It’s another one of those crazy fashion promoting ideas, but not that crazy: Doing a promotion with a Neolithic Park background.
It’s crazy because Neolithic Parks are all about low-tech and self-sustaining. Their high fashion is grinding up charcoal and ochre rocks, mixing the powders with animal fat, and spreading them over various parts of the body. Well ... that and tattoos ... without decent needles and anesthetics! Brrr! I shudder just thinking about that!
It’s not that crazy because people are always gaga about what happens in Neolithic Parks. It’s so famously one-with-nature -- yet so alien!
The real Neolithic Parks are strictly off-limits to civilized folk. The feeling is that any contact with civilized folk will pollute their self-sustainability, and that’s the whole reason to have them.
But the strong curiosity is still there. As a result, there is a thriving industry of Neolithic Park simulations. The simulations come in dozens of formats: There are simple and safe Neolithic Park simulations at most amusement parks -- many are simply petting zoos. There are sim and avatar worlds which look a lot more dangerous. Many adventure/thriller stories feature a romp through one. And there are full-fledged Neolithic Park camps where a person can pit their human selves one-on-one against nature ... with a lot of supervision and a clinic nearby.
The challenge for us at DeMuzzy is how to look fresh with this concept. It’s popular, but so overdone! I’m handed the task of surveying our park background options.
I first research as close to the root as I can: I contact the Ministry of Neolithic Parks and get an online briefing from Grace-224 on the situation in the real parks. These are an eye opener. Grace-224 shows me videos from previous studies and some views with real-time surveillance cameras. It is pretty clear that genuine is not going to be any good as a DeMuzzy display format. These people live in camps and the camps are ... grubby is probably the best way to describe them. Just terrible as a fashion background! Plus, we can’t be there in person, so if there is anything inspiring there, we’d have to simulate.
Grace-224 explains, “The security around the parks is quite high and surprisingly busy. All sorts of people try to penetrate the parks and try routinely.”
“Really? Why?”
“There are a variety of motives. Some are there on a dare. Some are there to help these people out of their misery -- they completely ignore the charter. Some come and bring trinkets -- they seem to love being gods to these people. Some come to shoot vids and trade for authentic crafts work which they then sell on the outside, even though that is illegal.”
“The penalties for getting caught in one are minor, so our vigilance must be high.”
Interesting to me, but not too important to the project. What is important to the project is the look of the people. Gag! They are gaunt, diseased, scarred, and crippled: I want to scream and hide when I see one smile -- those mouths! The only fashion for this place is horror fashion! What virtue does anyone see in this?
The virtue, as the briefing pointed out, is that these people survive with their own technology. If the civilized world collapses for any reason, these people are our best hope for survival because they truly don’t need anything civilized, nothing at all. “They are an insurance policy,” the creation notes, “and as such they will seem expensive until the disaster they are designed to protect against happens.”
OK, no help for us there. I next research a couple of Neolithic experience camps. These are the places that let civilians get as close to the Neolithic experience as they want to. These, too, are rather unsettling. Many of them seem to be run by sadists. Their promotions talk a lot about “building character” and “finding your measure against nature”. These pitches seem very popular with some teenagers and their parents. Others–amazing to me -- are actually popular as a course in management training. They pitch “bonding” and “leadership experience”. I watch people go through a lot of what seem like hazing rituals conducted in the woods and listen to the happy participants endorse the experience, and again, it is unsettling. Personally, I can relate to those people who come out unhappy and complain of brainwashing.
This camp stuff looks nothing like what the real park people are experiencing -- the whole point seems quite different. These “experience” people have a lot more in common with the martial arts crowd and the military basic training crowd than the park people. The park people only put up with what they can’t avoid. They don’t go looking for misery. In sum, I just don’t think we can get the right feel if we stage at one of these. Next ...
The Neolithic avatars and sims are all about making an entertainment experience of the setting. They are about being beautiful in a beautiful nature setting. And, once again, they seem to be missing the point in favor of catering to a popular demand. But at least these settings are about beauty and romantic wonder. In my heart I like them, and in my non-work life, I spend time off in a couple.
