Tales From Steelhead: Interview With Tensai Hilra (2011)

Titled Friends in "Fly" Places, this interview was done by Franq Blackheart of the Steampunk Herald in April 2011, shortly after his interview with TotalLunar Eclipse.

* * * * *

When I first had the pleasure of meeting graceful designer in Second Life, Tensai Hilra, she was engaging in a spot of gardening.  That is to say, she was planting strandy bushels of head-high grass in row after row along the elegant streets of fantasy steampunk sim, Steelhead. 

It was the eve of April 1st, and she aimed to surprise her husband TotalLunar Eclipse - possibly into fits of apoplexy, more likely into row after row of exclamation marks.  For Tensai and TotalLunar are the uncrowned King and Queen of Steelhead, its much-loved benevolent rulers and caretakers, and the Elven/feline embodiment of its humorous, strong, steamy spirit. 

After offering to build Tensai a lawn mower of great immensity ("Spring showers," she quipped), we proceeded to have an out-of-character conversation about the Real Life solidarity of Steelhead's Second Life community.

I asked about TotalLunar's role as leader of the community. 

   "He goes by whatever, technically he prefers Owner.  It's all pomp and formality anyhow.  We love the place so much we bought it and expanded it! We focus on the community rather than the profit margin.  I'd rather log in to meet friends than customers.  This community is dear to me.  It literally has saved my life!"

Second Life seems to be very powerful in that regard.  Was it the community that helped you back to health?

  "A lot of good people, if you know where to look," she winks.  "I was a troubling situation... I had just lost my job.. no income unexpectedly, and no employment for 6 months...'''

Tensai ran out of her medication, needed to combat physical pain and other conditions.  Her withdrawal was painful.
   "I was bedridden.  My husband didn't work at the time.  No food in the house; it was grim...
   "Then, all of a sudden.. Nabila, one of our citizens, shows up at my house... food in hand!... and says that, spontaneously, Steelhead City and all the Steamlands got together to help!
  "She brought food, and even Paypal donations that helped keep the power on, buy more food, and pay rent!
  "All of that came from the community!

Tensai was incredibly moved by the compassion and caring shown by the Steelhead and SL Steampunk communities. 
   "I wrote this blog entry shortly thereafter
         ( http://tensaihilra.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/thankyou/ )
   "I was unable to speak!  I cried for a day in joy... I'm misty eyed, now, just thinking about it.
   "I then knew I had done right sticking by this community.  The steamlands as a whole as well.

An illustration, perhaps, of exactly why people come to Steelhead. And stay.

  "Absolutely. 
  "The meds were for chronic pain... something I deal with daily now as I can't, won't, go back on the meds. 
  "In Real Life, I am in and out of a wheelchair as it ebbs and flows.  But as I always say... doesn't matter if I can't walk in Real Life... in here, I can fly!"

And with that, I reluctantly left her to tending her wild garden.  When you next find yourself in Steelhead, make sure you run into Tensai.  She has a story to tell.

Franq Blackheart

Tales From Steelhead: Interview with TotalLunar Eclipse (2011)

Earlier in Steelhead's history, events there an in other Steam Age sims were covered by the Steampunk Herald (No relation to the Second Life Herald), run by Franq Blackheart. In this interview in 2011, Franq interviewed the mayor and owner, Total Lunar Eclipse, usually known simply as Lunar.


1.  What makes Steelhead unique?

You're asking someone who is extremely biased. *laughs*

Steelhead for its relatively small size is a close community. Each unique species is welcome and has a place here from mad scientists to tinies to fantasy oriented persons such as myself. It has always made me feel comfortable to live here even when I wasn't managing.

Also it has such difference in themes from one sim to another that no two places are alike. It is also ever changing, we encourage change and growth. (except St Helens, the city center is going to be downgraded into a smaller rustic town) Port Harbor pier is undergoing changes to add a more pirate theme to it. I learn to build better, I rebuild things, Tensai learns to script and sculpt better and she rebuilds everything.

Also it is stable. Steelhead is over four years old, and before it became Steelhead it was another community altogether. So this city, the concept and idea are over five years. I am also not the only person to run the city, my real life wife of 12 (going on 13) years is my SL partner in crime. We have no intention of stepping down and it is such a strong community that if the grid goes down... Steelhead will simply move to another grid.


2.  How will Shanghai's change of rating to Adult affect the community; sales, roleplaying, overall cohesion?

First and foremost we changed the rating of Shanghai to adult to maintain Shanghai as it was before the TOS changes came about. We did not want to alter Shanghai at all. It is notoriously known as a darker place with opium dens hiding underground and shady back alleys now several factions of gangs have moved into the city.

Before we came to the decision to change Shanghai to adult we consulted every single person who had land and rented in Shanghai for their opinion. Several stores in Shanghai would have to move due to the TOS (they openly advertised the use of drugs in the dens) and several stores outside of Shanghai had to move into Shanghai due to the change as well. We weighed the possibility of revenue for businesses and we were prepared to move folks out of Shanghai into Port Harbor or another sim of their choice if the change of rating was not favorable for them. No one moved out.

It also gave vendors ideas for changes. Such as adding a seedy tattoo parlor and skin store and be a bit more open with what they sell. (Tastefully done of course) We are the first Oriental Steampunk themed city and perhaps the only Adult Steampunk sim in the Steamlands, there has been a build in interest as far as that particular change of rating that is enticing to those that wish to be more liberal with what they sell. When we introduce Shangri-La it too will be adult rated.

As far as roleplay, Shanghai is a dangerous place. Being Adult rated gives it a more darker appeal to encourage personal RP. As far as overall cohesion Shanghai has always been the darker of its sister cities, it was a city overmined, overtaxed and one doesn't walk there alone.

One thing I want to address to everyone is the adult theme does not change our community and city standards. There will be no nudity on the streets, tasteful adult wares are to be behind closed doors. The change was specifically to maintain the city as it was. The rest of the estate is moderate, the community does not allow underage users... not avatars. The scamps that live in Shanghai still remain there, their users are responsible adults, they know which places they can and cannot go and are safe because they are protected by the various mobs and pink mecca.

*gets off soap box*

And the city is lovely... dangerously lovely.


3.  What recent and upcoming events best reflect the Steelhead spirit?

The new years dance was a fun example of who we are. Tensai created one of her artistic sim wide dance floor. The community celebrated together, destroyed giant clocks, it rained fish and Denny was in his skivvies.

As far as the future? We'll be celebrating Chinese New Years, which as in previous years gets very interesting.

