and a reminder of what it was like in its opening glory

We are down to the last three contestants in the Big Brother event that has been running in this world since December 1st. For those who don’t know there is apparently a popular show in bio world where people are locked together for weeks on end in a house and then one at a time voted out, until there is one winner. I have been visiting Kingdom of Media Island every two days or so over the last four weeks to track who and what is going on. The running of the event has left a lot to be desired, especially as regards promoting it effectively in this world, but with a prize of an Island (paid up for a year) most contestants were happy to overlook the rather weak production management. Going back in these last few days (Thursday is the final evictions) it feels quite sad and empty – all those early housemates are now gone, and there is a sense that the friendships that have developed may dissipate once those thrown together are far and asunder. Luckily my two favourites Golda and Lillani (on the horses above and who I talk to lower down) are still in there, with the third being Madlen Flint. In my opinion it is a two horse race, but Golda and Lillani don’t rule out Madlen’s chances. Here is the final voting board.

There have been some great moments in the house of the past weeks. One that stood out was when all fifteen collaborated on a wonderful christmas scene in the picture below and the result was put up for charity. To quote Lillani at the time “I think this charity thing is worthwhile…probably one of the best things I’ve been involved in in SL”.

There were also some great times when the sim was actually full to overflowing and all the contestants were lobbying for votes. Some played it straight and got together groups of friends of friends, others tried dirty tactics and slurred others in the competition and some even resorted to buying votes. Lillani’s blog covers much of the intrique over the past few weeks.

The contestants had to stay inside their ‘glass pens’ for eight hours per day. Some improved themselves getting good at scripting and building, others sat around complaining but most were very friendly to all the visitors that passed by. Warda on the left (in the pic below), the ‘shapechanger’, was very friendly but sadly she was on a different time zone and missed most of the ‘voting’ crowds, so was evicted early.

There were some characters too like Diva and Simone who knew how to woo the crowds, but some of their tactics I think rebounded on them in the end. Others like Simon Walsh, in his wheel chair, had to bow out for other reasons. It was interesting how each persons character came through and developed as we, the audience, got to know them. A friend in the bio world has put up some of the photos I took, on flickr.

Golda is the only furry in the running and it is no surprise she has managed to last out the weeks as her supporters are very active in getting votes and she is one of the most friendly ‘rats’ you are ever likely to meet.

I asked her how she will feel when it is all over

You: Seems like a long journey
Golda Stein: It has been. I am afraid i’ll go through culture shock when I get out of here, a lot of people have had that problem

At the moment, as you can see from the horse picture at the top, Golda and Lill are together in the same room.

You: Will they be putting you in different pens?
Lillani Lowell: Split me and Golda up? No way!
Golda Stein: We are together by choice
You: I think you both should win half an island each
Golda Stein: But that wouldn’t make for good television

I noticed while I was there earlier that Lillani was surrounded by demons, Goths, Gors and other in that ilk, and naturally wondered if there had been this world ‘identity’ groups who were now congregating towards the three that are left.

You: So the Goth vote has come through! Who do you think your core fans are Lill a mix of certain factions of SL
Lillani Lowell: I think I have a wide mix of factions. From Furries to Goths to Goreans……
You: I wonder if that will now split. Won’t all furries go for Golda? and all Goths Gors etc: for you? Or is this about personality vs identity group?
Golda Stein: Gary, lil has loads of friends all over, and i would expect them to vote from their heart
Lillani Lowell: People vote for a billion different reasons. Some because they know us…. some because they were brought to vote. I don’t think any one reason stands above any other.
You: But I am interested if there are allegiances between types that would be interesting in this last stage as we have a three way between SL identities
Lillani Lowell: It’s a difficult thing to unravel, Gary. But really, you can bet…. the core of the vote…. comes from the loyalty and closeness of one’s friends.

An earlier shot of Lillani riding one of her scripted reindeers – what happened to these BTW?

Almost on cue we started to talk again (it has come up in many conversations with all the contestants) about how things could have been improved.

Lillani Lowell: I think if they had wanted to make BB a little more interesting…They should have streamed it to a website. And let the (bio) world vote.
You: I actually thought that was the plan but never happened, would have been great
Lillani Lowell: Well, Fox Diller has a system for streaming live from SL to websites. I’m wondering if Big Brother will do another.
Golda Stein: i think they need to find a different format, there are too many holes here
You: There is the possiblity that anyone can start something like this as a new format. Perhaps one of you guys on your new island!
Lillani Lowell: Well, again…this isn’t the first time someone has done a contest like this. Fox Diller did his own SL ‘House’ a couple years ago. He gave away 4,000,000 L as the prize. About 14,000 USD at the time. SL wasn’t as large back then.

I asked about the voting numbers which are in four figures and wondered how many are doing multiple votes:

You: I wonder if in fact only 20 real people vote – each with 100 avies
Lillani Lowell: LOL, that wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t know how people keep track of so many characters. I barely have time for me. There’s only one Lillani Lowell…. if I split my time, I lose money and I’m not rich enough to afford time off yet.

As you can see from the above the ‘build’ assignment this week is to make an object of your choice that symbolises your new ‘dream’ Island. In the above and final picture below someone has built a very nice motorbike, someone else a lighthouse and a third one a female, symbolic monolith. It is anyones guess whose is whose, I have my idea. The big finish is next Thursday and I was curious to find out what goes on during New Years eve and day.

You: What are the rules for new years eve here are you allowed to drink champers? Or ahve the day off?
Lillani Lowell: No day off I imagine. I’m wearing all white New Years. I wore all red Christmas Day. A nice, big red Christmas dress. Very classy.
You: Now thats what BB should be about Classy dressing
Lillani Lowell: Hehe, classy dressing would kick me out. I’m 99% catsuit.
Golda Stein: and I like my jeans and T-shirts

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

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

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

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