Happy 4th of July! O yeah!

My good friend Soni (see prior post, RL PhD, author, professor) getting a little silly in preparation for 4th of July. Her machinima (including yours truly) and her AviewTV blog response to the machinima leaking, well, flooding all over the SL media scene. I'll do my part and add it here hahah :). All in good fun.





And look here for her offical response: SoniSpeaksAviewTV.

GAGAnista!

Watch Out Boys, She's Got Her Guns!








DejaVogueDistrictHere.
Dolce Enderfield goes Gaga

Today I visited the DEJAVOGUE, Fashion District GAGAnista event sponsored by VISTA Animations, Diram, G Sloane Couture and produced and choreographed by Dolce Enderfield. The show featured models dancing to choreographed dances in Diram outfits in front of a huge Gaga stage. Vista recently released a new set of smooth Gaga dances and I actually picked up a set on XStreet last week, but they were available on display and for sale at this event too. Check them out at Vista Animations.

There was a dress rehersal and then costume party last night and today after the show many people went to DEJAVOGUE club to contiune the dancing.

The district includes the club, offices and stores: Shiki, Sascha's Designs, Styles of edo, Nefertiti Kimagawa, Bellissima, Prism, Kastle Rock-Couture, and plans for others. I actually browsed the shops and picked up a few beautiful dresses while I was there. Check out this nice shopping area.

O and by the way, did I mention I like Lady Gaga music and made a video a while back?

Tukiniowaguma Anniversary Hair Show

I received my Tukinowaguma 3rd anniversary invite today!! Yay! It's Saturday June 26th 6am & 6pm SLT. I took a piccy in front of the invite wearing my fav Tukinowaguma hair (Hanaiori, chocolate) and my fav Prism by Journey outfit (Bermuda Beauty). I love Tukinowaguma hair and while this style I'm wearing is pretty cute, they have a wide variety of styles including some very interesting ones. This will be a fun event.

TukinowagumaStoreHere.

AnniversaryShowHere.

Phillip Linden Back as CEO

Phillip Linden announced he will step in as interim CEO of Linden Labs. If interested read more here:
PhillipCEOHere.

SL7B-Happy Birthday SL/Censorship Issues Abound!

Happy Birthday

SL7B is officially open as of Monday and I was fortunate enough to see some of the opening day events, between crashes that is. Apparently half of Second Life wanted to see Phillip Linden's opening speech so that proved to be a bit difficult for my computer, but I did get to see some of it. The SL7B theme is Unexpected Collaborations (see my prior post on this).
Dates to remember:
-June 21—10:00 a.m. SLT: Gates open to the public for the opening ceremonies.
-June 23—The Birthday!
-June 26—Official closing ceremony.
-June 27—Last day of entertainment.
-July 3—Gates close.
Check it out here: SL7BHere.


Mankind Tracer at SLB opening

For more good information on SLB7 check out these sites: SL7BWordpressHere.

PhillipSpeechHere.

SL7BFlickrHere.


Censored
This year there is quite a bit of controversy with SL7B around the content they allowed or more specifically didn't allow to present. Apparently one well known and loved talented artist, rose Borchovski, was denied the opportunity to present her art installation: She states, "My Susa Bubble Installation : The Kiss has been returned to me from the SL7B sims where Linden is celebrating Secondlife. I quote “The images on your build are in violation of our general rating, to be clear: Nudity is not allowed at art events with a general maturity rating.”

While the content is "artistic nude" and not pornography, Linden Labs clearly followed it's terms of service in denying this. A large part of The SL artistic community is in a uproar over this rejection responding with protests, responses and a petition to LL regarding this issue. It seems many people I speak to have feelings one way or the other on this. There even seems to be a bit of spill over in other forums about censorship.

Susa Bubble

If you are interested in this subject here is the most informative link on the current issue and situation:

roseHere. Direct link, or you can try here: http://savemeoh.wordpress.com/2010/06/19/your-new-president-saveme-oh-rose-borchovski-and-peter-greenaway-are-%20angry/
(note: personally I really appreciate the well stated first comment on this site left in response by well known and respected RL/SL artist Filthy Fluno.)


