Sushi on The SS Galaxy

The other day I visited the SS Galaxy which is the only full size, full scaled and full featured cruise ship in SL. While there I found this little corner sushi bar featuring a large floating kinda octopus looking one eyed Sushi Chef weilding a huge knife serving up the sushi. People seated around the sushi bar were eating plates of sushi with chopsticks and I knew then anything is possible in SL. I think this might actually make a cute date, but I was on the run exploring so didn't take time to grab a friend or even actually settle in with a meal. The ship itself was very impressive spanning 3 sims with more than 8 decks of fun and entertainment. It offers various staterooms and suites for a fee per day or week, and many amenities and activities onboard including quite a few dining experiences, dance/ballroom/lounge areas, of course swimming, skating, shopping, bb, skeet, sky diving, jet ski, fishing, monowheel, rockclimbing walls, mini golf, windsurfing, spas, holodeck, helipads, theater, art gallery, garden, arcade, medical center, etc., and even a jogging rezzer to jog the track around the entire ship, plus much more. Ok, yes the whole thing was pretty impressive. Check it out some time.
SSGalaxy.

Totally SL Unrelated-Naked Mole Rat-Can't Help Myself But Post

I saw this a long time ago.. and now.. I saw it again, and it always makes me laugh. Watch the whole thing : )

SL Viewer

ApprovedViewers.

Ok, at least my Emerald viewer is approved along with 6 other alternative viewers approved due to self-certification that they comply with LL policies by the April 30th deadline. Besides the official SL viewer and Snowglobe the alternative viewers include Emerald, Kirstens, Sparkle, Omvviewer Project, METAbolt, Pocket Metaverse, and Mobile Grid Client. http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/

No SL ???

Great, can't log in at the moment. Grid status indicated Lindens are working on this problem. Gridstatus.

ABBA Extravaganza at New Brighton

Sunday I visited the New Brighton sim http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Brighton/142/196/4001 for a ABBA extravanganza show. They had 2 hours of ABBA music and the New Brighton Belles dancers. My exploring buddy and I were late in but thoroughly enjoyed dancing to the sounds of ABBA while the dancers on stage in costumes danced in sync and formation with ABBA backdrops occasionally showing behind them. The crowd was friendly even when I got a little overly excited Emerald camming the dancers and somehow double clicked... we all know what that means... and I ended up right on stage with the dancers. I quickly jumped down and advised the group that was my audition for being a dancer. That was when I noticed they were filming too. Wonderful. After that I was very tempted to do it again and my partner in crime and I plotted how we'd jump on stage with our alts and dance. Maybe next time. Anyway, it was a great show, great music, and I hope I make it back next time. My only regret was missing The Rocky Horror Picture Show event they had prior to ABBA.

Steampunk Time! The 2nd Annual Evolutionary Ball at Piermont Landing, New Babbage

From 6-9pm SLT tomorrow Saturday, April 24 join in the festivities of the Evolutionary Ball. Links for detailed information can be found here: http://newbabbage.ning.com/events/the-second-annual-evolutionary
and here: http://www.steampunktribune.com/
The sites indicate there will be a Fish Spawing Build Contest (sounds pretty interesting) with 1500L, 1000L and 500L prizes, and music by DJ Bats.
This event is sponsored by House of RFyre, BlakOpal Designs, Curious Seamstress and Hatpins.

Izabela Jaworower Violin Virtuoso

Tonight I visited Amandora Recital Hall and was treated to the smooth classical violin sounds of Izabela Jaworower along with Young Zeid on piano. It sounded so amazing I flipped on the recorder and asked later if it was ok to film. With approval from the sim owner and Izabela and Young, I made a little video to share a bit here. Someone in the audience described it as haute musique.. that sounded about right.

It was only later I found a notecard in my inventory about Izabela with some background information such as Izabela was born in Eastern Poland and graduated from the State Music School for gifted childdren. From there came a long list of achievements. She has toured all over the world with the Mexico City Philharmonic and upon arrival to the United States was offerd a full scholarship to the Los Angeles Philharmonic institute under the direction of Leonard Bernstein and Michael Tilson Thomas. She has many recordings including with celebrities Bernstein, Domingo, Pavarotti, Yoyo Ma, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, etc. She has played for two presidents and the Pope. Izabela leads a busy performance career, keeps a prominent teaching studio, and we are lucky to have her in SL. Young Zeid was very imipressive on the piano as well, and I look forward to hearing him on the violin too some time. Check them out if you get a chance.

