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Updates from the week ending Sunday, May 30th
This summary is generally 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.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Release viewer: Eau de Vie Maintenance viewer, version 6.4.18.558266, dated April 23, promoted April 29 – no change.
Release channel cohorts:
Love Me Render (LMR) 5 viewer updated to version 6.4.19.560171 on May 27th.
Earlier this year, and initially at the suggestion of CK (Ceakay Ballyhoo), I visited Planet Idun, a role-play / photography region developed by Fazzy Constantine (Faisel Constantine) and the Blushock role-play team, which includes CK as a member. I found it an engaging visit, as I noted in An Away Team Mission to Planet Idun in Second Life).
That visit gave me the chance to familiarise myself with the Blushock team, their backstories and role-play and the future mythology they’ve built up around their activities. It’s an acquaintanceship I was able to extend in April, when I paid a further visit to the group’s region to tour their latest build, Resilient Station, which in their developing story has become the team’s new base of operations (see: Docking at Resilient Station in Second Life).
Hoot Suite Gallery: Blushock Space Adventures
I mention all of this, because CK is also an artist, and in her latest exhibition has opened at Hoot Suite Gallery in Bellisseria (curated by the super Owl Dragonash), and it focuses on the Blushock team and their adventures within the Vanaheim star system.
As an artist, CK is perhaps best known for her regions-as-paintings installations, rich in story and always a delight to tour (see The Forest Beyond in Second Life and Niamh’s Journey of Dreams in Second Life). Here she presents a series of vivid paintings that chart the Blushock Team’s adventures across the Vanaheim system, including their time on Idun, at Jasper Point on the planet, and the worlds around the system’s blue giant star – including the discovery of Baldur, the asteroid that is now home to Resilient Station.
Hoot Suite Gallery: Blushock Space Adventures
Rich in colour and vividly portraying the locations the crew have visited – and members of the crew themselves – Blushock Space Adventures presents an engaging set of images and forms a further means of learning about the Blushock Coalition and their activities, information on which can also be found at the Blushock website.
Information on the exhibition and the team will also likely be available at the exhibition party, which will take place 12:00 noon at Hoot Suite Art Gallery, and will feature the music of Joe Paravane.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Sunday, May 30th: 13:30 Tea-Time with L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (May 15th, 1856 – May 6th, 1919) was an American author best known for his children’s books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels (14 novels in all). His prolific output included 55 novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems and at least 42 scripts.
In 1901, twelve of his stories were published in anthology form by the George M. Hill Company under the title American Fairy Tales, the move designed by Baum and his publisher to capitalise on the success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The 12 stories comprise The Box of Robbers, The Glass Dog, The Queen of Quok, The Girl Who Owned a Bear, The Enchanted Types, The Laughing Hippopotamus, The Magic Bon Bons, The Capture of Father Time, The Wonderful Pump, The Dummy That Lived, The King of the Polar Bears. and The Mandarin and the Butterfly.
All 12 are noted for the ironic or nonsensical morals attached to their ends and their satirical, glib, and tongue-in-cheek tones that gives them an appeal to adult readers. They are also the subject of Tea-Time with L. Frank Baum, with Kayden OConnell, Corwyn Allen, Glori, and Caledeonia.
Monday, May 31st
14:00: 100 Word Podcast 16th Anniversary
R. (R. Dismantled) is one of the great talents and generous hearts in Second Life. Estate owner, patron of the arts in all their forms (so much so, that I’ve had the honour of his writing gracing these pages as a guest writer), raconteur and commentator.
R is especially one of the most skilled exponents of the precise art of the drabble – a story (or a poem) that comprises exactly 100 words – no more, no less. Which may sound easy – until you’ve tried it.
After becoming immersed in the genre through witnessing the work of others, R launched the The 100 Word Stories Podcaston May 31st, 2005, promising to write a100 word story every day until the day I die. It is more than likely the longest running daily podcast of original material in the world, featuring both R.’s original stories and those recorded and submitted by listeners as a part of his weekly challenges. In addition, the podcast website is also the home for The Thank Yous,- “an open and flexible way for fans to show their appreciation for their favourite performers, artists, creators, and active residents in Second Life”, that hands down beats any awards scheme you might have come across elsewhere.
In an unspecified time in the future, a team of astronauts is sent to Saturn on what could be a one-way mission. Financed by a multi-national consortium, their mission is to establish a factory in to upper reaches of the planet’s atmosphere where it can “mine” Saturn’s abundant helium to produce “meta” (nitro-stabilised metastable helium), a powerful propellant.
