My Blog's Been Blogged!

I logged in to SL yesterday to see a note from a friend with a link saying my blog's been blogged. Sure enough another SL friend, Hamlet Au, AKA RL:Wagner James Au, had blogged about my SL New Year's Resolution list, "Open Forum: What Are Your New Year's Resolutions for Second Life and Worlds Beyond?" (see mine a couple posts below) Mr. Au is pretty high profile in SL and other virtual worlds. See his blog, New World Notes: NewWorldNotesHere. (http://nwn.blogs.com/) He published "The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World" in February of 2008 and was SL's primary journalist during it's first 3 years. He's a well established journalist, speaker, blogger and virtual world pro. He's a contract consultant and copywriter for SL projects and advertising, and a seasoned game designer, screenwriter, and freelance journalist who has been interviewed by many including my friend SL Sonicity Fitzroy for her latest book on SL media which I previously covered in this blog.

So after stating some of Mr. Au's credentials you can see why I am pleased he mentioned me. I've actually hit his blog before once when I was pictured wearing a sign directed at him during a SL event and the first time when we met in SL when I was pretty noob and ran around Drowsy with him for quite a while chatting up a storm and even blindly asking if he was ok with me posting a picture of me and him on the sea serpent in Drowsy on my Flickr, stating something like, "It should be ok, no one will know who you are anyway"... then about 10 minutes later I remembered I should check out his profile which led me to his blog and I had to retract that "No one will know who you are anyway" comment as quickly as possible. What can I say? I was new. But the point here is that in spite of all his very professionally handled business ventures he still takes the time to be friends with a random new person to play in SL, have fun, and enjoy SL, which is what it is all about. He even paid me a visit when I moved into my new home not too long ago and jumped on my bed (literally) with me. His blog was the first I'd seen about SL, and remains one I consistently check in on. Use the link above to view his blog which pretty much covers what needs to be covered about all things SL and other virtual stuff.



Drowsy here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Drowsy/186/50/37 or direct link here: DrowsyHere.

Elven Realm-A great Fantasy Explore

“The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.” ~ Albert Einstein"



Enchanted of Elven Realm (Elven realm 160/154/21) held their grand opening November 20th and I was on hand with a good friend, Antoinette Guisse, AKA: Ant, Aka: Clover5green in Flickr, both in our matching Vita's Boudoir fairy outfits for some fun pictures. Sim owner is Natalie Montagne. The sim is loaded with fantasy explore areas including unicorns, fairys, a huge fire breathing dragon in a cave filled with treasure, a quest to play, many hidden areas and pose spots to find, shops and overall beautiful fantasy themed scenery. Their information note states in part,
"WELCOME T0 ELVEN REALM'S ENCHANTED

Magical fantasy forest dedicated to the preservation of the unicorn and all woodland fauna

Please take the time to explore and enjoy this beautiful, "enchanted", and somewhat whimsical fantasy world created by Andrek Lowell. Walk the forest in order to discover all the many hidden treasures ! When entering the dark forest, please change your environment to "midnight".

~*~A percentage of your generous donations will be given to the national animal rights advocacy group, Friends of Animals~*~

See our blog:
http://enchantedelvenrealm.blogspot.com/"


Enjoy! To visit Elven Realm in Second Life here is the SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Elven%20Realm/128/128/23
or direct link here:
ElvenHere.
There is even a Flickr group to save your photos if you like: ElvenFlickrHere.
Vita's Boudoir stream here: Vita'sFlickrHere.

Impressive Machinima -Harbinger by Phaylen Fairchild

Ok, I know this has been out a while, but I just had to get it copied here. A must see.

Something Fun to Enjoy!

'Not specifically SL related and I know this is Kara's Korner, SL Adventures, but this was way too cute not to save and share and it was shared with me by a SL/Flickr friend, so kinda counts. Enjoy!

SL New Years Resolutions List in the Making

I'm starting early this year, so that I can be sure not to miss anything important for my list. If anyone has any additional good ideas for my SL new years resolutions list be sure to let me know because this will be a work in progress until Dec. 31st.

For the list thus far in no particular order:

1) Be a better friend. Focus on the one I'm with (which might make it hard to be a better friend to those IM'ing me while I'm focusing on the one I'm with, but I'll work it out)

2) Always remember to wear clean underwear.... errr.. any underwear for that matter. (Stems from finally realizing the hard way that all SL men know how to cam even if they are noob and can't do anything else, and a realization that not all designers make underwear that covers everything)

3) Don't take SL so serious that I allow myself to get overly upset, jealous, angry, or down on myself. I'll try to save those emotions for RL and just have fun in SL, as it should be. Don't worry be happy... and all that.

4) Think of and change my password to something other than "password".

5) Try to be at least a little productive and not all just about me-after all it's the creators, workers and givers that make SL what it is for everyone to enjoy.

6) Exercise and eat right... o wait, that's for the other list. Ah what the heck, I like to exercise and eat in SL too-I'll leave it on the list.

7) Try to organize my abyss of an inventory... Hahahahahaah NOT--*scratching from list as deemed not possible SL*

8) Budget spending--ROFL.. again.. scratching off list ...same reason (see 7). Adds: Continue to be the great bargain shopper that I am! Yay for bargains!

9) Try not to tell the same stories and jokes at every get together... like SOME people I know.