Untitled from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

The First Annual Alternative Fair in SL

Today I visited the first annual Alt fair in SL. This fair sponsored by Sn@tch, Nomine and friends runs April 22 through May 2nd and benefits NothingButNets. Additional information can be found at NothingButNets.net.

There are a lot of freebies and specials on items and I felt compelled to take one of the specially made free Alt Fair t-shirts being given out, as I had dropped into the fair in the gown I had on in the the flower field just before this visit. I felt just a tiny bit out of place among the many shorts, Neko, punk mowhawk hairstyles, etc. When in Rome and all that, plus my girl Kara likes to walk the walk in all types of SL settings. I recognized many of the stores as some I enjoy frequenting in SL. This fair that covers over 4 sims has some very cute items in the over 50 vendors that specalize in alternative clothing, hair, skins and accessories. While I was there they were having some cool live music and I would guess there is entertainment lined up throughout the event. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nomine/51/209/29

Nothing But Nets is a global campaign to raise awareness and funding to combat malaria and provide malaria bed nets to countries in need. Send a bed net and save a life. Each long-lasting insecticide-treated bed net costs $10. 4-24-10 is the National Sleep Out to end malaria and to gain government attention for the issue. According to the site video Malaria kills a child every 30 seconds. 40% of the world's population lives in malaria endemic countries and it's treatment consumes nearly 40% of these countries' public health resources. The Alternative Fair is another good opportunity to get in some fun shopping in SL for a great cause. Check it out.

Happy Earth Day!

Don't forget to reuse, reduce, and recycle! It's the 40th anniversary of Earth Day celebrations, and a nice reminder to be kind to our planet. Many SL shops are offering free Earth Day t-shirts around the grid. Have a good one.

*Kara Fairy at the Fantasy Faire*

2010 Fantasy Faire

Fantasy Faire here
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Fantasy%20Faire%20Central/128/128/22

Calling all fairys, elves, fauns, drows, etc. The 2010 Second Life Fantasy Faire began tonight (err..this morning) and will run Monday, April 19 through Sunday, April 25. The Faire covers 9 sims with thousands of Fantasy vendors, designers, enthusiasts and performers to support Relay for Life and cancer victims. From what I saw it was very colorful, exotic, and beautiful and I am sure I will be visiting again soon when I have more time to rez better and explore, but it's well past my bedtime tonight. Check it out and enjoy. It's for a good cause.
For more information look here
http://fantasyfaire2010.wordpress.com/

Two Minutes in the Second Life of Kara Trapdoor from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

Just some stuff I do in SL. The music is Busy, Busy, Busy by Kevin Kline/Philadelphia Chickens: Sandra Boynton

The Sistine Chapel in SL, Vassar

A great place to visit in SL is the Sistine Chapel in Vassar. This re-creation was built by Steve Taylor of Vassar College in SL (Av: Stan Frangible.) Everything is pretty much true to scale and the images are from photographs used with permission. It is built of more than 500 prim with more than 200 different textures.

Prior to entering, a person must agree to a one time code of conduct that seems to be pretty standard. I did request permission to take a picture though before posting to be on the safe side. It was made for non-profit educational use. I found this to be very appealing and wanted to share it here. Currently the side walls are draped and by clicking, the curtains open to reveal even more wall pictures. The ceiling appears to be authentic replications and even in my picture you can see the famous Michelangelo paintings on the ceiling that he painted while lying on his back for 4 years.

For more information about this amazing place in real life check out : http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/sistinechapelceiling.htm
To visit The Sistine Chapel in Second Life, visit here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vassar/177/91/25

Belly Dancing at Parvana Rya

Belly Dancing at Parvana Rya SL from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

My friends have been hearing me talk about this belly dancing lately and I told some of the girls I would film a little, but my C-drive is full so I didn't do anything with it except post. Now everyone can see how fun it is to belly dance in sync with Jen at Parvana Rya. Imagine about 50 avs all dancing like this, guys and gals. Very cute! Check it out.

