Simploring 2022 (17) Endless: Birdlings Flat

08 Aug 2022 Leave a comment

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

Following Inara Pey’s blog I cam across “Endless: Birdlings Flat” (read her post: An Endless: Birdlings Flat in Second Life).
“Endless: Birdlings Flat” is the newest visual story from Sombre Nyx (sombrenyx). She had other “Endless” sims/stories before. I visited Endless 58-58N (read here) and Endless 58-58N “YES” (read here) in 2020.

The landing is on a seperate sky-platform with a few sheeps. There are two sign, each works as a notecard giver and teleporter. To visit “Endless: Birdlings Flat” you have to choose the according board of course.
The other board leads to “Forest” by Jackson Cruyff”. I visited this part as well. “Forest consists of trees, grasses, a few flowers, and other plants, a meadow, some animals here and there, and few signs of human visitation or habitation.” Jackson made Forest “to escape, and to find refuge.” But this post is about “Endless: Birdlings Flat“.

Endless: Birdlings Flat – bird eye view and orientation map

I grabbed a notecard written by Sombre Nyx (sombrenyx) at the board, then entered the sim.
This world is inspired by the small coastal settlement of Birdlings Flat, located in the South Island of New Zealand. The area was named for the first European family to begin farming the land there, and is now home to approximately 200 people who have chosen to enjoy the quiet lifestyle and wild, natural beauty of their isolated and sometimes hostile, sometimes beautiful, surroundings.

Impressions of Endless: Birdlings Flat (1) – landing platform / landing point at the sim at the crossing of the the street to Christchurch and to Birdlings Flat / at the end of the roat to Christcurch.

The landing is at a crossing where a street leads to Birdlings Flat. I decided to walk into the direction of Christchurch first. Where the road ends I walked down to the shore, which is quite full of rocks yet beautiful and very realistic.

The beach is well known for the semi-precious agates constantly being washed up onto the pebble shore (along with chunks of driftwood and occasional pieces of marine debris). It is equally well known for its savage winter winds, and for being a treacherous spot with strong currents and a severe undertow responsible for a number of drowning deaths over the years.

Impressions of Endless: Birdlings Flat (2) – CUSTAR Observation container / beach / sheeps

I walked up again and came to a container with a weather data station, a power generator and a jeep.

Designed as a means of studying the behaviour of atmospheric winds, and other phenomena, occurring between 3km and 15km in altitude, the Canterbury University Stratosphere Troposphere Radar (CUSTAR) was actively maintained as a research tool for several years … The system was decommissioned circa 2009.

From there I walked over the sim .. and saw sheeps and sheeps .. and well, sheeps.
I returned the the landing point and went into the other direction and up the hill at the end of the road. There is a landmark. A robot made of scrap parts. It seemingly guards the sim and seems to be a good fellow. From the hill you see down to a wooden path and there’s a cosy spot to watch the fish and seagulls.

Impressions of Endless: Birdlings Flat (3) – Outlook and robot

Between the outlook and the village is a lake, I named it “Eel pond” as at one end are wooden frameworks to dry eel. Sombre Nyx (sombrenyx) wrote: Lake Forsyth (Wairewa) has had a troubled past, with toxic cyanobacteria blooms regularly posing a health risk to both humans and animals. The primary cause of these blooms is the area’s high-phosphorus volcanic soil; contributing factors also include agricultural run-off, years when low rainfall causes the water level to drop to a point where plant matter cannot grow and clean the waters and contamination by farm stock. These issues are all being addressed now, and the quality of the lake’s water is improving.

Impressions of Endless: Birdlings Flat (4) – Eel pond / Lake Forsyth

Ngai Tahu, the local iwi (nation, extended kinship group), has sole title over the use of Lake Forsyth for fishing. Traditionally, eels were harvested in autumn – caught with poles, killed, hung on racks, dried and smoked – to provide a source of food throughout the following year. This custom continues today.

Finally I walked to the village. It is full of details, details of a life in this environment, poor but not unhappy at all. You can sense that people like to live here.

Impressions of Endless: Birdlings Flat (5)

I ended my visit at the beach again sitting at a spot to fish.
“Endless: Birdlings Flat” provides an impression of living in such an environment. For sure a place I might never visit in real life and I had never heard about before. In Second Life we can visit such places and get at least an impression thanks to people like Sombre Nyx (sombrenyx). So thank you Sombre for creating it and making it available publicly. Sombre wrote in her notecard that Jon Thorson (jonthorsson) helped her in custom-building the pieces that have helped give this virtual representation of of Birdlings Flat its unique character. “Endless: Birdlings Flat” tells a visual story!
Many thanks also to Jackson Cruyff, who is the land owner and a dear friend of Sombre and provided the space and the ressources for “Endless: Birdlings Flat”.