With Thanks and Regards,
F. Blackheart Esq.

Reader Submitted: Thank You Virtual Ability

From Alysabelle Resident

When I first entered Second life, I knew nothing about it. I had a friend who wanted me to join for about two yearsm but my life was busy as most people are and too busy for a place called Second Life. But then one day I wasn't as busy as I used to be, and with continuing asking by my friend to join. I did.

Well here I was. I called it "Never land." I didn't understand the concept, my friend ended up going through PTSD in real life so he was barely around. I was confused in Never land. There were a few people that helped out over time, and then one day I was looking for a place to live. I lived on a platform where actually the owner of the sim was making passes at me. It was disturbing to say the least. I know this can happen to anyone and it happened to me.

With the help of a friend in Second Life, I came upon a place called Cape Serenity. As I teleported to the place, I was amazed by the community feel even though no one was around at that very early morning. I was enchanted. I had never seen a place like this before. I really felt this 'home' feeling. Then I contacted Ladyslipper Constantine, who is actually the caretaker of the sim. I wanted to know how much the rent was. After a few hours, I got an IM back from her and that very day. I rented a piece of land. I was so excited, I felt. I stood there for several hours just staring at the entire sim. Smiles. She was extremely welcoming and gentle and kind.

 I believe the following day Ladyslipper Constantine she shared with me her hearing problem and at that point I had not shared my hearing problem with anyone.  I wanted to be treated just like anyone else who didn't have a disability and I figured Second Life would provide this for me. But it was getting difficult to mask my hearing problem. I felt it was weighing me down in some respects. I couldn't hear everything and I couldn't hear everyone. But what I didn't know, after I decided to open up about C.A.P.D. (Central Auditory Processing Disorder), was that my friends that I had made knew something was different about me but they just couldn't put their finger on what it was.  As Ladyslipper shared about her hearing problem, I found myself sharing this information with her about my physical hearing problem even though we both didn't have the same hearing issue.

That was the start of my own journey in sharing with others about Central Auditory Processing Disorder. I knew if I opened up, it would be a challenge. After all its not every day you hear about this particular disorder. What I didn't know that Cape Serenity was part of Virtual Ability. Well I didn't even know what Virtual Ability what it stood for. I eventually was told, so imagine here I was landed on a sim called Cape Serenity part of Virtual Ability and here I was with a physical hearing problem.

The  mentors at Virtual Ability through time helped me with not just opening up about my physical hearing problem, but how to cope with it, how to deal with people who have such disbelief, which by the way I really understood them more than they realized only for the fact that after all its not that well known. C.A.P.D not as well known as other disabilities, but to be honest there were moments I wish I didn't say anything about C.A.P.D.

I learned that even though people have disabilities they have other gifts they are able to share, that there is a purpose a meaning behind everyone, no matter what disabilities you have. Most importantly for me is I met these wonderful women who have different hearing issues, and I found out even though we don't have the same ones we all have certain things in common none of the less. Listening to their stories of how they have been affected in real life or Second Life with a hearing disability, they gave me a gift, the gift of  strength that under any circumstances that you forge on and believe in yourself. And it really doesn't matter what anyone thinks or feels, that you are important in this world and no matter what you have to deal with you are still important. They are strong, those women whom I met in Virtual Ability. They say strength comes from wisdom and they are very wise from Gentle Heron, Ladyslipper Constantine, iSkye Silverwebm Treasure Ballinger, Treacle Darlandes, and Winter Wardhanid and countless others.

I'm so grateful they share with people like me who have a disability and those who have other disabilities. I"m so grateful and continue to be how much they have helped not just in Second Life but in real life. How they give their time to mentor those like me they really care and they don't do it for any other reason then a need to help people. They are selfless they mentor from the heart. They embrace you when you are down they give you hope, encouragement and belief in one self. They give you courage to rise above, they help those who need help and help them to become an even better person then you are, what is the expression that comes to mine I have heard before, they give you wings to fly... I will always be profoundly grateful for those who are part of Virtual Ability, that no matter where I go where I am they are always in my heart, Thank you.

Alysabelle

Interview with Tuna Oddfellow

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Saturday August 15, one of Second Life's most unique entertainers celebrated his tenth anniversary, or rezzday, in Second Life: Tuna Oddfellow. A magician in real life, known as "Fish the Magish," he has distinguished himself in the past with winning "America's Got Talent" competition in Second Life, and over the past several years to today with his "Odd Ball" performances. which remain a one of a kind performance that has yet to be duplicated by anyone else. Recently I had a chance to interview him at the Odd Ball's location in the Dragonhenge sim. Tuna was speaking in Voice, so not every single word was written down.

"What's happened in Second Life?" Tuna spoke, "{I'd like to say my life is stranger than fiction, and that my Second Life is stranger than real life." He mentioned his partner Shava Suntzu as active with fundrasing and cross-training. He also expressed sadness for not being able to do his real-life magic performances due to health issues ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnRVNNL-xI4 ) , "My magic is something that I haven't done in a long time."

Tuna stated in real life, he lived in the town of Salem Massachussets, before that in Sommervile, one of Greater Boston's suburbs. "Salem was the great fort for coming to American when it was colonial times." he stated pirates figured into the town's history, as well as the witch trials.

Tuna also went on to say he had been a Freemason for five years, signing up during his "Second Life tenure." He had been friends with one, who showed him a lodge on the grid. Freemasonry, like so many other organizations, had made it's way here. He had met the person at the Second Life Convention in San Francisco, "It's funny how my Second Life, real life, and Freemasonry combined."

Of his newcomer days, Tuna remarked, "I was trying to figure out my place in Second Life. In real life, I was a magician. I did not see myself as an artist." But like others, he learned. He directed my attention to the set-up around me, "Everything you see here, I created. I've really come a long way in ten years." He had been doing the Odd Ball in some form since 2007, "What can I do to create a magical experience in Second Life."

His early days would sadly experience a tragedy. He had been dating a girl early on, and in October 2005, he was approached by her real life son whom had some bad news. She had complained of a headache, then passed out. It turned out to be an anerysm, and she died. Tuna ended up conducting her memorial service online. One of the people there was so impressed with how he did, Tuna was asked to do the person's wedding. So Tuna did the part of a rabbi, as in real life he was Jewish. He then set up a wedding business, "Magic Touch Wedding Makers." Many people called on him to help with their weddings. Tuna advertised his business as covering the wedding from proposal to the honeymoon. He worked on special Valentines Day experiences, one on one virtual light shows with his client and their love.

