Been away from SL for over a week and thought I would bring you all up to date with the bay area I live in.  The changes, the new residents and so on. (Here is a bio flickr set with on-going tracking of this Second Life neighbourhood evolving from nothing to very crowded). Firstly, and sadly, Heather and Max have moved to new pastures as the escort agency (see below) that moved in nearby was too much. She kept getting asked about her rates! But I am staying in touch with them as they have found a great new patch in Hokkaido. Anyway, so what is new in my patch - as if your really interested. But I did promise to keep you in the loop as the area developed from nothing a few weeks ago, remember, good. Well lots of new folk are moving in. Attracting a good wide selection. Sadly a club. No malls yet though. I did a quick Sunday morning one hour fly around (snoop) to see whats around and said brief hellos to those who were in-world - many are happy to do longer interviews later. Keep watching.

Close to me. Yes thats my place top left, is Koko and Ice. They weren’t around but in this world one can find much about the people via their profiles attached to the land. So a big traditional house of Ice Franchini and Koko Blackhawk. They met in SL and got married on the 19 Sep - will catch up with them later. For now

“Koko you gave me the most precious gift there is to give a person, your love and your heart and i will treasure them both till the end of time. You showed me I can love again and i do baby i love you so very much. My love for you will far out last this game in my heart you will forever be mine.”

awww. So a good traditional couple - at first glance. Anything is imaginable here. More later perhaps. At the other end of the spectrum we have a traditional escort agency. Xposed Escorts and their slogan “When you want only the best”. Ummm. Here is a pic of their boat and ground build. Wish some folk would finish the ground before they do the sky! The ubiquitous sky club pic follows.

Something more interesting is a very secretive build going on right in the bay below me. Under the water and a strange blue boxey thing growing on top, lots of furious build activity. Home to Inaria and the Avariel Winged Lords. Their mission and convenant.

Fun and Flight. Love and peace. To roam the skies. Rarest of the elven races, the avariel, the winged elves, live a reclusive existence, seldom seen by outsiders. Such is their scarcity and seclusion, that their status is almost that of legend. Despite an aloofness that can astound even other elves, avariel rarely exhibit the haughtiness and arrogance many have come to associate with elvenkind, though they pity all races lacking the ability to fly. They have little to do with other races.

As I write, Inaria Oranos (the Speaker of Winds) and builder friend KiVanyel Adria are busy designing a turret or two sticking out of the water. Like the furries (Kitsu’s) who built their underground burrow these Winged Lords are after a quiet underwater existance and I didn’t venture into their underwater lair just yet as they seem a private group. More about Inaria

“Daughter of mermaid and Avariel Lord. Raised on cliffs over-looking the seas. Apart of two worlds and made the most fun of it. Resides on the winds and in the water. Willing to help any soul who asks.”

To add diversity to this little patch we also have the lesbian (escort?) world of Olivia Marquette (sky platform above). She has built a tasteful, ancient garden with elements of Trompe L’oeil to add space. I said hello she is happy to do a long interview later. They also have a strange black sky platform, antithesis to the open gardens below. Now what secrets in there I wonder? For now here is Olivia’s profile to give some insight and a picture of the garden afterwards.

“I am a passionate, loving and caring Mistress. My heart is full of love and tenderness and I give this to my girls who deserve all the love I possess. Sometimes a switch, I can be delightfully submissive in the right hands. I have collared the beautiful and sexy Amelia Hainsworth (first girl), the lovely and adorable (beloved pet) Stacy Fuller, cute and sexy Kitti Meek and poetic Satsuyo Kinsei. They are my girls and I protected them and love them. Any problems with any of my girls IM me.”

Most of the above is very close to me, within 500m and on adjacent blocks of land. I have been lucky so far that my block of land (what some call a sim) has been quiet. Well there have been some additions on the far edges. First some furries I actually recommended this area too when they were looking around (have some pictures somewhere), Kitsu’s Korner, the furries on hill. They spent ages building a burrow so from the air you couldn’t work out there was actually a large space underground, see photo to the right. Then they built a castle. Still havent had chance to catch up with them, they are behind me over the hill, but perhaps some furry/vamp thing happening here?

