Spring in November in Second Life

Haruno  (moderate)

This will be a very quick post.  It's November 1st and it's cold, wet and (at the moment) dark but in Second Life seasons are up to the sim creator so we can escape and find whatever we want.

Haruno  (moderate)

Today I lucked out and found something pretty and dedicated to Spring.  Haruno has a gorgeous and romantic underwater club.  My photos don't do it justice but I can imagine couples enjoying each other's company here.

Haruno  (moderate)

If you explore you'll find a giant tree covered in Sakura blossoms and delicate flowers floating on the ocean.  A dance ball is positioned under the tree so you can get some privacy and still hear the music from the club below.

Haruno  (moderate)

I went looking for a musical ending to this entry (remind me not to do that if there's a time limit).  My wanderings took me from Tom Waits to Rufus Wainwright and eventually the Corries (it made sense while I was doing it, really).  I decided on this one because it's upbeat and helps fight off the November glooms. Besides we all need a little Jesse Cook now and then. :)

There's Aught in Second Life

Aught  (moderate)

It'll be a short post today - I'm achieving all new depths of frustration trying to take photographs.  Something is throttling Second Life and until I find it I have little joy in my usual adjusting/sliding/button pushing/clicking adventures.

Having said that, there is a very cool sim called Aught that deserves your attention.  Ever wonder what the devestated parts of Japan look like now months after the earthquake and tidal wave?  If you believe the creators of this landscape, Mother Nature is now taking the opportunity to reclaim the areas she previously treated so harshly.  The industrial complex seems broken beyond repair but the colour green is becoming more and more evident as plant life achieves dominance.

Aught  (moderate)

This is a post-apocalyptic vision of a real life post-apocalypse.  There are stores in the rubble with some interesting items to tempt you to open your wallet and continue providing financial support to aid recovery efforts.  Although caused by a horrendous tragedy the landscape is beautiful as it overcomes recent history - seemingly much more ready to recover than are the people who once lived here.

I enjoyed visiting Aught and I wish I could bring you better images - you'll just have to visit yourself and find your own.  :)

Aught  (moderate)

On Lives and Journeys and Dark Chocolate in Second Life

Secret Spheres (moderate)

I've been musing on life and change and the unfolding of the universe.  I'm hardly a profound philosopher but there are some things I believe. I know, you're rolling your eyes and judging me, but you can just look at the pictures while I try and articulate some thoughts which have resulted.  

The photos are from Secret Spheres which is a fabulous group of tiny little universes (and yes there are some secret hidden ones) and it seemed in keeping with my mental wanderings.

People I care for deeply are dealing with life changes right now -  the unexpected remodelling of their worlds and how they envisioned their lives.  Some of these changes are small, others are dramatic and difficult, but all of them have altered what they thought of as their "lives".

Secret Spheres (moderate)

I would like to fix things for them but my magic wand is still in the shop.  Mostly I would like to ease their sense of loss and discomfort with their current situations.

I'm going to sound very trite here and I apologize but dammit even the cliched can be true. The only thing I know for sure is that nothing turns out as planned.  My own reckless adaptive approach to change is to consider it a new adventure.  Not all of them are pleasant or ones we would choose but the good news is that things will change again.  

Secret Spheres (moderate)

If I've learned anything in my seemingly hundreds of years of history is that we are not living our future.  Everything, I mean everything, is just a phase.

Why is it that the young see their world and their place in it as fixed?  We talk a lot about potential and possibility but for some reason they put their feet on a path expecting it to just head off into the future without detours or bridge closures or earthquakes.  There are lots of other paths.

Secret Spheres (moderate)

When I was younger, and yes electricity had been finally been introduced, we enjoyed the music of a great Canadian poet.  His voice was similar to other poets like Dylan but, of course, he had the romance and angst we could point to and call our own.

Many years and cartons of cigarettes later his voice is now a deep dark chocolate that drowns you in sensual pleasure. (excuse me while I collect myself)  The song is the same but the experience has changed.  It's not a great analogy but it does let me segue into a favourite video.  :)

Unsleep Walking the Grid in Second Life

XIV Evanesce  (moderate)

Sometimes sleep is erratic if not elusive and sometimes that can prove to be an opportunity for something special.  I consider it preferable to "do" anything rather than just lie there when I awake and last night I was looking at photos and saw this one by Totem Flow.

