I'm really digging this twitter thing. You can friend me here.

Here's my twitter badge, guess I have to put in my blog template.... tsk tsk

Update 6/30/07 -- I have some leads so this is a go, for now.... More soon!

So in the heat of the moment after my set last week at Ireland's 32, I agreed to headline on a Sunday night and bring in other bands to fill up the evening.

The night is Sunday, September 9th.

Now I'm worried that I might be too busy to pull this off...unless...we make a big party out of it and have a lot of different people playing, say, 4 or 5 songs each, over the course of an evening...

Then it could be fun :-)

So I'm going to give it a try. Starting today, email me at lisa@lisarein.com with some samples of your music -- or videos of you performing if you do something other than play music - I'm not trying to pass judgement, just want to hear some songs that show, ya know, you have some :-)

And if I can get 10 people/bands signed up over the next two weeks, I'll do it.

Otherwise, I'm gonna shy away from it I think. Potentially too time consuming, and I'm about to dive into another big project that will, if all goes well, take over my life for a while.

So if you want a chance to play a cool Irish Bar on a Sunday night in SF, lemme know.

I'm really interested in all kinds of performers. Musicians of course, but i was also thinking about bringing in some performance art folks, poets, etc. I don't know. I would just need a lot of people to keep it interesting and make it so more than the friends of people performing might want to show up.

But I need 10 people/bands minimum to really consider it -- since they want music from like 6-7 pm till midnight or so...

I'll be putting video of my show up soon, so you can see the stage, layout. The sound was great too, i thought.

Ok thanks!

I know I do this every year or so, but I've been going through a lot of incredible changes and realizations in my life lately, and one of them was *yet another* realization of the piece of me that is missing when I'm not blogging on a regular basis.

I've been getting caught up in a lot of crap lately that ultimately, in the larger scheme of things, doesn't matter, and forgetting the important things in life, like getting the word out to people about important issues that affect their lives -- or, hey, are just plain cool to watch and talk about.

So with that...I bring you the latest episode of
Hometown Baghdad -- in incredible video blog coming out of Iraq that the creators have been nice enough to remind me about every so often.

Here's a brief description:

It shows the aftermath of the US troops killing the innocent uncle of one of our subjects. In the video you can see a cheery, largely US-friendly family turn fully against America and the troops. It is chilling. And perhaps the most moving entry into our series.

Love you all and thanks for waiting around for me to start paying attention again!

Every time I post, the response is so gratifying. You've all become a very important part of my life, and it feels like an old friend I've been neglecting or something...

Let's see if I can keep it going this time. So much going on. So much to learn and share!

Just a little reminder that I'm playing this Sunday night at Ireland's 32 in San Francisco's Richmond District.

Ron can't make it after all - but it's no big deal because I have a lot more new material I can play now.

I played an open mic last weekend that went really well, so I'm feeling more confident and relaxed about performing now.

Looking forward to seeing you Sunday night, if you can make it. I'll be going on right at 8pm.

Here's the details on location and venue:

3920 Geary Blvd at 3rd Ave in SF's Richmond District.
For directions, call (415)386-6173

I ran across this great Findlaw article (April 11, 2007) about the legal implications of Second Life’s gambling industry — within the context of the recently passed Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that was passed in 2006.

The article raises a lot of interesting questions about Linden’s currency system, whether one is gambling with it our just using saving it in their Linden “bank account.”

The article is written by Anita Ramasastry (PDF of Her Curriculum Vitae), an Associate Professor of Law and the Director for the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce and Technology, at the University of Washington’s School of Law. It raises some interesting questions about the true relationship between Linden’s “currency” and the “real” U.S. dollars for which Linden Dollars are able be exchanged.

According to Ramasastry, at the request of Second Life, FBI agents are cruising the virtual landsapce and visiting its virtual casinos to see if the line is being crossed. And where would that line might be? Nobody’s sure right now.

The first half of the article gives a really nice two page summary with a lot of interesting information about Second Life’s currency in general, so I felt comfortable summarizing it for you.

An in-depth analysis of the legal issues surrounding the sites in-world gambling gets a lot more complicated, and that’s what the second half of the article’s about. (Notice that I only pulled a few facts from that section, and did not attempt to summarize.)

I’m still just starting to soaking this all in and make sense of it, but it did seem like there were a few conclusions that could safely be drawn at this point, along with some good food for thought, for those of you, like me, that have been trying to understand the big picture of how all these “gaming currencies” are starting to interact with and have an effect on the “real” ones.

This stuff is a bit complex and we’ll have to just all learn about it together.

So first the general currency info of interest, then the gambling specifics below:

1) Linden Dollars don’t actually count as legal currency, because they are not issued by a “real government, and are therefore only a reside in a “stored-value or token system.”

2) According to Linden’s Terms of Service agreement, in section 1.4 states that its “currency” is really only being used under a limited license agreement and “is not redeemable for monetary value from Linden Lab.”

