I recently was sent a transcript of the very first social event I attended in Caledon, the Snowflake Ball at Loch Avie, the domain of the (then) Duchess Shenlei Flasheart. I've discovered my own first appearance here:
[19:32] Kate Nicholas: j'ai retournée
[19:33] Chel Crimson: I think have effectively lagged out again
[19:33] Shenlei Flasheart: Miss MAthilde, welcome to the Loch
[19:33] Nympheas Nogah: English
[19:33] Red Caliber: Miss Ellison, care for another?
[19:33] Shenlei Flasheart: Have you visited CAledon before?
[19:33] Exrex Somme: Welcome back, Miss Kate
[19:33] Bryndal Ellison: Good evening Mr. O'Toole
[19:33] Nympheas Nogah: is the universal language
[19:33] Chel Crimson: I have lagged
[19:33] Exrex Somme: Hello Mr Otoole
[19:33] Amber Palowakski: be right back
[19:33] Exrex Somme: Welcome to the ball
[19:33] Shenlei Flasheart: Mr. O'toole, welcome to Caledon Loch Avie
[19:33] Hotspur Otoole: Mr. Somme, Greetings
[19:34] Hotspur Otoole: Your servant, sir
[19:34] Rafael Yost: sorry. i was speaking in IM
[19:34] Exrex Somme: Mr Otoole is a friend of mine from RL, your grace, newly come to SL
[19:34] Rafael Yost: nice to meet you joni
[19:34] Shenlei Flasheart: o, how cahrming
[19:34] Exrex Somme: I will try and ensure he behaves himself :-)
[19:34] Shenlei Flasheart: Doubly welcome, then, sir
[19:34] Nympheas Nogah: Joni lives here in Caledon Tamarroch
[19:34] Shenlei Flasheart: smiles...well, sir
[19:34] Bryndal Ellison: Good evening Mr. Tae
[19:34] Bryndal Ellison: How are you tonight?
[19:34] Kate Nicholas: Mr OToole, welcome
[19:34] Hotspur Otoole: I left my buckskins at home, Ma'am
[19:34] Shenlei Flasheart: if you might but encourage him to lead out of of these many lovely ladies...
[19:34] Shenlei Flasheart: I should be eternally indebted
[19:35] Joni Vargas: Hmm it is At Moors i live *smile*
[19:35] Jess Patton: Greetings Miss Tombola
[19:35] Drion Tae: doing good tonight and you?
[19:35] Exrex Somme: INdeed, your grace, he came because I told him there were ladies to dance with
[19:35] Shenlei Flasheart: although not to the extent that I'gve up my land.
[19:35] Bryndal Ellison: I am well.
[19:35] Tamala Tombola: Greetings, Mr. Patton!
[19:35] Nympheas Nogah: Moors, yes...
[19:35] Bryndal Ellison: Would you like to come over and meed the Duchess?
[19:35] Hermoine Pennyfeather: a triumph, Miss Flasheart
-- First words in Society, Hotspur O'Toole..
Reviewing the transcript, I am struck by many things that I have taken for granted , or had plainly forgotten. A year ago, Caledonians definitely seemed more polite then than they do now. There's more of an adherence to a somewhat whimsical 19th century style of dialogue (or what we all assume is proper 19th century dialogue) then than now. (There are several iterations of "You dance divinely", including one or two from my own lips (shudder!), in evidence. Also several comments on the beauty of the ladies, their attire and deportment, etc.). Some of these conversational forays come off as unimaginative, silly, or possibly trite now, but I think I'm more comfortable with this form of speech than the constant verbal oneupmanship at another's expense that passes for humor in some social settings. Yes indeed, we are but a pale shadow of an earlier age.
Titles seem to be non-existent in this year-ago Caledon. We see a lot of Mr. this and Miss that, only a few more formal salutations, directed solely at Miss Flasheart. During the course of the conversation, I danced with at least three ladies that were in the zone of the person recording this transcript, and generally managed to hold my own. I'm glad the year-later me can manage an occasional bon mot that rises above the level of "You Dance Divinely" or "May I compliment you upon your frock, miss.." Given that it was my first time among the citizenry, all in all, I'm rather pleased. The famous Somme-O'Toole snarky commentary must date to this very night, as you see him launching a few sallies in my direction:
[19:34] Exrex Somme: I will try and ensure he behaves himself :-)
(My response was but a pale foreshadowing of many interactions to come)
Many of our stalwart citizens are in evidence, including Gabrielle Riel, Exrex Somme, Callypigian Christianson, Eva Bellambi, Roy Smashcan, Virrginia Tombola, Hermoine Pennyfeather, Zenmondo Wormser. and many more. There are ALSO a large group of citizens that I've never seen since or have simply forgotten. Or perhaps they are in a different time zone? In any event, there were some strange names on the transcript. Miss Tombola makes one small observation (see comments) about the demographics of Caledon that did impress me at the time-- unattached males were thin on the ground in those days, so they rarely went without a dance partner and females often danced together. What can I say, my timing was impeccable.