The grid is almost always available so I went to explore and found myself in shallow waves looking at a magical view.   I turned my camera around and saw even more magic and didn't miss sleep at all.

XIV Evanesce  (moderate)

When I arrived I had my environment set to midnight and decided to keep it there but play with some of Torley's settings for that hour.

I'm not comfortable with many of the mushy romantic destinations inworld.  Maybe I have a different notion of romance or maybe I'm just cranky but I find too many of them cliched and overly cute.  However Vix Yoshikawa has created something beautiful and romance could be happy here.

XIV Evanesce  (moderate)

I encountered one of those perfect images that sometimes appear in front of you while I was snapping photos. In a special place with soft colour and light there were two gorgeous pastel nekos sharing a swing and a quiet moment. They suited the mood and the landscape so completely that they could have been part of the design.

I didn't invade their privacy and I did not take their picture but seeing them made me smile.  

XIV Evanesce  (moderate)

Go visit XIV Evanesce and check it out at different times of day.  Share it with somebody special - even if that means yourself.

I headed back to sleep with the untaken photo of that couple in my head.  Maybe I'm not as cranky as I think. :)

XIV Evanesce  (moderate)

A Moment of Serendipity in Second Life

DH Lab2  (moderate)

This might happen to other people a lot but, for the very first time in my Second Life, I teleported onto a sim and landed on the back of a giant butterfly.

This flock of birds is heading somewhere.  I might follow. :)

DH Lab2  (moderate)

Breaking News! Tortoise-deniers Murder Innocent Blogger in Second Life

New Jessie  (general)

I tried.  I really did.  On behalf of you, Dear Readers, I will face my fears and venture into regions known to embody all the things on that long list of activities that terrify me.  Being a true coward they are not hard to find.  But I have limits and once that threshold is met I retreat - no grace or nobility involved.  Viewed from any distance I will look like the craven, whimpering wuss I am. 

Today I went to visit New Jessie.  I knew in advance it was a combat sim and expected (well hoped) to be able to wear a Visitor tag while I explored.  There wasn't one.  My fallback wish was that people would be so busy with each other that I could just slip in, take some photos and escape before they knew I was there.  You can guess what happened.

New Jessie  (general)

The landing spot for this combat sim provides a helpful globe showing the related regions around the grid where you can engage in the "fun" of killing each other.  I should have been less willing to venture into the main build "The Glorious Socialist Workers' City of Stalingrad" because that globe is, of course, a lie.  The grid is actually flat and moves through the metaverse on the back of a giant turtle. Tortoise-deniers can't be trusted to honour the neutrality of innocent bloggers.  The little brats.

New Jessie has a tricky teleporter down to the main city - it's random.  I usually try and tp to an area devoid of combatants but that wasn't in my power today.  For those of you new to my adventures I have a rule.  Kill me three times and I give up.   sigh  I managed to get one photograph in the main area before my third death and it's not a very good shot.  It's up to you to try and see the rest of this build.  Next time I'll go find a place with pretty flowers and pixies.  They're not as homicidal.

New Jessie  (general)

This Castle Hath a Pleasant Seat? in Second Life

This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself  Unto our gentle senses.
-- William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth -- Act i, Sc. 6

King Duncan's comment is a fine example of irony - and the tendency we all have to not look below the surface. He may have thought he was going for a nice getaway in the country but Lady Macbeth had other plans.

Magnolioideae Palace had the same effect on me.  I saw this wonderful landscape and prepared to stroll casually about enjoying the scenery .... until I got a little closer.

Magnolioideae Palace  (moderate)

Based on the vehicles parked outside I think the German High Command has assumed control of this region.  I decided not to venture indoors - we've established already that I'm a coward and I can live with that.

