Past There In Styles

SUMMER'S END (AND WE ARE STILL THERE)

September 24, 2004

by JoeyG

Wow, so much time has passed since my last column. I hope you were all busy biting your nails, scared that my alien abduction would be the end of me (damn, I was not supposed to tell anyone about that). Well, I know I can tell you that I have been felled by a mysterious flu by shooting! Yuck!

So much of the past few weeks have gone into the final planning of QE4’s Summer Choice Designer Gala and the mega planning for the upcoming Wild, Wild West Event I have had precious little time to think of anything else .

First off, September got its and my jump-start with a great birthday party for both Tollermike and myself hosted by Mike’s ab fab wife Sharlee in their Frontier Zone. I can think of no other person with whom I would like to share my RL birth date. A very, very special hug to Sharlee for all her love, generosity and support through all the good and bad times of late! I certainly cleaned up with gifts. Mike gave me one of his wonderful pictures. There is always something very special when someone shares his personal art with others. You really should pay attention to his auctions. Your home will be a better place for it! I gave Mike something I hold very special, a buggy (can you imagine?). For me, the perfect gift to give is always the handsome Morningwood buggy by ZMW (Zach just loves knowing that people are enjoying his always popular Morningwood, ahem). Oh, and I even got a new buggy from Karythe and Cinamon designed exclusively for TGC by OxygenBe to even call my own! What could be better! Bootay and CarCus gave me their new incredible bedroom furniture that has found a home in my PAH in Zone QE4. Poor guys were biting their nails hoping that I hadn’t rushed out and bought it already. I added the second color later because I could not live with out the two! Thanks so much to you guys and to all my wonderful There buds for making this a very special birthday.

The fall TABR season is on and going great. I am very proud to have been chosen to be on its board and equally proud of TEAM QE4. Mudpup is our new hero. He placed in his very first TABR qualifying race. Go Mudpup! Go TEAM QE4! QE4 just introduced its very own personal TABR racing buggy. The hot, new sport racer was designed and donated to TEAM QE4 by ZMW. Thank you ZachC for such a wonderful and inspiring gift. Now there are two official ZMW QE4 buggies: the magnificent Black Escapade (available only to club members) and the midnight blue TEAM QE4 (available on a limited basis in auctions). It was so much fun introducing them (they bounced; they shook; they made all sorts of funny noises together). You might say they were acting rather queer together. Go figure!

This is where I would be raving (and just possibly ranting) about our glorious QE4 Summer Choice Designer Gala held last Saturday night in Zone QE4. I would but am now officially a day late and a dime short as the lovely Rose_Blossom has beaten me to the scoop! Thank you Rose for such a lovely article. I could not have reported it better. Everyone, now be good, follow this link for all the important fun facts and pictures (I love pictures): http://www.therevoice.com/2004/Sept04/Choiceawards92104.htm.

I had hoped that this would be our best hosted event in our history and, hallelujah, it was. In addition to simply honoring the recipients of the QE4 Summer Choice Awards, I wanted to have a theme. The original date for the event was September 11. As a genuine New Yorker, born and bred, I felt the need to make this event a celebration of my city’s resilience and glory. ZMW graciously volunteered to design three limited edition NYC buggies for QE4 to debut the night of the event as a silent auction: The Towers of Light, the Taxi and Lady Liberty. That the buggies were basically all sold out weeks ago is no surprise. It made them and the night that much more special.

All I can say is a big hug and thank you to the Real Life Gathering! If it weren’t for the gathering occurring over the weekend of the original Gala, causing us to postpone to the following Saturday, the most wondrous new Thereian may never have been able to join us.

What on earth is he talking about, you ask? Simply this, the last buggy that ZachC designed (and my all time personal favorite) was the Lady Liberty. It was such an awesome accomplishment! I had always dreamed of setting up Zone QE4 as Central Park with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the ZMW buggies at its heart. Suddenly my vision had two hearts at its center. For me the true star of the evening would be a replica of the Statue of Liberty standing tall and ever watchful in the bay off Tani where Zone QE4 is located on Motu Southern. She is a symbol for not only New York City but for the entire world.