3) The TOS also states that Linden might start charging for the use of its LInden Dollars in the future, or not, upon its sole discretion, and that the dollars are merely a “class of ‘data’ that can be deleted, altered, moved or transferred at any time. Linden Lab disclaims any value, cash or otherwise, to data residing on its servers. Thus, the currency is “licensed content,” for which a license can be revoked as easily as it is granted.” (Quote is from article, NOT Linden Labs TOS.)

4) The bottom line may be that, since the relevant statues of the law in question cover not only “currency,” but also whenever “something of value” is wagered, that wagering Lindens qualifies as, well wagering. (Since Lindens can be cashed in for US dollars, they would appear to have some “value” in the traditional sense.)

The second half of the article is a pretty technical legal analysis of the questions surrounding gambling in relation to UIGEA, but these aspects of the boring details seemed newsworthy and simple enough to include in a little summary:

1) UIGEA (the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) statute “forbids banks and other entities from processing payments for Internet gambling transactions. It also tasks the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve with issuing regulations to guide financial institutions in identifying and blocking such transactions. UIGEA can be enforced by both federal agencies and state governments, and violations trigger civil remedies and criminal penalties.”

2) According to Wikipedia (half way down page) there has been a recent challenge to certain aspects of UIGEA:
“In April 2007, U.S. Congressman Barney Frank introduced a bill overturn the gambling aspects of the Act, saying “The existing legislation is an inappropriate interference on the personal freedom of Americans and this interference should be undone.”

3) Professor Ramasastry’s interpretation of the statute seemed to agree that it appeard “quite broad,” and notes that the relevant criminal statute referred to by the law “sweeps in anyone who “aids, abets, counsels, commands, [or] induces” a criminal act, or “procures its commission”; and anyone who “willfully causes” an act that, if he had done it directly, would count as a federal crime. And it states that such persons are punishable as if they were the perpetrators themselves.”

4) It’s probably going to come down to whether Linden Labs can effectively block payments to its virtual casinos without interrupting the other various legal activities of its “residents.”

It’s harder than it sounds guys!

Maybe we can all help them figure it out.

I've been to the Castro on Halloween several times, and even on years that I don't decide to go, it's important to me that I know it's there, happening. Just over there, being cultural, historical, and wonderful. And I always get to hear interesting and exciting anecdotes from my friends that make it.

Now we're told the party's over because, it would appear, of some gang incident that happened last year that didn't have anything to do with the festivities.

Merchants are being asked to close early. I hope they don't. They make a lot of money on Halloween. Why should they have to suffer too?

here's the article in the chronicle about it.

How can we save it guys? I dunno. Seems like we should go straight to Gavin Newsome about it. This is a good issue to see where he's at on over-reaching blanket bans on public congregation...

It's like telling the German's "hey, no Oktoberfest this year."

Here's the best quote of the article:

"People are still going to go to the Castro," said Ted Strawser, founder of the San Francisco Party Party, a group that opposes the move. "Without services, they're just going to pee in the street, and without entertainment, mischief will occur."

Updated to provide easy links to The San Francisco Party Party's website on this issue and its party platform statement.

Here's the full text of the article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/01/state/n211009D90.DTL

City officials shut down annual Castro Halloween bash

Friday, June 1, 2007

A city firefighter assists a shooting victim, who was amo... A shooting victim clutches his leg in the Castro district... Erika Gruendyke (left) and Lenora Hett get a free, hands-... Gluteus maximus: Many Castro Halloween revelers wore cost...

(06-01) 21:10 PDT San Francisco (AP) --

Halloween revelers in San Francisco will have to find a new place to haunt this year after city officials decided to shut down the Castro district's yearly street party.

The section of Market and Castro Streets usually blocked off for the costumed extravaganza will remain open to traffic. There will be no portable toilets provided and no stages erected for entertainment, officials said.

Merchants are being asked to close early, said Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who represents the Castro, and some have already agreed to do so.

Moving the famous street party — a decades-long tradition in the gay enclave — has been an annual discussion since violence has increasingly defined the event. Last year a gunman shot nine people, and in 2002 four people were stabbed.

San Francisco officials tried to start an alternative party at the Civic Center from 1996-2001. But party-seekers went to the Castro anyway, and police had to patrol both events.

City officials have proposed moving the party to a parking lot at AT&T Park, and luring a top-name entertainer to help private promoters recoup the costs of the event.

"People are still going to go to the Castro," said Ted Strawser, founder of the San Francisco Party Party, a group that opposes the move. "Without services, they're just going to pee in the street, and without entertainment, mischief will occur."

I know they're a man-made superband and all, but hell, some of these songs kick some serious ass.

Here's
some weird version of Slither.... It will get the point across. (Actually you can't hear alot of the cool vocals in it, is some mostly-instrumental version at the end, sorry...)

OK WAIT Here's a BETTER VERSION.

Anyway it's like to good parts of GnR with Stone Pilot's sprinkled on top. I must admit they've got a few ringers :-)

I just love scott's lyrics ....

Anyway I'm up too late in the middle of the night again, but this time I can't blame Second Life, just First Life...

I have a ton of stuff about to go up at the Mefeedia blog...and lots of interesting news to tell you about this week!

Stay tuned :-)