Tuna described the Odd Ball as coming from a tribute show, "The Residents." They were a performance art group going around, and they would pass around pens each with a giant eyeball on the top with a top hat. "Google yourself and see." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Residents) Tuna described them as being a band for forty years, "really, really weird." He found them a creative band whom combined their music with visual art displays. When he first began planning what would be the Odd Ball, he had the intention to create their kind of experience.

Talking about Shave SunTzu, he described her as among "one of the most transparent advocates of Internet aynomymity." Of his presence on the Internet, "As much as I'm well known here (as) Tuna Oddfellow," he's also known on a number of Internet pages as his magician name, "Fish the Magish."

Tuna's big break came when the NBC TV network did a show in Second Life. This was when they were running "America's Got Talent," and decided to do a Second Life version. They did a "cattle call" for entertainers, and ended up with different types of Second Life talent showing up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTqAILJvxj0), which they narrowed down to ten residents, including Tuna. The inworld audience of the show was about 300 residents, "as packed as you can get." The celeberty judges watching the show did so from a sim apart from them. Tuna was among the five finalsts whom in addition to the 300 residents inworld was seen by the nationwide TV audience of "America's Got Talent," about 70 million people, who then voted as to who would be the winner. And it was Tuna whom won the title of the Most Talented Avatar in Second Life, with one million Lindens as the prize, or about four thousand US dollars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAvFsYPNCYo). Tuna called it "one of the most wild experiences one can hope for virtual worlds."

Tuna then brought up his tenth rezzday shows. There would be two that day, one at 6PM SL time and the other at 12 Noon. The one at Noon would have the music done by Beth Odets, "The crazy violin player. Petlove Petshop would be at the 6PM one. He would be in another a few days later on Tuesday, with Jana Kyomoon as the musician. Tuna stated that his Rezzday Oddballs might go on for a while, "This is my rezzday celebration until I say it's over."

The only problem he forsaw for his rezzday performances was whether or not Shava would be there. She was not feeling very well. He noted she had not logged onto Second Life since leaving the Grid in October 2013 due to the controversy surrounding their change of the terms of service in regards to content creator rights (http://slnewser.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-odd-ball-closes-in-second-life-due.html ), soon followed by Tuna and the Odd ball, they taking their performance to the InWorldz grid.

Despite the Lab under Ebbe Linden changing the lines of the ToS in question, Tuna felt the issue still was not completely resolved. Tuna commented that he saw himself more as an enterpenur than an activist when he started the Odd Ball. But he felt Linden Lab's changing of the Terms of Service at the expense of the rights of content creators was a violation of what he called the "Oddball Principle."

Tuna stated information about the Odd ball could be found by all at http://www.oddfellowstudios.com/ . He mentioned science jounrals he came across seemed to be lacking about what they've found about how his kind of performances affect the human mind, Shava being especially keen in pointing things out. People had been telling him that the Odd Ball left them feeling relaxed. Tuna felt the special effects of his performance had an effect on human brain waves. He also felt there was a "Cathedral effect" of the huge space the Odd Ball was in, "For a moment, the brain just goes Woosh!" People seeing it for the first time would say things like "This is incredible, this is amazing." It made him happy to hear that those with Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder issues were getting some relief at his shows.

Of his accomplishments in real life, the one he was the most proud of was being the father of a 23 year old girl. He also considered himself an activist of a few causes. He had campained for gay rights despite getting ill in the middle of it, "part of who I am." He expressed pride at living in Massachusettes where the people were more inclined to side with such causes, "We fought City Hall, and we won." He told me he was transparent about who he was, seeing no need to hide his Second Life from his real life, and vice versa. He talked about what he saw as the "Theory of obscurity ... look at the art, look at the person ... Madonna, Michael Jackson ... part of the understanding is who that person was. .... When you understand the artist, you live the art more, or dislike ..."

"When people experience my art, The Tunaverse," he told, "When you first come and you see it ... " he described it as the "loss of the Odd ball virginity, 'Oh my God, this is unlike anything I've ever seen before.'" Tuna told he had yet to see or hear of anything like it in Second Life, InWorldz, or Opensim." He described himself as having "diversified" his virtual experience, having avatars in different places, as well as having his show outside Second Life. One of his more unique performances was at the Second Life Convention in 2010, when he did the show in both Second Life and in real life at the con, "I guess I could go on and on."

In creating the Odd Ball, Tuna says one of the challenges was that he saw himself as a performer and not a visual artist, "There were a lot of challenges." When he came to Second Life in August 2003, the virtual world had only been around for two years and had a total signup of about 30,000 people. It was a time when it was experiencing "exponential growth." By November three months later, the total number of accounts had doubled to 60,000. He was learning through tutorials, "I wouldn't call myself a programer, but I learned how to tweak the code." Pointing to the center of the Odd Ball set, "we call this device the 'hypercube.' " Tuna compared it to the holodeck in Star Trek, "being able to take a group of objects age get them in one prom." He credited its creation to another builder, getting permission to do his performances on it in Second Life and other places.

Another challenge was less about design than endurance. Tuna described himself as having, "fought from the begining for this art to be permanent." He wanted for the Odd Ball to "be able to be used in grids that don't exist yet." Also, he felt it should always be a live performance, "Perhaps it would be scripted, but that's not the direction I wanted ... it should be organic, live theater." One challenge was imposed by Linden Lab, the prohibition of megaprims, "can't create prims larger than 64 meters." The megaprims that can occasionally be seen on the very oldest structure were done through an exploit.

"Virtual worlds are a fantastic place," Tuna spoke, "being able to go beyond the limits. If you had told me ten years ago when I was a street magician that I would carry the same tricks to virtual reality ... How do you create an experience of wonder in a place where one of the first things you do is learn how to fly?" When he started, he didn't do all the scripts himself, and eventually had to learn how to do those. Another thing he had to do was learn how to promote himself. He had found it easier to promote the works of others instead of his own. But eventually he did, promoting the Odd ball

"I love what I do," Tuna told, "I love doing magic. It kills me that I can't do the magic I used to in real life. But I can so the virtual experiences.

When I had a chance, I asked Tuna about his white-skinned avatar. He explained when he first came to Second Life, a friend of his from New Orleans had opened up a vampire club. It had a reputation for being an avant-garde place for strange things. Tuna thought it had a "Dark Shadows" influence. It was in Collinwood, which Tuna called a great estate with a castle. The avatar itself, while inspired by it, really came from his imagination. For the face, he wrote to a content creator for help, purchasing the original rights to it. It's design was original, down to the testure. Eventually, Tuna replaced parts of it. Of the shape, pointy ears, and the white skin, "it just felt right."

