Scripted weekender

Imagine a thousand cubes, each reacting to SL clouds directly overhead, getting lighter and higher as the cloud density increases, creating a dynamic multidimensional map of our random sky, softly mutating with the movement of light and shade. If you imagined it, good! but you're too late to invent it, which, on the whole is also good, because you can effortlessly go and enjoy the excellence of Storm Cells by Oberon Onmura showing at project Z on sim Cetus.

Storm Cells is interactive, you can fly around on a vehicle, hang out on the central platform, or go for a wander in flight or on foot. If you stand on any one of the cells for a bit, they adopt your name so folks will know you passed this way. Like a lot of big art, you need to give this time, it's a good place to stand and chat, hum, or think while camming out to a vast horizon, and allowing the weather to overtake you. More Zachh, he is playing his piano at Solace Beach at 3 pm SLT where there is also a "Live Music Treasure Hunt! And no, I have no clue what that means, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go and find out. See you there!
Also on Saturday,at noon SLT, Good music and a good cause, with a French accent: at the Monet sim Giverny . Soleil Snook let me know about this wonderful-sounding classical baroque concert! Swiss duo Tom Dowd and Françoise Pronguét will be performing 15th Century music, streamed inworld in aid of the Pancreatic Cancer Reasearch Fund UK, so another for your weekend calendar, at trip over to the Bistro Le Chat on sim Giverny.

The eyes have it

A recevoir tant de cervelles estrangeres,
et si fortes, et si grandes,
il est necessaire que la sienne se foule,
se contraigne et rappetisse,
pour faire place aux autres.

Montaigne 1:XXIV

It's always been a weakness of mine, a man in a kilt, or rather, commenting on a man in a kilt. The possibilities for humour are almost endless. Last night these was just such a specimen at the opening of the black and white photography show of Newbab Zsigmond at Tanalois. Newbab's photos are just splendid, real-world pictures with that otherworldly aura only black and white can reveal, the veiled spectre of feelings frozen in time, in a face, in a landscape. It is hard to believe it is his first solo photo show, he and partner Merlina Rokocoko are stand-out talents in their own right, as well as generous patrons and enthusiastic promotors of art in and off-world via the PiRats sims and their excellent website which, for some bizarre reason, I'd not thought of adding to the 'Other Blogs in English' list to your left. Until now. He has a wonderful eye for a landscape, and the portraits, many of them Merlina in RL, are just beautiful. Really worth checking out.
The man in the kilt was Igor Ballyhoo turned out to be more Bosnia than Bannockburn, if you know what I mean. And, yes, apparently it is airy down there. He did the usual wordskirimishing when I asked him if he was a producer or consumer of art, which is understandable, the word 'artist' is so loaded these days and few wish to come off sounding precious, even though they are rightly proud of their accomplishments.
I thought I remembered the name, and then he mentioned his Gargantuan Uterus /me clears throat and quotes from notecard:

"Welcome to the Gargantuan Uterus! It is made with only one idea - recreation of most important moment in universe ! All of us that come here have been already in this situation in RL, some time ago. So, my plan is simple: First, join Pirats group so you can rezz here !Grab for free the two vehicles here, (sperm-mobile and eggcell-mobile) rezz either of them - never mind which one, we are all made of both of these, sit in it and drive around bumping in other vehicles ! That is moment of creation of life !"

In the picture, that's me wearing egg and sperm at the same time (oooh! miracle of life!) as I wanted you to see how fun both vehicles are, and I was by myself... hey, who're you calling hermaphrothingy... The vehicles, are copy /transfer, but note the notecard warning: "If you sell it for money, God give you hemorrhoids!"

Meanwhile, back in the gallery... Igor offered to show me his 'axis of life' which turned out not to be a kilt-related offer but an Actual Thing Worth Seeing, on sim Salmo, one of a number of places the Itinerant Igor graces with this creations. Here it is, the axis mundi the centre of the universe, the point in which all the good and evil of the metaverse come together in mirrored glory. The next words out of my mouth you already know... but you get a better look at the bird bit of the installation down in the Italian blurb. And no, it's not my crappy camera, he really has no eyes, he told me he doesn't need them. No eyes, no trousers, we may have a theme developing here... Turned out, there was more - a whole platform of other sculptures including these two magnificent angels, and a very disturbed half-child... the top half, with tentacle arms that Igor said wants to embrace the world... if I were the world I'd stand well back. You can see what I mean down below.Back in his castle, next to his large fire and little scissor table (don't run with it) Igor told me of his love of classical music - witness the very nice chairs are upholstered with the score of Bach's Kunst der fuge (that's Laibach's version of it). As a final treat he showed me his pièce de resistance.... a magical music box that plays Für Elise or, as we used to call it when I was a child at piano lessons, furry knees. Anyway he made all of it, the beautiful carillon sounds, the moving parts, the textures, it is just beautiful! I'm hoping when he reads this he will give me one. Oh come on, what is it with you today? the box, I mean. Bellissime le foto di Newbab Zsigmond in mostra a Tanalois questa settimana, foto bianco e nero di RL; paesaggi misteriosi e ritratti luminosi frammenti di una vita reale ricca e nostalgica. Impossibile credere che si tratti della prima volta che il fondatore di PiRats, uno dei gruppi artistici più prestigiosi di SL, abbia voluto condividere con noi le foto della sua Francia e i ritratti della sua bellissima moglie Nathalie in SL Merlina Rokocoko.
Mentre ammiravo le foto ho notato una persona senza occhi e ...senza pantaloni e naturalmente mi sono presentata. Ho riconosciuto il nome, si trattava di Igor Ballyhoo ormai famoso a PiRats per il suo Utero gargantuo.... guarda meno brutto di quanto può sembrare, ci sono piccole navicelle, uno spermatozoide, e un... vabe' non sarò certo io a spiegarti come funzionano queste cose...

