Hair Fair 2016

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

When our Editor, Bixyl, sent out a list of possible stories to report on, it included the Hair Fair 2016. Sha has a large collection of  hairs and is always on the look-out for new, unique, high quality hairs. In her early days as an exotic dancer, she had spotted an avatar with a beautiful long braid and spent months tracking down the shop it came from. The Hair Fair includes many designers, with new creations, that would give a percent of the profits to "Wigs for Kids." We copied three possible SLURLs and took off to find our next "to die for" hair.

The first attempt to TP did not work, informing us that the sim was too full to allow any more to enter. Our second SLURL got us in and we land next to a large "You Are Here" map. The Fair was spread out across multiple sims and the street layout reminded us of the Nazca lines, in the deserts of Peru or the swirls in a finger print. We selected a path that would cover all the shops. Unlike the RFL Walk, there were no arrows on the street, to keep us on our selected path. At ground level, we would need some help navigating. The map and mini-map were no help here, because they didn't show the streets. We soon came up with a better way to check our progress. At the end of each block, Sha would stop and panned her cam to directly over head, high enough to see which direction to head next.

The next thing we notice is that this is like a suburban housing development. All the houses look alike and there are few landmarks to tell you if you have passed the same place before. Each vendor is set up in a garage, so it's like being in a town that only allows garage sales on one Saturday each month. I spent four hours at the Fair and managed to see all the vendors.

There are a few landmarks, scattered about the Fair, that created a secondary background theme. Here and there, we find film crews and their equipment. If you live in Los Angeles, this is a common sight (left), but here it kept me from going in circles, in a sea of ticky-tacky, at several street corners.

Scattered around the fair, we find several shops that provided head-wear for bald avatars, We wished we had known of them, during the month Sha was bald. The other shops displayed every style you can imagine. They also have hair for both women and men and even beards. In a shop, called Bizarre, I spotted one that would be perfect for Valkyrie, with bird wings on it.

All of the styles had free demos to try on before you buy and if you like a store's designs, you can also get a LM to their main store. Each time we tried a demo, we also added our Kemono head, to see if it would also work with all our mods. It was also fun to watch others trying on the demos. You could almost hear the sound of their minds, being made up, as they admired themselves wearing the demo. If you like the style, you then pick a color, like blonde, brown, red, etc. and it will come with a HUD for changing shades. Many were also available in fat-packs, with all the colors.

We had set a budget for this adventure and Sha managed, after four hours of shopping, to escape with two new styles that she could not live without, while staying well within the budget. Our new number one is this blonde, multi braid hippy look, which also has a base piece to adapt it to my Kemono head. We also got a blonde, straight, floor length style. I'll probably be wearing one or the other, next time you see me.

First impressions are lasting and the face and hair stand above in our display. If you want to change how people respond to you, a good looking hair style covers a multitude of sins. If you want to be "saved", come to Hair Fair 2016 and while you're at it, you'll also be helping those poor bald kids get wigs of their own.

Platinum (220/128/23)

Sha

Cica Ghost's "Arachnid "

By Becky Shamen

During the last month, we have been tied up with producing a full length animated tour of Sunweaver Estates. The next sim to be included is remodeling for upcoming RFL events, so we were faced with either rescheduling our shooting sequence or taking a break and creating a new article for the Newser. At the same time, we learned that Cica Ghost had a new exhibit, called "Arachnid", located on the Weeds sim. Having already enjoyed exploring and writing about two of Cica's previous exhibits, it was a no brainer and I informed the Editor that I was heading there to play with the spiders.
For maximum enjoyment of this exhibit, set your viewer to use local "windlight" settings and allow music and media to play automatically. This reviewer rates art by how well the artist uses their skills, tools and materials to communicate a series of thoughts, from their mind, into the minds of those viewing the art. If a picture is worth a thousand words, we expect these creepy spiders to tell us a detailed story of  "What was Cica thinking?"


The sim landing places us in a large cage, or trap structure, with information, a TP to Cica's workshop and a tip jar. The sim lighting is a cloudy twilight grey. It's the kind of sky that makes you wish you had brought an umbrella along. As we look around, the large spider webs, in every direction, suggest the umbrella might also serve to hack our way through the sticky barriers. We also notice that there are eight cages, like the one we started in, scattered around the sim. Eight is also the number of legs on a spider. Is Cica doing this to show that there is a connection between the spiders and cages. These structures are "man made". Are they here to protect us from the spiders, or are they the webs we weave for ourselves, that trap us and remove our freedom to live a full life?

One of the cages contains several revolving displays of fancy gowns. How much of our life energy is drained by the need to stay in style with the trends, when most of us would be just as happy to wear the same old t-shirt and jeans, every day?

Several of the cages have TV sets, that play music videos, in the living room, the bed room and by an open bookshelf. As we walk to the next cage, we wonder if we have misread these symbols. Surely, Cica is not suggesting that pretty dresses and TVs are going to kill us. Such thoughts are quickly dispelled, as we almost fly into a large web which holds the wrapped remains of two humanoid victims, with a pair of trash cans on the ground below.

In another cage, we find a stack of commercial clothes dryers. These, at first, seem to have no place in the theory being pondered, until we notice that each dryer is an amusement ride that will spin and tumble two avatars together. One has to ask, how much better would life have been, had you only learned to avoid whirlwind relationships that ended up taking you to the cleaners?

The last cage that we explored took a little longer to extract the thoughts from. It contains two chairs and a table with a potted plant on it. Over by the bars of the cage, a raven is looking outside the cage. You can sit in the chairs, so we parked our cotton tail down, to contemplate the meaning. The old saying, "a little birdie told me so", came to mind. What is this little bird telling us? He is looking outside the cage. Next, we notice the unusual construction of the furniture. The chairs, instead of having four wooden legs, each have a pair of human legs, wearing shoes. The table has a single wheel, in place of legs. A wheel and legs suggest motion and the raven is looking outside the cage. We got the hint and moved on, in the direction indicated by the raven.