I found evidence in the woods that there's a contingent of resistance fighters in the area.  I think I'll just avoid all of them and try to appreciate the view.  :)

Magnolioideae Palace  (moderate)

Wherein the Intrepid Explorer Learns that Patience is a Virtue in Second Life

Velbert  (moderate)

I was surfing the map this morning and saw an island named Velbert - which seemed like a cool name so I teleported there.  My first reaction was disappointment, because I seemed to have landed in a mall and they don't interest me, so I went into some other windows looking for likely exploration targets.

When I got back to my viewer window the textures had rezzed.  And this is what I saw in front of me.

Velbert  (moderate)

The lights and the colours and the movement match the music that is coming from the club up stairs which, the sign says, carry you to a strip club.  It's definitely the seedier side of a futuristic downtown area.  Lots of little places offering tasteful nudes or fun showgirls, a pachinko-like palace and theatres.

One of my pet peeves in locations such as this is that they are usually so clean - think Star Trek vs Firefly - but this one has litter.  It also has some of the most bizarre ingredients I've ever seen added to any techno location.

Velbert  (moderate)

Just down the street from this theatre you walk through an "honour guard" of elephants.  When I passed through the door at the end of the street I found myself in a metal hallway - someday I'll have to figure out where that goes.

The Club up the stairs was full of dancing bodies - friendly people who invited me to join them.  However I was on a mission and declined but if you like trance/techno music you should try this place out.

Velbert  (moderate)

In the heart of the City (which acts as the lobby for the Club) you'll find a teleporter.  I thought I'd try a couple of the locations and was surprised all over again.  There is a volcano, a meditation area in the sky, both underwater and space-based racing tracks for free motorcycles and even more I didn't try.  All appeared really well done and landscaped.

Velbert is one of the most jam-packed locations I've ever visited.  The colour and the lights and the music and even the unexpected elements work together and it has a lot of positive energy.  Do be patient - there are hundreds of textures and they'll take a while to load.  Well worth the wait though - I got lucky that I saw this.  Next time I might remember that a little patience could pay off.  :)

Velbert  (moderate)

Up in the Air with Art & Cuckoos in Second Life

Aire Ville Spatiale (general)

I love the art you can find in Second Life.  I love the fact that, unlike many of us who resort to drama or emo hissy fits, artists channel their "crazy" into something often amazing and give the rest of us a journey to experience.  What my two readers have learned though is that I'm not knowledgeable about "art" and its metaphors or symbolism.  In other words - I can't explain it, I can just point you towards what I've found and suggest you go visit.  Today is a very good example.  :)

There is a new group of exhibits at Aire Ville Spaciale by Oberon Onmura, Marc Moana (his rl avatar is Marc Blieux) and Marc in collaboration with Maya Paris & Typote Beck. When you land at the main landing spot you'll see an installation by Yona Friedman and receive a notecard with teleport locations for the newer works.

Aire Ville Spatiale (general)

As a photographer I'm very slow - I have no future capturing "action" shots because by the time I have all the sliders and settings where I want them the image is long gone.  That weakness was brought home to me while I visited SynchroniCity because it keeps changing dammit!  I'd see this fabulous construct and work to try and get what might be a reasonable photo only to have it vanish before I could click on the camera.

There's a giant planet and then there isn't.  There's a phenomenally large tower and it disappears to be gradually replaced by a variety of cool builds (that's technical art terminology, really!) and then they vanish.

Aire Ville Spatiale (general)

I admit I got confused about where I was and in which exhibit at some points.  Figuring out what to look at and when made me feel like I was always a step behind where I was meant to be but, and it's a big but, I loved it.

I can't sound like I know what I'm talking about when I describe the art, because I don't.  However, I have travelled a lot in this fair world and there are many places which don't make me feel like I want to stay and see everything and experience all that I can.  The works I found on Aire Ville Spatiale captured my attention completely - trying to see everything was somehow absurd but compelling.

Aire Ville Spatiale (general)

Having said all of this I did have a favourite exhibit.  Marc's Cuckoo (which is actually built in The Aviary by Dekka Raymaker) is magical and The Aviary itself is fabulous (and I reached this conclusion before I discovered a free gift avatar by alpha.tribe!). 