Igor mi ha proposto una visita al suo axis mundi e non ho saputo dire di no... ed eccolo il punto d'incontro tra il bene e il male, il positivo e il negativo di SL, come due piante che si rispecchiano un'infinità di rami e uno stormo di colombe, anzi due, uno per ogni albero: in un mondo fatto di tante sfumature creative e emotive qui la certezza del bianco e nero. Mi è piaciuto molto. Igor mi ha voluto mostrare altre altre sue sculture aprendo anch'esse una finestra sulla spiritualità dell'artista. Angeli, monaci e forbici cedono spazio a una figura un po' sinistra, il 'figlio' di Igor ma un bambino a metà, con dei tentacoli al posto delle braccia.... vuole, secondo il suo creatore, avviluppare amorevolmente il mondo; fossi io il mondo mi guarderei bene da un tale abbraccio... Dopo a casa sua, un castello tetro, ci siamo accomodati accanto al tavolino con le gambe a forbici - letteralmente - su queste splendide poltrone ricoperte da una stoffa sulla quale puoi vedere lo spartito del Kunst der fuge . L'artista ama molto la musica classica. Mi ha fatto ascoltare quella versione della fuga, e poi mi ha fatto vedere il tesoro a mio avviso più prezioso della sua collezione, una scatola musicale o carillon davvero strepitosa. Ha creato tutti i pezzi, persino la musica - il per Elisa di Beethoven.

Dalle immagini stupende d'un mondo bianco e nero di Newbab, all'intricato meccanismo del carillon di Igor, il metaverso - o meglio, i creativi del metaverso - non finiscono mai a stupirci, e chissà quante altre preziosissime sorprese ci aspettano ...

Lion Heart

Meet Lion Igaly, artist, builder, gallery impresario, and all round good guy. Lion's often described as a tireless worker for his family of artists, some of them new, others well-known names in the SL art world, like Shellina Winkler, Gleman Jun and nessuno Myoo. Lion had only been in SL for a few days back in may of '07 and was in search as, he puts it, a 'reason for being in SL' when he noticed how many creative people were producing beautiful things but had nowhere to show their work. With a background in IT, building had been the first thing that drew him into the virutal world, in fact, he confessed to me that he had learnt how to make furniture before he figured out how to fly. Being the son of artists, and having also married an artist in RL, this area of our culture was the one that attracted him most and so quite naturally it occurred to him that this could be his mission in the metaverse, to put together a gallery and make exhibition spaces available, spaces that he thought about intensely before building, coming up with a design which is both functional and elegant, a literal showcase, which he called Piramide. The original building has undergone some changes, but that first construction, made in the sandbox at Secondlearning Italy, immediately became a place where many of his regular exhibitors within the group known as Orion Tales. Like Lion, many of his artists began their first experiments in primsqueezing in this very sandbox - you can see a photo down in the Italian part - and Lion stil regularly drops by to check out newcomers and invite some to put their work on show in his gallery. Secondlearning Italy is owned by an elearning company based in Florence, INDIRE and they eventually made available a space on the same sim for the Piramide gallery, just a few meters away from the place where it was first created. True to the spirit of italianate philanthropy, there are links and information boards designed specifically to help newbies through those first essential steps of grasping the fundamentals of SL. Lion has also created a teleport link to a number of other galleries, cementing the sense of alliance and community that are so important to his vision of the metaversal art world.Lion's own home reveals his sentimental side, it's the first house he ever made and he has never really changed it, apart from adding art work, of course. Like a lot of people his first attempt were hampered by not really understanding tools - he subsequently attended some classes on the same Secondlearning sim - but considering this was a true newbie effort, the result is rather handsome. The showroom on the same same site is worth a visit, nowadays Lion makes particle effects, fireworks and fountains and thanks to the income from this, is able to fund much of his gallery work. He put on a fireworks show for me while we talked.I wondered if it is difficult to keep everybody happy - artists and primcounts often can cause problems.
Lion Igaly: The first gallery quickly proved to be too small for all the artists and the pieces I wanted to show, so I got involved with another gallery, and found pieces of land to rent here and there. at one point I was running no less than four separate galleries. As far as prims are concerned, the temprezzer has really solved that problem. Any work that is more than 50 prims in size goes in a temprezzer, so no artist needs to feel he or she is limited by the primcount in the gallery or the size of other people's work.One of the most difficult aspects of running a gallery is finding appropriate and reliable sims on which to set up the gallery. The Diadem, my other gallery, was on two different sims, one of which disappeared in the night taking with it all the art, the hopes and the hard work involved in putting together an art show. This version of the Diadem was also on a sim where the owner appeared to have abandoned SL altogether, and in face just this week it also went to the bottom of the metaversal sea along with all our art. It's really frustrating when owners don't trouble over their tenants and their needs.

In his kindly manner, Lion often refers to his artists as 'ragazzi' or kids... I asked him why and he pointed out that SL has a rejuvenating effect on many participants: older people feel a new lease on life and a creativity that would not be thinkable in the hidebound lines of everyday life in the real world. He feels responsible for them, to some extent and that sense of community is very important to him, and when I asked him about the choices he makes among artists and art (I see an awful lot of genuinely horrible art in my wanderings, I can only imagine the stuff he must wade through) he gave me a very diplomatic answer, pointing out that the artists vision doesn't always transmit into the product they place before the public, and that in many cases it is a question of time and experience, not talent, that holds them back from showing something magnificent. He even managed to restore the reputation of the dreaded Slow Rotation Script, by pointing me in the direction of some magnificent sculptures that use it. Well, a little bit. I was really saddened to learn that the Diadem had disappeared, of course, we all know nothing in SL is forever, and the actual structure with its wonderful disappearing walls and floors, remains in Lion's inventory ready to be set up in its next home, but the work involved in reorganizing all the art, well, we're all familiar with the concept; those hours of care are gone for good, except that a trace remains in the appreciation his artists, his ragazzi have for Lion.

Lion Igaly: It's essential to keep moving forward. In my field, keeping updated with new techniques and improvements is the only way to survive: he who does not update is lost. I see SL as an intellectual challenge, much like a good book; if the mind is the only part of the body that never really sleeps, which is a great thing, since that constant striving for new developments and inspiration is what prevents boredom from setting in. One way I keep myself on the cutting edge is by running a course on particles. It's a free, two-part beginner's class in particles which has just been held at AdOpera, another Italian sim owned by Adamo Grau. Rather than simply presenting the same course over and over, I try to rethink it each time.

Lion is also an artist and the Tanalois gallery recently hosted a retrospective of his sculptures including the humourous Cubistic temptations on Love and Psyche of Canova shown at the top of this post, and a small but fascinating immersion piece called Electronic inside, there's a photo of it down below, which makes you feel like an electron, a tiny powerful force operating in a sea of dynamic energy, brilliant fascinating almost to the point of exhaustion a perfect metaphor for SL creatives. Check out all the photos from the show on his flickr page.
Lion Igaly: Of course, there are times when the daily grind involved in the business side of SL can be a bit tiresome, and like everyone I have my days when the prospect of coming inworld and dealing with it all is unappealing. But on the whole SL has brought me into contact with a community that I have been proud to serve, in my own small way. It has enriched my life. It's hard to imagine my life without the friendships have made here, close friends, partners in work and play; I never imagined this was possible before I came into SL, and now, I don't think I'd like to live without it.

