A "Modest Proposal" for Art in Second Life

LEA Art Sandbox  (moderate)

There's a new bully in town.  That's right, the Linden Endowment for the Arts is wreaking havoc in the world of art sims.  Bad enough they provide a sandbox. They also have sims which highlight artists in a variety of categories (and of course let Crap and I loose on the world) but now they're giving out grants to individuals so they have an opportunity to create and share their vision with the rest of the grid.  Outrageous!

However, the real problem is much bigger than just the LEA.  I feel compelled to expose the full nature of this situation but please be comforted by the fact that I do have a solution. Falling back on the inspiration of my hero Jonathan Swift I propose to end this scourge permanently.

There are multiple components to the issue.  The first is that there are way too many artists in Second Life and their numbers are growing all the time.  People keep talking about the virtual world and its tools for creativity - this inevitably leads to people thinking they actually have the right to use them and try creating stuff.

The Great Fissure (moderate)

As a result we have a creative birthrate that cannot be sustained.  There just aren't enough outlets to handle the myriad of new and struggling "artists" which means we have a large population of artsy fartsy types living below the poverty line.  They squat in shacks and under bridges and generally make the metaverse look tawdry.

The second part of the problem involves those people who, for whatever reason, feel a need to open new art sims.  We already have enough art sims.  In fact we have too many. They're all competing with each other and to what purpose?  Why bother displaying the work of more than a few "artists"?  It's not like they're as valuable as a new mall or Zyngo parlour.

I propose that we limit the number of art sims to 3.  That seems like a reasonable number. To avoid the spectacle of unwashed painters and sculptors beating at the doors we round them all up.  You read that correctly, we incarcerate all the would be creative types.  (This will have the added benefit of bringing the whole bdsm subculture into the mainstream - we have to do something with these people once we have them.)

The London Dungeon  (moderate)

Stage Two will be to seize all the individuals who have opened art sims over and above the 3 we have designated as acceptable.  We can't have them drawing traffic away from our trio of approved destinations.  As part of this phase all of the Lindens who thought the LEA was a good idea will be included.

The best part of my proposal is Stage Three.  Each of the official art exhibitors will hold regular executions of the prisoners.  The frequency may have to be high initially, because there will be quite a backlog to get through, but it's doable.

Publically sanctioned terminations would give the 3 sims a chance to compete with each other while eradicating the excess artists and sponsors from Second Life.  They could try to outdo each other in style, efficacy and even, dare I say, artistry.

Ankh Morpork  (moderate)

Eventually the population of artists and art sim owners will be whittled away.  This process will also spread the message to any newcomers that they should not consider creativity as a worthwhile activity to pursue.

A terrific side benefit will be that we get a new source of entertainment.  It could be gamified and draw the right kind of residents inworld.

For any of you who do not believe this is a real problem you have not been paying attention. There is a limit to the amount of help and support that should be provided to a seemingly endless number of artists.  Particularly if you believe that only the same two dozen creative types should be indulged at all.  In addition, the whole idea of having both "public" and private sponsorship is an anathema. Really, what were people thinking?

My proposal is an efficacious approach to both deleting the problem and erasing the drama and we'll get a new game out of it.  My hero would be proud.  

Image from A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

Win, Fail, Pause for the Blues & A Voice You Should Hear in Second Life

Insomnia Station  (moderate)

It's been a busy couple of days - busy in the sense that housework is busy and about as annoying at times. :)  I've been fighting the sense for weeks that being in SL is like driving a car with the emergency brake on.  I just felt like I had to find the one button to push and things would magically improve.

I spent a lot of time on Friday and Saturday tweaking and tuning without much success. Then I spent some time just analyzing what happened and when and decided a lot of it must have to do with my video card - which is a perfectly good card but it seemed like something to at least try.  So I decided to do a clean install of the driver.

Nothing is simple.

Insomnia Station  (moderate)

I uninstalled my video driver and then cleaned the registry and rebooted.  Then I checked and uninstalled the previous version of the driver which was now operational.  After cleaning the registry I rebooted and then wound up rinsing and repeating for 90 minutes until I finally got rid of them all.

The good new is that once I had installed the most recent driver again, this time without the extras I don't need, my fps had tripled.  Whew!  I tweaked a few more system things and did some maintenance and, although it's still not where I'd like it, my inworld experience is much less exasperating.

Insomnia Station  (moderate)

In between bouts of techie impersonations I dropped in on some of the multitude of halloween parties and, in one case, a 4 year anniversary that friends seemed to think I should attend.  Lots of fun in spite of the fact that I'm not a big fan of the whole thing.  :)   I tried to get in the mood and wear "costumes" which in my case means either going as a pink skinned "normal" or wearing one of my more outlandish avatars.

At one point I was a mermaid and missed the window to get to a friend's party because the sim was full.  Few things look as weird as a large fish swimming over the desert floor. It was a pity because those who love the Barbie shape would have enjoyed her and her undulating butt.  

Insomnia Station  (moderate)

Every now and then I soothed my irritated soul by ducking out to a blues concert.  Arriving a little early for one I happened to catch the end of a set by Alex Mays.  Alex is a relative newcomer (5 months old) and I was so intrigued I made sure to catch him again yesterday. He plays great blues guitar and mostly his own original music but also does covers.  

