The Bloggers' Exhibit at The Station

Riding a glider at The Station

I am going to be in some special company today. A month ago, Kara Trapdoor asked me to be part of Steampunk Exhibition, otherwise known as The Bloggers' Exhibit, which she was planning for the Skywalk Gallery at The Station.

Kara’s idea was straightforward, and guaranteed to create an interesting exhibition. Gather ten bloggers and ask each to contribute two steampunk theme images, in keeping with the overall nature of the sim.

The Station

I have to admit, considering the low output of my blogging, I feel like a bit of a piker in the crowd she has chosen, putting me alongside bloggers and artists like Ziki Questi, Honour McMillan, Bryn Oh, Bouncer Criss, Burly Tigerpaw, DanteAmore Rossini, Kathy Nikolaidis, Sparkie Cyberstar, and Wicca Merlin.

“Several of the selected bloggers are truly artists in their own right and perhaps blogging is secondary for them,” said Kara in the release describing the show. I guess that’s me. :)

As you might expect from 10 bloggers, the images cover a wide range of styles. For myself, I put together a new avatar, based on The Watchmaker's Brother from The Secret Shelf and some clothing help from Blakopal and Feyline Fashions and set out exploring. 

The exhibit has a grand opening at 1 p.m. May 4 at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Station/182/122/1028 with DJ Kate supplying the music… steampunk attire is suggested, but stovepipe hats will be provided free.

The exhibit isn’t visible from the landing point, but is easily found by following the yellow arrows on the floor through the Shadows in Black and White exhibition, which is running concurrently, as is Technochory by Bryn Oh and Sina Souza.

That’s a lot of art to take in,but when you are done, spare some time for the artistry of The Station itself. I’ve been lucky enough to count the builder, Enigmatic Deir, among my friends almost since I arrived in Second Life. His building skills amazed me then and still do.

The Station shows off both Enigmatic's eye for detail and sense of humour. It’s a highly detailed steampunk styled sim with many sights to see on multiple levels from the landing point in the sky to underwater and many things to play on and with:two clubs, a full carnival with bumper cars, roller coaster, ferris wheel, carousel, multiple game rooms, many couples private areas, underwater show area, freebies around the sim, trains, trolleys, human slingshot, human cannon, airships and gliders to ride and travel in, an impressive fun house and many more attractions.

The Station

Emergency Challenge

A Petrovsky Flux

I found myself filling in as emergency host for the Photohunt challenge in Second Life tonight. So with only a few minutes to get set up, I took the crew to the first sim that popped into my mind: A Petrovsky Flux. 

I gave them Solitude for a theme. This is my personal take on the same subject, though a little more modified than we allow in the contest. 

For those that are wondering, Photohunt is a regular competition in Second Life. Participants are given a sim to work in and an hour to create the best image they can, with no outside modifications (unlike this image). Then we post them and vote to decide on the winners for that session.  

It all happens twice a week: Mondays at 11:30 a.m. SLT and Wednesdays at 6 p.m. SLT., starting from our gallery at Taean.

To the Noobs, to Make Much of Time

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying.

-- Robert Herrick, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Relaxing on the deck of Ad Astra (my NY-30, designed by Jacqueline Trudeau) off the coast of Appleberry in the Fruit Islands.

This post is in response to +Strawberry Singh's latest blog challenge, Advice for Second Life Newbies. I admit to having fun with the Herrick poem, but the advice is still good.

-- Don't waste a minute of your time in Second Life. This world changes fast, so there is always something so much to see, so many people to meet and fun to have.

As I thought this over, I realized that a lot of real life advice applies to Second Life.

-- Follow your passion. Search out the things you love, you'll find them in SL, and you'll also find communities of people that share the same passions, whether that be sailing, flying, photography, fashion or... you name it.

But there is advice that only applies to SL.

