HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!

GONG XI FA CAI!!!!

It's Chinese New Year's Eve and as someone who has some Asian heritage, this becomes a HUGE celebration for my family. So I sort of combined my (terrible) GIMP skills with my (equally terrible) in game photo skills and did a photo shoot at one of the most beautiful Sims I know, The Shinzen Japanese Garden at the Yosemite Sim made by the incredibly talented Jadyn Firehawk. Now I understand that TECHNICALLY this is a Japanese Garden and not a Chinese garden but...well...tough...work with me a little here you critical people!!!!!

I honestly didn't think this in world photography business was going to be so...time consuming and...demanding of my time and resources. When I first had the thought to just take a photo, I simply assumed I would pop into a place, whack off a couple of shots...DONE! I did not take into account that BEFORE I actually took ANY photos, I had to:
1.  Choose a location
2. Ask permission from the owner to be able to take photos there
3.  Get together an outfit
4.  Have a meltdown about outfit at least 5 times before just choosing one...any one.
5.  Accessorize. SERIOUSLY!!! What is going ON here?!?!?!?
6.  Have another meltdown because it all looks ridiculous
7.  Give up in exasperation at my complete lack of fashion skills and just teleport to the location already.
8. Trample all around the location in aforementioned ridiculous outfit (as there are no change rooms onsite, it was a case of wearing what I was going to be photographed in) seeking out picturesque locations

...and THEN....I spent AGES setting up each shot, waiting for the right pose to kick in, waiting for my facial animations to kick in, fiddling with lighting, putting the lighting settings back to what they originally were before taking MULTIPLE PHOTOS of which I would eventually only pick about a dozen. And of that dozen, I whittled them down to the four you see here. <deep breath>

So... I was first introduced to the Yosemite Sim through a member of the group, Ch'Know. I was looking for scenic Sims to wander around in and am so glad I was pointed in the direction of this Sim. Jadyn has not only left a plethora of gorgeous gifts EVERYWHERE for people to enjoy free of charge, but also has made some truly beautiful areas as well as some really fun places to visit. I have been base jumping off sky high platforms (don't ask...there was a lot of screaming involved...there may have been tears...I am a sook about heights even in virtual reality), I have gone galloping through fields on horseback, I I wandered trails up mountains and down valleys and have also sat quietly in peaceful places.  There is information about the RL Yosemite National Park in the visitors centre as well as more free gifts, prints and even a 3D map of the sim. If you are looking for a little holiday spot in beautiful surrounds with lots to do, there are even some gorgeous little cabins at really reasonable prices or homes in the Japanese village for rent. 

On top of all this, Jadyn runs a non-profit foundation. The mission statement reads, "The Pixel To Pixel Foundation's mission is to assist people in Second Life who are on disability. By granting them weekly Linden-dollar stipends, we help to make it possible for them to have homes, buy things, and pursue creative interests in SL that they might not otherwise be able to afford."

A truly worthy cause, a wonderfully talented and creative woman and a breathtakingly gorgeous Sim with so much to give, mentally, spiritually, virtually and really.  Thank you Jadyn, for your vision. And on that note...onto the pics! 

(Please note that all of the following pictures have not been altered with a third party program, Only the very first photo at the top was altered using GIMP to include text. The following photos are taken using the in Second Life camera tools.) 

SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yosemite/193/64/25

Head: CATWA head - Cami from the Mainstore

Hair:  CATWA hair - Leah Bounce from the Mainstore

Headpiece: Tribal Tiara Ember v.2 by MadMacit in the Marketplace

Body: Maitreya Lara from the Mainstore

Dress: Ex-Cheongasm Oriental Style Dress - Black with red and gold detailing by EXTAL in the Marketplace

Armband: Saturn Brass Bangles by TwosistersTreasureGirl in the Marketplace

Earrings: Saturn Brass Earrings by TwosistersTreasureGirl in the Marketplace

Shoes: .:KC:. KENDRA in the Marketplace

10. Fighting the prejudice of bad press

Ok...let's just get this out there. Second Life has a terrible reputation. Whenever I mention it to gamer friends I am met with snickers and innuendo. Comments like, "Second Life? Sexy life!", "Are you going to get all furry now or turn into a Bronie?" Seriously...sometimes I think people get stuck in adolescence and ignorance. Most of these people have never set foot inside Second Life. All they have to base their opinions on is gossip and rumour and press from YEARS ago. 

