Kamakazi Champagne

Cheyenne Likes Champagne

Written 8 August, 2011

Kamikaze Champagne

I'm not much of a drinker, but I love champagne.

It being predicted to reach 96 degrees Fahrenheit outside today, meaning I wouldn't be leaving the house, I decided to chill a bottle of Veuve de Vernay-- inexpensive bubbly. An hour ago I popped the cork and  made a mimosa. I capped the sparkling wine with a rubber cork and leaned it against a head of cauliflower on a shelf in my refrigerator.

My drink didn't last long, so I went back into the kitchen to make a second. In fact, my plan was to return again and again until the bottle was empty.

I added ice to my glass and poured in some orange juice. My mistake was not reaching for the Veuve first, for just as I was about to grab it it it rolled away from the cauliflower and fell 18" to the bottom lip of the fridge. Upon impact, the cork made a POP sound and went sailing, followed by a one-inch thick stream of champagne that soaked my jeans, the floor, my cabinets, the front of the dishwasher, and the inside and outside of the fridge.

I grabbed the bottle as fast as I could, but there was only enough wine to fill my glass. I mopped up the wine with my trousers and a towel, tossed them into the washer, and made a quick run at the floor with a mop. Then I came upstairs to write this.

One of the better things I've made in second life is a bottle of faux Dom Perignon champagne. In fact, there are two versions, vintage 1996 and 1916. The first is free on the Second Life marketplace. The second sells for 10 Lindens because, well, it IS vintage.

Over the years I've sold thousands of bottles of the 1996 vintage on the marketplace and a few of the 1916 (which would have long since turned to vinegar in real life). A year or so ago I reworked the bottles, making them look better and saving a prim in the process, and replacing the usual free throw-the-drink-in-your-face animation with one that makes the avatar actually sip. I made a flute complete with tiny particle fizz and sound and added a popping sound when the bottle is opened. Sales picked up, and now I would estimate I sell six or seven bottles a day.

Get your free bottle here.

The good thing about my virtual chapagne is it never rolls out of the refrigerator and explodes all over your kitchen.