Nice place to have fun: Pandamonium!

Here is a nice sim to explore and have fun. Many doors lead to new targets. Even from the club is still much more to discover. Nicely done!

Taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Garden/138/139/447



  

Pig Parade Today @Two Fish

Aren’t we all pigs sometimes? Now we can prove:

Eupalinos Ugajin: hello, http://www.flickr.com/photos/eupalinos/6677307799/
Quan Lavender: so Pig Parade tomorrow at 11 am?
Quan Lavender: I have no pig avi ;)
Eupalinos Ugajin: yes around this time, I'll try to be there
Quan Lavender: ok
Eupalinos Ugajin: the important word is parade, a pig is a possible option
Quan Lavender: haha
Eupalinos Ugajin: but you can get some pigs avatars if you want (paid) or mask (free)
Quan Lavender: I will have a look at the Marketplace
Eupalinos Ugajin: you have seen the link under the picture ? (at least for a paid one)
Quan Lavender: ah now, thank you
Eupalinos Ugajin: but any not RL copy shape will be ok

But then I got in my mind, that my very first mesh avatar was a pig from Stray Pig. It is still available as Freebie at the frequently changing Lucky Boards. So my inner pig will have its coming out like that:

Ok, it’s small

Pig Parade, Tuesday 12. at 11 AM SLT
Taxi: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cariacou/100/113/21

Is that the Super Mario World?

Can you remember Super Mario Land? I'm not a gamer, but in the 90's I was addicted for a short while to this Nintendo 2D play. The peculiar walls, flying islands, the circulating coins…  All that you can also play with your avatar as Mario at the sim Electrobites.

At the landing point you find a tool for a little practice. You can play and become fit for the adventure. There are two starting points.

I've never been good at jumping and I have not come very far. Maybe it's better to play with friends. But it was funny and had a nice memory at the old Nintendo games. Now I need a Mario avatar.

Here is a short video:

Taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Electrobit%20City/59/33/3228

Do You Have a Screw Loose or a Gear Out of Place?

Rose Borchovski: Self Portrait

I have to thank Rose Borchovski. When FreeWee Ling announced for the January UWA contest self-portraits, I was not really interested. Probably because when I was a child, I found the self-portraits in the galleries always terribly boring. I have pictures in my mind, where vain artists attempt to look interesting by carefully arranged accessories. But then Rose yesterday sent a picture not with a baby as usual, but with an elder woman: Angry Beth. That made me curious. Rose has not represented her in the best light, but showed a side of her that - if even - only know a few and no one likes to show. She looks bad-tempered, is falling and reaches out her hand. Especially in such situations we need help. But will someone understand and be there?
 
 Next to this is the work of nexuno Thespian and he was around:

Nexuno Thespian: Ancient ruins of temple of nex

nexuno Thespian: hi quannnn :)
Quan Lavender: Hi nexuno :)
nexuno Thespian: hehehe i m here to see if the wild gears stay into my work
Quan Lavender: so that is you? ;)
Quan Lavender: dangerous to come nearer
nexuno Thespian: ahhahahahahaha yes in italy for say that one person is crazy we say have a gear out of place
nexuno Thespian: and i ve a lot of gears out of place
nexuno Thespian: ahahahhaa
Quan Lavender: we say a screw is loose
nexuno Thespian: hehehehehe u don t have to search a meaning of this work ahhahaha is like life not easy to know where is the meaning hahaah
Quan Lavender: we all have so much sides of our personality
Quan Lavender: that is just a cut out
nexuno Thespian: hehehehee yes hahahahaa we r lucky we can choose what part other can see
Quan Lavender: you think you show a side of you which is obvious?
nexuno Thespian: ehhehehhe i think people see what want see ehhehehee
Quan Lavender: true, but is has something to do with how the others are
nexuno Thespian: everyone find a personal interpretation :)
Quan Lavender: true
nexuno Thespian: for me the gears are the wild of myself
nexuno Thespian: that who want escape from real
nexuno Thespian: hehehehehe but my avi is a part of me he always change and is my emotional state of the moment
nexuno Thespian: if u see there s a dancer nex into the work ,::)
Quan Lavender: so maybe it shows better than your rl how you are?
nexuno Thespian: hehehehe i m not difficult to understand in rl i m an emotive ehhehehehe and shy ahhahahahaha
Quan Lavender: your avatar does not look shy :)
nexuno Thespian: eheheh i know nex is other of me
Quan Lavender: that is what I meant
Quan Lavender: and maybe we play here to learn until we also can be rl
nexuno Thespian: heheehe yes sl is a good instrument to learn something about ourselves too

That was really interesting. I understood that each one in this crazy virtual world creates as "artist" a self-portrait with his avatar. And this might be more the way we want to be or another facet of our personality. The self-portraits at UWA create another facet that sometimes has more to do with the avatar, sometimes more with the artist behind it. This is really exciting and worth visiting. You can vote for your favorites of the 25 works, here a choice:

Front: Eifachfilm Vacirca: Smiley d-oo-b; Back: Cherry Manga: Autoportrait

FreeWee Ling: Am I my avatar's pet?

