2010

Well, it’s the end of the year. 2010 is a strange sort of a number it sounds like ‘the Future’ and brings with it all sorts of expectations. As we know tho not a lot changes, small steps lead us from one future to the next.

Second life isn’t about to look like Avatar (which I haven’t seen yet as I’m waiting for it to come round to the cute little cinema near me) neither our computers or ISP are ‘man enough’ as yet.

I do think, and, as you know, I’m an optimist, that the art of SL will start to have an effect on the RL art world more in this coming year. We saw the start of this already this year and that will grow. Art magazines and media in general are always looking for the next big thing, and we are that.

A movie like Avatar has a more powerful effect than we currently can envisage. I have already spoken to one man who has come back to SL after having seen the movie. He knows SL isn’t like that, but knows that one day it will be.

LL could do well to remember that too. I have very strong doubts that the prospect of recreating RL in SL is gonna wow anyone. It is surely all the things, experiences and events that can’t happen in RL that are gonna, in the end, be what draws people to, and holds them fascinated in VWs.

Building housing ghettos, roads and dodgy landscapes is not gonna wow anyone. Business uses are not gonna save SL. The core is the creativity. If LL concentrates on the talent it has and smoothes the way for those creating content it will continue to flourish. Business users come and go, there’s no real investment, no soul, that a company puts into SL that can’t have the plug pulled from one day to the next.

Losing Orange this last year is a case in point. We lost good friends connected with that too, but Orange can make a board room decision, and, byeeeee.

I was sad to see the end of Angelgate in 2009 too. The work that White had put in, and I loved the layout of the gallery, well, we still have White..

UWA arrived tho in 2009 and have been an unexpected bonus. Neither they, nor us, could have foreseen the huge popularity of their monthly competitions. It’s become like the biggest “show and tell” in SL in very few months. .... and their ‘secret’ is... well, just let creativity shine. Simple..... oh, yes, and be pleasant...

Koinup has surprised me too, Pier has really decided to go for it. It’s become a fairly comprehensive blog and I’m happy to play a small part in it. While still mourning the loss of the NPIRL blog, which will never be replaced, I fully understand the huge commitment Bettina would have needed to put into it on a daily basis. It needed a sponsor really.

And Bettina’s ‘travels’ are quite symptomatic too. There are many people I know now who are looking around, not to escape, but to expand... It seems the question is, if SL is gonna take another 5 years to get to where I want it to be, what can I do in the meantime? Friends of mine are looking to RL now, not for inspiration but for new sales opportunities.. we have become expansionists. Today SL, tomorrow ...The World... hehehehe.

So, 2009 has been a ‘slow’ year, both in terms of sales in SL and expansion of SL, life in RL has been hard for many. Hopefully we have turned a corner and ‘the only way is up’... as long as LL don’t shoot themselves in the foot too often, I am looking forward to a bright new year.

...and, the thing that fills my life with joy ... my friends, and you, dear reader ... may the metaphysical sun shine down on you all and brighten and warm your sweet souls.

I love you all

:))

Dusan Writer

Well, one of the signs of a masterpiece is that nothing can be added to increase it's beauty or taken away without diminishing it.

This post by Dusan is really that good.

I have nothing to add, except, what a great thing to take into the New Year.

All joy, hope and good things to you dear reader for the coming solar cycle.

xxxxxx


:))

La Madeleine

Yesterday, Boxing Day, so called because the poor got boxes of food from the rich on this day rather than the day you beat up your relatives, saw the first Salon hosted by Isabella at her home.

La Madeleine is the name of a group of people invited around for polite conversation, very good cakes, cigars, unlimited alcohol and a little dancing after the intellectual pursuits.

The conversation continued after a small contribution by me, loosely titled "Why Jung would have loved SL", and was brought to an end by the RL duties of some and the need to 'cut a rug' by others. All in all a successful start to this venture which we wish Isabella all the best for.