-- Denoob yourself. There’s nothing wrong with being a noob, we all started out that way. But you don't have to stick with the basic avatar, especially when there are lots of businesses offering freebies for folks under 30 (days, that is), so you take advantage while you can.

Start by getting yourself an animation override. SEmotion and Amacci both offer nice ones. Then think about getting yourself dressed. Berry has a lot of great links on her SL newbie resource page, but I would also recommend checking out Fabfree’s 30 days list.

It's important to remember that there are very real people behind those avatars, but don't forget this is a virtual world.

-- You can't be hurt. If your parachute doesn't open when you are skydiving from 4000 metres, don't worry about it. Just dust yourself off and try again. Try lots of things, even if you are convinced you won't be any good at them - you might surprise yourself.

I don't know if my final word qualifies as advice or is just something to keep in mind.

-- SL is about community. This is shared experience on a big scale, but the virtual world is just a part of it. Dive in. SLifers are present in just about ever social every media you can name: Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Flickr and countless blogs.

So join us. And welcome.

Single Frame Stories revisited

Challenge 1 - Last Words
"Did you hear the one about..."

Whiskey Monday and Botgirl Questi put Single Frame Stories on hold a while back, but the website and all the images remain, including a few - too few - of mine.

Looking through the images from the 53 weeks of challenges, I thought, why not run through a few of them? So here is my new single frame for the first challenge, Last Words.

It's only about 20 months late. Next challenge is Illumination; let's see if I can get to that one a little quicker.

Flux in Flux

A Petrovsky Flux

I paid a visit to the ever-changing art sim, A Petrovsky Flux today. If you haven't already been inspired to by all the press it has got lately, well, why not?

A Petrovsky Flux

If somehow you have missed the press, I highly recommend checking out Prim Perfect or +Inara Pey's Living in a Modemworld for the current scoop.

A Petrovsky Flux

For some background on this incredible work, try the University of Kansas or Honour MacMillan's 2010 article.

A Petrovsky Flux

B&W Portrait Challenge

I've not blogged anything in a long, long while, but it wouldn't have been right for me not to get in on +Strawberry Singh's Black and White Portrait Challenge.Here's mine, but you can check out the other responses on her original blog post.

Back InWorldz

Cracker's Run, Naporia

Oct. 28: Spent some time visiting InWorldz again this morning, this time around Crooked Creek in the DanCoDi sim. It's kind of out of sight in my pics of this Mediterranean coastal resort, but there is a nice little mall kicking around behind the ridge in a neighbouring sim.

Crooked Creek, DanCoDi

Quality of these builds is every bit as high as in Second Life, so there is lots to see. And while there are some glitches -- a few problems TPing and got sunk into the floor while editing my appearance -- it's come a long way since 2010 when I first rezzed in. 

Crooked Creek, DanCoDi

Exploring Inworldz

St. George Reef, Inworldz

I rarely visit Inworldz, even though I've had an avatar there nearly as long as in Second Life.

Truth be told, I have a bias against Inworldz, since my first experiences there were so poor. When I first rezzed in, I could walk hardly walk 10 steps without sinking into the ground and getting stuck. And unfortunately, it wasn't only me … later I discovered that some sims would set out dance and other pose balls at intervals to help you get unstuck.

I’ll skip over the problems with finding shops to buy some decent bits and pieces to create an avatar. But the quality of many builds was also less than impressive, so there was little to draw me back. I couldn't understand why anyone went there, other than it seemed most Inworlders and those that talked it up had a huge hate on for SL.

But earlier today, I read +Strawberry Singh's blog about 20 SL designers opening up shop in Inworldz and was intrigued enough to visit and explore for a bit. And I've got to admit, things have changed.  

Builds are better, graphics and textures are better and it no longer feels like walking through mud to get around. As a matter of fact, some of the builds in the sailing area I visited were easily the equal of SL.

But there is still the problem of people. Perhaps this new infusion of stores and creators will draw some in, but frankly, going to a VW where there is only 200 or so people in world time feels a bit desolate.

