Simploring 2021 (7) Valium SL – MARFA

16 Feb 2021 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

For my simploring tour on Tuesday, January 26th, I picked Valium SL – MARFA from scoop.it SL Destinations. The entry led to an entry of Susann Decuir “Neueröffnung: Valium SL- MARFA (Moderat)” (the post is in German). It attracted my immediate attention because of several issues: Firstly I visited often places created and/or owned by Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender), secondly Fred Hamilton, Lotus Mastroianni and Sofie Janic built the sim, and thirdly the published picture reminded me of “Kun-Tei-Ner”, another place that was built by Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni (read here).

In addition I visited Marfa, Texas, already in Second Life back in 2017 (read here) and had done some research.
Marfa was founded in the early 1880s as a railroad water stop. The town was named “Marfa” at the suggestion of the wife of a railroad executive. The Marfa Army Airfield served as a training facility for several thousand pilots during World War II. It was closed 1945. Marfa has a population of about 2,000 people, hence it is really small.

Impressions of Marfa, Texas (source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa,_Texas)

Today, Marfa is a tourist destination and a major center for Minimalist art. Attractions include Building 98, the Chinati Foundation, artisan shops, historical architecture, a classic Texas town square, modern art installments, art galleries, and the Marfa lights. The city is also 37 miles (60 km) from Prada Marfa, a pop art exhibit, which might be the most photographed and visited site in Marfa. The area around Marfa is known as a cultural center for contemporary artists and artisans. In 1971, minimalist artist Donald Judd moved to Marfa from New York City. Since Judd’s death in 1994, two foundations have worked to maintain his legacy: the Chinati Foundation and Judd Foundation. Every year the Chinati Foundation holds an open house event where artists, collectors, and enthusiasts come from around the world to visit Marfa’s art (Source: wikipedia).

As mentioned above Valium SL – MARFA is built on a full moderate region owned by by Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender). Fred Hamilton, Lotus Mastroiani und Sofie Janic have rebuilt Marfa quite realisitc. You recognize the buildings, the art and the weiredness of this place in Texas, art in the middle of nothing. No wonder that many people visit it nowadays.

Valium SL – MARFA: Bird eye view and orientation map

The landing is admist the town center next to the fire department. If you zoom out, you can see how in the middle of nothing Marfa is located. Close to the landing point is a Motel, a garage and a gas station. And right across the street is one of the largest buildings, the “Empty Chair Gallery”. I visited the gallery first before further exploring Valium SL – MARFA.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (1): around the landing

In the Empty Chair Gallery Vally showcases pictures that she had collected. All pictures are about empty chairs: “I felt that the ’empty chair’ in most cases created the emotion of being lonely, sad, or waiting, and wanting from the observer. They seemed to ask the same question over again and that is “Do you feel what I am feeling about my empty chair?” And often time the chairs instilled a sense of happiness, knowing perhaps, that soon someone would occupy their empty chair.”
The pictures exhibited right now at the Empty Chair Gallery are from Adam Cayden, Cecilia Nansen, D e F o e, Duna Gant, GlitterPrincess Destiny, Key Monk, Loegan Magic, Powder Grau, Samyi Basevi, Sander Sunborne, Shawn Shakespeare, Sunset Theas and Venicio Armin,

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (2): The Empty Chair Gallery

After visiting the gallery, I first explored the little town. There’s a lot to discover and I didn’t see all. Close to the residential area is a nice flower store and I saw an antiques store, both decorated with love for details. The largest building in town is the countyhouse. It was built fitting the original building in Marfa, Tx.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (3): countyhouse, flower store, antiques store

In the residential area you find several house, some of them were still empty duing my visit but that might have changed in the meanwhile. Between two houses closer to the town I found a nice little court to sit and enjoy. Also quite close to thre residentail area is Thor’s Café & Bar. I recommend that you have a look inside. The decoration is outstanding. I think these little details make Valium SL – MARFA so particular. For example you find a wardrobe in the form of a cactus.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (4): Residential area and Thor’s Café & Bar

