“This is actually one I did over a year ago now; I’ve made changes, and decided to reopen it,” Krys Vita informed me when I dropped in to see La Vie, a long-standing region she recently opened to public access, albeit on a temporary basis. “Tre [TreMeldazis] and I did this one together,” she continued, “It’s just too pretty not to share for a while :)”.
“Pretty” is actually too small a term for this beautifully landscaped and presented homestead region. I’d actually be inclined towards “idyllic”. The sandy landscape rises gently from waters which appear to have done much to sculpt its shape, dunes gently inclined across the centre of the landscape from the flat western beach to slightly higher, rocky eastern side, two bays cutting deeply into the land on the north and south sides, wasping the land’s midriff whilst presenting tongues of sandy headlands waiting to be wandered along and enjoyed.
This is a place for lovers and couples; swings and hammocks and love seats hang from bent trees, while coves and dunes shelter snuggle spots which range from upturns rowing boats through tents to little treehouses given a new lease of life as they sit out over the crystal blue waters.
There is an exquisite sense of peace and tranquillity about La Vie which is captivating; everything has been placed and the landscape sculpted to present an incredibly natural setting, one which might be found along any temperature coastline on a fine summer’s day. Breakwaters and fences give the region a sense of order; tall logs arranged as piles prevent dunes collapsing into a bay – and stop the waters of the bay from encouraging them to do so. Up on the east side of the land a small summer-house sits, luggage by the door suggesting that for someone it might be time to leave the sanctuary of beach, tree and sand; the lyrics of Birdy’s Wings onthe typewriter adding a sense of regret that they have to do so.
Quite how long La Vie will remain open to the public is unclear, “I’m not sure yet,” Krys told me when I asked her. “I’m debating some changes ;).” However, if you love beauty spots in Second Life, this is one I really do recommend you hop along to sooner rather than later, just in case.
Update: Shortly after I published this article, Casper dropped me a line to say the distributable version of the Support the Victims kiosk is now available on the SL Marketplace, price: L$0.
Strawberry Singh has a powerful post on the Orlando shootings, including how those in Orlando, in Florida and around the world can offer physical and practical support for the victims and their families.
For those of us in Second Life in particular, Strawberry (and Linden Lab, via Xiola Linden) point to a donation kiosk Casper Warden has established at his in-world store specifically to raise money for the official Pulse Victims Fund page for Equality Florida, the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation, which is collecting contributions via GoFundMe to support the victims of this horrific shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub.
Strawberry, a resident of Orlando, notes:
Hate and extremism can be dangerous and dividing, I wish people would see that. I wish one day I would open my eyes and the world would be completely tolerant and non-judgmental. I wish we all could just live and let live.
I can only join Strawberry in that wish; it is sad that human nature is what it is, and that ideas such as tolerance, understanding, and plain common sense and compassion appear to be utterly alien concepts in what seems to be an increasingly divided world.
In the meantime, please show your support, be it through Casper’s kiosks (he informs me he hopes to have a distributable version which people can rez in their own stores and locations in due course) or directly on the Equality Florida GoFundMe page.
Sunday, June 12th saw the cobwebs dusted away as Cica brought a new installation – Keys – to Second Life, which replaced Arachnid (see my review of the latter for more). It’s another delight from Cica, and also one of her little enigmas which always draw one into riddling what might be represented.
Across an undulating landscape, its services looking not unlike the rough ground of a construction site, Ranged across this is a gigantic network of pipes, steel frames, drums, huge iron grids and container-like cages which either sit on slender poles or are suspended from the steel frames. And then there are the keys – dozens of them, huge and differently styled, hanging from steel frames on great chains.
“Keys and locks,” Cica confided in me as she, Caitlyn and I discussed the installation. “Answers and questions. “A key is like answer or solution we all look for sometimes.”
And like questions and answers, often finding the right answer might mean seeking it out from many possibilities – hence the single lock and multiple keys. A further reflection of this idea can be found in the keys themselves, many of which are emblazoned with an initial; thus they encourage visitors to seek out “their” answer – the key bearing their initial.
