Merry Christmas!

"Kathy" by Nicki Ree

I wandered into Nicky Ree's boutique on Muse Isle and realized I hadn't been to one of her shops in eons. I found this little number and just fell in love with it. You don't see too many browns in SL and this chocolatey brown is just so lush and creamy and delicious. It fades off into a teal-aqua that sets off the brown just perfectly. And the textures and draping and highlighting in the material sets off my voluptous curves to advantage! I had to include a back view just to prove that point!

The three pointed flexi skirt moves beautifully, and needed no adjustment at all. At only 300L$ they're quite a steal! That's a lot of shimmy for small change!


Kathy dress by Nicki Ree of Designing Nicki Ree $300L
Lady Slingbacks in Chocolate by Shiny Things
Pearl choker, earrings and bracelet by DelEmma Designs
Bridget Hair in Crimson Blackened by Elika Tirmasu of ETD
Skin Hybrid II in Spectral by Santana Lumiere of Nevermore Studios

Lazy Spa Day

Ahhhh, a snowy day in RL leads to a relaxing spa day in SL. I wandered into the Total Betty shop - one of my AbFab Faves in Son and found the *Cozy Plush* set - bathrobe and towel and soothing facial complete with cucumber slices over the eyes. Such a hoot! Love it!

*Cozy Plush* comes in 8 different colors for only L$125 each.

8 Things.....

I was tagged by Ben Vanguard. Merci. :P

Here are the rules:

1/ Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2/ People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
3/ At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4/ Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 things about Lillie Guildenstern:

1/ I am very shy, which will come as a surprise to many people, I'm sure. I am very cautious about making friends, but once I do, you're friended for good.

2/ I love old black and white movies.

3/ I am a cat person.

4/ I am obsessive about punctuality. To be honest, I'm a Virgo and I'm obsessive about a lot of things!

5/ I absolutely abhor injustice, unfairness and unkindness. I sometimes get in trouble for speaking out about it, too.

6/ A lot of my food preferences have more to do with texture than taste.

7/ I wear a lot of black.

8/ I am definitely not a morning person.

And now, Kori Travanti, Iris Ophelia, Whitney Clymer, Shinesse Madison, Elisha Paklena, Pasha Korvin, Relika Itamae, and Nephilaine Protagonist, you've been tagged. Enjoy!

DiVAS - Second Life

The latest machinima from Phaylen Fairchild. This piece uses to advantage her keen sense of timing and humor. I love her ability to match a piece of music to her videos. Special effects and animations are used very effectively in this offering! The underlying humanity of her subjects comes through despite the lack of dialogue.

Welcome to Your Second Life

One of my all-time favorite Second Life machinima. An early work of Phaylen Fairchild's.

Woot!

Clearly this tool is borked. :P

A Welcome Sight

Tonight saw the reopening of Warehouse 42 with live blues by the solid Jaggpro McCann and Blue4u Nowicka. After a bit of an absence, Zud Zaftig and the Warehouse are back in Inquestor - old faithful fans flocked to the new site and new fans appeared out of the woodwork. Good music, intelligent conversation, a nice build and great company!

Keep an eye open for events at the Warehouse 42 in Inquestor. You won't be dissapointed.

When the Postman Spits Twice

Winner of the 2007 Machinima Filmfestival in Europe
Best Commercial: When the Postman Spits Twice - SL-Inworld Productions

Grid Issues? Nahhhhh

Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?

Major grid problems tonight, forcing dozens of avatars to log in and get redirected to a Welcome Area. Avatars stacked on avatars, lag and bling and grey textures galore. Oldbies and newbies formed a pile of green dots on the map. Unable to teleport out, the body count rises.

One noob asks "Hey guys was there any problems tonight with SL? ive been trying for ages to log in?"

Ummm, nope! Just you!! ;)

Avatar as Mask

Robbie Dingo explores the use of avatar faces as masks behind which we experience SL and each other. Avatars simultaneously hide and reveal our selves to the greater world. The video highlights our differences as well as our similarities. Enjoy!

WindLight

The Windlight viewer is back, and folks are having all kinds of fun playing with it's functionality. Torley's WindLight tips explain a ton of the options and effects that can be achieved with the viewer.