Thirza Ember: So would you pixellate yourself if it were possible?

Lion Igaly: Well who knows? Now it looks like people are going to live to be well over a hundred years old, who can say what the future might bring? And perhaps it wouldn't be a bad life, as long as the lag stayed at a minimum. It might be a fine life...at least until the first systemwide failure at Linden Labs...

Appena dopo pochi giorni il suo arrivo in SL, nel maggio del 2007, Lion Igaly ha visto tanti creativi senza fissa dimora che avevano cose molto belle da mostrare senza un posto dove farlo. Era in cerca di uno scopo per stare in SL. Ha pensato che fare una galleria e mettere in mostra quelle belle cose poteva essere la sua missione in SL. Andava a piedi all'inizio perchè non sapeva volare, ma aveva già imparato a costruire salotti !! Essendo un po' figlio di artista, ama l'arte da sempre in SL, come in RL. L'ha pensato intensamente, l'ha immaginato funzionale per quello che doveva essere una vetrina per gioielli da mostrare e così ha immaginato e costruito la Piramide.
Accanto alla sua casa, negozio ha una attività commerciale, vende prodotti come i fuochi d'artificio visibili nella foto qui sopra nella parte inglese. Con i proventi delle vendite di SL porta avanti la sua attività di gallerista senza troppi sforzi. Costruire questa casa è stato emozionante, era alle prime armi anche con quella : non l'ha mai cambiata, ci è affezionato. Lion Igaly: Le difficoltà? All'inizio per me erano immense, non conoscevo tools per costruttori e allineavo i prims a occhio e con grande fatica e tempo. Poi ho seguito dei corsi a INDIRE e le cose sono un po' migliorate... Una volta finito di fare il palazzo ero letteralmente circondato da amici nella sandbox di indire che esprimevano molto bene la loro creatività e li ho invitati a esporre. Ho affittato un terreno, ma era troppo piccolo, ne ho affittati altri intorno per farli esporre e abbiamo creato la prima collettiva artistica, ho fondato il gruppo Orion Tales che ancora oggi espone in permanenza alla Piramide di Indire

Lion Igaly: Qui siamo a SecondLearning Italy il sim di una società pubblica di elearning di Firenze che si chiama INDIRE. Il gestore mi ha affidato uun pezzo di terra per far vedere le possibilità del building artistico. Qui ho esposto tutte le locandine delle precedenti edizioni della piramide nell'ordine.
Lion Igaly: Questa invece la sandbox di INDIRE, sono nato praticamente qui, in questo angolo. Thirza Ember: La disposizione dello spazio espositivo come la gestisci? voglio dire, puoi ospitare un numero limite di artisti e ad ognuno presumabilmente vengono concessi un certo numero di prims... litigano con te a proposito??
Lion Igaly: Con i temprezzer non è più necessario litigare. Oltre i 50 prim li facco rezzare a tempo, cosi abbiamo sempre prim a sufficienza, e ne avanzano. Lion Igaly: Cerco tutt'ora spazi espositivi per far esporre i miei ragazzi attuali e futuri. Come ti dicevo non so che fine farà questo spazio, l'owner se ne sta disinteressando, quindi sto cercando un altra sede. Hai voglia di fare un po' di scale? C'è anche l'ascensore, ma le scale sono un altra cosa, arrampicarsi in mezzo all'arte appaga gli occhi. Abbiamo anche un teleport che unisce diverse gallerie d'arte italiane, una mia iniziativa... Si sono ritirati coloro che pensavano di fare sim commerciali in SL. Avevano sbagliato l'approccio puoi fare sim commerciali, ma in modo collaborativo e alla pari senza fare il proprietario e basta SL è una comunità, prima di tutto non bisogna urtarne i sentimenti. Qui c'è di tutto: come in RL, ma bisogna dare spazio a quelli che meritano e provare a far giudicare al pubblico. Cerco solo di escludere quelli che in modo palese non hanno mezzi espressivi sufficienti a creare quello che hanno in mente. Per loro ci sarà tempo in seguito per migliorare comunque credo di avere scoperto ed aiutato ad emergere molti dei talenti italiani che ora hanno successo nel mondo di SL più internazionale. A molti dei miei ragazzi arrivano oggi tanti riconoscimenti da tutto il mondo artistico di SL e si stanno facendo valere ti faccio dei nomi: Daco Monday, Zhora Maynard, Solkide Auer, Shellina Winkler, Nessuno myoo, Kicca Igaly, Gleman Jun. In genere li cerco io, li guardo creare nella sandbox, osservo le loro opere quando le rezzano e poi propongo a loro di esporre. Qualcuno è venuto da me, qualcuno l'ho dovuto respingere, altri sono stati molto interessanti e hanno esposto le loro opere nelle mie gallerie, che fino a poco tempo fa erano tre anzi quattro, considerando anche La T&S gallery che avevo in gestione, è stato emozionante scoprire talenti come nessuno Myoo, si sono dimostrati fin da subito un passo avanti. Ci vuole indole e talento e prima o poi il talento vero sboccia come un fiore. Ho assistito a tante fioriture che solo al pensarci mi vengono i brividi è affascinante vedere emergere il talento, che a fatica si fa strada tra i pochi mezzi che l'artista all'inizio ha a disposizione. Un paio di anni fa, quasi spinto dal loro entusiasmo nel creare, mi sono fatto prendere da quello stesso entusiasmo e ho cominciato anche io a cercare di creare qualcosa che trasmettesse emozioni, visioni e simbolismi della mia mente. Dopo il primo anno di esposizioni nella Piramide sentivo la necessità di un palazzo più grande dove ospitare più artisti e più opere e più grosse e ho costruito il Diadem un palazzo che nello stile vuole essere anch'esso una vetrina ideale.

Thirza Ember: Trovo che spesso la teca - il palazzo, la galleria - chiamiamola come vogliamo, nonostante le infinite possibilità di SL, rappresenta una sfida, una distrazione dall'arte.

