Almost made it

I tried really really hard, but I didn't make it til midnight. I did last long enough to catch part of Von Johin's gig. Ahh well. :)

A little carried away :)

They're getting a little elaborate. :)

Happy New Year to all - may it be one full of health, wisdom, friends and good fortune.

Littering

I'm trying to put myself in his place. He's impressing the ladies and motoring around the islands in this thing then suddenly.......Whap!........he really has to go do something else and totally forgets the machine?

Maybe I should start a Grid Lost & Found. :)

Party House

The good news is that, when I asked them to remove the party palace from the winter island, these people were polite. No harm, no foul. whew!

Serendipity and a Public Thank You!

I'm still experimenting with time and I found this great site with a tutorial for making clocks and making them tell the correct time. Ironically though, I've found the site just as he's going to shut it down. It looks like he already closed his SL account. I want to publicly thank Ian. If I manage to make my sundials tell time it'll be at least in part because of what I learned doing his tutorials (although I have to admit I just laughed the first couple of times I watched, it's not as obvious to me as it is to him). He'll have had a lasting and positive impact on me and my SecondLife - I hope he learns that.

Experimenting with time .....

I'm experimenting with showing the passage of time on the sundials using a shadow which is supposedly created by the gnomon. The problem of course is to reflect the "actual" passage of time. Since I have 24 hour markings on the dials I guess I'll stick with a 24 hour clock and try to make it as close as possible to sl time. lol You just know this will end in disaster right?

This is a plate equatorial. I'll have to package it in a rezzer I think - although they aren't very precise when they align things. I'll have to do more experimentation. :)

Someday I'll laugh about this .........

I was doing my morning rounds and found a weird wooden structure on the ice rink. (forgot to take a picture again) Inside was this young lady - that's a white fur something on her neck. Seems well dressed, less than 2 months old - I explained gently that this is not where she should practice building. She then argued with me (what?) and started showing me that of course she could.

First I would return her items to her. I tried really hard to be supportive and give her some advice etc, cause I really don't want to have to ban people all the time. She argued some more and kept rezzing. I tried freezing her but nothing happened. (is there a trick?)

All of this started to remind me of another instance where I learned to have some weapons on hand. I tried banning her but nothing happened (?). So I pulled out something from my armoury and tried orbiting her but it didn't work (sigh). Finally I used a cage.

That worked. It also really pissed her off. So she tp'ed somewhere else, came back (cause the ban still wasn't working) and started caging/shooting at me. I gave up, ar'd her and tp'd to the top of the mountain. At which point the ban seems to have kicked in. So she's gone.

I'm really hoping the laws of natural selection will kick in where she's concerned. I'm also hoping they fix whatever it is that kept the "ban" from working for almost 15 minutes.

I'm going to go make myself some waffles. :)

A few years older ..

Vint Falken has a post about new Brazen Women skins that intrigued me. I've been using a Chai skin I really like - at least partly because it's a really good freckled skin and because it doesn't look like an 18 year old. But growing a little older wouldn't be bad. So here we go (and remember, I am sooooooooo not a portrait photographer): before

And after:

I do miss my freckles though.

Question for the people who know stuff .......

If it's sunset on Aintree - is it sunset on all of SL? I don't believe there's any curve to the universe that is SL - but that doesn't mean we're all on the same clock.

If it's not the same time all over - is there a logic to it? Do we have time zones? And how would one figure out a map of those time zones? Does one exist? Can you point me to it?

Please? :)

New Project

This is my first equatorial sun dial - I have other designs in mind. It's nice to have a new project to get excited about. :)

Happy Boxing Day to you!!

I've watched a few times as people try to ride the sleds in tandem. It doesn't work well - the steering becomes really really wonky. However, this couple came up with a cool solution. :)

The spring version of the island will include a new vehicle type - I'll have to get somebody (hint hint) to help me figure out how to make tandem an option. :)

Happy Boxing Day to all - I hope it's quiet and lazy like mine. :)

Little boys are so much fun!

My old dog got me up early and when I checked my email, cause that's what I do, I had a message from inworld that somebody had left me a present. Found a giant snowball blocking one of the sliding tubes. And no, you couldn't get by it. The guy has been here since 2006, and seems otherwise respectable etc. from his profile. Maybe it was personal. banned his ass

Odds n Ends

If you've ever looked for somebody else's objects on your land you know that when you select "show" they are highlighted in white. This leads to a bit of an issue on a winter landscape. sigh

I played around with my photo editor for a Koinup contest and came up with this. I cut out a copy of the head and torso, painted out the background and made an alpha. Then I applied brush strokes to the original and pasted the alpha on top. It's not great art but I like it. :)

And, although I've done next to nothing about furnishing or landscaping the castle, at least I have a portrait over the fireplace. how incredibly narcissistic!