Earlier around 30 people gathered at Alizarin Goldflake's gallery to hear the talented Seba Sideways play the sax, it was a truly delightful performance, the mood very much suited the day and was thoroughly enjoyed by all I would think.

For those who haven't had the chance I can highly recommend a tour around Ali's work... more details on her website ....here.

Otherwise I hope to start building a new show today at Pirats, I have a load of new textures made especially for the show and 4 or 5 new trees that have not been shown before... I will, of course, keep you updated, dear reader, ....the date for the opening will be the 5th January.... details later.

Well, having now eaten enough calories to climb Mount Everest I am looking forward to a more normal diet and a few days pure SL before I start back to work....nice..


:))

Christmas theology

About 4 million years ago some bright spark had the idea to climb down out of the trees and start a second life on the ground.
For the following 999,999 years the arguments raged....

“ugggg..... good idea”
“ugggg ..bad idea.”
“ugggg..... good idea.”
“uggg....bad idea..”

Some people voiced an opinion of this discussion... “uggg... you all pain in the bum’ and took off to see the world.

As they travelled north, (the south was too hot) they noticed at certain times of the year that the sun was in danger of falling out of the sky.
“uggg.... me very worried”
“ugggg??”
“uggg... sun going too low.”
“uggh (nods).”
So...they called in the witch doctor....
“uggg...give me all your food and I make sun go up again.”
“uggg...OK.”

And for the next 2,998,000 years the witch doctors got all the food in mid winter, stuffed themselves stupid and gave the left-overs the gods couldn’t eat to their fans.

Having also, by this time, started a festival to ensure the proper procreation of the tribe a few months later by which time they had digested all the food and were ready for some serious procreation.

Now, seeing that this state of affairs was really rather beneficial, with two good holidays every year, one for food and one for sex, some bright spark decided that they rather fancied being the god keeper.

After being turned down for the job on many occasions the upstart decided to start up his own god, who some say was called Brian, others Jesus.
Well, he never looked back... and over the next 2000 years this upstart and his followers managed to discredit the old witch doctors and get all the grub and gals for themselves.

The religious entrepreneurs spread their net fairly rapidly around the globe moving into card manufacturing, panattone and brussel sprout farming, followed up by chocolate egg production and chocolate bunny sales.

Things looked good for a while.....

...but it won’t last....

ugggg.

:))

Christmas Recipe

Well, if I get any more advice on how to bake the perfect roast potatoes from the radio and TV I will probably scream, and I really don’t need to know about some idiot who has made brussel sprout ice-cream which tastes like crap, but, hey, it’s Christmas.... and in an obviously slow news week I am informed that my turkey this year should:
1. be free-range
2. organically fed
3. have been on holiday for two weeks expenses paid
4. have had the benefit of a private education
5. be humanely killed, though I seriously doubt that the turkey is in any state to care, I mean, really, that has to be one of the decades oxymorons.

In other strange events I was given another panettone, this one is bigger than my kitchen, I smiled and said thank you, it’s not good form to say, “Wow, what a crappy present.” I might save up for a few years and build the worlds first panettone house.....

This all might sound like a bit of a “Bah, humbug..” but really, I have honestly ended up in bed one year on Christmas day from exhaustion and that is never gonna happen again, likewise spending several hours in a car is not my idea of a holiday...so I will be chilling..:))

I had cause to read last years Christmas blog, which is slightly more intellectual for those of you that missed it... it’s here.

..and I would, of course, like to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas, but some years you have crappy ones so don’t worry, enforced jollyness can drive you insane......oh, yes and fuck the roast potatoes, make some sandwiches.

:))

Troll etc.

Well, my 423 prim troll is finished and now seen occasionally wandering The Companion. Better photos of it here...or in my Flickr favs....above right.

Frigg Ragu is holding a photo competition for The Companion... (which is in Hot Spots).... L$ 10,000 first prize.

"The Companion Photo Contest
In the folktale/Storytelling sim The Companion there is a laterna magic. For those of you have been there, I am sure you have seen that this one is empty of images/illustrations/photos/pictures. It is waiting for being embraced by the story.

