Peace on Earth Hunt 2009

The 2009 edition of the grid-wide Peace on Earth Hunt starts at 12:01 am SLT December 1st. This year it's better because all three of the stores (Mustang Trading Post, Drama Dolls and Aintree Gardens) on Taylor Bay are involved. :)

There is an impressive array of stores (276) on the Hunt path, some fabulous gifts available to hunters and a large, exhausted crew of Hunt volunteers who did an enormous amount of work setting this up. Everything a Hunter needs will be available on the site here and in the group.

Be careful out there but do have some fun looking for the globes. There are enough gifts for everyone. :)

The Real SL Conspiracy!

I'm tired of people creating imaginary conspiracies and blaming them for all the weird stuff that happens in SL. I mean really....

• IBM? ... amateurs
• Open grids? ... children's toys for geeks who want to be the next Esteemed Dictator
• Fashion Blogs? ... well maybe if more than 32 people read them

The truth is that there is only one real, viable, well organized conspiracy targeting the residents of SecondLife. That conspiracy is the Hidden Intent to Promote Paranoia and Obedience (or as we like to refer to it ... HIPPO). We're still laughing at all the people who believed LL's explanation for the prevalence of that term in SecondLife.

How do I know about this conspiracy you might ask? I'm part of it. Canadians are at the centre of most of the world's truly great conspiracies because we're very, very good at them.

You also might wonder how it is I can feel free to reveal these secrets. Frankly, we know you won't believe me. It's that simple. But your lack of belief does not negate our impact nor does it make us any less successful.

Without revealing everything (some things you just don't want to know) allow me to give you a few bits of basic information about HIPPO.

• The conspiracy is very old and has been in operation for centuries. Canadians joined soon after our part of the world got semi-organized and we've been members of the Supreme Cabal ever since. Online games never caught our interest but the idea of a virtual world was appealing. This is why we joined SecondLife at the very beginning of its development. Understand that our history and experience make us experts at what we do.

• We don't mess around inworld. Griefers are like the pickpockets of the criminal underground, annoying little mosquitoes but ultimately not important. HIPPO is closer to the Bilderberg Group (although we're much more powerful). We have found the most efficacious approach is to target the blogosphere. Not because hundreds of thousands of SL residents read the damn things, but if you can get a few bloggers riled up they take it to twitter, plurk, forums and inworld to their groups. You can create mass hysteria very quickly.

• Our methodology is simple - we sow the seeds of fear in those more inclined to paranoia already and allow them to sweep others along like proverbial lemmings. One of the most effective divisions in our organization is called the "Yes Everything is Always All About You Team" (MeMeMe for short). The people who work in this area are geniuses! They identify those individuals with slight personality disorders coupled with self esteem which requires them to be seen as the center of the universe or font of all wisdom. These targeted individuals are carefully nurtured and subtly educated until they are ready to be left on their own.

  If you see a blogger who is angry at least 90% of the time, foams at the mouth and is always convinced that somebody somewhere is out to get them.....well that person is one of our success stories. We have a rl/sl wall of fame that would bring tears to your eyes it's so beautiful.

We at HIPPO are very easy to please. Every time somebody shouts "The sky is falling!" or "The end is near!" we open a 30 year old bottle of Scotch and toast our success.

You may have noticed that I have not mentioned why HIPPO was created or what our ultimate purpose might be. Well I'm not going to tell you. I will say that all of the massive paranoid movements of the past few hundred years (and yes the ones in SecondLife are included in that group) are merely rehearsals for the really big event. If you want a hint - notice that having people absorbed with latest paranoid fantasy is a good way to distract them from what is actually happening. And that's all I can say for the moment.

I need to go open another bottle of Scotch.

Some Days are SLFrustrating

I try very hard to ensure there is little or no lag on the island but the past few days have been frustrating. All the stats have been sinking into the mud and the only real change has been the snow I plunked all over the place (I've even been getting grey goo errors - I haven't seen those in a long time, didn't think they still happened). I tried reducing the snowfall from medium to light which doesn't look much different, however the stats haven't improved. I really like the snow particles but I think I'm going to have to go out tonight and find a more efficient system.

On a positive note - I went to the anniversary party at the Crown and Pearl yesterday. The highlight for me was a group of us doing a Thriller dance animation. It was one of those perfect moments you get in our SecondLife. :)

Ahuva took this photo of us which is a good thing, I was having way too much fun to think about the camera.

Only in SL - A fire critic :)

My friend Jon (who has the Mustang Trading Post on Taylor Bay) didn't like the "2003 blowtorch fire animated texture" I used for the bonfire and barrels. sigh

So he gave me some sculpty fire - I used it on the bonfire but I'm keeping the old school blaze in the barrels. I like it! I'd forgotten something from last year - it can be very hard to find your cursor when it's snowing. Just another winter hazard. :)

SLearly Winter is sticking around!