So ... with all these Neolithic-themed experiences selling out, should DeMuzzy be any different? Given the above choices, it would be quick and easy to strut our stuff in some avatar setting, and that entertainment-oriented setting would be quite compatible with fashion. It is so easy that avatar runway settings are common, a sub-industry in fact. The biggest problem with not being any different would be ... we wouldn’t be any different! But we’re DeMuzzy! We’re about being leaders, not “me too”!
As usual, it’s a big challenge, and I don’t have a quick answer.
The weekend is fast approaching, so I leave this as something to solve next week. What is coming this weekend is a visit to Grandma Heather.
Time for a visit with Grandma Heather. And as is common, she was on the Festivia 8 when visit time comes. I join her there.
The Festivia 8 is an avatar cruise ship. It travels endlessly around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, stopping at exotic ports of call. Well, at least that’s what it advertises. Personally, I find the ship and the ports of call as exotic as traveling around Disney World, which should not be too surprising since Disney runs the line. But that’s me, not Grandma Heather. She and her current husband, Frank, eat this experience up with a spoon.
The Festivia 8 is behemoth class: It was the biggest passenger ship in the world when it was launched ten years ago. Well, it would have been if it had passengers. The Festivia 8 has no people on it -- none. It’s completely creation run and avatar inhabited. That keeps the cost way down. That’s partly why Heather and Frank like it. They spend lots of time there, so cost is a consideration. And for reasons that escape me entirely, they like the bigness. There are many other choices: There are smaller ships and ships with mixed populations and some that are small and mostly human that go to truly exotic places, such as around the Bay of Bengal and the Antarctic coast. But Heather and Frank are Festivia fans, and proud of it.
I join them by inhabiting a guest avatar, and find them beside the pool. The day is bright and sunny, and the air is warm and filled with sea scent. My guest avatar is non-descript female -- not quite as plain as a “generic with just an ID number on the forehead to distinguish” avatar, but not much more. The regulars, such as Heather and Frank, spend much of their time on board customizing their avatars -- think of it as sending your own body to a beauty spa -- and avatar customizing is definitely part of the cruise experience. In their case the results are pretty impressive, and in fact, they have been featured in a couple of movies that were shot on the Festivia.
Movie shooting is just one of hundreds of activities that people do on board -- you meet people here who share interests, and I guess that’s the secret to the cruise ship industry’s popularity.
The three of us spend some time catching up while we’re poolside. Frank likes to talk politics, and he starts right in.
“So ... did you see the results of the elections in South Sudan?” he asks me.
“No,” I reply, “something interesting?”
“They kicked out the current government. The winners claim it was corrupt and a stooge for multinational corporations.”
“Sounds good.”
“Sounds good, but I hear the people making those claims know well what they are talking about ... because they are crooked as a dog’s hind leg.”
“That doesn’t sound good! Funny you should mention that because I know some people who will be going to South Sudan for some charity work. Should they be concerned?”
“I would!” he says. “But then again, I wouldn’t go to South Sudan even in an avatar. Someone would probably kidnap it, and I’d have to pay to replace it. That’s a pretty rough part of the world these days.”
“I’ll bring that up with my acquaintances,” I say. And I will. I sure don’t want something bad happening to Janet or Ben. I’m sure they know what they are getting into, but I’ll double check.
To change the topic, I inquire politely how Grandma’s physical body is doing. I’m careful because this can be a touchy subject among avatar people -- some don’t want to talk about their physical at all. But I’m family and Grandma is not one of the touchy kind.
“Oh, it’s doing fine,” she says. “I had an operation last week to work on some hearing issues, and my arthritis is staying calm. It’s doing fine.”
I’m happy to hear that, and happy to hear she’s still spending serious energy on keeping it up. Some avatar lovers are pretty neglectful. They let their healthcare creations handle all the body-running details while they put all their attention into running their avatars.
We finish the catch-up with a bit of swimming. Frank shows off a new dive he has mastered -- not bad for a ninety-three year old, even if it is an avatar body. Then we go inside for some lunch. It’s semi-formal. We dress, which takes about half a second, and sit around a table with other avatar folk on the cruise and do some more getting acquainted. The food is just avatar sim, of course, but it’s tasty, and the ritual of dining is comfortable, and the conversation and people meeting are stimulating.