If they are successful, each of the astronauts stands to earn a billion dollars on their return to Earth. The catch? They only have sufficient fuel to reach Saturn – they must use the factory to produce the fuel needed to make their return to Earth.
However, things go awry when the mission enters the Saturnian atmosphere – and crash-lands on the back of an enormous creature that “swims” through the atmosphere. Another of the creatures – which appear to be semi-intelligent and which the astronaut dub “Rukh” – swallows some of the mission’s equipment, leaving the team with no choice but to attempt to establish communications with the creatures and attempt to recover their equipment.
Join Gyro Muggins as he reads the last full-length novel by physicist and author Robert L. Forward.
It is the summer of 2013 and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake.
While her cousin, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant, is off in the sticks chasing unicorns Abigail is chasing her own mystery: teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing but before the police can get fully engaged the teens return home – unharmed but vague about where they’ve been.
Aided only by her new friend Simon, her knowledge that magic is real and a posse of talking foxes that think they’re spies, Abigail must venture into the wilds of Hampstead to discover who is luring the teenagers and more importantly – why?
Join Corwyn Allen as he reads Ben Aaronovitch’s latest novel.
Wednesday, June 2nd, 19:00: Carl Hiaasen’s Skink
A native Floridian, Carl Hiaasen is an American journalist who focuses on political issues (notably corruption, environmental issues and other wrong-doings) within his home state. Starting his career in the 1970s , he became renowned for being exceptionally outspoken – even against his own employers.
Carl Hiaasen. Credit: Joe Rimkus Jr.
During the 1980s, he started writing fiction in his spare time, achieving initial success with three co-authored novels published between 1981 and 1984, as well as writing several non-fiction titles.
In 1987, his second novel, Double Whammy introduced the “trailer park star tenant” and private eye, C.J. Decker, which Hiaasen fondly refers to as “the first (and possibly only) novel ever written about sex, murder and corruption on the professional bass-fishing tour.” Among the cast of characters mixed into Double Whammy is one Clinton Tyree, the one-time governor of Florida, who abandoned his office and now lives as a outdoorsman (and partaker of roadkill cuisine) in the Everglades and the Florida Keys, using the pseudonym Skink.
Skink went on to become a recurring character in a further seven of Hiaasen’s novels to date, with all the books in which he features being gathered together under the general title of SKINK, with several of them being been among the 20+ works of fiction and non-fiction by Hiaasen to appear on the New York Times best-seller list.
Join Kayden Oconnell as he continues a journey with Hiaasen’s characters.
Thursday, June 3rd:
19:00: Little Fuzzy
Ktadhn Vesuvino reads the book by H. Beam Piper that spawned a series by him and other science fiction authors about a small, furry species dubbed Fuzzies.
Little Fuzzy charts the discovery of small furry species on the planet Zarathustra and the attempts by humans to determine whether or not they are sentient. If they are, then their planet will be declared a protect aboriginal world. However, The Company has desires to control the planet and its resources.
21:00: Seanchai Late Night
Contemporary Sci-Fi-Fantasy with Finn Zeddmore.
Friday, June 4th 14:30: Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals
Football in Ankh-Morpork is not as we might know it. Rather than being comprised of rules and played within a recognisable ground, it is far more akin to the somewhat violent mob football of medieval Europe.
Not that this is a concern for the elderly, mostly indolent and (some might be tempted to think) somewhat inept old wizards making up the faculty staff at the city’s school of wizardry, the Unseen University. Until, that is, their very handsome annual endowment becomes subject to their playing the game themselves.
Thus, Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully sets out a two-pronged strategy: to ensure the city’s version of football is restructured with proper (and favourable?) rules, and to put team preparations at the university in the hands of the talented candle dribbler, Mr. Nutt and his assistant, Trevor Likely, the son of the city’s most famous (if deceased – did I mention the game can be violent?) player, who are in turn supported by Glenda Sugarbean, who runs the university’s night kitchen and her assistant Juliet Stollop.
Except Mr. Nutt soon discovers he has problems of his own to deal with, and Trevor has promised his Mum he’ll never get involved in the game. Meanwhile, Glenda has the daily responsibility of baking the Discworld’s best pies, and Juliet is about to find herself whisked towards the heights of fame as a fashion model, thus potentially leaving the team a little short on practical advice…
Join Caledonia Skytower as she presents the 37th novel in the Discworld series, and possibly one of its greatest satirical undetakings encompassing football, academia, traditions, the fashion industry, politics, love, fandom, and which mixes in more serious themes of identity, crab mentality and self-worth.