10) Try harder not to keep IMing some ONE in particular in a hopelessly pathetic manner trying to get attention.

11) Try something new as often as possible.
Hmmm turned out to be an even 10, maybe top 10 at that.. once I eliminate number 7 which really really does need to be scratched.

And a quote to keep me motivated:

Mark Twain
"New Year's Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."


In looking over my list it seems most of these are good for RL too.

Holiday Freebie Mayhem!

All wrapped up and ready to pose. That was the position I found myself in this evening and fortunately a Flickr friend was feeling the same.

Second Life is going wild with pretty decent quality freebies, dollarbies and gifts from designers this holiday season. Everyone seems to be in the mood to give and receive and there are a ton of great Advent calenders and store gifts all over the place. One of my favorite groups in SL is "Fabulously Free in SL" which is currently actually looking for an additional blogger. FabFree is the oldest Freebie blog in SL. The blog was started in September of 2007 and they now have over 6000 viewers a day! The inworld group chat is often long, tedious, usually hilarious, and occasionally gets temporarily turned off for violations or inappropriate comments and behaviors, but many people I know including myself, like to just leave it up and enjoy the chatter, advice, and tips. I've also found if I have a question about pretty much anything in SL .. someone in the group knows the answer. Anyway today along with their many announcements of freebies they listed a dollarbie from E! Eclectic Apparel and Accessories. I took the Slurl and soon after I landed, in came fellow Flickrite Atreiyu Thorne.. a dude... at least I think. He tried to convince me of that at least even though his mic allegedly is broken. So, anyway I dared him to put on the cute dollarbie Christmas ribbon outfit called "Wrap Me Up" the store was offering in the female section of the store and he was changed into it before I was. He did choose to strategically place a larger bow of his own on his person, but as he pointed out that would not have been necessary. Laine Frye another Flickr friend who also blogs and my friend Dividni Shostakovich also donned the ribbons and we were off posing as all good posers do when they see others in the same outfit. Divi had to leave off early but then Laine, Atreiyu and I decided the outfit was group poseworthy and snapped a few shots during which time I became pretty convinced Atreiyu is a guy after all based on how pleased he seemed to be all wrapped up tight between two ladies.


What's Under Your Tree? Kara, Atreiyu and Laine


E Eclectic Apparel and Accessories here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Marsco/76/105/345 or direct link here: E!Here.

The FabFree blog is here: http://fabfree.wordpress.com/ or direct link here: FabFreeHere.

Laine Frye also has a blog (and a better pic. of this shot) mostly about fashion and it can be seen here: http://whatislainewearingtoday.blogspot.com/ or direct link here: LaineHere.

Miss Virtual World

Second Life Terms of Service -December 15, 2010 Update

SL TOS updated today and appears this is primarily to included needed regulations with the inclusion of youth as young as 13 years of age and the various allowances, restrictions and maturity ratings. I did however see some additional wordage changes in other areas when having to review it to sign in today. For full TOS updates check here: http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php or direct link here: SLTOSHere.

The SL teen grid will be closing and youth ages 13 through 17 will additionally be allowed into the SL main grid January 1, 2011. When logging into SL today the new TOS agreement is displayed for all to review and agree to before being allowed in SL. It seems there have been a lot of these TOS updates lately, but I certainly understand their necessity especially with youth as young as 13 entering the grid.

Of special interest to me is the snapshot and machinima section. I didn't see any surprising changes but we will be needing to pay close attention to covenants, land owners, and featured avatars as usual. I've clipped a part of this section here, but there is a lot more info.

"(a) Land Owner Consent for Snapshots and Machinima.
If you wish to take a snapshot or capture machinima of content on another Resident’s land, then:
For Snapshots, check whether the covenant for the land prohibits snapshots. If it does, then you need special permission from the land owner to take the snapshot. If it allows snapshots or doesn’t address them, then you do not need special permission from the land owner as long as you comply with any terms that may be in the covenant.
For Machinima, check whether the covenant for the land allows machinima. If it does not or doesn’t address machinima, then you need special permission from the land owner to capture machinima. If it allows machinima, then you do not need special permission from the land owner as long as you comply with any terms that may be in the covenant.
For Mainland or Linden Homes parcels where Linden Lab is the estate owner, you do not need land owner consent to take snapshots, but you do need special permission from the land owner to capture machinima. The “land owner” is not the estate owner, but the Resident identified as the land owner in the “General” tab under “About Land.” For private islands where Residents are estate owners, you must check the covenant for the private island as provided above.
(b) Avatar Consent for Machinima.
For machinima, you must have the consent of all Residents whose avatars or Second Life names are featured or recognizable in the machinima. This includes avatars who are featured in a shot, avatars whose names are legible, and avatars whose appearance is sufficiently distinctive that they are recognizable by members of the Second Life community. Consent is not required if an avatar is not recognizable and is merely part of a crowd scene or shown in a fleeting background. Consent is not required for any snapshots." SL Snapshop and machinima policy, see link above

Mr. Scrooges Holiday Village---Free Cool Stuff!

Cute place to shop until December 27 for many quality freebies and inexpensive items. I took quite some time and grabbed a ton of quality Christmas items for free with everything from poses to a major amount of great holiday decorations. This is a "must see" for bargain shoppers. Check it out here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cheeky%20Pea/185/68/1024 or direct link here: MrScroogeHere.