This guy is making a name for himself fast and it's well deserved.  His calendar doesn't show all the dates I know he's playing yet so join his group - Alex Mays {Live Music} - that way you won't miss an opportunity to enjoy his performances.

And, just in keeping with the music I've been using to keep myself semi coherent for the past few days, here (after a brief introduction) is something "loud and nasty".

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.  :)

A Tough Day at the Avatar Games Office in Second Life

Recovering from The Avatar Games (moderate)

I had great hopes when Avatar Games was about to launch and I described with some dismay the reality of what should have been a fabulous historically significant athletic endeavour.  I have to report that things have just gotten weirder.

There was the day that Zed Linden competed and carried his own gun to shoot not only back at the audience but at the other competitors.  In fact Crap joined him at the conclusion of the group run and we witnessed the bizarre sight of these two and others chasing each other around the course in complete violation of all the rules.

Then there is the Linden Angel who decided to take a position above the course and on occasion plucks one of the contestants up into the air and vanishes.  They are usually returned but none are willing to speak about the experience.

We talk about the way each of the athletes demonstrate perseverance but we have one who start out 3 months ago and still hasn't crossed the finish line.  We cling to the hope that Filthy Fluno will find his way to the end zone.

Yesterday things descended about as far as they could go.  Two couples staked out territory in the stands and decided to demonstrate their new sex pose balls.  We sent people over to the pair under the bleachers to point out we were all talking about them and some videos were being made.  They didn't care.  Then some audience members joined them. They didn't seem to mind that either. Things went downhill from there. I expect this to be the first time in history a Linden sim gets shut down for violating the maturity ratings.

The good news is that the inaugural series of Avatar Games ends in about 3 weeks.  Things can't get much more ridiculous.  Can they?  Find out for yourself next Monday at 4:00 pm slt, one of the last three events to be held this season. I'm going to try and recover from today's mayhem.

You Think I'm What? in Second Life

Winterfell (moderate)

I had this kind of epiphany the other day.  Well at least that's what it could be.  We talk a lot about immersion vs augmentation and I've always said/thought that I'm just "me" inworld, no more and no less.  However I've recently been made aware that there's a perception of me as "soft spoken" and "sweet". ?!?  Understand that my physical alt has most often been compared to Murphy Brown and neither of those terms have ever been used to describe her.

If you never saw the show (probably cause you're much younger than I) she wasn't mean just often caustic and wry and definitely had a temper.  So why am I perceived differently by some on the grid?  I don't think I'm "role playing" - in fact I know I'm not.  Maybe the pace or the nature of my interactions in a virtual world allow me the freedom and the time to show more facets of my character.  However, I have never and would never aspire to being "sweet".  I don't think I want to know that about me.

Winterfell (moderate)

I don't have any issue with being "nice" and in fact I try to be kind, considerate and not careless of other people's time and feelings.  But "sweet"?  That's an outrage!

"Sweet" makes me think of very young, coy, naive and not terribly bright.  I'm sure this is my problem and not an attempt by others to insult me but, trust me, diabetics do not need to fear spending too much time in my presence.  Saccharine is cloying and lacks backbone. I'd like to think I've survived this long because of strength not the ability to sit in a corner sucking on a lollipop and fluttering my eyelashes.

Winterfell (moderate)

There's been a lot of conversation in my virtual life lately about my appearance and that it should be altered.  I think if I really wanted to change something about myself it would be whatever it is that I'm doing to make people perceive me in such a mistaken way.  And I don't think it requires changing the size of my boobs. grin

Speaking of which.  I came across a cool blog the other day (and I can't find the link right now of course but I will and I'll add her to my blog roll) by an educator recording her experiences as a newbie in Second Life.  One of her early observations is that there's an obsession with breasts inworld.  Ha!  You thought it was just me!

Winterfell (moderate)

I went to visit Winterfell to get the images for this post.  It's aimed at the fans of Game of Thrones and is described as a Freeform Para-RP in the universe of a Song of Ice and Fire based within the City of WInterfell, in the North.

And this forced me to confront another one of those peculiarities of our world.  In order to visit you must dress appropriately - medieval.  Bare chests, kilts and Xena Warrior Princess are specifically not allowed.  sigh So much for my Xena fantasy.  This meant looking for a basic medieval outfit that didn't involve Gor.  Not an easy thing to do it turns out.  

However, the sim is worth the effort if you like to explore and if you're interested in that kind of role play then I suggest you go visit.  It was like entering a painting in some ways - nice effects.

Now if you'll excuse me I'll go be horribly sarcastic to somebody so I can feel more like myself.  I must be out of practice.

Winterfell (moderate)

Some People Have Shoulder Pets in Second Life

Felix & I

I've not only acquired a new friend but also a way to deal with those annoyances which crop up in our daily lives from time to time.  Thanks to Claudia222 Jewel I won't have to raise a finger in anger or frustration (which always seems to result in a chipped nail).  My buddy Felix is very protective.  He's also a great,  if wry, conversationalist and observer. We've bonded.