Some conversations seem almost quaint after a year's retrospect:
[20:25] Eva Bellambi: Good evening Mr, and Ms. Moody.
[20:25] Eva Bellambi: Thank you.
[20:25] Jodie Ruttan: Yes, I am enjoying it myself.
[20:25] Callipygian Christensen waves good evening to the Moodys
[20:25] Bryndal Ellison: Well the ladies of Caledon need dancing companions
[20:25] Eva Bellambi: Dancing with you is always divine.
[20:25] Mortimer Moody: And your Grace, please do share my complements with the orchestra
[20:25] Bryndal Ellison: For too long your bretheren have left us waiting by the wall...
[20:25] Bryndal Ellison: ;)
[20:25] Gabrielle Riel: I will Mr. Moody, thank you!
[20:25] Hickry Heyse: abit of wine?
[20:25] Subghoul Epsilon: and the gentlemen of caledon need scripting help!
[20:25] Jodie Ruttan: Yes, please
[20:26] Vulpine Eldrich: What sort of scripting help, Subghoul?
[20:26] Bryndal Ellison: You seem to be doing quite well sir
[20:26] Subghoul Epsilon: i have zero scripting skills. i am in need of a piston like device
[20:26] ZenMondo Wormser: Did I hear someone needs a scripter?
[20:26] Vulpine Eldrich: How are your building skills?
[20:26] Subghoul Epsilon: much like miss malaprop's engines
[20:26] Bryndal Ellison: Ah, you should talk to Mr. Wormser
[20:26] Bryndal Ellison: he is quite talented in that arena
[20:27] Subghoul Epsilon: thank you for the suggestion
Did someone need a scripter? One is to laugh. :-D
An incident of note occurs late in the document-- some of my rapidly growing coterie of hobo friends arrived later. In a rather puzzling exchange they appear to have incurred the wrath of Loch Avie (Shenlei) and ended up booted from the sim. In retrospect, reviewing the transcript, they were just being juvenile and probably needed a quiet talking to, but that's neither here nor there at this point. I recall leaving with the hobos that had escaped her wrath, thinking to myself.. "Caledon.. a pleasant place, but, man, waaay too strict!" Who knew what the future held?
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9 comments:
I miss much of the old days as well--though it seems odd to consider events of barely a year ago "old days". But such is Second Life. Personally speaking, my speech has become more modern over the last year because I found speaking in the 19th century mode put some off. I do remember my delight at finding a place I could chat in the voice of Austen without seeming (too) strange.
I had to laugh at something you might not have noticed. We had a tremendous deficit of men to dance with back then! Much of the conversation consisted of prodding the fellows onto the dance floor (poor put upon creatures that they were). I am glad that Caledon has become a place where the fellows seem to have more activities they enjoy. In the early days, it was mostly social gatherings and shopping, with building occurring on distant skyplats.
Et finalement, je ne sais pas qui Mlle "Anglais est le langue universal" est, mais je suis heureux de dire je vois toujours la polie Mme Nicholas ici, mais pas elle. (Desole pour mon mauvais francais, mais j'aime toujours il entendre)
:) for Ms Tombola!
French is the lingua franca, after all. :)
*bursts out laughing*
Very clever, Miss Kate.
I am scared of Caledon because I never know if I'm expected to speak in Ye Olden. Also I have this republican-socialist kneejerk distrust of people with titles, which being a hobo sort of adds to because we aren't really the sort to respect our betters.
Hiyer, Chav.. it has been a while, has it not.
Caledon's formal argot never gave me pause for concern. I vastly prefer it to the sloppy "lolspeak" shorthand that seems to be prevalent on the mainland. Fortunately, that isn't the case with everyone.
Being something of a hobo myself, and of anarchist political leanings in this life and the next one, I'd have to say "no argument" about titles and whatnot. Such are not my style. On the other hand, good manners are my style, so if I'm not eager to address anyone as M'lud Puffbuttock, I will still great him/her with courtesy and dignity. I think that's about all that is expected... if you use Mr. or Miss, you cannot go wrong.
The reason I posted this one was how markedly different the Caledon of THEN was from the Caledon of NOW. In speech, entertainment, humor and custom, Caledon has grown more like the Mainland and less like the Caledon of yore. Whether that's a good thing or not is really up to the individual.
Your Obedient Servant,
H.