Some other's views on the subject:
ColeMarieVideoHere

SpyVspyHere.

Dear Diary ......

Dear Diary,
I'm so confused! Hi, it's me again. I'm writing this time because I am so confused. I mean, Is SL real? Or is it just a game?

I have many SL friends who say SL is very real, just a different part of their life. And so they talk on voice all the time, some skype, web cam, call on the phone and some even meet in RL. They talk about their RL and families, RL/SL work, etc., and socialize in SL like it is real. Some do RL fundraising in SL, bring in their RL art or some skill or job. Some work in SL and earn RL income from SL. Well, ok, I get all that, but then when so many people turn right around and do so many things they would never do in RL is that just like role play? I mean there are role play sims in SL where one can dress up different, act out in ways, but I'm not talking about that. And those places have rules, so you kind of know what is allowed or not and where you stand. But what I am talking about, as just one common example, is like when people get partnered or married even in SL, and they are truly in love with their significant other, and talk and act like a RL couple, communicate daily even about RL stuff. But then when their partner is offline they might end up with multiple other people and excuse it saying, "it's just pixels"... is that "just a game" then? That is confusing to me. So if NO ONE one cares then it's ok? But it seems in the end someone does care.. then it's real again, and look out drama. I guess all that can and does happen in RL too. But it's too easy in SL to behave different and get away with it justifying it by calling it a game when it's convenient. Well I also have friends who play SL as recreation only and don't want to talk about RL or voice or anything so as not to ruin their fantasy game world. I've found it seems the longer a person plays the more they seem to be ok with playing it "real", but also seem to be better able to have one foot in SL and one foot out, meaning they could walk away from individual dramatic situations, people or places in SL if needed to avoid drama without much trouble, although many have developed some long term real freindships.

Once I was called nosey and smothering.. ugghh... hard to believe because I move around so much, but I know exactly what was meant. I choose to call it curious and caring. I have to admit that when people get a little too clingy with me I am usually the first to run, so I understand the smothering part, but also know where it comes from. As for nosey or curious, well that is a given part of SL because again there are so many non-realities even when a person plays for "real". Secrets are kept, games are played, etc. And we can't really know most things to check it out, like we can in RL. There is also the issue of misunderstood words too when there is no face to face/eye to eye contact or real body language to read, especially when it's only typed narriative. But that is a whole other issue. Then there are the people married in RL playing single in SL, and not letting their RL spouse know what is going on with them in SL. So is it a game? Is it for real? It feels like both to me. I am very sure SL feelings will contiue to confuse me forever.

So then does anything really matter that much? I guess not, becuase it's "just a game".. whoops wait, no it's not, or is it? Maybe all the mystery is part of the fun or challenge of getting to know the score .. or maybe not? Well, Dear Diary, I'm not sure. I'm so confused!

Signing off, Kara

SL Village People

Last night it seemed like there was a lot to do and many of my friends were working on things individually, but then very late (early this morning to be precise) I was in IM with my good friend Sonicity Fitzroy who said she had a second wind, so she and her husband Shock Soderstrom came on over to my place. We started getting goofy dancing and playing around and Jonnie Chun joined us. Then Lowe Runo showed up and we all got really crazy with vehicles, costumes, etc., and one thing led to another.. blame it on the second wind. Around 3am we decided we looked pretty cute in various costumes and some of us were looking kinda Village Peopleish so a machinima was mentioned. Done deal! I think I went to bed around 4 am.. or later. Hahaha.. such is my Second Life. Producer Lowe, the machinimaster, gets the thanks. Be sure to visit his YouTube for many more good vids and leave him some nice comments.
LoweRunoYouTubeHere. Or here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowe_runo/4718107056/

YMCA Second Life from LoweRuno on Vimeo.

SL7B-Happy Birthday Second Life

SL7B is upon us! I took a quick visit to the Linden bear area next to the SL7B areas to take this pic, since I cant' get in yet. Check it out here:
SL7BHere.