Tuna really didn't like the idea of looking like anyone else, "not a cookie-cutter." He remarked that some Second Life anthro fans considered him an "honorary furry" with his desire to be unique. Of the top hat, that was from him being a musician in real life, "became one of my symbols here." His tip jar was also a top hat, designed by Alessia Stella, whom had created a line of tip jars, "she deliberately created this tip jar so it could be changed and personalized.

It was about this time Tuna had to take care of other matters. And we went our seperate ways.

A few days later, Tuna's tenth anniversary event took place. To his relief, Shava was able to attend the second one. It was quite an event, the two Odd Balls, attended by some dozens of avatars.

The Odd Balls continue in Second Life, IM Tuna or Shave SunTzu about being notified when they take place.

Bixyl Shuftan

SLife and Times: A Thursday in Second Life

By Grease Coakes

 

In the real world I work for Royal Farms stocking the soda cooler among various other grunt jobs. I can’t complain if my job gives me paid vacation. My boss named Mary to protect her real life identity was nice enough to give me a week of paid vacation during the summer. Now that I have been at Royal Farms two years I have two weeks of paid vacation. So today I wanted to write what I was doing in Second Life. 

 

I started in Shadowquine Maltz’s Ark which is one of Second Life oldest clubs for furries about 4:30am SLT which is 7:30am for me. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quarabia/96/128/501 When I first discovered there was clubs for furries in Second life when I was a month old or so The ark (Like Noah and the ark saving animals from the great flood.) It happened to be the ark and at the time I was amazed of seeing a club of only furries when before I was hanging in human clubs not knowing about clubs like the ark. Keep in mind I was a newbie so I had no idea what second life was so I was still exploring around. 

 

The theme of the Ark is anything goes so don’t be surprised if you see adult goings on there. For example I was talking with a vixen in skimpy clothing just being friendly about tattoos and something in her profile on one of the dance poles.

 

I happened to run into Stimpy Tripp an old bear of Second Life that I see around now and again. I remember seeing him at Second Life’s 12^th birthday when I djed. He’s also one of Rita Mariner’s Sunweavers. Another friend I ran into was Zebrathingy Heyse AKA Zee. When Anthroxtacy or AX was alive and well we’d go see the same DJ Aurora Avila a few times a week.

 

The DJ Raven Twang had a cool outfit at first I thought we was the dragoon character from Final Fantasy 8. But he corrected me and said, "If any influence for this character is attributed, it would be Mat Cauthon from Wheel of Time. The outfit I’m wearing is not so much the dragoon but based on Mat’s medieval fantasy attire."

 

I myself have read the Wheel of time written by the late Robert Jordan and it’s beyond words describing how epic the fourteen book series is. Mat Cauthon is one of the main characters as one of three childhood friends who are destined to fight what they call the Dark One. Mat is a trickster and always has a smile to charm women. I won’t say more than that except to start the series read Eye Of The World.

 

Shortly afterwards I went to a 500 word dash at Milk Wood (71/59/22), where’s it twice a day 6am SLT and 6pm SLT Monday through Friday. It’s a writing exercise to write 500 words in fifteen minutes based upon a word.

 

Deva (Deva Westland), a faerie, teased me and said as I lag walked and ended up walking on a table, "You know, you can walk around the table, Grease.... hehe."

Deva wrote a scene of a faerie mother having children making sure her small son didn’t wander into danger by entangling his ankle in a vine. Doyle, who writes stories of war, wrote a fantasy theme about a general asking for merchants for supplies despite the high risk.

Raindrops (Gwen Enchanted): wrote about a famous man Tam Lin who is a ballad and here’s what she said, "Tam Lin is a very famous magical ballad. He's a man captured by the Queen of the Faeries, who's saved by an ingenue named either Fair Janet or Lady Margaret, depending on which version of the ballad you know." Arte or Artemis wrote a poem about snugging Doyle cookies and kittens and puppies.

 

I wrote about one my characters doing something terrible, so she is forever banned from someone’s restaurant. Shannon hit Narcosis several times giving her a bloody nose and a black eye. Narcosis offered no resistance as Shannon cursed and yelled at her for endangering herself and her diner and friends.

 

I took a break in real life to eat some cereal and apples and then I come back to Second Life, and seeing nothing of note in my notices I go to the  IYC which is short for International Yiff Center at IYC Addictions (221/62/3001) . I also see Tantari Kim is online so I im her saying hi. She tells me she is applying to the Ark as a dj. She has a library of sets preplanned with different themes like MLP and "Still Alive" which centers around a single song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TERyxFfMqDk called Still Alive by Lisa Miskovsky. I showed Tantari Kim the famous blue vixen this song from electric mudkip.

 

Tantari was nice enough to warp me to Citrus Cove (164/153/2487). an adult sim called Fox Haven Furry City East. Tantari commented it was a nice sim with nice people I mentioned it made me think of Metropolis, Superman’s home, or any other major city. Tantari and I chitchatted about this and that.

 

A little later I took another break in real life, did some laundry and bought a beer and came back logging into the“I Love the 80’s club” at Gecko Isles (215/81/22). I hung out and chilled to Zack Coberts DJing. Everyone was joking that lag was ruining their day and that lag doesn’t exist in SL. I asked the pretty lady Lunavae Longfall to slow dance with me she said sure and I just relaxed and had a good time. There were a couple furries there, not just me. Furries aren’t just staying in furry clubs anymore they come to human clubs now and again watch out humans!

 

I took another break for an hour and played Guild Wars 2, but before I find a LM from Xavier’s A List about some LM that showcases live music. I go to Lionheart Ahadi (121/214/3201). and hear a Zen Arado play ambient music that’s unique and very mellow. In the same sim Tip Corbett came after Zen Arado play live piano music. His live playing was amazing to listen to soothe my soul.

 

Later on 1:30pm SLT I see a notice about a spiritual discussion at New Paris (33/42/22). I warp over to a place called Nirvana Island.RobertDuke Drascol led the spiritual discussion over voice chat with a few other avatars. He was saying to forget ideas of the material world and ignore your ego and listen to your higher self instead. I had tried to leave to see my friend Skunk Mantra Fox Techno (Fox Fraxture) at his DJ set however Robert Duke asked me to stay and make comments about what he was talking about.

