“We got bored!” Ty Tenk of Calas Galadhon fame laughed, passing me an invite for Caitlyn and I to visit the Calas Skate-o-Rama. “Rolling skating in the middle of the desert. But be careful crossing the highway!”
It actually took us a couple of days to get the opportunity to visit, but with Friday night sitting with us, we hopped over to find out more – and in Typical Ty and Truck style, the venue is fetchingly presented and a lot of fun.
Visitors arrive at a roadside stop on Route 66. The moon hovers low in the sky, and sandstone mesas break-up the horizon. Across the road, resplendent in neon and art deco styling, sits the Calas Skate–O-Rama, searchlights sweeping the darkening skies. This is a poplar place: the asphalt car park is almost full. Once across the road, the deco style doors to the arena beckon – and hide a secret. Step through them, and far from leaving the desert skies behind and you going indoors, you enter an open-air rink, a 50’s style diner to one side, and a live performance stage on the other.
Between them sits the skating floor, and it is built to take a fair few! Roller skates can be obtained from the giver just inside the arena entrance – you just need to join the Calas Announcements Group if you’re not already a member. Swap your shoes for the skates, turn off your AO and you are all set. You can then free skate or – using the pose and dance system (instructions supplied in the air over them) – you can skate and dance.
Calas Skate-O-Rama: the burger bar help keep your energy up – and keep you warm under that clear desert sky!
It’s surprisingly a lot of fun, particularly if there are a number of you; and as is always the case at the Calas regions (the arena is on the Calas special events region of Erebor), the music is superbly selected. There are regular live music events planned throughout March as well, so check the Calas Galadhon blog for details.
Should you need a break from the dancing, you can enjoy a burger at the bar (or have it delivered to you by one of the roller skating staff 🙂 ), or take a seat on the couches to the side of the skating floor. And if you fancy a wander, the desert is worth seeing, and has one or two surprises!
Calas Skate-O-Rama: take care when crossing the road – there are big rigs passing!
As we skated, I asked Ty what would be happening at the end of March. “Oh, we have a few things planned for over the summer!” he said with a smile and a wink, but without saying more. We look forward to finding out – and to hopping back to the Skate-O-Rama well before then!
Under the Sea, Cica Ghost’s latest region-wide installation in Second Life opened on Friday, March 3rd. It is in some ways a follow-on from her previous Frogs, in that it has a decidedly aquatic lean.
“There is a strange world under the sea,” Cica informs visitors, who arrive on a wooden platform, open on three sides and lacking a roof. A brief set of instructions are provided on how best to enjoy a visit (in short, enable Advanced Lighting Model and make sure Shadows: Sun/Moon + Projectors is active – Cica has taken care to minimise the performance hit with the latter as much as possible). Once done, follow the steps down beneath the waves, and discover that strange world.
Here can be found all manner of creatures, familiar and exotic. fronds of seaweed and forests of kelp undulate under the pressure of passing water; schools of fish hover at the edges of some of these copse-like knots of green, staring nervously outward. A great sea snail expands and contract, as if making its way across the sandy floor without moving. Other fish hover nervously at the empty eye sockets or under bleached ribs of even bigger creatures which have long since died, while splashes of vivid colour are offered by anemones, starfish and strange plants standing tall on cage-like roots.
Two great tanks sit on the sea floor, one with a glass panel through which you can walk. Inside are two denizens of the deep, each equipped with some rather vicious looking teeth, although both remain oblivious to visitors, content to share the tiled space with little sea horses – and you, if you opt to swim with them (touch the bed). In the tank next door, which has one end open and partially buried in the sea bed, an audience of fish floats, seemingly enraptured by the creature at the far end of the tank. Again, a bed is offered for visitors.
The scale here has to be seen to be appreciated. Everything is huge, with some of it a little threatening. The sabre-toothed fish, for example, may not seem interested in you, bit walk or swim close to one, and you start to wonder if it will suddenly dart forward and try to gobble you. Nor is this feeling of perhaps being a morsel in the food chain restricted to the fish; approach the great sea snail from the right direction, and you’ll feel like it is stretching its toothed maw up towards you in hope of a bite.
The entire region is fascinating to explore – swimming is by far the best way to enjoy it – and there are, as always, various points where visitors can become a part of the scene. The beds mentioned earlier offer swimming animations as well as sitting and sleeping poses, while mouse-over some of the shells and things scattered around, and hidden perches are revealed.
