what costume to wear to hide his head and his leg so he writes to a costume company to explain his problem. A few days later he received a parcel with the following note:

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a pirate’s outfit. The spotted handkerchief will cover your bald head and, with your wooden leg, you will be just right as a pirate.
Very truly yours,
Acme Costume Co.

The man thinks this is terrible because they have emphasized his wooden leg and so he writes a letter of complaint. A week goes by and he receives another parcel and a note, which says:

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a monk’s habit. The long robe will cover your wooden leg and, with your bald head, you will really look the part.
Very truly yours,
Acme Costume Co.

Now the man is really upset since they have gone from emphasizing his wooden leg to emphasizing his bald head so again he writes the company another nasty letter of complaint. The next day he gets a small parcel and a note, which reads:

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a bottle of molasses and a bag of crushed nuts. Pour the molasses over your bald head, pat on crushed nuts, stick your wooden leg up your @ss and go as a caramel apple.
Very truly yours,
Acme Costume Co.

I live alone, with a cat and bird for company. I rarely get company. In this situation it’s easy to fall into the “I’ll do it later” mode. So there’s a bit of mess piling up… I’ll get to it later… There’s no real motivation to keeps things tidy. I used to tell people my hobby was collecting dust and they should come over anytime and enjoy my collection.

Today I’ve got company coming so I got motivated to tidy up the place. It’s not that it takes all that long, it’s just that “I’ll do it later” thing that allows things to pile up. Maybe I need to invite people over more often. Then my place will be tidy all the time.

Yeah, right, sure…

Well, at least it’s tidy for today.

On Tuesday Apple finally announced the release date for their new operating system, Mac OS X 10.5. I’ve been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the new OS, so on Wednesday I went across town to the Apple Store and got my new computer. It’s wonderful. It’s got the old OS on it but I will get a free upgrade as soon as it comes out on October 26.

Apple makes it pretty easy to upgrade from one computer to another. Just run a cable from one to the other and run the migration program. I’ve done this several times before through the years. I got the new computer out and turned it on. The computer setup program asks a few simple questions and then automatically goes into the migration program. Answer a few more simple questions and everything happens automatically… if you have the right cable.

In the past you used an ethernet crossover cable and I’ve got one of those. Well, since the last time I did a migration they have changed the procedure to use a firewire cable instead. No problem, run to the Walmart to get the new cable and guess what? They didn’t have one. No problem, there’s a Staple’s just down the street and, yes, they have the cable. But wait, it’s 32 friggin dollars. I’ll just run to Radio Shack. It’s not far away. They have everything. Except the double ended firewire cable I neeed. The guy offers to order one for me but since I needed two hours ago I declined and resumed my search. Circuit City? Nope. I finally head all the way back across town to ChumpUSA. They’ve got the cable I need for $24 so I buy it. I could have gotten one online for $9 but at this point I’m thoroughly disgusted so I buy it because I need it right now. I’ve now had my computer up and running for almost four hours and I’m still at step two.

I got home a bit before 5:00 and hooked up the cable. I started up the migration program and started the migration. Estimated time remaining about four hours… FOUR HOURS!!! Yikes! So I let it do it’s thing. Almost exactly four hours later it’s finally done. Takes a long time to transfer almost 50 gigs of data and preserve all my old user settings.

At this point I took a few minutes to run the software update program. It found a bunch of stuff to update so I ran the updates and rebooted.

Next up is starting up SL. No joy. It crashes on startup. After fiddling a bit and updating a few more things, voila! It’s up and running. And I mean running… The old computer ran SL as slow as molassess, but on this computer it flies! I was enjoying myself so much I stayed online until about 3:30 this morning.

Life is good.

Finally…

Apple announced this morning that Mac OS X 10.5 will be released October 26th, at 6:00 PM. That means I can get my new computer now.

YIPPEE!!!

I just read an article in The New York Times that does a pretty good job of explaining Second Life. You can read it here. Most articles in popular media seem to concentrate on the more bizarre aspects of virtual worlds, but this one does a credible job of explaining a much more common experience.

In real life we want a home. In SL the author has an adobe hacienda which he has furnished. In real life we want friends. In SL he has neighbors and friends that he socializes with.

There are many things we want in real life that we can’t have for whatever reason, but in second life you can have them. You can be whatever you want, anything from a homeless hobo to a real estate baron.

There are entertainment venues for dancing and concerts. There are places to shop, explore, dance, meditate… name it and you’ll probably find it.

There are also areas for people into the fantasy genre where you can have a quiet faerie cottage in the woods or a huge fortified castle. You can even live in a treehouse or a giant flower.

Want to explore a hobbit house? There are a few of those around. How about a walk through a haunted cemetery? Yep, you can do that too it if you want to.