 

I stayed until Robertduke said it was time to go. Then I visited Fox Fraxture at Furnication (189/199/27)  and heard his mix of house and techno. I mentioned that he gave me one of his songs that you can hear in my soundcloud mix SL12B called Thouse Paws Up. It has lots of organ sounds and bass booms.

 

A few days ago Amehana Arashi (Amehana Ishtari) and I agreed to meet on Thursday at 4pm SLT for a tarot reading you might recognize the name as she read at Nisa sometimes (the ponydale sim.) She charges a fair price of 300L. I ponied up the cash and asked her where should I look for a publisher for my stories? Amehana suggested look at the local library and perhaps a librarian will help me and suggested to play fair with the editor.

 

At the end Amehana had this to say

 

Elemental Balance:

2 major arcana

1 pentacle

1 wand

1 sword

 

The forces at work here are more spiritual/karmic than material. Physical work is necessary as always, but a good deal of what will be of benefit will only be gained through relationships, the give and take.

Last but not least of about eight months or so of working every thrusday night I go to see Aurora Avila at club midi at Bikini Bay (59/174/1006).

 

One of the club owners,Sky Gunawan, has this to say about Aurora, "Heya everyone~ busy night again. Aurora, you're always bringing in a crowd." Aurora Avila answered, "I can't say I have any complaints about that! "

I asked Aurora a silly question, "Hey if samus aran fought a dragon or two who do you think would win?" She answered, "Samus fights a dang dragon all the time. Ridley just keeps happening. (laughter), so she fights dragons anyway."

 

As per usual everyone has a great time listening to Aurora’s songs based upon video games and dancing the night away. Aurora even called me a Tippyfox for sending tips her way to her "?" block with the mushroom on top. A little later Keesar Cushing one of the dj managers from Anthroxtacy came to say hi Aurora as well as Zee a long time fan of Aurora’s music.

 

It was an excellent Thursday in Second Life and I did a lot. It was fun to share this day with you readers of the Second Life Newser.

Grease Coakes

Jaycatt Nico and Frogg Marlowe

By Bixyl Shuftan

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the first performance of a well-known musical duo in Second Life: Jaycatt Nico and Frogg Marlowe. Also known as Jaycatt and Frogg, or "Effnjay," they have played at a number of venues across the grid, including the Live stage at the Second Life Birthday. I recently had a chance to talk to them at their home venue in Aphibicatt Gardens in Lingmell. We greeted each other, then got to the interview

Bixyl Shuftan: "To begin with, did you both meet before or after you came to Second Life?"

Jaycatt Nico: "Before, probably when we were 6 years old?"

Frogg Marlowe: "Heh, we met in first grade, grew up down the street from each other."

Jaycatt Nico: "Was that about 6?"

Frogg Marlowe: "Yeah- kindergarten's at 5, so probably when we were 6. (We) went to the same school as well!"

Jaycatt Nico: "Elementary, that is."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Interesting. So you're known each other most of your lives."

Frogg Marlowe: "Yup- he's more my brother than my brother. (big grin)"

Jaycatt Nico: "Oh yes, there was a brief stretch when Frogg lived up farther north about an hour, but otherwise we've pretty much been nearby since we met."

Frogg Marlowe: "I was also travelling for about 6 months in '99."

Bixyl Shuftan: "When did you first become interested in music?"

Frogg Marlowe: "Mrs. Williams taught us both in elementary school, and we were both in a children's choir together, called 'The Leprechauns.' "

Jaycatt Nico: "My folks had my sister and I learn an instrument, and I picked piano. But yes, it was a while before our musical paths crossed more regularly like they do now.  Frogg and I haven't been playing music together until Second Life."

Frogg Marlowe: "Heh, yeah, we didn't actually play music *together* until SL. And I didn't pick up (a) guitar 'til after I was 30."

Bixyl Shuftan: "And how did you both find out about Second Life?"

Jaycatt Nico: "I learned about it from Slashdot."

Frogg Marlowe: "And I learned about it from over Jay's shoulder, while he watched MST3K at the 'Elbow Room' in SL."

Jaycatt Nico: "Such a great shared experience... Never knew that sort of thing was possible... I was hooked on SL."
[
Bixyl Shuftan: "So your first days here went very well?"

Jaycatt Nico: "Oh yes, at that time, it was just a three day trial, and on the second day I signed up."

Frogg Marlowe: :(laughter) Your weekend was a three day weekend - the trial was a week long."

Jaycatt Nico: "Ah okay (big grin)."

Frogg Marlowe: "It was 10 bucks to join, back then, but if you cancelled before the week was up, you got it refunded."

Bixyl Shuftan: "So the MST3K Theater was your most memorable expereince in your early days?"

Jaycatt Nico: "That, and just being able to be in a visual chat room. At the time that's about all I did online; chat and visit with folks."

Frogg Marlowe: "It was actually a tiny club called 'The Elbow Room.' They showed the show on the roof - not sure when the MST3K Theater opened up."

Jaycatt Nico: "Yeah, and below, people would just hang out and listen to the radio, talking or dancing. The small space made for a nice atmosphere."

Frogg Marlowe: "And kept everybody in chat range. (laughter)"

Jaycatt Nico: "It was the sort of experience I'd been looking for all my life, really."

Bixyl Shuftan: "At what point did you think of playing music of your own?"

Jaycatt Nico: "In Second Life you mean?  Or in general?"

Bixyl Shuftan: "In Second Life."

Jaycatt Nico: "For me it was all I knew how to play."

Frogg Marlowe: "I met a guy, and later showed him a video of me playing a song. He helped us get set up to play shows in SL, as before that, there were only about four people who'd ever played live music in SL (other than in the beta days, but that's a different story). He and his business partner built the 'lillypad lounge' for our first shows."

Jaycatt Nico: "They even got us our first mixer."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Those were the two people who helped you get started?"

Jaycatt Nico: "They really are, yeah, I can't think of any more instrumental in it."

Frogg Marlowe: "Yeah - though cua swore me to never mention his name again, (laughter) - (he just didn't want anybody else asking him for help - he likes his lazy-time)."

Jaycatt Nico: "Frogg started playing, and I played his breaks (so he wouldn't have to put on the radio for background music while he was away)."

Frogg Marlowe: "(and it was only because Jay noodled around a bit on his piano for a sound check that they even knew he played - the orginal plan was for radio in set-breaks) It wasn't until months later that we actually started playing a few songs together, which grew into more songs, which grew into what we do today (smile)."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Perhaps I should ask about how your names and appearances came about?"

