Category: Exploring Second Life

Bambi (NorahBrent) has been busy with her region designs, with both Longing Melody and Soft Melody gaining a lot of attention – including in this blog – since the start of the year (see: Visiting Longing Melody in Second Life and A Soft Melody in Second Life). Given this, a return to her Missing Melody was on my game card for 2022, but a poke from Shawn Shakespeare encouraged me to make a summer visit to this always-engaging homestead region.

What is a Missing Melody? It’s that song in your head that you can’t get out but not sure how it really goes. It’s that temptation you want to have in your life so you can fight to resist. It’s that place in your heart that is always waiting to be filled.

– Bambi (NorahBrent)

For this iteration, Bambi offers a region setting that is beautiful in its simplicity: a pair of small islands separated by a deceptively deep channel spanned by a long boardwalk floating serenely above the waters.  Both islands occupy the northern half of the region, sitting under a bright summer sky (I recommend using the region’s shared environment settings).

To the north-east, the small island rises a rich green hump of land, its slopes carpeted by flowering wild grass, and its crowned by green trees and a copse of lavender wisteria.

The latter form a canopy over the landing point, sitting as it does at the end of a fence-bordered track that points the way westwards before dropping down the gentlest of the island’s slopes, and along which an unexpected family is taking a constitutional walk.

Across the channel, the larger of the two islands holds multiple attractions awaiting discovery. These include the winding climb of steps which lead up to where a caravan and cabin lie on a tree-shaded shoulder of the island’s hills, through a second set of steps that descend to the island’s arc of beach to the north-west, through to the rocky path the climbs up the west side of the island, connecting the beach with a high promontory where a lighthouse watches over the southern waters.

The beach offers the most tropical feel to the setting – and the most places for visitors to relax and spend time, both on the sand and over the water. However, both the cabin and the caravan up on the hill top are furnished as well, making for quiet retreats, whilst between them there sits a little stage and outdoor seating for impromptu musical jams.

Picturesque, (obviously) photogenic, and finished with a gentle soundscape, Missing Melody really doesn’t require a lot of exposition on my part; it genuinely speaks for itself, as I hope the images here show. So why not pay a visit yourself?

 

SLurl Details

• Missing Melody (Runaway, rated Moderate)

Occupying a quarter-region parcel, La Montagna Spaccata is a personal interpretation by Lana (Svetlana Pexie) of a place she refers to as being “close to home” in Italy; a place which in English is called The Split Mountain, and which forms the location of the Sanctuary of the Most Holy Trinity.

Located near the city of Gaeta in the province of Latina, Lazio, Southern Italy, the original Montagna Spaccata lies within the Monte Orlando natural park. It comprises three sea clefts that cut into the coastal mountain, which local legend would have were created by a lightning bolt hurled to Earth by a distraught God on the crucifixion of Christ on the Cross; its a place where, to honour the legend, Benedictine monks built the Sanctuary in the 11th Century.

A place steeped in religious significance – it is said the St. Philip Neri, the “Second Apostle of Rome” would visit the Sanctuary for periods of quiet reflection and contemplation, as would Bernardino of Siena – it is a place today fabled for its primary gorge, down which – for a fee – visitors can travel the 300 stairs to where the water ebbs and flows within the Grotta del Turco, the water turned to a brilliant turquoise by the light of the Sun.

The Grotto is perhaps the centre piece for Lana’s design. I have no idea as to how reflective the build is in regards to the original – but frankly, that’s not important; this is after all and interpretation, not a representation. As such it has a beauty entirely of its own.

What I will say is that fortunately for visitors, Lana has reduced those 300 steps to something a lot more manageable for avatar legs that may still tire under the stress of descending climbing (!) from and to where the water can, under the right EEP settings, offer colours that whilst not necessarily turquoise, may still be as eye=catching, as I hope some of the pictures here demonstrate.

Even this is a design representative of deep coastal gorges, the land itself is understandably elevated and sits as a high plateau  into which the main grotto gorge and a second cut to varying degrees, with the second gorge being much shallower and home to a sheer waterfall at its head.