Flickr Flash!-My Pummelvision

My Pummelvision from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

My buddy Lowe Runo (LoweHere.)posted how to get Flickr pics together using this Pummelvision (PummelvisionHere.) online tool, so I had to try. I have so many SL Flickr pics that my Pummelvision results are a little over the the 1.30 sec Flickr allows, so guess I will save it here. It's a nice review of what I have been up to in SL.

Merry Christmas-My Second Life Card To You

A Merry Christmas and blessed new year!
Luke 2:9-14
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

FTLO Ice Festival

Direct Link FTLOIceHere. Or travel here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gleaming%20Waters/170/194/54

Adorable huts filled with fun wintery things to purchase line the ice flows. Random snowflakes are scattered about that are filled with freebies. Shop It's Cake, aRAWRa, Real Living, Grixdale/Tyranny, HA!, Zenith Fashions, Acid&Mala, Insanya/MyPinkySkull, Bubble, LouLou&Co, Sonic Death, RezIpsa Loc, EPIC, MY Cheeky Pea,Ingenue,SHOPPING, WINTER, ICE, XMAS, CHRISTMAS, Christmas Tree, SNOWFLAKE HUNT. Check it out for some unique Christmas and winter clothes and other fun things such as my antlers that give candy canes and these cute sweaters my friend, Jonnah Quandry, and I are wearing in the above pictures I took on location.

Explore Second Life

A few more good explores I've been enjoying;

Spencer Art Museum: "In 1945, I. Petrovsky published work[1] on the lacunae that occur in the region where the solution of a hyperbolic partial differential equation vanishes. Decades later, we observed the so-called Petrovsky flux, the effluent that results from squishing a Petrovsky lacuna (a findng involving pliers, single malt scotch, and kitten sausage); the visible residue is a sort of topological gristle[2]." (As taken from the sim notecard) The beauty is in the details and changes... click everything. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Go KU!.. Direct link here: SpencerHere. Or go here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spencer%20Art%20Museum/207/159/33



Milivus= again a lot to click with pose spots, some pretty cute and unique animations and a lot of various detail--great for photos. Check it out here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Milvus/141/74/21 and direct link here: MilvusHere.

Zone, Mysterious Wave:
Some odd and unusual things to look at or buy: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zone/128/128/21 or direct link here: ZoneHere.

Empyreal Dreams visualizes famous poems and literature, The Raven, Emily Bronte's The Bluebell, Ancient Mariner, and Les Mis'erables --The Artbox Anthology with tp's to these 4 separate sections where the scenes are loaded with cool pose spots, but you have to click everywhere because you can't tell where all the pose spots are. Very cool.
Check it out here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ctrl%20Shift%20H/52/145/23 or direct link here: EmpyrealHere.
Their blogspot: http://empyrealdreams.blogspot.com/

Fashion Blogger-Burly

Not quite living up to that name Burly there! A dear friend of mine, Burly Tigerpaw, who blogs fashion (Opium Fashion Agency), asked if I was free and wanted to model something with him for his latest post. Of course I was on top of that, but when I landed the tp, there stood Brian in a DRESS! Typical Brian, often a goof, but it was good for a laugh. He quickly explained he opened the outfit and just clicked "wear all" so ended up in the dress which was what I was supposed to wear, as it was a his and her set. We exchanged clothes and he snapped some nice shots. The cute set is a Darkwater Designs Peace On Earth Hunt gift.

I'm pulling over his Flickr shot of him in the dress, because he's just that cute in it. I'm not sure which one of us looks better in that dress actually. All I know is this is just WRONG. He left it on long enough to make a face and snap a pic, so maybe just maybe he kinda liked the swish of the long skirt across in hairy legs and the tight bodice cinching up his chest.. um.. ok.. who knows. If you'd like to see the two of us in the set check out his blog direct link here: OpiumFashionsHere.



BurlyHere. For Brian's Flickr

Split Screen

Check this out! : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Beleza/67/80/20
or direct link here: SplitScreen.

SPLIT SCREEN INSTALLATION SPACE

"The Split Screen Installation Space is part of a sim where artists and builders develop a large installation and exhibit it for a limited time. In general, one or two artists use the space for two months (give or take), and then another artist will take over. The space is meant for large builds that utilize the possibilities of Second Life as an artistic or immersive medium.

December's exhibits are:
Beleza South: Bryn Oh's "Mayfly"
Beleza North: Miso Susanowa's "Chroma"

When you are visiting, please be sure to visit both parts! There is a teleporter near the entrance. Depending on prim availability, there may also be a store where the artists can sell their work. You can use the teleporter to go there too.

Please join the Split Screen group to get updates (there is a group joiner and tip jar near the entrance). If you are interested in becoming a regular supporter of Split Screen's work, please get in touch with me!

Machinimatographers are welcome to film in the space, provided they credit the artist(s) and the Split Screen Installation Space itself. (Please note: my permissions do not extend to the residential areas on the rest of the sim.)

Artists are welcome to ask me about working in the Split Screen space, and I'll be happy to hear about artists who might benefit the opportunity.

Dividni Shostakovich
dividni@gmail.com
http://dividni.blogspot.com"

Check out Bryn's Youtube for a wonderful video: BrynHere.