We need pictures, so therefor are you invited to participate in a ”The Companion photo Contest”. Up to 10 pictures will be chosen. These pictures will be shown in the laterna and in a book visitors can bring with them when they leave ”The Companion”."

...so get snapping.... the rules are here






In other news....went to see the build above, China, by aston Leisen, and one of Bettina's picks... I thought the clouds were inspired and the distant mountains done very well. AM used 3 sims to get this feeling of space so it's worth a visit..... here

...otherwise... erm...well, I have been a little slow in blogging this last week, dear reader, but I am starting to prepare for a new show at Pirats. Should open the 5th Jan, if my memory serves me well, which it doesn't......I would go to memory improvement classes but would probably forget which day they were ....as Clement Freud once said.... (more or less..)...."As you get older your memory fails you also as you get older your memory fails you." Not that I have that excuse as it has been terrible all my life, I can't remember most of my childhood, which is probably a blessing..... and I have always made a point of forgetting everyone's name. I need all the spare bioRAM I can muster... no upgrades yet available..... passwords are a nightmare and I have been locked out of more sites than I even care to remember, if I could.

Anyway, it seems like Christmas is happening soon, from the radio and general quantity of snow seen around SL, but I do remember candles melting off the tree in Australia where the Winter Solstice, hijacked by fascist Christians in the North sits unhappily in mid-summer, how surreal is that, really?

It's that time of the year though when religious zealots roam the radio and TV broadcasting their bigoted views with impunity whereas, in the real world (and I use that term relatively) the dusty little donkey, laden with emotive anthropomorphic pathos, wanders into a stall in Bethlehem to be hit by an Israeli anti personnel missile, mistaken for a suspected terrorist..... peace on earth to all (except anyone who disagrees with the current world-view)...

hehehehehe, still as I've said before the great thing about hypocrisy is that you don't have to be consequent; that's a great benefit to those of us who are memory-challenged, and of course, the power crazy.

:))

You gotta laugh, they say.

Well, couldn’t really resist, as everyone else has something to say on the subject, thinking a bit about Copenhagen. It’s pretty obvious to me that having a nice little holiday in Denmark was a very nice break for those thousands of delegates and, as the world sinks or fries, their decision to do it all again was really bound to happen.

The people who make decisions about our lives are, after all, the people who want badly to be our friends. People who’s main talent is baby-kissing are always gonna shy away from telling us to stop spending and reduce our afluent lifestyles. Safest to “keep talking” and leave the hard choices alone as much as possible.

..and, nice for the protesters too, knowing that any windows they break will be recycled and that, as they crumple under the blows of a policemans trungeon that it is almost certainly made from wood from a sustainable Scandinavian forest. “Prevention detention” reducing their hotel bills too ....... double whammy.

The carbon footprint of rioting thus reduced the moral high ground is theirs.

I have an intelligent boiler that heats my house, it's so intelligent it doesn't let me decide when it should come on. It's decided I should reduce my carbon footprint too... and won't listen to me no matter how much I curse or belittle it with sarcastically cutting remarks.... it has the moral high ground too. I am out-smarted by a boiler.


I was told this week by one of my clients, in totally unrelated news, about an incident they had with their young son (8?9?) at bedtime. Always interested in the more macabre sides of existence the talk turned to the praying mantis.

“Yes”, the mum said “the lady praying mantis does eat the man after sex.” Somewhat pleased to be able to confirm educational facts of the natural world to her offspring...

“But, Mummy, if they are lesbian praying mantises......” (mummy blushes and gulps)

"......... who eats who?” the little boy wondered.

Mummy managed to get out of the door before she collapsed in hysterical fits of laughter.

Ahhh...... the benefits of a modern education.


:))

Machinima Competition at UWA

Just announced, a new competition from UWA.