In your explorations you will come across all kinds of people and creatures. You may even spot a dragon or two.

Second Life is good.

There seems to be some kind of bug in my blog. I need to get an exterminator…

If RL worked like SL it would look kinda like this…

People keep asking me what is so special about this “game” called Second Life. It’s really hard to explain. It’s not really a game, it’s a virtual world where you can find almost anything, do almost anything, make friends, and just have incredible adventures.

Although I’m not Catholic, I still have a favorite saint, St. Francis of Assisi. Someday I’d like to go to Italy to see his chapel and crypt. The Basilica di San Fransesco is built around them. I was able to visit the Basilica last night in a beautiful 3d rendition in Second Life. I had a wonderful time and had the place almost to myself.

You teleport in to a reception area just outside the gates. There’s some free information to pick up, or you can buy a tour guide. Hmm… just like real life. You enter into a large courtyard area and proceed to the faithfully rendered basilica. From there you can go up stairs, down stairs, or where ever you take a notion and wander around to your hearts content.

I got lost once or twice. No problem, just teleport back to the reception area and start exploring again. I was able to find the original chapel down on one of the lower levels, but I didn’t find the crypt. I’ll be going back to visit often and will probably end up buying a guide book so as I’m wandering I’ll know more about what I’m seeing. Maybe with the guide book I’ll find the crypt.

If you manage to find your way out one of the back doors, you may find the bike path which will take you through a lovely manicured landscape. You’ll come to a gift shop where you can buy some souvenirs. Nearby there’s also a bicycle shop. Pop in and get a free bike to add to your inventory. If you can’t find the back door, teleport out of the basilica and fly around to the back side and you’ll probably be able to find it that way.

I give it two thumbs up and highly recommend a visit.

website, slurl

My friend Amras got me another pair of shoes last night. Lovely, aren’t they? I almost got the Sunshine Yellow with black toes, but decided I needed these purple ones first. They had about ten different colors, all in low-top or high-top. I can’t wait until I’ve got some L$ so I can go buy a bunch more.

Yesterday I went to the Apple store to look at new iMacs. They are georgeous. I got to see them, but the store was so jammed with people I didn’t get a chance to try Second Life on one. In another month or so I think I’ll be getting one.

I… am… not… addicted… to… Second… Life…

Here’s a picture of Pete Applemoor hovering over the Buddhist temple on the island of Golden Green. Pete likes to hang out there because it’s a very peaceful place. He can often be found meditating in a special place behind the rushing waters of a waterfall, or visiting with his friend Ricky Bosatsu.

Pete is wearing his favorite shirt—Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Also, please notice he’s also wearing a very cool pair of denim Chuck Taylor’s given to him by his dear friends Amras and Charra.

I’m getting a bit braver in Second Life. I’ve been having tons-o-fun shopping for free merchandise, experimenting with different ways of interacting with objects, and exploring new places.

There are quite a few places to shop that have free merchandise. Oft times it’s name brand items with logos, sometimes it’s just good stuff, sometimes it’s stuff that’s not quite so good. I picked up some Levi jeans, a Rolexwatch, and a bunch more name brand items. I’m really enjoying my Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon tee shirt.

One of the objects I’ve acquired is a BMX bike. It’s been a lot of fun experimenting with that. When I was exploring one of the areas in Manhattan I found a free motorcycle. The more you explore the more things you stumble upon. Serendipity.

I wanted a pet. I saw a nice elephant on Golden Green. GG is an island with a huge Buddhist temple. I did a search for elephants. I found a place called Everlite Creature Shop. They have many types of creatures available so I teleported over. I found an elephant rather quickly and it was free! I quickly grabbed one and put him in my inventory. I walked around the corner and what did I see? A wooly mammoth! Also free. I’m acquiring quite a menagerie.

My SL and RL friends, Amras and Charra, tipped me off about an island run by the World Wildlife Fund. I popped in for a visit there last night. Beautiful scenery, lots of exotic animals, ruins of an ancient civilization. There’s also a small town where I found free WWF tee shirts and underwear for my quickly growing collection of clothes.

I think I’ll start taking pictures of some of these places so I can post them for you all to see. SL is very hard to describe, it’s something you have to experience. I’m hooked…

Problems, Problems, and More Problems…

I’ve been having a lot of problems running Second Life on my computer. It’s an older iMac, several generations old. It doesn’t have enough memory, it’s got an underpowered graphics card, and the processor is too slow. I can do some basic things, but I can’t walk around and chat without getting into trouble. The system locks up and I have to reboot. I’ve rebooted more times in the last two days than I have in the last year.