As the social etiquette people constantly point out, meeting avatars is a different skill than meeting people face-to-face and a different skill from one meeting place to the next. In a place like Festivia, designing what your avatar looks like is half the fun, so it’s perfectly OK to comment on another person’s latest design triumph. If this was a business boardroom avatar meeting, or an engineering conference meeting, or an at-a-jobsite meeting, you wouldn’t say a thing about looks. But here it’s just fine.
Here at the Festivia dining tables, there is an enormous mix in what people do in real life. About three quarters are retired, and for about half of those, Festivia is real life -- they spend most of their time and most of their attention here and are totally wrapped up in on-ship activities. For the other half, this is a diversion from what they do in real life with their physicals, or in some other work-oriented avatar environment where they are still earning pay or good karma as a volunteer. The last quarter are younger. Some are real-life cripples, and like the dedicated oldsters, this is their life. Others are just hanging out for a long weekend or short vacation. There is also a steady stream of short-stay family and friend visitors, such as myself, who inhabit the guest avatars.
One of the guests at our table is Lucas Hansen, mayor of Provo-Orem. My geography is outstanding for a city girl. I know that’s a city in Utah, and Utah is in the Rocky Mountains ... somewhere.
“Provo-Orem?” I comment. “I haven’t heard much about it. How is it holding up these days?”
“Quite well, thank you. The city is growing in population and we’ve been thriving. The ski industry is good and we’ve been getting lots of adventure entertainment shot in the area.”
“That sounds more avatar-oriented, if I may say so. You say it’s growing ... What brings the people?”
He grins at that. “Where are you from, if I may ask?”
“New York City,” I reply. “I work there with DeMuzzy High Fashion. Let me introduce myself. I’m Dahlia Rose.” As I am talking, I make my business resume available to him online.
He pauses a moment to absorb the resume highlights then says, “A pleasure to meet you, Dahlia. To answer your question: What keeps Provo-Orem growing is its natural beauty and the Mormon culture that thrives there. The lifestyle there is different from Big Apple lifestyle.”
“Oh ... like polygamists and such?” my grandmother interjects.
He laughs at that, “We do have them these days. Polygamy had been outlawed in the state for two hundred years, but twenty years ago the practice became legal again.
“But no, that’s not the heart of it. The heart is the clean living and faith-oriented lifestyle that is popular in the area. Some people accuse us of running America’s largest cult city. It may feel like that if you’re from a more cosmopolitan area, such as New York, but I assure you, it’s still a quite open and quite American way of living. We like to think of ourselves as the ‘Other Aspen’ -- we are more wholesome family oriented, rather than personal fulfillment oriented.” He smiles in conclusion.
Then it hits me, “Is that close to Butterfield Canyon?”
“The one in the Oquirrh Mountains, overlooking Bingham Canyon Copper Mine and Salt Lake City? Yes, about a thirty minute drive south. You may have spotted Mount Timpanogos, our valley’s signature peak, from the overlook, if you’ve been there.”
“Ah ... yes. I visited there with my ex-boyfriend -- had quite an adventure there, too. You’re right. It’s truly a spectacular area for scenery. I’m happy to hear humans are thriving in the area, as well.
“... In fact,” I continue because I’ve just had an “Ah hah”, “You and your wonderful scenery may be able to help me out on a project. Would you mind if I contacted you further on a business arrangement?”
“I’d be delighted,” he says, and we exchange business contact information.
My thought is that colorful scenery in Utah might be a suitable substitute for a Neolithic Park setting for our fashion show. We’d go Wild West in place of Neolithic Park. It can have that same individualistic and one-with-nature theme. The big plus is that Utah scenery is quite photogenic -- and different!
Grandma carries on the conversation, “We’ve had some of your Mormons speak at our seminars in Chautauqua, New York. They had some interesting ideas about Christianity. I don’t recall them talking at all about polygamy.”