Our forward motion is rewarded, as we come upon a small stage. The lighting is cheerful and a free butterfly is perched on the roof. Sitting down, we find it odd that the pianist, while still playing the same style of music that added to the gloomy atmosphere of the sim, now sounded more cheerful and entertaining. While we were enjoying the concert, an avatar with a pistol was dashing to and fro, behind us. It did not disturb our peace, in the least. We figured he just hadn't found which cage he belonged trapped in, yet.

 

I give the Arachnid Exhibit my top rating. Cica Ghost's  continually evolving artistic skills and abilities to communicate with thought forms, makes her exhibits a "Must See". Come to the exhibit and set your butterflies free.

 

 "Sha"

 

Weed (155/170/37)

Metamorphosis

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

Well folks, here we are again, now on our third art exhibit in a row. A notice was sent to the Newser staff, that a reporter was needed to cover an exhibit of M.C. Escher's work. I responded, immediately, that this was my baby. As a Graphic Artist and Engineer, I have been a fan of Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) all my life. I was 22 when he passed on, making him a contemporary artist and inspiration in my own works. It is very likely that I have been a fan of MCE since before the creators of this exhibit, Solkide Auer and Sniper Siemens were even born. This exhibit is found on the LEA 15 sim. I didn't need to even search for a LM, because it was right next door to the last exhibit I wrote about. Arriving at the landing point, I found myself in the lower level of a flying saucer shaped structure. There are a number of objects to explore at that level, before going up the stairs to the main exhibit.

    My first visit to a sim is always a short one, to get an idea of the layout, make a LM and get a first impression. I return a few more times, to get more insight and take pictures. On this first visit, I notice that on the first level objects have been placed to provide key information that will help make the exhibit better understood and enjoyed by visitors. The first thing they want you to know is that it took two artists to build the exhibit. Next, we see two signboards that show the proper settings for Firestorm and SL viewers, to get the intended lighting effects for the exhibit. Next we see an original MCE drawing, placed as it was originally drawn. In addition, there were a number of the objects, used in the exhibit. I also took a quick look around the upper level, before dashing off to another appointment. Later, before returning, I reported to the Editor that I would indeed write the article, but it would be a short one and I would have to add a bit of "spin" to make it sell.

When I returned, the first thing I did was adjust my graphics settings, hoping to get the spectacular lighting effects that I thought Solkide and Sniper had intended. Alas, the lighting didn't impress me. I thought perhaps there was a problem with the viewer I was using, so I switched from Firestorm to the SL viewer. After matching my settings to those on the signboard, the lighting was the same as in the previous viewer. While in the SL viewer, a notice popped up, saying it would upgrade the viewer on my next start, so I closed it and came back. This time, the upgrade had set the lighting back to default settings. I could now see the difference, with and without the correct settings. When I corrected the settings, I was back to the same lighting as I saw in the other viewers. It was not spectacular. If anything, it was very subtle. It would take a bit longer to understand why the artists placed so much importance on getting the settings right.

At the exhibit level, the lighting is what, in stage lighting, we call a "wash". Little ovals of soft white blurred lighting dotted the walls and ceiling, beyond the perimeter of the physical exhibit. A single spot of light illuminated the center of the floor. Aha! Perhaps they want the exhibit to be seen from the center. Using Alt+Ctrl+T, to see the invisible source of the center light, I moved to where the light was directly above my head and entered "Mouselook". Doing a complete 360 degree turn did not improve the picture, but it did produce a thought, in my mind. This exhibit is built in a circle, around me. As an artist, this thought was interpreted as art "in the round", a.k.a., 3D. Suddenly, the lighting made perfect sense. By being outside the exhibit, it enhanced the 3D perspective. At this point, the artists gained  in status. Their art had communicated the message that they wanted me to hear. They had converted MCE's 2D drawing into a 3D object and I, the viewer was now inside the creation. In my attempts to create Escher style art, these were the two things that were the greatest challenge, making it 3D and being inside the art.

 Now that I understood the main message, that of turning Escher's "Metamorphosis" into 3D art, my questions switched from what they were doing to how well they were doing it. I began to investigate the individual elements that went into building the exhibit.  It looks like it was made from hundreds of mesh objects, which were then assembled. None of the mesh objects had any name, other than "object". How hundreds of objects, no two alike, were made and assembled is something I have experienced with my PXL structures, so I know how difficult it can be. This pair of artists, compared to my skills, are master art engineers. If he were alive today, Escher would probably like their work and tell them, "Bedankt voor het compliment".

While I was in the middle of being in the middle of Metamorphosis, I got a group message from my friends at Sunweaver. After telling them I was at the Escher exhibit, Mamma Gil responded with, "I went to one, once, but damn it wore me out. I never did find the top of the stairs and just felt like I was going around and around in circles". While I was there, there was very little visitor traffic. If you go now, there's a good chance you'll be in the center of attention and the circle will go round and round YOU. In closing, it turns out this article was not short and did not require any additional hype. They did a great job. I  recommend that you go see this exhibit, even if Escher is new to you.

 

Have fun,

 

LEA15 (128/129/1998)

 

"Sha"

Strawberryland

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

Here we are exploring our second art exhibit in a row. It wasn't planned, but I got a staff notice that was looking for a reporter to check out "Strawberryland," by Cica Ghost. My ears perked up, as I recalled my recent article, "Roots," by the same artist, last January. I found her art to be very simple, but radiating subtle mental imagery, through all of our senses. It even smelled good.

On the return visit, as my landing spot rezzed, I spotted a lady in a black dress, standing in front of me. Her name tag showed her to be the artist, Cica Ghost. I introduced myself as a reporter for the SL Newser, that had written about her last show and was now reviewing Strawberryland. She asked for the URL of the Newser and I gave it. I sensed that neither of us was prepared for an interview, but perhaps she could answer a question or two. In my mind, I am about to judge her art on how well it communicates ideas to me. I couldn't ask her, what's the meaning behind this or that, so I let the technical artist in me blurt out, "Are all you art objects made from sculpties or mesh?". She seemed proud to announce that they were all mesh. There was a steady trickle of new visitors to the exhibit, wishing to bestow at-a-girls and pats on the back side, so I thanked Cica for her time and inched away, pointing at my camera.