Pax-Where the Wild Things Are in SL

Today I visited an amazing sim in Pax called "Where the Wild Things Are". There are many photo ops here with gorgeous landscaping, volcano eruption, pose and dance balls, caves, and hidden areas. Check it out and be sure not to miss all the unique tp'ers that will take you to some even more interesting areas of this sim. Enjoy!

here

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pax/19/152/72

Get Your Pink On!

Wednesday April 14th is SL's first official Pink Shirt Day. Pink Shirt Day is a smaller movement that began in Canada when a boy was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. Cyberbullying can happen electronically, including some catagories of normal bullying, but can also including posting nasty rumors, pictures or messages about others and spreading rumors. Stand up for what is right and take a stand against bullying in first and second life. There are plenty of free pink shirts around the grid to support this cause. So, get your pink on!

For more information on bullying and prevention, please visit:

http://www.bullying.org
http://www.stopbullyingnow.com

Kara is wearing: CS Fandango Pink Champagne Mini Cocktail Dress Ensemble
and Bax boots.

BOSLradio

Tonight I met up with a few friends to hear Sonicity Fitzroy spin her tunes for a bit of rooftop dancing in prep for the big BOSLradio kickoff tomorrow er rather, today Saturday April 10 starting at 10am SL time. I recieved a really cool invite to the event and made a quick little video out of it to put here. I'm told everyone is welcome and I always feel the more the merrier. My friend Soni's spots will be Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm SL time and Tuesdays at 3pm SLtime. She played some great music for us tonight, so it's looking promising. I'm told the djs listed so far will be: Sonicity Fitzroy, Cazzo Decosta, Haarlee Lane, Oliver Szondi, Kromus Korobase, Shane Hornet, Loki Kahanamoku, Sofia Diage, SilverSpike Decosta, Sunnshine Koohaven, code Foden, Anastacia Markova, Sergio hancroft, and Syriana Paine. BOSLraido: http://boslradio.com/

BOSL Radio.. opening invite card only from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

Belly Dancing at Parvana Rya

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Angel%20Shark%20Shallows/29/19/1050
here


One of my good friends has been participating in all this belly dancing I keep hearing about and he invited me to join. Tonight I was in for a treat when I joined the large group of mostly appropriately adorned belly dancers who danced in sync to Jen's fluid moves onstage while exotic music played for our enjoyment. I actually showed up alone because my friend was not online, but he soon joined me and clearly knew a lot of this crowd from his past experiences here. The group was very friendly and I had a great time. Jen announced the grand re-opening event this Saturday at Club Neptune with underwater dancing and a full schedule of live music and also reminded everyone to come back for more belly dancing as regularly scheduled at Parvana Rya.

My new Tiffany red dress
by: Utopia

Through The Virtual Looking Glass

MommaLuv Skytower at "Enter" opening event April 7, 2010


Igor Ballyhoo, RL/SL artist in his Scissor Forest. He told me this is as a result of a dream and is only missing a sharp wind sound








Kara/Me : )


April 7 through April 30th 2010 brings together this mixed reality art exhibit that fuses RL and SL art. The show features some of the virtual worlds leading artists showcasing intricate artworks simultaneously from the Harbor Gallery at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and also at renowned galleries across France, Germany, Holland, Brazil and Italy-all connected via live video streaming. RL exhibition displays virtual art using computers, high quality digital frames, a digital projector, live video and audio streaming and specially made digital interface devices accessing works in virtual worlds. Many of the artists are exhibiting RL and SL. A few of the featured artists that I am friends with or know of include Glyph Graves, Igor Ballyhoo, AM Radio, Bryn Oh, Feathers Boa, Botgirl Questi, Georg Janick, Misprint Thursday, Sabrinaa Nightfire and others.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Art%20Collective2/144/102/42

