Green Story and Duet, Two beautiful Sims to Explore

Tonight I visited two very romantic beautiful and relaxing sims.

Visit Green Story by Dior Rich.Canis here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Green%20story/128/128/2

The sim info. states: "You have to relax here.
                         You have to think here.
                You Banks here Another memory."
True.  I landed on a lighted boardwalk in a dark rainy sim to a background of soft music.  There are many beautiful pose and relax spots for singles, couples or friends.  Then I went to the lower level and it too has romantic scenic vignette seating/photo areas but it's all in white snowy beachy winter style. The land build is on so people can rez, although a few people have left Lumipro photo balls and a few boxes behind already.
               


The next sim I visited that is also very beautiful, relaxing, and romantic is Duet, which you can visit here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Serena%20Windhaven/128/128/20
This sim appears to be owned by JK Creations and is a remodel.  The sim info. states: "Set Home and rez here! Welcome - enjoy our photographic scenes, props & poses! Come for the space ride, cloud dance with ad free radio, tai chi, romance & date in our woods, meadows, castle, beach. No sex or nudity." So, again, you can rez in this sim and if you join their group for just $30 you have access to another space in the sky called "Sky Duet" where you ascend some magical stairs that appear and come to some golden gates beyond which you can dance in the clouds.  I was alone in my explore but this looked super romantic. There is a sim boat ride as well as some pose boats and inside the mountain there is a huge photo place with props and backgrounds and other romantic spots under the mountain. It also has a nice art gallery and some products for sale.  I even found a little grunge area. But be sure not to miss the sim boat ride and the fun things in the mountain. Enjoy.

Exploring LEA

The Linden Endowment for the Arts Sims may be the most underrated sims, in my opinion.  Most of LEA sims are Linden Labs endowed sims residents create art builds and perform in.  Most are land granted for a period of time following an application and proposal process.  The majority of SL's most well known artists and performers have either created or performed in a LEA sim at some point.  The sims usually are super creative, very well done and always enjoyable. I especially enjoy the large immersive 6 month full sim AIR/artist in residence builds. Unfortunately, other than openings, closings, and special events, they are usually not very crowded. This may be an ok, thing as one can explore without lag and most the spaces are open long enough for everyone to visit and not miss out. As great as many of them are though I always expect them to be fuller.  Anyway.. I"m going to take one pic in a few and post them here with direct links. But first if you want info. about LEA in general or info. on how to apply for a land grant, check out these LEA links:
LEA official page: http://lea-sl.org/
Here is their official blog: http://lindenarts.blogspot.com/
They are also in Facebook, Flickr, and all over.

Visit LEA2 here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA2/128/128/18
The first LEA sim I visited tonight was LEA 2 Ethereal Shapes by Noke Yuitza. This sim opened August 5th and has a full line up of great events.  The sim itself, as shown in the image, is dark with a lot of glowey, sparkly, things made for dreamers.  The landing info. states: "ETHEREAL SHAPES (Art installations by Noke Yuitza) Within the forms of faces, animals, flowers… in groups of stars, ink, glitter… There are 4 scenes: Dreamer, Galaxy, Ballet, and Eyes. The concept that brings them together is the dreamer that looks at how stars dances in a galaxy ballet." This is a good immersive experience. Be sure to take the sim windlights and surreal music that match the sim experience.  Here is my one photo...


Visit LEA24 here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA24/128/128/23
The next LEA sim I visited tonight was LEA 24 Echoes,, Metaphysics of Frequencies by LIvio Korobase.  The sim info. here states: "Some "invisible" elements seem have a strong effect on matter. They are all the unseen, intangible, but we hear them, we feel them.. Every phenomenon is a material trace of the invisible forces that generated it, an indissoluble fusion of content and form".
I have to say I had a really hard time trying to take just one image in this sim, as there is so much to see and do with lots of photogenic spaces and objects, so I gave up and took more pics as I played, viewed, listened and enjoyed and posted the rest on my Flickr which you can see if you click one of my pics that will take you to Flickr. I left myself in pics of this sim for perspective as it has a huge feel to it, well things are larger than life.  I also used the sim windlight for the pics but other lighting is good too. Fun explore!

  Part of the landing note sums up the basis of the experience though and I quote in part here: "How much do the "invisible" sounds influence our perception of the so called "reality" -are real or virtual  the same?  So, i created some ambients where sounds drives my vision, each sound resonating within me, a sensation that i have tried to translate into a 3D visual representation.
It Is important during your visit to turn on your viewer's sounds and your volume up, and  use camera controls to change the "point of view" of each audio sequence.
Wear headphones, put your best possible graphic card setting and good exploration. Good luck with horses and asteroids."


Visit LEA 15 here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA15/128/128/24
This is another super cool sim.  The landing info. states: "Welcome to Zun Design LEA slim design. Winter crystal Elven magic is the theme. Please touch the crystal dragons to use teleports. You can also explore by foot." This sim looked amazing upon landing but then had so many hidden gems upon further explore. I decided to call this my last explore for the night so I could take my time and enjoy it all.  I'm leaving this one with two images and a message to say if you visit this sim be sure to actually explore it all vs just thinking you might have cammed most of it after a bit.   This one has a lot of relaxing beautiful hang out or pose spots. I'll get back to more of the LEA sims another time but going to call it a night after this one is explored out.