Lion Igaly: Sì purtroppo, ed era quello che volevo evitare, distrarre il pubblico anzi volevo condurlo a vedere quello che conta: le opere poi nella mia mente un palazzo esposizioni non deve nascondere i suoi contenuti, li deve mostrare, soprattutto qui in SL. Il Diadem era ospitato in due sim differenti, una delle quali è scomparsa improvvisamente per mancato pagamento dei fee dei suoi owner, con tanto di mostra attiva! Fu un dispiacere, vedere tradite le aspettative di tanti ragazzi che avevano posto lì le loro opere al vaglio del pubblico, ma questa è SL, un po' leggenda, un po' prosaica, un po' instabile. Anche il Diadem che rimane corre il rischio di scomparire, l'owner se ne sta disinteressando della sua sim, anzi ne ha messa in vendita una metà... Infatti proprio in questi giorni il Diadem è sparito... e si va alla ricerca di un nuovo sim dove possono essere ospitati sia le opere d'arte che il bellissimo palazzo di vetro. Ho notato che Lion parla spesso dei 'ragazzi', ed alcuni senz'altro sono minori di lui in anni real/sl, ma ho chiesto a Lion... tu li vedi tutti così?

Lion Igaly: Sono tutti ragazzi ai miei occhi perchè per stare in SL bisogna essere ragazzi dentro, e spegnere la serietà che RL ti impone di ossevare nel mondo del lavoro. Conosco amici che in RL sono molto anziani, che quando sono in SL volano con la fantasia come quando avevano 15 anni. SL è un motore per la creatività e la fantasia...

Thirza Ember: Quindi il futuro artistico di SL come lo vedi? Ci saranno sempre piu' opere interattive e (parola frusta) " immersive " ...abbiamo superato (io spero) l'epoca del slow rotation script e nasce il movimento tutto particelle, sculpties, audiovisual...

Lion Igaly: Sì, l'abbiamo superata nella media, ma alcune opere tipo quelle di nessuno, giusto per capirci, continueranno ad essere slow rotation e per fortuna. Il futuro lo vedo sempre più interessante come utilizzo del mezzo cresce l'esperienza di chi è rimasto dentro, producendo arte e questo permette di raggiungere livelli impensati per il passato. Le installazioni immersive e reattive sono sempre più numerose e ben fatte ma anche le foto e i quadri sono bellissimi... io come sfondo del mio pc, in questo momento ho una foto al tramonto del Diadem. Dirai che noia, ma per me è un ricordarmi che anche qui dentro in SL qualcuno mi aspetta e conta su di me; è la molla che mi fa andare avanti oltre le crisi di noia o repulsione che a volte mi vengono da SL, specie quando vedo le cose trasformate in routine e business. Mi piace stare in SL e trovo il modo di affinare la mente anche qui, oltre che col leggere un buon libro. Stare qui è una sfida alle proprie capacità intellettuali, la mente è l'unica parte del corpo che non dorme mai, e per me la mia non deve dormire, deve sempre correre sullo sviluppo di qualche cosa altrimenti si annoia. Adesso, per esempio, sto preparando una replica di un seminario sull'uso creativo delle particelle, ma non mi limito a replicarlo, sto lavorando per migliorarlo in modo che gli artisti che lo seguiranno possano trovare maggiori spunti per le loro opere e se poi le loro opere saranno migliori grazie anche al mio seminario, io ne trarrò grande soddisfazione - e poi ci sono i nuovi progetti che mi permetteranno di avere nuove sfide davanti a me e di accontentare quella testa che porto sul collo che non si vuole annoiare... anche io ho fatto.Di recente a Tanalois c'è stato la presentazione dell'opera omnia di Lion, e mi ha portato a vedere la mostra uno dei pezzi più bellis l'umoristico tentazioni cubiste su Amore e Psiche del Canova... altre foto e più belle delle mie le troverai qui.
Lion Igaly: Ora ti mostro la più curiosa, a mio giudizio. Prova ad entrare. Si chiama electronic inside, ti sentirai come un elettrone... Sono entrata, l'effetto era davvero molto curioso sembrava il circuito stampato di tutte le cose che avevo in programma di fare questa settimana... curiosa, ho posto a Lion questa domanda

Thirza Ember: Prima di SL, sentivi il desiderio di avere un gruppo di collaboratori cosi? immaginavi questa possibilita'?
Lion Igaly: Io non avevo la minima idea di quanto bello potesse essere il vivere la comunità di SL in amicizia, anzichè come una esperienza da mettere sotto la lente e basta. Ora lo so, e non voglio rinunciare a questo tipo di vissuto.
Thirza Ember: vorresti anche tu pixellarti? a me ogni tanto torna la voglia...
Lion Igaly: capperi, qui c'è il caso che si viva anche oltre i 100 anni a cui tendiamo su RL, fino al primo crash irreparabile dei server della Linden però, non oltre ahahahaha
Se hai o conosci qualcuno che desidererebbe ospitare questa magnifica galleria, non esitare di contattare Lion Igaly de persona. Sarai ben felice di avere tra gli amici questo bravissimo gallerista dal 'cuor di leone'...

Azul folks

Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!

Hakuna Matata, The Lion King,

Music by Sir Elton John, Lyrics by Sir Tim Rice.

(I am sure the Queen is very proud.)

Everybody and his grandmother's monkey has a picture of self at The Far Away at this point so, mooching around, I wanted to find something less derivative to snap at, and hey, what says 'less derivative' than Disney? Wait! before you surf away, let me point out this is virtual, non-affiliated Disney. Granted, the litigious meganational may (*or may not!!!*) call to mind vats of steaming plastic poised in aftermarket preChristmas readiness, the Lion King sim is a perfect place to put all the venality of the world behind you, even if you're not of the furry persuasion. Based on textures from the film, this is home to TP Fizzle and Primal Snowpaw and the IYC furr community, who were not present when I dropped by - wait is the dog in the logo wearing headphones? - so I ranged free, from the giant tree house to the tai chi balls on top of the stone pillar which you can see down in the Italian bit. Afficionados of Simba, Mufasa, Timon and Pumbaa and all the others in the Circle of Life will feel at home here in the peace and quiet and among myriad colours that remind one that mal d'Afrique is a real condition of the heart. Don't miss the photogenic big dinosaur remains top prize L100 to the best 'big bones' pun sent on a notecard before midnight tonight...

Enough unstructured play, it only leads to trouble... Gwen Bieler's got a thing on tonight, an Art Walk starting at 6pm SLT. We met to talk about it at Coffee house deck on her sim, Hallelujah Azul. Nosey old me, I wanted to know how the sim got its unusual name.
Gwendolyn Bieler: Actually, it was named by the founders, the previous owners; the original sim was named Hallelujah Blue after the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah, then, they opened a "sister sim" and named it Hallelujah Azul. Eventually the first sim closed, but when I took over here, I wanted to retain the original name, and the mood. I think of it as a small town, there is a group of about 20 or so regulars here, usually at the coffee house, very open and friendly, the original builder and myself, are both from the Pacific Northwest and I think that influenced it a lot. I think of it as a very "easy" place to come and relax. Here at the coffee house, people tend to congregate on the patio or like us on the back deck. The first owner, Owly Indigo, loves birds, so that is a motif.