The visitors and I assume in particular those who visit the Marfa Lights Festial live in a seperate camp in containers, in tents and caravans. In the center of the site is an event area. really amazing is the the gate to the site has exactly the same form and symbol as in real life. The containers did remind me of “Kun-Tei-Ner” (read here). I didn’t have the time to go into every tent or container but they are furnished and I bet there’s also a lot to see. If you get hungry after all what is to see at Valium SL – MARFA you can take a break at the bbq stand right next between the camp and the Lights building.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (5): containers, tents and caravans and the bbq stand

The “Lights-Building” is another landmark of Marfa, Tx. in RL. It has a pertciluar egg form and daylight just comes through a small gap in the ceiling. The entrance and the exit are built in a waythat avoids any light coming it. Marfa is renown for its art. And you find it spreaded around the town. There’s the renown Prafa store, a care on a concrete box, a large board showing James Dean (I think at least) next to a scaffold in the middle of nothing

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (6): Lights building, Prafa and other art

And finally there is art spread on ranch land, many boxes and cubes made of concrete, iglus, and inbetween grazing cattle, quite weired.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (7): Art and cattle, the railroad

I was impressed of my first visit. Fred Hamilton (frecoi), Lotus Mastroiani, Sofie Janic and Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender) created a really outstanding place. I enjoyrd seeing Marfa, Tx. again. In these days and age where you can only travel virtually it was a feast for me. A big thank you to all who were and are involved in realizing Valium SL – MARFA.

Landmark to Valium SL – MARFA
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ValiumSL/179/131/59
Valium group flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/groups/valium/
Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender)’s flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vally-lavender/
Susann Decuir “Neueröffnung: Valium SL- MARFA (Moderat)”
https://mein-zweites-leben.blogspot.com/2021/01/neueroeffnung-valiumsl-marfa-moderat.html

Diary 2020 (133) September 20th/21st In Angelique’s shoes (II)

03 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Diary Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, Spetember 20th, Mistress was prevented from coming inworld during the day. I went visiting a new gallery in the morning, the new DixMix Gallery and spent almost 2 hours there and I wrote the report about it right away in the afternoon (read about the gallery here)

At night I changed into another outfit, that was originally created as a mix and match outfit by Angelique. She must have peeked at me because when Mistress came inworld and Angelique and slave Flo joined us, Angelique was dressed exactly like me. What a suprise! And of course I took a picture of us. slave Flo had had a busy Sunday and asked for a game to wind down. We played skipee as teams again. Just like the night before slave Melissa came inworld while we were playing and she knelt silently at Mistress’ and my feet while we played.

Sept 20th: Diomita and Angelique at home / Mistress Jenny, Angelique and Diomita at Heavy Bondage Club with slave Melissa

slave Flo went to bed and Mistress, Angelique, slave Melissa and I went to Heavy Bondage Club. We read profiles, teased slave Melissa, talked and enjoying being together. Angelique left to bed inbetween. Mistress and I continued teasing slave Meli a bit and left ourself not long after flotime.

Sept 20th: Mistress Jenny and Diomita at home saying good night / Mistress Jenny and Diomita at Heavy Bondage Club with slave Melissa

Monday, September 21st, I was inworld in the late morning, I had seen a picture of a new installation named “A Thousand Windows” at RioSisco Flickr group. RioSisco Productions that are Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni, the builders of many very exciting sims. The last one was “Summer in the City”, which I visted several times (read here). Long story short, I went there right away and oversaw that Mistress Jenny was inworld. We said hello shortly but she had to leave to tend to her RL. I went to “A Thousand Windows” and really enjoyed my visit there although I had a few interruptions. If you missed it, here is the simploring report .. Simploring 2020 (64) A Thousand Windows.

In the later afternoon I met with Mistress Jenny again. We caught up quickly, then I had to strip and serve Mistress and I got my fix this way. We went to Psi’s realm and later to Heavy Bondage Club and enjoyed being together in particular as Mistress was not inworld at night.

Sept 21st: Mistress Jenny and Diomita at home, at Psi’s realm and at Heavy Bondage Club

I spent the night with Angelique and slave Flo. Angelique was dressed similar to me again. I met her at the house, where she was cleaning, and I helped her so that it was done quickly. slave Flo joined when we were done. We started with two rounds of greedy as I thought slave Melissa would join us but she didn’t appear that night. I went with Angelique and slave Flo to “A Thousand Windows” and further explored it while showing it to them. We found a way to get on the roof top of one building. That provided another view.

