Aglarond

Looking around at the b-places site I found the beautiful medieval sim Aglarond.  It's an RP Sim, medieval clothing is required, and no flying unless you're a winged creature.  

Of course I managed to find the library right away.  

The ballroom is lovely - the stained glass windows are very well done and the place has the aura of twinkling stars inside.  

Aglarond has many places to explore.  I tried to find my way to the mushroom garden, but that takes a bit of negotiating walkways and rope bridges and walls and such that will have to wait for another time.  A very complicated build, there are plenty of areas to explore, it's a lovely sim.

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. ;)

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!

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!

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.

Kidnapped by Pirates

I've been hijacked by RL pirates. Oooooh! I will be back. Eventually. ;)

Remembrance in Caledon Tamrannoch

The Remembrance Day Monument in Caledon Tamrannoch is engraved with the poem "In Flanders Fields". It is located beside the Falling Anvil Pub owned by Aldo Stern.

My Home in Caledon

Chance Takashi's beautiful "vintage" video about his home and his creative world in Caledon was featured in New World Notes His Observatory and Ruins are located in Caledon Highlands. His sense of humor and wonder at the SL world and Caledon translate well!

Elven Dresses at Avilion

One of the things that I find so unique to Second Life is the sense of community that you find in certain places. So many of the folks who create in SL are not here to make a buck, because they read you can be an instant millionaire in Business Week. One of the ways that the SL residents give back to the community is in the form of that favorite of all, the freebie. Because of the sacred nature of the freebie gift to the community, there's one category of resident that is reviled as the most repellant of all the shady characters in SL , the lowest of the low - the freebie reseller. I shiver to think on it.

Fortunately, these low-lifes are few and far between. Those who value community and still make and distribute freebies to the world are wonderful people, and I hope to recognize some of them regularly. One such is the community of Avilion, a medieval community with an Elven flair that has three RPG sims called Avilion Mist, Avilion Isle, and Avilion Grove. The builds there are deliciously ornate, lush, and inviting. They have a spectacular ballroom that just has to be seen to be appreciated. And it's all free.

During one of my many visits to the Avilion sims, I stumbled across a freebie box of Elven gowns. Being a freebie maven, I of course snagged one, and found that they were quite nice indeed! Simple garments with lovely textures, that immediately bring one into character in the medieval setting. Created by Oracle Stonebender, they're a generous addition to the freebie offerings in Second Life. The gowns come in many colors, this midnight blue, a forest green, a shiny silver, and this rich black.

There's even a pants option in the silver tapestry texture, and all the garments are copy/mod/transfer, in true orthodox freebie tradition.

My personal favorite is the silver tapestry gown - I just love the rich textures on the fabric and it has a lovely glow to it. Dance the night away in this freebie elven gown. It's magical.

Myst Online Uru

I happened upon the Myst Online Uru build quite by accident, and teleported over to take a peek at what was there.

The build does a really nice job of recreating the feel of the Myst Games - the rich textures, the outlandish plant and animal life, and the haunting sense that this space has only just recently been abandoned.....

The island is littered with little caves, sliding doors, videos, a free goody bag and enticements to visit the web site and try the game for free.

There are a few puzzles and embedded teleports that give the feel of the "through the book" travel that Myst employs in their games. There's also a D'Ni, a bracelet in the freebie box that allows you to "hear" the teleport sound, but as the island is "NO BUILD" I wasn't able to open the box to find that out until later.

Myst Online Uru utilizes a number of building techniques, including shiny, so make sure you have shiny and local lighting on, and they recommend ramping your draw distance up to 512 m and changing the the world setting to full noon.

The oddness of being in an online 3D environment that was replicating the look and feel of another 3D online environment was inescapable. I was hoping for a few Myst- type puzzles, but it's a fun visit and a strikingly beautiful build. Kudos!


To visit: Myst Online Uru/159/76/26

The wedding invitation

Pretty much anyone who knows me knows I'm not big on SL weddings.

But is this not the nicest wedding invitation you've ever seen?

My friends Del and Emma are getting married this Sunday, and Del whipped up this gorgeous invitation. The invite part disappears if you click it, it blows purple heart particles, and if you look very closely, you can see a mini Del and mini Emma in an embrace on the platform. Here's a closeup:

It's very sweet! Good luck, Emma and Del!