So I would like to dispel these rumours for my readers. SECOND LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT. When you close your mind with ignorance and prejudice you miss out on the truly beautiful and wonderful and amazing and GENEROUS gifts that other people have brought to the world. 

You miss out on the fairytale

You miss out on learning

You miss out on the quiet moments in beautiful places

You miss out on the laugh out loud ridiculous

You miss out on the creative thoughts of other people

You miss out on classic references 

And you miss out on the opportunity to look at the world in a different way

I don't care about other peoples sexual practices. Each to their own and what happens between consenting adults is absolutely none of my business. For me, Secondlife is so much more than the sensationalised bad press that people seem to want to hold on to. I hope that by showing you the world through my eyes, that you will also look at it in a different way and maybe, you too will see the people behind the avatars and the wonder in all that was dreamed and delivered by these incredible people, past, present and wherever the future may take us.

9. Byrd Island

This Sim is done by LICK Sim designs and it is exquisite. Excuse me if I gush a little but this is the first Sim I have been to (that wasn't an art installation) that I have loved every moment, from the time I landed to the time I regretfully teleported away. The music was laid back and moody which perfectly fit the ambience of this Place. The lighting, the effects….the BIRDS. You just can't help but wonder what happened to the inhabitants of this house.

You teleport in on a jetty overlooking a beautiful bay. As you walk off the jetty you come across an old rickety wooden elevator and a ladder. I chose the ladder and climbed to the top of the sim, turned around and physically gasped in real life. The scene was so….Jane Austen. I wish I'd worn more Austenesque clothes but there was no way I was going to get changed now (That and I don't have any!). Tearing myself away from the view, I walked a short distance and spent some time just sitting on a lovely bench and admiring the view. The sun going down, the muted colours, the gentle music playing in the background…it was just so peaceful.

I walked through fields of long grasses and wildflowers. Sat quietly and watched the birds circling overhead. Explored houses that were beautifully and tastefully decorated in old farmhouse styles and left as if their occupants had just disappeared suddenly.

In one house I had an Edgar Allen Poe moment and had to read "The Raven" all over again...

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, 
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. 
"Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this and nothing more." ~Edgar Allen Poe  

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour. Nothing further then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered— Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before— Then the bird said “Nevermore.” ~Edgar Allen Poe

This Sim has been taken down now. Such is the transient nature of some of the most beautiful places in Second life. However, LICK is currently in the process of making a new Sim and I for one can't wait to see it.

Refs:

Poetry Foundation. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/48860

6. On the Trail of DanCoyote

(PLEASE NOTE: I have not reproduced images of any of Dancoyote's art because I did not have permission. But if you check out the articles and websites below or even do a google search, you will see LOTS of images of his work)

I have to admit to this.... Dancoyote Antonelli is one of the reasons I started a Second Life account and I am a squealy fangirl. THERE it’s said and it’s out there. Now you can all just take your superior hats of judgement and go sit on them elsewhere <GLARE>

For those of you who do not know...Dancoyote Antonelli is a LEGEND! You heard me...LEGEND!!!!! OK... before I go off on waves of bliss and have to hyperventilate into a bag again, let me tell you a little about Dancoyote and why I admire him so.  You may as well find a comfy chair and some popcorn because this may take a little while...

Dancoyote Antonelli is the Second Life avatar of D C Spensley. I first came across him when I was doing a bit of research into virtual art and I came across this gem of an article, which actually led me into exploring second life art more closely and in turn getting an avatar and account myself. 

1. Dancoyote was one of the people who made being an artist serious and relevant in SL. Now THAT is a polarising statement so please let me explain.  The economy for artists was very low and Art for Art’s sake was not really a viable career choice for Artists in world. DC brought about a new push in world for art being one offs instead of reproductions. If you brought a DC it was an original and there were no others like it.

2.  He started an ART MOVEMENT. Hyperformalism. It is the classical use of abstraction and formalism in a hyper reality state. http://www.dancoyote.com/?page_id=17

3.  Zero G Sky Dancers!!!!!  What incredibly inspired and inspiring art.  This took performance and installation art to a whole new level of ecstatic awe. If you have never seen it, do a search on Youtube and WATCH it then sit down and have a weep with me because neither of us got to see it as it played out in world.

