Billy Arentire and Torric Rodas Marry in Virtual Westminster

On Sunday I attended the wedding of Billy Arentire and Torric Rodas in the new Westminster sim. Both work in Virtual London, Torric is the manager of the Mayfair and Westminster sims, Billy is the assistant manager of Mayfair and on the London architects team.  Torric, in his profile, says that he is a “friendly chap” and I can attest to this because the first time I met him I accidentally tp’d onto the balcony of his home when he first came to Virtual London and he was very welcoming, instead of trying to to get rid of an unwanted intruder. Billy also makes one feel welcome, whenever we meet up, usually in Mayfair, he is sure to stop for a chat no matter how busy he is.

The wedding took place in a beautiful tropical setting, with waves on the beach behind the white pavilion set up for the service. The grooms looked very handsome in their tuxedos and they were attended by bridesmaids Tayla Tigerfish and Princess Shuffle, who looked beautiful in their blue chiffon gowns. Truths Marder took the service, which was very touching, and watched by the many guests and friends of the couple.  Truths quoted 1 Corinthians 13 and reminded everyone present that “Love Never Fails”.

The reception followed in another pavilion that had been specially set up for the day.  

Billy thanked everyone for coming to the wedding and sharing in their special day, then said to Torric “Robert Frost wrote “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” I’ve often though of this line, knowing how true it is. Traveling down that road, with you by my side, has opened up a world I never knew could be possible. All the wonders I have seen, all the joys and sorrows, they are all the more special because I have you.I can’t imagine anyone else in the world I would want to travel this road with.I love you.”

Best wishes to the newlyweds.

Pretty In Pink

Last night I attended another great party at the Victoriana Bandstand in Victoriana Hedgemaze. A few weeks ago a TV theme song party took place there, this time the theme was “Pretty in Pink”. Avatars dressed in pink and danced to 80’s music provided by DJ Apollo Kronos. It was also a chance to celebrate the rez day of Mr. Kronos’s lovely wife who is also the Deputy Mayor of Victoriana and party organizer Peaches Latrell.

Rezday Girl Peaches Latrell

DJ Apollo Kronos

Our Mayor gets into the theme

Davey McDowwll goes 80’s

Party-goer Tasia Tonic

1wuz Gray showing a definite Elton John influence. Mr. Gray was one of two winners of the best in pink contest

Lord and Lady Ganloso – Lord Ganloso shared the best in pink prize

Boye – looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses

Truthball at the Trilogy Group Shop

Truthball has come to the Trilogy Group Shop in the Kensington sim. Developed by an avatar named Leesa Donner, Truthball is a kind of truth or dare game. There are different sets of questions ranging from mild to wild to silly to getting to know you, so that it is versatile, fun for a group of friends getting together or a couple on a date. To start the game, all you do is say QL in open chat, which will produce a menu for the kind of questions you want. Then once that has been decided those who are playing take turns clicking on the Truthball.

It’s a fun game with no pressure, there are no penalties for not answering and some of the questions are hilarious, while others are thought provoking and some are rather risqué! So drop by to the Trilogy Group shop and have a go!

All Kinds of People Make Up the World

A few weeks ago while working on a story I was hunting around the grid looking for background settings. I am a big fan of the work of AM Radio so I checked out his profile and ended up at a sim set up after Burning Life called Afterburn. A few artists who had been involved in Burning Life have displays there, so I went over to have a look.  AM Radio’s installation included a wall on which you could spray paint messages. Sometimes SL makes me feel like a sea creature that has been pried out of its shell – vulnerable, blind, easily damaged, defenceless, and that’s how I was feeling then,  so I painted a phrase on the wall “We are all Real even if we are Virtual” I suppose as a kind of plea to the SL universe to be kind. It was also a great opportunity for me to spray paint a wall, something I had never done before. I took a picture afterwards and have put it on my profile under the RL tab. I have also placed it at the top of this entry.

Anyway, life goes on, and last week I was out dancing with Boye at a jazz club. While we were there I noticed another couple dancing near us and a single lady dancing by herself. The lady who was part of the couple must have crashed because all of a sudden her partner found himself dancing alone. But not for long, the single lady, spying her chance, immediately jumped onto the poseball just vacated by his partner! When the man realized what had happened he left his poseball but remained where he was, talking to the lady and waiting for his partner to reappear.  The single lady spoke in open chat, I can only presume that the man responded in IM (so annoying! lol). The single lady was very flirtatious, saying she was new to SL, needed help, that the “dance was in her body”, etc.  The single lady’s rez day was only a couple of weeks ago, but she had a nice skin and dress on, so I am not sure how new to SL she really was. She certainly knew how to use poseballs with great efficiency. Eventually the man’s partner reappeared and it looked very much as if an argument took place after that, just from the positions of the avatars. I can’t say for certain, as whatever went on must have taken place in IM, but things looked tense. Finally the single woman left, saying :

 [4:21] Single Lady: now i’ll go

[4:22] Single Lady: see you dear Mr. X

[4:22] Single Lady: you are very very nice

[4:22] Single Lady: kiss

The couple remained for a short time after that but did not resume dancing.  It was an unfortunate end to their time together at the club.

Last night, at the same jazz club, I walked onto the dance floor a bit ahead of Boye. As he came onto the floor another woman made a bee-line for him and asked him to dance. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say she may not have known that we had arrived together, but she certainly was on the prowl for a partner, aggressively so.

I have come to recognize that I will never be able to understand how these women think.  They clearly are lacking in the ability to empathize.  So I think that what started out as my plea for the recognition and respect for the humanity in others has turned into a kind of warning about that same humanity and how it manifests itself in some individuals.