Looks better with a proper frame. I think I'd better go work on something a little less frivolous.

A Holiday Gift

A visitor to my winter island added her own (beautiful) card to my collection! This is a major improvement to the stuff I found yesterday. And I'm really touched. :)

A Holiday Wish

I'm displaying the holiday cards and items I receive on top of the mountain. I meant to do a card this year but haven't had the time. :(

So to all of my friends and readers - Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Morning Cleanup

I have to preface this post with a comment and an apology. Apparently some foreign power decided to spike something I ate with a toxin which forced my body to violently reject any and all food I've consumed in the past ........oh.......6 or 7 days.......... (at least that's what it seemed like). This exercise took most of the night and I'm cranky.

In addition, I have yet to remember to take photos before I deal with a situation. So, dear reader, you will have to use your imagination for part of what follows.

I have a routine in the morning where I walk around the various islands checking things out, sometimes tweaking things, planning changes, etc. Lately this has become more interesting because the winter island allows residents to rezz items (I thought people might want to bring their own winter sports equipment and was trying to make it user friendly). Of course, once they've rezzed something they can transport it to the other islands.

That bed of ruby thyme in the pic above had an unwelcome addition this morning. A big red pickup truck with a giant penis in the back aiming towards the sky like an anti-ballistic missile. (I told you that you would have to use your imagination!)

I returned this intruder to the owner and looked at his profile. Now if he was a newbie I would have just let it go - you know how they like to get freebies and tend to litter. This guy is over a year old though and by now should have figured out what is and isn't PG. So I banned him (told you I was cranky).

When I got to the winter island I discovered that the same guy had installed a 3 level house boat just off the coast. There was somebody on the roof rezzing boxes so I thought I'd go find out wtf they were thinking. When I arrived on the roof the guy said "Ciao, Italiano" and tp'ed away. So I banned him and returned the houseboat to the owner.

This couple is pictured here only because in the few lucid moments I had overnight I would come inworld to check things out. They were there 8 hours ago, 5 hours ago, and just now. Not in the same place mind you - they have done a bit of sightseeing. Guess they really like snow. :)

Saved again!

That's a pic of a happy visitor using one of the tube sleds to travel cross country. :) Dale Innis saved me again and sent me a revised rezzing script for the sleds - so now when somebody gets on and just sits there (I don't know, maybe they're waiting for the sled to drive itself) the new one doesn't rezz and send them flying sideways. And I don't have to go around resetting scripts and sleds all day. YAY!

More importantly of course, I don't have to worry that the people coming to see everything are disappointed in the sleds or prevented from doing the quasi bob sled thingie. I'll sleep better tonight. :)

/me Does a little dance!

I'm no AM Radio, and I'm certainly not as talented as those responsible for the Greenies, but LL have selected Aintree Willow to be included in the Winterfaire Tour. Yay!!

I'm not saying it's as beautiful as Wintermute or as cute as Winter on Raglan Shire but it's mine and I'm hoping people will have fun with it. :) One of the reasons I'm so pleased is that it's the first time I've actually been included in a community event. I've applied for many things but, prior to this, I couldn't even get accepted as a volunteer. Starts to wear on a person.

One of the results I was hoping for was that people would wander around the other islands as well - and they are. Somebody was playing chess on Oak and they found the hidden pose balls on the Common.

The only glitch I've discovered so far is in the sled script. It rezzes a new sled even if the person hasn't moved the old one - which causes the person to ride up in the air, or sideways, or flip as the new sled bumps them. Once that has happened the sled won't work for anybody else either until I reset the script. So I've tried changing the sign and adjusting the rezz time - but I'll still go around a few times a day and check on things.

It's a good day in SecondLife. :)

THE Holiday Video!!!!

And two more for your pleasure! :)

Some people fly to Mexico .......

I'm closer to getting in the whole holiday mood (would be easier if somebody I know had done his annual over-the-top Christmas decorations). But sometimes the snow etc. just gets to you. If I had the money (and didn't have responsibilities that keep me here) I might do what so many others do - fly to Mexico. I can't - so I went and spent time on Parterre. Cheap vacation. :)

My islands aren't closing - I think.

I was wandering around on one of the islands earlier today and met a nice woman. She explained that she was visiting Aintree because she saw it on a list of Open Spaces that are closing. Huh?