Missing Melody, May 2021 – click any image for full size
The last time I wrote about Missing Melody, the home of the Oh Deer brand by Bambi (NorahBrent) – who also designed the region – it was to report she was taking something of a leave of absence from Second Life (see: The natural beauty of Oh Deer in Second Life).
However, and as pointed out to me by Shawn Shakespeare a while ago, Bambi is now back and once again offering her region as both a home to her store and a place for people to visit and appreciate – although it has admittedly taken me a while to get back there.
Missing Melody, May 2021
Bambo has a talent for creating relaxing pastoral settings that sit well with the heart, eye and camera. In general setting, the region could be a little isle hidden among the large Wadden Islands off the north coast of Holland, if only because the field of brightly growing tulips naturally (if perhaps a little stereotypically, given the song) brings to mind thoughts of the Netherlands.
Missing Melody, May 2021
With a north-to-south orientation that runs along the region’s west side, leaving the east to open waters, the main island is split between southern beach, fields for the aforementioned tulips and for cattle. and open grasslands.
A barn sitting between the beach and the fields is the home to the Oh Deer store, a track running northwards between fields and grass, splitting into two before reaching the water channel that separates the island from a smaller, more rugged companion.
Missing Melody, May 2021
Reached via a low-slung bridge, the second island hides its secrets behind green slopes down which water flows to drop into the channel, and beneath a canopy of trees. These secrets start with the Oh Deer café – open 24/7 – while steps cut into the hillside beyond lead the way up and over the island to where an unexpected surprise awaits: a little village setting that might have been lifted from a corner of Santorini and gently place down on the island’s north side.
Missing Melody, May 2021
The path around to this little village also offers a way up to the crown of the island, where koi swim and paper boats sail in a little rocky pond that sits beside another secluded spot where visitors might pass the time.
As with all of Norah’s designs, this iteration of Missing Melody is rich in the kind of detail that encourages the eye to tarry. From the places to sit to the sheep and cattle grazing, and onwards to the façades of the little village and the sprinklers keeping to grow the crops, this iteration of the region has something to see in every direction – and even overhead; whilst the general layout and design makes it a gentle treat to explore.
Missing Melody, May 2021
So, why not hop along and take a look for yourself?
Chiaroscuro is an Italian term that literally translates as “clear-dark”, although within the world of art, it is more usually referred to as “light-dark”, and references the use of strong contrasts between darker and lighter colours or shades in images, be they paintings, drawings, sketches, photographs – even video and film in the modern era – and which is intended to give a sense of volume and three-dimensional depth to an image through the use of lighter contrasts within the subject of the composition, and the broader contrast between the subject and the background.
It’s a technique that is all around us in art (just look at almost any portraiture or painting by the European painters of the Renaissance, for example or modern photographic portraiture or even graphic novels), and its use extends into visual mediums such as the stage, and more latterly, advertising, television, and film (for example, Francis Ford Coppola uses the technique extensively within The Godfather trilogy – just take a look at this still of Al Pacino from the first film in the series). However, it also doesn’t have to purely the contrast between “dark” and “light”; Andy Warhol, for example, utilised the technique extensively through his use of really bold colours contrasted against lighter tones rich in brightness.
La Maison d’Aneli – Vita Theas: Chiaroscuro
In music, Chiaroscuro again emphasises contrast, combining a brilliant sound referred to as squillo with a dark timbre called scuro to produce a sound that has considerable depth and warmth. It is perhaps most notable in its use within opera, although again, many compositions, from classical through to the modern era also use it.
I mention all of the above, because it is the richness and depth of contrast suggested by Chiaroscuro that Vita Theas embraces in her exhibition of the the same name that opened at Aneli Abeyante’s La Maison d’Aneli arts centre on Wednesday, May 26th.
Set within a space created by Vita that enhances the idea of contrasts (dark brick wall and heavy wood roof timbers over which sits the inverted bowl of a glorious sunset itself beset with darkening clouds lit by the lowering Sun, the marvellous murals she also presents on the walls – look at the sense of movement contrasted with the relative calm of the ships beyond in the “waterfront” piece, for example), this is a collection that embraces the idea of Chiaroscuro in art, image, and life.
La Maison d’Aneli – Vita Theas: Chiaroscuro
From monochrome images – perhaps the “simplest”(if such a word might be employed) expression of the use of contrast through to avatar studies that reflect the use of chiaroscuro both in modern photographic portraiture (Lost, If Only…,Hope), to pieces evocative of classical portraits of the likes of the Dutch Masters (And Then He Was Gone), this is a collection that also celebrates the broader use of the technique in landscape photography (where again, we might not actually be aware the technique is present) pop art (the quite brilliant Warhol-esque Seduce), and more.
