Category: Reviews

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)