"WHAT: MachinimUWA : The UWA Machinima Challenge

WHEN: Submissions are open 18th December 2009 - 31st January 2010
All entries will be displayed on the University of Western Australia (UWA) Second Life Blog. http://uwainsl.blogspot.com

Winners will be announced during a ceremony in February

WHERE: In front of Winthrop Tower (Main SIM of the UWA presence) & starting point of all Machinima

THEME: Architecture, Teaching, Research & Arts on the UWA sims

THE CHALLENGE
Create a Machinima between 2 and 5 minutes in length that captures the 4 main elements thats make up the heart of the University of Western Australia SIMS. These elements are the RL architecture, the teaching, the research and the arts. The purpose would be to show that UWA's presence in SL is comprehensive and covering all these areas, creating true bridges between SL & RL for prospective students, current students, staff, alumni & the community (this is the snapshot - more details below). Note that there are 3 SIMS making up the UWA presence, namely UWA, Uni of WA & WASP Land, and this challenge covers all 3.

Method of Entry:
* Load the Machinima anywhere, and provide the link to both Jayjay Zifanwe & White Lebed (co-hosts of MachinimUWA)

Closing Date:
* Midnight 31st January 2010 (winners annouced in Mid-Feb 2010)"


so....there follows the basic idea of the machinima for exact Slurls and details get Jayjay or Quad to send you a notecard.....



OVERVIEW OF UWA (RL) - http://www.uwa.edu.au/
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a leading Australian research university and has an international reputation for excellence, innovation and enterprise. A member of the Australian 'Group of Eight' research universities, it is also among Australia's leading research universities. Sitting on the banks of the Swan River, the UWA Crawley campus is the oldest in Western Australia and among the most picturesque in the nation with its grand sandstone and terracotta buildings sitting among elegant heritage-listed gardens.

UWA Logo Texture: (get inworld from JayJay Zifanwe or Quadrapop Lane)

MORE on the CHALLENGE
As follows will link some of the key areas that could be looked at in the preparation of the Machinima. The Machinima should start with a view of the Winthrop Clock Tower & the Reflecting Pond which is an icon of the state of Western Australia. Graduation ceremonies are carried out here, and it is named after UWA's founder, Sir John Winthrop Hackett.

Start Point of Machinima : Winthrop Tower & Reflecting Pond (RL & SL location)

The rest of the following areas can be used (or not) as you see fit, and in any order you choose.

UWA Sunken Gardens (RL & SL location)
This is a place of great significance to the staff and alumni of the University. Many many people get married in this location in RL every week, and it is a place of nostalgia, and quite a few people who got married in RL at the sunken gardens, have been here looking at the SL version of the place they exchanged vows.


UWA Sky Theatre (SL only location)
This is a theatre we have created for use by Professor Wade Halvorson of the School of Business and Professor Mark Pegrum of the Graduate School of Education. Profesor Halvorson ran an entire 2nd year Bachelor of Commerce Unit using this as his primary location. It was run for the first time ever this semeter, in a unit called Electronic Communications Strategy.


UWA Square Kilometer Array - SKA (to be created in RL)
Now, these are replicas of telescopes that will be built in the Australian Outback, at a place called Boolardy station. 40 of them will be built for a smaller project caller ASKAP, or the Australian Square Kilometyer Array Pathfinder. Currently the final telescope design is presented in SL and the unique characteristic of these dishes is illustrated, namely the three rotational axes where most telescope dishes only have 2. Australia is in a battle with South Africa to secure the rights to the Main SKA, which will comprise 4000 radio telescope dishes. This will be the biggest land based science project in the history of mankind.


Visualisation Research @ The West Australian Supercomputer Programme (WASP), UWA
Visualisation Research is being run by Tranguloid Trefoil (RL - Paul Bourke). A critical component of this is the automatic representation of data in SL, rather than manually modelling. There are a number of examples of this such as the volume rendering of a human cortex. Among other things, Paul has an interest in fractals and how they may be used to describe and model real world objects. There are a number of fractal objects on the WASP land, one is the famous Menger sponge. For more information see http://local.wasp.uwa.edu.au/~pbourke/papers/cg2008/


UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
UWA runs an extremely successful 3D art & architecture challenge, with some of the greatest artists and architects of SL displaying their works for the challenge. This has been one of the most important components of UWA's SL offering, and has been listed as an SL Destination for Arts.


