Twice in a blue moon ........

or something like that. I go months in jeans and then twice in one week I get dressed up. I decided I better capture it for the record - those who know me will never believe it otherwise. :)

Changes

I have to make room for more trees. So I think I'll move the flowers over next to the herb garden and use that space. Means I need to level this area out a bit. Of course it also means I have to go work on those trees. :)

SBBOD - Von Johin

Went to hear Von Johin tonight - he crashed in the middle of his set. But his stream didn't stop - his viewer was just gone. He described the crash as the "Spinning Beach Ball of Death". The acronym for this would, of course, be "SBBOD". :)

A good night!

Yes I do own something besides jeans. :) Just usually gardening and you don't wear clothes like this to garden.

Had to clean up to go to the official opening party of the 7 Hills Equestrian Centre. Hosted by Sverien Oldrich, Simone Reyes and the fabulous Eliza Wierwright who did the design for the clubhouse and grounds. A very nice surprise was one of the performers - and one of my favourites. Joaquin Gustav! swoon....

Afterwards I changed back into my jeans and did some work on a small landscaping project I have. Then I finished another texture and just as I'm planting the new flower along comes GoSpeed.

Remind me next time I'm landscaping an island to leave room to park a blimp!

Working hard!

I have been very productive lately - gotten a number of new flowers done and 4 more herbs. It doesn't show here with the potted ones, but the herb garden needs about 4 or 5 more before it'll look fully stocked.

I spend hours and hours making plant textures. Doesn't make me neurotic. Some people (I understand) spend an inordinate amount of time building ships in bottles. I prefer the plants. :)

Gibson Island Again

Came back to Gibson Island to hear some more of Von Johin. What a great way to decompress. :)
posted by Honour McMillan on Gibson Island using a blogHUD : [permalink]

A new (to me) toy!!! The BlogHUD!

This is a test. I'm making this blog post from inside SL using the BlogHUd. If you're curious go to bloghud.com and check it out. :) My life would have been sooooo much easier during the Gibson Island opening if I'd known about this.
posted by Honour McMillan on Aintree using a blogHUD : [permalink]

And it worked!!! I came in just to add this note and the tags. It automatically gives a link to the location where you took the pic - this is a very cool toy. :)

Koz Farina has created this little jewel. I had some trouble setting up the cross-posting to this blog but I perservered (cause I'm stubborn) and as you can see - it works! I don't think the problems were caused by bloghud - it had something to do with cookies and my system. I don't know - but it got sorted out.

It's actually simpler to do a post with a picture than without - look on the bloghud.com homepage for a link to the announcement about being able to include pics for the instructions.

I'm looking forward to the next big event - unlike Gibson Island, I won't have to keep minimizing; going into the photo editor and changing the pic to a jpg; then coming in here; uploading the pic and writing the text. You can specify the size you want the pics to be in your account set up - so it's all done in advance.

Congratulations Koz!

Walking through jello ..............

Ever since the server upgrade earlier in the week I've felt like all my walking, flying, riding on Aintree Common was through jello. Very annoying. I know they rolled back the server upgrade but that didn't fix the problem (assuming that's what caused it in the first place). I did everything that the various help documents recommend and couldn't fix it. I did spend a little time navigating my way through JIRA to see if there was a known problem - but I gave up after a while.

So finally, with a great deal of trepidation, I restarted the region.

And it seems to have fixed the problem. I don't know why and - even if it's just a coincidence - I don't care. I don't like jello.

and yes, I seem to be a bit cranky today. :)

July 16 - get to Gibson Island!

Gibson Guitars has opened their island - they're having 12 hours of live music today. Get down there if you can!!! I missed Mimi Carpenter but I've caught Hathead Rickenbaker and Forsythe Whitfield so far. I didn't need to do anything today. Well just look at the line up! :)

Update 1:19 pm I had to miss most of Cylindrian's set unfortunately. The good news is that I was there for all of Joaquin Gustav's. Incredible!!!!