So, like a super sleuth, I traced the history of Dancoyote and watched it unfold before my eyes. From the beginnings when Ars Simulcra tempted him into the world. I got angry when someone tried stealing his art. I laughed out loud and joyously when he had a script commissioned to stop that. I watched the rise and rise of the Skydancers and the explosion of articles that proliferated from the success of this incredible talent.

There was one last post in 2013 and then...

...silence.

And I thought he had gone from Second Life forever.  It felt like DC was Willy Wonka and he was closing the doors of his chocolate factory.  My heart broke a little and I mourned for the loss of a beautiful story unfinished and a joy that had been and passed into the meta....

But then....this....

DanCoyote Antonelli, Thank you for your donation of $L1000.

This footprint...

This clue...

This hope of a story yet to be told and a wonder yet to be seen...

Dancoyote had been HERE.

Refs:

SLurls:

Community Virtual Library

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/49/120/27
Second Life Profile Dancoyote Antonelli
https://my.secondlife.com/dancoyote.antonelli

Websites:
DanCoyote The Sixth Finger
http://www.dancoyote.com/
The Artworld Market Report Dancoyote Exhibition
http://minskyreport.com/dancoyote.htm
Dancoyote Antonelli Seondlife Wiki Fandom
http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Dancoyote_Antonelli
Not Possible IRL: Dancoyote Antonelli
http://npirl.blogspot.com.au/2007/10/dancoyote-antonelli-overcomes-real-life.html

Journal Articles
The Fibreculture Journal 11. Art and (Second) Life: Over the Hills and Far Away?
http://eleven.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-070-art-and-second-life-over-the-hills-and-far-away/

4. The First 5 Days in the Second Life of Mangrovejane Part 4

Day 5.  Time to build. What shall I build? Got to start somewhere. Lets start with a box....

Handy Dandy BASIC Informational Interlude while building.....

Prims

The basic building blocks using the in world building tools are called Primitives or prims. They are three dimensional shapes that can be pushed, pulled, stretched, rotated, skewed, sliced...they can be given new textures, made transparent, be made to glow. They can be given physics in order to move in certain ways and each prim has a weight in the world. 

Some things are measured in prims. Land for instance, is measured not just in size but also in the amount of weight in prims it can hold.  This has been since superseded by the measurement Land Impact (LI), however, a rough rule of thumb here is that 1 prim = 1 LI (unless linked to other prims and then the formula gets a bit complicated and I am still unsure of that so I am certainly not going to try to explain that right now). 

In the past few years, mesh has become a really popular way of building, especially with clothes.  You will see a lot of mesh furniture and landscaping items as well for a number of reasons but one of the most useful applications when you are watching your LI value, is that you can make very low LI and prim value items with mesh as well as making them more finely detailed and realistic looking. These are usually made using third party programs such as Maya and Blender  and uploaded into the world using some sort of computery type magic that once again, I am not knowledgeable enough to talk about at the moment. ;) 

And one last thing, there are two really important groups in world that I found who are incredibly helpful and active and do not mind at all if you ask the most basic questions that they have probably heard a million times before (blush) and who also run building classes and games (like Primtionary, a game similar to Pictionary but instead of drawing, you build your word with prims!)...they are Builders Brewery and Ivory Tower of Primitives. If you get in world and you want to build anything at all, do a search for them in groups and JOIN. The SLurls to their sims are listed below in the references. 

...4 hours later

Ok I ended up with a MONOLITH .  I took photos and then accidentally ripped the base off. Yup. THAT happened.  Because of course none of my pieces were actually linked up together like when you build textboxes and clip art together in word in a lovely and artistic way and then have to group them together so they stay together.  <sigh> Then I spent a lot of time trying to fiddle it back on. 

With a LOT of help from the lovely people in the Builders Brewery Group, I managed to get all my bits linked up and packed away. So now I give you....PRIM AND PROPER! TA DA!!!

Prim and Proper

You’re impressed. I can tell. And amused because it’s all made out of prims...and its prim and proper...get it? GET IT?!!! Oh nvm....

Refs:

SLurls

Builders Brewery Sim and School 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Builders%20Brewery/144/197/24

Ivory Tower of Primitives

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Natoma/210/164/28

Articles

Second Life Knowledge Base: Build Tools

https://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Build-Tools/ta-p/700039

Second Life Wiki Articles:  Good Building Practises

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Good_Building_Practices 

Videos

Basic Building Tutorial for Second Life Part 1 (of 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYAItoufobA

Basic Building Tutorial for Second Life Part 2 (of 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBR9mZ61W8s

3. The First 5 Days in the Second Life of Mangrovejane Part 3.

You know who I am and why I am here by now. If you don't, go back and read Posts 1 & 2 ya big slacker! Let's get started shall we....