Impressions of Endless: Birdlings Flat (6) The villagem the sheep and the beach

I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Endless: Birdlings Flat
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Haraiki%20Bay/143/125/1200
Bridlings Flat flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/14793496@N24/
Inara Pey’s blogpost: An Endless: Birdlings Flat in Second Life
https://modemworld.me/2022/07/27/an-endless-birdlings-flat-in-second-life/

Art in Second Life 2022 (65) Inara Pey at NovaOwl Gallery

15 Jul 2022 2 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

I got an invitation by Owl (Owl Dragonash) to visit the NovaOwl Gallery and to see Inara Pey’s exhibition there. I’m a reader of Inara Pey’s blog for more than 14 years, actually I follow her “Living in a Modemworld“-blog since I became Diomita Maurer in Second Life. Her blog contains a lot of information, be it about the viewer, about locations, about developments in Second Life or art. I used and still use her blog to find ideas where to travel myself in Second Life and to get the latest Information about Second Life. Inara has an unique writing style, very picturesque and detailed. Her posts about places are always illustrated with pictures, and these pictures are always quite artful.

Inara wrote about the exhibition of her pictures at NovaOwl Gallery:
“I don’t see myself as an artist or photographer, but rather a blogger who uses images to illustrate my writings about the places I visit in Second Life. They are intentionally devoid of narrative and avatars, and have minimal post-processing to achieve this. That people find them attractive and like them is genuinely flattering to me, as I am constantly in awe of those who can create such stunning images of Second Life, and I’m left with a sense of privilege when asked to display my pieces.”

Inara has an eye for the right view and motif. She slighty processes the pictures she takes in Second Life, some of the pictures featured at NovaOwl gallery are converted to monochrome to achieve the effect Inara desired. Inara’s pictures are as varied as Second Life is and reach from city scenes to beautiful landscapes, from art to fantasy and cover just what you can see in Second Life. What makes them even more facinating for me is that I recognize some places as I’ve been there myself, so they bring back fond memories of places that are gone by now.

Impressions of Inara Pey’s exhibition at NovaOwl Gallery (1)

You can see more of her pictures at Inara’s flickr page and of course at her “Living in a Modemworld“-blog. I can only recommend reading it regularly if you want to keep yourself up-to-date with Second Life or when you look for places to visit. Her entries almost always inspire me to visit myself.

Impressions of Inara Pey’s exhibition at NovaOwl Gallery (2)

The NovaOwl Gallery is owned by Uli Jansma, Owl (Owl Dragonash) is the general manager. NovaOwl is an international community on the mainland continent of Corsica. NovaOwl is located on Novatron. It is a meeting place where events take place regularly. Thank you Uli and Owl for providing the space for the art and for enabling this exhibition. I enjoyed my visit.
The exhibition shall be opened until August 28th, 2022.
And thank you Inara for your great pictures and of course for your blog, that has become a part of my Second Life over all these years. It’s a real great source of information.

Landmark to NovaOwl – Gallery & Club
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Novatron/131/102/23
Inara Pey’s blog “Living in a modemworld”
http://modemworld.me
Inara Pey’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/inara-pey/
Interview with Inara Pey by Strawberry Linden (April 13, 2022)
https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/10526-second-life-spotlight-inara-pey/

Art in Second Life (40) Lobby Cam by Bryn Oh

01 May 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

Bryn Oh gave me the opportunity of seeing/expieriencing her latest installation “Lobby Cam” that is going to open on May 1st. So far I have visited Bryn Oh’s sim Immersiva a few times but I never spent enough time to immerse deeper into her installation. Getting this exclusive opportunity I decided to visit her newest installation, which is not at her sim Immersiva but on a sim named Immersivist.

Before I visited I tried to get a deeper insight into Bryn’s world and a I read a few posts from Inara Pey on her blog. Quite helpful was her post “Hand and the art of Bryn Oh in her own words“.

“With my work I build for different types of people. There are those who have followed my work and know how to search for the deeper layers; they are the “experts”. For them, the story and time line are important. But I also try to build for people who know nothing about the history of the world I have created. So I build in layers: the top layer is for people who know nothing of my work and they enjoy the story on its own; the next layer is the story and then concepts within the story and the final layers are where the story fits into the time line.” (quote from Bryn Oh)

For sure I belong to those knowing nothing….