So, the upshot is I won’t be leaving Second Life for Inworldz, though I may spend a little more time there exploring. Now, if I could only find a nice quality sailboat there….

And a star to steer her by

Click to enlarge

This particular post is in response to one of +Inara Pey's "For the Few," a homage to flight in Second Life. I decided to do the same for my favourite activity; Inara provided the inspiration, I provided the image and John Masefield provided the words: 

"All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."

And while not a tall ship, the Patchogue II from Jacquleine Trudeau, is certainly elegant enough to suit Masefield's "Sea Fever."

Challenge: Windlight

Ocho Tango: soft and hazy

So  +Strawberry Singh, the mistress of windlight settings, wants to know how the rest of us use windlight in our images in her latest Monday meme.

Do you use windlight while taking pictures? If not, why not? Sure. I experiment with them a lot as well as having all the bells and whistles turned on: advanced lighting, ambient occlusion and so on. Usually though, I leave local lights turned off – I want to be in complete control of the light.

When taking a closeup snapshot for a profile picture, which windlight preset do you use most often? I don't often do portraits. I think my profile pic is more than two years old (and really kind of sad - it was an experiment) I do shoot a lot of images of singers and performers, but then, I usually follow the same pattern as when I am doing landscapes - it's all about the mood.

Which windlight presets do you use for full body portraits? Pretty much the same answer as the last question.

If you do landscape photography, which windlights do you use for that most often? Ah, here we go! My final images are almost always in black and white, so there are a few things going on in my head when I am working. First is “what is this going to look like without colour? So I tend to favour windlights that don't have strong colours to begin with: It's gonna rain, Amsterdam, Dusty Bright. Mainly for me, controlling the light is all about setting mood, so I am most concerned with contrast, shadows, clouds and intensity of light. For that, there is no substitute for just playing, especially with the haze level.

Ocho Tango again, after the fog lifted

Do you have any tricks or tips that you could share for using Windlight effectively? Not really sure if this is a windlight tip, but one of the biggest pains for me is spending 10 minutes experimenting and getting my camera angle and windlight synced perfectly, only to move or hit escape and bounce back to default. Pick up a copy of HUD CAM or the pushpin hud to lock your view down.

Have you created any windlights that you would be willing to share with us? Unfortunately no. I experiment a lot and rarely use the same settings twice. I can share a bit of advice I learned through RL photography, though; try to previsualise how you want the final image to look. Not so much in detail, but in terms of how the light will convey the mood of the scene. Then work towards that image. Easy, right?

MY SL MOVIE POSTER

I haven't done one of Strawberry's Monday memes for a while. She has been picking out some tough ones... and I have never been any good at poetry, especially haiku.

But the SL Movie Poster challenge was right up my alley, especially since I just created a poster for myexhibition space at SL10B. So here it is... that film noir classic, "Journey of the Lonely Man."

Okay, yes, there is no such classic, but this is SL. I can imagine that I am living out a black and white art film if I like...

You can visit my site at SL10B at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL10B%20Dazzle/237/153/22

Answering Berry’s challenge

Are you looking for a way to put off doing something? Because Strawberry Singh has issued another challenge/meme.

Bear and Derry hanging out at Artropolis.

I am not usually much of a joiner, but this one comes on the heels of Berry’s Seven SL facts about me meme and she offers good reasons for starting it: she’s nosy and she is trying to get everyone to procrastinate like her.

And since I can’t resist the temptation to put off writing a story, well, let’s just say it’s all Berry’s fault I got no work done this morning. Copy the questions yourself, and put something important off.

What is the rez date for your current SL Avatar that you use most often?

Bear Silvershade — March 22, 2010?

Where was the first place you made friends as a newb and got to know people in Second Life?

That would have to be the Buddha Centre. I am a buddhist in RL, so I finally wandered in there to attend a ceremony after wandering around for a few days without talking a lot to people — Hey, I am shy. They were very welcoming people, and still are.