Days 3 and 4.  Now what am I going to do? I have NO idea and no Money. Where are the quest markers? Where are the directions for where to go and what should happen? Why is it so hard to move around ANYWHERE? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?!?!??!?!?! I may have hyperventilated into a bag a few times.  I am a girl that likes goals and structure. I thrive with something to aim towards and a plan to get there.   This was not at all that and I was not at all thriving. So I did what I would usually do in real life when faced with a fork in the road of my life, I point my steel capped boots in a direction and stomp off down the road.

This turned this day and the next into the best and least embarrassing days of them all to date.

I started looking for art galleries and installations. I used the in game search feature combined with my old friend google. I read some blogs, got some ideas and off I went. I spent two days lost in a haze of, “OMG” and “HOLY MACARENAS!!!!” and <jaw on the floor>.

I visited worlds that were surrealist installations, I visited galleries that housed contemporary art works done by people far more talented than I and galleries that held traditional works from classic artists. 

I visited the Musee de Louvre.  

Musee de Louvre

I saw an incredible world that was a pop art gallery of the Artist De Moya 

Moya Land

and was blown away by a trippy Ars Simulcra installation world. 

Ars Simulcra entrance

I sighed that I had missed DC Spensley’s, “ Sky Dancers”  by two years and that I had missed Bryn Oh’s, “ Singularity of Kumiko” by less than a month. I was inspired and thrilled. I couldn’t wait to see the next world and the next after that. I bookmarked them all with plans to return to each one and really LOOK at every little thing and every little detail. 

University of Western Australia Second Life Campus

I visited university campuses. The University of Western Australia where parts of the actual university campus have been recreated in Second Life and where they hold classes and exhibit the students art works. The University of Texas San Antonio (aka UTSA Tejano Tech) that also holds revolving art exhibits of their students work in their ultramodern looking gallery that dominates the world that holds smaller installations all over.

In the back of my mind a small thought grew and with that thought a smile. I wrote that thought into my Masters proposal draft and dreamed dreams that seemed way too big and smiled a smile that was way too joyful and went to sleep seeing a new reality building itself in my mind.

Refs: 
SLurls

Musee de Louvre 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Paris%20Couture/38/93/22 

Moya Land 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moya%20Land/4/130/22 

Ars Simulcra 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ars%20Simulacra/159/128/1773 

University of Western Australia http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/University%20of%20WA/72/226/25 

UTSA (University of Texas San Antonio)
l http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/TejanoTech/110/38/67

Weblogs
Bryn Oh 
http://brynoh.blogspot.com.au/ 

2. The First 5 Days in the Second Life of Mangrovejane Part 2

I am a real life artist who has never dealt with digital art. I have never even used photoshop. I really like the feeling of a pen scratching over paper or the physical aspects of putting together a large installation. 

So WHY Second Life I hear you asking. Well...I was exploring the nature of reality and playing with the idea of virtualities and virtual worlds as platforms for Art and Second Life came up the most in the articles I was reading. There are other places...Inworldz,and IMVU for instance, but I didn't just want a social platform (which is what IMVU appears to be) and Inworldz at the moment does not compete population wise. Even though Second Life has been around for 13 years now, it has kept up and still holds a decent population base. (For a more thorough history and timeline check out Daniel Voyager's Blog post Recap of Second Life History 1999 to 2013 or The History of Second Life Wiki)

And because I couldn't really wrap my head around what a virtual installation would look like or how a simulation like Second life actually functioned in a cultural, creative, philosophical and economic sense,I read some more about it, asked some people....and here I am at...

Day 2. The Social Factor. With all the bad press about the sexual exploits of Second Life and the sordid tales of my teenage son telling me all about sexual practices I would rather have not known about at all ringing loudly in my ears the very first interaction I had with someone as I stood in a beginners area called Caledon went something like this...

Random Lovely Person: Hi! 

Me: (hesitates for a very long time before cautiously typing) Hi 

Random Lovely Person: I see you are new. Can I help you with anything? 

Me: NO! I’m fine! All good here!! No worries at all!!!! Thanks anyway!!! BYE NOW!!! 

Random Lovely person: OK. Well if you need anything at all, let me know. I am here to help.