As to the third cleft from the original, visitors can take their pick: to the south the land falls away to the sea, presenting what might be a further stretch of coast near to Gaeta – or might be taken as one side of the third gorge, should the parcel to the south come to be rented. Alternatively, the north parcel is given over to Lana’s private home and is landscaped in a manner in keeping with La Montagna Spaccata, and so might again might be imagined as a part of the local coastline or where, beyond the rock wall separating the two parcels, the imagination might like to picture the remaining gorge as being.

To the west of the plateau is both the landing point and what remains of ancient fortifications. Again, whether the latter are part of the actual Montagna Spaccata or intended to evoke some of the fortifications of Gaeta itself, I’ve no idea; but they serve as a perfect backdrop to the eastern extreme of the parcel, where people can finding seating at the local café and also the entrance to the steps leading down to the grotto. The latter switch-back their way down a set of terraces built into the cliff and the rocky foot of the gorge. Meanwhile, two finger-like promontories extend eastward, the main gorge set between them. These can be wandered as well, offering heady views down into the two gorges and excellent views back to the fortifications.

Lana feels that sitting within a quarter region perhaps doesn’t do the actual Montagna Spaccata, and hopes that one day to be able to build something bigger and more reflective of the original. For my part, I’d say that while I’d love to see such an expansion, the current build has a beauty and charm of it’s own; yes, there are a couple of elements of texture overlap, and I would suggest experimenting with daytime settings when taking photos, but none of these points detract from the whole in any way.

My thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the pointer and the landmark.

SLurl Details

• La Montagna Spaccata (Duat, rated Moderate)

It’s been a year since my last visit to LeLoo’s World, a passage of time that would have naturally made it a destination for a return visit given I have tended to drop in once a year over the last couple of years. However, Shawn Shakespeare showed me a couple of pictures that meant I would have been hopping over as soon as I could.

For the summer of ’22, LeLoo (LeLooUlf) presents a setting she’s called a Critter Celebration, and which brings together wildlife from around the world (and some rather different critters!) in a series of settings carrying environments design to reflect the animals found within them, all linked together by a series of paths and tracks.

The entire setting has the look and feel of an animal conservation centre and, needless to say, the opportunities for photography are rich throughout; as is, in theory, the opportunity for a little fun education, as the About Land description notes:

This summer, LeLoo’s World is celebrating the beauty and wonder of nature’s creatures. So put on those walking shoes, set the mindset dial to “happy!” and pick up your copy of the Critter Info HUD for some fun and interesting facts on various animals you will see here. All are welcome to this PG event!

The HUD is offered (a little persistently!) on a visitor’s arrival at the landing point. The latter is laid out as something of a small commercial hub such as might be found at the entrance at a conservation park. The HUD, as per the setting’s description, is designed to offer up facts about the animals that can be found within the setting – although I’ll admit for some reason it didn’t want to work for either myself or my Alt.

Directly in front of the landing point is a path marked by a green arrow pointing the way under a rocky arch. However, before taking that, there are stepping stones winding off to the right, passing behind the market stalls that should be followed, lest it otherwise be missed. It offers the way to a little touch of North America, where brown bears, grizzlies and deer are enjoying the rocks and water as eagles circle overhead. Benches and chairs here offer seating for those wishing to stay awhile.

Through the rocky arch is a further expression of North America, this a more wooded environment that is home to more bears and deer, together with foxes, raccoons and opossum Beyond this is a fun area for dog lovers; a place where cuddly little critters can also be found, tucked into their own corner and enjoying one another’s company.

From here visitors pass into Africa, and the Serengeti, a place where giraffe, elephants and zebra roam, and hippos and crocs cool themselves in the water. Visitors can rest up here at a safari camp, and it is worth taking your time to mouse-over some of the animals. Doing so will reveal poses with some of them for photography; a trend continues as the path passes on through to the jungles of India, watched over by tigers and where African elephants substitute for SL’s lack of Asian elephants.

Onwards, visitors enter the world of the Far East, with SL’s traditional merging of China and Japan: a rich bamboo forest where panda can be found in family groups and beyond which can be found a house with more of a Japanese look and feel, a place where water and Zen gardens are mixed to present a haven for birds and not a few (Norwegian?) forest cats.