Sept 21st: Diomita with Angelique and slave Flo on the roofs of “A Thousand Windows”

After that quick visit we went on a tour through the clubs. We went to Dark Butterfly, BDSM Lifestyle Swingers Club and Mesmerize Dungeon. We chatted and looked good (SM = Stand and Model). Angelique went off to be a bit before flotime and I went off shortly after flotime.

Sept 21st: Diomita with Angelique and slave Flo at Dark Butterfly, BDSM Lifesytle Swingers Club and Mesmerize Dungeon

Simploring 2020 (64a) A thousand Windows – Addendum

22 Sep 2020 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

After publishing my simploring report about “A Thousand Windows” yesterday (read here), I talked with Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni about their work. Lotus teased me and told me that I didn’t find the elvator to go up on the roofs. She laughed about her joke. And so did I. Nonetheless, I was tempted to go back to find a way up to the roofs.
I went there again at night and found a way to go up on the roofs … well with a little trick. On one roof I found 2 chairs. And I had a great view from up there … showing how close people live here behind their windows. I didn’t find an elevator though. So if anybody finds the elevator, please let me know.

Impressions of “A Thousand Windows” (7) – above the roofs

Landmark to “A Thousand Windows”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/You%20and%20me/29/18/1352

Simploring 2020 (64) A Thousand Windows

21 Sep 2020 2 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , ,

I wasn’t really up for a simploring tour this morning, I just looked up scoop.it SL Desinations to check if there’s something new and interesting. The second newest entry was named “A Thousand Windows” and was just referring to a flickr picture of RioSisco Flickr group. RioSisco Productions that are Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni, the builders of many very exciting sims. The last one was “Summer in the City”, which I visted several times (read here)

I decided to go there on the spot. The landmark description gives an idea of the intention for this new installation: “There is a huge world out there, but what happens behind all those windows? what lives and worlds are hiding there? How many eyes peer into the fleeting reflections of so many lights? How life is going … obs….try night time“

A Thousand Windows – overview

A Thousand Windows is built in a skybox belonging to an adult reagion. It is made up of just about 5,000 prims. After I landed at “A Thousand Windows” I first zoomed out to get an overiew. I made the overview from several angles so that you can see how the installation is made up. Once again Fred and Lotus used the possibilities of Second Life to create a real urban feeling. They do this by selecting perfect background textures and enhancing them.

Impressions of “A Thousand Windows” (1)

I begin exploring “A Thousand Windows” and was soon lost. Only the ground level and in some areas the 2nd and maybe 3rd level are accessible. There are many entrances, even with stairs, but they are just facade. Mainly your wander around on the ground level and you can look up. But you get really enough to see here!

Impressions of “A Thousand Windows” (2) – The 2 pictures on the left were taken 2 different windlights “midnight” and “midday”

It is a dirty town, waste and garbage tons and dirt is everywhere. Many raceways and advertisings distract your view. There are shops, restaurants, tea houses, barbers, food stores and all what you’d expect in a town. Some of them are accessible, others are just furnished to provide the 3D feeling. The main upside of all thes advertisings is that they offer orientation. Getting lost in all the passages and backyards I went countless times to the same spots … the advertisings gave me a bit of orientation.

Impressions of “A Thousand Windows” (3) – some corners are really not inviting to stay long

“A Thousand Windows” … Well I didn’t count but there might be a thousand windows, at least on the background (I guess a bit less though). The background is not just a texture. Fred and Lotus enhanced it with mesh objects, mainly drying clothes, balconies and awnings. And you find also many windows inside of the town at higher floors of the buildings. A few windows on lower floors are opened and you can look inside. Again these rooms are furnished for the effect but not accessible.

Impressions of “A Thousand Windows” (4) – looking inside

I managed to get beind the facade of one building and to get a view from inside of a flat to the town. That’s funny at least for the picture where you can see me behind the window.

Impressions of “A Thousand Windows” (5)

As mentioned exploring “A Thousand Windows” is mainly done by wandering on the ground level and by looking at all the different stores and details. You get into very dirty backyards, places you wouldn’t feel safe at all (at least I would never go to such places in RL!). But exploring it and seeing all the little details is great fun.