Impressions of “Lobby Cam” by Bryn Oh (1)

Bryn’s many installations are all connected with each other. Her artwork in Second Life is one long narrative which began in 2009. Each new work is a chapter in this story. They follow a timeline, yet they were not published in this order. Actually “Lobby Cam” is at the start of the timeline.
Bryn’s art is about virtual worlds and her art is showcased in virtual worlds. Bryn’s work is about AI, about a future world where reality and virtuality have melted into each other, where you can’t distinct the two anymore. It brings up questions like implanted memories and the difficulty to decide what is real.
Bryn’s art is interactive and her installations in virtual environments are made to experience them, to become part of it. You can still visit her installations “Hand” and “Brittle Epoch“. And when you begin you will get drawn deeper and deeper as you immerse into Bryn’s world. But you can also see her art on other media, you can watch videos of Bryn Oh’s installations on youtube, for example her installation “Hand” is on youtube.
You can find so much of about Bryn and her art on the internet that I simply got lost and was quite unsure how to put my many impressions and thoughts into words. You will have to do that yourself, I will just provide a few links from where you can start your own journey (see links below).

Landing at “Lobby Cam” by Bryn Oh

But back to “Lobby Cam”. You don’t need to know anything about the timeline and Bryn’s narrative for a visit ot “Lobby Cam”. For those interested, the timeline is shown at the landing point of “Lobby Cam”. Upon landing you should make sure that you “Use shared environment” and set advanced lighting on in your viewer. Furtheron you should enable shadows from moon and projectors on to get the full experience. Then you have to click the “click here” sign to enable experience tools which will add a diary book (hud) to your top right. It will appear large on your screen, click the icon in the top right to minimize it.
Start your visit by walking towards the painting and enter the narrative. Click on everything and you will find various interactive elements and secrets, as well as you will find pages from a torn up diary on the ground. These pages with advance the story in the diary hud (you have to maximize it again of course).

Impressions of “Lobby Cam” by Bryn Oh (2)

The story takes place in the present during the pandemic. The main character is a middle aged man living in the middle of nowhere in a remote converted grain silo. He watches a girl, who he calls Fern, through a security camera surveilling the lobby of an appartment building.

While exploring you can also find elements to write a letter. If you find the envelope, pen and ink, paper and stamp and all the pages you will have the ingredients to write a letter from the main character to Fern. If you click the red mailbox on the train platform you can send this message directly to Bryn by email. Bryn will respondto all letters sent as Fern would reply to your message. This will end the story depending on what you write.
Bryn added: “In the past I have done something similar requiring me to reply to several hundred letters and each I do without using a form letter… it is very time consuming but I feel it is important.”

Impressions of “Lobby Cam” by Bryn Oh (2)

Born in Toronto, Bryn attended the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) and studied Fine Art Drawing and painting, receiving the George A Reid award for painting. Subsequent to that attended the Toronto School of Art as well as Seneca College studying computer animation. After completion becoming represented by XEXE gallery in Toronto later known as KWT Contemporary. Oil paintings are collected internationally. In 2007 Bryn became interested in creating immersive environments in virtual reality spaces as a new media artist known as Bryn Oh. Since then Bryn’s work has featured in magazines such as Vogue magazine, in movies and in galleries and museums worldwide.

Impressions of “Lobby Cam” by Bryn Oh (3)

Bryn Oh’s Lobby Cam received a national arts grant from the Canada Council for the Arts which is special to her as her previous grants were from the Ontario Arts Council and this is her first nationally awarded grant. It is important for her career as an artist, but also it legitimizes virtual art in the minds of some curators from large institutions who are not familiar with Second Life. The grant supports the building of Lobby Cam in the virtual world of Second Life as well as building it in Unreal Engine (which is in progress for several more months). Lobby Cam has taken five months to build and all elements are created by Bryn Oh.

A really outstanding (art) experience in Second Life! Thank you Bryn.