Literally on the opposite end of the land I am on we have Ellies Home. Elly Crispien has set up a rental business for either the tudor mansion, a range of houses or the castle from $800-3000L pm. Good deal and a community spa! Not too laggy too. Lots of trees and no animations to see.

Finally just down the bay and on the peninsula we have a lot of activity. I will explore another time as my alloted hour is up for this but lots of people to speak to and exciting stories to tell. Obviously I need to get a life A third life perhaps…although still uncertain of what a 1st life is? Here is a pic of more to come, all further along the shore front in view of my once peaceful, uncluttered view.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Architecture, Communication, Environments, Friends, Identity, Neighbourhood, Residential, Second Life, Sent In-World, Virtual Worlds
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I have been meeting the neighbours. One of the first ones I met was Heather Steadham. She has created a lovely Japanese (a bio style apparently) building enhancing the bay and a sky deck with grand piano for those romantic evenings as the sun sets. But Heather has a secret. She has a few ‘associates’, as she likes to call them, simultaneous and alternate personas that are driven by the same ’spirit’ - inextricably connected in this world. Sounds strange? On their sky deck I met up with Heather, Max and their alternate furry personas on Sunday evening to find out more. I started by asking when this real time, parallel, duality began.

Heather Steadham: Hmm. I’d have to say about a month ago or so.
Maximillion Steadham: Essentially, Heather was the first to come to SL. She found that among other things, people were much nicer to female AV’s than to male and were much more willing to help out.
Heather Steadham: The female AV has many more friends than the male side. Females from my observations are more willing to assist one of thier own before they would assist a male.
Maximillion Steadham: We can get different responses to the same question from the same person depending on our outward appearance.

They refer to themselves at the start as avs and talk about an unknown force simultaneously controlling them so I dug a little deeper.

Maximillion Steadham: I’d have to say our mannerisms and speech / typing styles. They are very similar to each other. The same entity or controller as you call it, operating two AV’s as one unit. Sometimes it is mind boggling as to how it can be done. We also have additional personas that we can assume.

Some people may find this parallel ’sibling’ type existence a little odd so I asked a little about their relationship.

Heather Steadham: Think of it as good side / bad side. We’re still trying to determine what our relation ship is…and I’m the bad one. :> They sometimes ask about our relationship… We are delibrately elusive. When pressed, we will respond that we know each other and are exploring further relationship possibilities. There are also times where I will dress completely different from Max as well.
Maximillion Steadham: We leave it as “associates”

Given the obvious connection between the two of them I asked how both would feel if one of them developed a relationship with another av and started to lose contact with each other.

Maximillion Steadham: That is her choice, much the same way that I am also free to develop other relationships as well. We normally take things one day at a time and keep options open.
Heather Steadham: The depth of other relationships is something that gets determined as time goes on.

Referring back to something Max said about ‘additional personas’ I found out that the two of them go deeper into the rabbit hole by as well as the parallel existance they have alternate personas that they use. They both regularly transform themselves into ’skunks’. Yes indeed. I asked why and what did it mean.

Heather Steadham: Heather in human form is generally a warm and friendly person. Max knows if I am “in skunk mode” to tread very carefully…or it could also mean that I’m involved in a construction project. The skunk makes an appearance when the need for “being left alone” outweighs the need to be sociable.. i.e.: when building or taking clases. Not wanting attention. That skunk appearance would be a mask I wear to be left alone rather than to interact with others.
Maximillion Steadham: When she is in her skunk persona in public, she is also not entirely “happy” that day. So, when she is in “skunk mode”, I serve as a guardian / protector of her emotional state. It also helps in public when she is in skunk mode to have a much larger human present to ward off criticism.

I had met both of them a few days ago at a popular furry club and found them dancing together so I asked about their relationship in their transformed state.

Maximillion Steadham: Yes. Heather and I have been to several clubs where they are furry / human tolerant. Depending on Heather’s emotional state that day, I can appear as a gray, mature skunk, like a father figure to her or as a black skunk similar in appearance to Heather. The transformation is mostly to ward people away from Heather. The difference being either paternal/familar or as a trusted associate.

