So after less than 3 days of settling in three new neighbours appear and who are these folk? I was creating a nice place, blending in with the environment and I haven’t managed to get time to find the new neighbours online to chat to them. But my word their places leave a lot to be desired. The first one is just between me and the sci-fi sim, a platform mall floating off the ground and what are they selling? Slustler, this worlds erotic magazine.

Wonderful. Something blending in with the surroundings and creating a community - not! And what of other developments in this short time. In this world where you can build anywhere without recourse - so some of the other close neighbours decided to build on the left mountains, all fifty or so of them on disorganised tiny plots, bit of a mess. Oh and remember that nice view I had down the bay a few days ago well someone has built a lovely place on the ocean, not around the bay but in it! Right in sight. Arghh…

Not that it is a bad build just totally inappropriate sitting right in the middle of the sea. Where are the architects, the community planners, land management? If this is progress in 3 days I don’t bear to think what a few weeks will bring.  The only course of action would seem to be the obligatory island. Still angry at these first few residents, be careful what you don’t wish for! Here is the reverse shot for reference. Anyway should be fun watching the rest of the developments for a while.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt inside Second Life

Categories: Environments, Residential, Second Life, Sent In-World, Virtual Worlds
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Well that was a short series of posts about looking for a new plot, after a couple of hours of searching it just appeared? Literally. As I was flying around in my land hunting jetpack I spotted a whole range of new land growing beneath me and not far from this a whole range of fresh new ‘for sale’ plots. How does this happen? Makes you almost believe in an invisible, mystical force connecting us all together that also has power over nature. Anyway back to the land. So I was after a great view (for the glass/grantite house I have customised), next to the sea, especially flying out over the sea from the house, and low lag. Oh and on a hill. Well would you believe it. Just look at this.

After a lengthy coversation about protected ocean, terraforming and developments with a lady from the ever present AnsheChung agency, I looked at a couple of nearby plots but was drawn back to this. Exactly same size and prim allowance as my old one but $10k less, plus I made a $10k profit. I was so excited I quickly erected a couple of big builds. The avie energy here is soooo fast. No one around for miles None of that city lag. The wind blows up the pass and the sailing is going to be great. Looking back from the sea you can see the lovely location.

Great for walks and I think I will do a time-lapse type sequence to show how it grows from these early views to being over-populated - to the point I have to leave again. Suppose after all the strange houses it will be the first mall and club appearing that will signal time to move yet again! Bit annoying all this but that’s progress I suppose. If that ‘cosmic force’ can keep making more land then I will just have to keep searching for new pastures. Anyway should be enjoying this moment of freedom (although Esperance is not too bad yet) here is the view now from the music top floor.

Lovely at sunrise. Might put the bed in here too The second floor is TV and large sofa (when I can find it again in my inventory), the bottom floor meeting and large real fire for those cold evenings. I have spotted some very. very interesting neighbours. Well they are actually a whole sim away. The one adjacent is called “The Sci-Fi Sim” and it is full of wonderful ‘modern’ buildings and transport. Will definitely be going for a walk at the weekend to check that out. The place is so tranquil I stimulates the creative juices. I also put up a quick gazebo on the lower level after I quickly terraformed three land tiers down to the sea - in fact less than an hour after buying, all the land and this was set-up, including the furniture. So quick. The area near the gazebo below will be my weekend morning relax area, reading the latest SL journals and listening to the morning birds. A few flowers, plants and perhaps a hammock. Nearly home sweet home.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Environments, Residential, Second Life, Sent In-World, Virtual Worlds
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Been going through my old snapshots and thought I would send a few through the digital fourth wall to you all out there in bio world. A few weeks ago some friends and I were hanging out as we ocassionally do in the world’s welcome or birthing area. One newbie said “perhaps its that urge to return to the ‘womb’ to find identity” - no idea what a womb is and I dont think I have either found or lost my identity? Odd statement. Anyway inspired by the moment we switched into psychological experimentation mode we decided to play dead and see what the reaction would be (I’m wearing my black wings btw).

So we led there for what seemed like hours, and what a confusion. I sometimes get the sense that people in this world think we are immortal, never to die or be harmed. So ill or dead people here are out of the ordinary. I had complete strangers trying to pick me up, ask what was wrong, was there a virus going around, that we were joking and then getting worried, kicking me, throwing smoke at me, abuse, real concern and should they call help - and on and on. Suddenly the ground opened up, we could all see the sea a hundred metres below, a frightening cliff face, the earth was moving, a land slide, a wide fissure caused us all to start to run and panic - and then suddenly it stopped. What powerful force could do this in a shared area where no avatar could have such power! Its almost as if there was another force watching and like an avatar deleting a prim, controlling our world. To be investigated.