I'm listening to Peregrine Singh right now. Lag is too much for me to take a picture - you'll just have to imagine it.

Update 2:15 This is like a combination of every birthday I've had. Had to log out and back in - good news is I got a photo of Peregrine Singh after his set.

Now I'm listening to Etherian Kamaboko! This day just can't get any better. :)

Update 3:00 Etherian was wonderful as always. Now the great Charles E. Bristol (at the ripe old age of 86.8 years old) is entertaining us! :)

Update 4:13 Charles has finished his set and Julien Hifeng is giving a master class on jazz guitar. I crashed out of SL of course. I'm going to get my first aid kit and fight my way back in.

Update 5:06 From smooth to serene - it's Cypress Rosewood's turn.

Update 6:05 OK Cypress was amazing - the whole day has been incredible - and now it's time for Von Johin. He has Bob Welch there in the studio with him - I don't know what's going to happen but I'm going to enjoy it!

Update 8:18 I couldn't do an update at 7:00 - the sim filled up and I was afraid I'd crash if I tried. Briefly - before I do some general notes on the day - BobWelch Magic joined Von. You know the Fleetwood Mac Bob Welch?

So he did some stuff and he, Von, Cypress and Etherian (in the background) did some stuff. And Charles was still in the studio and apparently he was dancing!

This was by far the most magical day I've spent in Second Life. It was one of those 'you had to be there' experiences you hope to have in any life. DoubleDown Tandino took much better pictures than I did - thanks DD for sharing. :)

• At one point I saw 104 av's on the map. Wow!


• I heard more good music today than I've heard in any single year ever.


• I spent a lot of money on tips today - and it was worth it.


• I will wind up spending a lot of money downloading music - and I never do that. But it will be worth it.


• The crowd was terrific - no griefing, no idiots, no annoying jerks. Just a lot of nice people sharing a magical experience and recognizing it.
  
  
  

  Thank you to everybody involved. I will be eternally grateful.

Eshi's art evolves!

Yes, this is the same Desperado I posted about yesterday. I don't know if it's going to continue to change - or if it is, how often - but you should really go see it!

Eshi Otawara does it again!

Eshi's design for Desperado is magical! And the bodies on the ground? That was Death by Chocolate. :)

GoSpeed at Fibber Magee's

GoSpeed Racer dj'ed at the new Fibber Magee's tonight. And a great time was had by all!

Honour's Racing Bathtub

I'll have to find appropriate clothes to race her. :)

Rezzable HUD Announcement

Saw Crap's post and, of course, had to go search to see what the heck s/he was talking about. Found it on Avastar. Good thing everybody really really really wants to go there - or this might seem a trifle arrogant and put people off. I mean, if they weren't irreplaceable people might go looking for alternative things to do or visit. eh?

GOOD MORNING SL!
Rezzable with a price
By: Coyne Nagy
ONE of the most popular development companies involved with Second Life is demanding payment for access to sims.


POPULAR: The Greenies by Rezzable are much loved
Rezzable has announced that residents will only be able to visit Black Swan if they have purchased and are wearing a special HUD which is worn as a watch.
The UK developer sparked a frenzy across the grid with the introduction of the 'Greenies' concept in 2007 but now access to their creations will be controlled.
Initially only the one sim will require payment but that could change.
The HUD will be priced at L$199 and reaction to the decision on the Rezzable blog was mixed. One anonymous user said: "I think it's presumptive and in bad faith to require paid admission to your sims across the board."
But 'Sulumor' offered a different perspective and backed the move: "I know the creator in the Black Swan and he should command that much Lindens or even more for his wonderful creations."

PS I have to wonder - if this works and they decide to require the HUD for others of their sims - will the resident have to update their HUD at further cost? Will new HUD's be required? Can you buy access to the sims one at a time - or do you have to purchase the package? Will you get a discount for purchasing access to multiple sims? The possibilities are endless. Imagine what your ARC would be if you're covered in Rezzable HUD's. Have to come up with a new word - wouldn't be bling. Maybe Rezzling? Rezzabling?