I received an invite, so hit the opening event of the "Enter" portion of this show, with musician MommaLuv Skytower that filled and crashed the sim. Upon return the party was still at full blast and later I checked out the artworks and found, much to my delight, many of them were very interactive. Check it out for yourself. I must admit I got a little confused about all the shows kind of blending for me until Igor explained they are actually all parts of the same Diaboulos Metaverse Festival. See also prior post. I can't begin to describe how cool these exhibits and events are, so 'hope a few pics will help lure you there. I know I'll be going back.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Erato%20of%20Caerleon/128/235/26

For further information:
Event Organizer-Professor Gary Zabel: gary.zabel@umb.edu
S Press Enquiries-Persia Bravin (persia.bravin@yahooo.com
Website for Boston exhibition: www.virtual-art-initiative.org/TTVLG
Website for international exhibitions: www.virtual-looking-glass.org

CARP Metaverse Art Festival

"What is possible on the Metaverse"

51 participants
Remaining Schedule:

(Tyrehl Byk-Particle Installation)


--Wednesday 4-7-10:
12SLT Through Virtual Looking Glass and GalleryAle opening
2PMSLT Inland sound objects, soundtrack creations
4PMSLT Tyrehl BYK Particle Show
--Thursday 4-8-10:
2PMSLT Particle show Debbie Trillig/Calimera Lane
--Friday 4-9-10:
2PMSLT Virtual theatre The Wall
--Saturday 4-10-10:
1PMSLT Junivers Stockholm concert/Lightshow Janne Janus/particle and light effects, Mdeora chevalier/choreography
--Sunday 4-11-10:
2PMSLT Cypress Rosewood concert in the Metaverse Concert Hall
--Monday 4-12-10:
2PMSLT Opening DanCoyote Antonelli
3PMSLT Tyrehl BYK Particle show
--Tuesday 4-13-20:
1PMSLT SLT Al Hoffmann, concert in the Metaverse Concert hall
--Wednesday 4-14-10:
1PMSLT Werner Kurosawa-Virtual Art Large Scale Conceptual Complex
--Thursday 4-15-10:
2PMSLT NNOIZ PAPP Concert in the Metaverse Concet hall
--Friday 4-16-10:
2PMSLT closing event The Wall-Big Afterparty

I was fortunate enough to see the Particle Installation Monday by Tyrehl Byk. He will present this again Wednesday (today, see schedule). Tyrehl was also on The First Question SL game show this evening with Pooky Amsterdam. Sunday he will be on the Live with Paisley Bebee show. (pics: Tyrehl Byk and his Phantasmagoria Particle Show). It looks like a lot of talent here to check out. http://diabolus.ning.com/

2010 Music Awareness Concert

Musician Gregg Huet was the last in a line of singers to perform at the 3rd annual Music Awareness concert which ran for 109 hours. This event on Money Island was to show new residents about live music and over 3,500 UNIQUE residents touched the stage at some point in the week. What a sweet event for new (and old) residents.

SL Viewer Controversy

http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/ More information about Second Life and third party viewers and the third party viewer directory.

Policy on third pary viewers: http://secondlife.com/corporate/tpv.php

Emerald viewer is great for explorers, but I have heard many rumors & bits of information about it that if factual are very concerning. I realize I need more information. It would probably be safer for me to just stick with viewer 2, but I have been struggling to conform and learn enough to be completely comfortable with this very different viewer as yet. It's my understanding LL has made a list of sanctioned viewers and any viewer not approved or on the list by April 30 will be banned. This is in part to prevent content theft I'm told. I need some simple explanation of all this really. In the mean time I think my computer will continue to hold several viewers. I want to do the right thing, so if someone has researched this and can explain in simple terms, please let me know.

Addendum: Now I hear Emerald is working on a rebase Emerald that will satisfy the Lindens, then a new Emerald based on Snowglobe 1.3 with backport features of SL2.0 without the interface. More rumor? IDK

Easter 2010

Second Life has a lot to offer during the Easter season with many vendors providing Easter egg hunts with free prizes, etc., but one sim that always seems to stand out for great seasonal fun is in Venice Isle, this season called Easter Spring Town, by my friend Laura Libery. Laura, who is very generous and a lot of fun, also likes to play with her customers on her sims. Her Easter sim is filled with amazing products in cute huts plus an abundance of free fun items to have and play with. I have visited several times and have brought in friends who also stay and enjoy the fun... as seen in the attached video I made. Laura recently had a huge St. Patricks day set up and I'm looking forward to her Fourth Of July sim she is planning. For some great home or sim decorating and entertaining and a lot of fun be sure to check this one out. Some of her products included play, religious, food, home and sim deco., gifts, and other lines. Some of the sim play includes, peep races/free peep riders, egg dipping/ free egg costumes, free bouncy riders, bunny hop, Easter egg hunt with great prizes, jelly bean dancers, and more. Don't miss out! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Venice%20Isle/152/119/972

Easter 2010 from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

Happy Easter!