Landmark to Bryn Oh’s “Lobby Cam”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Immersivist/16/23/23
Promo “Lobby Cam” on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rQrAv45d4c
Inara Pey’s blogpsot “Hand and the art of Bryn Oh in her own words”
https://modemworld.me/2020/04/27/hand-and-the-art-of-bryn-oh-in-her-own-words/
Landmark to “Hand” by Bryn Oh (gateway)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bryn%20Oh/44/211/22
Bryn Oh’s “Hand” on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPCB2N2U58
Landmark to “The Brittle Epoch” by Bryn Oh
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Immersiva/17/108/24
Bryn Oh’s blog
http://brynoh.blogspot.com/
Support Bryn Oh on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/brynoh

Backflash April 2022 “Simploring 2017 (31) The Last Forever – Marfa” (April 25th, 2017)

29 Apr 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Backflash of the month, Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the “Backflash” series I select an old entry once a month and present it here. This way I force myself to browse in the archive and to fresh up a few of the many memories. For our readers the new series shall provide an insight into our Second Life without reading back the many posts and it might also give reason to browse through the archives.
For April 2022 I selected a post from April 2017 “Simploring 2017 (31) The Last Forever – Marfa”.
Back in 2017 I had never heard about Marfa, TX and thus I did some resaearch und learned a lot about this famous place in the middle of nothing. Snce then I came across Marfa in Second Life a few times and for me it feels a bit like I’d have been there in RL. At “The Last Forever – Marfa” I also saw Melusina Parkin’s minimalistic art for the first time. Whenever I get aware that Melusina has opened a new exhibtion I visit it nowadays – and often remember my visit to her exhibtion at “The Last Forever – Marfa”
Enjoy reading…

Simploring 2017 (31) The Last Forever – Marfa

I went on a simploring tour Saturday, April 22nd. I decided to visit “The Last Forever“, a landmark that I picked from Nix Bubbles’ blog. The landmark description was not really revealing for me: “The Last Forever is a new sim/full region inspired by Marfa, TX from the creators of West of The Rain, Oobleck Allagash and Nodnol Jameson (KraftWork), along with the creative team of Kai Mannequin, Brooke Barmy, Rooky Yootz, Triin, Misty and Jack Hanby.” I haven’t heard about Marfa in Texas before nor did I came across of any of the mentionened names. Most of “The Last Forever” I understood later, when I looked up some profiles and after reading about Marfa, TX.

April 22nd: The Last Forever – overview

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.
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) 
The landing point is at the Marker of Marfa, which is based on Marfa in the reality. Upon your landing you get a welcome “Welcome to The Last Forever SIM home of KraftWork, BIGBULLY, Powder Pack, Kiss me Poses and Triin.” KraftWork and BIGBULLY are shops for mesh creations for decorations and furniture in Second Life. Powder Pack is a store for make-up and skins for mesh heads and Kiss me Poses is a store for poses. The Last Forever is the home of these stores. I didn’t find out what Triin is.
Marfa in Second Life looks a bit like I would imagine a little town in Texas. First of all it is in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a desert. There are some modern buildings but also some buildings that have seen better times. And there are some ruins and abandoned homes. The infrastructure is dilapidated and some corners and areas look shabby. What I noticed before I did the above research about Marfa in the real world is the art spreaded all over the sim.
I walked around town and collected some impressions of Marfa in SL. I explored the mainstores of KraftWork and BIGBULLY. I went into the radio station and I couldn’t refrain from peeking into the local sex shop. I visited the exhibit Americana, American Icons in Second Life by Melusina Parkin. Outside of the town is the famous Prada Marfa, a camping ground, and some houses. The atmosphere is dense and The Last Forever looks quite real, in particular when you know about Marfa in reality. Monday, April 24th, just 2 days after my visit, I noticed that Inara Pey published an entry about Melusina Parkin’s Americana exhibit titeled “Melusina’s American Icons in Second life“ in her blog, just the very same day that I visited Marfa. What a coincdence!

Thank you Oobleck (allagash) and Nodnol Jameson (owner of KraftWork) for providing The Last Forever to the public. You understood how to combine the site of some mainstores (including your own) with the experience of a great place in Second Life and you contributed to my education as I now know about Marfa.

 

Landmark to The Last Forever
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Last%20Forever/181/97/23
(outdated!)
Inara Pey’s blog entry about Melusina Parkin’s Americana exhibit at The Last Forever
https://modemworld.me/2017/04/21/melusinas-american-icons-in-second-life/

Link to the orignal post:
https://themaurers.me/2017/04/25/simploring-2017-31-the-last-forever-marfa/

Art in Second Life 2022 (39) Exaggerations by Blip Mumfuzz @ Andante Gallery

21 Apr 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , , ,

Following Inara Pey’s blog I came across her post “Blip’s exaggerations in Second Life” and a gallery which I had not visited before – the Andante Gallery, operated by Jules Catlyn and Iris Okiddo (IrisSweet). The Andante Gallery has new exhibitions every 5 to 6 weeks. The current exhibition is by Blip Mumfuzz and titled “Exaggerations”.