I explained that whoever had posted that was misinformed and got her to give me the link. She left to go visit "all the other islands that are closing".

I understand that there is a lot of pain and angst and anger. I understand that people need to mobilize and feel that they're addressing the issue. But really! They should make sure of their facts first.

The page she saw Aintree listed has the following title:

Places we know that are going to disappear on or before 1/1/09

Aintree is slotted in this category:

UNCONFIRMED CLOSURE DATES / ENDANGERED OPENSPACES

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aintree Common(s)

I'm sure these are all well meaning individuals and I applaud their passion and commitment. But they could have checked with me. :)

According to the comments on this page Paris 1900 was saved - I'm hoping that, at least, is true. :)

Wonderful holiday music stream!

I use KONA radio on Aintree and I love it but I was looking for a holiday music stream for Winter on Aintree Willow. I saw a post on some forum somewhere by Ewan Mureaux and that he has a holiday music stream available. You really should check it out! He has the classics, he has stuff I didn't know existed (like the Star Wars Christmas Album), he has funny stuff, punk, show tunes, Hanukkah (Chanukah) and beautiful sweet music. If you need a holiday stream try Ewan's. It's a fabulous mix and you won't be disappointed. :)

I decided to put a card up on top of the mountain crediting him - and added christmas stuff people have given me and a card from me for visitors. I think I'm finally getting in the mood.

I like the stream so much I've parked myself under a tree while I do other things on the computer and around the house. That way I can still listen to it. :)

PS - this is probably the only way/time I'll listen to Marilyn Manson and/or Clay Aiken. I am glad I got to hear Vikingarna though.

Rezzing scripts - pfffft!

When I wasn't running around (or just playing with windlight) today I was trying to solve the problem one of my customers is having. He bought the flowering sculpty tree and when he rezzes it on his homestead island he only gets half the foliage. Well, at least on the tree. Half the foliage rezzes upside down and 10 m away.

He gave me permission to create objects on his land and I tried rezzing the tree - got the same result. I had him rezz his tree on my land and it was fine.

I remember from rezzing the Steampunk Castle that auto rezzers don't work the same on open spaces - so I've been trying various versions of resetting the rezzer script. Haven't solved it yet - but I'll keep trying.

In the meantime he "took" the group of tree prims and planted it that way. I'm glad he's being understanding about this. :(

Svarga is for sale!

We all have that list of things we really want to do - or places we really plan to visit, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Svarga was on my list. I had heard so many great things and really really meant to go. Then I read this post on Hamlet's blog and figured I'd better get there right away. You see Svarga is for sale. I can't comment on the reasons - my building is just piddling stuff compared to this. But it did make me get off of my virtual ass and go visit the place. I took a lot of photo's but I think I'll upload them to Koinup rather than bogging down the blog. Here are a couple though that I hope will encourage you to go visit yourself.

Long past due......

I've gotten a number of chores done today but the really big one still sits there untouched. I really really have to go through the 4,913 (I finally looked to see how bad it is) photos sitting on my hard drive. They have to be sorted, filed, culled. I need to separate out the ones that will make textures once I work on them and delete the ones that never will. I need to rename most of them so they can be found when I want them. I need to do this.

I just haven't come up with the sure fire motivation yet. But I will. Really. Any day now.

Psyching myself out .........

Unlike most areas in Canada and (at least) the northern US, the area I live in is supposed to be temperate. However, apparently we're going to get snow later in the week. I'm trying to convince myself it'll be as benign as it is in SL.

I lived in Victoria in 1996 when we got more than 4 feet of snow over Christmas. I still over-react when there's snow in the forecast. The good news is that I can just walk to work if I have to. :)

Chores

I know I've mentioned it before, but at the risk of being annoyingly monotonous - I hate shopping! I just wanted a scarf - I went all over the place. Finally I started paging through men's fashion blogs and found a store that had them. Then I figured out that if I turned it around I didn't hate it. :) And now as a reward I'm spending hours sorting through my inventory (particularly my textures) that I haven't touched in the past couple of months of building.

Could be worse. I could be doing rl housework. :)

Dancing to Von Johin

In the French Quarter, dancing in the snow to Von Johin. I really really needed this tonight!
Ahuva was there too. :)

Limited decorations!

I'm not going to spend a lot of time decorating Aintree - there is a full winter island next door. But I decided to put in a tree anyway. :)

Introducing the Flowering Aintree!

Yes I like this one. :)

I'm getting closer.

Some trees take longer than others. Just crossing my fingers that this one will be worth it. :)