As part of the interview Heather implied that she prefers Max as Skunk, making her feel more comfortable as that persona, which I think surprised Max. This lead to a discussion about their relationship as regards money.

Maximillion Steadham: There is also the disparity in the division of wealth between our personas.
Heather Steadham: I have the income. Max is my trusted employee.
Maximillion Steadham: Not really. I control her funds at her request.
Heather Steadham: I have a tendency to buy on impluse and consult Max depending on the amount.
Maximillion Steadham: Essentially, anything over $500 requires my assent to purchase.

They both demonstrated how they dance together and talked about clubs they go to, so I prodded again on the question of how people perceive their relationship

Heather Steadham: We normally will visit blues/ rock / and slowdancing clubs on the weekend. Max has a list of the ones we can be found in. But we could also be two friends just having an enjoyable time, free from drama.
Maximillion Steadham: It’s up to the other people present to ask. We don’t volunteer our relationship.

I politely requested that they transform into their ’skunk’ mode to ascertain if their indeed was a personality shift and to see how they related to each other but more importantly why the need to wear the mask.

Heather Steadham: This is my general appearance in public when I am in skunk mode - elegant, but also ready to spray you if needed. I would considered Heather’s more wild, but shy side - if that makes sense. In this state, I’m usually emotionally vulnerable..They are more suprized to see me as a human than a skunk. This is the persona most people see me with. The skunk came out after about two weeks of first moving into SL. When I lived in Seogwipo…any male AV would stop by and check out the female AV who had taken some time and pride in making her appearance as elegant and functional as she could. It detracted from being able to educate myself or just relax at home. It has its functions. I can maintain an eloquent appearance, but at the same time keep the general male populace away from me.
Maximillion Steadham: We are observed holding hands many times, and it keeps the furs away…they tend to have a higher “leering” factor than the humans do.
Heather Steadham: If Max is right next to me in a fur area, it is generally assumed that we have a relationship - and we are not bothered in that way. Incidentally humans in fur areas are generally looked on as newbies without the funds to make the transformation to fur, furrys tend to have the overactive sex drive.

I mentioned that when I first met them there was a crowd on their big black decking and they came up with the ruse that Max was tired due to being recently serviced. Now I see how it works. The simultaneous existance of the Steadham’s ‘from just one mind’ is rare in this world. I must admit to doing the same on many occasions and have started a ‘group’ called the SIMULs which has a growing membership. One of the attractions is the real time, duality of being, whether dual gender or creature or whatever and communicating with individual avs without their being aware. I asked Heather for her reasoning.

Heather Steadham: That is what also keepspeople from guessing we’re the same. If we are here at the same time…kind of hard to say we’re ALT;s. The typos occasionally give it away too. I can fool people, but if Max is just hanging around, it give the illusion away sometimes. If I “occupy” Max, there are less questions.

It was great to see fellow simul’s operating smoothly and obviously enjoying the complexity of dual, triple and quadruple, real time, parallel identities. We did talk much more about the gender differences in this world and how a female av is treated more favourably, freely given more ‘gifts’, has more friends and generally at a social advantage. I am sure we will see an increase in the numbers of simuls in this world as it affords multiple perspectives on the world, which is impossible in the bio world I understand. It is easy to point out that this may be verging on dissociative identity disorder but I see it more as acting and multiple, simultaneous, in-world role playing. Being able to communicate as parallel identities allows me and others to understand more about how others relate to a wider range of person or creature that stands in front of them and that understanding increases your own self awareness.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from Second Life

Categories: Communication, Friends, Identity, Residential, Second Life, Social Experiment, Virtual Worlds
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Touring my local area and spotted two incredibly tall, ghostly skyscrapers, glowing in the distance. They are just over the hill from my new pad so I ventured closer and discovered that this is a memorial to an event that shocked the bio world exactly five years ago. It is difficult to understand the reasons why such terrorism took place - this world is so far immune from such atrocities.