I think good art should convey a message, from the mind of the artist to the mind of the observers. I wanted to see more of what's inside Cica's imagination. After finding the link for Strawberry Land, in the Destination Guide, I made a short, scouting trip to make a LM and take a quick look about. First impression? I would return, a.s.a.p. and take pictures.

 Within a few feet of the meeting with Cica, I snapped a photo of a small, table top model of a house and flowers. What made it unusual was it had a background picture of sky and it and the flowers were moving, as if being blown by wind. I didn't realize, until later when I cropped all the photos, that this first model sculpture was a key to understanding the language being spoken, throughout the rest of the sim.

The first thing you notice is all the strawberries. When I think of the song "Strawberry Fields", I picture a place and event, but no fruit. In Strawberryland they are plentiful and BIG. How big? I walked into a small greenhouse, with a starter plant and baby strawberries. I estimate them to be about 30 inches tall. Strawberries also brought the smell of the fruit to mind. To my nose, the taste and smell of strawberries is  right in the middle of the scale. It's OK, but I don't seek them for myself. On the other hand, the smell of synthetic strawberry flavor (ester) has always raised a red flag in me. As before, Cica's art spoke through my nose.

Strawberries aren't the only big thing here. I felt about one foot tall, through most of the exhibit. I begin to notice another theme among some of these large sculptures. Although they contain no animated parts, they display motion, like wind blowing hair and cloth or wheeled carts under sculptures to move them around.

As we continue the tour, I remark to myself that this exhibit seems more colorful than the previous one. An industrial looking building, with rusting metal sides, is just ahead. Inside, we can see a collection of smaller sculptures, so we open the metal gate and go inside.

 

I recognized the objects as being ones that were used in "Roots", but these had somehow been made anew. They had been painted, but not in the way a normal house is. It's more like they were splattered with different colors. As I head to the next area, I remark to myself, "She's added a splash of color this time".

 

 At the painter sculpture, we see several of the communicated ideas come together in one spot. A big man, covered in a rainbow of paint spills, is splattering two different colors on one wall, as his hair blows in the wind and an impatient horse waits in front of the biggest strawberry on the island, to be taken somewhere else.

Down the path, we find a boy and girl enjoying this impression of wind. Looking back at the picture, it's hard to believe that nothing in this scene was moving.

So readers, let us review what these objects d'art have communicated to us today. We had strawberries. Did you taste them? We had the motion of wind and wheels. Did you feel the rush? We had a splash of color. Did you get wet? Perhaps, if these three key ideas were placed end to end, in the right order, they might form a complete sentence, a thank you from Cica Ghost to the visitors of Strawberryland.  I'll leave that for the readers to decipher. Meanwhile, I get out my tape measure to calculate if I can build an island with this huge strawberry.

 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lost%20Isle/126/94/36

 

"Sha"

Light Thoughts 2

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

In the past few months, real life and Second Life events seemed to be taking me away from scheduling, exploring and writing about my SL adventures. To get back to my old schedule, I went through all my favorite tricks for finding new sims to explore. One of these tricks is the World Map, found in the viewer and also at secondlife.com. I remembered that, only a few days earlier, I had been looking at the map and made a mental note to visit a sim that caught my eye. Returning to the area of the map, I learned that the sim is one of the LEA sims.

Based on past experiences at LEA sims, this would have been enough to keep me from going, but my intuition was telling me I would find something good, this time. The problem was, every time I visited a LEA sim, in the past, as an artist/designer, I always found myself asking how much this artist had to pay LL, to get them to promote his excuse for an art project in the Destination Guide. It sounds harsh, but I hold all products up to the same standards. If it requires advertisement, instead of word-of-mouth, I probably won't buy it. On the other hand, the inner voice of my intuition has always given good advice.

Given that the sim in question was near several other "interesting" looking sims, I felt sure I would find a good adventure and promptly headed down to check out several of the sims. Art should communicate the thoughts of the artist. The first sim I visited had me wondering if it's artist was thinking at all, so I flew over to the next sim. That sim showed a bit more thought, but was also under construction. With a lot more work, it could be worth a return visit. From this sim, I could clearly see the next. It was brightly lit and just a short walk, so I strolled over for a look.

This sim is LEA 20 and was host to "Light Thoughts 2", by Mario2 Helstein. Within seconds, I knew this was the place that was calling me. I cannot even begin to describe this project, until I explain that NONE of the pictures, shown here, do it justice, because a major part of the art is moving light and textures, playing on and incorporated into the solid sculptures on the sim.

To any observer, this exhibit of lights and sculptures will be a wonderful adventure. To a seasoned Designer, Artist, Builder, there is an inner beauty that shines for them. This Artist, Mario2 Helstein, is an adept in the sciences of Geometry, architectural strength and chromatics, and even a fair amount of Psychology. I found his sculptures somehow fascinating, but it took a couple of days, looking at the photos, to discover why. Bless his PXL (Pneumatic Xtal Lattice) heart. He builds with triangles. His triangles have holes in the middle.

I will confess, I don't know, exactly what a LEA sim is or how they work. I assume LEA means "Linden Endowed Artist", since they are temporary and have art exhibits on them. What I did discover is, some times they can impress and inspire even a professional artist. The point is, don't take  the Destination Guide or this writer's word for where the fun is. If you hear of an interesting sim, go see it for yourself. Remember, the word YOU has U right in the middle of it.

 

 

LEA20 (126, 129, 21) 

"Sha"

"Roots" by Cica Ghost

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

Sometimes, we just put all the possible destinations on the wall and put on a blindfold, spin around three times and shoot a dart. This time, I hit on one called, "Roots," by Cica Ghost. It was described as a sim art project. The illustration showed some odd looking buildings that beckoned exploration. An Artist and Architect in our own right, we decided to go see if there was anything cool to report on.

Arriving at the landing tower, as things rezzed, the music is first to make a good impression. Words like Majestic and Peacefull come to mind. We begin our tour with a spring in our step. From the tower, there are two ways to explore the sim. A balloon ride comes by and give a ride around, with a birds eye view, or you can just walk down the path and tour on foot. Flying is also allowed. Viewing the neighborhood gives us a split impression. On the one hand, the scenery looks like a child's urban creation, made in the sand lot behind his house, but long forgoten and left to nature and her seasons to take back. On the other hand, this place is anything but dead. One senses that the sim is one large, living compost pile, preparing the ground for a lush new life. This sim has an air about it....one that should be kept away from open flames and sparks.

