Mitch Wagner's Blog

I'm blogging somewhere else now

At least for a little while, just to try out the platform (it's called Tumblr). The new URL:

MitchWagner.Tumblr.com

Join us tomorrow to kick off Copper Robot!

Our first program of the new Second Life interview show Copper Robot kicks off tomorrow (Sunday) at 11 am SLT, with well-known SL artist Eshi Otawara. Eshi, along with a couple of friends to help her tell her story, will talk about her RL problems with US immigration, as she was nearly deported from America because of an obscure clause in the law called the "widow's penalty." Also: A Few Minutes Of Crap, with Crap Mariner.

SLURL

Eshi is a fashion designer and artist in SL. In real life, she's an American immigrant from Eastern Europe who had to fight to stay in this country after her husband died abruptly, less than two years after they were married. We'll talk to Eshi about her story, and what she's been doing since she finally got her green card. If you want to read up on Eshi beforehand, read the New World Notes article on Eshi getting her green card, and my earlier article in InformationWeek about her predicament.

Can't make it to the show? No problem, we'll make it available as a podcast on the Copper Robot Blog, where you can also keep up with updates to the show. (At some point, I'll probably stop posting updates here, and just link in the sidebar, as I do with my InformationWeek articles).

You can also keep up by subscribing to our Google Group, or join the Copper Robot group in Second Life.

See you tomorrow!

What movies have you watched over and over again?

Mauricio asks, on FriendFeed: "“What movie have you watched over and over again the most often? I'm an 'Office Space' kinda guy.”

I failed to read instructions, and picked more than one. I picked a lot more than one.

Die Hard
Back to the Future
Back to the Future 2
Back to the Future 3
Dazed and Confused
High Fidelity
Love Actually
A Christmas Story
Office Space
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Clerks
Clerks 2
Mallrats
Chasing Amy
Jersey Girl
Dogma
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
The Godfather
Nobody's Fool
Office Space
Galaxy Quest
My Favorite Year
Almost Famous
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
O Brother Where Art Thou
True Grit
Wonder Boys
That Thing You Do
The Mummy
The Fifth Element

I watched "Eternal Sunshine" of the Spotless Mind three times the day I saw it.

I've only seen "Beautiful Girls" once, but that was recently and I liked it so much I have a feeling it's going into the rotation.

Everybody else in the world has a podcast. Now I do too.

It's a new year, and time for a new Second Life project.

Way back in the misty prehistory of 2007 and early 2008, I did an interview program in Second Life for InformationWeek called GridTalk. Our guests included Biz Stone, who was then launching a new service called Twitter. We also had science fiction writers Charles Stross, Joe Haldeman, and notable people from inside the Second Life community. I had a great time doing it, and it was pretty popular in Second Life -- but it became apparent that this wasn't something InformationWeek should be involved in. It just didn't seem like something the InformationWeek audience was hugely interested in. At least not yet.

So I killed GridTalk.

But I missed doing the interviews, and late last year I decided to start an interview program that wasn't affiliated with InformationWeek.

I got together with a couple of my Second Life friends, and we decided to launch Copper Robot. It'll be available in Second Life, or for later download as a podcast. We're working on setting up a live, Web audio stream as well.

Our first episode is Sunday, Jan. 11 -- that's a week from today. Am I nervous? No, of course I'm not nervous -- my palms are normally this sweaty.

The format will be talk. Just talk. I love shows like Fresh Air, and This American Life, and the old Tomorrow show from the 1970s, where interesting people just sit around and have a conversation about interesting things.

We'll talk about anything I'm interested in: Technology, politics, literature, television, science fiction, science, LOLcats, business, Twitter, Facebook, Second Life, and more.

Our first guest: Eshi Otawara, a talented and well-known Second Life artist who recently overcame some real-life problems with U.S. immigration law -- she faced deportation from America because her husband died before the government processed her application for legal residency. We'll find out from Eshi how she's doing and what she's up to in Second Life and in the atomic world since she won her green chard. We'll also talk to one or two of Eshi's SL friends to help her tell her story. 'Til then, read New World Notes's update about Eshi getting her green card, and also my article on InformationWeek that covered her predicament.

Also, Crap Mariner, one of my partners in crime in Copper Robot, will take the microphone for what we hope will be a regular feature: A Few Minutes Of Crap. He'll talk about his new project, Tunes in Second Life. More about that.

In addition to Crap, I'd like to also thank my other partners-in-crime in this project: Rissa Maidstone and John Zhaoying, of World2Worlds, creators of virtual events for global business.

To be a part of the Copper Robot community, you can see the show in Second Life at the World2Worlds Seaside Theater, Sunday, Jan. 11 at 11 am Pacific time, and every other Sunday at the same time and location thereafter

Join the Copper Robot group in Second Life to stay on top of updates and future shows. Or join our Google Group or watch this space for updates.

Not in Second Life? No problem. We'll have podcast recording available. We're still setting up the podcast, when we're done it'll live at http://copperrobot.libsyn.com or http://www.CopperRobot.com

Tell your friends about Copper Robot. Suggest guests. Contact me in-world -- my avatar name and my RL name are the same, Mitch Wagner -- e-mail me at mitch@wagmail.com, or contact me on Skype at Mitch.Wagner.

I hope to see you at Copper Robot!