Today I became a Black Sun Nightclub VIP. I visited the place very often during the last weeks and there is always something new. A week ago I flew around there in the evening and I saw IntLibb Brautigan (RL name Mike Lorrey) working on the roof of his brewery.
He invited me in and what I saw was amazing. IntLibb works very hard and always makes new plans. So here is a bit of our conversation:
[10:37] IntLibber Brautigan: the kegs on the wall are vending machines
[10:37] Me: It is beautifully designed
[10:37] IntLibber Brautigan: they dispense beer bottls for 1L each
[10:38] IntLibber Brautigan: the bottles have lives of 45 minutes
[10:38] IntLibber Brautigan: so, you pay the keg a linden, it gives you the bottle, you wear it and it animates you
[10:38] Stone Ruination IPA: A Liquid Poem to the Glory of Hops!
[10:39] IntLibber Brautigan: we are going to be selling the kegs to other bars in SL
[10:39] IntLibber Brautigan: so they become a profit center
[10:39] IntLibber Brautigan: while eliminating the problem of empties
[10:39] IntLibber Brautigan: and makes it a consumable product
[10:39] Me: That sounds strange in VR
[10:40] Me: I mean the word “consumable”
[10:40] IntLibber Brautigan: yes, but its essential to making a real economy here
[10:40] IntLibber Brautigan: if everybody has everything they ever need permanently in their inventory, then the economy will never grow significantly
[10:40] Me: Yes, just like IRL
[10:40] IntLibber Brautigan: the US economy over the 20th century grew due to consumer spending to a greater extent than industrial development
[10:41] IntLibber Brautigan: so we are replicating that here
[10:41] IntLibber Brautigan: giving people something that they can relate to in RL
[10:41] Me: I wonder: how does it feel to drink from that bottle
[10:42] IntLibber Brautigan: don’t know yet, we haven’t got taste technology yet
[10:42] IntLibber Brautigan: but this is the beginning
[10:42] IntLibber Brautigan: people will want more of the experience
[10:42] Me: For me it still feels like I’m a spectator in SL but interested in what it will be one day
[10:42] IntLibber Brautigan: ah, well, I’ve been getting immersed
[10:42] IntLibber Brautigan: building this community
[10:42] IntLibber Brautigan: creating a viable business, several infact
[10:43] IntLibber Brautigan: so it becomes more ‘real’ with time
After this talk he showed me the pizzeria

The pic on the wall in the background is Don Corleone. The whole Black Sun project is inspired by the book “Snowcrash” by Neil Stephenson. (In fact, Second Life is built on this novel by Stephenson, who also coined the word “Metaverse”). Don Corelone represents here Uncle Enzo of the “Cosa Nostra Pizza Corp”.
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Yes, IntLibb has to find a more original picture, but for now it works.
Today I returned to Margritte. Fortunately I was there alone, so I could explore the black sun on my own. Firts of all, as I mentioned above, I decided to become a member. Then I did something I hate IRL, I relaxed on a towel at the beach:

After that I did something else I never do in First Life: I went to the disco and danced to the music. Why not? – no-one could see me. That was great!

While I watched my avater moving and dancing to the music and thought: “why can’t I do this with real people around me?” Now there was a problem: I couldn’t stop! Help! Clicking again on the dancing machine didn’t work, so I had to log out and log in again to get rid of this script. Okay, now back to the ballroom. Nothing happened, the dancing machine invited me to chose one of the 20 dancing scripts but I went upstairs to view the place from a higher viewpoint. It was splendid.

I definitely have to reread Snowcrash!
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