Sometimes, as Cica also noted to Caitlyn and I, the answer doesn’t seem obvious; we simply cannot see it among the many possibilities. “It’s like we’re trapped in a room,” Cica said, “Just a feeling of being locked in.”
This idea is reflected through the presence of the giant containers. Within each one stands or sits a lone figure, lost in contemplation. They are anonymous in look and dress; they could be the same person, or they could be anyone.
Here also lies the suggestion that sometimes the answers to our questions are a lot closer than we might think, as symbolised by the keys already being in the doors of the containers; all that is required is a gentle push against the door, and all will be revealed. Elsewhere, a figure trapped under the gridwork covering some of the ground stares helplessly skyward to the keys overhead, reminding us of that sensation of having the answer we seek so tantalisingly close, at the very edge of out thoughts, but remaining just beyond our mental grasp.
Keys is another marvellous, layered installation from Cica set within a Windlight environment ideal for the photographer and videographer. When exploring, keep an eye out for places to sit and the various moving parts which bring this landscape to life, and please do consider a donation towards this and Cica’s future work.
This summary is published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Official LL Viewers
Current Release version: 4.0.5.315117 (dated May 11), May 18th – no change: formerly the Quick Graphics RC viewer download page, release notes
Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 4.0.6.316312 on June 10 – fixes and updates and a much better set of release notes (download and release notes)
Project viewers:
Project Bento viewer updated to version 5.0.0.316366 on June 10th – bug fixes (download and release notes)
Project Visual Outfits Browser viewer, version 4.0.6.316123, released on June 6th – a means to visually preview your outfits through the Appearance panel (download and release notes)
Cool VL viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.18.9 and the Experimental branch updated to version 1.26.19.11, both on June 11th (release notes).
It’s time to kick-off a week of story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.
Sunday, June 12th
13:30: Tea Time with The Jungle Book
Bryn Taleweaver presents selections from Rudyard Kipling’s great adventure.
Monday June 13th, 19:00: The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1)
Faerie Maven-Pralou reads Michael Scott’s mystical novel.
According to the records, Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on 28 September 1330 and died in 1418. Only his tomb has forever lain empty, because Nicholas Flamel is the greatest Alchemyst of all time. Entrusted with the care of the Codex – also known as the Book of Abraham the Mage – Flamel found within it the secret of eternal life.
But there is much else in the Codex which, if used by the wrong minds, could very well bring about the end of the world. So, for 700 years, Nicholas Flamel has guarded the Book, keeping it from all those who might otherwise seek to abuse its secrets.
Until John Dee steals it. And John Dee has the desire to unlock the Codex and bring about the very cataclysm Flamel has always feared. Without the book, he and his wife, Perenelle, will age and die, whilst with the book, Dee can thwart all attempts to recover it.
Enter 15-year-old twins, Josh and Sophie Newman. Prophecy has foretold of a time when the world would be threatened – and of the two youngsters gifted with extraordinary powers who will save it. Flamel recognises the Newman twins as those youngsters, and sets out to awaken their magical talents. So it is that Josh and Sophie find themselves cast into the middle of the greatest tale – the greatest confrontation – of all time.
Tuesday June 14th, 19:00: Southern Ladies and Gentlemen
The writings of Florence King continue at Seanchai Library as Trolley Trollop presents Southern Ladies and Gentlemen (1993),
Looking for guidance in understanding the ways and means of Southern culture? Look no further. Florence King’s celebrated field guide to the land below the Mason-Dixon Line is now blissfully back in print, just in time for the Clinton era.
The Failed Souther Lady’s classic primer on Dixie manners captures such storied types as the Southern Woman (frigid, passionate, sweet, bitchy, and scatterbrained–all at the same time), the Self-Rejuvenating Virgin, and the Good Ole Boy in all his coats and stripes. (The Clinton questions–is he a G.O.B. or isn’t he?–Miss king covers in her hilarious new Afterword.)