Adding to the "look", the sim's largest resident, a giant snail, with a mud hut for a shell, slimes his way past us, probably on his way to the races. We tried thumbing a ride, but the house was small and he smelled like something that shouldn't be stepped on. We move on to higher ground, where the homes aren't mobile.

Several of the structures had animations, allowing one to gaze out an upper window, while contemplating images, stirred up by the beautiful music. We were somewhat shocked to find one house that was occupied by a little girl and a black cat. Fortunately, they were only statues, so no need to make the sign of the cross or throw salt over the shoulder. Moving on, we spot a large tower, that looks like it would give a great view of the sim, if we could get to the top. A long ladder was shy by 6 meters of the top, but a large flat rock travelled up and down, like an elevator. At the top, naturally a little contemplation came into play, imagining ourselves as a tiny mouse that made it's home here.

Before ending the tour, it was imperative that we take the balloon tour of the sim. Returning to the landing tower, we grab the next available flight and keep our seat for several go-arounds. On the second pass, a young lady popped into the adjacent seat. Always pleased to share our adventures with others, we smile and say, "This is a fun place, isn't it?" She agrees, then, red-faced, jumps out and waits for the next flight.

Overall impressions of the sim? My hat's off to Cica Ghost, for taking objects and textures of child-like simplicity and crudeness and melding them into a grand and masterful artwork, the size of a sim. It's like walking around inside a painting and you can almost smell the rich humus, ready to sprout any seed that finds it. Maybe it's just the viewer I'm using. Perhaps our readers should visit and see if their latest, greatest viewer comes with [SMELL] parameters.

I give "Roots", by Cica Ghost, a big thumbs up. I recomend you go see it and if you agree, leave a little tip in her balloon tip jar, by the landing.

Night Atoll (36/185/42)

"Sha"

Arcadia Asylum

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

In the article, "Saving Prims," we said, "... Arcadia Asylum, on the Mieville Pond sim.  Be prepared for an adventure there". A conscious effort was made, to keep that sim from taking over the article, because it was worthy of an article of it's own. Returning there, to take notes and pictures, we realized just how understated the line was. It's more than just "an adventure". This sim is a must see, Great Adventure and should be on everybody's to-do list. Aside from the 1,328 free items, there are several fun adventures, to be discovered there.

The landing point, for the sim, is a courtyard, in front of the Cog & Grog Freebie Center. On the other side of the courtyard, we find a teleporter that goes to the various areas on the sim. The areas include; Tropics, Steam Fair, Graveyard, Hobo Town, The Deeps, Space and The Library. Most of the areas can also be reached by walking, flying or just jumping into the water.

The Deep covers as much area as the surface sim and can be reached in three ways. Within the Cog & Grog, there is a stairway that leads under water. On the dock, next to the Chinese Junk, there is an entrance to Cap'n Nemo's Underwater Observatory, which uses tubes to connect to chambers beneath the surface. You can also just jump off any of the docks, to reach the sea floor. In the deep, you will find underwater habitats, plants, sea creatures. You can even get your own whale or even a kracken. One of the most interesting nautical items, the whirlpool, proved to be be a fun ride. I got one to take home, but, unless I terraform, won't get put out from my inventory any time soon. It has a lot of prims, but can be reduced by removing some of the items that circle the top.

 Taking the teleport to the Space area, we find spacesuits, spaceships, planets and asteroids. The most interesting "space" item is found at the courtyard of the sim landing. There, we find a giant cannon, which shoots a bullet shaped capsule to the moon. I had actually been back to this sim several times, before deciding to click on it and see what it does. Next thing you know, the camera switches to an exterior view of the projectile, with your av inside and stars zipping past. We end up on a lunar surface, staring at our crashed ship, with the earth in the distant background. Fortunately, there is a teleport, near by, to take us back down, but, as long as I'm on the moon, I look around for any other interesting things to explore. Sure enough, among the lifeless rocks there is one that has some color to it and there's a large hole at the base, with a churning mist within. Looking in, it seems to go down to a cavern with large gems on the walls. Naturally, Miss been there, done that, had to go into the cavern. All I will say is that, yes, there is an adventure and I went several times, to learn the way out of the conflict with the lunar inhabitants.

Now, safely back home, on my keyboard, I find myself wondering what other hidden adventures are yet to be had at Arcadia Asylum. You can be sure that this writer will return there many times, in the future. 

 

Hope we see you there,

 

"Sha"

 

From "Sha's SL Stories"

Saving Prims

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

In December, 2015, this writer will celebrate six years in Second Life. For much of that time, I have been an active member of the Sunweaver Community. Being an active member entails more than just showing up for all the social events. A good citizen receives much from being a member and, in return, gives back his services to the rest of the community. They do this by helping those in need, showing a positive and joyful attitude and enhancing the local economy, by renting homes and shops on the community's sims.


Aside from location, key factors for renting are how much will it cost and how many prims will be allowed in the rented area. Regardless of how many prims are allowed, by the time your home starts feeling like your personal piece of heaven on earth, you'll be wishing for a few dozen more prims. Over the years, I have found a number of ways to save prims, while still decorating to get my home to be an extension of my personality. I'd like to share some of what has been learned, in this article.

A good way to personalize your home is to add pictures on the walls. Pictures of your friends, adventures you have been on, things you have built and classic paintings you love can say a lot about the resident, but, at one or two prims each, will quickly eat up your prim allowance. One of the first ways to reduce the number of prims is to make a texture that contains multiple pictures, frames and the transparent space between them included. Doing this, you can cover an entire wall with pictures, using only one prim.

Nice furniture also takes up prims. Fortunately, many shops offer low or one prim furniture, complete with animations. One of my favorite vendors is "Primpossible" and they have a number of great items for furniture and landscaping.