THE PEACOCKS, THE DUCKS, THE GALAHS, THE RAINBOW LORIKEETS, THE PARROTS ad other fauna are a significant part of the RL campus, and these are represented on the SL campus. These are found mainly on the Uni of WA SIM

The Wonders on the Ground of the UWA SIM
Wonderful art by quadrapop Lane, Soror Nishi & Glyph Graves (seek out 'Strangers also Dance'). This is here to give the UWA presence a mixture of the RL aspects of Second life, as evidenced by the recreation of the RL buildings as well as the truly out of this world aspects of SL, as evidenced by what is found here.


OTHER AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Physics Building:
Hackett Hall:
The building housing Astronomy, HR & Facilities Management:

PRIZES
A first and a 2nd Prize will be awarded for this. These prizes come curtesy of the University of Western Australia and other benefactors.

1st Prize - $8,000L + a UWA T-Shirt
2nd Prize - $2,000L + a UWA T-Shirt

JUDGING PANEL
1.Professor Alan Robson (RL) - Vice-Chancellor, The University of Western Australia
2. Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
3. A/Professor Wade Halvorson (RL) - Lecturing in Marketing, Business and Electronic Commerce, The University of Western Australia
4. Colin Campbell Fraser (RL) - Principal Adviser (External Relations and Advocacy),
Vice-Chancellery, The University of Western Australia
5. Kelly Smith (RL) - Director, International Centre, The University of Western Australia
6. White Lebed (SL) - Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Curator
7. Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Owner of The University of Western Australia (SL), Creator & co-host of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge


And, make sure you dont include that dying conifer pictured above....(Tut tut).... with all their contacts surely they could find a decent tree...:))

....you might need plenty of film for all these shots so make sure you've stocked up...


:)))

Avatar Typist conflict....

My unconscious normally gives me a clip round the ear when I have gone too far, and today it did so, I fell off a ladder and banged my head which I see as me trying to knock some sense into myself. This is a technique I have used several times over the years with limited success.

I have recently had the experience of a moment of 100% immersion. A few actually. Now, it might be assumed from what is written about SL that this is the aim, the goal of our disembodied lives.

I now have to re-evaluate that previously accepted stand-point.... bear with me...

Jung admires Levy-Bruhl for his genius use of the term ‘participation mystique’ to denote a consciousness where the object and subject are not differentiated.

“When there is no consciousness of the difference between subject [typist?] and object [avatar?], an unconscious identity prevails. The unconscious is then projected into the object [avatar?], and the object is introjected [reverse of projection] [back] into the subject, becoming a part of his psychology.” (Jung, for source see below).

So, this is how I see the 100% immersion, the self is nowhere to be seen, I am lost in my unconscious-made-manifest and reabsorb my unconscious back as a part of my personality. Like a very small child (which can be irresponsibly nice at times...but not necessarily as a permanent situation).

The situation changes immediately we begin to be conscious of this projection... and I have written of this before and the healing possibilities of SL.

“But if the unconscious can be recognized as a co-determining factor along with consciousness, ... ....then the centre of gravity of the total personality shifts its position. It is then no longer in the ego,which is merely the centre of consciousness, but in the hypothetical point between conscious and unconscious. This new centre might be called the self.”

This is Jung’s Philosopher’s Stone, the “individuation” process leading to the birth of the self. I have talked of it before in these pages.

...”the confrontation with the unconscious usually begins in the realm of the personal unconscious, that is, of personally acquired contents which constitute the shadow [previous posts on shame and fear], and from there leads to archetypal symbols which represent the collective unconscious. The aim of the confrontation is to abolish the dissociation [between the conscious and the unconscious].”