In fact the cast iron railing to the deck has a beautiful crane on it.
Gwendolyn Bieler: I came into SL about 18 months ago. A RL friend told me about it, and showed me around once I got here. I was skeptical at first, but right away I started making friends and finding beautiful builds and installations. I started out working in interior design, then gradually, as my own style developed, I thought I would start my own line of furniture. Actually it was this sim that encouraged me to do it -- At first it was all social for me, but when a shop opened, I thought - I have to snatch that up, and the furniture came after the shop! lol. I hope this is going to be the first of many art shows on Hallelujah. We have 3 galleries here on the sim and I wanted to support those residents, and the artists whose work they show, as well as many of my own friends. I have really enjoyed curating the show as well; I'd like to repeat this experience, maybe once a season? Art is my passion, really. I am not an artist myself, but am an amateur collector and an art historian. I decided that having great art on the sim will attract the type of people I want to visit.
16 artists who will be on display, with music by Squidfisher McMillan et al. Take a moment to read Squid's picks, there's a graphic novel between the lines.Up in her skybox, Gwen gave me a preview of the things you'll see on the streets of Azul.

Gwendolyn Bieler: Music is a big part of my sim. It is a second passion of mine -- it goes so far in creating a mood and experience, and at our event Rara Destiny, Raspberry Rearwin and Squidfisher McMillan play either acoustic guitar or piano, and are vocalists. I don't play favorites, but let me show you a few pieces to give you an idea of what we have on show. This piece here with the sailboats is a collage by Nevar Whitfield, a Dutch artist. Personally, I specialized in American art but I have a fairly wide base. I love the moderns and the turn-of-the century pieces leading up to modernism. Another stand-out is this piece here, in the black frame. It is a sketch of a coffee house in Tokyo by Skarat Lefebvre. I love the way he captures the feeling of the busy-ness of the place, it is a rough sketch, but it appeals to me, it's like a still moment in a crowd. I also love all of this collection over here, by Clementine Whitt, this is some of the best SL based photography I've ever seen. Thirza Ember: Beautiful, this one called China Lamp... did you come inworld thinking this would be your goal, then, or did it evolve through your experience of SL?
Gwendolyn Bieler: It really evolved...I had no idea that art was such a prevalent part of SL, and that there were so many possibilities. That's what I love about this show. There is RL based work, SL based work, and a combination of the two. This Art Walk is coming on the heels of Burning Life, I think that's appropriate. Burning Life is about immersive experience, but I think this is about bringing art into the individual's life. Burning Life can be overwhelming. This is about recognizing how great art occurs in so many forms.
Thirza Ember: Over a glass of good white wine, I hope.
Gwendolyn Bieler: Exactly!!!

Alongside from the artists mentioned above, you'll find the works of Daire Aon, Sasha Bazilinski, Bayley Boucher, Amarynth Eammons, Bobbi Laval, Lingual Markus, nessuno Myoo, Lubnasti Papp, Juliete3d Quinzet, Sistagriro Wei, Therese Carfagno and Dorothy Urvilan. Be there tonight Saturday Nov 14 to see all this art and much more, including the sculptures, the songs and the shops, or drop by soon. The show will be up for two weeks, until Nov. 30. The concert will be held at Kasbah but don't neglect the rest of the sim which is best reached via this TP.

Davanti a me c'è un'altra vita...

...e nuove notti e nuovi giorni

Battisti, Pensieri e parole

Non si vive di solo The Far Away. Avventuriamoci un po' oltre il pick di spicco tra la gente trita, andiamo in Africa... un'Africa angloamericanizzata, magari, ma decisamente fotogenica: un salto al sim Lion King aiuta a trovare il sole dentro di te... o nel caso di questa foto, il sole dietro di me...

Puoi riposarti tra i resti di un dinosauro, sognare tra i rami dell'albero gigante sulla riva del mare oppure praticare un po di tai chi in cima alla colonna di pietra al centro del parco. Altro che un campo di grano.

Ma io sono qui per lavorare, non dimentichiamolo.

Ho ricevuto da Gwendolyn Bieler un invito e ci siamo incontrati sul molo del Coffee house a Hallelujah Azul, sim stile Contemporary American Waterside, per parlare di Art Walk, un percorso artistico che si inaugererà con una festa dalle 18.00 SLT stasera.

Il nome di questo ridente sulla riva del mar Metaverso l'ho trovato molto inusuale, e ho chiesto a Gwen cosa l'ha ispirato.

Gwendolyn Bieler: E' tratto dalla canzone Hallelujah di Leonard Cohen, l'hanno scelto i creatori, a me piace moltissimo, come tutti i palazzi e la terraforming; sono arrivata qui perché mi piacevano le persone che frequentano il sim e lo stile, molto simile al paesaggio e l'architettura, e lo stile di vita molto rilassato e privo di dramma, di northern California/Oregon/Washington, la zona di cui provengo io. All'inizio mi trovavo qui per socializzare, poi ho preso un negozio, imparato come fare mobili, e poi infine ho comprato il sim. Ma lo stile è sempre quello di Owly Indigo.

Espongono sedici artisti tra i quali alcuni nomi a te non nuovi, nessuno Myoo,Daire Aon, Sasha Bazilinski, Bayley Boucher, Amarynth Eammons, Bobbi Laval, Lingual Markus, Lubnasti Papp, Juliete3d Quinzet, Sistagriro Wei, Therese Carfagno and Dorothy Urvilan. Gwen mi ha portato nel sky dove stava preparando i quadri alcuni e mi ha mostrato quelli che reputa particolarmente significativi.