Where do you spend most of your SL time now?

I don’t think there is one particular location, since I spend most of my time sailing or exploring. Probably either my home in Fruit Islands or my studio/workshop at Artropolis.

Who is your closest friend in Second Life? (only pick one)

Oh, that’s not fair to just pick one - lots of good friends, but my partner, Derry McMahon, has to rate as closest.

What is the most favorite thing in your inventory? (only pick one)

That great black duster mesh coat I picked up from Deco.

The last thing you purchased in Second Life?

Rain. Aye, you read that right. The Best Rain. Cool stuff and very realistic.

What color clothing does your avatar wear most often?

Black. Grey.

Do you prefer to walk, run or fly?

I generally walk. Flying all the time seems unrealistic, though I prefer that to running when I am in a hurry.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in SL?

Does friending Crap Mariner count? Turns out that’s not so crazy, so I’m not really sure what counts as crazy in a virtual world - maybe the time I armed myself with a teddy bear shooter and joined the Tinys in a battle against the Orks?

Who would you like to play YOU, in the movie of your SLife?

Humphrey Bogart. Or perhaps Cary Grant. No, Bogart.

van Gogh revisited

Torell Nederland

I was pleased to read in Honour MacMillan’s column earlier this week that the recreation of van Gogh’s Arles was back up, though it no longer resides on the Arles sim. It’s a build I have visited many times, but I've never felt that I have explored it as well as I should have, so I was glad for another chance.

The new build at Torell Nederland, a sim devoted to arts and culture, is well worth exploring. While it would be near impossible to recreate the sights and sounds that van Gogh experienced, Mudpuddle Cleanslate’s re-creations gives us a taste of what he might have seen and experienced as he walked through the town and countryside.

Torell Nederland

I was very young when I was first exposed to van Gogh, through a movie documenting his life. At that age, the themes of his troubled mind and instability went way over my head. His art went over my head too. Let’s face it, my experience of art was pretty limited at the time - I remember getting an A for a sculpture out of macaroni and spaghetti in Grade 4 art class, but that’s about it.

But the movie stuck with movie through the years, this portrayal of an artist, so filled with passion that it exploded into his work. That memory never went away, even though my own personal tastes turned to photography and another great and passionate artist, Edward Weston. It wasn't until later that I rediscovered van Gogh, when I got to see one of his paintings -- The Starry Night -- in person for the first time and was struck by the intensity of the work.

Torell Nederland

Mudpuddle seems to suffer from a similar fascination - as it was in Arles, the new sim is dotted by his recreations of van Gogh's paintings, complete with a copy of the original on an easel.

Like both originals, the new Arles is well worth a visit. But pack a picnic basket and take your time to explore and let the ambiance wash over you.

My Seven SL Facts Meme

Tromp

I liked +Strawberry Singh and +Laurence Simon's (Crap Mariner) Seven SL Facts so well that I decided to jump aboard the meme.

So I moored the Windshadow at Tromp and relaxed while I gave it some thought.

1) Bear is my RL nickname - at least it’s the only one I admit to. When I signed up for SL, I was surprised that I actually had to choose a name for my avatar. I would have used my RL name, except all the last names for Steve were used up.

2) I am perfectly capable of seeing colour, I just don’t want to. 

3) In SL, I have so many sailboats that I have been accused of trying to keep Jacqueline Trudeau in business single-handed. The only time I have ever sailed a boat in RL was when I was a boy scout.

4) I get nervous whenever my inventory exceeds 6,000 items. That’s not a typo: 6,000, not 60,000. 

5) Speaking of typos, I can’t type two words in local chat without making three typos. And yes, I write for a living in RL. I consider myself job security for proofreaders. 

6) My favourite colour is black. And it is so a colour.

7) I do not say “aboot.” The last letter of the alphabet is pronounced zed.