I came up with a solution…

At least I thought I did. Today I went over to my dad’s place and installed SL on his much newer and faster computer. I logged in and, voila! I could walk around and chat like a completely normal person except nobody had heads or legs, including me. And the ground and buildings never displayed, just an occasional shrub or tree floating above the ocean. I could zip around like crazy, but kept bumping into buildings and things that I couldn’t see.

I could chat in SL easily enough with other people, and spent a great deal of time with my friend Mike trying to get things working. We also enlisted the aid of the SL support forums. Unfortunately, dad’s computer, while much faster, just wasn’t up to the task. Complicating things was his DSL connection. Just not fast enough, you really need cable or fiber. And, ironically enough, his computer has the same underpowered graphics card that’s in my iMac.

I came up with the ultimate solution…

Get a new computer as soon as possible. I’ve been planning on upgrading this winter, but I may have to push that time from up a bit. Also, I’ll soon be able to get a blazingly fast fiber connection. The last couple of weeks they’ve been busy putting in the new lines in our subdivision.

Life is good.

I ran into an old friend, Mike, at Busch Gardens yesterday and had the pleasure of meeting his lovely out of town visitor. We had a great time drinking beer, seeing shows, drinking beer, having lunch, drinking beer…

Speaking of drinking beer, we attended the Brewmasters program. They’ve revamped the presentation since the last time I attended. I like the new format much better. We had the privilege of having Derek as our instructor. He did a fantastic job. I didn’t know he had it in him.

One topic that kept coming up was Second Life. It’s an online game where you live in a virtual world. Mike kept telling me I should join, I kept saying no because I know I’d become addicted.

Well, last night midnight I finally caved in and downloaded the software. Then I spent the next three and a half hours trying to learn more about what this game is about. This morning I signed up. My name in Second Life is Pete Applemoor. I logged in and the first thing I did was customize my appearance. They have a lot of options to change your appearance. I came up with something I can live with for a while, but I’m sure I’ll be adjusting it from time to time.

One problem I’m having with the game so far is the speed of my computer. It’s getting pretty old and it’s just not fast enough to play the game properly. Maybe later this year I’ll get a new computer…

I’m trying out some new gallery software. It’s called JAlbum. I may have to make some adjustments theme-wise have changed the theme to make it fit better. So far I’m kind of liking it. What do you think?

I’ve integrated it into a Wordpress “Page” and can be viewed here.

If it works out well It seems to be working quite well, so I’ll get busy and add the rest of my galleries to JAlbum. Then maybe I’ll start adding a bunch more of my photos.

Not mine… the one next door… the one where the yappy dog lives…

My neighbor has decided she wants to move. She’s found a single family house on the other side of town that she wants to buy. She hasn’t been a bad neighbor, other than having a yappy dog, but she hasn’t been a good one, either. She has never really fit into the communal aspects of a townhouse, preferring to do things her way instead of according to the community bylaws. She’ll probably be happier in a single family home. I wish her well and hope she can sell fast.

Anyone wanna buy a nice, two bedroom townhouse? WARNING: You’ll have ME for a neighbor…

The other day I was out and about with my dad. He needed to stop at Lowe’s to pick up a new toilet seat. We decided to look at ceiling fans since he needs a couple and I’ve been wanting to replace the one in my bedroom. I was leaning towards one at Home Depot that cost about $100. We found some on clearance with the features we wanted —light kit and remote control— and I liked the way they look. And these were only $45!

My dad quickly grabbed a couple of white ones. I wanted one of the dark ones. Well, you know what I’m going to say next… they were out of the dark ones…

We decided to head to the next nearest Lowe’s. YIPPEE!! They had the one I wanted. So I quickly grabbed one. This time we even remembered to get the toilet seat we started out to get.

So today I’m installing my new fan. I put up the bracket. Attached the down-rod. Set the remote codes. I’m up to the point in the instructions where it says, “Wiring your fan’s remote requires extreme patience. Take mandatory breaks while wiring to allow your arms to rest.”

Since I don’t want the ceiling fan police to come and get me I decided I’m now taking a mandatory break…

…what are you doing here? I told you there was nothing new to see…

I finally got around to upgrading my WordPress installation to the latest version. I’ve been putting it off and putting it off. I was still way back on version 2.0.3, but now I’m up-to-date with version 2.2.2.

I used the InstantUpgrade plugin from Zirona. It worked like a charm. The hardest part of the upgrade was doing the recommended backups, which I was long overdue for anyway. Then it was basically a one click process.

One of these days I’ll get around to upgrading the rest of barefootpete.com. I started to upgrade a while back, but quickly got sidetracked into other things. Amazing how easy it is to get sidetracked…

The other day I was at Busch Gardens talking with some friends. Of course, the Monty Python dead parrot sketch came up. Doesn’t it usually? In case you’re not familiar with it, here’s the killer cars sketch which leads into the dead parrot sketch and finishes off with the lumberjack song. Classic Monty Python at it’s best…

What did she just say?