Caledon, with all its permutations, is still vastly preferable to the mainland and benighted outer darkness. I abhor netspeak and inner-city slang. The titles? I use them at formal functions for an initial greeting, especially, much like the salute due a superior officer upon first meeting. After that, it just seems pompous. Somebody with whom I am not really on "close" terms gets the "Your Grace" or "Lady Briarpatch" or whatever, but everybody else, I'm afraid, gets the "name only" treatment after a bit. It's just less cumbersome.
Yours etc.,
N Nadir Peterman
I find such commentary fascinating.
Exrex noted something similar; from his perspective it is 100% correct. However, "social" Caledon is a very complex, fractionated thing, and so few know more than maybe 25% of it.
I daresay there are easily 100+ residents that most people who blog have never even heard of - very active people within their own circles, who have their own perceptions.
Usually, I'm met with disbelief and astonishment - how could I possibly think X about Caledon when common knowledge on the street is Y?
The truth is usually X, Y, Z, A, B, C, and a few other letters. I just have the strange situation of... knowing absolutely everyone.
What I see:
1. The group-chat social scene is maturing and getting more comfy with each other. Like college dorms. The starry-eyed fun of first semester's panty raids and beer busts is now settling down to late-winter; people have found their places in society. People have paired off, people have found who they do and don't like. I've noticed one main thing about the chatty group - few of them know the new folks well at all. They all seem 'full up' with friends already.
2. We are something like ten or so small communities. Some of these communities hardly interact at all. Many people in Kittiwick literally don't know the people in Mayfair. Many people in Caledon II don't know the people in Brigadoon. Only one or two communities, say, the one dating from about May 2006 (Tamrannoch) and another from about a year later (Regency) are very social.
3. We've got real world educators and believe it or not, church groups. Even a RL business community. How many of you have known you can buy Amazon UK books from a location in Caledon Moors for a year and a half?
4. A bunch are a bit off SL these days, and only log in on rare occasion - but these people keep their land. They like Caledon, and are generally wealthy enough that land fees are no issue. From their perspective, logging in every couple of months is almost like time travel - so much changes, it's like years have passed.
5. The shadow population. You just aren't anybody on the grid anymore, it seems, without an alt and a small patch of land in Caledon. Usually these alts don't interact in society much - they just delight in living here. And no I don't spill identities, but I know a few of you would be simply gobsmacked to learn who this or that 'noob' might be.
6. The refugee population. This rather baffles me, and has spiked considerably in the past few months. I've gotten TONS of people from this community or that, usually on alts, all looking for homes at the same time. Places I've never even been near - a *very* popular elven region, some 'gor' regions, some 'Dark RP' regions. I have no idea why - I presume too much internet drama in their lands. A number of refugees cited Caledon's lack of an "elder council" as very attractive, in the last few weeks. Sadly for them I'm not expanding with more land for a month or two.
7. "The good old days" ... heh.
In the good old days, I had a few residents *seriously* about to sue each other (some you never would guess), one RL/SL stalking case that went to the Company, leading to a banning and I think RL authorities were contacted also. I had people threatening to move out if I didn't change my covenant (hah, bye!). No men's 19th c. clothing except for two items, no carriages whatsoever, and very little passing for Victorian homes.
We had banlines and security orbs all over, sims dual-instancing, 2 FPS sim lag every evening in old Caledon, and the ground wouldn't draw quite right, turning a weird brown-red on occasion. All of this could be seen from the roof of the giant Gorean homestone that figured prominently as the largest structure in all of Caledon back then.
Ahh, the good old days! But few would remember it as such. I think it's very important that perception is largely... perception. I should post some of the things that new visitors say - it would stun most oldbies. The comments I delight in most, are the ones where nobody sees or realises my hand in Caledon - "Who is Des Shang?" To me, that's the biggest compliment of all, but I think few would understand why.
As it was once said, be the change you want to see in the world. That's the real magic, right there I think.
Des
The conversation seems largely unchanged to me. Comments about lag, crashing, compliments on the music, introductions, welcoming, requests for help with building/texturing/scripting projects. All the stuff you get in the course of a normal social out today.
I suppose it's a case of seeing what you want to see, from the brief extract you posted it's hard to gauge. Though I see both Gabrielle and Shenlei being addressed as Your Grace in your excerpts.
People have come and gone to Caledon. Most of the people in the excerpts you posted are still here, though some are less socially active than they were. I know there's a large social group at The Dome in Caledon Cay that I hardly see anywhere else.
I think there's a more diverse community in Caledon than there was a year ago. I don't know that that makes it more mainland
Why, yes, I generally do add my perceptions of things to this journal. Blogs can be like that. :-D
Thanks, Des, for the historical perspective. I can see how things ebb and flow over time.
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