However, not to end on such a dire note, I also want to say how many wonderful people I have met in SL and that was in evidence on Saturday night. I attended a rez day party at the Underground Club  for Brie Janick, Clive Hissop, Pink Bachem and Pumpkin Zenovka, all of whom first rezzed around this time.  They are wonderful people and it is a true pleasure to know them.

 Thanks to Janey Bracken for the picture of the Rez Day poster.

TV Comes to Victoriana

TV made its presence felt, for a brief time, in Victoriana on Saturday night. Although we usually live in the Nineteenth Century there, for a couple of hours we had a glimpse into the future, when Victoriana Bandstand came to Hedgemaze.  TV theme songs was the inspiration for the party and of course was also the music we all danced to. Many avatars chose to dress up as their favourite tv characters, so the Pink Panther and Inspector Clouseau were there,

along with Popeye and Olive Oyl,

Wonder Woman

and Superman,

Jeannie from “I Dream of Jeannie”,

Lily Munster, 

and June Cleaver.

There was also a trivia contest.  Whenever a new song started everyone shouted out the name of the show it was associated with, and points were given for the first correct answer. All those in attendance really knew their tv theme songs, answers came fast and furious, faster than anywhere I have played trivia up until now.  It was an extremely enjoyable party, organized by Peaches Latrell and dj’d by her husband Apollo Kronos.

Later on and not having much to do, I reverted to my wandering ways, this time going from sim to sim based on what I found in avatar profiles. I discovered a place called “Wanderstill, Ode – an Immersive Art Experience by Random Calliope”. Wanderstill is a dreamy sim, filled with fields of flowers and a few trees and buildings.  When I arrived I was surprised to see some couples dancing, but then I noticed Intan Dance balls scattered around, partially hidden by the tall plants and flowers.  What an exquisite and peaceful sim.  Its creator, Random Calliope, has truly captured the essence of romance and displayed its delicate beauty here for all to enjoy.

Photography 101

Boye and I have been working on Old Bert stories for quite a while now. The first one, before we knew it was going to be part of the Old Bert stories, was written in May, but we actually introduced Old Bert himself in September. The stories are told with a combination of words and illustrations, so that has meant really starting to delve into the realm of photography. This has been quite a learning experience for me. We are always on the lookout for interesting sims and one that has become a favourite is Art Box. Not only have we used it for the Old Bert stories, but just for fun, as well. I have been going through a lot of my old photographs and discovered a set we did at Art Box a few months ago, and I thought it would be interesting to collect them here, to show how difficult it can be to get the final, perfect picture.

The owners of Art Box, Frankie Rockett and Violet Sweetwater, created a set inspired by the famous Grant Wood painting “American Gothic”. We thought it was well suited for when we are dressed in Victorian garb and decided to take some pictures.  The “final” picture is at the top of this entry.

However, it took a while for us to reach this point, as one of the models was not cooperating!

This is Boye looking rather sly -

Perhaps he was planning this picture, sticking his tongue out!

Winking! A bit of Mr. Stoneyheart peeping through in some of these, I think.

Boye looks somewhat apprehensive, perhaps he thinks I am going to grab the pitchfork and give him a good jab.

I’m not sure what Boye’s expression says, but I look a bit smug, and I am not going to reveal whether or not I did take the pitchfork after all.

So for all the “final” pictures that end up on the blog, there are quite a few that never see the light of day, and now you know why!

Learning about creating videos

Boye told me about a site called animoto.com, where you can make videos (or is it machinima, in my case, I am not sure) by uploading pictures or video of your own. It is then processed somehow through their wizardry, into a video. I decided to give it a try using some of my pictures from the ABBA conert and 70’s street party, so you can have a look at it here.

http://animoto.com/play/gFf4cDLG2Vc06f5kpA0QYw?autostart=true

I used a piece of music from their site, not something from the 70’s or ABBA since I was unsure about copyrights etc. It was an interesting experience.

Return to the 70’s

ABBA came to the Kensington in Virtual London, and since they are one of my favourite groups, I absolutely had to attend the concert, wearing my neon green, shiny jumpsuit! I looked terrific, if I do say so myself. The concert was great, the tribute band from Stage One Productions played ABBA’s greatest hits, including Dancing Queen, Fernando, Waterloo and a personal favourite of mine S.O.S.  Janey, Ed and I were there representing the Trilogy Group, along with many other avatars.

After the concert was over the fun continued with a 70’s street party outside the Greyhound Pub in Virtual Kensington. Brie Janick had gone all out with the decorations, which included a VW van, stylized flowers everywhere, ball chairs and lava lamps. It was fab. DJ Genevieve Gagnon played 70’s music, including disco and host cutewillow Carlberg made sure everyone had a great time.

Partygoers got into the spirit of the event, wearing 70’s outfits. Ed Follet was so inspired by the music and the shirt and tie he was wearing that he got up and danced on one of the cars parked outside the Greyhound. Seany1235 Blinker mesmerized or blinded everyone with his shiny silver outfit, round glasses and big hair. I think his hair must have been affected by the humidity in the sim because at one point it seemed to explode, engulfing his lovely and elegant bride-to-be Brie and a poor newbie who happened to be dancing nearby. It was not a sight you see every day.

And so ended another great party held in the Virtual Capital. Thanks to Brie Janick for organizing it (and thanks, Brie, for the landmark to the great retro store where I picked up my outfit), and to DJ Gen and cutewilllow for making the street party such a great success.

Flickr Photostream

I just started on Flickr, so far I have only added a few pictures, but I think it will be lots of fun. My photostream can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hibiscus_in_sl

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010.