Cica Ghost: Under the Sea – Cica teases the giant sea snail
Under the Sea makes for a delightful visit, and will remain open through March 2017. Should you visit, do please consider a donation towards Cica’s work and don’t forget to visit her little store (LM at the landing point) should the mood take you.
Blogging here has been a little slow this past week as I’ve been working on a few projects, some of which will be appearing in these pages real soon™, while one is now available to see.
The Holly Kai Park website has been given a makeover with what we hope is a new, clean design with a splash page, tidier menu system and a lot of updated information following the recent changes to the park itself.
The new Holly Kai Park splash screen – click to visit the site
There’s still some tweaks to be done with the website, but with all that is going on, we wanted to get the new design rolled out – just don’t be surprised if there are some further small changes.
Because there is so much going on, our regular Art at the Park events had been put on hold for a time. However, these will be resuming in the near future, as will the Stories at the Park series which accompany them.
In the meantime, and as a reminder, the main SLurls for the park are listed below, and Caitinara Bar is open to all for our DJ sessions every Wednesday and Friday from 16:00 SLT through 18:00 SLT.
Update: Long Journey has relocated, and I have a new blog post about it.
Creativity in Second Life doesn’t always require an entire region – Full or Homestead – in order to be realised. This is something I’ve said in the past, and will doubtless say again in the future. All it needs is sufficient room in which the imagination can breathe; and if you want proof of this, then I can recommend you take a trip over to Long Journey.
Covering a little under 7,000 square metres, Long Journey is an absolute delight. Designed by Yang (Sun2idea), it packs a lot into the space without ever feeling crowded or losing its sense of rural-edged peace. Visitors arrive at a little coffee-house and bar; to the rear is a cosy walled terrace with tables tucked between tall wine racks and the bar; to the front sits a paved street, the nearby end of which slips into a tunnel.
Along this street, bathed in the soft glow of a setting sun, lit by tiny LEDs strung along the curbstones and clusters of street lights, are a number of eateries with a decidedly oriental flavour to them. Vending machines line the wall of the building across the street from the coffee-house, while alongside it sits another cosy little café. Close by, a converted tram offers teas and cakes to patrons who can sit at tables occupying a tidy square of grass, one of several outdoor eating areas.
Just beyond the tram, the street ends, and a wooden board walk takes over, running alongside a small body of water. To one side of it is an old warehouse, one of its walls long since collapsed, exposing its metal frame. It is now home to a curious and eclectic mix of things. On the opposite side of the board walk, most of the water is taken up by an old house boat, its square prow abutting the whitewashed building forming the southern boundary to the street.
Nor is this all. At the point where the street gives way board walk, a tiled path points the way to one side. It runs between tram café and water to a little platform, where a steam train is just pulling in, its carriages slowly emerging from another tunnel. Alongside the track, the sheer wall of an old factory rises like a great brick cliff. Roofless, its windowless flank rich in graffiti and drawings, it invites exploration.
But to describe everything to be found here – the little house, what lies inside the old factory or the warehouse with its broken wall, the field of sunflowers marching into the scene and more – is really a waste. This is a place which really does deserve to be seen – to be savoured – to really be appreciated.
The level of detail packed into it is exquisite, from the richness of the trees, shrubs and plants, to the little vignettes such as the lilies and rowing boats, to the cats which sit in indifference to the world or watch from roof or corner, all the way to the many little touches which bring this scene to life in so many ways.
If you are looks for a photo location with a personality of its own, or a place where you can while away the time with a friend or loved one – then take a Long Journey, I promise you will not be disappointed. Our thanks to Shakespeare (once again! 🙂 ).
The Architect’s Playground is a full region installation by Methias Kira under the brand name of Abstract Soul. If you love colour, scripted effects and particles, it is liable to be an installation you’ll want to see.
Against the backdrop of a setting sun, visitors arrive on a platform 260 metres in the air. A golden figure pirouettes slowly. Everywhere are intricate traces of light brightening, fading, pulsing, from single strands to fields of spheres to delicate towers alive with a steady flow of light upwards, and great tubes which similarly ebb and flow with colour.
Within this kaleidoscope world, a paths of ever forming and fading golden ribbons beckons visitors outward from the landing point to offer than a choice or routes upwards or downwards, their paths marked by clouds of colours spheres floating and pulsing serenely.
Whichever route you take will lead you past particles displays to platforms with more swirls and lines gently changing light. Some of these platforms feature more of the golden (and silver) figures (by Gwen Ferox and Nacht Fox) in various poses; others simply offer scintillating, almost hypnotic patterns.