Known issues and bugs with Windlight are listed on the Jira.

Snapzilla is showing off WindLight pics like this by Tweed Silvera...

They're starting a new album of WindLight pics, the address for inclusion in the album is wind@slpics.com

For a bunch of info on the First Look Windlight Viewer by Jeremy Linden, check the Knowledge Base Article of the Week on the official blog.

Happy tweaking!!!

Across the World

Pixel Dolls has some new releases this week, and I just could not resist this dress, called Across the World. This luscious confection has Nephilaine Protagonist's trademark rich texturing and detailed drawing. The flexi sleeves flutter daintily and the flexi skirt is a deep lush brocade that moves nicely and (at least in the Windlight viewer) has a bit of a taffeta shine on the skirt lining. It comes in several lush Pixel Dolls colors, and all layers, all for $250L. I may never take it off.

Yummy!!!!

OMG Shoes from Insolence

Considering the fact that I have a giant SL shoe fetish, I can't believe that this is my first shoe posting. :O It is just not possible.

I ran across these shoes in the FashCon notices a while back - they're newish sculptie shoes from Insolence, famed maker of oh-so-yummy lingerie, now turned couture cobbler.

They come in two sizes, many colors, two finishes, and are modifiable, so the ankle strap doesn't go through longer or thicker ankles - I just love the way they look - nice clean lines and the shoe clothing piece doesn't mangle your ankle joint so that your limbs look like they were broken to fit into the darn shoe. Too many cruel shoes in SL! The Elise shoe gives a nicely turned ankle that's doesn't make you squeamish to look at!

Elise sculpted black vinyl stilettos, at Insolence in Venom, $399L.

Meteors

Second Life filmmaker Rob Wright (Robbie Dingo) collaborates with electronic musician Kirsty Hawkshaw for the Millions of Us first Artist-in-Residence Program.

Mean Girls

If you're looking for mean girls, you've come to the wrong place.

However, the Mean Girls Guide to SL is the right place. ;) It's one of those guilty pleasures that I have on my reading list - and they're also looking for writers. So, if you're mean, petty, smart, witty, and have a razor sharp tongue and lightning comebacks, you may have found your home!

Port Seraphine rebuilt

Pixel Dolls' main store on Port Seraphine has been rebuilt. Nephilaine Protagonist's builds are as good as her clothing designs. This may take a while.

You'll know where to find me. ;)

440 Sims?

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that CBS bought 440 sims in preparation for it's featuring of Second Life airing in an episode of CSI:NY. Just "WOW".

SL Insider has info on signups and glitches as a result of the airing. The CSI registration portal failed, but new registrations were still up about 74,000 more accounts than usual.

Greenies

I visited the Greenies Home Rezzable sim recently and after hearing a thing or two about it, I was quite impressed! The build is really amazing, well thought out and very well implemented! You enter via a tunnel that is right out of a 1950s sci-fi alien movie and then into a dollhouse that is rather avatar proportioned and from there into the full-sized build where the perspective and miniaturization of your avatar dwarfed by the giant earth objects becomes apparent.

Pictures of course don't do it justice, the scale is really the star of the show here, and there's so much to see - little "greenies" hidden everywhere - playing with everyday items and interacting with the objects in a human household.

And the perils of pets is evident as well! The humor in the build is very playful and makes the sim really fun to explore! Surprises abound!

I tried to give a sense of the perspective in this shot - not an easy task, but you really do feel tiny - I kept getting the feel I was in a 1940s era Warner Brothers cartoon!

There's so much more to see here - I think I only saw about a third of them and so many more greenies to find! I'll be going back for more!

Fun with Avatars

Lust by Grendel's Children

One of the things I enjoy so much about SL is the freedom to change your avatar. There is so much fluidity to the human sliders on the basic avatar, and then there are the creative artists that make prim attachments and costumes and hair and shapes and skins so that we can appear to be almost anything, any size, any era, any gender, ad infinitum. Some of the tools in SL are so easy to use that basic costumes are a snap. And then you have the creative geniuses at places like Grendel's Children or DarkDharma or Psyra Extraordinaire and Seven's Selections and many many other content creators in SL! Here's a few of my favorite recent playthings!

