Through Eden took thir solitarie way.
John Milton, Paradise Lost
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
images from the last PHC in Faeria
I have not much to say, I'll let the images to speak by themselves.
The event was full. More than 20 people showed up at different times during the evening.
Despite the bittersweet mood, I believe that a lot of love was shown to Mykyl and she could feel that Faeria was a great success and many people were touched both by Faeria and by the Queene.
Now Faeria, as we know it, is not more and it is time to move on. I am sure it won't take long for Mykyl to surprise us again with all the beauty and the love she has to share
W
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Fleet action
I guess I should say something about the shut down of Faeria, but every time I try to think about something I become too sad and I have to turn my thoughts in another direction.
So I took the naval squadron out to sea for some training in the waters near Star Port
So I took the naval squadron out to sea for some training in the waters near Star Port
Friday, September 26, 2008
"afk" by Huckleberry Hax
My recently updated profile mentions my passion for in-world literary events.
There are a number of readings or storytelling events that I try to follow semi-regularly, at least those compatible with my being in Europe.
Of course I try to follow Aianna as much as I can, for both her flagship reading of the Valley of the Ivory Swan series and the newly added Bedtime Stories.
Another event I like to to follow are Cora Hawker's readings of her thriller/horror novels at the Guild of UK Writers.
Other events I try to follow, despite being rather late, are JJ Drinkwater's monthly Story Sessions at the Falling Anvil, in Caledon Tammranoch, and, since yesterday, the new Bards Gathering organized by Miss Serra in Winterfell.
But yesterday was special for Huckleberry Hax' reading of his novel "afk", organized by Harriet Gaussman's Guild of UK Writers (Thursdays 3 pm SLT at Milk Wood - Scotland Inchlonaig).
Huck usually reads at a time that becomes difficult for me to follow (it is my midnight), but I had been able to listen to portions of his other novel "the day is full of birds". He writes stories set in the virtual world and they are highly enjoyable. Despite that, attending only a couple of readings and being unable to follow the plot well, I had not appreciated the full of his skills, so far.
Yesterday it was different : Huck started reading the beginning of the new novel, about a private eye in SL, and it was a great experience and huge fun. It was so easy to identify in many moments of the story, which dramatizes experiences that are so common to everybody with a bit of experience in the virtual world.
The audience was packed and everybody looked and sounded enthusiastic after the event. People stayed long after it over to talk about it. It was a great evening !
Huck's writings are available to download as PDF on his pages and I strongly suggest everybody who likes SL and and good writing to give them a try.
Happy reading
W
P.S. : Huck is reading again today at 4 SLT at Windemere
There are a number of readings or storytelling events that I try to follow semi-regularly, at least those compatible with my being in Europe.
Of course I try to follow Aianna as much as I can, for both her flagship reading of the Valley of the Ivory Swan series and the newly added Bedtime Stories.
Another event I like to to follow are Cora Hawker's readings of her thriller/horror novels at the Guild of UK Writers.
Other events I try to follow, despite being rather late, are JJ Drinkwater's monthly Story Sessions at the Falling Anvil, in Caledon Tammranoch, and, since yesterday, the new Bards Gathering organized by Miss Serra in Winterfell.
But yesterday was special for Huckleberry Hax' reading of his novel "afk", organized by Harriet Gaussman's Guild of UK Writers (Thursdays 3 pm SLT at Milk Wood - Scotland Inchlonaig).
Huck usually reads at a time that becomes difficult for me to follow (it is my midnight), but I had been able to listen to portions of his other novel "the day is full of birds". He writes stories set in the virtual world and they are highly enjoyable. Despite that, attending only a couple of readings and being unable to follow the plot well, I had not appreciated the full of his skills, so far.
Yesterday it was different : Huck started reading the beginning of the new novel, about a private eye in SL, and it was a great experience and huge fun. It was so easy to identify in many moments of the story, which dramatizes experiences that are so common to everybody with a bit of experience in the virtual world.
The audience was packed and everybody looked and sounded enthusiastic after the event. People stayed long after it over to talk about it. It was a great evening !
Huck's writings are available to download as PDF on his pages and I strongly suggest everybody who likes SL and and good writing to give them a try.
Happy reading
W
P.S. : Huck is reading again today at 4 SLT at Windemere
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
sylva
Life was not good to Sylva. She was the RL mom of JewelFire Ember, who died last February the day of her twentieth birthday. Despite her merry attitude and her warmness the loss of Jewell was probably too much for Sylva. She loved her daughter much , even giving her the love others had denied her, and now she missed her as much.