Impressions of “A Thousand Windows” (6)

Of course I also turned the windlight to “midnight” and yes, it does change the experience a lot. I can only recommend to try that. But for taking pictures that provide an impression of what you can see here, the daylight is simply better – for the atmosphere “midnight” is the better choice.

I’m pretty sure that this visit to “A Thousand Windows” was just a first peek at it for me and I will return to it. Once again Fred and Lotus created a masterpiece of creativity. Thank you a lot!

Landmark to A Thousand Windows
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/You%20and%20me/29/18/1352
flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/riosisco/
My pictures of “A Thousand Windows” on flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/188414948@N07/albums/72157716058842368

Simploring 2020 (40) A Favela

03 Jun 2020 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , ,

For my simploring tour on Mady, May 25th, I picked “A Favela” from scoop.it SL Destinations. There were two entries and I picked Maddy Gynoid’s blogpost “Simtipp: A Favela – a place in Rio de Janeiro” (in German) and read it before I went visiting myself.

A Favela was designed and created by Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni, who call themselves “Riosisco Productions”. Back in 2019 I visited their creations HoPe (read here) and Kun-Tei-Ner (read here). Both sims were very impressing and I do remember them very well. To say it right in the beginning, A Favela is also impressive and is another masterpiece. But this time a real place was the inspiration for A Favela. Although favelas are found in urban areas throughout Brazil, many of the more famous ones exist in Rio.

A Favela – overview

A Favela is build on a skyplatform and only consumes roughly 4,000 prims of an adult full region. You can see the general set-up of the sim in the overview. There is one road that leads up the mountain between the houses. At the beginning and at the end the road vanishes in tunnels. Fred and Lotus added a picture texture of Rio’s favelas with the Christo Redentor statue as background so that A Favela melts into this background.

Impressions of “A Favela” (1)

The visit to A Favela starts at the lowest point next to a tunnel where the road comes from. Often people uses motor bike taxis to go up the hill and you find them right next to the landing point, there’s also a juice bar and around the corner are steep stairs leading through the houses. In that alley you find a shop for cold beer, postcards and drinks as well as a snack stand with Asian food.

Impressions of “A Favela” (2)

Walking up the road there is a lot to discover, simple plastic stools in front of the houses or sofas, some flowers as well as garbage, cats, chicken and even a pig and many other details. The houses are not accessible but nonetheless you see furnished balconies and backyards or small patios in front of the houses.

Impressions of “A Favela” (3)

Another eye catcher are big and colourful paintings on some house walls. All these little details make A Favela that outstanding. You sense the poverity but you also sense a particular form of peace and even happiness.

Impressions of “A Favela” (4)

The infrastructure of the favelas in real life is a big issue, be it power supply or internet, be it gas for cooking or water. When I wrote this simploring report I looked up wikipedia. You find more background information and pictures there and I added one RL picture into this post. It shows the blue water storage tons, that are widely spread in real life as well as at A Favela. I found out about their usage in a travel report. In particular the higher parts of the favela often lack water supply. Therefore people take the opportunity to fill the tanks with water when there is power to operate the pumps. You can also see a total mess of cables on many pictures, they might be legal or illegal, people simply help themself to get power or internet access.

Impressions of “A Favela” (5)

When you visit the higher parts of A Favela you should try to get to the backyards and on the roofs, you find more hidden terraces and places to sit and watch and you have a great view from up there.

Impressions of “A Favela” (6) – upper left is a picture from Rio’s favelas

I enjoyed my visit to A Favela and the little research about the favelas – and I took many pictures again. A Favela is another great place to visit in Second Life and it is another opportunity to visit a place far away without any safety risk, and quick and environmentally sound in addition. Thank you Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni for providing this project to us all!

Landmark to A Favela
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/You%20and%20me/14/12/2002
flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/riosisco/
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favela
Maddy Gynoid’s blogpost “Simtipp: A Favela – a place in Rio de Janeiro” (in German)
http://echtvirtuell.blogspot.com/2020/05/simtipp-favela-place-in-rio-de-janeiro.html