Seen from the point of view of our disembodied existence, it would seem to me that this means the two extremes, typist becoming avatar or typist making avatar into typist, are both lost opportunities in that the confrontation is avoided..
Confrontation is here a positive force for change and I have mentioned it before.

“In order to to reach this goal, either nature herself or medical intervention [or SL?] precipitates the conflict of opposites without which no union is possible. This means not only bringing the conflict to consciousness; it also involves an experience of a special kind, namely, the recognition of an alien “other” in oneself, or the objective presence of another will.”

Now, this is an experience which we almost understand... there are hints and feelings... our avatar is....” different”... I know a few people who think their avatar is more clairvoyant than they are. Jung does hint that the paradox of a consciousness within the unconscious may be real. [possibly the source of synchronicity?]

“The alchemists with astonishing accuracy, called this barely understandable thing Mercurius, in which concept they included all the statements which mythology and natural philosophy had ever made about him: he is God, daemon, person, thing, and the innermost secret in man; psychic as well as somatic. He is himself the source of all opposites, since he is duplex and ‘utriusque capax’ (“capable of both”).

If “capable of both” is Jung’s polite way of saying bi-sexual, then the VW gender issue becomes somewhat irrelevent too.

“As well as being an irrational experience, this confrontation is a process of realization. Accordingly the alchemical opus consisted of two parts: work in the laboratory, with all its emotional and daemonic hazards, and the ‘scientia’ or ‘theoria’, the guiding principle of the opus by which its results were interpreted and given their proper place. The whole process, which today we understand as psychological development, was designated the “philosophical tree”, a poetic comparison that draws an apt analogy between the natural growth of the psyche and that of a plant.”

So, the conflict of avatar - typist could be seen as a conscious - unconscious conflict, and therefore, a potential union, our Opus.

We are among the first people to be facing these issues, there is no previous rules and regulations, no written etiquette, no 'knowledge base' to guide us on how we lead these different lives.

We are making culture,

We are alchemists.

:))


all quotes from C. G. Jung, Alchemical Studies. vol 13 of Complete Works.

Sunday stuff

Yesterday saw the opening of the new Flashman's at Esoterica a great dance joint playing music from the 20's, 30's, etc.




The brainchild of Martin Ren, who is, he says, retiring, it attracted over 40 people and the joint was jumpin'. Echo and Phi will take over the management of the place with Martin hopefully coming in occasionally to DJ... Great couple dances for those of you who like to cut a rug...




Skin by Jeanni Nishi...**TOXX**.... freebies eyes by me..

...In other news.... well, seems like UWA made the list of Showcase and got some extra visitors, and The Companion is one of the LL Hotspots...

On Tuesday, Juanita opens the Treeline Galleries.... here.........

" Please join us on Tuesday December 15th at 2 pm for the opening of this important project .
Virtual Treeline is part of a larger real world Treeline project that aims to raise awareness of local and global environmental issues and encourage action through art.
The work on show in our galleries will be shown in real life galleries and schools and on the internet as well as in Second Life.
We are interested in showing artworks, performances, science projects and any builds that relate to the Treeline project.
Please contact Juanita Deharo if you have a project for Virtual Treeline."

I had a sneek preview and saw great pieces by Alizarin Goldflake, Asmita Duranjaya, Fuschia Nightfire, ....didn't see everything but RAG Randt, Sheba Blitz, Bocan Undercroft are also showing and, if you tp down to earth, I have my Chemist Tree there.

I've been troll building all the spare time I have so may have something to show for my efforts next week...

.... if things go well.....

:))

ColeMarie's record of Magoo

Found myself missing my build at Magoo, so I played this full screen and it helped....thanks Cole you are an angel... xxxx


:)))

Manning the life boats...

I got a huge kick today when, following Wizzy's recent success at exporting her stuff I decided to give it a go, too.

I downloaded Emerald which I am happy to say still caters for my neglected PPC Mac, unlike Apple...and within 5 minutes I was exporting like a mad thing. I currently have 33 of my thingies safely installed on my Little Lappy and it feels very good. It's like an emancipation, I can go and plant up any world I want to now, and Nishi Land moves a step nearer to being a reality.