More recently, I have discovered other ways to save prims on displayed pictures. While researching an article, about the Lionheart Community, I walked around all the sims, to take in the atmosphere, chat with the locals and do a bit of shopping. While on the Ahadi sim, I found a shop, called "The Frame House". They have a large assortment of ornate picture frames. Each frame costs L$200 and is only 2 prims. You can edit the contents of the frames to contain dozens of your own pictures and it will then display them, like a slide show. I bought one, then, and have yet to find any limit to the number of pictures that can be added. When I returned to the Frame House, to research this article, I decided they would be a good way to display some of the countless avatars and costumes in my inventory, so I bought another frame. The Frame House also has two photo back drops, for singles or couples. Each has many background photos and poses. I go back often, just to take more pictures.

There is another slide show, that I have, which serves the same purpose while adding a social gathering place. It's called, "Victorian Magic Lantern Show" and is 7 prims. It has a fancy projection screen, 6 benches (seats 12) and a steam powered slide projector. The best part is, this slide show is FREE. You can find it at the Marketplace at the AleyMart merchant. They have 1328 items and they're all FREE. If you want to see their products in world, head on over to  Arcadia Asylum, on the Mieville Pond sim. Be prepared for an adventure there. Everything is unique and interesting. Every time I visit there, I come home with a dozen new toys.

"Sha"

Meshing Around in Second Life

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

It is my great pleasure, to be back writing about my adventures in Second Life. Being the "been there, done that" type, it was only a matter of time before I got back on the road again. Contemplating a good adventure to commence with, each idea seemed to be countered by, haven't you already "been there, done that".  Then, I remembered that I am in the middle of an adventure and dying to tell the world about it. This adventure involves MESH, but don't worry. You won't even need the latest viewer, to read about it.

This December will be my 6th anniversary in SL.  Somewhere in the middle, they began introducing mesh clothing and avatars.  As a clothing designer/vendor, I had become adept at making clothing for basic female avatars with add-on breasts (implants), so was in no hurry to go the mesh route, at least until they got all the bugs worked out. A trickle of mesh clothing did begin to find it's way into my inventory and, before long, became my preferred choice.

 I also have a whole collection of furry avatars,but when I searched the Market Place for something new, I kept seeing all these new mesh brands and they were cuter than dimples on a bunny rabbit. When the descision was made to get a mesh avatar, naturally, I wanted the brand that had the most available mods. The clear winner of that race was the "Kemono", by Utilizator. There are also many add-on parts, that add to the ways you can mod it. I have six heads for mine.

 When shopping for mesh clothes, I now ask, will it fit both my basic and mesh bodies, is it full perm, so I can sell or share my mods and is it so cool that everybody will like it.  Looking for the next clothing to make mods for, I decided to go to the source, Utilizator.

When the LM to their main store was clicked, a grand adventure began.  The landing spot puts one in a large, two story shopping mall, with 40-50 shops, centered around the Utilizator store. The mall is called "Annie May Haven" and all of the shops cater to Kemono and other popular anime avatars, like "Rainbow Bunny" and "BG Feline". Some of the shops were familiar, since I had bought from them at Marketplace.

As if having all those shops in one place wasn't enough of a great adventure, this mall has an additional feature, that makes it very usefull to anybody that is into these cute little avs.  At any given time you come, there will be a large gathering of cute avatars, between you and the main store. They're like walking store dummies, previewing the avs and clothing. Their social conversations, among themselves, sounds like a bunch of teen aged kids, but keep this in mind. If you want to learn something about computers or anime, ask a kid. I enjoyed talking with them and even invited one to my home, to see how civilized furries live.

Doing an inworld search for "mesh clothing" places we find 1178 selections. For "mesh anime clothing", 401. Researching this article, I spent an evening going to as many as possible and none could compare with Annie May's. I bought several outfits there, but I'm not asking you to buy anything. All I'm selling is a great adventure.

 

"Sha"

Lost Second Life

By Becky Shaman/Joshua Xavier

This reporter has been featured in the last 7 articles published by Becky Shamen. He started out as an alt, but in November he split off into a seperate account and now is his own man. At the January Newser staff meeting, Josh attended in Sha's place and asked to be hired, so he could have his own Byline in the paper. At the meeting, Josh indicated that he and Sha were also working on a series of articles, a synopsis of "The Unveiling", by J.J.Dewey, which is being posted at ShaAdventures.blogspot.com , but they were also looking for new adventures in Second Life, to write about. The Editor suggested a photo exhibit, that he had heard of, might be just our cup of tea. The name of the exhibit is, "Lost Second Life." Josh, being a sorta Indiana Jones type, was on it like a mouse on cheese.

The landing, on the Mado sim, puts you in the center of a desert, said to be a post apocalypse sea floor. As the only building on the sim, you won't have any trouble finding the Anita Witt Photography Gallery. The main gallery features photos by Anita, which are all very high quality and copies are for sale. Behind the main gallery, there is a four story building, housing the "Lost Second Life" exhibit.

The photos in this exhibit are all by Photographer Ziki Questi, of sims that are no longer in Second Life. Knowing this premise, we were hoping there would be a photo from our all time favorite, the Sistine chapel, which disappeared last year. To our great delight, they not only included it, at L$100, it is the most affordable photo at the gallery.

We found the stairs difficult to navigate, but fortunately the building was missing one side and flying is permitted, making it easier to view all of the fine photographs.

As a life time artist, we can be somewhat critical of what some galleries have to offer. In the case of photographs by Anita and Ziki, we are pleased to report these are exceptionally good quality. No
doubt, some of you will find photos of sims that you have visited and now miss. Here is your chance to see them again and add reminders to the walls of your home.

Having, in the two months of our independent existence, evolved the persona of our new avatar, we were now planning to make a fresh profile pic. As we viewed each photograph, consideration was given as to how it would look as a background for a picture that fits our character. The one chosen fit both style and colors needed and now is included in the profile. From this slice of the visit, incorporated into my profile, it should be evident that we liked the exhibit. We give it two thumbs up and recommend y'all go check it out, before it goes away like the Lost Second Life it depicts.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mado/125/172/38

Joshua Xavier

Untangling Tango

By Becky Shamen

Today, we will be talking about BEWBS. In SL, females have a slightly different set of parameters that can be adjusted on their avatars. There is a setting that allows adjusting the breast size from 0 (pirate's dream-sunken chest) to 100 (OMG cup). As if that weren't enough, one can also buy add-ons, called prim breasts or implants. These can cost between L$800 and twice that. Like them or not, from my experience, they are a good investment. When I used them, as an "exotic" dancer, in adult clubs, I averaged L$600 per night in tips. They also inspired me to make and sell clothing for them, which brings in extra money even when I am not in world. I often log on to find myself a few hundreds richer than when I left.