Check out Divi's blog for more information: DiviHere.

My little version with the addition of Divi, sim owner, Kara Seadryke and dancing Kara:

Split Screen from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

SL Roller Coaster Ride from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

A super cool SL Interpretation of the Cyclone roller coaster and very nice sim. (condensed ride for video) Visit here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SOHO%20New%20York/190/37/34 or direct link here:
CycloneHere.

SLF Football-Heartland Cardinals

Pictured: Kara and team member, center: Knownhotti Aabye


Are you ready for some football? Well, I am. It's about time I updated on the status of my SFL cheer leading experiences. After quite some time with the Bengals team that never seemed to quite get off the ground with only a few players, one of our owners decided to back out leaving us to merge with the Heartland Cardinals, an established team also in need of players and cheerleaders. Journey McLaglen and Raubin Sachertorte joined forces forming what is today the Heartland Cardinals, a team with a full roster. The changes were many not only within our team but with SFL in general. The men quickly began practices and attempts to obtain more players until they signed their last few players just a couple of days prior to our first pre-season game last Saturday. The cheerleaders underwent some administrative changes, not without a bit of drama, but also pulled together with less than a week before game day a full group of eight girls for half time (up from 4 that was previously allowed) and an additional 6 on the sidelines. Rules changed and the cheer squads can now have up to 16 girls with 8 for half time and 8 for sideline at each game if desired or all are able to be present. I was very impressed that a song was picked, remixed to fit the time constraints, a routine developed and learned all within less than a week and come Saturday the team and cheerleaders felt pretty ready. I should not have had any doubts, as the boys played hard and led the game against the experienced Packers the entire game for a final score of 35 to 16. I was also impressed that so many of the men excelled in different ways. As for the cheerleaders, I was also proud of the end result with less that a week for that routine. One cheerleader crashed but had a quick recovery and found her spot, so all in all I'd say it was pretty good. I have watched several games and seen squads with crashed cheerleaders and empty spots and girls having a hard time moving to spots due to lag or some reason, so I was actually very pleased with our results and we had a lot of compliments. It's my understanding tweet.tv will be broadcasting their filming of the game and I hope they also captured us cheerleaders in that. I will post a link when/if I find it.

(Scoreboard photo courtesy of Knownhotti)

Pre-season has ended and Season games will start the beginning of December. At this point it's my understand that they are still mainly allowing only teams, special guests, and owners/players/cheerleaders of other teams in during games. After the initial game attempt at allowing anyone in and over 500 people trying to show up in the 3 sim area and the field scripts still with a few bugs, I guess they wanted to be able to be sure the games can be properly played before opening to full public again. At this point the games are fun to watch and it's very much like real football with the sportscasters announcing, the music and sounds, cheer leaders and of course the football players with their real plays actually participating live with their avatars. It's pretty impressive.

An added bonus to this team is that one of the owners has a bar called the Lonestar. Granted it's a country western bar, but they have "regular" music on Thursday nights and actually mix up the stuff other nights pretty well too with an ongoing crowd that is fun to hang around with. Above the practice stadium area and cheer leading practice field there is a platform that houses a really cool players club that includes a dance club area, Cardinals gift shop and a stadium seating theater area. We had a party Sunday night to celebrate the win Saturday and I really like that place a lot.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heartland/153/224/22 or direct link here: LonestarHere.

Lonestar Dancing: Pagan, Kara, Kathy and Lilly

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

"Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. While it may have been religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.[1] It is sometimes casually referred to as Turkey Day."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

(an exceptional sim: Tempura)http://slurl.com/secondlife/tempura%20island/127/220/65
TempuraHere.

The Need to Breed-Second Life Horses

Just shoot me now, as I have succumbed to the latest SL trend of horse breeding. Well, not technically as I only ever intend to keep two at a time max. I really have no clue why, after my bunny failure when one turned black in spite of all the love and food I gave it and freaked so put them back into the abyss of an inventory never to be seen again, that I thought I had to try the horses.

This horse business is huge in SL right now right on the heels of the bunny business and one friend told me she sold a special horse for about 30,000L---NO KIDDING. I really had no intent of getting horses, but I was looking at them and saw "Char" with the big beautiful green eyes and I was a goner. At 200L I thought I had a deal---that is until I decided she had to have a mate for company -enter randy old "Remington" whose "fervor" was way high and although I never saw them do "it" w/in a few hours Char was with child. This was of course after I spent a small fortune for food/water, stable, salt lick, snack, etc. No expense spared for my "horse's" happiness. They are not even as attractive as my real looking fake horses. You can ride them though. Anyway a few days later mama Char has this hay bale baby which I fully intend to NOT unpack into a foal. I missed the birthing or however that hay bale happened to be hanging from mama Char. Maybe I will let Char and Remington have a little more fun, make one more baby hoping for a diff sex this time then give the adults away before they eat me out of house and home and keep the babies unopened so they don't "die" in my inventory in case I get the whim to breed something again in the future. But then would that be incest? Virtual horse incest--what a thought--anyway if you feel the need to breed and nurture check out this trend that's been sweeping SL. I'm sure there will soon be a new SL breeding trend.

Addendum: Remington has been keeping Char so pregnant and making babies, that I studded him out last night so a friend could try for one of the special edition horses. What a guy.