Covering half a region and located up in the air to limit the impact of thing like the water plane interfering with viewer performance, with  – as noted – multiple opportunities for photography – A Critter Celebration at LeLoo’s World is a fun, easy-going visit that is highly enjoyable environment in which to spend time.

SLurl Details

• A Critter Celebration at LeLoo’s World (Friends, rated Moderate)

As regulars to my Exploring series may know, Busta (BadboyHi) is a region designer whose work I enjoy, and I recently had the opportunity – courtesy of an LM passed to me by Shawn Shakespeare – to visit a design he has put together for Kn0cks Shad0ws (Whozyer Daddy) and his Full region, Dukedom.

Designed primarily for photography, the region is divided north-to-south by the presence of an elevated rail line, making this a setting very much of two parts. To the west, and occupying the majority of the region, are wild lands, a place of tall trees, waterfalls, streams and touches of the bayou along the west coast. Along this shore are wooden cabins, shacks and an old houseboat that mix their presence with mangroves, wetlands and a rocky shoreline to suggest a little community eking out a living by finishing – something added to by a number of fishing boats, one of which has seen much better days…

This is a place where wildlife abounds. gulls wheel and turn overhead, ibis stalk the mouths of the streams emptying into the coastal areas, alligators bask in the  dirt of the local tracks and ignore the fact potentially tasty seals are not that far away, also basking themselves out of the water; deer watch more domesticated animals – cattle, goats, and geese; peacocks strut their stuff, bids sing in the trees and more. Ways around the coast and through the hunched uplands behind it are marked by rough trails, boardwalks, tree-trunk bridges that span the streams and hard-packed earth paths and steps.

Sitting between the streams and set a little back from the waterfront lies a roughshod deck extending outward over rocky ground from where a glass-fronted cabin sits. At first looking to be a cosy retreat, closer examination with reveal it to be something of an apothecary-come-magic store; a place well in keeping with the bayou vibes exuded by the lands below. Around it are offered several places to sit, including a welcoming cuddle sofa.

The sofa and benches around the cabin are a just a handful of all the places people can find to sit and pass the time; places that include swings watched over by baby chimps, and the carving of a giant hand holding a blanket in its palm which begs the question, was it carved over the bank of the stream against which it sits, or has come to reside there after the fact. Back down as the waterside sits a comfortable deck ideal for a small group, sitting alongside a makeshift watchtower.

Further back among the trees awaits more to be found among the trails; with two further cabins being chief among the sights. Each is comfortably furnished and offer welcomes to those passing, and both sit close to where the elevated train line cuts across the region and, beyond it, the purely urban setting.

Occupying a little over one third of the region, this urban area sits as a busy, if a little run down, corner of a much larger town. The area under the elevate tracks looks to be undergoing repair / renewal, lots of people are out and about on the streets, a building is being heavily refurbished / rebuilt, cars are everywhere, and a military helicopter is clattering around overhead.

The latter might have been called by the local law enforcement as they attend a rather grisly homicide that has been committed on some waste ground to one side of the town. It’s a scene that – as is the way of things – has drawn a crowd of its own, some of whom are more interested in catching the situation on film and selfie, rather than offering respect for the life lost. But not everyone is drawn to the tragedy; at the back of the waste ground, a skateboarding area has been set-up and is of much more interest to local teens – although perhaps that is also a reflection on modern-day human nature and indifference…

Throughout the region there as many points where photography is possible, although sadly, group membership is closed, so no props rezzing available. As an adult-rated region, there are apparently some adult-rated items spotted around – but nothing too obvious that I noticed from my ramblings through the wilds and along the streets.

I would also say that as a Full region with both the private island additional land capacity and with a lot of mesh and textures, Dukedom can hit some people’s performance, so be prepared to make some adjustments to your viewer if required. But that aside, Dukedom has a lot to commend itself; just take your time when visiting – and try not to disturb the sleeping bunny!

SLurl Details

• Dukedom (rated Adult)

Update, July 20236th, 2022: The Shambles has relocated.