The visitor center at the base of the memorial has lots of notecards to explain, remember and list all of those killed and photographs of the event in adjoining buildings. It is less half a mile from my home, is very moving and I hope the 210m monoliths built by Shikima Riel stay here as they truly have a place in Second Life to help us reflect on lives gone and those to come.

Click here to go there
Posted by Gary Hazlitt inside Second Life

Categories: Architecture, Bio World, Environment Design, Events, Exhibition, Second Life, Sent In-World, Virtual Worlds
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This world has a wide range of architecture. Much of it has been imported, so to speak, from the bio world and replicas of that worlds cities and famous buildings abound. But as I have said many times in previous posts, why not fire the imagination and create never before seen builds that utilise some of the unique features of this world. One of my in-world colleagues and Esperance LAMP office resident Jjason Jedburgh has been involved for quite a few weeks building his dreamhouse here. He took the intelligent step of employing an experienced architect called Elvawin Rainbow who has built over 50 custom homes before and has some words of wisdom for wannabe architects. Both of them showed me around their creation yesterday while I asked questions and took pictures. We talked about the concept, process and inspiration behind this wonderful, very livable and special creation. I joined them on a sunny Sunday evening and began by asking Elvawin a little about her background

“I’ve been building custom homes for a while and they are a unique challenge in that it isn’t so much the architecture thats difficult but understanding what the customer wants. So its a lot of talking ‘tell me what you like, show me some things’ get to know them. So listening is as important a skill as building”

So Jjason talked and Elvawin listened and they went through numerous iterations. Jjason told me about some of the primary goals for his home.

“I wanted something that was breathtaking, yet elegant and sparse, something that would exhilarate with scale and aesthetic resonance. I wanted colours that were golden, yet translucent - full of heavenly light that would entrance and uplift. We experimented with numerous textures.”

He talked privately later about this home being a kind of memorial to a family member he lost in the first world, and how it now has very personal significance but will respect his privacy before going into anymore detail. Jjason also came across like a boy with a new toy when he talked about some of the unique features of his new four and a half floor home.

“We experimented with balconies at first. They were initially a significant part of the design. The sweep of the glass, including transparent horizontals round the outer rim, allow the view to be enjoyed 360 degress. In the main accommodation privacy is afforded by configurable partitions, controls on either side, ocean or rear of building, north or south. The holodeck is available in the centre core section. “

Elvawin talked further about some of these features

“Probably most of the house is scripted for control over privacy and still provide the open vista, the ability to control openess at whim. Each and every panel is scripted so you can open or close at whim as well as all at once. They are controllable by the owner of who he gives access to.”

Jjason got even more enthusiastic when he talked about some of the interior design motifs

“Ultimately we chose this golden ambience, with the star motif in the centre and the aquarium is another feature that is in concert with the environment, but also functional because it allows access to each floor. The furnishings are both modern and sometimes gothic or morroccan. There is an artificial beach and fish as well as a waterfall that spans the distance from house to ocean”

I was surprised when Elvawin told me that it only took one week to complete the actual build (Jjason joked that he only employs architects with whips, perhaps suggesting a slave/master-like work ethic?) and create this work of architectural splendour - but as was explained, the pre-production and conceptual design took many weeks prior. This reminded me somewhat of composers who write music in their heads and admit that getting the notes down on paper for others to play and hear is a final, relatively mundane task.

Some of the buildings surrounding this house are very drab in comparison and I suggested that Elvawin needs to create a complete city, even though she is a self confessed ‘prim hog’.

“My plan is to buy an island or 12 or so someday and you will be able to see what I can really do” Jjason continued “yes, Elva should have done the entire suburb - but I couldn’t afford the land or the prims! The municipality would have thanked me.”

So now it is built what is this masterpiece actually like to live in?

“I love sitting on the edge of the waterfall” said Elvawin.

“I love the roof. Sitting on the edge is heavenly and lying on the hammock at the outer circumference, listening to the wind and ocean below is sublime” said Jjason

So I left Jjason and Elvawin to do some final tweaking to the swimming pool and central entrance hall and made my excuses. It is wonderful to see two people collaborate on producing something together that creates beauty in this world rather than just being a functional living environment.