Pretty, by Bryn Oh, at Blue Orange 4

Visit Pretty here:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Empire%20State%20Island/237/48/1446
Visit Blue Orange http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Empire%20State%20Island/236/82/1445here:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Empire%20State%20Island/230/82/1445
Visit the Blue Orange Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/blueorangeSL/

I went to see "Pretty", but since I haven't been in SL much lately since it's summer, I realized I missed a Skye Galaxy show today for the opening ~sigh~.  Well... the visit to Blue Orange is a great explore, and Bryn's "Pretty", was intriguing as usual. Again, Bryn, is the master of lighting, shadows, stories, and space. I always have a challenging time trying to figure out the details of what exactly Bryn is conveying beyond the aesthetics.  I'm a huge appreciator of Bryn's works and this small group of pieces with the poem doesn't disappoint.  I didn't want to take too many full pictures of everything and give it all away, so I took a couple full and some pieces of pictures for this blog and left out the short poem.

"Pretty" opened today and you can read more about it on Bryn's blog here: https://brynoh.blogspot.com/
Pretty is based on a poem Bryn wrote. Pretty is just one part to a large photo based show with a wide range of talented artists taking part in Blue Orange.

Blue Orange 4, at Empire State Land sim space created by Ini (In Inaka) info. reads: "Friendly bohemian club for MUSIC and ART lovers. Alternative,New Wave,Indie,Art Punk,Noise,Psychedelic,Rock,Neo-folk,Experimental,Avant-Garde,Modern and a lot of more music without labels." The last picture I have here on this blog lists the many quality artists in this exhibit.

I'll admit I got a little, ok totally, lost wandering around in Blue Orange trying to find Bryn's "Pretty" but it's a great place to get lost in, and while wandering around I saw a lot of really cool art in great environments. I loved the party area that was also a work of art. I snapped a few extra pics so the first collage and 2 more pics here (more on my Flickr though) are of Pretty and the rest are various artists in Blue Orange.  I look forward to going back for some music and events.



Blue Orange 4 shots below:
 

Daydream, by Cica Ghost: Lose Yourself in A Daydream

Visit Daydream in Never here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Never/128/128/32

Cica's Daydream is filled with her hallmark whimsical looking creatures but this sim is a little more surreal than some of her others.  There is a wide variety of fantasy larger than life creations and creatures and many pose places so click on! Cica is a master of windlights and the sim music choice also matches the content well. This is a fun explore and great for taking pics.  Cica continues to impress and entertain me in SL. This is a very immersive experience and the last two images I posed in so you can see the perspective.  There is a lot more to see and if you want to see more of my pictures, click on one of these which will take you to my Flickr.  Cica's sims are always fun to see and this one has quite a variety of things to enjoy.  Happy exploring.

Lovefest 2018, An H.P. Lovecraft Annual Event

Visit Lovefest here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ravenheart/128/128/53
Visit the official web site here: https://lovefest.wordpress.com/
Here is a Flickr group for your posting or perusing: https://www.flickr.com/groups/3022137@N22/pool/
And a Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/LovecraftFestival/

This is the Annual Lovecraft Festval, celebrating the 128th birthday of HP Lovecraft.  The SL Destination guide states: "Join the festivities at the 7th annual Lovecraft Festival of Second Life, held August 17-26 in celebration of Mr. H.P. Lovecraft's 128th birthday. Featuring dozens of stores of merchants from all across Second Life and a full schedule of entertainment and activities for all including an adventure/quest that starts its unsettling trail at the notorious Arkham Sanatorium. More info at lovefest.wordpress.com."

I love to visit this annual SL event mostly because I love the quirkiness of H. P. Lovecraft and the organizers, (specifically, Arikthered, Arik Metzger) always do a great job of running this event.  Maybe quirkiness is not the right word, maybe I mean, creepy? or odd? or just plain interesting.  Plus, who doesn't love a good cthulhu?  There is some great and often unique shopping.  There are a lot of cool events so check out the schedule on their web site.  I snapped a pic that was on a board regarding today's and tomorrow's events as an example.  Guerilla Burlesque will even be performing Aug.25th at 7pm so you know it's a great event and they will put on a wild show I'm sure everyone will love. Elysium will perform Aug 21st at 7pm, and Whymsee had a dance along show this evening. You will prob see a lot of cool looking avs there too.. enjoy.

Here is a bit of info. about their Arkham Sanatorium
"With LoveFest 2018's Story Quest (Hunt) we are treading along "the Path of Madness" this year...
    Lovecraft Festival is thrilled to take on this new
    and extremely intriguing theme - inviting our
    guests to visit the notorious Arkham Sanatorium
    in the spirit of HP Lovecraft... "

This event will intrigue explorers, photographers, shoppers, event goers who like music and readings, well I'd think just about anyone, so be sure to check it out. Don't forget to click around, and don't be afraid to sit on pose spots.. I mean.. if you like a good tentacle, creepy crawly, or whatever : ). This event culminates with a closing gala Lovecraft masquerade Aug. 25th from 8-11pm SLT.

After you've visited the Lovefest, be sure to check out Innsmouth in SL here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Innsmouth/44/172/47.  It's an amazing Lovecraft inspire sim in SL. And now for a few pics...