Tiny fairy avatar by Seven's Selections in Flotsam Beach - compare to the lovely and talented Whitney for tiny size comparison!

An amazing Raven avatar by the talented Psyra Extraordinaire, who now has a Birdworx section all her own at Grendel's Children.

Fantastic dragons abound at Grendel's Children, this one comes with a riding attachment, that is sold separately. Trainable dragons! Who knew?

LILcat

in ur mailbox leaving u a surprise

Lucia Freebie at Bossa Nova

One of my favorite SL designers, Moire Georgette of Bossa Nova, has done it again! Another freebie shared with the SL community - this one is a twofer - two black and white tea length gowns - very elegant - strapless and classic in design. A net underskirt poofs out the flouncy flexi skirt and a contrasting sash cinches the waist.

She's also moved her store to Amour (183, 60, 27) - do go and visit her new digs, pick up the freebies and browse her new collections!

Mermaids

I'm having fun playing with the mermaid themes - I found some lovely animations by Shanna Sungsoo of Starfish at Siren's Grotto in Shamrock.

Second Life in Doonesbury

SL Video

This RL video made the rounds a few months ago, and I can't believe I forgot to post it here. The sound effects crack me up - satirical and a bit depressing, the only elements missing are lag and sex balls. ;) Enjoy!!

Sweet Cassie from Tuli

I've been to Tuli Asturias' shop "Tuli" in Plush Rho a few times now, and this is one of her newest releases called "Cassie". It's oh so sweet and oh so innocent. Which as you know, is soooooo me! ;)

It's a flirty little virginal outfit with sweetheart rosebuds and pink polkadots. It comes in multiple layers and quite a few pieces to mix and match. The tops are in jacket or shirt layers, in long and short versions. The underskirt layers are either patterned or this sweet little naughty pink thing - heck, even I like to watch me walk when I wear it! :D


Tuli is definitely a new designer I am going to keep my eye on. She's now turning her talents to some very nice skins and even prim jewelry. I suggest you keep your eye on her, too!

SLurl to Tuli: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush_Rho/124/236/22


Cassie dress by Tuli Asturias of Tuli Designs
Veronica Sandals in Rose by Lyra Muse for Last Call
Cailyn's Gypsy Set in Silver Red and Pink by Cailyn Miller.
Bridget Hair in Crimson Blackened by Elika Tirmasu of ETD
Skin Obsidian Lush in Nimbus by Portia Sin of Sin Skins

The Debug Menu

Torley's written a very nice guide to the debug options in the Client menu (previously the Debug menu) that I draw your attention to today.

Torley's official debug client menu tour on the Official Blog here.

If you cannot see the client menu on your SL screen, it's hidden by default, hit Ctrl-Alt-D on Windows and Linux, or Cmd-Ctrl-D on a Mac. That's "D" for debug. You'll immediately see your menu options increase by two- Client and Server menus. The goodies we're talking about today are in the Client menu.

Torley's Ten include:

10. Quiet Snapshots to Disk

9. Debug Permissions

8. Rendering > Cheesy Beacon
(I once got completely discombobulated playing with this option - it really is cheesy!)

7. World menu > Mouse Moves Sun

6. Character > Slow Motion Animations

5. Character > Rebake Textures (I can't live without this one!)

4. Disable Camera Constraints (My fave for screenshots!)

3. Joystick Flycam

2. Mouse Smoothing

1. Debug Settings - lots of goodies here! Turning off typing animations or auto-idling live here.

Happy debugging! ;)

Newsweek on Second Life

Newsweek magazine covers the world of Second Life in their July 30th issue.

Titled "Why Millions Are Living Virtual Lives Online", the article claims that SL "may be the Internet's next big thing". ;)

The article differs from most recent mainstream media coverage, in that it actually looks at SL from a variety of angles. It skips the "ZOMG u can make oodles of moneyzzz" hype and takes a look at the live music scene, RL networking, disabilities, designing, creativity, corporate presence, education, research, development, culture, love and even sex. Not a bad read!

All Bets are Off!

As of yesterday, Linden Labs no longer allows gambling or wagering.