Travel down low enough, and you may come to a platform where a white star pattern forms and fades, forms and fades; step into the centre and you’ll drop even lower, to islands of light formed from concentric circles sitting just above the water. And even these are not the end of things: dive under water, and there is more to be found.
The Architect’s Playground, can be a little hard on the GPU the longer you spend within it (I’d recommend disabling shadows if you run with them on, to ease some of the load), but it is nevertheless an engaging visit, the intricate design having both an abstract and an organic feel to it. The installation will remain open until the end of June.
There are many, many activities you can try in Second Life which you may not by able to participate in or enjoy in the physical world. For me this has meant – among other things – playing the odd round of golf (a game I am not overly fond of outside of SL!).
I first tried my hand at a full 18-hole golf course in 2014, when I visited the AERO Golf Club (you can read about that visit here). As I hadn’t been golfing for a while, I suggested to Caitlyn we give it a try together. Given the last time I visited AERO was in mid-2015, it seemed natural for us to head there.
I have no idea how many golf systems are available in Second Life, but the one employed by AERO is very easy to get to grips with and enjoy. The course itself – the work of Kaja Ashland and Marcus Bremser – is very well laid-out, and was last redesigned in (I think) 2015. Visitors arrive on the east side of the region, on the front terrace of the clubhouse. A quick walk through to the back terrace will take you past the pool and to the golf shack tucked into a corner where you can pick-up your clubs, HUD and scorecard.
There are no fees for playing at AERO, but you will need to join the in-world group. When you have done so, touch the golf bag in the hut to receive your club (actually three in one), HUD and scorecard. Wear / add all three, and you are set to go! The first tee is just a short walk from the hut; a par 4, it takes you down the length of the canal which almost cuts the course in two.
Game play is a case of selecting your teeing spot between the two markers, selecting your club type from the HUD (driver, obviously when teeing-off), and then taking note of the wind speed and direction (indicated by a particle cloud which appears next to you when you select your club). The LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys can then be used to adjust the angle at which you will strike the ball (indicated by a pointer on the ground) to compensate for the wind and get your ball down towards the green. Then it is a case of making sure the cursor is over the ground and then clicking and holding the left mouse button to both commence your swing and select the force with which you hit the ball (indicated by a power bar). Releasing the mouse button completes your swing.
AERO Golf Club: about to chip the ball onto the green. Note the wind speed cloud and direction pointer
The flight of a ball is indicated by a line. By default, this is white, but you can use the Settings option on the HUD to select a preferred colour – handy when playing in a group. Additional strokes are played the same way, with the option of using a wedge for chipping up onto a green or getting out of a bunker, and a putter when on the green. Throughout it all your scorecard will track your shots and keep score.
The holes themselves vary in difficulty – and shorter par holes are not necessarily easier than those with a dog leg or other obstacle: the shorter par needs a steady finger on the strength of your swing or you can end up well into the rough on the far side of the hole!
The eleventh hole has a wicked shot across a bay which cuts into the course, requiring you select your teeing-off spot with care. Should your ball fall into the water at any time, the easiest thing is to remain where you are and try again.
One might argue that it would be nice to have a wider selection of clubs – particularly if you are a golfer – than just the driver, wedge and putter. But the truth is, these are more than adequate and mean that a round of golf is enjoyable without becoming taxing or complicated for the occasional / novice player.
I do have a couple of very small tips: if you use an over-the-shoulder camera view by default, you might want to centre your camera up when playing to get an more accurate view of the ground pointer. Also, if you have double-click to teleport enabled, you might want to turn it off; I carelessly mis-clicked on a putt and ended up attempting to teleport on the spot and lost a stroke.
As well as the 18 holes, AERO offers a poolside terrace and an indoor bar for socialising after a game. The cliff-sided bay I mentioned above has a small beach offering deck chairs and loungers, and there are several points around the course where you can take a break from play and enjoy a chat. You can also break-off from a round if the physical world or other requirements intrude; your card will retain your score and progress. However, the clubs are time-limited; should you return and find they have expired, simply obtain a new HUD, club and scorecard from the golf shack, and use the clubs / HUD with your “old” scorecard, and you’ll be able to finish your round.
Should you enjoy your time at AERO, do consider making a donation towards the upkeep of the course, and if you end up playing regularly there, you might want to purchase the pro scorecard – again, the fee goes towards the course.
AERO Golf Club is one of several scattered across Second Life and offers a fun way to enjoy golf in Second Life amidst gorgeous surroundings. Other clubs can be found in the Sports & Hobbies section of the Destination Guide (and doubtless elsewhere in the DG as well!).
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 