The gallery itself is larger than it seems on a first glance and consists of two L-shaped buildings with a center court.
Most of the pictures of Blip Mumfuzz in this exhibition are flowers and plants that are processed with filters or additional layers to create a dominant colour, floral abstracts, exaggerations as the title implies. Blip used the windows of the gallery building to showcase more of her art looking from inside to the outside.

Impressions of “Exaggerations” by Blip Mumfuzz @ Andante Gallery (1)

I had come across Blip Mumfuzz in March 2020 the first time, when she exhibited at La Maison d’Aneli (read here). I also saw her exhibition “Urban and Industrial Images”, that excited me because of the way and the environment in which Blip presented her art (read here). I personally think she has the talent for the right way to showcast her work.
Blip Mumfuzz is a SL verteran, being inworld since 2007. Blip takes extraordinairy pictures in Second Life. Her art is to select the right cut-out of a picture, she looks for the abstract in the common, she “helps people to “see” the world with their mind and not just with their eyes.”
Some pictures at the exhibition are different though. For example there’s a series of 3 pictures “Grill, Breakfast and Back” that capture everyday life scenes. And through one window you can see the picture “Microbus”, that is an example of Minimalism in Blip’s artwork. Amoung the floral abstraction pictures, these pictures gain particular attention.

Impressions of “Exaggerations” by Blip Mumfuzz @ Andante Gallery (2)

You can see more of Blip’s art at her flickr page or at her Mumfuzz Gallery.

The exhibition “Exaggerations” by Blip Mumfuzz at Andante Gallery will stay open until May 8th. Thank you Blip for this exhibition, thank you Jules Catlyn and Iris Okiddo (IrisSweet) for enabling it and thank you Inara for your post. I enjoyed my visit.

landmark to “Exaggerations” by Blip Mumfuzz at Andante Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Amityville/144/108/24
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Blip’s exaggerations in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2022/04/12/blips-exaggerations-in-second-life/
Blip Mumfuzz flickr
http://bit.ly/23XK2aE
Mumfuzz Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Port%20Babbage/8/57/106

Diary 2021 (168) December 7th A varied day

26 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

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

Tuesday, December 7th, I met Jenny when I came inworld in the morning. We went to club Domme a Domme and to Puerot Esclava, we chatted and caught up wiht our news. After half an hour we both had to leave and to tend to our RL.
Jenny was wearing her cuffs and her keys out since the day before. She was looking for trouble. Hence, before we left that morning, I locked her cuffs and set a timer – hoping whe would have fun.
I peeked into Second Life again after lunch. Jenny and I had bought the chains and the hooks, that are at Psi’s realm and where I like to leash and tie up our slaves. I wanted to place some at our homeplace. To my surprise I met Jenny again. We placed two chains – one at our porch and one at our terrace.
I wanted to push Jenny a bit more into trouble. I went to club Domme a Domme with her and left her at the “Bitch Post” – with her keys out of course.

December 7th: Jenny and Diomita at club Domme a Domme and at Puerto Esclava / Jenny in trouble at Carnal Intentiones

I was not inworld in the afternoon due to my RL. Before I returned at night I found a picture in my email – Jenny in trouble *winks*. I looked forward to hearing about her time and if she had fun.

Jenny reported me of her little adventure. It didn’t start where I left her though. She went to Lock Without Asking (LWA)  – and there she met someone who shared her love for bondage….
We went seeing Flo and just when we had started a skipee, Angelique came by, so we restarted the game and played as teams. Jenny and Angelique won it easily. Angelique went to bed ans as neither slave Holly nor pet Sun were present we took Flo on a short simploring tour to a Winter place. I picked “Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region“, which I found on Inara Pey’s blog – a lovely sim, “a tiny Swedish village of childhood memories, snow covered landscape, warm Fika Shoppes, and the light sound of Reindeer paws.” I took quite some pictures, it must be a habit *winks*. I’ll share a few here and if you want to know more, read Inara Pey’s blogpost “Frogmore’s Swedish Winter Cripsness in Second Life“

Impressions of Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region (1)

Impressions of Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region (2)

Jenny was experienceing quite some lag and hence our visit was not that long – yet I have to return to this lovely place. We took Flo to Carnal Intentions and soon after we had arrived slave Holly and slave Alessi joined us there.  We stayed at Carnal Intentions for the rest of the evening.