Second Life User Names

Today I logged in to find more information about SL user names. I will just quote a note card I received: "Some of you may have already noticed this, but I found out just tonight that Linden Lab has finally done away with last names for avatars. Only single names are now allowed for usernames.

(Going off on a tangent: if you still really want a last name, it might be possible through one of the portals listed here: http://slnamewatch.com/portals.php)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
→ Why should business owners take note of this?
Stores with one-word names especially should take note.

I created a new avatar named POSEUR, which is also the name of my pose store. After I registered the new name/avatar, I did a search in-world for the term "poseur" and was surprised to see that my new avatar's profile was the very FIRST search result.

It's unfortunate, but there are some unscrupulous people out there who might see this as an opportunity to "smear" existing businesses by creating an avatar with a name identical to their stores. :( Because of this, I think it's a good idea to protect your business, and register a new avatar with your store's name. This way you retain control over what is written in that profile.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
→ How to create an avatar named after your store?

Simple, you're just basically creating a new alt account. Go to the secondlife.com website and go to the Join Now page (you may need to log out first). You'll be prompted to choose a name, and it will NOT give you the option to select a last name. Last names are now a thing of the past!

Choose your store name for your new alt, and go through the usual process of creating a new avatar. That's it!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
→ Are there some limitations?

Yes. You cannot put a space in your name, and your name must be 2 to 31 characters long.

Also, this might seem obvious, but you can't register a name if it already belongs to someone as their full name. For example, if you own a store named Chocolate Chip Mint and intend to register ChocolateChipMint, you're out of luck: there's already an avatar with the name ChocolateChip Mint."

So I'm really not sure I need to worry about this, but some people might. I have enough alts/names for a while I think. More information on names and how to use them to log in to different viewers now that thing have changed can be found here:
SLNamesHere. or use this: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Usernames

Second Life Hunts

I know I've posted about some fun hunts before with some direct links, SLurls, Websites and info., but rather than rework things I've found a good site to check .. see here: http://slhunts.wordpress.com/ direct link here: SLHuntsHere.

Some Of My Favorite Second Life Pictures

I made a short vid with some friends in a nice explore sim I found: slurl.com/secondlife/Krillian/199/241/2




Other mermaids: Kathy Nikolaidis and Lilly Juno.

The World Expo Shanghai SL Sims Closing Nov. 12

The World Expo Shanghai 2010 has come to a close and so will the sims Linden Labs graciously offered for the event. If you would like to catch them before they go then here is your last chance, as they close Friday Nov. 12, 2010. Island five has changed from the original, as it is current being used for another project previously blogged here. Special thanks to OPEN THIS END and Aino Baar without whose efforts this project would not have existed. For pics and direct links, more information and SLurls.. check back here: WorldExpoKarabloghere.

Pluto

"Surreal" came to mind when I visited the grand opening 10-17-10 of Pluto, an installation that will run October 17 through November 17th. Two great Portuguese artists, CapCat Ragu and Melio Minotaur exhibit their personal and poetic vision of the planet Pluto.
CapCat

At the opening I found CapCat and Melio in impressive costume avatars that are available for sale at the installation. I could not help but ask CapCat, a fellow Flickr friend of mine, a little more about the meaning of the presentation. She explained, "There is not a lot to say really, it's Pluto. She was the God of the underworld and the planet that is no more." She said, "It's our death installation, I guess, including decay, ghosts and flys." The exhibit actually seemed a bit beautiful to me with all the flowing light figures. I teleported up to Pluto where there were more Pluto ghosts flying around. This is an impressive exhibit difficult to describe but well worth the visit and some friends I dropped in were grateful for the lift, expressing their delight with the show also.

There were many attendees during the extended opening and as CapCat and Melio stood around chatting and blending into the scenery with their outfits, many of the attendees were also in various costumes. A couple even provided an impromptu fire and light show. The sim notecard states: "Come and Dream with Us." And that is exactly what I did.

Attendees included: Morghana Savira, Kimm Paulino, Storm Blauvelt, xendra lane, giovanna cerise, Korii Tiger, Shark Fallen, Gavin Zhora, Falco Preez, simba Schumann, Claudia Naire, SaveMe Oh, Takio Ra, Gattalia Rossini, Blanca Diesel, Ninhas Lupindo, Osis Feden, Wizardoz Chrome, Burk Bode, Maloe Vansant, Benjamin Hirons, Solkide Auer, Eupalinos Ugajin and riri Bazar, Lenz Bovarro, and Cafi Rang, among others.

Melio

Lady Hightower Memorial Rumble

Patrick taking a break with friends

The invitation for October 9 read: "Let us celebrate life with music and noise and dance. Let us "rumble" to remember Lady Hightower. Thank you all so very much on her behalf and in her memory. Let us celebrate as I offer these passages from the bible in prayer:
"There was a rumble and lightning and the sounds of the trumpet grew. Sing praise in the assembly of people. Community! Let us make music with tambourines and lyres....dance! Raise those who are oppressed with sadness and lift them up. Make music, sing for joy, and let the rumble be heard. I offer this tribute with you in honor of lady hightower. Amen."