The theme of this year's birthday bash (aka SL7B) is "Unexpected Collaborations." Second Life is a social space and a creative space. One of the best parts of Second Life is how we are able to meet and collaborate with people we have never met before in a way we never would have expected.

Dates to remember:
-June 21—10:00 a.m. SLT: Gates open to the public for the opening ceremonies.
-June 23—The Birthday!
-June 26—Official closing ceremony.
-June 27—Last day of entertainment.
-July 3—Gates close.

The Second Life birthday parties are always fun and informative, so be sure to check it out!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/SL7B%20Bear%20Island/131/157/22

NeoVictoria

Asil Ares, Sim Owner and Creator

A few nights ago I visited a new sim called NeoVictoria, by owner and creator, Asil Ares, who is also know for her support of machinimatography. There is a website for this sim that you can visit here: NeoVictoriaWebsiteHere.

Asil gave us a tour of the role play and machinima areas. Our group consisted of Asil, myself, and friends and machinimatographers, Lowe Runo and Sonicity Fitzroy of MAG, PROMAG, and Lowe Runo Productions, LLC. We quickly changed into steampunk type clothes and off we went for a nice tour of this very large impressive area. The roleplay setting is a futuristic steampunk area with the character archetypes of the Community Combat System (CCS). NeoVictoria is already recently open, but there is a grand opening being planned for the near future.

NeoVictoria includes a skymall full of steampunk, Victorian and Gothic fashions, accessories, machinima tools and weapons. There was a large practice area and 7 seas. We toured the park, part of the interesting sewer system, maze, and nice machinima areas including settings and information designed to assist and provide for the ultimate machinima filming. I cammed out to see some interesting sites such as a steampunk skyship and other land areas we didnt quite make it to, as there is a lot to see and do. 3 of the 7 rental properties are already rented, but if interested hurry on over. The area is a role play area, not designed to be a build or script zone. Asil provided the rules which do state a request to film needs to be made, but still photos are readily allowed, so I took a few quick shots on our tour.


Lowe and I try out one of the machinima friendly areas.


Asil states it best herself in her website information about why she bought two sims for NeoVictoria. She says, "...it was only a matter of time before I learned I needed the technical control of a full SIM to shoot machinima the way I wanted to make it. And then, the desire to expand that vision into a community began to take hold. I love the possibility of a community whose roleplay isn’t lost once the scene is over. I don’t desire NeoVictoria to be SIM-chain with hundreds of players and dozens of factions, but rather, a small community of gifted artists who work together to bring their stories out of SecondLife and into the world of the real...
There are two SIMs (or regions) in the NeoVictoria estate: Machinima and NeoVictoria. NeoVictoria is our main SIM; here the great Strato Moblis giant airship watches over the town of NeoLondon. The land-level of NeoVictoria will have no rental properties, it purports to be a living city, with a market, church, municipal buildings and role-play shops, as well has an extensive underground. Look for fun stuff and special events to celebrate the opening of the main SIM."

Maze Entry Sign

Asil in front of the MAG NING live feed located in the machinima area

Check out NeoVictoria in SL here: NeoVictoriaHere.
or here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Machinima/16/128/703

Linden Memorial

So by now I'm sure everyone has heard of all the Linden Lab employee layoffs. Apparently 30% were laid off recently in additon to 5% this past April. Today I visited the spontaneous Linden Memorial in honor of the departed Lindens. This "graveyard" can be visited at Rouge sim here: LindenMemorial.

I took a few pics to show how people have left items on the graves in memory of their Linden friends. I also show a ariel view of the sim which I have always found interesting due to the land shape and coloring from above... check it out. Information about the sim is as follows:

"Welcome to Rouge, Codie's sim. Hope you will enjoy your stay.

>> Get all the news about Rouge!
>> http://codebastardredgrave.com/categories/rouge/

~ BACKGROUND
CodeBastard "Codie" Redgrave is the creator of the infamous Boudoir Rouge portrait series, developer of the MachinimaCam and Dramavatar fashion line, and owner of the Code Red Lounge and Gallery.

The aesthetic design of Rouge was conceptualized by Redgrave and legendary builder, Eshi Otawara. From that point, Otawara used her skills as a builder, designer and artist to create a multi-purpose destination that will serve as the new home of the Boudoir Rouge Gallery Walk, Code Red lounge and Rouge Boutique.