Mistress jenny and Diomita at Carnal Intentions with Flo, slave Holly and slave Alessi

Landmark to Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Malfurion/227/96/22
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Frogmore’s Swedish Winter Cripsness in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/12/04/frogmores-swedish-winter-crispness-in-second-life/

Simploring 2021 (35) Jenny and Diomita exploring Winter sims in Second Life

15 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

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

Wednesday, December 8th, Jenny and I wanted to take a picture for our yearly Christmas card. We changed into Christmas outfits and started our tour at Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, where we had been the day before already. I had found the landmark following Inara Pey’s blogpost blogpost “Frogmore’s Swedish Winter Cripsness in Second Life“.

We looked for spots to sit and cuddle and we found some really nice motifs.

December 8th: Jenny and Diomita at Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region

The next sim we visited is one, that we visit every year. It has become a tradition for many people to visit Calas Galadhon’s Christmas isntallation. I’m very happy that Tymus Tenk and Truck Meredith realized it once again. This year it is called “A Christmas wish“. And of course Inara has blogged about it: “A Calas Christmas wish for 2021 in Second Life“.

Jenny and I made the balloon tour and I took quite some pictures….

December 8th: Jenny and Diomita at Calas Galadhon’s “A Christmas wish”

… and more pictures …

December 8th: Jenny and Diomita at Calas Galadhon’s “A Christmas wish”

Finally we sat down overlooking the big ice skating area in front of the main building – we enjoyed!

December 8th: Jenny and Diomita at Calas Galadhon’s “A Christmas wish”

The last sim we visited was Luane’s World, also featured in Inara Pey’ blog: “Luane’s Winter world in Second Life“. We looked around, sat down for a picture and visited the funny floating ice sheet with the ice bears. Hint: Click the illuminated ice bear: “Santa Teddy Bear thinks Jenny Maurer would make a great hunting buddy“

December 8th: Jenny and Diomita at Luane’s World

December 8th: Jenny and Diomita at Luane’s World

Our little Winter simploring took more than 2 hours – we enjoyed! Thank you Inara for blogging.

Landmark to Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Malfurion/227/96/22
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Frogmore’s Swedish Winter Cripsness in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/12/04/frogmores-swedish-winter-crispness-in-second-life/
Landmark to “A Christmas wish”
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MIST/247/82/3002
Inara Pey’s blogpost “A Calas Christmas wish for 2021 in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/12/01/a-calas-christmas-wish-for-2021-in-second-life/
Landmark to Luane’s World
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Le%20Monde%20Perdu/167/167/35
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Luane’s Winter world in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/12/06/luanes-winter-world-in-second-life/

Simploring 2021 (31) Nelipot – Autumn 21

16 Oct 2021 1 Comment

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

I read Inara Pey’s blogpost “Nelipot’s Autumn peace in Second Life” and it tempted me immediately to visit the place myself as I love the colours of Autumn.

Nelipot is a moderate homestead owned and designed by Shawn Shakespeare (SkinnyNilla) and Lien (Lien Lowe). It consists of 4 smaller islands and one bigger island. The landing is on one of the small islands right next to a lovely camping site. From here you have already the first great views into the colours of Autumn. The trees glow in different colours, the ground is full of leaves and more leaves are falling.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – overview / at the landing point

A roundtrip starts naturally by crossing the covered bridge withe the fitting inscript “Welcome Fall”. It leads to another island with a farm. The two buildings are furnished nicely inside and invite to take a look at many details.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – camping site / covered bridge / farm

The path continues naturally to the main building at Nelipot, an old windmill. The mill is used as a bar and again is furnished with style. The banks and chairs outside are a great place for a rest drinking a glass of wine or a rare beer – both can be found inside of the mill. The area outside of the mill seems to be also used for small events. The water from a waterfall flows beind the mill. From the mill you follow a wooden path along the shore until you reach a little platform with a chair – another lovely view into the Autumn landscape.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – at the farm / the old mill in- and outside / the wooden path and overlook platform

Next to the platform is a small pier with a boat. The boat is only for sitting and can’t be used though. A zip line connects another island with the pier, but it can only be used from the island side. I had to walk back to the wooden platform and walked to the other side of the main island where you find an old tram and tram tracks. Around the corner is a nice and cosy little hut, which I named “Writer’s hut”. A place to be and to enjoy, lovely decorated and the big windows offers anotehr great view.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – the pier / old tram / Writer’s hut

As I couldn’t use the zip line I had to walk back along the wooden pathway, along the old mill to the farm. At the pickup is a bridge to the next island which is used for a residential house. Again that is furnished and decorated with love for the detail. I sat a while on the porch and inhaled Autumn. From here you can walk over a bridge to the last island, a small island with a wrecked shack. This island has its own charme as you look to the landing island and to the writer’s hut from here. A real paradise for photographers.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – pier and zip line / residential house / wrecked shack

I finished my visit with taking a few more pictures and of course I used the zip-line.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – at the wrecked shack / using the zip line / Autumn views

Nelipot is, as Inara wrote it, a very peaceful rural sim. It offers countless nice views and I enjoyed the colours of Autumn. A very well made, romantic place. A place to wind down and forget the world around us and to simply enjoy.
Thank you Shawn Shakespeare (SkinnyNilla) and Lien (Lien Lowe) for creating Nelipot and in particular for sharing it publicly. I enjoyed my visit a lot!