SL was not good to Sylva either. Many rumors about Jewel spoiled Sylva's experience and sometimes people were plain mean to her, even if she came to the virtual world to find some of the love the loss of Jewell had denied her. During those first days, overwhelmed by the loss of Jewell, and not yet ready to accept someone who was reminding me so closely of her, I too was probably too not warm enough with her and I'll always regret that.
Despite all that she was always a merry presence around her friends.
No mother should see her daughter leave before her. I believe Sylva could not live with that. Now it is fixed and I believe they are together and happy, in the Summer Lands, as Jewel used to say. And in peace.
W
Across the sea and far away it's waiting there for me...the shores and glades of Summer Lands, of peace and serenity.
JewelFire Ember, February 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
caledon oxbridge
Oxbridge was an amazing discovery during my circumnavigation of Winterfell and Caledon a few weeks ago.
I was sailing along the southern coast of Caledon and I started to see the buildings of this sim I did not remember I had seen before. The style of the beautiful buildings and the name, Oxbridge, left little to be imagined about what was the inspiration: a place of knowledge and learning.
During that first trip I just sailed by the place, but it was impressed in my mind, so I went back, more than once, and every time I was stunned more and more by what was created there both estethically and functionally.
Oxbridge is basically an orientation sim, intended for newbies to have a smooth introduction to the basic mechanisms of Second Life. In fact the sim is just to the west of Nova Civis Caledon, the Caledon branch of the popular New Citizen Incorporated.
Oxbridge - which looks like it is being completed these days - is organized as an University, with a number of Colleges to attend sequentially: Avatar Customization, Camera Control, Money and Business, etc. Taking these tutorial the new residents can easily learn about the activity that makes most of the day by day life of an avie
The tutorials look some of the best I have seen so far. Very well conceived and implemented. There are also a number high quality freebies related to each tutorial, that will be surely very useful to new residents.
A local branch of that outstanding institution that is the Caledon Library cannot be missing there, and there is also a residence building, where newly graduated citizens, can have a home for their first weeks.
I do not think I have to mention the beauty of the buildings and of the sim as a whole. I believe the images I am including are more than able to transfer the feeling of this wonderful place.
A fantastic accomplishment that I never get tired to visit.
... until the next time ...
W
I was sailing along the southern coast of Caledon and I started to see the buildings of this sim I did not remember I had seen before. The style of the beautiful buildings and the name, Oxbridge, left little to be imagined about what was the inspiration: a place of knowledge and learning.
During that first trip I just sailed by the place, but it was impressed in my mind, so I went back, more than once, and every time I was stunned more and more by what was created there both estethically and functionally.
Oxbridge is basically an orientation sim, intended for newbies to have a smooth introduction to the basic mechanisms of Second Life. In fact the sim is just to the west of Nova Civis Caledon, the Caledon branch of the popular New Citizen Incorporated.
Oxbridge - which looks like it is being completed these days - is organized as an University, with a number of Colleges to attend sequentially: Avatar Customization, Camera Control, Money and Business, etc. Taking these tutorial the new residents can easily learn about the activity that makes most of the day by day life of an avie
The tutorials look some of the best I have seen so far. Very well conceived and implemented. There are also a number high quality freebies related to each tutorial, that will be surely very useful to new residents.
A local branch of that outstanding institution that is the Caledon Library cannot be missing there, and there is also a residence building, where newly graduated citizens, can have a home for their first weeks.
I do not think I have to mention the beauty of the buildings and of the sim as a whole. I believe the images I am including are more than able to transfer the feeling of this wonderful place.
A fantastic accomplishment that I never get tired to visit.
... until the next time ...
W
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Audio Video
Today we have a little interlude into my RL ... no vessels and no SL memories for once .. :)
I have spent yesterday at the Top Audio & Video Show, the major fair in Italy dedicated to beautiful toys for grown up childern, from esotheric audio to Hi End Home Theaters :)
I have always been very fond of A/V: my DVD collection amounts to almost 1,000 titles (yes .. I hate the idea that they are becoming obsolete with the coming of High Definition) and I have two diffrent equipments not top of the line but good enough to make me happy.
The show has been an important moment every year for the last ten years. I can't say that it is perfect : hotel suite are not the best place to listen to equipments worth hundreds of thousands of euros, but I still love to get lost into the demos, attend seminars, listen to music beautifully reproduced or watch movies in little rooms that are theaters in their own right.
One of the best moments was the preview of the new High Definition version of Sleeping Beauty , restored and remastered to unprecedented splendor and that Disney is going to release worldwide in October. It was a great show: the images were fantastic and the audio had been perfectly remixed in multichannel. It is really incredible to think that the movie is 50 years old next January.