There's a lot to see and absorb.  I did a great deal of the former and I'm still working on the latter.  I recommend that you go visit these exhibits - I'm not bad a finding things but I'll leave it to you to grasp their meaning. :)

By the time I found myself reclining on top of a giant bird's perch I was exhausted.  Go forth and see what you can discover at Aire Ville Spatiale.

Aire Ville Spatiale (general)

Techie Trash, Power Games & Missing Husbands in Second Life

Tekkon Tech  (moderate)

Beware - this will be another one of those glimpses into the mysterious meandering thought processes of mine.  I went to visit Ionetorus Habilis' stores and workshop this morning.  While I was enjoying the wonderful, eclectic and intriguing display of her works I noticed a lot of litter and piles of garbage here and there.  Understandable of course - you put an artist or a techie into full blown creative mode and tidying up becomes a very low priority.  It's not like they notice the empty cups or take out containers on the floor.  Discarding pieces that don't fit or weren't just right makes sense and if you have the time occasionally to bag it all up well then you can promise yourself that someday the bags will make it to the recycling plant or landfill.  Civilization won't end if it doesn't get there for a while.

This reminded me in a lot of ways of the days I was in fulltime management consulting. 80 or 90 hour weeks was the norm and what I and my female colleagues did not have time for were the "home chores" that seemed to pile up.  We used to laugh and agree that what we each needed was a stereotypical "wife".  The person who stayed at home and took care of things there. We certainly didn't have the time or inclination.

Tekkon Tech  (moderate)

These thoughts led me to remember something that used to drive me crazy.  I would spend my days meeting with Directors of giant corporations helping solve large, complex and costly problems.  I was in demand and damn good at what I did and they took me very seriously.

However, when I went to conferences, luncheons or social events and was introduced to new people - usually with a reference to my professional status - the very first question which was always asked was "What does your husband do?".

You see people need a way of assigning us to a particular category or station relative to themselves.  In a business context (which to business people it always was) they needed to know if you represented "power" if compared to their own positions.  And, since as a woman, I could only hold power in their eyes as I reflected it from a man they naturally wanted to know my husband's job so they could categorize me.

Tekkon Tech  (moderate)

After the first dozen times I stopped responding with "What husband?"  and just started saying he was a "reactionary poet".  Talk often shifted to the weather at that point. :)

I started thinking about how different Second Life is in that respect.  I don't think people judge you by your "connections" inworld but of course it's not a relatively small homogeneous environment and most of those "power" games are ineffectual.  Certainly not (usually) knowing gender, race or body fat count renders those measuring tools meaningless.

But utopia we are not.  The need to judge and establish (at least in their own minds) their relative superiority is as necessary as breathing to some.  Yardsticks in the metaverse reflect the tools available to people who need a hierarchy so they can place themselves above you.

Tekkon Tech  (moderate)

One of the things people always point to about our world is that you can "create" yourself however you like.  Your appearance is solely dependent on your personal preference (well and your linden balance if you don't want to make things yourself) and the range of choices is endless.  Fashion of course has become an enormous industry and, in some cases, obsession.  Unfortunately it also provides an easy way for those who like to sit in judgement to criticize others for their appearance and feel smug,  Personally I think the concept of "fugly" deserves a place in the Universal Hall of Shame but small minds need their kicks.

We also see people create new categories of bigotry based on shape or species or even height.  They rest easy in their sense of self worth by condemning others for their choice of viewer, or spelling or anything they figure they can compete at with their own rules.

All of this is inevitable because we really do bring "ourselves" inworld when we logon and nobody becomes perfect just by turning on a computer (well except for me of course).  Still, it's depressing and I hope it remains a very small irritant on an otherwise enjoyable grid.

The really good news is that nobody asks me what my husband does.  :)

Tekkon Tech  (moderate)

Dark Steampunk Roleplay Encourages Machinima in Second Life

NeoVictoria (adult)

OK so Steampunk is cool and it's certainly one of the favourite "themes" in Second Life.  Steampunk Roleplay  is readily available and "Dark Steampunk Roleplay" isn't unknown, but what makes NeoVictoria different is that the idea of capturing the "stories" with machinima is actively encouraged and is one of the reasons for the two sim build's presence on the grid.

