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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Old Second Life Art

Riding the Wasp at Svarga
There is art and old art in Second Life and the old art uses the original primitives only and it also has been in Second Life for many, many years!  Svarga translates as heaven and Svarga is a haven for newbies who don't wish to hang out at clubs while the get their Second Life feet.

The Svarga, that I revisited last night, is not the exact same sim that I saw when I first came into Second Life, as that sim closed and either reopened under new management or the original sim owner didn't include it's elevator to the stars when he put the sim back up! However, my trip back "home" to Svarga was a pilgrimage of mixed emotions.  This was a happy place and to come back to it by myself made me sad!

A Sky Elf hiding in the foliage
Svarga is a great example of the art of building in SL; using only the basic building blocks to make everything that you see from the trees, rocks, flowers, ponds, and sea, this Island represents the earliest of the sim building techniques in Second Life, there are no flexiprims, no mesh, and no sculpties.

There are however, brilliant examples of architecture, textures, and imagination! There is an old time cave, damaged Stargate, SL library, mediation room, particle effects, including moving flowers, light, fire, and fireflies, statuary, and an automated ride around the sim while you are told a short story of the Island.  There is a special building which features the original set of Elven drums.  There is a well that will tell your fortune if you make a wish and toss L$25 into it!

New skyline for Svarga using the Environmental editor
Although this sim celebrates old primitives, the pictures were taken with the new environmental editor for the sky and water, making it look like a new sim!  Most of the pictures were taken at night under a very romantic moon, but some of them were taken at night, morning, and under foggy skies.

As a photographer in search of the Picture Perfect Second Life, the environmental editor is addictive to use and makes you take a lot more pictures then you ever plan on.

Svarga is a photographers paradise and this reviewer gives it two thumbs up!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Dancing in Second Life

Dance like nobody's looking is a great piece of advice and in Second Life everyone can dance!  However, the magic in our dancing can be contributed to the talented Scripters who create poseballs, dance Heads Up Displays, (HUDs), and animations.

Dancing is a bit different in then in Real Life.  In order to animate our pixels you have to have a set of commands to move that pixel body!  Those commands are supplied by scripts and stuffed into poseballs.  The avie then hops on the poseball and dances.

Dancing using my Huddles HUD
Another set of instructions are put into a HUD and attaches to your computer screen and then you can animate your own avie and up to six other avatars with dances from your HUD!  

Additionally, the dance animations are made up of a series of movements some as small as putting your hands in the air or side stepping. These movements are created in an animation software, uploaded to Second Life, where you can purchase them and put them into your HUD.

Where do you go to dance?  Why any club in Second Life have dance floors, private homes, and whenever you get Ruthed!  

Although we are only pixels you can be surprised by the romance in dancing with your sweetie!  Enjoy your perfect dance moves!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Music

Music is the oldest art form; our Mothers and Fathers sang to us and maybe to each other, and we sing to our own children, and grand kids; we pay to attend concerts, operas, and enjoy free concerts in the park.

In Second Life, the first set of musical instruments that I saw were the Elven drum and wind instruments.  The first club that newbies went to was The Edge.  We enjoy concerts, theater, and ballets. 

Mankind Tracer performance at Sweet Whispers
You can find many types of music genres in Second Life and you might enjoy them and you may not.  There are DJs and live performers, such as Mankind Tracer and so many different types of clubs: women only and men only clubs, vampire and goth clubs, furry and "other" clubs, men and women clubs, strip clubs, dungeons, and casinos; and all have music.

There are clubs catering to jazz, easy listening, pop, steampunk, goth and death metal, rock-n-roll, classical, country western, country rock, opera, house, and much more in the clubs across Second Life.

Some clubs do not care what you wear, but places like Avalon, ladies must be in ball gowns and gents in suits, tuxedos or formal dress from yesteryear!

The most famous and the oldest rock club in Second Life is "The Edge" this club welcomes newbies and oldies alike to enjoy dancing and music.  The Edge closed for a while, but it's now reopened a great place to rock out with your friends!

Mankind Tracer - Live Performance

I had the privileged of seeing Mankind Tracer perform at Sweet Whispers he has a great voice and sang easy listening tunes both popular and his own music.  The performer links into the sims radio stream and performs live, singing and in Mankind's instance playing the guitar beautifully!  Mankind takes request, but you must choose something off his playlist, which is listed at the venue!

Mankind has performed for five years in Second Life and has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 for Outstanding Contributions to Second Life.

In real life, Mankind Tracer is Seth Regan and his music can be found on his website, Itunes, Amazon.com, etc.  He is music style is mellow and romantic.  His concert would be a great place to take your sweetie for a special night out on the town!

Music is part of our Second Life and thanks to the many venues that support live performers such as Sweet Whispers, everyone can enjoy great performances!

Author's Note:  Clubs filled with lots of people, are also full of lag, but it's so worth it!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Highlight Tour of Second Life Art Galleries, Part 2.5

The floor of the first floor at Crossworld Gallery
Crossworld Gallery

The next stop on my art tour is Crossworld Gallery and it lives up to its name by having over thirteen floors of Real Life and Second Life artwork. The Second Life fantasy artwork of Gee Noel is spectacular! 

Pixivore Allen display's her RL acrylic paintings of lush, vibrant flowers painted from her travels in Asia and Africa. At first, you think that the flowers are second life, but upon closer inspection, just fabulous paintings!  Kirle Adamski is a RL artist and uses watercolor as her medium and the colors and style are vibrant, abstract and lovely!  My new fantastic discovery is Sledge Roffo his artwork is called primigary and it's absolutely beautiful!  The colors are stunning and wonderful!  His artwork is located on the fifteenth floor!

Julia Gray uses people as part of her artwork blending them in as part of the scene, these brilliant paintings can be found on the forth floor and is an absolute treat to view!  Right around the corner from Julia are fantastic paintings of jungle animals in vibrant colors and majesty by Gamini Ratnavira.

The gallery itself is made up of floating spheres above the sim. The floors are styled differently giving them a distinct flavor to match the paintings and their artists.  One portion of the floor is clear allowing you a glimpse of that is below!  (My favorite type of floor!)

Art of Destiny, Crossworld Gallery
In my personal opinion, no art gallery is truly complete without beautiful, relaxing gardens.  My visitation to the Art of Destiny gardens were wonderful!  Your TP'ed facing two huge replicas of the "Lord of the Rings" statues on either side of the stream and so begins a great time of taking Picture Perfect Second Life photos!

Crossworld Gallery has a variety of artists using many different mediums such as:  oil, acrylic, watercolor, digital media, 3D, scripted/interactive, ink and pencil, stained glass, and photography to name a few.   There is also a wide use of styles such as:  contemporary, abstract, post-modern impressionism to list make a very short list.  This Gallery is not to be missed and get two thumbs up!

Author's Note:  This is a gallery virtually lag free!

Another Note from the Author:  This gallery closed on January 3, 2012.