I planned to blog about the surprise return to SecondCast of Torrid Midnight, who went off a couple of weeks ago, saying it made no sense to podcast about Second Life when she wasn't planning to be there. For those who want to reprise the whole drama, you can find my colleague Aimee's report here, and there is a vast quantity of pixellated reportage all over the web about it from varying angles. Somewhere in the archives of SecondCast ooh, a whole two or three weeks ago, you can catch her exit too. And the rest of the guys quietly stabbing her in the back the moment she went. Actually that episode is worth listening to just for that. They are supportive and sweet for the first part, in which she participates, and then lose no time whatsoever in making it clear that they would never have done what she did, and that they think she is too fragile to succeed in the big bad world of business if the comments she has had have made her give SL up. It's breathtaking, and tells us far more than they want us to know about what sort of support they are to a friend in trouble.

Anyoldhoo, Torrid appears to be back on SecondCast. I tried to listen to the episode, honestly I did. I have enjoyed it in the past, and I rather like the slightly amateurish giggling and quite obviously set up opportunities for the casters to sing, both the talented (Torrid) and the untalented (can't remember if it was Lordfly or Cristiano).

However, I think the guys may be in the process of vastly underestimating their audience. Firstly, in several of the podcasts I have heard, they have been pretty scathing about Second Life in general: "do we even bother to log on any more?", and in this edition, they have a running gag of spoof news broadcasts. Now if you are 13 or on a tedious commuter journey this may possibly pass for entertainment, but to be honest I was groping for the fast forward before Torrid finished the first.

It reminds me of those dreadful Crackerjack plays that used to plague my childhood -- sorry, chaps, only Brits of a certain age (mine) will get what I mean in full technicolour memory. It was a children's programme in the mould of variety, with a group of has-been actors who couldn't get a real job, doing bad sketches which no-one liked with the possible exception of the actors who took part in them. Those sorts of spoofs are pretty gut-cringeingly awful when perpetrated by professionals, but with poor sound quality and amateurs, it is like watching a drunk uncle do his Fagin impressions to the Rabbi from across the road. Embarrassing doesn't really cover it.

It's also a bit tedious. Quite a feat to manage to be so embarrassing AND boring at the same time. Has to be said, I listen to SecondCast hoping to hear their slant on what's happening in Second Life, and knowing that as members of long-standing they have friends in high places, sometimes the inside track on things going on in world.

If they are so jaded that they have to make up the drama, it is time they moved over and let some people who are still passionate about SL, still enthusiastic about it, to take on the job of SecondCasting.

I must say that I thought - wouldn't it be cool if a podcast did include real reportage from the grid? If the people who were at some of the closed events reported what they could see, why they were enjoying themselves -- or not, maybe, if it is a tedious as this is.

If anyone lasted to the end and discovered how come Torrid made a reappearance so jolly quickly, do tell. I am assuming it must be something like: "Back, by popular demand...".