Planet Mongo

I’ve actually poked my head out from the store recently to have some true recreation time, instead of churning out art prints. I even braved the crowds at Frank’s Place (article), and had a very pleasant time, as well as delivering a gift to Nanceee Sinatra.

I wish I could remember the name of the avatar I was dancing with, but I lost my chat log transcript (sigh). If you’re reading this, nice man, let the girl know who you were! But most of my time lately has been spent at a build taking shape in a very interesting region called Planet Mongo.

Yes, friends, those of you who are into the True Lore of science fiction (or are older than the dirt) know that this was the land of Ming the Merciless, self-styled Master of the Universe and arch foe of Flash Gordon! Well, after a series of wars to throw off his yoke, I am told, the patriots succeeded — but at the price of a shattered, devastated planet, a fragment of which broke dimensional barriers and landed on the Grid.

(Thumbs link to large photos, 1024×682)

But some survived, as ever; and they vowed to rebuild the world, under more enlightened rule. They eventually succeeded, and the results hover some 500 meters above the blasted surface.

You simply must dress for the job, of course. The well-dressed space explorer guards against both vacuum and radiation these days — which means gold.

Suit: Seinen Full Warrior’s Bodysuit (gold)
Hair: Junwave Pineapple Golden
Skin: Comet Corp female gold skin
Shoes: enkythings Pinson gold boots

AM Radio Video

Most Second Life Residents probably know by now about the sensational art builds of AM Radio, the creator of The Far Away and several more temporary exhibitions. If you want to get a look at stills from around his worlds, just check out the Flickr photostream of Hitomi Mokusei.

Or you can watch the below:

more about “The Quiet and The Far Away and Husk o…“, posted with vodpod

Thanks to Amy Wilson.

DIY Photosphere

Ever needed a photo studio for some vanity stroking, uh, photographs? All the studios you know of are busy? Simple; construct your own photosphere! Sarah Nerd shows you how…. You will need Photoshop, GIMP or Paint Shop Pro to create the alpha-channel and other textures, or at least know someome who can make such for you.

This is a great thing for yourself, of course. To be shamelessly commercial about it, you could also link the whole structure into a single build, rezz up/take it back at will, and rent it out on demand to clients, thus making a possible income stream for yourself. You wouldn’t need any land of your own; just an open public sandbox. Or, if you have building rights and enough prims somewhere (this will take a minimum of 6 prims), set it up as a skybox. For this, I’d suggest making the cube more of a platform, with the sphere planted toward the back. That will give you a point outside the sphere to set up a telepad target.

Thanks to Teal Etzel.

Supplemental: I just discovered New World Notes links to Sarah as well.  She might be getting quite a bit of publicity here!

Second Life’s Oldest Virtual Object?

For all the blogs I link to, I don’t read them as often as I should. So I was catching up on Wagner Au’s New World Notes, and I ran across this article from June 24, especially significant in light of SL5B:

One day Green Beebe noticed a brightly colored beach ball floating above Smoky, and flew up to see. “Now it might not seem very interesting, a beach ball,” Green acknowledges. “Except this beach ball was made by Philip Linden in April 2002 before SL was even launched.”…

Now that’s not bad, something surviving that long (at least in some form; Ham speculates that it may simply be a copy of a long-gone item). The odds are that there are other things out there, lost somewhere in the vastness of What Philip (and many others) Hath Wrought. But how would you be able to tell unless you started right-clicking on everything you see and checking properties?

Someone needs to build a museum to house this forlorn little beach ball. It should be placed on the Metanational Register of Historic Landmarks. It should be preserved somehow!

(By the way, Ham, who was the owner listed on the thing?)

Temporary Build by AM Radio — The Refuge and The Prospect

While rummaging through Hitomi Mokusei’s photos on Flickr — she is one of my contacts, since I’ve enjoyed her photographic work so much — I came across a set which she put up just a few days ago.

The set details some of the latest build created by Hitomi’s friend, AM Radio, the avatar also responsible for the tremendously popular Far Away build, a sort of rural Andrew Wyeth landscape. There is truly something about AM’s work that needs to be seen in person and experienced — and then imaged in detail. I haven’t been there yet myself, but I’m going no later than tomorrow, I think. You should, too, for this build is temporary, and it’s going down after March 6! I’m sorry I discovered it so late, especially to spread the word, but better late than never. Enjoy!

Artists Aren’t Thick on the Ground

I give greetings to Salome, a brand-new blogger, who writes about an aspect of Second Life that some of us are apparently not considering when we talk.  In quick summary, she notes that many people complain in various outlets for venting, moaning about “Where’s all the creativity that this world allows us?  Why aren’t we surrounded by Da Vincis??”  She takes them to task for this position, making several good points.  Be sure to read it in full!

As you can probably tell, I agree with Salome here.  The proof of her contention — to me — lies within me and my own abilities.  For years, I’ve wished that I could draw and paint, or sculpt, or do similar activities in the non-plastic arts; but my skills have been (ahem) limited.  I tried my hand at photography for a time in the Eighties, but the cost of film and development stood in my way at the time.  I discovered my skill with the pen (so to speak) back in college, though, and for years it’s satisfied me.

My meaning — and potentially our new blogger’s, so to speak?  Everyone probably has some talent within them, at whatever they do.  But not everyone is a visual artist!  If they were, painting and sculpture and architecture would be boring, for they would be commonplace.  We all have the potential to do wonderful things in Second Life as well, using their building tools and some outside help from cameras and graphics programs.  But not all of us have the skill, or perhaps the drive in some cases.  So we amuse ourselves with “side issues,” as Salome says….

I, for one, think this is a good thing.  It allows the true artists among us the ability to shine like diamonds.  Yes, I hate walking down the roads of most Mainland regions; I’m surrounded by spinning For Sale signs up in the air and Salons of Salaciousness in some places.  How nice to find places like a little church just across the border from my old loft in Dunyvaig, a small jewel box of stained glass with an attached garden; or an undersea club I haven’t written about yet, just a few regions away.  The people who built and textured those were good, and they deserve our praise.

Thanks, Salome!  And, hey; remember to fill out your “About” page, so we can learn more about your SL!!

My Latest Build

…Well, it’s actually only my second “big” build, but it feels like a learning milestone for me.

One of the things I want to accomplish in Second Life is to learn how to build, and build well. I imagine myself as making a splash in the area of selling Mission/Arts & Crafts furniture, and even homes — sort of like the Sears, Roebuck of Second Life [1]. To do this, though, you gotta put in the sandbox time — or at least time in a place where you can build. I could have worked on this project in my loft, but I think “sandbox” when I do build work. And so I pulled on my leather work gloves, and off to my favorite sandbox, in the Mauve region [2].

The project I had in mind was a candle stand for Advent. Being Episcopalian, I wanted something appropriate to the season, but could not spot a stand at any of the decoration stores I tried. So it was up to my own hands, and my (hopefully) excellent eye for design. If the project worked, I might even be able to market it and pick up some pocket money (grin).