The way things are going we will all be zooming around the Metaverse, only popping in to SL for social stuff, seeing old friends and the like.

Thoroughly behind this new venture Transworlders....see the little thingy at the top...

..otherwise all is quite well really... I'm working on a Norwegian Troll avatar, probably the most sensible northern enterprise this week as the rest of this part of the world has totally lost it...

This week sees thousands of people burn a hole in the ozone layer over Denmark, eating enough food to keep a small nation fed and feeling bad about it as a sort of balance to their rambling self importance. Bet the weather's crap, it normally is... even when the climate isn't changing... (/me tries to think of when climate doesn't change.... draws a blank...)...

Scandinavia seems to be hosting the Ridiculous Front of Reality this week with Obama using a few hundred tons of fuel to get an award for sending 30,000 more troops to rearrange rocks in Afghanistan in a previously unknown definition of the word Peace. Well, the award is given by an explosives manufacturer...

...and they think we are weird....lol....

:))

Open Letter to Linden Lab.

Well, now excuse me for repeating myself, Linden Lab, Second Life, ...anyone out there????

30,000 sims pay tier monthly, god knows how many residents pay membership, and you Boys don't have the time to spend 15 minutes updating your status.....?

I am, of course, assuming that one or two of your employees can write. ....How hard can it be?

I consider this to be extremely bad manners on your part, and no amount of facile words about how much you care for your residents will ever compensate for neglectful behaviour. Actions speak louder than words.

Do you really think that you can ignore updating the people who pay your wages and explain to them why they can't tp or log in?

As I have said before the stupidity of it is very worrying.


:((((

Get Kissed

200 L$ in the shop now...:)) ...copy/mod.

...check out my profile if you haven't got an LM...or IM me.

:))

Streamlife and The Born Again Pagans.

Well, I don't often go to live music events but was very happy yesterday to have been tped in to Streamlife on the occasion of their birthday.

Life Charron, the sponsor and brains behind the place seemed a thoroughly nice person and the music I heard there, (didn't have time to visit the gallery....sorry), was pure quality.

First up I heard MelodyBlue Melody who has one of those classic voices that ooze smoky night clubs. Strong and evocative of bygone eras, excellent.






But..... Texx Triskaidekaphobia and Madame Amoufhaz really gripped me and I could hardly (and very unwillingly) drag myself away. I hope to hear them again as I am a new fan..... of The Born Again Pagans...


The slurl is here.

The Born Again Pagans website is here




:))

Christmas stuff for snow addicts

.....for sale .... here

Happy planting....

:))

Arty thoughts and stuff

Well, as often happens a couple of comments have had my brain going this weekend... firstly a new friend and customer, seeking to help me get my act together asked me to think strategically about where I was going with my art, and Quad commented on a previous post about copybotting (if indeed that is a verb, seems like everything can be nowadays).

So....hanging behind me, (RL!!!) on the wall is the above painting I did just before encountering SL.

The quote is very very old and actually relates to Alchemy (which used to be known as The Art), and the words basically mean that perfection has to be sought inside yourself before you go chasing around the globe looking for it. Trying to distil gold from goat poo is not gonna work no matter how long you go at it.

So...the rather 'outsider art' image that goes with it shows the old king (talked about this before in one of my "psychology of virtual existence" posts.... here) being cooked up, in an effort to redeem the Old and morph it into something new.

But...the snake has not taken on the form of the Oruborus (pictured below)




.... symbolising the Increatum , and the man is part animal, part human (I had never seen a neko at this point or he would have had ears too)...so.... the inference is, that without some sort of completion this poor soul might as well throw his paint brushes on the fire.

Now, that's a pretty extreme statement, mine are still packed away in a box, and not one I would honestly recommend.

BUT..... it does really depict my view on art. Art is a process of individuation, and not to be confused with the bi-product, which is the 'artwork', the 'piece'.