If you're a loser McDonald's is hiring…

You can get anything you want at Guthrie's Golden Fried Chicken Fingers, as long as golden fried chicken fingers is what you want…

The latest chicken chain in town is Guthrie's. Their specialty is "golden fried chicken fingers." Guthrie's started out in Haleyville, Alabama, in 1965. They slowly expanded and started franchising in 2005. There are now over 50 restaurants in operation.

My dad and I wanted to try something different for dinner tonight so we headed over to the Guthrie's down on 56th street. It's in a remodeled Captain D's. They've done a nice job with the decor. It's gone from dark and dreary to a nice, light color palette. They even have a couple high definition TVs so we were able to watch the end of the NASCAR race.

The menu is fairly limited… chicken fingers, chicken finger salads, and chicken finger sandwiches. The  chicken fingers are lightly battered, not heavy like most chicken fingers. They come with a special dipping sauce that is quite tasty. The french fries are rather ordinary (think Ore Ida crinkle cuts), but not bad at all. The cole slaw is also OK. But chicken fingers is what this place is about and they really know how to do great chicken fingers. We liked it enough that we'll keep it on our list of places to visit regularly. 

#1

A blind man wanders into an all girls biker bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders some coffee. After sitting there for a while he yells to the waiter, "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?"

The bar immediately falls absolutely silent. In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is only fair — given that you are blind — that you should know five things:

1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.

2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.

3. I'm a 6 foot tall, 175 lb. blonde woman with a black belt in karate.

4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weightlifter.

5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler. Now, think about it seriously, Mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?"

The blind man thinks for a second, shakes his head, and mutters, "No, not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."

#2

A bartender is sitting behind the bar on a typical day, when the door bursts open and in come four exuberant blondes. They come up to the bar, order five bottles of champagne and ten glasses, take their order over and sit down at a large table.

The corks are popped, the glasses are filled and they begin toasting and chanting, "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!"

Soon, three more blondes arrive, take up their drinks and the chanting grows. "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!"

Two more blondes show up and soon their voices are joined in raising the roof. "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!"

Finally, the tenth blonde comes in with a picture under her arm. She walks over to the table, sets the picture in the middle and the table erupts. Up jumps the others, they begin dancing around the table, exchanging high-fives, all the while chanting "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!"

The bartender can't contain his curiosity any longer, so he walks over to the table. There in the center is a beautifully framed children's jigsaw puzzle. When the frenzy dies down a little bit, the bartender asks one of the blondes, "What's all the chanting and celebration about?"

The blonde who brought in the picture explains, "Everyone thinks that blondes are dumb and they make fun of us. So, we decided to set the record straight. Ten of us got together, bought that puzzle and put it together.

"The side of the box said 2 to 4 years, but we put it together in 51 days!"

#3

Ricky took a big step today. He had his first beer…

Age has it's privileges.

Last week our buildings were being pressure washed. I had to clear off my patio deck so all that stuff had to go in the garage. I put it all up front so I could still get my car in, but that meant that I couldn't get to my washer and dryer…

The buildings were supposed to be done three a day in building number sequence. That meant they were supposed to pressure wash my building Tuesday. Tuesday the pressure washers decided to change the order of the buildings on their own. They said mine would be done first thing Wednesday. They finally got around to doing it on Thursday.

I decided that since my deck was clear it would be a good time to paint it. I was busy Friday, but decided I could get it cleaned and fill the cracks that evening. Ooh, too many mosquitoes. I got about half of it done. I got up Saturday and finished cleaning it. Then started filling the cracks. The BOTTOMLESS cracks. The filler went in and sank out of sight. I put more filler in. And more filler in. I finally got the cracks filled late in the afternoon. By the time the crack fill dried it was too late to paint. The painting would have to wait until Sunday. What a shame, it was a beautiful day for painting.

I went out for dinner with my dad. We had a nice time. When I got home the painting project kept nagging me. Finally about 7:30 I couldn't stand it anymore so I went out and painted the deck.

Sunday morning I checked it out and it turned out pretty good. Now I could finally get all that stuff back out of my garage and onto the deck.

I was actually able to start a project and get it finished. Ok, so it took three days to do a one day job, but at least it's done…

Except for mulching the planting beds… Oh, wait, that's a different project…

And this morning I got caught up on the laundry. 

Today is Ricky's 21st birthday! Yippee! Happy birthday, Ricky! I hope you have a great time.
;)

Ooh, and it's happening on a full moon…

Yum!