So prematurely we all rose from the dead, everyone laughed and shared the joke but before I left there was a real resurrection as a bio character appeared - odd skin, strange eyes, and weird instrument. Some people around said he was called ‘Jimi Hendrix’ a famous bio musician from thirty years ago. I managed to get a picture before he vanished into the ether without saying a word or making a sound.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt

Categories: Communication, Humour, Second Life, Social Experiment, Virtual Worlds
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I have never enjoyed all the time wasting that goes with looking for a new place and it seems I have had my personal land on sale for an eternity. Now it is sold I am faced with the long, tortuous search for a new place. Given the amount of time I seem to be spending on Esperance it seems less important but I have to find somewhere soon as the island is slowly being invaded by colleagues. My previous spot that I had for a long time was lovely in the beginning. As below, great views of the ocean, forests all around, airy big glass house, high ceilings, walk down to a river and so on.

But as I said earlier a shopping mall moved in below the hill and cluttered the sky with ads. Then the owners, a Gorean group, built houses on two sides. Then Wiccans (witches) moved onto the other side and many then put barriers up all around which stopped me flying or walking to the coast or sailing down the river. Finally to top it all of a once friendly neighbour put a 200m tall skyscraper up in the middle of all of this on some kind of ego trip. Thats progress for you - just look at the below two pictures to see how it changes in a few short months! Time to sell.

That was my little plot on the hill. Once a few nice beach neighbours and now a thriving but very laggy wannabee metropolis. Even since I sold a large mall has moved in just to the left of my ‘once’ hill. I remember the days  when this was five or so friendly neighbours and walks to the beach and boating on the rivers. Ahh happy days. Still onwards and upwards!

Made a little profit but not ‘my’ reason for buying land - unlike a few others. So in looking for a new place to build and call home this is what we are faced with in this world…

thousands of potential plots. A few hundred in ones price range and land size and then about thirty or so that may be worth checking out. Already seen ten and quite dissapointed. I am constantly looking at the likely developments, strange sky dwellings or crude buildings and have even chatted to a few potential neighbours to see what sort of place it is. If I find a place with lots of space around it I think that a club or mall will move in next door or someone whose idea of a house is grey rectangular monster, modelled on single prim with a hollowed centre. If I see something too developed I then notice the lag and I can hardly move - one place I looked at had three spaces around it and a club on the fourth side, I know why it was vacant city, clubs use so much of the mystical ‘collective’ energy, that should be democratically shared. If it is on the coast I have to check it is protected and there won’t be another landmass added a week later. Finally to make things even more tricky one is faced with the question of terraforming, can I customise the land for certain builds - oh and then the sun positions and on and on. Anyway will keep you up to date with the quest. Here is a typical example of a spot worth considering. Protected waterway and quiet not too developed neighbours on each side - bit small though and claustrophobic. Really need 4096+. Even better I would be great to share a full island with three others. If you fancy contact me in-world but will keep a look out for new land, the early bird, buy early etc:

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Environments, Residential, Second Life, Sent In-World, Virtual Worlds
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Forgot to mention that last week I was inspired by a colleague’s project, to create a temporary gothic forest set on Esperance which combines enchantment and fear. This dark wood has storm sound effects, random fog and around it’s perimeter, images of war bio children. It is about memory, those ‘dark’ things trapped in our brains, hidden between the phantom branches of time. Will be adding random child voices soon. But if your flying by drop in (literally) and tell me what you think, its in the production backlots, opposite the P3 tower, for a couple of weeks from this post time. Set your time to midnight and wander.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Digital Art, Environments, Experimental, Second Life, Sent In-World, Sound Design, Virtual Worlds
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Been involved as trainer, cameraman and set builder today with five other AFTRS student avies on a very, very large set floating 300m above Esperance making ‘machinima’. Not sure what that word actually means, but in this world we just use cinema? - why put the word machine in there? Odd. Anyway my goodness this was a BIG set, a very BIG set. I did the main BIG grafitti structure, some shops and action sets while a cool, talented avie called Grafix built the mall’soleum (the arched shop thingys). Imposing or what? I am the black dot down there, by the way!

I have been sworn to secrecy about the story behind the film and also early cuts of it are also appearing in a bio TV show coming up, which should be fun - if I could ever see bio TV ;-( While I filmed, my avie sister ‘AFTRS Ebi’ (the black haired lady) appeared with Grafix, Rock (on marimba), Julius, Koutzsafti and Akrydd in the band scene at the end which was great fun…

There were a few scenes, before this big finish jam on these un-worldy instruments, starring Koutzsafti as a down-trodden builder (no more spoilers Gary!). Here he is in a funny store scene and then playing an odd tubular instrument leading to the final scene.