Most implant clothing can be worn with or without implants. Implant clothing comes with "appliers", which, when worn, duplicate the texture of the clothing top (shirt, jacket or undershirt) on the clothing layer of the implants. My original clothing line was designed for use with Universal Implants brand, which was then the most popular brand. I also included a notecard with my products, called "the do it yourself guide to implants," in which I taught customers how to get the most out of their implants and even make their own clothes for them.

Now, the UI designer has quit SL and clothing for them is becoming hard to find. Since getting involved with Chest Treasures Mall, I have acquired a set of Lolas Tango implants, have added appliers to my original line and make all new outfits work with Tangos. Tangos are even easier than UIs to develop clothing for, so I offer the ladies some of the tricks I have learned, to enable them to make their own clothes and skin for them.

All SL clothing is based on templates. The Top Template is for Jackets, shirts, undershirts and gloves. The Bottom Template is for pants, underpants, socks and shoes. The Skirt Template is for skirts and jacket coat tails. Templates can also be used for making tattoos. Anything designed, using these templates, will fit any body shape. You can get these templates free, on line, by searching for "SL clothing templates." In the above illustration, we show the two layers used to make the black outfit, shown in the first image of this article. The bottom layer is the template. The top layer was made from a photo of the dress Beyonce wore at the Super Bowl half time show. I painted the gloves myself, to complete the look. When the clothing texture is finished, the template layer is turned off and the clothing layer is saved as a .PNG file. PNG files are the only type image that can be uploaded to SL and contain transparent areas. The areas in the above image, where you see the template, will show skin, in world.

Making Tango Appliers

The advantage of Tango implants is, the clothing layer uses the same texture as the one for the dress top. To make an applier, first go in inventory, right click the texture, and select "copy UUID number". All textures used in SL have a unique ID number. Now, make a copy of the applier that came with your implants and drag it to the floor to edit it. In the "content" tab, double click the "clothing configuration" file to open it. Replace the original ID number with your new one, then save and close the window. Now, while still in edit, rename the object to match the outfit it will go with, like "half time applier", then close the edit window. Now, a left click on the applier will put the texture on your implants and line up with the clothes being worn under the implants. Now, right click and take the new applier to your inventory. Make a copy to put in the same folder as the outfit. From here on, wearing the applier will put it on the bottom center of your screen. After clicking it, detach it, until the next time you need it.

Other implants work differently, but the above process will be pretty much the same for all of them. To assist my customers with other brands, I have always included the clothing top texture for them to work with.

Implants come with skin appliers, allowing them to be matched to any skin color on your avatar. However, there is no way they can include skins for furries. You could just make them the right color, but that would not match the 3D shading and variations of hair colors. To use implants with your furry, you will want to make a skin applier. The steps for making one are the same as for clothing appliers, but the texture template is different. The implants don't come with a template and the skin texture is no copy, so where do you get a template? Here is how I made my own skin template. While wearing the implants, right click and edit them. Check the box to edit individual prims and scroll to the skin layer, using [ctrl]+[.] or [ctrl]+[,]. In the "texture" tab, click on the texture image of the skin, which will show it about 1.5" square. Using a paint program that can capture images on screen, grab the screen shot and crop it to just the square skin image. To get good resolution on your planned furry skin, resize the captured skin to 1024x1024 (the largest size image SL allows to be uploaded). This is now your implant skin template.

Now you will need an image of your furry's chest area, to be fitted to the template. Wear the skin, then edit appearance, to hold your av still for a photo. Set your breast size to 0, so that the image will contain all of the breast area in a 2D image. Position your camera to get a close-up of the chest area. The area photographed does not have to be exactly like the template, as long as it contains the full breast and area up to the clavicle (collarbone). Save a HD snapshot to your computer. Copy this image to a new layer, above the skin template. Move and stretch the furry layer so that it overlaps the template in 3 key locations, the nipples and clavicle. When everything is matched up, save the furry layer as a PNG file and upload it to SL. The UUID number of this new texture will be used for making a new skin applier. In making the skin applier, follow the same steps used in making a clothing applier.

Your first time at making clothes, skins and appliers will take some time, but after the initial experience it gets much faster. Within a few months, you might be ready to open your own clothing shop.

Have fun getting busted.

Becky "Sha" Shamen

Second Life Historical Museum

By Becky Shamen

In my explorations of Second Life, I have covered many millions of square meters of space. For this adventure, we will travel in time and go back to the beginning days, when all of SL amounted to a mere 16 sims. I found the Second Life Historical Museum in the Destination Guide. The guide described it as follows.

Learn about the origins of Second Life and see displays of historical artifacts, images, and notecards that have been instrumental in shaping SL. Wear a free, fully-customizable avatar of our Primitar "ancestors" and relive magic from the early days.

The "museum" is an open air monument and, by panning your cam, the entire thing can be viewed, without taking a single step. In mid-December of this year, I will celebrate my 4th Rezday in SL. I have often wondered why I didn't start when SL first came on line. Now, having viewed it's early history, I can see why. With a life time of experience in art and design, early SL, to me, looks like something made from Leggo Blocks.

 Looking at this early street scene, it seems, back then, builders were limited to using basic primitives, like cubes, spheres, cylinders and cones. They had sculpts then, but nobody was very good with them yet. Today, we have mesh objects. Mesh is great for clothes and for limited use in scenery. While mesh does allow sim owners to have many decorations, using fewer prims, the trade off is increased lag. There have been many times that I have gone to a sim that sounded interesting, only to turn around and leave, because excessive use of mesh kept the place from rezzing and my av from being able to move. I wonder if lag was as big a problem, 10 years ago.