Taylor Bay got hit with some more cold weather over night. The main plaza is ice now. I decided to use some old rusty drums I found to keep the stairs and the plants in the garden warm and ice free.

I also decided a big bonfire would help keep the skaters warm on the Bay.

It's a good thing I did because the snow started up again and this time I don't think it's going to stop for a while.

It is kind of pretty I guess.

But I'm a temperate climate lover, so I'm very glad of those oil drums.

SLearly Winter Arrives!

Winter has come a little early this year to Taylor Bay. The first snowfall happened last night. As you can see it melted off the trees but luckily the Bay has remained frozen.

For those animals lovers out there the ducks have decided to stay put and so far are doing a good job of keeping their corner of the Bay clear.

I used my trusty terraformer to clear the snow and create a skating pond.

There are free skates for those who don't have them. I'm sure it'll snow again and keep right on snowing but in the meantime I'd better put up some greenhouses to protect the garden and find some appropriate music.

And just in case you were nervous - I tested the ice. It's safe!

Luckily I put a fireplace in the revised tower!

SL is a very strange place sometimes!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I was doing a favour for a friend this afternoon (a bit of landscaping) when out of the blue I get this IM from a woman I've never met:

[13:57] Complete Stranger: ok. how about a date then? :)

[13:58] Honour McMillan: a date?

[13:58] Complete Stranger: read your profile. said you didnt want to have sex with me. so how about a date? :)

[13:59] Honour McMillan: lol

[13:59] Honour McMillan: no I actually don't do that either :)

[13:59] Honour McMillan: I do meet friends at live music events and go dancing :)

[13:59] Complete Stranger: with girls or just in general?

[13:59] Honour McMillan: in general :) I don't discriminate

[13:59] Complete Stranger: sighs

[13:59] Complete Stranger: :)

[14:00] Complete Stranger: of course

[14:00] Honour McMillan: lol too funny

[14:00] Complete Stranger: i could be your first! nodsnodsnods

[14:00] Complete Stranger: i clean up really well. :)

[14:00] Honour McMillan: lol why would you want to - we've never even met - this is one strange conversation :)

[14:00] Complete Stranger: i'm a strange person :)

[14:01] Complete Strangerr: and why not? hell. doesnt mean we're going to partner. just means i'd like some ofyour time, socially of course :)

[14:01] Honour McMillan: um - well my next possible social outing will probably be one of Von Johin's concerts next week - how's that?

[14:01] Complete Stranger: hmms

[14:02] Complete Stranger: i think we're thinking of date, differently.

[14:02] Complete Stranger: howsabout you invite me to wherever you are and we talk?

[14:02] Complete Stranger: see? a date! :)

[14:02] Honour McMillan: I'm working but it's an interesting thought lol

[14:02] Complete Stranger: lay a TP on me.

[14:02] Honour McMillan: I do not date in SL - not personal, just a rule

[14:02] Complete Stranger: its a word :)

[14:02] Complete Stranger: like snort. but i dont use "snort" much either :))))

[14:03] Honour McMillan: and I really am working - so I can't handle a visitor at the moment

[14:03] Honour McMillan: lol

[14:03] Complete Stranger: youre handling one now. :)

[14:03] Complete Stranger: i'll behave.

[14:03] Complete Stranger: i promise.

[14:03] Complete Stranger: pinky promise.

[14:03] Honour McMillan: yeah well I'm going to stop soon - cause I really have to finish this - but it was entertaining :)

[14:03] Complete Stranger: be well

[14:03] Complete Stranger: my god

[14:04] Complete Stranger: french quarter chamber of commerce? (a group I belong to)

[14:04] Complete Stranger: smiles

[14:04] Honour McMillan: :)

[14:04] Complete Stranger: <--- NOLA, too. Baby.

[14:04] Honour McMillan: have a good day :)

[14:04] Complete Stranger: youre from New Orleans? me too!

[14:05] Complete Stranger: St. Charles Ave!

[14:05] Honour McMillan: lol no I just rent some space there - I really need to get back to work bye :)

[14:05] Complete Stranger: sighs

[14:05] Complete Stranger: bye bye

Productive Procrastination

I have all this work to do - in fact so much I don't know where to start. So I ignored it all and worked on the tower. I love the Wizard's Tower but it just didn't fit with the rest of the structures on the island. This is a little funky but it feels better somehow.

Von Johin is back!

So after a month's hiatus Von Johin is back! It was pure pleasure listening to him at Prim Economy tonight. I missed the first two concerts he did last week but nothing could have kept me away any longer. Terrific blues with a few Grateful Dead songs thrown in.

That's DZ Questi and I dancing to the music (she always has the best dances, luckily she shares). :)

It was a good night...have to love SL when you can dance to a blues musician from Nashville with an elf, somebody in a bikini and a goth angel. I even had a brief conversation with Wrath Paine - something on TV prevented him from joining us (typical). I'd link to his blog but he's housecleaning - nothing to see right now. Still it was good to connect again.

Thank you Von - I needed this. :)