The Shambles is the name Tolia Crisp has settled upon for the latest of her Homestead regions designs which she broadly offered to visitors under her Frogmore Land Management group / brand. And for those familiar with the likes of Frogmore and Mousehole, there are elements here that place The Shambles within the same realm of those settings, with much to set it apart and offer a sense of mystery and surprise.

The first of the former of these is that the location is described as being “up the River Foss”; this is likely a reference to the river of that name that flows through North Yorkshire, England, rising close to Oulston Reservoir and meandering roughly south for about 30 kilometres to join the River Ouse in York. This puts The Shambles squarely into Tolia’s theme of English settings, albeit within a location pretty much diagonally at the other end of the country compared to Frogmore and Mousehole with their Cornish locales.

However, where Frogmore and Mousehole have their feet pretty much rooted in reality, The Shambles stands well to one side, a veritable potpourri of themes and ideas brought together in a surprising whole that delights the eyes. This is something that is immediately obvious on arrival: sitting behind the landing point platform and hovering over a broad channel that sits between village and an oddly denuded hump of an island, is a strange windmill, held aloft by downward-pointing rotors spinning away beneath it and the metal deck before it. In fact, with its larger sail turning slowly behind it, it looks not so much like a floating windmill as it does a fanciful flying house.

The landing point occupies a tiny islet connected to the village by a metal bridge around which tentacles rise from the coastal waters, adding a touch of Innsmouth to the setting.

On the little waterfront across the bridge are hints which, together with the hovering house / windmill, help the setting lean towards the suggestion that is it steampunk themed. Cogs turn slowly on the wall of a cottage as a kind of mobile décor; a great gas boiler pumps heat into the cottage’s interior and, further along the waterfront, what looks to be the face of an old copper clock has been fashioned into a table where refreshments might be taken, watched over by a mechanical messenger owl.

However, it doesn’t take much to realise that the themes here run much broader than steampunk alone; close to the table mentioned above, for example, a poster hangs from the doorway of a magic shop proclaiming Harry Potter is Undesirable No 1, while the waterfront itself is probably awash with the engine noise from the Star Wars-esque flying vehicle which appears to have just passed overhead, zipping between rooftops and the bulbous bulk of a balloon moored by the landing point.

Enter the main street of the village, and more of this blending of ideas unfolds before your eyes in ways that are genuinely captivating. A dieselpunk tricycle, driven by a great chugging internal combustion engine turning a pusher propeller awaits a driver; futuristic lasers zap between buildings; a steampunk style airship appears to have wedged itself into the cul-de-sac of the street, neon signs and LCD panels hang from walls…

This is a place where nothing is as it seems and unique elements are waiting to be found everywhere the camera turns. Take, for example, Cordelia Curiosus and the boulangerie adjoining it. Leaving the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference in the name of the former, these initially appear to be ordinary places of business. But look again: the windows of Cordelia’s are aquariums, home to fish and corals, the water held in by a combination of window frames and – magic? Similarly the wall between the two shops is a shimmering face of water held back by something, the boulangerie a further haven for fish, turtles and aquatic plants.

More touches can be found across the street, where a host of incongruities are gathering into a little vignette that offers so much. There’s a Victorian-era Bobby standing with his back to a pub cheekily calling itself the Scotland Yard, the walls of will are posted with a reward poster typical of those times and the front page of a newspaper offering the latest on the Whitechapel Murders – and the involvement of one S. Holmes, Esq.

The Bobby himself stands between a set of very futuristic packing cases before which floats a glowing umbrella projected by an equally glowing wand, none of which seems to fluster our good constable in the slightest – and nor does the London Police telephone box very definitely from the 1960s – so very definitely in fact, that one might be tempted to ask if it really is a police telephone box – and thus the entire vignette allows the imagination to take flight.

Thus, wherever you roam, down through the village with its little stream and cornucopia of buildings, businesses and photo opportunities, or up on and between the rooftops, there is a lot to appreciate within The Shambles – far more than mentioned here. Yes, it is a little texture-heavy when loading; but it is nevertheless highly photogenic and offers more than a few places to sit down and pass the time. Those in the Frogmore group also get rezzing rights when visiting – but do please clean-up when done!

With thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the nudge.

SLurl Details

• The Shambles (The Hidden, rated Moderate)