Explore Second Life- Some Great Explores for The Weekend

A few more recent explores I've been enjoying.... 'hope you like.

Visit here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hoshi%20Island/128/128/45
First I visited MadPea's Room 326 Hunt that starts in a rainy sim that is a cool explore on it's own actually. You buy the MadPea hud for 50L in the newsstand in front of the hotel and find room 326 where your profiles are hidden.  Its a "who done it" mystery that leads hunters through some fun SL stores for further clues that end at the Madpea Carnival sim that is an amazing explore than I've previously visited and blogged. If you have patience enough to find all the clues you can win a prize, but I can't tell you what it is as obviously I DON"T have the patience for that because some of the clues were hidden very well and one sim was temporarily down.
Discover the mystery of the Silent Peacock Hotel (shown here) when 15 people spending the night there disappear.  Very cool sim, fun explore (hard hunt but good stores) ending at Madpea Carnival.   Visit the carnival here: //maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MadPea%20Base/128/128/35

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Visit here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/WatchTower/128/128/2
Next stop is the adorable Cheeky Tiramisu Cafe and Forest owned by Yasyn Azemus.  I was fortunate enough to meet the owner and snapped a pic in the Cafe then took pics outside in the gorgeous sim.  A fantastic photo opp area. 



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Caledon Brigadoon is a beautiful place to explore especially right now in their winter time.  Visit here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Brigadoon/128/128/23

This area has a lot to offer and I previously blogged about their mysterious disappearing village.  See more here: http://karasecondlife.blogspot.com/2011/07/visit-here-httpslurl.html
I always thought that was such an amazing story and place.
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Next stop Dryland: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mado/128/128/27

Jump off the diving board into the giant sand clown's navel to suspend in utero.  Note he juggles sperms?  Walk the high wires and pic up some super cool freebies.  Pallina64 Loon's "Woops... A Baby" is a very fun, interactive, and interesting explore.  The dryland also hosts other things including an art exhibit with some of SL's fav artists.

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LEA10 is also a current worthy explore, "Tears in Rain": http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA10/128/128/2
I wasn't completely sure what was going on so had to go back to the destination guide for a quick hint about the place that actually is super cool to look at.  Destination guide says, "New Media Art intervention inspired in the book Tears in Rain, by Rosa Montero. 3 Stages  as 3 windows to near future, future of 2109 and far future: Making of a Replicant, 2109 and Alien Humanity."  So there you go. But then I found the landing information.  ByNoke Yuitza, " PROJECT SUMMARY
TEARS IN RAIN: Like an echo, thousands of people connected leave each day behind them a trail that remains in cyberspace while they are AFK# or Away From Keyboard. And this expands and grows greedy fueled by the social technologies of our Digital Era."

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Visit here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MetaLES/128/128/25And finally I went back to MetaLES which has changed a whole lot lately and now is home to Tims Dreams by Romy Nayar,  that takes you on a winding wild dreamy path.



It's late and I'm sleepy.. enough exploring for now. I'm headed to bed. Perhaps now I'll have dreams like Tim.  Enjoy!

Mysterious Disappearing Brigadoon Village and Caledon Steampunk Sim

Visit here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Brigadoon/128/128/23 or direct link here: BrigadoonVillageHere.


(Village area after fade)

2:12 pm my time (12:12pmSLT) July 4TH I stood in Brigadoon Village and watched it fade quickly away in whipsy puffs of fog right before my eyes! The entire little village gone with a fade, not a poof. Geoffrey Xeonbuilder was there with a man body and clothes but bird head.. and when I asked he explained this is Brigadoon Village. It is only visible for a few hours each month and follows the book/movie story. I asked how to find it again and he said it's best to pay attention to the time it appeared and faded. I don't know when it appeared as I had only been there maybe ten minutes, but I certainly know when it faded. Only the grassy park with deer, snakes and badgers and trees remains nestled in a small mountain surrounded circular area with a tiny bridge crossing the small river that runs along one side in an area in the otherwise busy Caledon Brigadoon steampunk sim. There were a few other avatars, along with myself and one visitor exclaimed about the village disappearing and how they missed their photo op. What I did see before it faded was a small village with houses, surrounding a pillar with a rabbit sculpture atop. I was lucky enough to capture a few photos.

Of course I needed more history on this mysterious village and went to Wiki which states, "Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards.
It tells the story of a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years, though to the villagers, the passing of each century seems no longer than one night. The enchantment is viewed by them as a blessing rather than a curse, for it saved the village from destruction. According to their covenant with God, no one from Brigadoon may ever leave, or the enchantment will be broken and the site and all its inhabitants will disappear into the mist forever. Two American tourists, lost in the Scottish Highlands, stumble upon the village just as a wedding is about to be celebrated, and their arrival has serious implications for the village's inhabitants.
The original production opened on Broadway in 1947 and ran for 581 performances. Brigadoon then received a West End production opening in 1949 that ran for 685 performances, and many revivals followed. A 1954 film version starred Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. A 1966 television version starred Robert Goulet and Peter Falk." Wiki here: See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadoon

Caledon Oxbridge is a pleasure in itself and well worth a visit with or without the mysterious village present. It is home to the independent state of Caledon's Community Gateway University of Caledon Oxbridge, which also hosts a fencing team in this Victorian micronation with steampunk elements. Near the disappearing village I found the adorable Hummingbird ballroom, a glass window enclosed build that has many adorable dances, some of which I've not seen before in SL. Ravelli Ormstein, a small bear of an avatar and a University professor at Oxbridge University in Caledon, provided me with some history/notecards upon my request about the sim. He said he's been a resident for 2 years. He said Caledon Oxbridge University is usually the heart of Caledon and a good place to start. Desmond Shang is mayor account. Ravelli also spoke of the Hall of Caledon that provides a lot of info about this micro nation and he offered this web page of additional information. http://www.steamlander.com/forums/ and the steampunk Wiki: http://www.steampunkwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

The history note card provides additional information stating Caledon is a 19th centruy Steampunk Victorian micronation existing within Agni, or the Main grid. The terrain is mostly towns, forests, mountain ranges and countryside mostly interconnected by rail, carriage and airship and houses houndreds upon hundreds of active residents. There is a Royal Caledon Air Force, libraries, and Oxbridge. Residents of the area are members or citizens of the group "Independent State of Caldeon" and it is a invitation-only group, but membership is not difficult to obtain by asking a citizen who can get you in with no requirements.

Here is a direct link to the Oxbridge University too: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge/251/131/22 direct link here: OxbridgeUniversityHere. Besides the university I was told some of the other special special sim sites and activities include: the sandbox, welcome center, Magellan Templemore, Fencing, Chess Park, Victoria City, hospital, blue Mermaid, Falling Anvil, Gaiety Theater, Pub Dodo Redux, World's End, numerous art galleries, libraries and museums, including an H.G. Wells Memorial Branch Library, various areas of site seeing such as the Airbase "Iron Cloud", Blimps, Mines, Graveyard, Royal Society for Natural Sciences, Rail Station, etc, a great number of intriguing shops and many many other places, events and sites to behold. I was very impressed with this large area and I will definitely return for hours of adventure. Don't miss out.