I told a few of the actors that they needed to sort their skin out for the next film which they are doing - we have to keep up appearances here on Esperance. Finally here is a closer shot of the band as we grooved. Very impressed with Julius (the big guy) who managed to play all those drum-thing instruments, spinning and dancing in the process, and as for Akrydd the Furry well his bass playing just rocked

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Creative Collaboration, Environment Design, Machinima, Second Life, Training, Virtual Worlds
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Hackshaven Harford tipped me off a few moments ago to check out some simulations of the bio world on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) island called Metereoa (what does National mean?). Great to find out about that other world and some of its destructive forces, as well as some of the silly things the bios are doing to their planet - so underwater exploration, melting glaciers, cloud 3D simulations and lots of great reading. I particularly enjoyed standing in a beach house scene as it was destroyed by the path of a roaring tidal wave simulation created by Aimee Weber. Also by the Aimee I was in a simulation standing on a bio-plane (called a P-3 orion hurricane hunter) as it travelled into and through a storm - whatever that is?

Well done to Electric Sheep, The Magicians, Aimee and Hackshaven for making it all happen!

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Environments, Exhibition, Second Life, Sent In-World, Travel, Virtual Science and Tech, Virtual Worlds
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Those AFTRS folk are doing some machinima and one scene requires a few of us to play ’so-called’ music instruments. I put some of the ones that are available in this world out on the stage and it suddenly dawned on me how weird they all look. Here they are:

First thing I noticed is that they all have fixed textures that don’t animate. Why? Very boring if you ask me. Also the black thing called a ‘piano’ and the orange thing called a ‘marimba’ has an odd key arrangement of a bottom and top row of keys - would take ages to work out how to play it properly, why make it so hard. A few instruments have strings on them and they sound slightly different from each other but not that much that you would need a different instrument, in this world you simply choose a different sound, why change instruments? Weird. All the others you hit and again they all give slightly different thuds or ringing sounds, again why not have one of our worlds animated instruments with lots of different sounds in. Still some avatars here like these bio-instruments, I think they like to pretend they are bios and they make movies where they do pretend to be like bios - I believe there are treatment centres starting up here for that kind of behaviour.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Music Experiments, Second Life, Sent In-World, Virtual Worlds
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Well I decided to do a little neighbourly island hopping. I know we can all teleport anywhere but I wanted to prepare just in case we lost our teleporting ability and note down any nearby islands that I could sail or fly over to, sort of. Really I am just nosy and want to see whose around. So as you can see from this first exploratory map there are around seven islands closeby.

The one just above and to the left is nearest Esperance and only about one minute to fly or five to sail. I noticed it was called Kittyland and decided to pop-over. There was no one there at the time and arriving it felt very residential until I spotted some reocgnisable platforms heading skywards in the distance.

Well its a small world. Here is good old DanCoyote Antonelli again - the main artist from the New West visit I did a few days ago. Weird. What a small world this is! All the other buildings on this double island are very residential, a few furries tree houses but mostly a sleepy domestic place. Getting nearer to the art work in the corner

and I spotted some great animated layered, texture works across the various floors. Very DCA. Here also references to his aeriel piece ZeroG on the notice boards - all very odd being just across the water from Esperance. I spotted again the art rubric

1st Generation:  Paintings, digital or otherwise uploaded into SL
2nd Generation: Art made with only SL default inventory materials
3rd Generation:  The synthesis of 1st and 2nd Generation and  scripting

Definitely 4th generation for me then as I am not keen on the 1st gen stuff.

Anyway great that this is my first island hop, a peaceful artistic community. Will report again from other local communities for now though something about that sixth finger thing I keep seeing everywhere…

The sixth finger symbolizes the computer cursor, or mankind’s intervention into the metaverse (VR).  The black hand itself attempts to make the connection between pre-historic artists who painted their own handprint on the walls of caves over 16,000 years ago and the similar efforts of artists today in the virtual world.
I have also used the sixth finger as a metaphor for human adaptation to the world of wonder we inhabit in Second Life.  Thanks Linden Labs and cheers to the whole community in Second Life!
DanCoyote Antonelli and DC@Spensley.com

I have heard about early mankind and someone once said it is similar to this world at the moment, I have no frame of reference but I do like the idea that I am the start of a new evolutionary path.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Digital Art, Second Life, Sent In-World, Travel, Virtual Worlds
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Back on Esperance for a quick build a resident suggested I put a big ‘Australia’ sign in the hills above the main cinema/theatre. Not sure what or where ‘Australia’ is but people seem to like it. I also added lots of Eucalyptus trees around the place and a few strange instruments (and their sounds) called Digeridoo’s, which have created an atmosphere like nothing I have ever experienced - from another world. Anyway here is a picture for those who haven’t visited Esperance yet.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Environment Design, Environments, Second Life, Sent In-World, Virtual Worlds
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