Early avatars, called `Primitars' at the museum, by today's standards, were scary monsters. I think  I would rather be bald than wear a hair do like this one. Thank goodness for flexi-prims. In one picture, I saw a dozen avatars, all sitting on the ground, with exactly the same pose. Today, with countless pose and animation balls, AOs, and avatar physics, motion has become very realistic. One can only hope that, ten years ago, with stiff, ugly avatars, they hadn't invented sex yet. That would be too perverse, even for my adventurous tastes.
 

This is the first Halloween party, held in Second Life. We have just ended the Halloween season and been to a lot of, so called, scary parties. If I had been around for this first party, I think I would still be having nightmares from it.

The next time you find yourself cursing Linden Labs, because you are still a cloud, the scenery isn't rezzing, you are only getting 1 Frame Per Second, or you've crashed three times in the last hour, remember, it could be worse. It could be 2002 and the big yellow duck wants to dance with you and take you home to his nest.

Phobos (229/151/33)

Becky "Sha" Shamen

Best Free Photo Studio

By Becky Shamen

Long before learning of Second Life, I was getting experience with posing and photographing avatars for graphic novels and videos, using a variety of software like Poser. Additional experience with CADD and paint softwares provided skills for designing, building, photographing and post production editing. With these experiences and skills, Second Life is a virtual painter's canvas/photo studio for me to create art works. Combine this usefulness with the social aspect of SL and the game, for me, is more than an alternative. It augments my real life. Now, as a reporter, I explore and tell others of places that will add to their joy, in both their real and second lives.

I had gathered a list of places to explore, from the Destination Guide's "photogenic" category, to prepare an article covering a number of them. The first sim on the list deserved a report of it's own.

Best Free Photo Studio

secondlife://GLENN/223/117/27

In the guide, each destination has a short introduction. This is what they wrote for this sim;

"As the name suggests, Best Free Photo Studio has free photo studios for public use. With a wide range of styles and locations, this is a great place for professionals, amateurs and students. They have some of the greatest photo equipment, poses and props available in Second Life. Whether you're looking for single poses, couples, even groups, come have some fun!"

At the sim landing, the first two things I saw were a TP to several of it's studios AND a free studio/pose stand, that looked very useful. We'll tell more about the freebie shortly, but first we'll look at what a photo studio is.

The above photo shows the main elements of any photo studio. In the center, there is a stand or pose ball. This is used to hold your avatar still, while you take the pictures. Behind the pose position, there is a background, called the "scene". These can be changed to other textures and each has a number of different ones to choose from. One of the studios, I played with, had 480 scenes. Each studio also has a menu, for making changes. Some have pop-up menus and others use boards, to one side of the scene, with menus on them. The menu allows you to change poses, scenes and lighting effects.

This sim has a number of different studios and you will want to make a LM and come play with all of them. The only limitation is that each has it's own poses and backgrounds and you can't change them. The photo to the left was one of my favorite poses and scenes, in the main studio.

In studio B, they have chairs in the studios, for making boudoir photos. I should mention here, I have a "Anypose Expression HUD", that lets me add facial expressions and hand poses, to add more to my photos.

After checking out this cool sim, I returned home to open my free studio and see what it had to offer. This device has so many great features, I don't know how I ever did without one. It's compact and only 9 prims. I can set it up in my living room, without moving any furniture. It comes with 18 poses and scenes and you can easily add more of your own. You don't even need to edit, to add scenes. While playing with it, I remembered a picture in inventory that would make a good scene. I opened the picture, to be sure I had the correct one. Without editing the studio, I dragged the image from it's window to the background and bang, there it was, ready to shoot. The studio also comes with 10 different colored lights and you can also use your own or the sim's lighting. I've already used it for  2 photos on my blog and I'm sure I'll be getting a lot more use out of it.

Becky "Sha" Shamen

First Impressions

By Becky Shamen

Making a Good First Impression

Image Essentials

How many times has this happened to you? You're in a club, shopping, or just exploring a new sim, when, out of nowhere, an IM comes with just one word; Hi. Zooming out your radar, you find the sender has just entered chat range and is comming closer. Several things happened, before they decided to start a conversation. They probably spotted you first as a green dot, on their radar, and wanted to see who was on the sim with them. Next, they zoomed their cam in on you, from a safe distance, to check out your gender, clothing statement and face. Now, to come up with an ice breaker, they check out your profile, to see if you have any interests in common and get a better first impression of you. At the top of your profile, the first thing they see is your profile picture. It's amazing how few pay attention to this important first impression. Getting a good profile picture can be expensive. Just taking a snapshot is not enough. You need a good image editing program, like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, which are expensive to buy. Alternatively, you could hire an artist to make one for you. Don't expect to get them to do it free. They have a lot of projects going for themselves already. Many of us don't have money or enough to pay for a good profile picture. My experience with Graphic Arts starts from my grandfather, a sign painter and fine artist, and is developed through school and on the job experience. Using that, in writing this article, I am going to show you how to make a good first impression, profile pic, for FREE.

Camera Tricks

Many of us have already learned how to aim and zoom the camera. You can zoom in and rotate the camera to any point on a sim, called "Perv cam", if you know a few simple tricks to control the camera. To start, you could just turn your av in the direction you wish to view and use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. However, when you get to your back, the cam switches to mouseview, the equivalent of looking through your avatars eyes. To move the camera, without changing your av's position, hold the [Alt] key down and left click the person, object or wall (not sky) you wish to focus on. Now, as long as you keep the [Alt] down, the movement of the mouse will zoom in or out and rotate (pan), left or right, on the point selected. If you need to pan up or down, add the [Ctrl] key, while still holding the [Alt] down. Using these two keys, you can get a close look at anything you can click on. I use this trick often, when exploring new sims, to save having to walk so much. This is also very usefull for setting camera position and zoom for a good picture of yourself. Close ups make much better profile pics than full body shots.

Posing for the camera

By default, avatars are never still. To make them look alive, slight movements are added. Wearing an AO makes you look even more lifelike, but it's hard to get a good picture of a moving target. Editing appearance will freeze your av and is good for fine tuning the objects you wear, but it sucks as a camera pose. Camera studios have a selection of poses and backgrounds to use. To pose with a background from your own favorite sim, there are poses you can get for your inventory, for sale and/or free. Clothing, hair and skin show your beauty, but a good pose shows your attitude.