Pose Fair Revisited...again.. & again.. &..

Ok YES I am a huge poser. (see Flickr) I also find great joy in all the little animations my "Barbie" can do in SL, not only for pics and vids, but just because it makes her come more to life for me. As I said before I love to click everything and see things move. So many animations are also comical and anything that can make me laugh, like head spins, vomit, popcorn tossing, etc. can't be a bad thing. Not to mention all the dancing I love to do and the um.."private" moves can be impressive??-so I've heard.

I was with a friend actually looking at animations, when the first notice of the 2010 Pose Fair dropped down around Midnight Thursday providing info. that it was underway. The fair runs April 2-16th. We figured this was an ideal time to visit before traffic gears up, and so we tp'd on over. What we found was over 100 pose, prop and animation creators presenting. This is the first such SL pose fair and is to benefits MOTIVATION, a mobility charity that helps disabled people throughout the world in low income countries, who do not have access to other means of support. The shops were arranged in a double back to back open squared area with easy access and large sculpture courtyard in the middle. One drawback is lag, which is common for fairs, but much to my delight they offer free pink and blue skins to cut down lag. I thought it was cute to see pink and blue avatars running around but my friend wanted to be unique and donned one of his own impressive skins to be different. So I walked around looking like a pink marshmallow ava trying out demo poses and animations while he was a bit "cooler" in his designer skins he kept switching out for fun.

Time flew by and soon I had to get some sleep before RL work. My buddy found a another friend to continue on with and out I went vowing I'd rez back in the same spot when I had time. The next morning I popped in and sure enough said friend was still there checking stuff out. Much later in the day after work, I rezzed in again to find my friend now afk sitting on one of those fair boxes that helps people move around. By then the lag was so thick it was like walking through jello with the occasional yo-yo affect. I hopped up on the box and sorted my IMs for the day before I started camming the remaining stores for content I had not yet seen. The fair sports many new poses and animations, great prices for a good cause and tons of freebies! Check it out, but take a friend to laugh about the lag, skin colors, and to share pose demo spots with. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shisei/81/207/21

New SL starter avatars

https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2010/04/02/new-starter-avatars-are-here
New SL starter avatars are here. I guess they gifted all 12 new starters to everyone. It might still be fun to start a new one and try out some of the new features and starter places such as the new Welcome and Discovery islands. I wonder how many alts are allowed without drawing attention to ones self by LL.... hmmm.

Odds N Ends

Just a few things I need to remember:

--The Best Of Second Life Radio: Coming April 10th, 2010. (Notes PB CEO special day, so should be great party!) See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN3-I1y6GHo and also: http://sonicityradio.blogspot.com/

--3 New Interesting Hunts:
Just for the Girls- April 1-30
MHO Man Hunt-April 1-30
Crazy Arse Hair Hunt-April 2-30
Tons of Easter Egg Hunts-everywhere
(Notes there are many other good ones atm also)

--Australian Petition: Don't really know much about this but sounds concerning for my Austrialian friends in SL: http://www.petition.fm/petitions/ryzentolsen01

--Poser's Fair Begins Friday April 2-16 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shisei/81/207/21 many proceeds benefit motivations. See: Motivation.org.uk

--New SL Rules must be agreed to before entering SL, (viewer 2 no longer beta and will be offical viewer) Of special note to me: Photography and Machinima rules: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Snapshot_and_machinima_policy

Google

Google... er, um, I mean Topeka

Roan and Lumeria

Check out this great build by Abel Moonites and Wildangel Swift. Be sure to hit all three levels: underwater, main section, and garden/forest up above. http://slurl.com/secondlife/ROAN/133/141/28