Jaycatt Nico: "My first name is Jon, and my father gave me the name Jon Cat at a very young age.  Not sure why, but I think it was because of the Johnny Cat cat litter brand, and it was a sort of joke.  It was shortened to J Cat, and I wrote it out Jaycatt.  As for the siamese, my cat back in 2005 was a tortoiseshell, and I wanted to match that color scheme, but this was the closest I could get. I grew into it, and now I don't look right without it after all this time."

"Oh, and I picked 'Nico' because I thought it sounded like 'Neko.' (grin)"

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sounds appropriate."

Frogg Marlowe: "I'd had the nickname 'Frogg' from around the time I first started writing songs - (my first song came from a voice I got after coughing for 6 months and had the chorus 'listen to my voice, I'm a man named Frogg') - The avatar was something I pieced together after a month of looking for a frog avatar in SL, and not finding anything that wasn't extremely cartoonish (took the head from one of Extrovirtual's tiny frog avatars, and the feet from an old free Linden 'frog prince' avatar) - and I picked the last name cuz I thought it was one of the names that's brought up when people talk about who *really* wrote Shakespeare's plays."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Interesting inspirations."

Jaycatt Nico: "It really is coincidence that both our names end in two letter pairs (big grin)."

Frogg Marlowe: "Heh- I started over-pronouncing the 'g' at the end, cuz people were mis-

hearing me when I introduced myself as frog... That's when I added the extra 'g.' "

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sounds interesting."

Frogg Marlowe: "(laughter), purely trivial."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How long before you were preforming at another venue?"

Frogg Marlowe: "I think I played my first 'away' gig within a couple weeks - we'd started with playing every Friday at 7pm at the Lillypad lounge, and have kept the timeslot going

for nearly the full decade. I think it was a place called 'Breathe,' but like most places from those days, it's long gone."

Bixyl Shuftan: "I take it the crowd enjoyed your music?"

Jaycatt Nico: "Quite a few wonderful comments, and we'd usually fill the sim, lots of times, hence why this venue is split across two of them."

Frogg Marlowe: "We were consistently filling sims to capacity for a good while, but there wasn't much competition at all in those days."

Jaycatt Nico: "Lately, it doesn't get that full, but I like to chalk it up to there always being a good 10 shows running at any given time, sometimes more. Simply amazing how live music here has exploded since '05."

Frogg Marlowe: "Also, we don't do any promotion, other than group announcements. It was a slow trickle of the musicians from paltalk, after the first group of them came over - Mel Cheeky, Russel Eponym, Cylindrian Rutabaga, and 4 or 5 others that didn't stick around very long."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What have been some of your most memorable performances over time?"

Jaycatt Nico: We've played a few official shows that I liked.  One was a mock tree-lighting ceremony, I think it was for CBS..? And another for a promotional sim made for Evan Almighty."

Frogg Marlowe: "Opening for Jonathan Coulton was a big thrill - and yeah, the tree lighting ceremony for the major network - NBC or CBS - that was when I managed to add Philip Linden as a friend (big grin). Also, the Relay stream show we did with the harmonica player in Japan was pretty cool."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Nice. Did he see any other performances of yours?"

Jaycatt Nico: "Philip?  We would occasionally see him at shows.  Not Coulton though, I don't know if I heard of him again in Second Life."

"We went to a couple of SLCCs, as well, for music,"

Frogg Marlowe: "There was a 'log-a-thon' in our first month or two, where LL tried to get as many users to log in at the same time as possible, and that was one of the first times we saw Philip. They only managed to get a little less than 5000 logged in that time."

Jaycatt Nico: "Playing at the Second Life convention was fun, and great to meet the other musicians."

Frogg Marlowe: "Heh, I remember Philip said hi to my mom, who we'd managed to teach how to log into SL. (her pc hasn't kept up with SL, though)."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sounds like fun, Frogg."

Frogg Marlowe: "And yeah, the two SLCC's we went to were pretty cool, though I slept through most of the one in 2007. Which was why I missed the group photo (big grin)."

Frogg Marlowe: "They were still trying to figure out how to incorporate live music, though, so some of the aspects of the shows there were kinda... odd."

Bixyl Shuftan: "So your mother was in Second Life (Frogg)? What have your families thought of your singing in Second Life?"

Jaycatt Nico: "My sister thought it was pretty cool, but it's not her style of music."

Frogg Marlowe: "Heh, yeah- that too - our style of music doesn't really interest most of the people we know outside of SL, (laughter). My mom really enjoyed it, when she could (smile)."

Jaycatt Nico: "Although it's true we rarely play in real-life."

Bixyl Shuftan: "You mentioned seeing more musicians after 2005. Were there any other trends in music in Second Life that you've noticed?"

Jaycatt Nico: "It's always been pretty simple to do a show: Set up a microphone and feed it into a computer.  But people experimented with relay streaming, where they can put two musicians together.  That happens more frequently.  I think there's even a group of four or more. It's a difficult thing to do, however, because who ever starts the relay doesn't hear any of the other people."

"There has been some video streaming as well, but it's never a pretty sight to see a musician all decked out in headphones and wires (grin)."

Frogg Marlowe: "I see more ebb and flow than trends. Every so often, I hear people bemoan that the scene is dying, but from my perspective, it just grows, cools, then grows again. The quality has definitely been improving. I was really impressed with what I heard when we had a bunch of us all together to play one song each, for the auditions for the offical Linden Labs 12th birthday show."

Jaycatt Nico: "It's incredible what there is out there.  All kinds of music, all kinds of instruments."

Frogg Marlowe: "styles... genres... the scene's definitely been maturing (smile)."

It was at this point near the end of our interview that we were interrupted by events in real life. When I contacted Jaycatt and Frogg, asking them if they had anything else to add, Jaycatt responded, " We plan to try and play more shows, and learn more material, but music and songs are an ever-changing thing, so we evolve along with it.  No two shows are the same, and practice is the best teacher!  Frogg hopes to learn more of the technical side of audio engineering, which should help our quality and diversity as well."

"As for other things to mention:  We are having our tenth anniversary 'party' on July 18th, Saturday, featuring a few musicians we have known over the years, playing before us.  At the event we will also be releasing a few new songs as well as some t-shirts and other merchandise featuring a new logo designed by Eo Fenstalker, a very talented artist from Second Life."

Frogg's response was short, "his answers were as good as any I could come up with (grin)."