Gwendolyn Bieler: Mi piace moltissimo le collages di Nevar Whitfield, artista olandese, le barche a vela sono stupende! i colori, il senso di aria e di pace - invece nello schizzo di Skarat Lefebvre si vede un bar al centro di Tokyo, e qui il senso della confusione, del rumore e della gente che corre, penso sia quasi palpabile. Sono di formazione storica dell'arte, specializzata nella pittura americana, ma sono appassionata d'arte e collezionista, amo l'arte moderna e i pezzi del novecento che rappresentano il punto di partenza per il movimento modernista. Sono in SL da un anno e mezzo, all'inizio la vedevo come un modo di socializzare, non sognavo di trovare tanta arte, e mi entusiasma l'idea di mettere in confronto e unire opere fatte in SL con quelle create in RL. Mi piacciono in particolare le foto di Clementine Whitt, come queste qui. Stasera suoneranno per noi Rara Destiny, Raspberry Rearwin eSquidfisher McMillan - per me la musica è fondamentale - la definirei la mia seconda passione, fa vivere il sim e arricchisce anche l'aspetto visuale. Allestire questo evento è il primo grande progetto della mia seconda vita, ho un piccolo negozio di mobili, ma sul sim ci sono varie gallerie e ho voluto fare publicità per loro e i loro artisti, ma attirare al nostro piccolo villaggio persone che amano cose belle e fatte bene. Devo dire che, tra le nuove amicizie e il lavoro con i quadri e le sculture, l'esperienza è stata molto positiva e penso che ne faremo molte altre. Dopo Burning Life, sento che è ora di far vedere un'arte un po' più a misura dell'avatar - l'esperienza immersiva, come il gioco, è bella quana quando dura poco. Ci vuole anche un po' di calma e eleganza.

Thirza Ember: E magari un bel bicchiere di Cabernet di Napa al posto dell'angoscia dei big builds.

Una serata all'insegna del buon gusto, la buona musica; sei ancora sveglio alle 3 di mattina, ci vediamo sul lungomare oppure al Kasbah dove si ballerà tutta la notte. E se non ce la fai, la mostra rimane in situ fino alla fine del mese, quindi ci puoi passare con calma.

Abstra-cadabra

All great art is born

of the metropolis

Ezra Pound

Eye-tallian first again, me hearties, scroll down, it bounces back eventually...

Tre note di un accordo completamente diverse tra di loro ma allo stesso tempo in perfetta sintonia le tre istallazioni giganti visitabili al sim PiRats Art Network già da qualche giorno e in situ fino alla fine dell'anno. Secondo la note in inglese - un incubo di fitte frasi iperboliche - sono tre espressioni dell'astrattismo formale e, visto che si trovano qui nel metaverso, luogo di ipermedia dove il tempo e lo spazio non hanno nessun significato... uh, prova a dirlo a chi non ce l'ha fatto ad essere presente ad un meeting, che il tempo in SL non ha significato... ma tornando a noi, Pirats ci presenta opere dalla fantasia di tre artisti molto differenti tra loro. Il percorso inizia con gli spaghetti parlanti di Werner Kurosawa, due sciami di vermi che imettono suoni e interagiscono tra di loro e con l'avatar, se ci voli in mezzo. Bella anche questa piattaforma che consente allo spettatore la creazione e la disintegrazione degli sciami e di scegliere a quale velocità si muovono. A me piace spingere i bottoni. Accanto, degli oggetti su cui ci si siede per fare un giro che, in mouselook, ti sprigiona dall'avatar e ti fa venire i vertigini. Almeno in teoria. Un posto dove nasce spontanea la voglia di fare foto e girare qualche machinima, di addossare avatar fantascientifici come questo Robot di PAOLOBOLOGNA Vita - la versione vile della pura e buona Maria del film Metropolis.

Da non perdere il fiume immagini di Werner su flickr. Proprio belli i vermi di cromo, in qualsiasi luce, e puoi passare delle ore osservando e magari leggendo le varie notecard e i cartelli a disposizione, io ho preferito osservare i colori e il movimento senza leggere niente. Dai vermi ai tubi, si arriva alla seconda istallazione quella di Lance Shields, dal 2007 in SL come l'ambiguissima Juria Yoshikawa. Si autodefinisce artista multimediale e infatti dentro il percorso oltre alle luci i colori e textures incantevoli ci sono ben 200 suoni diversi. Un nome per l'istallazione non l'ho trovato, forse anche questo fa parte del concetto di una communicazione aldilà del solito 'dialogo antropocentrico'... sono due tunnel e altrettante sfere in cui perdersi, incontrarsi e scontrarsi con angeli e ricordi. Passeggiando e fotografando, ci sembrava sentire la tosse dell'artista, un rubinetto guasto, e i Beatles, e perché no, l'aforisma preferita dell'artista è ''l'Arte è qualsiasi cosa per cui si riesce a restar impunti'... un po' truffatore allora il nostro Lance. Quest'opera si consiglia di impostare il mezzanotte, ma per orientarsi conviene sbirciare un attimo con giorno perché è più grande sdi quanto sembra e rischi di perdere la parte più figo che è la stanza dei peli (la chiamo così io senz'altro ha un nome più sofisticato) nella quale i peli si attaccano all'avatar e si sentono i suoni più disparati.

L'ultima nota appartiene alla grande Josina Burgess in real cantante, pittrice, attrice, designer, ecc. ecc. L'opera si chiama The Turning of the Planets , e mi piace moltissimo. Volare qui dà la sensazione di volare tra galassie delicate e fantasiose. Fuoco e fiori, bolle e penne nascono insieme creando un piccolo universo arioso, nella quale ci si sente libero di attraversare uno spazio macro e microscopico allo stesso tempo.

Parlando di Josina e il suo gruppo CARP, un paio di giorni fa Imparafacile Runo del gruppo omonimo ha organizzato una serata RL-SL a Milano, dove è stato presentato l'ormai famoso spettacolo Metropolis. Leggi un po' qui:

Presentazione del Progetto Open Hospital, a cura di Informatici Senza Frontiere Proiezione dello spettacolo Metropolis Creaticitygate ospita per una sera Informatici Senza Frontiere. In questa occasione verrà presentato al pubblico presente in sala e in Second Life il progetto Open Hospital. Passando dal sociale all’entertainment, seguirà la visione di uno spettacolo molto particolare: una virtual-opera realizzata in Second Life, tratta dal famosissimo film di Fritz Lang Metropolis. Lo spettacolo, realizzato da un gruppo di artisti e performer, i Cybernetic Art Research Project (CARP) guidati dal regista Velazquez Bonetto, viene trasmesso in diretta live negli spazi di CreatiCityGate, sul suo blog, nel circuito congiunto della cineteca online Moovioole e del sindycation[sic LOL] di 2lifecast. Le due proposte possono sembrare molto distanti, ma per le tecnologie usate e per la formula di partecipazione sono accomunate dal medesimo obiettivo: presentare progetti, idee, aziende che parlano attraverso i linguaggi della tecnologia da Milano verso il mondo. E viceversa.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Whether it's me or SL in general, can't say, but there seems to be a Big Art phase happening, and here's some more examples of it. PiRats is hosting a trio of giant installations on their Art Network sim, three pieces brought together like so many notes from a single chord in the key, I suppose I have to say, of what is termed Hyperformalist Abstract Art. TP to the main entrance and you will find a big board that directs you to each ...tone, no, it's n good I can't keep it up. The exhibition is accompanied by one of those notecards that seems to have been written by a person who swallowed an entire grad school without the requisite chaser of Beano, but don't let that discourage you from beaming up to see the goings on in the sky. First up, Werner Kurosawa who is from Belgium oo and has made these chrome worms which are odd colours in these photos because I was messing about when I took them. On a platform at about halfway up the installation, there are buttons which can stop and start the two contrasting swarms, fast and slow, light and dark, animated by all that algorithmic voodoo. If you fly in the middle, they sort of sing to you, and it's pretty nice. There's also a series of black cushiony things that sweep you around, but they made me sick, so when i was done flying, I kicked back with the good old fashioned couch fidget animation. Photos movies and dressing up seem de rigeur here, in the picture at the top, you can see a twerp I'm acquainted with, sporting a kick-ass Robot Maria avatar inspired by the film Metropolis - more of that in a bit. The avie goes so well with the strings, I just had to show you... itàs the work of PAOLOBOLOGNA Vita (gee guy, inside voice!) and is really nicer than my pic shows. This is a mesmerizing place, even better in Werner's own pics in his photostream on, you guessed it, flickr. Moving onwards and upwards, literally, you come to the second installation this one by the Tokyo-based US artist Lance Shields, better known in SL as Juria Yoshikawa. You're supposed to look at all this in Midnight, but the sensory deprivation that setting affords may mean you miss half the exhibit, which is a lot bigger than at first seems. There are tunnels, spheres and a big box of what I can only describe as sticky noisy hair, look for it, you'll be glad you did. This pic is one of the tunnels, there are some two hundred separate sounds or 'angels' you can bump into or walk through, everything from singing to a choochoo train. I'm allergic to bad music and baby belly laughs, so I keep SL muted, mostly, but this is one occasion I am glad I didn't, as the sounds trip over one another with each step on the blurry, fuzzy, windy path. Out into the fresh air for the last place of ...note. Sorry. This is the work of dress-smith, jazz singer, and all round artiste Josina Burgess and unlike the other installations which don't appear to have a name, feeding into to that whole 'non-anthropocentric' thing, this is called The Turning of the Planets which is a splendid name for these deliciously fragile creations, like an airy nursery of nebulae you can fly among and between, or just sit and stare at on the semi-transparent platforms available on all sides. Flames and feathers and bubbles and beads all come to mind, it's just gorgeous, don't believe me go see with your own cam: the notecard claims here time has been rendered moot, I would have to say not so much, especially if you were supposed to have a moot with someone and you forgot and were 1/2 an hour late because you were staring at this stuff. Talking of Josina reminds me to tell you about a coup for SL in RL, well, sort of, we are talking about Milan, now, so not entirely real by most standards. Josina and her group CARP are famous, you will remember, for their portrayal of the film Metropolis mentioned all over the blogosphere and not least in these columns. In an event organized by the group Imparafacile, their version of Metropolis was performed for a RL IT conference audience in a fancy part of the City of Fashion today Tuesday. Join the group to find out how it all went. Go on I dare you.

Dark Star: living the dead

Bot: Name this Grateful Dead song title: Nonluminous
galactic matter
Starling Glitterbuck: dark star
Bot: Starling Glitterbuck answered correctly and
won $1! The next question will appear in 3 minute(s).

I came, because Vots invited me. And because it was Von Johin, almost mythical owner of the French Quarter and Gibson Island. At the August West Auditorium on sim DarkStar without any thought except that Von's return to SL was unmissable, even though there was bound to be a huge crowd, and it would be hard to cam once the lag set in. But somehow, there was no lag for me, and between one breathtaking song and another, I began to see where we were....
This is DarkStar, the sim celebrating the Grateful Dead. My RL avie used to live in the Bay Area, so HaightAshbury means something to me vaguely, and the first real non-military use of ARPANET, the sort of forerunner of today's internet, was to exchange GD files. But this was so much more. A Park to the art of the Grateful Dead - albums, music, lyrics, guitars... it wrranted a return visit...

Here is the house where the band lived in the mid to late 60's, in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco; go inside and you can TP up to the Grateful Dead museum. It's more of a library, than a museum, a psychedelic concentration of information on the band members, the evolution of albums, the tours and the tantrums, and Jerry Garcia's apparently endless supply of wit and wisdom. The building is a sky surmounted by Jerry's hand, held up in that famous pose, showing the missing middle finger, which he lost in an axe/small brother-related incident when he was four years old. I had to look that up, I am ashamed, but also kind of proud, to say. Second Life makes you learn, if you like to learn, about places, ideas, things RL might never put in your path. And here at Dark Star a beautiful stranger crossed mine, sim owner Starling Glitterbuck. I asked her where the timelines on the wall behind her had come from.

Starling Glitterbuck: This is actually three timelines I edited them together and added the buttons. The pictures show all the band members, and again, if you click on them you get a notecard with their biography.
I did. The information was clear, informative and, for a novice, completely overwhelming. She showed me around the museum, and I learned aabout band members like "Pigpen" McKernan and Mickey Hart.

Starling Glitterbuck: I'll let ya rez for a bit. So this is the history of the band, the facts and the dates. But there's more, much more! We also have a place that talks about deadheads, and the grateful dead experience from the audience point of view. Let me TP you. This is Franklin's Tower... i dunno how much you know about the dead, but in case you dunno, its named after a killer song, and these are all quotes and things from deadheads, letters and stuff, and if you tp on this ball here, you can go up to the bell. Bot: Name this Grateful Dead song title: I require a scientifically unexplainable phenomenon

Starling Glitterbuck: i need a miracle: hmmm… I need a miracle everyday

Bot: Starling Glitterbuck answered correctly and won $1! The next question will appear in 3 minute(s).
Thirza Ember: The trivia is a nice touch, I love the interactive element.
Starling Glitterbuck: yeah. I try to make it as interactive as possible, it’s key for me anyway.
Bot: Name this Grateful Dead song title: Possessors of two pairs of X chromosomes possess a greater degree of intelligence

I suddenly found myself at the top of the tower. I opened my draw distance, and waited.Starling Glitterbuck: Cool you came up here! the bell has a lyric on it from the song, Franklin's Tower

Thirza Ember: lol yeah sorry now i am waiting for the panorama to rez. This then is in a song...? I'm sorry I don't mean to be disrespectful, lol i will look it up after...