Gambling is defined as any game that relies on "chance or random number generation to determine a winner", or relies on the outcome of real-life organized sporting events, and provides a payout or prize in either Linden dollars or any real world currency.

Games that are now verboten include baccarat, blackjack, craps, keno, poker, and slot machines. Casinos will have a hard time figuring out any way to stay open. Offering merchandise instead of lindens, and games of skill instead of chance might be one way, but will that draw avies like games of chance and the possiblity of winning oodles of lindens?

The policy goes into effect across the grid, regardless of where individual members reside in first life. I wonder if chips count as Lindens or real life currency.....

Blog entry: Wagering In Second Life: New Policy

Artist Zero Ball

I ran into artist Zero Ball the other day, at an exhibit of his work near my home in Theretra. He graciously showed me around, answering questions about his many works. Zero works in many mediums - sculpture, images, and many of his pieces are kinetic or interactive. The piece above is entitled "Vortex" and the picture just does not do it justice. It has a very lovely movement to it, and standing inside and using mouselook gives an entirely different experiential view. Zero and his partner Sylver Piccard, who is also an artist, call their brand of animated sculpture "Meta Dimensional Art", or Metilism, full of kinetic energy and motion.

I was intrigued and impressed enough with his work, that I actually agreed to sit for him. While I am not extremely shy about my pixels, I am a bit guarded about where I flash them. Ok, sometimes I am guarded about where I flash them. ;) I felt comfortable with Zero's work, and I was also curious to see what he would do with my image. A few days later, I got a call that the work was done and had been accepted into another gallery opening in Abitibi, at the Symposium gallery. I quickly ran over with a few close friends to see what had become of me ....

..... and I was quite pleased and intrigued with his work. Very heavily shaded, the single nude figure is both exposed and obscured. I find the portrait mesmerizing. I also readily admit that I may be slightly biased. It's titled "Lillie Guildenstern", you can't miss it.

Do come see his unique works at the Asgard gallery in Theretra, and at the Symposium gallery in Abitibi. Zero is available for commissions and portraits, and his art work is both beautiful and thought provoking. He's definitely worth the look!

Boston Uncommon

Emerson College in Boston has a build of downtown Boston on their island. Their campus is at the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets, pictured here. I'm intimately familiar with that corner, they've done a very faithful recreation - building by building - even graffitti and drain plugs are included in their texturing. Greetings from Boston!

Encore, Bossa Nova!

Both Encore and Bossa Nova released new items this week, and as those are two of my favorite design houses, I had to check them out.

Tracy Scofield of Encore has taken up jewelry design, and has some delicious offerings in black and white pearls, necklaces and earrings, to mix and match. Her first jewelry offering is the Timeless pearl collection. The textures are delicious, and the pearls are nicely strung. The necklaces come in double and single strand, knotted, and a sort of choker with a teardrop version. She has created four sets of earrings; teardrop, chain, double chain or hoop earrings. Decisions abound! Everything comes in black or white versions. Necklaces are $100L and earrings are $50L, so if you just can't decide, you can buy them all!
Encore is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hillcrest Estates/112/214/24





Moire Georgette's designs of Bossa Nova have become one of the staples of my SL wardrobe. Whether you want casual, kicky, retro, classy, fun, or elegant, Bossa Nova has something for you. She released two new dresses this week, including the Clove above, shown in Lilac. It's an elegant design, with very subtle folds. The ribbon edging has a lovely satiny shine to it, and once I pulled the prim bow out of my boob, it sat nicely on my collar and waved hello. :)

Moire is also retiring some of her older designs, so she's having a very nice sale on some of her soon-to-dissapear outfits. Prices as low as $50L! Get over there now before they're gone forever!! Bossa Nova is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dos%20Corazones/79/122/25

Clove dress in Lilac by Georgette Moire of Bossa Nova

Vamp Veronica Sandals in Rose by Lyra Muse for Last Call

Timeless White Pearl Double Strand Necklace and Chain Earrings by Tracy Scofield of Encore

Radiant Hair in Dark Brown by Elika Tirmasu of ETD

Skin Hybrid II in Spectral by Santana Lumiere of Nevermore Studios

Starry Starry Night

Robbie Dingo wanders inside Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Starry Night" and recreates it in Second Life. A mesmerizing video, beautifully done, set to Don McLean's "Vincent".