Landmark to Nelipot
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Safe%20Haven/81/88/23
Nelipot flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/14758902@N20/
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Nelipot’s Autumn peace in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/09/23/nelipots-autumn-peace-in-second-life/

Simploring 2021 (29) Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery

18 Aug 2021 Leave a comment

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

I picked Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery from scoop.it SL Destinations for my simploring tour on Thursday, July 22nd.

Are you up for something spooky? Are you up for some fun? Can you bear seeing blood? If you can answer all this with a “yes”, then the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery is a place to explore for you.

The landmark description is already intriguing: “He has visited your home. Have you visited his? Come & experience the Very NICE & Very EVIL home and art gallery of the Bellisseria Slenderman. If you can find it, take a ride on “Slender: The Eight Pages” THRILL RIDE!“

The Slenderman? I looked him up on wikipedia: “The Slender Man (also spelled Slenderman) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen (also known as “Victor Surge”) in 2009” (source wikipedia).
I also read Inara Pey’s post “The Slender man gets arty (and more) in Bellisseria” and I recommend to read this post before visiting. Inara summarized the background very well. Hence I won’t go into more details about the Slender man here anymore.

The parcel is owned by Mouse Mysterious and the parcel’s group was founded by Bellisseria Slenderman (Slenderman Bellisserian). But you can’t communicate with Bellisseria Slenderman, all communication go through his spokesmouse Mouse Mysterious *winks*

The Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery

Actually the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery is really a gallery. The house is full of pictures, all showing appearances of of the Slenderman or scences on the occasion of his appearance. And there are many pictures shown in the gallery. But the intention is not to exhibit artful pictures. At the entrance of the gallery you can grab a notecard with things to do at the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery:

1. Take your time to look around and see the NICE & EVIL artwork of the Bellisseria Slenderman.
2. Find the Slender: Eight Pages Roller Coaster
3. Find the creepy Bellisseria Slenderman basement
4. Find The Bellisseria Slenderman BBB Stamp Machine… YES it is HIDDEN because the Bellisseria Slenderman is EVIL… Once your passport is stamped he can see you… EVERYWHERE
5. Participate in the Eight Pages Bellisseria Slenderman HUNT! Can you find ALL 8 Pages? Each one can be bought for 0 L and contains a special almost one-of-a-kind Bellisseria Slenderman GIFT (ALL 8 Pages are on the parcel somewhere. And yes some are hidden in an EVIL way)
6. Try to make it out alive

Have a NICE & EVIL Day!

Ok, I did as instructed and I had fun. I first looked at the artwork and to be honest – I was not excited of it nor intimidated at all. Once you leave the house things become more intersting. In the backyard you find a hut with some bloody bags, you walk over chains and hands reaching up trough the wooden walkway. And…. there’s the entrance to the basement. In fact you need to enable experiences and to walk into the entrance, then you get teleported to the basement.

Outside of the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery, lower left is in the basement

To get to the roller coaster you need to walk into a big “Slenderman board” right next to the entrance of the gallery. The roller coaster is big fun and well made and best experienced in mouselook.

Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery – Eight Pages Roller Coaster

And finally I had fun searching the 8 gits, the eight pages. They are really very well hidden and it takes some time to find them, I just found 2 easily. The pages are very small. Hint: use your mouse to hoover over everything to see the “buy” symbol.
The gifts itself are not really a reasom to hunt, but the hunt itself is fun.

Finally there are the BBB Stamp machines. They are not really “hidden” and easy to find. Clicking on them you get a text in main chat like:
BBB Stamp Terminal @ Slenderman Gallery ( white ): He is behind you… RUN…
BBB Stamp Terminal @ Slenderman Gallery ( white ): This really was the one… just watch your passport it will appear… really it will… Have a nice day…
BBB Stamp Terminal @ Slenderman Gallery ( white ): Bellisseria Slenderman is now deleting all your previous stamps… Have a nice day…

I have no idea what the stamp machine is for – did I miss something? Inara writes about it: “For those with a Bellisseria passport, the opportunity to have it stamped (or maybe “unstamped!”) by the Slender Man.” It made me curious and after some reasearch I found a video about the Bellisseria passport that is also available on youtube. Anotehr activity discovered :-).