Starling Glitterbuck: Everything on Darkstar is from a song, or a replica of something linked to the dead. Like Franklins Tower is a song, Mars Hotel is an album and I built it from the actual album cover, so it looks just like the album itself. Same with Terrapin Station. In the amphitheater, that’s the wall of sound on the stage. It’s a full scale replica of the Grateful Dead's sound system from the early 70s.

Back at the bottom of the tower, Starling showed me a wall full of in-jokes.

Starling Glitterbuck: some of this is pretty funy to deadheads, like I said every deadhead has stickers so i made a sticker wall. When I first made the island... I had a concept, it was this: a long time ago, there were these people living here called "deadheads" and so a lot of the stuff is old and in ruins… but the deadheads have come home and rebuilt and now some of the stuff is new. That was the idea, but it never really came to be a central theme to the island.. its my own little secret really…

Thirza Ember: That is a great idea, like a lost civilization

Starling Glitterbuck: zackly

Thirza Ember: perfect. What's the rail track?

Starling Glitterbuck: Thats a train that goes around the island.... the grateful dead have a lot of train songs: tell me when yer done here and I'll show you the Acid Museum... it's pretty interesting...

And then we were in the parking lot of the Mars Hotel. Through the doors, I could see a long reception counter, and lots of items scattered around the place, an umbrella, a note pad, a newspaper, lots of luggage. There was a couple in the parking lot, talking about hair.

Belle Beorn: this is what my hair is like in rl.

Belle Beorn: i think ill stick with it for a bit

Jindrich Radek: nice

Belle Beorn: aww jed

Jindrich Radek: lol

Starling Glitterbuck: in here, Thirza. I should say, before we go up to the museum, this lobby is my favorite part of the island. Here is my game. The lobby has 50 clues...

Thirza Ember: 50 clues about the dead?

Jindrich Radek: who’s the dead?

Starling Glitterbuck: there are 50 grateful dead characters stayin in the hotel... if you look around.... you will see characters from the songs and what room number they are in.

Jindrich Radek: lol

Starling Glitterbuck: lol jin

I cammed around, trying to get things to rez by zooming in on them. The names and numbers suddenly popped into focus.

Thirza Ember: Felina! room 400! I found one!

Starling Glitterbuck: if you click on the phone, you'll get a message and a list of room numbers you have to get the message to the right room: its a game and my favorite thing I've made here - it took me 3 months of research

Jindrich Radek: whos jin?

Starling Glitterbuck: haha

Jindrich Radek: I’ve fallen and I cant get down

Thirza Ember: I wanna play the game!!! It's very clever, and beautifully made here. I will have to try it out next time I come

Starling Glitterbuck: ok! I warn you tho, it’s hard… ok tp on that top button there... oh, no, wait the bottom button...

Jindrich Radek: im afraid of lows

Starling Glitterbuck: This whole museum is about LSD. Even the floor is blotter!

Thirza Ember: Jin…? who are you in the scheme of things here?

Jindrich Radek: nothing but trouble

Starling Glitterbuck: haha! he's a deadhead who hangs out here, he lives on the residential sim

Jindrich Radek: right here in river city with a capitol T that rhymes with P

Jindrich Radek: which stand for pot

Starling Glitterbuck: well, LSD it’s part of the history. Deadheads trip... I would not be truthful if I didn’t show it.

Jindrich Radek: I dont believe in blotter. Now liquid..hmmmm

Starling Glitterbuck: it would be a huge omission

Belle Beorn: acids cool dooood
Starling Glitterbuck: I'll show you over here. This section is about the acid tests. I still have more to do on this particular exhibition. Back here are important people in acid this is about the scientific part of it if you click on a pic of a person... you will get an explanation about how they affected acid

Thirza Ember: good grief this place is so complete!

Belle Beorn: sweet i can hear the tour from up here!

Thirza Ember: hold still for a photo

Starling Glitterbuck: sure

Jindrich Radek shouts: Star we need an intervention!

Starling Glitterbuck: lol ... my peeps

Starling Glitterbuck: lmao Belle are you okay??? Don’t eat the brown acid!

Jindrich Radek shouts: dont eat the moldy shrooms

Belle Beorn shouts: I AM THE BROWN ACID

Starling Glitterbuck: lol

Jindrich Radek shouts: Starling is our goddess.....we are a secret cult..shhhh dont tell anyone..the rapture is coming on tuesday!

Starling Glitterbuck: haha haha

Jindrich Radek shouts: did i say that out loud?

Starling Glitterbuck: Acid was discovered by Albert Hoffman, if you click on this book here you will get an exerpt from his book which describes the very first acid trip.
Belle Beorn: shouts: whatever u do dont get on the bus!!hahahaha!
Jindrich Radek: but the bus leads to eternal life...and to the twinkee store! ....I’m getting banned aren’t I

Thirza Ember: Jun you do know all this is going in my blog, right? Your name and photo. you be banned on many sims lole

Belle Beorn: LMFAO

Jindrich Radek: uh oh

Starling Glitterbuck: haha

Jindrich Radek: but I‘m in withess protection

Thirza Ember: witless??

Belle Beorn: oooooo.... she’s powerful, man

Back in the museum, there was so much to look at it will blow you away. Starling has managed to combine the science, the politics and the art of LSD all in one place with hundreds of photos of the major figures in the discovery and use of the drug. After we'd had a good look around, she finally said:

Starling Glitterbuck: Wanna see the train?

We tp’d over to Terrapin Station. You click on the little white square on the back of the train, so you sit down, and then click again on the engine to make it run. I was laggy, so at first I didn’t think it worked, but a minute’s patience soon had me running the rails – use Mouselook of course to get the best effect. The train is called the Casey Jones... it takes you all around the island, even under water, and back to the Station.

Starling Glitterbuck: you can see on that wall , the original album cover that I built the train station from its an exact replica of the album cover.

Thirza Ember: I absolutely love it. Thank you so much for showing me around, Star, I only have one more question: do the band members know about this?

Thirza Ember: the rl people know about sl, and what you have created here?

Starling Glitterbuck: no, they dunno about it yet, but my dream is some day to show it to them…

Funny thing about this place, this job, this Life. I knew next to nothing about the Grateful Dead before I started this post, but now, Starling’s dream is kind of my dream, too…