These are images that also illustrate the essential vitality of life that is evident through contrast. As Vita herself notes, the interactions of light and shadows, brightness and darkness, warm and cool colours and shading, all work together to give these pieces a visual and emotional depth, a reminder that chiaroscuro isn’t just a technique, it is a part of the fabric of life. Just take a look (again) at And Then He Was Gone and both Regret and the exhibition poster; all three present a powerful sense of emotion through the contrast of pose and background, or that between the overlaid focal image and backgrounds.
La Maison d’Aneli – Vita Theas: Chiaroscuro
A truly powerful and evocative collection, Chiaroscuro offers an engaging selection of art that can be appreciated for its visual appeal and composition and for its ability to get the grey matter working.
SLurl Details
Chiaroscuro, La Maison d’Aneli (Virtual Holland, rated Moderate)
Talia (Natalia Corvale) has an eye for creating region designs that are wonderfully attractive, rich in natural detail, and evocative of places that one might find tucked away whilst on global travels. Her designs are places I always enjoyed visiting and writing about (as evidenced by the articles in this blog), as they are always so beautifully bucolic in presentation, places guaranteed to put the eye and heart at rest.
For Zephyr, her latest setting in her homestead region of Porter Island, Talia presents a a place I confess to immediately falling in love with for its fusion of ideas.
Zephyr, May 2021
Surrounded by off-region hills coated by fir trees that suggest a northern latitude, Zephyr sits as a trio of islands, two of which are linked by a causeway. Together, they individually contain suggestions of China, Japan, and Africa that are most marvellously brought together, whilst collectively their appearance also brings to mind parts of the coastline of IndoChina to mind.
The landing point sits atop a flat-topped mesa that rises vertically from one of the region’s two larger islands. This sits to the north-east and curls away eastwards around the region’s outer limits.
Zephyr, May 2021
Watched over by a seated Buddha and sleepy pandas, its steep flanks fall away to grasslands that wash around it, and which could easily look right at home on the African plains – especially given the Africa tusker of a bull elephant standing upon them. Even the presence of a great monkeypod tree raising its head alongside the plateau doesn’t break with the African vibe that echoes here, as from a distance, it might equally be a great Umbrella Thorn.
But the fact it is a monkeypod tree reminds visitors that the core influence for the region is Asian in nature, as does the curving arm of this island as it turns to the east, its razor back line home to a Japanese styled structure. However, quite how you reach both it and the grasslands below the landing point is a little open to interpretation, preference.
Zephyr, May 2021
This is because while there is a zipline connecting the landing point to one of the highlands of the central island, the only path from there leads either up to a bridge sling across the gap between the two plateaus or down to where the causeway connects middle and northern islands. Save jumping down from the ziplines end-point or wading through water at the foot of the downslope path, there is no clear route to get to the lowland that sit under the flanks of the two plateaus (well, you can fly of course, but that’s cheating! 🙂 ).
like those of the landing point island, the lowlands of the middle isle are dominated by a monkeypod tree. however, there is also a small bridge that spans the waters back to the north island, allowing visitors the opportunity to return to it and then make their way eastwards around its raised back.
Zephyr, May 2021
However, for those who prefer, the taller of the two rocky tables on the middle island is home to a wooden platform where comfortable seating a a good vantage point out over the islands are to be found, while the caused offers a dry route to the other northern island isle, and which sweeps around the west side of the region.
This is the largest of the three islands by area, and has much to offer that again gives hints of Africa (the elephant and the suggestion of broad savanna, the thatched hut by the water suggestive of a hide from which to observe wildlife). But then, with the sakura, the bamboo, the very Japanese styling of the little cabin across the grass from the hideaway, the sampans and monkeypods, visions of Asia also abound here.
Zephyr, May 2021
To the north, this part of the land rises to a ridgeline that is home to waterfalls that drop into the waters between the islands and another hideaway that offers a comfortable retreat as it overlooks the causeway visitors must cross from the middle isle.
Of course, the African lean to Zephyr can be excused by the fact there are precious few Asian elephants in SL – and the two featured in the region certainly look as if they are semi-domesticated and awaiting mahouts, despite clearly being African in origin – but I love the way they add that sense of fusion to the region. Elsewhere, the wildlife does lean more towards Asia with cranes, tigers, panda, parrots, etc., all of which enrich the setting, together with the lanterns that in places drift overhead, even as orca swim in the waters.
Zephyr, May 2021
And even with all this, I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the delights Talia has brought to this most idyllic of settings. So,rather than sit here reading, get your boots on and go see for yourselves! And be sure to take your cameras!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