Update: Peter Stindberg has a much better description - think piece - about the annoucement. And Peter has linked to a discussion on SL Universe as well.

You'll note that the Rezzable mouthpiece has a comment on Peter's blog. One thing that isn't included in the equation, I think, is that it's the people who love it at Black Swan or the Greenies who might be tempted to pay in advance. Newbies won't have any idea what's there - why would they pay? And if you've already been there once or more, you might decide you need to find somewhere else to go.

SL5B - A few more!

In the interests of full disclosure I should tell you that I've had a crush on these Giant Snails since I saw my first at the Burning Man um burning. :) Now I have everything I need to join them!

This is an intriguing exhibit by Maldoror Damone and it gave me a new pet - I haven't introduced him to the cats yet. Don't know how that will go over.

This exhibit is called Grafix Writer Sculpted Canvas. You should understand that everything you see in the pic is moving. Totally mesmerizing - but I'm not sure I'd want to share this person's mind. Exhausting!

I try to end a trip to SL5B with a calming, relaxing exhibit. This one is marvelous - a ritual circle by Ian Pahute.

You have very little time left - try to catch some of this work!

SL Bathtub Races!

I live in (what the Americans like to think of as) the Pacific Northwest - which means I'm familiar with the whole concept of Bathtub Racing. So when I heard about bathtub racing in SecondLife I was thrilled! The information and a free bathtub race kit are all available at Regatta Headquarters. The races are supposed to take place monthly and there's a subscription system that lets you get the information without having to use up one of your groups.

I tested it out - and apart from the whole steering and braking thing I'm pretty good. Gonna have to "pimp" this bathtub before the next race though. :)

SL5B - Almost Over

A few more sites you should catch before SL5B ends. This one is in SL5B Render and is a Painting Mini Museum . An interesting collection and they've given you different versions of the paintings - I think the artists would approve but what do I know. :)

The next few pics were taken in SL5B Delegoose. It's a sign of my ignorance that I can't figure out what a Delegoose is!

I almost didn't go into this exhibit. The typist behind my av was severely traumatized once when her sister made her go to shop for Barbies in a ToysRUs store. I still have nightmares about being surrounded by walls of pink!

However, I'm glad I braved the colour and went in. This exhibit is for those of us who love to cook. They are giving away a book of French Cook Recipes and you can choose from 11 different languages!

I loved the entrance to this exhibit, mostly because the front of the card quotes one of my favourite poets. :) Inside the exhibit is a painting ....

and the opportunity for you to become the painting. :) Go visit Through the Frame by Boudicca Amat! I'm sure you'll dress better than I did.

A little tired after all that wandering around? I found another nice little park to rest a while.

SL5B is almost over - a lot of people worked very hard on the exhibits. You should go look before it's too late. :)

Growing Pains (ha ha)

I sent my first message to my subscription list this morning - the good news is that I think I managed to get the system to work. The bad news is that I didn't count the characters in the message and it got truncated - I think it was still understandable but ............ I'll get better. :)

SL5B - Don't Give Up On It!

I'll admit that I went back to SL5B because I really don't want to sit down and do a long delayed sorting of my inventory. But I'm very glad I did. Went to the Stretch, Rebake, Move and Dwell sims - you really need to go check them out. The following is just a taste!

I think this exhibit is called something like the Undiscovered Florida - but what's important is the Cypress Swamp and Cracker House. Wrath you will love it!

The next pics are from Seasons Alter Wiccan - not only is it quiet and attractive, you can do a private ceremony and make a wish. :)

These last two pics highlight one of my favourite things in SL - which is Steam Punk - I can't do it and there's really so much good stuff out there that there's no point in me trying. But I love exploring it! :)

I know there's been a lot of disappointment about the types of exhibits at SL5B - seems like a lot of them are just trying to sell you something. But some of the others are really neat - it's worth exploring some more just to find them. :)