It should be a lesson to us all as well to plan and make sure our motivations are driven by more than just making money or increasing the value of the land. Architectural creativity, as always, needs to be focused on being innovative and functional leaving a legacy that we can all enjoy and admire. Jjason and Elvawins creation definitely falls in that camp and more importantly enhances the natural environment in the process.

For those in the bio world who want to visit Jjasons house here is the Slurl link. Please respect his privacy while there naturally.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

Categories: Architecture, Environments, Friends, Residential, Second Life, Social Experiment, Virtual Worlds
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As I try to escape the on-going builds of the neighbours around my new, once quite place on the sea and with quite a lot of bios asking me to post the teleport links to the ‘Channel 4′(what’s that?) top 20 places in my world - I put on my black wings on and went on a photo roam - and here we are. Enjoy some of the best of our world.

1. Black Library – Literature, arts, games, and more. (They told me they are moving soon so keep an eye out for the new locaiton). Click here to go there

2. Dragon Moon Resort – Relaxed atmosphere. Regular concerts and events. Click here to go there

3. The Cliffs of BonnyDoon – Newly opened build in Liferain Park. Majestic falls, towering cliffs, a treetop village, and subterranean caverns. Click here to go there

4. Galaxy Sci-Fi Sim – Join Starfleet Academy. The group has regular role play events, tactical training, bi-Annual Banquets and more. Click here to go there

5. Gris-Gris Land – Stunning futuristic architecture by Milo Bellow. “Mad Gods and Englishmen…” Click here to go there

6. Intermundia – Art Space of Nebulosus Severine. Evolving installation work. Click here to go there

7. Little Silent Hill – Re-creation of locations from the survival horror game series. Click here to go there

8. Mars Japanese Gardens – A wild and romantic Japanese park style garden. Click here to go there

9. Nakama – A huge Japanese city, divided into different anime themed regions. Click here to go there

10. Nexus Prime – Vast cyberpunk city. Lots to explore and hidden areas to discover. Click here to go there

11. The Port – Arena for projects which create new links between first and second life. Click here to go there

12. Pot Healer Adventure – Immersive game of exploration and puzzles. Click here to go there

13. Sci-Fi Geeks Museum – Full size starships, interactive holodeck, movies, events, fan art, and more. Click here to go there

14. Suffugium – Dystopian future city with cyberpunk influences. Click here to go there

15. Svarga – A fully functional artificial ecology system. Click here to go there

16. Voted 5 Group Land – Caution! Ego-free zone. Sense of humour advisable. Click here to go there

17. Avalon Island – Beautiful architecture and one of Second Life’s best cinemas play host to a variety of real world companies and organisations. Click here to go there

18. Shiny Things – Shoes and jewellery designed for the most discerning residents of Second Life. Click here to go there

19. Support for Healing Island – offers nightly depression support groups in beautiful surroundings. Click here to go there

20. Sick Cat – Art installation exploring the possibilities of mind uploading. Click here to go there

Some other places that I like visiting

Of course if your passing pop in for tea and see my place - who knows I may be in Gary Hazlitt’s Angels Nest in Blueberry, Click here to go there

Esperance - The AFTRS Island, where I work, some nice art developing Click here to go there

Amsterdam - apparently like some bio place? Click here to go there

Camp Darfur, it makes me sad, confused and angry when I go there Click here to go there

Shivar, Mont Saint Michel au Per - lovely atmosphere and medieval buildings Click here to go there

The Lost Gardens of Apollo - very romantic and special vegetation Click here to go there

Social Simulation Cyber-Research Lab - fun interactive games Click here to go there

Phoenicia Center for Contemporary Art - great 2D art gallery Click here to go there

Other places to be added in upcoming posts from the other side include the Sci-Fi sim (my neighbour), NMC campus then my fav shopping places, great art places, best interactive spots and the hottest clubs - not that I do them a lot - must be my age

Posted by Gary Hazlitt inside Second Life

Categories: Environments, Second Life, Sent In-World, Travel, Virtual Tourism, Virtual Worlds
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