Carmsie Melodie - Portrait

Lilia Artis: One of Billions

I look at my avi. If I were an artist, I would belong to the vain ones.

Now replaced by perfune show:
Taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/UWA/68/130/249

Sneak Preview: Between Orient and Occident

In the January UWA Sky Sim Series 3 Western artists are presenting works about one theme very different ways.

Louly Loon approaches the subject by going to the Far East with the opera Madame Butterfly. When it was written in 1904 by Puccini, Japan was for Europeans even much further away and stranger than nowadays. It was more a fairy tale than reality.

Louly has implemented the three acts of the opera into 3 scenes. Wonderfully delicate structures are turning the theatrical scenery into a European dream of a distant and strange Japan. I'm totally enchanted!

ChapTer Kronfeld made his way on the search and lets us share his artistic process.  Obviously he was in danger to get lost in it. He must have been in between on the way to give up. The well done build contains some surprises on the way. Did he find an answer? The last scene is a labyrinth without exit.

ChapTer says on this: “The journey has to remain the reward and not a static end point. We all have to care and to make an effort continuously in approaching step by step the culturally different and new.”

Asmita Duranjaya is the initiator of the project and I find her work closest to my personal experience. She has pointed out some important fields of mutual impingement and presents them in a visually appealing way: trade, architecture, meditation, etc. The exhibition is partly interactive. It was fun to follow. You can get a HUD with additional information and a puzzle with the chance to gain a gift. I think the theme could be further expanded. I my mind came spontaneously: Arabic numbers, the Arabian influence on Western medicine, rice, noodles and porcelain.

I met Asmita yesterday and quite surprised I had to hear from her that I do "not pay tribute to her importance in the art world of SL” in my blog and that I am "neither able nor in the position to judge her art”. My immediate reaction was not to write about her work. But after some thinking I changed my mind.

I believe one should see the work of an artist separated from personally issues. I do not make blog posts just out of friendship and vice versa I should not ignore a good work, just because the artist insulted me and I don’t like this person.

Now replaced by this artwork.

Taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/118/133/24

For the Lazybones: Avatar Machine

You're in the mood for little adventure but you're too lazy to move the arrow keys? Your partner never really likes to have a walk with you? Here's the solution: The Avatar Machine! You only need to follow the arrow and to go in. The machine does everything else.  

Please turn on the sound, the noise of the machine is really funny. And if you are even too lazy to port there, then here is a video

Taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LOL/187/111/251 

  

OMG - Last Show of Fiona Leitner!

 

Yesterday I visited Betty Tureaud on her LEA parcel ( more about it to come in a future blog post) when Fiona Leitner bumped in. Although we had fun dancing, I had to digest a shock. Fiona decided to leave SL as artist and to concentrate on RL.  That is a great loss for us. Today opens her last show in Second Life. 

Come and see her latest, wonderful works and help us convincing her to stay!

Opening today, Wednesday, January 4., 4 PM SLT

Taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Han%20Loso/196/38/70 

The Morbid Charme of an Abandoned Fun Park

The "Culture" – Park Berlin was the only fun park in the GDR. In my Western eyes it had a morbid charm. After the Fall the business has been continued until 2001. Since then the place is in decay. Squonk Levenque has brilliantly captured the slightly creepy mood of decline in his Treptower Park, which is actually the name of the RL adjoining nature park.  Therefore I mixed RL photos with some of the sim. Look around and enjoy, some rides are still working ;) 

During my visit I've obviously chased away some homeless. The Meeroos still stuck in the grill. I've tried a piece. Not bad! Now I know at least that they can be useful.

Taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/eagle%20crest/12/249/21

  

Sneak Preview: ARTÉE’s LAST VALSE

Artée (Artistide Despres) received last year for the beautiful and sophisticated scripted music instruments great attention and won quite a few prizes. When it was clear that she would get a full sim at LEA, they should be merged into an "orchestra". So now we can enjoy these works all together on LEA6. The small miracles interact partially with the SL wind and it's a joy to watch them and enjoy the sounds.

But ...