I don't really have any strategic plan or ambitions for my bi-products, hence no fear of them being stolen or copied. End of.

Hehehehe....in other news......

Have had a massive shopping spree at Alpha Auer's place, went dancing at Alienspeaking , then turned up for the UWA awards......very well documented here

My Koinup piece was good enough for NWN to link to it, (a feather in my cap) and just before Magoo got returned I had two sims in Search > Showcase > Hot Spots..... all good.

Wizzy again amazed me with her travels to Ancient Archeological Sites.... pictured .. here at the oldest place on the grid... Da Boom, or Great Zero. She likes to sit on things.

...and loved Ravenelle's new images here and here...

Sort of a mixed week really, like a lot of arty types I get a bit of post-natal depression so the blogging has been slack....sorry (not very sorry)... oh, yes, made a new tree...it's in the UWA December Competition.... only place to see it so far. Pop over if you are dying to see it...hehehhhehehee

...and Happy Rezz Day Lalo


:)))

Mark Linden (scoop)

Your intrepid virtual explorer/reporteress has once again got her little fingers (well, ears actually) on a tasty little morsel....

In a pleasantly surprising move, to be announced tomorrow at the UWA November Awards party, and intimated in my Koinup post Mark Linden and I....Mark Linden will join the judges panel at The University of Western Australia for these, much praised, awards. This confirms my deep held belief that this university is doing more for the arts than anyone else in SL, a view that Mark Linden maybe agrees with, and, hopefully, learns from (re. LL).

Jayjay Zifanwe (yes, I know I spell his name differently every time I blog...) was extremely pleased at the move and, well, he and Quadrapop have worked hard to achieve what they have in these few months and deserve all the support they get. 59 artists have submitted for the November competition, and this alone tells a lot about the 'management'.

For those of you who don't have this event firmly marked in your diaries its 5am SLT (well, yes, it's one event the West Coast does have to get up very early for...) on Sunday 6th December, i.e. tomorrow.

...it's...here....

:)))

Watering down the wine

Well, the Companion has opened as those reading my last two posts will obviously know. There's a fair few nice shots of it on Flickr....here....

...and, look hard and you'll find my flying goat with an anim by Frigg Ragu that's a freebie, it's in the stall by the wooden castle...

Anyway, the story is about a young man, they always are, on his path to individuation (a Jung word)... and the first part of his journey takes him to the Vintner (wine-maker) who is frozen in ice outside the church, dead but unburied. Anyone who is so mean spirited as to water down wine before selling it to friends and neighbours is gonna be met with the same meanness as he showed others. So, only right that they should be as penny-pinching as he was and not pay for his funeral.

All good morality tale stuff, do unto others and all that. Luckily the young traveller has a different take on it. Justice is one thing and love another....(Brand is my fav. Ibsen drama, a story of the god of righteousness vs the god of love)...and shells out the few Kroner that are needed to get the old sinner interred in Mother Earth. ....and all good things flow from this act of generosity.

Now I couldn't help wondering if I was watering down my wine,.... wine in these contexts often used as an image of the blood, or generally, passion. ...and of course we are all a little guilty of "suppressing the sound of our own breathing', i.e. not living life to the full, being a party-pooper at our own festival. We have as many excuses as the Vintner probably thought he had, and more, probably. ......and our souls can get rather encase in this frozen mass of inhibitions....

Which is why I thought it was a very fitting tale for SL. Obviously if you are a pain in the arse in RL you will be the same in SL, and generally rain on everyone's parade in all worlds, but if you are held back (as we all are) in RL by conventions, norms, taboos, education, culture etc etc...then... SL is such a wonderful opportunity to "let your hair down". .... and there are a few people who have said how much more confident or assertive they feel in SL...and hopefully that seeps out into RL......

So let's make some full-bodied rich wine, and have a ball... bring your RL personna with you if you must but leave your preconceptions at the login page...or you'll never dance with dragons.


:)))