A thank you to Eloise Pasteur of SL Insider for bringing this to my attention.

Debunking SL Myths

Wagner James Au recently wrote an article for GigaOM titled "Debunking 5 Business Myths about Second Life". Having seen a lot of the articles in the mainstream media that just make me cringe - or laugh - I enjoyed this article very much. He makes some good points, with humor, even if you take issue with some of his stats. The five myths he addresses are:

Myth 1: Second Life is Huge– or Second Life is Small

Myth 2: Nobody visits SL Marketing Sites

Myth 3: Real World Advertisers are Linden Lab’s Main Revenue Source

Myth 4: Corporate Sites are Helpless in the face of Protesters and Sabotage

Myth 5: It’s Mostly a Sex Haven Full of Weirdos

The part of the article that struck me the most was that if you substitute any SL/Linden references with the word "internet" this could have been a flashback to the 1980s.

Further debunking on the NWN Blog here RE-DEBUNKING SECOND LIFE MYTHS

Renovation sale at Last Call

There's a sale going on at Last Call on the Dazzle sim - Ginny Talamasca is retiring some designs and has set them up for sale through July 27th, so if you've put off making some purchases, now might be the time to do that! After the sale, these items will no longer be available.

I picked up a few items for about 1/3 of what I would have paid before, including a nice expansion pack of tops to the Kerry outfit, which I just love!

The sale wall is right behind you as you teleport in - I didn't see it at first and almost missed it - turn around and the giant black sale wall will be looming over you!

It puts the lotion on its skin....

..... and puts it in the basket.

Another Lucky Day at Pixel Dolls!

Who says Friday the 13th is unlucky? Not Nephilaine Protagonist, apparently!

Pixel Dolls is showing more love this week, in the form of some delicious freebies! Port Seraphine location only.

There's a black cropped sweater with sculpted prim cuffs, a sumptously silky peachy pink leotard in multi layers, and two piles of tank tops - wrapped and wrinkled , fifteen of each, all for free. The wrapped is a crossover top with a little tie over the decolletage, and the wrinkled has a delightfully ruched texture over the tummy.

I'm completely in love with the leotard- try and peel it off me!

She likes us! She really, really likes us!!! Thank you, Nephilaine!!!

Lazy Bum

Just hanging out by the pond, bumming around, enjoying my first day of summer vacation.

Appropriately dressed in summery togs, and my new wellies from Jeepers Creepers. I've been a big fan of their shoes for a long time, and these Ladybug Wellies just amused me no end!

The halter top is the Annie in red from /artilleri/ - I love the tailoring of it, and it's just so summery and crisp! The jeans are just the freebie faded jeans - but on the underwear layer for wearing with boots.

The earrings and bracelet are from my good friend Emma's DelEmma Duality Crystal jewelry set in black. It comes with a choker as well as a second bracelet. I love the crystal look of the set, and it's achieved without bling! Yay, Emma!

Annie halter in Red by Antonia Marat of /artilleri/

Ladybug Wellies Eponymous Trenchmouth of Jeepers Creepers

Duality Crystal Earrings and Bracelet by Emmanuelle LaFollette of DelEmma Designs

Black Star Pearl Necklace by Neptune's Kiss

Radiant Hair in Dark Brown by Elika Tirmasu of ETD

Skin Hybrid II in Spectral by Santana Lumiere of Nevermore Studios

Freebie Faded Jeans from Linden Textures :P

Andromeda at Last Call

Ginny Talamasca of Last Call has done it again! She's got a fantastic new release out in her shop - a limited release - in six colors - all for 1L$ each!

Andromeda comes in a deep ruby red, amethyst, antique gold, apatite (teal) , emerald, and sapphire, each deeper and more lustrous than the last. As an added plus, they're all spelled correctly, too! ;) I love the strappy back on it, as well! The skirts move nicely, and the double hem is extremely well done! Two skirts are included, one is very full and the other is slimmer.