Another great moment - the one that actually had me writing this post - was the presentation of the Beatles Love DVD Audio. It collects many major Beatles hits remixed in multichannel. The idea of the disc arose out of a discussion of the late George Harrison (Aurora, do not faint if you are reading this! :) ) with Guy Laliberté, one of the founders of the Cirque du Soleil. The music is the soundtrack of the Love Circus of Soleil's production which is a resident show at the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas.
It was strange to listen to old classics in multichannel : I know that some of the old fans hate that disc (see some of the one star comments on the amazon page), because it is diffent from the sound they were used to, and I must confess that at the beginning it was a little strange to have all the reverberation coming from all over. But it lasted only few moments. The music was so beautiful that quickly took over and the technicalities were soon lost and only the enjoyiment was left. It was a great work of art and I loved it.
I could not visit everything in just one day : I did not have the time to visit two full floors and I missed many live events and demos and seminars, but it is always like that at these exhibits. It was great fun nevertheless :)
Only one negative point : nobody was using SL as a demo to show the beautiful High Definition panels. Who knows ... maybe next year :)
So long
W
I have spent yesterday at the Top Audio & Video Show, the major fair in Italy dedicated to beautiful toys for grown up childern, from esotheric audio to Hi End Home Theaters :)
I have always been very fond of A/V: my DVD collection amounts to almost 1,000 titles (yes .. I hate the idea that they are becoming obsolete with the coming of High Definition) and I have two diffrent equipments not top of the line but good enough to make me happy.
The show has been an important moment every year for the last ten years. I can't say that it is perfect : hotel suite are not the best place to listen to equipments worth hundreds of thousands of euros, but I still love to get lost into the demos, attend seminars, listen to music beautifully reproduced or watch movies in little rooms that are theaters in their own right.
One of the best moments was the preview of the new High Definition version of Sleeping Beauty , restored and remastered to unprecedented splendor and that Disney is going to release worldwide in October. It was a great show: the images were fantastic and the audio had been perfectly remixed in multichannel. It is really incredible to think that the movie is 50 years old next January.
Another great moment - the one that actually had me writing this post - was the presentation of the Beatles Love DVD Audio. It collects many major Beatles hits remixed in multichannel. The idea of the disc arose out of a discussion of the late George Harrison (Aurora, do not faint if you are reading this! :) ) with Guy Laliberté, one of the founders of the Cirque du Soleil. The music is the soundtrack of the Love Circus of Soleil's production which is a resident show at the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas.
It was strange to listen to old classics in multichannel : I know that some of the old fans hate that disc (see some of the one star comments on the amazon page), because it is diffent from the sound they were used to, and I must confess that at the beginning it was a little strange to have all the reverberation coming from all over. But it lasted only few moments. The music was so beautiful that quickly took over and the technicalities were soon lost and only the enjoyiment was left. It was a great work of art and I loved it.
I could not visit everything in just one day : I did not have the time to visit two full floors and I missed many live events and demos and seminars, but it is always like that at these exhibits. It was great fun nevertheless :)
Only one negative point : nobody was using SL as a demo to show the beautiful High Definition panels. Who knows ... maybe next year :)
So long
W
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
the Fighting Star
I have purchased a new ship recently, and as customary in my Star Fleet, after the Star of Christmas and the Morning Star I named her Fighting Star.
It can be classified as a sloop-of-war, a single deck, 12 guns SPD ship, enabled for battle in RP sims.
I have been in a couple of battles as a guest in a pirate region on a similar ship, and it was great fun. The ship takes damage and it becomes more and more difficult to pilot as the damage increases. At the end it is just sitting duck with no other alternative but to take more hits and sink :)
It will take time before I'll be able to take her into battle though. Beside the fact that a crew is required (at least two gunners beside the skipper, even if six people can be accommodated), even for casual cruises she is very difficult to sail. The maneuvers are very realistic : it works with wind, one must be able to work the sails appropriately and a minimum of speed must be maintained to be able to turn.
I have recently started to read Patrick O'Brian's adventures of Jack Audrey and I realized that many frustrating behaviors of the ship (difficulties to turn her, space required to maneuver, etc) are exactly the same that in the books are described for RL sailships between the XVIII and XIX centuries. It made me appreciate even more the wonderful work of the author of this line of ship : Chase Speculaas
So far I have customized her little just adding the Winterfell flag, but I think I'll work a bit more on her textures, so to have the feeling it is my own :)
There is also another model I like a lot ... hmmm I have already the name ready : Running Star :))
As I said ... lot of fun ! :))
Cheers
W
It can be classified as a sloop-of-war, a single deck, 12 guns SPD ship, enabled for battle in RP sims.