 

In what kind of surrounding are the works? Scattered urban environments between water and everywhere fly large and small marine animals and insects. The glass dome above the sensitive instruments is breaking. It came to my mind that animals in still life’s are meant as a symbol of decay. But these critters are moving, it is almost an invasion. Artée stands alone in between and fights with a pole. It is clear that this fight hardly could be won. I got strong compassion seeing this and now understood the title of the work: 'Where I found my Ivory Tower Surrounded by a Huxleyan World, Which Turned out to be an Orwellian World'

Even if last year was a good one for Artée, so much happened in the world: Fukushima, Occupy Wall Street, the failure of the UN Climate Conference and so on. This touches an artist of course and penetrates the creative work. Artée said on that: "The world is on the edge."

Nothing to add, besides: Don’t miss that work!

But also in technical terms, the work is premium-class and partly in mesh. Therefore make sure to use the correct viewer. Stream and media should be off​​. Put the WL on Barcelona or Midnight. Some parts interact with avatars. Walk, jump and fly around to discover all.

 Now rwplaced by this work.

Taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA6/129/32/20



    

Nice And Cool Hunt Only A Few Days More!

Here is real highlight! The last days of a beautiful and challenging hunt.. "The Peatonville Mystery" is a gridwide hunt that was built by MadPea in collaboration with P4NDOR4 Quintessa  in the look of P4NDDOR4's wonderful, gloomy sim Pandemonium.

 You have to wear a hud and look for small pieces of paper. They give you a link to shops where you have to find artefacts.

As soon as you find them you receive immediately a gift. The game runs until January 6. For the HUD you had to pay a fee of 100 Linden. For the last days, CEO Kiana Writer generously sent the HUD for free to the group members. Join the MadPea group and check the notices. Happy hunting!

P.S. I just heard that the nice build is gone, but the hunt is still going on: http://madpea.blogspot.com/2012/01/asylum-went-nuts.html

Taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MadPea/100/222/22

Are you Part of the 70% - Exploring SL

So much information, but where is the TP?

Referring to this blog post, I already wrote about bad shopping experience in Second Life. That so many have little desire to travel is certainly also a result of the myriad of badly planned and ill-designed sims. This is my topic today.

I am aware that most sim owners are laymen who fulfill a dream of their youth here. Therefore there are e.g. too much dancing and sex clubs in SL. Once to be as cool as an owner of a disco or a sex club... ;) But whatever you intend, without visitors it's not fun. And your visitors vote mercilessly with their feet. The end of all is often predictable.

Rules and threats...but no help

In early November such a project made it with a great photo into the Editor Picks: "Labyrinths de Mythos", a RP and combat sim. Of course I went there and landed ... in a shopping area. But I was immediately spammed with 3 endless note cards. I counted the words:  I should read 7271 words! If that was not enough, it contained another 5 note cards. Guess what I've read! I am an experienced traveler, but had to look around a while until I found where there was a visitor-tag and the TP. I landed on the residents sim, which I had to pass through until I finally found the RP sim. Of course, no hint or sign was there and my mood was already pretty much down. There I had to look again, until I could TP to other places and finally found the great scene from the image in the Editor’s Picks. Unfortunately I made no photos in my anger. I already had in mind to show this sim as an example how guaranteed failures are produced. And when I came back now for this article, the more beautiful 2. sim was already abandoned. So, the predicted end is obviously on its way.

Taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Labyrinthe%20de%20Mythos/71/87/292 

Especially tragic is that such a sim was in the Editor Picks. Many noobs were wandering around on my first visit there, as with all Editor's Picks and had no clue what to do.  After this experience guaranteed 100% never logged back into SL. But regarding this topic, more to come next time..

Here are my wishes to sim owners:

-     Define your desired visitors and offer them what they want.

-        Make a concept and ask yourself whether it is explainable in a single   sentence.

-        Think about how the guests understand without many words what is going on.

-        Give me a SHORT note card with the most important rules and instructions how to move on.

-        Give me a visitor's tag, I do not want to participate immediately the RP.

-        If certain outfits are desired, offer freebies. It does not matter if they do not look so great. The sooner I visit your shops.

-        Think about how you make the visit of guests so exciting that they become interested in the RP. For those interested, offer detailed note cards.

-        Ask not only your close friends for honest opinions.

-        Do not constantly change your concept completely just because it does not work immediately. Good things take time and it scares your already gained fans. Slight changes are ok.

-        If it does not run, don’t blame the stupid world which does not appreciate your genius work, but understand that you have done mistakes.

-    If you think at the end that you have done all just for your own fun and SL is just a game anyway, then please do not complain if no one is playing along with you.