Anyway I had fun exploring the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery and wanted to share. Have fun exploring yourself. And don’t believe any conspiracy stories (in RL and SL)!

Landmark to Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Birchbark/222/195/52
Inara Pey’s post “The Slender man gets arty (and more) in Bellisseria”
https://modemworld.me/2021/07/03/the-slender-man-gets-arty-and-more-in-bellisseria/
Video about Bellisseria passport
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z99xyGhVQU8&t=89s

Simploring 2021 (23) 80 Days – The Bayou

08 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

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

On Tuesday, May 18th, I read Inara Pey’s blogpost “A trip to the Bayou in Second Life” and decided spontaneously to visit “80 Days – The Bayou“, furtheron also just “The Bayou“, right away.

The Bayou is a moderate homestead, owned and designed by Camila Runo. The landmark description reads as follows: “Louisiana in the Deep South, home to the Jazz and the Blues. Music fills the air wherever you go. – French Quarter, Cayun, swamp, alligators, Voodoo, zoo, animals, beach, romance, dancing, summer, BBQ, photogenic, scenic“

80 Days – The Bayou: Overview and orientation map / landing point and paddle steamer

The landing point is right next to an old paddle steamer, one of the attractions of the sim. Upon landing your can grab a folder with a lot of information, that I used in this blogpost:
“The old paddle steamer “Dixie Belle” brought you to Louisiana in the Deep South of the USA. The dock where you debarked is situated on the banks of the Mississippi. From there you have a nice view to a near town as well as to the coastal marsh and the swamp the dock is connected with by a long wooden bridge.“

Impressions of 80 Days – The Bayou (1) – The paddle steamer

The paddle steamer offers some activities. First of all it is a great location and background motif for photographers, but you can also go onboard and play Black Jacker or Poker. I for my part focused on taking pictures though.

“Where to go first? To the left to visit the town or to the right to see the swamp? No matter where you go first, you will be surrounded either by the sounds of nature or by typical Louisiana tunes (turn your speakers on).”
I decided to got exploring the town first.

Impressions of 80 Days – The Bayou (2) – The town

“The town is built in the style of the French Quarter in New Orleans, including a cemetery, a Jazz club, a restaurant, a barber/tattoo shop and some residential buildings in the typical French Quarter look.”
The town looks also very nice in the evening or at night as the houses are well illuminated by lights and race lights.

Impressions of 80 Days – The Bayou (3) – The town

I left the town and visited the Alligator farm. “Just have an eye on your limbs. Though we feed the gators well, they always up for a little snack.” I had a little break at a bbq close to the river and went back to the paddle steamer to visit the swamp.

Impressions of 80 Days – The Bayou (4) – The Alligator farm, the bbq place and entering the swamp

A wooden walkway leads into the swamp. Admist the swamp you will find a house, a Voodoo shack. The swamp is another great environment for taking pictures. Of course you can also see some alligators, hence you have to stay careful. If you walk beyond the Voodoo shack you will find a boat rezzer and I took a boat for my further simploring.

Impressions of 80 Days – The Bayou (5) – The swamp and the Voodoo shack

There is also a second boat rezzer on the banks of the Mississippi. Exploring by boat is also fun and offers new views. You can also reach another island with the boat (more swamp and mangroves). The other smaller islands are off sim objects and can’t be reached, but you can make a boat trip around the whole sim. Watch out for animals, another great motif.

Impressions of 80 Days – The Bayou (6) – Exploring with a motor boat

And why is the sim called “80 Days – The Bayou“? Camila Runo explains it in one of the information notecards: “The term is referring to Jules Verne’s book “Around the world in 80 days”. As I understand my projects as stops on my virtual voyage around the world (e.g. Jambo / Africa and Nour / Arabia last year, Vargsången / Scandinavia this year), I found the name appropriate for the new group I created. This group will also comprise each future project of mine.“

Thank you Camila for creating The Bayou and for sharing it publicly. I enjoyed my visit a lot, it was like a short vacation.

Landmark to 80 Days – The Bayou
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/White%20Widow/156/92/22
Inara Pey’s blogpost “A trip to the Bayou in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/05/17/a-trip-to-the-bayou-in-second-life/
80 Days – The Bayou flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/eightydays

Previous Older Entries