~ INFORMATION
Just over 2500 prims were used to create the basic structure, artwork and furnishings. Otawara's judicious use of mega-prims and unique textures has created a locale never before seen in Second Life. The land is formed in the shape of a female silhouette outfitted with artistic touches signature to Rouge's proprietress. Visitors to the sim will instantly recognize Redgrave's signature color, and the sim's namesake, as well as her ever-present red stilettos. A black and red feather boa serves as the roof of the Gallery Walk and a shock of wavy hair provides cover for the Code Red Lounge. "

Back With Ballyhoo!....Igor Ballyhoo

I received a notice from one of my fav SL groups, "Open This End", that my friend Igor Ballyhoo is having his "Forest of Scissors" exhibition at UTSA ArtSpace Sim. The grand opening will be Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 2pm SLT. Igor will be there to meet and you will have the opportunity to experience the surrealistic environment. Ok, well I live and work in the states, and that is not a good time for me, but I wanted to see the scissors again (Note my earlier blog about Igor and his smaller version scissors forest) and so I tp'd on over today.

Igor was around when I dropped in. There is a free scissors ballet for all who visit to take a copy. I clicked the large scissors and was zapped to the Forest. The scissors forest that is. I had Igor in IM and he explained that the forest holds 187 scissors each 25 meters high. I asked and he suggested the windlight Analu Outdoor City lights as being closest to what his dream about them would be. So I snapped some pics of course, here for you to see, but they certainly don't come close to the surreal feeling one has when wandering through the immense forest. I tp'd in my exploring buddy who I also had in IM, then we met up with Theoretical Afterthought, a Flickr friend. Theoretical wanted to meet Igor who had left by this time, so I called him up and he came back to talk and help us examine his works better. Igor is a great guy and very humble about his fame with his works. Theoretical even commented about Igor's approachability with us.

Somehow I ended up with a notecard from Igor about the forest and how it evolved out of a dream he had. He dreamed one night of walking through an endless forest of scissors and although the sound he said was actually a kind of sharp wind almost like a slicing or cutting wind sound hard for him to describe he opted for some calming music for his exhibit, as he said the dream was actually very calming. The notecard indicates he reviewed some online interpretations about dreaming of scissors which indicated it could be about the Thread of Life, or represent unity and the coming together of the spiritual and physical. Emotional perspective suggesting the idea of cutting the non-essential out of our lives, and everyday aspects suggesting a sharp hurtful tongue or cutting remarks, with sharping suggesting we need to be more precise in our communication, whereas blunt scissors suggest that we are likely to create a problem through speaking too bluntly. (hmmm.. hard sometimes to communicate precisely in SL with no visual cues or even voice affect... just an observation on my part) Anyway, I have to laugh at his closing remarks in his notecard: And I quote,, "bullshit... I shared it with you and if you have any idea what it could mean, feel free to speak! If you are a nutjob, I will mute you of course." Hahahah, he is so funny. But seriously a very friendly and approachable guy.

When back at the starting point Igor suggested we check out his Axis Mudi and we all tp'd up to to view and discuss this and of course we were all snapping pics. Igor said something very profound about this work, such as something about how black, and grey and white ... it's hard to tell the difference, and something about the center of the earth. But then I've forgotten exactly what he said, so will have to ask again, because it really was just that profound. A pity I didn't write that one down. O, well that is me, so much is lost, but at least I seem to catch a lot of good stuff and meet some amazing people along the way, such as during this SL exploration. I guess it's like the Axis Mudi: A ubiquitous symbol that crosses human cultures. The image expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet. At this point travel and correspondence is made between higher and lower realms.

Check it out tomorrow at the grand opening. You are sure to be pleased. And, don't forget the freebie scissor ballet. While visiting be sure to see the many other great works around the area. Check it out here:
Igorhere. Direct link, or http://slurl.com/secondlife/UTSA%20Roadrunner%20II/125/148/25

Axis Mudi

Nemo 1 & 2

Here is another cool sim to check out. Nemo 2 opened in June and Nemo 1 was open prior. These pics are from Nemo 2. Be sure to see everything under water and also up in the sky. There is a lot to find and see. This is a bit of steampunk submarine city.