Pictured above is the Andromeda in apatite with the skinny skirt. I cannot resist teal!

They're for sale for approximately two and a half weeks so get there soon - TP your friends to Last Call at Dazzle! They'll be glad you did!

Study in Wireframe

I like to putter around with some of the lesser known tools - and play with the camera in SL.

One of the rendering options in the Client menu (formerly the Debug menu) is to view your surroundings in wireframe. You can get some interesting effects this way.

If your Client/Debug menu isn't visible in your options, click Ctrl-Alt-D in Windows (sorry, maybe someone can comment on the Mac command!) and it should appear along with the Server menu. Happy debugging! ;)

Lucky Day at Pixel Dolls!

If you love freebies and you love Pixel Dolls, then today is your lucky day!!!!

Nephilaine Protagonist, in all her benevolence, has made this Celeste dress available free at her Port Seraphine shop in twelve - count them twelve!! - delicious colors! Teleport to secondlife://Port_Seraphine/44/134/27 at the base of the staircase.

Here's the dress in Magenta, yummmy!!!

I've been doing a bunch of shopping at Pixel Dolls lately, I suspect there will be more blog entries from here! Pixel Dolls makes me drool, always has!

Celeste dress in Magenta by Nephilaine Protagonist of Pixel Dolls
Silk Wrapped Pumps in Regal by Mare Lu of Paper Couture
Black Star Pearl Jewelry Set by Neptune's Kiss
Bridget Hair in Crimson Blackened by Elika Tirmasu of ETD
Skin Hybrid II in Spectral by Santana Lumiere of Nevermore Studios

auntie elsie by /artilleri/

I stopped in to see what was new at /artilleri/, as I haven't been to the main store since Antonia Marat moved to her own sim. I found this delicious little summery number and hemmed and hawed over what color to get it in. I never never get yellow, as it's a color I can't really wear in RL (can you say jaundice?) but it just looked so irresistably cool and summery in the yellows and greens that she chose, that I had to make an exception!

The auntie elsie dress comes in blue, green, red, brown and yellow - at 200L$ a pop or 600L$ for all five colors. The flexi prim skirt is flouncy, with a net crinoline beneath - enough bounce and movement to suggest a breeze, but not a frequent flasher flexi. ;) The little prim bow is sweet but not saccharine.

Fun to wear and very well done!! /artilleri/ is one of those Second Life shops that has consistent quality and consistently imaginitive new designs, with some fifties funk and down home diner casual influence - if you haven't been you really should check it out, it's a great build and a really nice shopping experience.

auntie elsie dress in yellow by Antonia Marat of /artilleri/
White and Black Mules by Lassitude and Ennui
Deese Aero gold jewelry by Ginny Talamasca of Dazzle
Bonita Hair in Mahogany by ETD
Skin Hybrid II Spectral by Santana Lumiere

Ruthed .....

.... is the new black.

Enkythings 1L$ Store

I'm back after an extended RL move - and of course I've jumped right back into shopping again! I ran across Enkythings 1LS store this morning, while I was drooling over the boots!

Enktan Gully has built quite the little newbie heaven here - hair, neko, clothes, shoes, furniture, attachments, toys, jewelry - you name it, it's there. I've added the landmark to the folder of freebie newbie stuff that I hand out to new members.

Visit here at Orbiuna (196, 96, 351)

Sculpted prims

As I shall be offline for a while and unable to participate in SL adventures, I leave you to contemplate the future of SL and sculpted prims.

See you soon!

Project Open Letter

This letter is being sent to Linden Labs tomorrow, an open letter asking LL to address ongoing problems that are causing financial losses, inability to create and keep content, and inconsistencies with record keeping, among myriad other issues. It was written by Cristiano Midnight, and signed by over 400 members so far.

"As I thought more about it, I realized that just because we no longer have a centralized place we can raise and discuss issues collectively does not mean that we do not have a voice. While an individual forum post may not draw much attention, the visibility of an open letter on a large number of SL web sites and blogs, along with locations in SL would at least help to get attention to the message. Whether it can bring about change remains to be seen, but the effort so far has been worthwhile."

Read the letter here: Project Open Letter

Signature list is here. The letter gets sent on April 30th.