Patrick Thorkveld along with Gwampa's 4 sim Dance Kamp
hosted a memorial to Lady Hightower's memory with a full lineup of some of Second Life's favorite musicians October 9th from 7am to 10pm SLT. Lady Hightower clearly was loved and respected by many in the SL community and especially close to her fellow musicians as evidenced by the fond sentiments and music they each provided in her honor. The day provided some closure and an opportunity for the community to come together supporting each other in this loss. Many of the musicians provided heart felt sentiments and selected songs specific to their memories of her, as well as some traditional memorial songs.

When I commended Gwampa Lomu for providing the venue, he stated, "I like doing this.. feels good to give back to the community" I also touched base with Patrick Thorkveld, Lady Hightower's partner SL and RL and he acknowledged the day was difficult for him, but said, this was a "a chance for the community to heal".

Lady Hightower's SL profile is still in the system seemingly as a lasting memory, so now a few quotes from Lady Hightower's profile as follows :
"One cannot have too large a party."
~Jane Austen, who obviously never tried to get into a crowded sim.
-Life itself is the proper binge.
But a good bottle of chardonnay is fun, too
-Fiction is not a dream, nor is it guesswork. It is imagining based on facts, and the facts must be accurate or the work of imagining will not stand up"

Attesting to Lady Hightowers popularity the sims remained full throughout the day as I continued to pop in and out.
The musical lineup included: 7:00 am prayer followed by
7:05 Wolfie Moonshadow, 7:20 am Russell Eponym, 7:32 scotty glaswing, 7:45 am Beth Odets, 8:00 am Bones Writer, 8:15 am shadez rhapsody, 8:30 am zachh cale, 8:45am Tempio Breil, 9:00am Tommie Scorpio, 9:14 am Bluemonk Rau, 9:30 digby smalls, 9:45am Gabryel Nyoki,10:00 Josie Anderton,10:12 Normrynolds Genesis,10:24 Samm Qendra
10:36 UKD BAND, 11:20 Sid Slade, 12pm-1pm Rockrose Full Band, 1:00 pm Mimi Carpenter, 1:15 pm Andreus Gustafson
1:30pm Pilgrim75 Swashbuckler, 1:42 pm Hellig Melson
1:54 pm Montian Gilruth, 2:06 pm LaidBack Celt
2:18 pm Newbawn Easterwood, 2:30pm Matt Perreault, 2:42pm Nick99 Razor, 2:54pm kellee blaylock, 3:06pm Tamra Sands, 3:18pm Anek Fchs, 3:30pm-Noma Falta, 3:42pm Franklee Anatra, 3:54pm Frogg and Jaycatt, 4:06pm Shannon Oherlihy, 4:18 Clairede Dirval
4:30pm jean munro, 4:42pm pondman haalan, 4:54pm skye galaxy, 5:06pm Norris Shepherd, 5:18pm Kim Seifert
5:30pm Raspbury Rearwin, 5:42pm Zerbie Magic, 5:54pm ******catch up break******6:06pm Wytchwhisper Sadofsky, 6:18pm Shantu Selene, 6:30pm Maximillion Kleene, 6:42pm Frets Nirvana, 6:54pm Ictus Belford, 7:06pm Lightning lowtide, 7:18pm Truly Lionheart, 7:30pm PM Bookmite, 7:42pm Phemie Alcott, 7:54 pm Harper Mesmer
8:06pm RB Hamelin, 8:18pm madmax, 8:30 pm Jackson oxenberger, 8:42 pm bruce scrabblebat, 9:06 dirtydee, Sweetwaterr, 9:18pm Rosedrop rust, 9:30pm Ronus Lefevre,
9:45 pm Paul Nowles, 10 pm Dexter Ihnen,
End : Audience Rumble with Moondoggirl Moomintoog
(bye bye miss american pie)
Gwampa

Hungry Art Gallery

Archibald Sideshow's Hungry Gallery held a grand opening 10-17-10 presenting artist Ariel Brearly, Daruma Boa, Sledge Roffo and Archibald himself. Archibald showed me around the gallery explaining that the top floor is filled with his works many of which he uses his own body against the picture to make works of art. The first one we discussed was called "Me White On Black and Red.".. fitting considering it was him. He said and one could see it was his face "pushed up against the canvas." He also showed me some works with his body on the canvas as well as a female body so that I could experience the different looks they provided. Of course I had to ask if that felt good and he replied, " No not so good cause I using acrylic and its plastic color with drying fast". He finally admitted he uses himself in the art a lot. One work he showed me he stated it was not even dry yet in first life.

After a little discussion Archibald, who lives in Sweden provided some personal information about himself. He paints and also writes poetry and prose. In his own words, " I roll out a mat on the kitchen floor, and pick up a box of paints from the closet. Then I crawl around the canvas on the floor with cool music in the background.
Later that night I take my canvasses to a park behind a garage and start to spraypaint them. Usually I call a friend and tell that I'm cold. Always cruelly cold to wait for it to dry.
I bought art on vintage, which I then painted over. I have a lot of vintage artwork style Hollywood Paris from -59, that sometimes get stuck on the canvasses.
I usually substitute my own model. I do not use a brush when I paint, I use pieces of wood, knives, my own body. Yes, I paint on my body and make prints.
Art is the imprint from society, from the inside from the outside, from me. My body is my brush. I do not know what I'm doing, that's why I'm doing it."

Whatever he is doing he is doing it right.