This week, Jaycatt and Frogg have four shows over four days from Wednesday to Saturday, with Saturday being their tenth anniversary show.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL12B Inteview: Danger and Troy Linden with Saffia and Draxtor

By DrFran Babcock

Full Disclosure – I Wasn’t There

I watched a video of this interview, because I was working in First Life when it took place in the Dreamitarium auditorium. The auditorium, one of my favorite builds at the birthday, was built by ADudeNamed Anthony. A tip of the hat to this Bay City regular on a creation that is form and function excellence. The quiet colors of the interior stage provide the perfect backdrop for the interviews being conducted.

Whom is Being Interviewed; Whom is Interviewing?

This interview was part of the Meet the Lindens series for SL12B. Saffia Widdershins was to be conducting these talks, but if you watch this video, or were there, and didn’t know this, you would most likely not identify her as the lead in the event.

The video I watched showed many technical difficulties, that the team there, headed by Uccie Poultry worked diligently to correct, but to this day it is difficult to amass large numbers of residents.

The oversized Draxtor Depres was on the stage from the start, and I was surprised to see him. I adore Drax, subscribe to his podcast, and watch all of his videos. However, that didn’t stop me from being unhappy with his performance here. If he was supposed to be there, then I am sorry, but I was not sure, and it was never stated during the video I watched. Is he a Linden now, but I don’t know it?

On to the Main Event

Danger Linden is the Senior Director of Product – Virtual Worlds and Troy Linden is a Senior Producer. Both worked many years in the game and tech industries, and they began working at Linden Lab within a few months of each other in 2007. Both have prior experience with EA and the Sims.

At present, neither of them are working on Project Sansar, but Danger was part of the original team.

Draxtor tended to ask very important questions, but instead of asking them directly he would give a long treatise on his own opinions and end with his question. He asked Danger and Troy how they juggled work on SL2.0 and SL. He asked it after he spoke for a while about how he manages this task, and went on and on.

I am not sure why his behavior irritated me so much, but I am sure it had something to do with the fact that it was Saffia’s interview, and I know her to be too much of a lady to get into a sparring match with Draxtor.

Danger was a reasoned responder who was able to speak from his experience and avoided speaking for others. He explained that he could manage many tasks because he is now solely working on SL. He gave kudos to Oz, who has put together a dedicated and experienced team to focus on SL.

Draxtor then asked about the onboarding process for new LL employees, and found that there was a Boot Camp. This is a specific program run by Char Linden. Danger stated that LL’s onboarding is the best he has seen in a new corporation.

There were many questions from the audience: “How many women work in SL?” Danger handled it deftly: “We have more than two genders here; it’s San Francisco, after all.” Draxtor added that the staff at LL seemed the most diverse he had ever encountered.

Finally, Saffia got a question in, and asked Troy about the experience tools in SL. Troy then lost his voice, and we waited for him to come back while Saffia listened to him in Skype. While waiting for Troy Saffia still spoke with Troy, but we could only hear her assenting with him, and nothing he said. The experience tools are still in beta, but users can try them out. Individuals like Loki Elliot, and groups such as MadPea have been using them to their advantage. Draxtor asked if it was OK to make them so difficult, and Danger gave the correct answer, which is that not everyone in a world wants to use these tools, the experience is different for everyone, and not everyone wants to create and build.

When asked about what were the most enjoyable projects Danger spoke about how he loves the breaking down of silos so that SL is one place from the Welcome to the different sims. He looks at it as a system rather than disparate parts.

Troy mentioned the SL share project, and efforts to incorporate social media into SL. These are the tools that allow users to share from SL on FaceBook and Twitter and Flickr right from in world.

Of course this brought on a discussion about how much first life do people want in their second life, and how Facebook makes that difficult. Identity is a big topic in SL, and Saffia shared how she has solved this problem by creating a Saffia page in Facebook. This is not always possible.

There was an audience question about My.Second.Life, and Danger revealed that it was not going to be developed further.

Another question was about Oculus and Sansar. Danger said SL can barely support

It, because it is twelve year old legacy code, but Sansar is being built with the new tools in mind.

Sansar

This is what everyone wants to hear about, and I think that some of what was revealed on other blogs has been inaccurate.

Danger and Drax spoke about the burgeoning virtual reality awareness, and that it is a hot space right now. Danger wants to do it right. Here are some of the things that were said:

Terrain will be Voxel-based. There will be a system to allow non-registered guests to create without paying, lowering the entry bar. Many people (not the Lindens) talked about Cloud Party and how you could get land once you demonstrated that you could build). I did not really hear a Linden say there would be free land, but that has been touted about the grid since this interview.

Danger did state that SL will still be viable in five years, and will not die when Sansar opens its doors. He added that a long life is ahead for SL, and many will use both.

Saffia asked audience questions.  How will animations work in Sansar? The animation system in Sansar will be a full professional system with avatars and objects, Havok plus.

Will people be able to own land? Yes. You will be able to own lands and rent land.

The first invitees will be Maya users, although all tools will eventually work in Sansar. It will be invitation-only.

Draxtor: To what extent will it be possible to build in world? 

Danger: that is the goal, to build collaboratively and in world.

Saffia joked about everyone getting two acres and a cow, and Marianne McCann quipped: “1024 and a hippo. “

A member of the audience asked if hypergridding is being considered, and Danger said not at this time.

Saffia and others wanted to know if there will be last names?  Danger said he couldn’t answer now. The main login will be your email, but you will be able to have many accounts under that address, and you should be able to share inventories amongst the accounts. There will be text and voice chat, but probably not a build for Linux.

Will Sansar be anonymous? The current vision for this is to have a hierarchy of permissions in Sansar, that relate to how much information you share with Linden Lab. The more they know you as a person, the more abilities you will have. Danger said this is to combat griefing. Trust will build user rights.

To close Danger revealed that the first invitees were being spoken to at this time. I guess all will be answered once Project Sansar opens its doors to alpha.

So, thanks to the Lindens for this improved transparency under Ebbe’s leadership, and thanks to Saffia for remaining level-headed, and thanks even to Draxtor Depres, who asked the right questions, but should have done it on his show.

(Click here if the video fails to play)

DrFran Babcock

Roleplay Etiquette

 
By Syndra

Dear Bunnies,

   Normally I am your fashionista expert, although now I am feeling the need to write about something near and dear to my heart. As we all know, Secondlife is full of amazing sims and Roleplay opportunities. I personally love Roleplay, especially that of the Gorean variety.

Now, we all have had the experience I am sure of as soon as you land on a sim, someone harping in your IMs about this rule or that rule and that is an immediate turnoff. However, what is more of a turnoff is if it is something minor that really doesn't matter in the instance.