No one has ever made more sharp, scathing, affectionate, real sense out of the land of the endless Civil War than Florence King in these razor-edged pages.
Wednesday June 15th 19:00: Raymie Nightingale
Caledonia Skytower reads Kate DiCamillo ‘s 2016 children’s story.
What do you do when your father takes off with a dental hygienist? Be upset? Miss him? Rail against him? Or hatch a plan to get him to come home?
Raymie Clarke decides on the latter course of action. Dad needs to come home, and it’s down to her to see that he does – and that means winning the Little Miss Central Florida Tyre contest. Doing so will get her name and picture in the papers, which are sure to be read by her father, prompting his return.
Except… In order to win the contest, Raymie must do good deeds and learn the graceful art of baton twirling. Worse, she has to go up against the nauseating, show-business steeped Louisiana Elefante, who has fainting for effect down to an art form. Then there is Beverly Tapinski, who has entered the contest not to win it, but to wreck it for everyone else. So Raymie faces a mountain of challenges she must overcome.
Then fate plays a hand, circumstance and events bringing the three girls together in an unlikely friendship in which each has a role to place in supporting and aiding the others.
Thursday, June 16th
19:00:The Scrying Glass with Shandon Loring
Scrying (also referred to as “seeing” or “peeping”) is the practice of using objects such as crystal balls, smooth crystals, reflective of translucent glass and even water or smoke, to divine the past, the immediate future or the far future. Also on Kitely – check the Seanchai blog for details during the week.
21:00 Seanchai Late Night
With Gyro Muggins.
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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.
The featured charity for May / June is Habitat for Humanity, with a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live – a safe and clean place to call home.
We’re reaching the end of another quarter, and guess what? I’ve been back making changes to the home island 🙂 . I know, I know; “You’re still fiddling around with it? It’s a wonder Caitlyn hasn’t launched you off of the nearest cliff!”
While I’ve been largely happy with the most recent work on the island hope, the three different levels of the island have been something of a bugaboo with me. So I started fiddling with an idea to see what things would be like if I removed one of them. The intent wasn’t actually to make huge changes, but things sort-of rolled one into the next.
The garden and ruins are all pretty much on one level, with new paths and flowers, thanks to Alex Bader
So, without going into huge amounts of detail, the island is now really pretty much on two levels (other than the beach.). With the house still at the highest point, and then all of the gardens and ruins occupying the same level. This also involved tweaks around the moorings for the ‘planes, G-CAIT and G-NARA, and the stairs linking them to the house gardens.
The change also encouraged me to finally swap back to the original cliffs and rocks, as provided by Axel Bergan and sold under Novocaine Islay’s InVerse brand. By “swap back”, I mean using them with their original texturing, just tinted a little, as the off-white colouring, Caitlyn and I both agree, works better with the new layout of the cliffs compared to completely re-texturing them.
The house and the path to the new tower, via Rya Nitely,which “guards” the steps leading down to the ‘plane slips
Elsewhere, the change has allowed us to extend the ruins a little, notably with an additional tower, again from Rya Nitely’s selection of Medieval ruins, which sits at the head of the stairs to the ‘plane moorings, and which like the rest of the ruins, as easy to re-texture using Alex Bader’s Lush and Enchanted Walls texture set, which has previously proven to be such a boon in giving all the various parts of the ruins a look of uniform age.
Alex, who provided generous and invaluable help with the re-development of Holly Kai Park, became the inspiration for almost all of the rest of the changes. His Stone Steps and Enchanted Woods Spring Flowers bolt-on pack have both been used across the island, while the stones from his Rocky Trails Building Set, separated from the base pieces and flattened a little, provided the perfect means of building new footpaths. Also, his Tropical Beach Set meant I could finally get the island’s beach looking a lot more natural than I’ve so far managed; one complete with Dick Oompa’s wooden pier for friends to moor their boats against when visiting.
The beach and steps at the southern end of the island
So, is this really really it for the home island? Well, believe it or not, I actually think so, yes.
La Vie – click any image for full size
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 