Lighting

This is also an important part of getting a good picture. Viewers come with a selection of lighting choices. Some, like "Nirans", have a larger selection. For a good photo, you need more than just ambient light. Photographers use additional lights to remove shadows, light the background and create mood and depth. You can buy lights, but making your own is free. To make a light, first rez a sphere, or any other prim, then edit it. In the texture tab, make it's texture invisible, then open the features tab and click the box to make it a light and set it's color, intensity, radius and fall off (fading with distance). In locations where you can rez things, place the light where needed. In no rez locations, wear the light and then edit it's location. You can't edit things that are invisible, so to find and edit your light push [Ctrl]+[Alt]+T at the same time. This makes all invisible objects appear as translucent red, letting you click and edit them.

Backgrounds

In a photo studio, there is a button that lets you select from an assortment of backgrounds. If you prefer to use a background, from in your home, favorite club, or scenic sim, just walk up to the location and turn around. If you want to use a favorite picture or image from your hard drive as a background, there are two ways to do it. You can upload the image, for $10, and make it a texture on a large box and pose in front of it. Alternatively, you can use, what the industry calls, a "green Screen", by making the box a solid green (or other color close to the color of the image that will be your background). Before adding your snapshot as a new layer, above the desired background, the green can be removed easily, then stray colored pixels can be erased individually.

Taking your best shot

Setting up the scene, pose, lighting, and camera position takes a long time. If, for some reason, you don't like the way the photo came out, when you go to work with it offline, setting up for a new shot will take a lot of extra time. Since saving the photo to your hard drive is free, try changing things and taking as many shots as it takes to get what you want. On the photo shoot for my new profile pic, I took 12 photos and ended up using the last one. You'll thank me for this tip.

Finishing up

Here is not the place tell explain how to use your editing software. That would take a whole book. What should be remembered is that profile pics are square, so you will need to crop your picture to a square, before uploading it to your profile. If you upload a rectangle, it will be squeezed to fit and ruin all your work and leave a bad impression on those that view it. As a final note, here are two free softwares that you can get on the internet, for making and editing pictures.

QAvimator is for making animations and poses, which can be uploaded to SL.

Paint.NET works like Photoshop and Paintshop Pro, but it's easier to use and free. I use it also for making clothing textures.

I hope my tips will help you make a good first impression. If you have questions, find me inworld and I'll be glad to help.

Becky "Sha" Shamen

Becky Beholds Beauty - Finding Art in Second Life

By Becky Shamen

There is a saying that goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Technically, that saying is not a truism. Research shows that when a group of people are shown pairs of pictures and asked to pick the most beautiful or aesthetic of them, 99% will pick the same ones. The 1% will, generally, pick the others, just to be contrary. For this writer, the same can be said for art. If you give a chimp a paint brush, some might call his work 'art', but it won't be something that this reporter recommends you spend time and money to go see. In scriptures, it is written that we would know the end of days were upon us, when bad is called good. In the destination guide, in the 'Art' category, they list 108 locations, second only, in number, to shopping places. While exploring for places to include in this report, I trudge through the first 9 and nearly gave up. If this art was 'good', surely we are all about to meet our maker. I was delighted to find the tenth to be a brilliant ray of sunshine. With that, we begin our list.

Haven Gallery

secondlife://BAY%2520CITY%2520-%2520TISBURY/147/239/32

There are a half dozen display areas, all connected by TP, which allows lots of space around each art piece. Even when there are others about, you have the space to contemplate the beauty, in peace. The artists displayed clearly had something to say in their works and had spent years in developing their skills. The name, Haven Gallery, is very fitting.

Artists for Second Life

secondlife://RAINBOW%2520PARK%2520ISLAND/129/129/1017

This skybox gallery is huge. From the landing point, you can TP or walk to each of it's 50 exhibit rooms, with a different artist's display on each wall. Be sure to make a LM when you arrive, because there's just to much to see in one visit. I went there 3 times, to make sure I saw everything. All of the works displayed are quallity, done by seasoned artists and most can be purchased at reasonable prices. If you're looking for some paintings to dress up the walls of your home, this place is a must see. There were also a number of great sculptures available. If you want to contact any of the artists, their names are given at the top of each display wall and many provide notecards with contact information and the location of their shops. A custom portrait would look great over your fireplace and make an impressive profile pic. I wondered how they got the avatars to pose in these paintings, then discovered that some also sold poses. I was also pleased to find that the sim was free of lag.

Ub Yifu Gallery Park

secondlife://UB%2520YIFU%2520SCULPTURES/201/230/29

You have to see this place, to believe it. When I landed here, I thought a man was chatting me up, but it turned out to be one of the sculptures they make. He even moved his head and had a group tag on. He welcomed me and said his creator could make one of me. That would be a hoot, if you walked into my house and saw a realistic sculpture of me, at the computer, writing my next Newser article. I'm sure it's more than I want to spend, but they do have other premade ones for sale. They also have Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Marylin Monroe and other stars, for $2499. And, if size matters, check out the Gulliver for $10000. There are many other sculptures and even several free ones. I've seen similar life size avatar sculptures, but this was the first time I tried to chat with them.

Petit Chat Art Gallery

secondlife://HADDATH/26/106/67

This is a small shop, with paintings by Trinity Yazimoto. The paintings are mostly landscapes and very affordable. Near the landing, you can get the LM to her main shop and a catalog HUD. Upstairs, you find a painter's studio, with more paintings. I liked her style. I also got a kick out of seeing somebody with a Japanese name, who calls her shop Petit Chat, French for little cat. I like clever, when I see it.

Nitroglobus Gallery

secondlife://COSTA%2520BLANCO/200/114/771

Normally not a fan of 'modern art', the style here is a blend of Primitive and modern, which I found enjoyable. Be sure to explore all three rooms of Dido and Nitro's works, which includes paintings and kinetic sculptures.

I have been an illustrator and wood carver since childhood and enjoyed being on the viewer side for this article d'art. Perhaps I will do another in the near future.

Becky "Sha" Shamen