“The mainstream church still doesn’t believe in it,” replied Lucas, “but there are over twenty fairly large groups that have splintered off from the main church over the years, and a few of those do. Those groups used to be centered in many different places around the US, Canada, and Mexico, and some of them still are -- those that are survivalist as well as fundamentalist. Many of the rest have steadily migrated back into the Utah area. They find the culture more comfortable than the cosmopolitan areas. So there are a few in the area, but you have to look hard to spot them.”
The conversation then drifts on to other things. I have a good time, and it is good to spend some time with Grandma.
I enjoyed working with Rubyzin on her book project, and it seems she did too. She invited me to help her with another project, and I got her a couple of guest appearances at our presentations.
Then comes the kicker. She invites me to dinner one night after the Paris Fashion Show had run its course, and we at DeMuzzy are on a recovery time. “Girl’s night out,” she announces in her text. The week in Paris had been the usual frantic, but it had gone well, and now this was just the kind of relaxing that I need.
We meet at Da Munchie’s. In spite of the hokey name, it is a place with a solid reputation among the old wealth. It’s quiet and paparazzi are not welcome.
“This is a place where I can let my hair down a bit,” confides Ruby.
After we order, Ruby gets to the point.
“Dahlia, there’s another project I want to propose we join forces on: our baby making.”
I am a little surprised, but just a little. I know Ruby does things for good reasons; she is not the success she is because she wastes time or energy.
“You’re not a teacher at Child Champs for no reason. And over the last few weeks, I’ve found you good to work with. So ... let’s work on the big one together,” she concludes with a smile and a touch of my hand.
“It’s an interesting possibility, Ruby. What exactly do you have in mind? Who else would be involved?”
“I’m proposing we set up shop together. I don’t have a boyfriend at this point. Of course I’ve met a lot of studly, virile types ... some of those dancers ... Whew! The muscles and the moves! ... But I haven’t found one I’d feel comfortable waking up with day-after-day. They’re good and they know it. But they come across as so self-centered, and yet no business sense! In my heart, I’m a business lady.
“Which is why I’m talking to you. I sense simpatico with you, Dahlia.” She touches me again, and I admit, it doesn’t feel bad at all. This is a powerful woman whom I respect. And over the last few weeks and projects, I’d come to respect her even more. This proposal is certainly flattering, if nothing else!
I touch her back as I say, “Wow! ... In truth I don’t know what to say, Ruby. I’m certainly honored, and I’ve enjoyed your company very much. ... This is just way outside of how I was figuring I’d get into baby making.”
Ruby smiles. “I’m not surprised. And I didn’t expect a ‘Yes! Yes!’ and big kiss,” she laughs, “but I wanted to start you thinking along these lines.
“If we team up, we can do this in a business-like way, and we can get our kids the best of everything ... everything.” Her eyebrows arch as she says that. “I’ve been researching who makes the best DNA and who makes the best wombs. I think you’ve researched who offers the best child-raising services. To my mind, this is going to be my real legacy, not my performances or my businesses, so I want it to be my best.”
“You’re not planning on carrying your own child?”
She frowns a bit. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. I want to. And in truth, I worry that my baby won’t know me if it hasn’t spent time inside me. But I’ve been assured that that’s not the case. And, as I said earlier, I’m a businesswoman at heart. Business is important, and I haven’t figured out how to keep my career moving with a baby swelling up inside me.” She looks into my eyes, this time with some sorrow showing, and touches me again, looking for support. “This isn’t the fun part.”
Then she brightens a bit. “That’s why I want to team with you.”
“Do you mind if I carry mine?” I ask.
“Not at all! I’d be delighted! It’s something we can share.” She brightens more, “And we can get you the best-of-the-best, too. We can have kids that will rock this world!” She smiles warmly at that thought, gets up and actually comes over to give me a little hug, and then sits down again.
It sure is good that this isn’t a paparazzi place. We finish our dinner, both feeling warm and fuzzy. I’m not sure I want to pick up on this project in the real world, but I’m sure enjoying thinking about it as a possibility as we talk this evening.
My mind is singing, “Me and Ruby and baby makes three ... no, four!” LOL! We sure could rock this world!