Now, we all know that it is frowned upon to teleport into active roleplay; but we also know that we all do it and we all teleport people in for whatever reason suits us at the time. A simple (incoming) or (im tping someone in) in OOC brackets usually suffice.

Now personally I avoid doing this in a large crowd but if it is myself and one other person, it does not matter. Especially if we are the only two people on the entire sim. Yes, that happens; sometimes sims are empty but you and one other person can enjoy roleplay together.
This morning a very close friend of mine teleported me in to roleplay with him. He and one other person were on the entire sim. She just happened to be a slave character in roleplay with him and he wanted me to join in the 'breakfast scene' so in he brought me.

Instead of just going with it, and mind you; I posted a proper entrance to explain my sudden appearance:
 Syndra steps out of the shadows and looks to Saxon. "I could have killed you and you would not have even seen me." She glances to the girl before settling into a seat. "You rang Saxon?"

The girl involved immediately began to jump into my ims in a most unsavory fashion. For those of you who don't know, this is an immediate turn off and honestly looks bad on you as a person and the sim as a whole.

If a serious rule is broken, that is one thing. And even then it should be a mod or the sim owner in another player's private messages. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry with a complaint about a situation that is acceptable to ninety nine percent of players. Come on now....really? You have nothing better to do than to harp on for twenty minutes about such a small thing as me being telported into a roleplay by the main character because he wanted me there?

And after I asked her if it was truly that big of a deal she rolled her eyes at me. Well...all I have to say is, with players like that no wonder some sims die.

The moral of all of this is, can we not all just play together and get along. Leave the little things alone and stop trying to be the center of attention all of the time. Secondlife is a wonderful place. Let's play, and the more the merrier.

-Love Syn

SL12B : Marianne McCann, Revisited

By DrFran Babcock

 Tricked!

I received an offline message from the famous Doc Gascoigne telling me that Marianne McCann wanted me to interview her. This didn’t seem too unusual, because my last Second Life Birthday interview with her was my favorite interview since I had started work at SL Newser (http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2013/06/sl10b-interview-marianne-mccann.html),. I put it all together: Doc, Mari, SL12B all the components seemed to be in place, so I thought all was in place. I contacted Marianne, and she informed me that Doc had told her I wanted to interview her! Well, you have to love Mr. Gascoigne for his cleverness. Marianne and I laughed about this prank, and agreed to talk about SL12B.

Unfortunately for us, we were both so busy with (me) Relay for Life, High Fidelity, and First Life; and Marianne with The Arcade, SL12B, and the beginning of summer camp. As she said: “Yikes!”

The Interview

However, thanks to the wonder of notecards and Instant Messages, we present here an interview with the beloved Marianne McCann, wise beyond her young years:

SL Newser:  In my opinion, this year is a tipping point for Second Life™. Work has begun on SL2.0 (Sansar) and Philip Rosedale is in alpha with High Fidelity. Where do you see yourself positioned as things begin to shift?

Marianne: Personally, I don't see that. I do think there's a LOT of interesting things going on in Virtual Worlds, even beyond High Fidelity and Project Sansar, but I don't see that as the death knell of Second Life.

On a personal level, I have almost no interest in High Fidelity. I do have an account, but I've yet to find anything I feel enticed by there. As to Sansar, well, I need to see something before I even consider any involvement there.

So, so far, I'm still riding this wave. If something compels me, I'll go over there -- but thus far, I'm not compelled.

 SL Newser: SL12B What Dreams May Come…what does this title mean to you?

Marianne: Well, it's a little known fact that I came up with this year's theme.

Initially, I was playing off this notion that when we create in Second Life, what we create comes from our own dreams. We create this world purely from our own imaginations. At the Second Life birthday, we bring those dreams out and share them with each other. It's why I've tended to call each SL12B presentation a "dream," rather than just a "display."

There is a deeper level to it, however, and it's slightly coded into the choice of quote I used for the theme. "What Dreams May Come" is from Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, and is very much about death, and what dreams may come in dying. The Richard Matheson book that also uses the line is similarly about death. It may seem odd for a birthday.

Yet, let's go back to your earlier question: so many want to think of Second Life has having this uncertain future in the wake of Project Sansar and other things. Heck, we have a long and storied history of declaring the death of Second Life.

So, in this time, when we seem so enamored with the death of Second Life, let us instead see what dreams may indeed come. Let's really give people a taste of what makes Second Life still the best virtual experience out there, twelve years down the line.

SL Newser: Tell me a little (lot) about your build.

        a.    How did you get the idea?

        b.    What were the special challenges in putting it together?

        c.    What is your favorite part of the build?

        d.    What thoughts/feelings you like people to take away from the exhibit?

Marianne: My main build this year is the pavilion for Bay City, titled "The Bay City Dream." I wanted to share a slice of what those of us who live there see and experience.

I've always been fond of building my displays at the birthday event in line with vintage World's Fair structures, and this year is no exception. The design itself is a scaled down version of the Ford Magic Skyway, designed by WED Enterprises for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair (ED Note: That’s exactly what I thought of when I saw it). It does deviate a lot from it, but anyone familiar with the original will see some very obvious nods.

It is also a classic "Dark Ride," which is what the original was as well. You'll board a car, built by my collaborator, ADudeNamed Anthony (ED Note: who came in third in my RFL team’s build contest) and see three vistas of the city, while a narrator - we've called him "Narrator Mole" tells you about the Bay City Dream.

It was a bit of a challenge to put together. How do you portray the whole flavor of Bay City within a limited space? I had to use a lot of visual tricks to pull it off. In the end, the vistas inside are probably my favorite element of the show.

In the end, though, I hope folks who visit it get a sense of what the Bay City mainland community is, and what makes us a special place. I also hope it entertains folks, and they enjoy the whimsy of it all.

SL Newser:  What else would you like people to know about you, about SL, about the future of virtual worlds? In other words…what dreams may come??

Marianne: In the end, I'm a dreamer. I always will be. I think there's yet a bright future in Virtual Worlds, and we've only yet scratched the surface here. There's still times to be had here, and rather than hanging funerary flowers, let's celebrate what we have here, and what will be.

Once again, Marianne has shown herself to be a literate and sane resident in a world filled with every form of humanity—just like First Life.

Notecards make it easy to conduct an interview, but I will have to track down this busy girl and do some follow up.

Meanwhile, come to SL12B and take a ride into the history of Bay City:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL12B%20Wonderous/24/103/22

DrFran Babcock