When I first laid eyes on There Duck (now forever Nacho Duck) I thought that its creator, Meret would be the ideal man to recreate Bartholdi’s masterpiece for There. He demurred and with the help of xThor we sought others to fulfill my nagging dream. Disappointment and frustration followed. At the eleventh hour (the Thursday before the RL Gathering) the designer commissioned to create this wonder backed out. To say that I was frustrated is moot. Xthor, ever the optimist, was certain we would find someone to make the statue even if it was not available in time for the Gala. So what did I do? I whined, moaned, wailed and screamed for Meret. This time Meret agreed to make an all out effort to have something for the Gala even if time permitted only a one-dimensional tall tall cut out picture. Yes, yes, anything Meret, please, please, please!

Well, you all know the results now, don’t you? The meritorious one came through with red, white and blue flying colors! When he contacted me days later to say he was done I thought he was going to show me a picture. Instead he showed me the most glorious realization of my dream! To say that I broke down in tears of joy is an understatement (well, Rose already told you all that I was a cry baby). It was like an old Hollywood musical in reverse. This time the understudy could not go on so the original star took his place and is now the biggest star in the There universe. Good going Meret!

The Statue debuted in Nacho Harbor (its future permanent home) on Friday night and became an immediate sensation. All of There (including our gods) went gaga!

I would like to publicly add my eternal gratitude to Meret and Mrs. Meret (the lovely Fazzerelli) and to ZachC of ZMW. I would also like to express my gratitude to xThor (basically, for always putting up with my incessant whining and more), the wonderful park landscape Nachisma Malika and the ever tasty Nachisma SAVORY and Nachisma KatieJo for their Wild, Wild West inspired art hanging for all to see in the QE4’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Special thanks to TheChaz for his wonderful fireworks. Oh, and Sonblock for all your support in getting the statue out of submissions and into the world on time.

Well now it’s time to prep you for what promises to be the biggest event that There has ever seen. I am talking about The Wild, Wild West and it is coming to a fun and frontier zone close to you in October. The QE4 Choice Awards was the official kick off for this prestigious happening. Last Saturday we premiered a selection of the art commissioned for this event. The entire collection is on view at the Savory Gallery in Nacho Bay. You must have a look see!

This weekend QE4 intends to dazzle you with the complete collections of western wear inspired by this event. Some of the items are already available in auction. There will be two shows (performed twice) at Zone QE4 featuring the designs of Phedre, Dreamweaver, Joshua_Tree, TOmmyStone, Sazypants, Geea, Disky and Mercuria. The premiere event is Friday at 10 PM EDT (follow up at 4 PM EDT Saturday). The second show will take place Sunday at 4 PM EDT (follow up at 9 PM EDT Sunday night). The full details are available here: http://www.therevoice.com/pressrelease/wildwestfashion.htm.

Thanks to being flu felled I am really behind in my auction studies (not to mention my RL ones as well). One thing is certain; the There economy has been in a deep slump lately. Sales are sluggish, to say the least. Thank god our designers show their continued optimism by giving us new and wonderful things to inspire us.

I am seriously optimistic myself that the influx of Wild Wild West themed clothing and objects are going to jump-start our depressed economy. Let’s just say hats off to Phedre for giving us the first glimpse of western fashion this weekend past. Now that we have our Stetsons we will all need the necessary cowboy and cowgirl gear to finish off the ensemble.

With all the holidays coming There has given us a cute top hat to adorn our dos at all the formals to be planned.

Mercuria has added to her M Wear with a great casual outfit including top, shorts and great sneaks.

On the furniture front, Jinx_tv has added some new marvelous shapes to her seating collection. I just love the divan. Also the J1K genius is lighting up the There nights with still more wonderful lamps. Jinxie should we just throw down the glove and plan for J1.5K celebration? I know it just has to be right around the bend. After all, we did lose the initiative to J1K after Black Friday got in the way!

A week can not seem to go by without a new ZMW to tickle our fancies. New to There are the amazing Rattler and the Sumo Warrior. ZachC’s imagination seems to be ever boundless.

Want to keep up with all the news that is There? Look for the new There Voice Kiosks around There. The There Voice is a fun and informative read (not that I am prejudiced). The first kiosk's were placed on glorious Nacho Island.

Here’s a little bit of VR history: it is a little known fact that Nacho Island’s first prominent residents were the great White Knight, ZachC and the lovely Princess Savory (yes, long before Giuseppi Nachismo sailed into it’s now world-renowned harbor and was granted settling rights by the Arch Duke Archibald. If you haven’t been there yet you are definitely cheating yourself out of a fun experience. It is just the right mixture of what Thereians can do to create wonderful and new environments.

Time to make the donuts!

MAY THE PAZ BE WITH YOU!