Some friends in attendance got a little goofy for a while changing their avatar shapes and dancing in the gallery amidst the art. Attendees included:
Mariella Tammas, Burk Bode, Maloe Vansant, Jocgart Larsen, Eves Rodenberger, Giaanmario Masala, Musique Gable, Music Hyun, Razi Semple, nessuno Myoo, Frislanda Ferraris, Kicca Igaly, Anri Liamano, and many others.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Escape%20Falls/202/164/22 or direct link here: ArchibaldHere.

archibald_sideshow@live.co.uk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjornmalm/

Vid of the goofy dancing by Flickr Friend Burk Bode: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40649214@N08/5123242993/

Explore It-Education in Second Life

My friend and Media Pro, Persia Bravin, handed me a invite box to rez yesterday. I didn't think much about it until I rezzed it open today to find a very cool interactive announcement for an event being held this Saturday, November 6th 11-3 SLT at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sbcc%20Explore%20It/114/46/22 . Immersive, interactive Education is coming to SL via a grant. The announcement was about the the Second Life official launch of the ‘EXPLORE IT!’ project funded by the California SB 70 Grant, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s initiative on improving and strengthening ‘Career Technical Education.’

Thanks to the grant now *"students in Santa Barbara, California, can discover career paths in the technical industries right here in Second Life. Funding from the ‘SB 70’ grant awarded to Santa Barbara City College and administered by the California Department of Education, has enabled the build of the brand new ‘Explore It!’ career academy located on its own sim in Second Life. This truly innovative project has been designed by an all star team and will be used by thousands of students from junior high, high schools and colleges to explore career routes in the technical fields of multimedia, culinary arts, the automotive industry, horticulture and hospitality. Creative scripting technology also means the ‘EXPLORE IT!’ village includes audio explaining each career, videos, interactive gadgets plus a website with helpful information about the many different routes offered in each main career."

The official launch day events schedule includes:
11am-12pm: BOSL DJ Allenclive Beaumont
12-1pm: Live Music from HatHead Rickenbacker
1pm-2pm-Live Music from Aubryn Melody
2pm-2pm: Live Music from Bones Writer

The invitation opened up to a chopping block table that talks and moves as you click along. You click the knife and it chops carrots, makes soup, and there is even a bunny, etc. I enjoyed the invite and am sure the opening event Saturday will be a blast. Explore it... Your Future That Is. The event is open to all so check it out here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sbcc%20Explore%20It/114/46/22


*"The creative team behind ‘Explore It!’
DB Bailey (David Denton) - Architecture/ Building
Keystone Bouchard (Jon Brouchard)- Building and model construction
Desdemona Enfield - Scripting
Douglas Story (Dennis Schaefer) - Writing, interactive gadget concepts, voice-over talent direction, photo compositing, and audio editing
Hilda Diavlo (Nina Jensen) – Website development
Zil Jewell (Liz Russotti) – Grant Director
LeaLea Llewellyn (Leana Bowman) Grant writer
Chrome Underwood- Cast avatar design
Persia Bravin-Press and Promotion

What is the SB 70 Grant?

California’s SB 70 Grant is the Governor’s Initiative on improving and
strengthening Career Technical Education (CTE). The ’Explore It!’ career academy was made possible through a grant application implemented, written by and awarded to Santa Barbara City College.

More Information on the SB 70 Grant can be found at:
www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/gi/sb7007summary.asp"

*Information quoted from Perisa's Flickr stream here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/persia_bravin/5143910126/

Halloween in Second Life

One more Halloween vid. Deja Vogue had a great Halloween party, so I took some snaps and a little vid and here it is.

Happy Halloween 2010

Well, Halloween came and went and I was not in the greatest of moods this year so didn't go all out RL or SL as I usually like to do, since Halloween is one of, if not the most favored holiday for me. I did get outside in the dark RL last night and I did play hard at numerous SL Halloween parties too. Then I came home RL/SL and made one final pic in the outfit I wore the most for Halloween this year in SL and I used a tiny bit of Photoshop, since I just now got that out and want to learn to use it a little. Here is my pic for Halloween this year. Now it's 53 days and counting until Christmas. (Thank goodness we have turkey day this month though too)




Drat, It's either small or cuts off some of the pic from the sizes offered copying off Flickr. I'll figure these things out some day and for now it's the tiny full pic.

Happy Halloween

A short vid and pic from last year to wish everyone a Happy Halloween this year.

Syncretia Closing..Hurry Over

Syncretia is closing November 8th Monday, so hurry over for a last visit. Don't worry Alpha Auer's alpha.tribe store will still continue it's existence in the Syncretia Annex. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Syncretia/36/144/22 SyncretiaHere.

E.T.

A quick vid just because I like the song and SciFi stuff in SL.

E.T. from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

The Big Bang Crossmedia Project

I received some cool Rose Spam today from Rose Borchovski and since it covers it well, I'm just going to edit and quote it here:



"BigBang Crossmedia project.
We are working on a project called the Bigbang.
It is a rl multimedia show, with most off the content of the projection created and filmed in SL.
The RL event will take place on the 5-6-7 th of November in Warsaw, Poland.
I'm proud to tell you that the show is a combined effort of a group of sl Machinatographers and Artists like:
Bobe Schism, Mescaline Tammas, Toxic Menges, Bryn Oh, sorror Nishi, Werner Kurosawa, Alpha Auer, Rose Borchovski and others.
(More specific information will be released this weekend with a complete credit list.)