I have been in a couple of battles as a guest in a pirate region on a similar ship, and it was great fun. The ship takes damage and it becomes more and more difficult to pilot as the damage increases. At the end it is just sitting duck with no other alternative but to take more hits and sink :)
It will take time before I'll be able to take her into battle though. Beside the fact that a crew is required (at least two gunners beside the skipper, even if six people can be accommodated), even for casual cruises she is very difficult to sail. The maneuvers are very realistic : it works with wind, one must be able to work the sails appropriately and a minimum of speed must be maintained to be able to turn.
I have recently started to read Patrick O'Brian's adventures of Jack Audrey and I realized that many frustrating behaviors of the ship (difficulties to turn her, space required to maneuver, etc) are exactly the same that in the books are described for RL sailships between the XVIII and XIX centuries. It made me appreciate even more the wonderful work of the author of this line of ship : Chase Speculaas
So far I have customized her little just adding the Winterfell flag, but I think I'll work a bit more on her textures, so to have the feeling it is my own :)
There is also another model I like a lot ... hmmm I have already the name ready : Running Star :))
As I said ... lot of fun ! :))
Cheers
W
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
old winterfell memories
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts the rate of changes in SL is very fast, weeks feel like months and months feel like years. Familiar landscapes, if not full sims, can be gone in the space of hours.
This is very true also for my home region of Winterfell, where many changes have taken place, expecially, but not limited to, the village in the original Winterfell sim.
A few days ago I was looking at old images I have taken over the months and I started to play a bit with GIMP, using the old photo filter. I did like the effect: it gave a nice feeling of the passing of time, expecially those images displaying places that have gone.
After a while I began to think that a few of those images, and mostly the no longer exitings views, were worth being displayed, so I though it was a good idea to organize an exhibit.
Hence, starting from next Sunday, September 14, and for the two following weeks these images will be on display in my Bright Star Gallery in Winterfell Laudanum.
The pictures will free to copy together with a thinC catalog of the images. Should anybody like them the original textures will be available from me.
I hope others will like the images in the same way I like them :)
So long
W
Monday, September 8, 2008
bedtime stories
Aianna, with the cooperation of Danielle, who had the original idea, has started a new series of readings in the Tiny Village of Aurora Town. Instead of reading her own works, this time she is reading classical fairytales. The event has been titled Bedtme Stories to remind all of us of the happy time when someone was reading us fairytales before sleep
She started yesterday with Sleepy Beauty, Snow-White and Red-Rose and Tom Thumb. Aianna reads the very old original versions, sometimes different from and darker than the ones cortoons have made us accustomed to.
Yesterday it was great fun (by the way, there was a PJ dress code to be consistent with the bedtime theme :) ) and the event will repeat every Sunday at 5pm SLT
She started yesterday with Sleepy Beauty, Snow-White and Red-Rose and Tom Thumb. Aianna reads the very old original versions, sometimes different from and darker than the ones cortoons have made us accustomed to.
Yesterday it was great fun (by the way, there was a PJ dress code to be consistent with the bedtime theme :) ) and the event will repeat every Sunday at 5pm SLT
Saturday, September 6, 2008
sailing in Southern Caledon
I am once again circumnavigating Caledon together with Mykyl, this time taking a clockwise tour and always sailing the outer borders of the region. Desipite some narrow passages along the external edges of the sims we did not have major troubles except for a single place in Lovelace there the water was not deep enough and it was necessary to cheat a little.
It is incredible how much beauty can be still discovered, even after months of explorations. The images shown here were taken between Caledon Oxforbridge and Cymru
It is incredible how much beauty can be still discovered, even after months of explorations. The images shown here were taken between Caledon Oxforbridge and Cymru
virtual library
I love books. I have always loved books and I am not happy without a book nearby. The first weeks of my virtual life have been spent visiting book related sites :)
When I saw the anobii badge (here to the right of the page) in another blog I decided that I wanted it :)
So I created an account and I slowly started filling it. The most efficient way to create one's virtual library is to enter the ISBN numbers, but in order to do so one must have the books available, so I'll have to tour the places where my books are a few times in order to have all online :)
Of course there are all the usual bunch of features that permit to create a social network, making friends, writing comments, joining groups, etc. It is a really nice service and any book geek should have an account ! :)
When I saw the anobii badge (here to the right of the page) in another blog I decided that I wanted it :)
So I created an account and I slowly started filling it. The most efficient way to create one's virtual library is to enter the ISBN numbers, but in order to do so one must have the books available, so I'll have to tour the places where my books are a few times in order to have all online :)
Of course there are all the usual bunch of features that permit to create a social network, making friends, writing comments, joining groups, etc. It is a really nice service and any book geek should have an account ! :)
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