NeoVictoria (adult)

Described as "an experiment in machinima and free form roleplay"  this location uses the Community Combat System developed by Suzanna Soyinka in her City of  Lost Angels - and it's free.  You can visit as an out of character observer but do read the rule notecard and wear the tag.

NeoVictoria (adult)

The rule notecard gives the expectations/guidelines for machinima.  You can use the sim as a backdrop for your video without being involved in the roleplay but you must ask permission first - luckily it stated that I didn't need to contact them before taking photographs. :)

NeoVictoria (adult)

I admit that being the wuss I am I was a little hesitant to go look at any of the videos.  I mean they do spell out how "dark" the roleplay might be and that type of machinima is not my thing.  However, my fears were misplaced and if you go to their website you'll find lots more information and sample videos.  You do have to register to access most of the site pages but it's not a difficult process.

I like the idea of anything that encourages machinima and experimentation and more people doing both.  Giving people a reason to try the art form and a venue for doing it is a great idea.  If you're interested in steampunk, dark roleplay, making videos or just taking pictures I suggest you go visit NeoVictoria.  Here's a sample machinima.

Idle & Erratic Musings in Second Life's Forgotten City

Forgotten City  (general)

I was feeling particularly self indulgent this morning so I went to visit one of my favourite places on the grid - the Forgotten City.  You can spend hours exploring this fabulous build - I just stand in one spot and take dozens of photos - everywhere you look there is something that deserves closer inspection.  Even underwater.

Forgotten City  (general)

I was wandering around yesterday and realized that when a landowner creates a fixed windlight setting on their island we know exactly how they want it to appear.  Of course unless they tell me what that setting is I can't alter east angle for photo purposes and keep the settings.  sigh  Please vote for this JIRA - I know it's not all about photographers and machinimasts but we should count too. :)

Forgotten City  (general)

We're in the midst of preparations for Burn2 - lots of volunteers doing lots of projects that are needed to get the infrastructure in place.  If you're planning to wait until the last moment to get your plot - don't!  The number of sims we have will depend on the number of plots people ask for and we need enough for a full region before we can commit.  Do it now and you have a better chance of getting one.  If you'd like to volunteer we'd love to have you on the team!

Forgotten City  (general)

Today is a day for those threatened by Mother Nature and/or weapons and violence to stay safe.  For those threatened by illness to work on health and their loved ones to focus on the positive.  For the rest of us, I suggest we avoid the drama created by small minds.  I'm going to wander up this back street and see what I can find.

Forgotten City  (general)

The New Viewer Convinced Me To Clean My Closet in Second Life

Artarra  (moderate)

I've been playing with the 3.something version of the production viewer for the past couple of days and having some performance issues.  This of course led me down the path of  "Gee I must be doing something wrong"  which was followed by doing a clean install and then fussing with settings.  It turns out at least part of my problem would be a combination of expectations and impatience.  :)

I keep expecting the login experience to be similar to previous versions of the viewer - wait a bit and things rez and stabilize and then my fps goes up to a number I expect.  This version however never seemed to stabilize and that was because I never gave it time to do that.  At some point yesterday morning while I was waiting for my fps to climb above 2.7 I opened my inventory and noticed it was still loading - very, very slowly.  Once it had loaded my performance arrived at something close to what I would consider "normal" but it took more than 10 minutes.

I'm sure this will be fixed - I noticed it in the release notes for at least one of the betas but in the meantime I decided this meant I should tackle my inventory - I'm not a fashionista and I don't have 90K of stuff in my closet but my number used to hover around 12,000 and it has crept up to 19,000.  I took the loading issue as a sign from the pixel gods and I've been culling.

After deleting a lot, transferring some to my alt who has nothing and boxing up literally thousands of textures I've cut 5,000 from my inventory total.  I think I'll ship more out but at least the number is coming down. 

I promise I'll do some more serious exploring soon but I did take a break this morning to go visit Artarra - I enjoy landscapes that remind me of impressionist paintings.  This is a pretty place and you should visit. Take your umbrella though, all that lush greenery is watered often by rain.  :)

Artarra  (moderate)