U-huh. I was just congratulating myself on getting through my first social exchange without being recruited as a sex slave in a BDSM parlour and reading through the tutorials on how to change my clothes when the next thing I knew I was naked. Not just a little bit naked...but naked as the day I was born naked.

Now, just to make this obvious for those of you who have never been here before, some zones in Second Life are strictly NO NUDITY ZONES.   I was clearly in one of those zones.  There were large signs everywhere telling people to keep their clothes on.  There were also signs telling vampires not to bite people too but that is by the by....I could feel the blush on my real life face. I frantically rattled through my inventory searching for clothes to throw on while simultaneously trying to read the signs telling me how to put clothes on when this exchange happened...

Another random lovely person:  Hi there. Is there any way I can help you today?

Me: Errrmmmm ummmmmmmm I appear to be naked. I am terribly sorry for my unclothed state. I am trying to put clothes on. Please don’t throw me out naked into the world. I was just trying to change my clothes as per the instructions on your board and....well....nakedness. 

Another random lovely person:  Yes, You do in fact appear to have no clothes on. Would you like to hop into a dressing room? It is more private there. 

Me:  I don’t know what they look like but I think I know how to put a shirt on....(fumbles around the settings a whole lot and manages to take off my skin) 

Another random lovely person:  No worries...Let me help you....

And that lovely person gave me quick step by step instructions on how to put my clothes back on. After which I thanked him very nicely and left very quickly. 

New Caledon Oxbridge University 

Refs:
New Caledon Oxbridge University SLurl
 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge/92/193/27
Daniel Voyager, Recap of Second Life History 1999 - 2013 https://danielvoyager.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/recap-of-second-life-history-so-far/ 
Second Life Wiki - History of Second Life http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/History_of_Second_Life 

1. The First 5 days in the Second Life of Mangrovejane Part 1 (or a really long blog post in 4 parts...you pick the title)

Well hello there! How YOU doing? 

I guess I should introduce myself and tell you what I am doing here. My online name for as long as I have been online is Mangrovejane. You know...like the fish, Mangrove Jack only the female version. I chose this name a long time ago because at the time I was studying Environmental Science and had a great love for Mangroves. Yes. The trees. Don't make me justify that. Just accept it. 

I am an artist. And an arts worker. A creator of Fantastical Things. An explorer of virtualities and a philosopher on the nature of realities.  I am currently in the process of applying for postgraduate studies in Art. I'll let you know how that goes ;) 

So....after reading a number of journal articles about art in a simulated online world called, "Second Life" and thinking about my Masters Proposal I came up with this BRILLIANT (ridiculous) idea of starting my own second life avatar to see what this was all about and whether it would actually be possible for me to make the mental leap from real life art to virtual art.  I was also insatiably curious about what Art and Art Galleries and installations LOOKED like in Second Life.  It is one thing to read about it and be told, but when you are in there...immersed into the simulation things are often very different.

So what have the past 5 days been like for me? To quote a song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...

“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination......”

Second Life Birthdate 25 August 2016
Starting Area

Day 1.  Make my avatar and play tutorial. No worries. Piece of cake.  I am not a gaming noob. I have played the Sims! I have an active WOW account! Nope. Turns out, I am an idiot AND a noob. 

I chose a standard avatar. One with Tattoos and glasses....YEAH BABY! Actually...I have tattoos and glasses and stupid hair in real life. I may have just picked me.  Yup...I could have chosen to be Ms. Sexy McSexpot but nooo....I choose awkward nerdy socially maladjusted woman.

<sigh> As my son said, "Just as boring in your second life as you are in your first life..." <glare> Thanks son. 

So, the first thing after choosing my avatar and pondering the psychological implications of that, was to get through the tutorial.  Now, I should mention that they make tutorials easy for a reason. They WANT you to be able to get through learning the most basic things without feeling like you are a complete noob so you keep on playing.   I should also mention here that I have NEVER been good at jumping in games. Not ever. I feel like it is my disability. So when confronted with a test to jump over three gaps in a walkway during the tutorial, I had a small panic attack and then proceeded to fail 62 times. Yes...you read that correctly I said SIXTY TWO TIMES. I am not only jumping impaired, I am excruciatingly stubborn.

And once I had finally made my way out of the tutorial and got thrown into a place called social island, overwhelmed and exhausted from all that jumping around, my first day in my second life ended. 

Ref: 
Second Life  www.secondlife.com