Check it out here: Nemohere.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/FRANCE3D%20Futuna/224/141/40

Liquidity Tours Sunday & Monday: Glyph Graves

Sunday, Glyph will give tours of his Liquidity Installation at IBM Exhibition sim. His tours will be Sunday 5pm SLT and again 9AM Monday SLT. This sim is loaded with interactive objects.


Glyph has many amazing things going on in his works. His note card states: "Many things are interactive either directly or indirectly such as the cascade triggered by the falling of a climber (go seek the heights). Others will stalk you till they are pushed to their limit before they reveal their nature. But then this is only right, indeed this is the nature of virtual worlds, the nature of all simulation. It is inherently plastic unlike the physical world we are used to, that we are conditioned to." Personally I really enjoyed riding around in some of the things, the fish and underwater area, and the information about the protoza: "This isn't just a simple RL/SL communication project it is literally real life mediated and projected into a new virtual existence. Somewhere in the bowels of Perth in the Studio of Electronic Arts at Curtin University, WA, Australia there is a lonely petri dish sitting on a bench. Inside this petri dish is a colony of Protozoa. Their movement is captured through video microscopy and then converted into a real time data stream and sent to SL. Julian's part in the collaboration is the physical world part, that is, to capture the data and stream it into sl where I pick it up and transform it into a SL existence. He collects his cultures from local Perth ecosystems and isolates particular microcommunities in these samples, then tracks their movement and reproduction through digital microscopy, converting the data into a set of coordinates and id numbers."

So in other words, click on everything! : )


Check it out here:
LiquidityIBMhere.

Gabryel Nyoki

Gabryel Nyoki from Kara Trapdoor on Vimeo.

This machinima showcases the vocals, piano and guitar talents of a very impressive young musician in the virtual world of Second Life. Gab makes his own backup tracks, speaks fluent English, Portuguese, Spanish and French, plays additional instruments in RL, and has an adorable avatar and personality to match. He is managed by Spiritfire Entertainment, Mgr. Sher Salmson. The song he sings here is: "Adagio". Check him out in Second Life and jump on the train, group name: Gabryel's Train (Train of Thought). The machinima was filmed by me in the SL sims: Key West and Cadenza, with permissions.

The Black & Blue Fair 2010

Tonight I visited the Black & Blue Fair. I have to admit, I had not heard anything about this until the day before yesterday when my sis asked me what it was and I didn't know. Of course then I had to find out. I also had a information card about the fair today just waiting for me in SL. The information provided was that the SL Black and Blue Fair 2010 is an event put together to help de-stigmatise mental health issues. The Black and Blue fair is full of not only exclusive fashions from amazing designers, but also bits of information about mental health issues. So you can do some shopping and educate yourself at the same time! It's brought to us by Kira Seerose with some help from Melisande Metaluna, Prue Genira and Avy Fhang. Ray Habercom was the venue builder. Soho Urban Living, Sofia Diage & Johno Boucher furshished it. Dr. Trouble Inglewood provided information about The Center for Hope, at Viaggo Wellness Center in SL. Dr. Trouble has been counseling in SL since 2008 and per report he is well qualified RL.

All the items at the fair are only available there, so don't miss out on some really great stuff. The fair runs until July 3rd. The majority of the clothes and other items are black and/or blue, and I especially enjoyed the misc. other items including some poses and props. Many of the items were very inexpensive. I'd say the majority of the items for purchase were for women, bu they had some great stuff for the guys and ladies will want to drag their men in anyway, as I saw some his and her items. Check it all out here:
BlackandBlue.

Heaven Lake, World's End Garden

HeavenLakeWorldsEndGarden. Visit http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heaven%20Lake/217/167/20


All I can say is this is a "Must Visit" sim. Check the pics and if you go, don't miss any spot including under water and hidden in flowers or a tower and be sure to listen for and find Adam and Eve's heartbeat.