We have filmed several myths of creation. The sim on which we have filmed the Greek myth will probably go offline next week, but I would like to give you the opportunity to visit " the film-set" of this Greek myth,
Thank you Rose ))

GREECE
THE BATTLE OF THE GODS

In the beginning – there was a great empty void called Chaos.
inhabited only by the great black-winged bird Nyx who mated with the wind to lay a golden egg which hatched out with Eros, the God of Love. The two halves of the golden eggshell became Uranus the Sky and Gaia the Earth,who promptly fell in love with each other and had many children.

The children of Uranus and Gaia were fearful that their own offspring would destroy them and in protection against such an outcome, Cronus the eldest child took to eating his offspring as soon as they were born, But Cronus’s wife Rhea hid her last born child, a boy called Zeus,tricking her husband to swallow instead a cloth-covered rock. When Zeus became a man, he attacked his father, forcing him to vomit up his brothers and sisters and a mighty Battle of the Titans took place in the skies above Mount Olympus to decide who should rule the world. Zeus and his siblings were victorious and the world now had a race of triumphant Gods but no men or animals. Zeus instructed his sons to make animals and men, giving each creation a gift according to its needs – some were given claws, others teeth, others the ability to swim or to fly. But the gifts ran out by the time it was the turn of man and women so Zeus’s son Prometheus gave man fire in direct disobedience to his father’s instruction and Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock to have his liver plucked out daily by an eagle. The female Pandora was given a box of secrets which she was told never to open. But tempted by curiosity, she opened the lid and let loose plague, famine and greed upon the world. When she managed to close the box again, she heard a small timid creature fluttering inside - it was Hope which was finally released and thus could always allow a reprieve for the world."

Check it out here: Direct link BigBangHere. or here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Two%20Fish%20Four/181/104/36

RL links : BigBangHereRL.
BigBangHereRL.

The Rumor. Have You Heard....Opens Saturday, but you can slip in now : )

Today I visited a new scenic sim filled with shopping/explore that officially opens this Saturday, October 30th. The gates opened today for early shopping and probably a little less lag, so I ran on over. (Actually I stopped in before and cammed around the ban lines, because I'm just that curious)The sim has cool landscaping and some of my fav shops including: Posies(some cute animations and poses), Fume, LouLou & Co., Razorblade Jacket (sale this location), socialANGtz poses (some cute free ones), Acid & Mala, Tea (cute wearable free group gift snake), Adjunct, rangs,Babycakes, Wunder, BUTT-ERR,Mustache, Cheeky Pea, Smarmy, and what seems like a million more tucked into a quaint little scenic village. I noticed a couple of shops still free for rent too. Lots of freebies. Check it out here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Rumor/86/111/22 or direct link here: TheRumorHere. Freebie wearable snake

Virtual Sports

I've been having a bit of fun with sports in SL lately so wanted to share some Slurls and pics.

Hockey with Virtual Hockey League: HockeyHere. or here:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Hockey%20League/171/124/12



warrior Instinct Boxing Gym: BoxingHere. Or here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Warrior%20Instinct/184/136/97

Second Football League: SFLHere. Or here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SFL%20Headquarters/117/250/21




Recreational sports complex for tennis, volleyball and basketball: TennisVolleyballBasketball. Or here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/TT%20Enterprises/124/116/24



There is also plenty of sailboating, sailboarding, jet skiing, cigar boating, surfing and other water sports and Blake Sea is one of my favorite places to go for water sports.


My smallest SL friend Sheldon Nitely also created a Fantazy Football game that may be found around SL. He provided me with a note of information as I took his picture with the set up. "Play Fantazy Football. With prize pools for both the weekly and season-long winners, you could become the king of the hill.
How do you play?
Simple. Find a Fantazy Football machine. Pay the machine. Pick the winner for this weeks' games by clicking on the appropriate team logo and that's it.
Pick more winners that week then your friends and you win the weekly pot. Pick more winners for the season and you win the accumulated season pot.
Don't worry even if you don't come in first we're giving away prizes to the players who come in the top three for the week and top 10 for the season.
But you have to hurry. The machine moves on to the next week at the beginning of the first game of the week. (Yes, yes those crazy Thursday games do count).
So get your helmet on and get ready to play."





If you just want a cool gym to work out in one of my old machinima includes some workout scenes from my fav SL gym with credits and location info. toward the end:

Unconditional from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

Horrorfest 2010

It's time for Horrorfest 2010 a fundraiser in aid of the Sophie Lancaster foundation sponsored by the Guild of Gloom. www.sophielanasterfoundation.com a registered charity. This event runs October 15-30 and will have djs, vendors, burlesque dancers, hunts and prizes and a undead auction showcasing the the hottest and best of horror in SL.

HorrorfestHere. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Floyd/150/124/22

Soni's Rez Day Party-All Invited

My good friend Soni is having her 4th rez day party tomorrow, Friday from 8-10slt at their office. This should be a lot of fun and everyone is welcome to join us. There will be a dj, dancing, fireworks, and the land has some cool things to play on. I hope all my friends can come whether you know Soni or not. See prior posts for more info. about Soni and her many SL productions. Direct link here:
PartyHere.




Prior post here: SoniHere.