Interview with Mikati Slade

By Bixyl Shuftan

For those going to the Second Life Birthday, one build dominates the grounds of the mega-event, the "Cake Stage" which is so big, it takes four sims to hold it. For three of the past five years, the "Baker" of the stage has been builder and artist Mikiati Slade. Recently, the Newser met up with Mikati, and we sat down for an interview.

"For those newcomers who know you just by this year's Cake," I asked her, "how did you find out about Second Life?"

"I am from Japan," Mikati answered, "and I came to Second Life in 2007. SL was hyped even in Japan at that period. Second Life is everything dynamic and on-time for creating, so I thought I can show people (around the) world my creativity."

"How did your first days here go?" I asked.

"In real life, I learned classical sculpture and then worked for commercial graphics," she explained, "So, the first day of Second Life, I searched art galleries in SL and visited. I enjoyed a lot of artworks. Then I (was) amazed with avatar shape edit and I (was) excited that I can use my sculpture skill for avatar designing. That's my first day of SL." "Sounds like from the beginning, you were doing much building and creating." "Yes. I (was) amazed. Second Life is very wonderful world for creators, more serious than what I was guessing before. So I had ideas to create things."

I then brought up, "What were some of the things you built early on?" Mikati thought for a moment, "Can I rez some things what i built on that period? It's chair and shoes." I told her okay, and after some moments, she made appear some items, "These are first buildings of me, chair and sandals. The chair is something like modern Eames chair." Taking a closer look at the footwear, I commented, "The shoes look a bit detailed for a beginner's work." Mikati told me, "Yes, I worked for commercial graphics with 3D an 2D things. So, I already had some skills about it. And SL is very flexible to making shape from regular prims. So, I really enjoyed to create things, like (a) puzzle."

I then asked her, "What were some of the easiest things to learn, and some of the most difficult?" She answered, "On building in SL, most easy thing is making 'big shape' and 'sketch' in world directly and fast, this is very big advantage. And most difficult thing is, more technical thing specific in SL prim building. It is,  alignment of the parts. It need to use numbers and calculations. This is very important to keep the quality."

My next question was, "About what time was your work starting to get noticed by others?" Mikati told me, "I exhibited first time was, 2008 Burning-Life in SL. I created some pop display together my friend, and Molly Linden gave us a trophy. This was the first time of exhibiting." "I'll bet that got you some attention." "Yes, I thought so, and excited that people saw my works. And that's one of big excitement of SL I realized also showing people around the world in real-time, 3D world."

I brought up, "I recall in 2011, you had an exhibit at the Second Life Birthday that year." She smiled, "Yes exactly! I exhibited at SL8B, 2011, first time as a regular exhibitor. And SL Newser came to interview with me. This was my first time of having connection with SL media. I still remember it was so cool experience." "Oh yes, Grey Lupindo found you and interviewed you." "Yes!"

"And the next year, you ended up being the designer of the cake stage." I asked, "How did that come about?" Mikati answered, "Yes, I got opportunity to build the cake stage of SL9B. A staff, KT Shakumi, IMed me and she told me. She told me that she already visited my another exhibitions, like 'Kuru Kuru World' at MiC: Museums of Rome Capital, and 'PICO PICO LIFE' at LEA: Linden Endowment for the Arts. They liked my work, I guess."

"What was the inspiration for the cake's design?" I asked. Mikati responded, "About the 9B cake, this year one?" "Well, all of them." "Okay, can I tell you about it one by one?" "All right." "I built SLB Cake Stage three times. And each have different inspirations and concepts. About 9B, it was the first time, and I just tried to make it to express celebration mood using my style. " "How would you describe this style?" "My style is using a lot of retro-console game style pixel icons in 3D. I designed the style because such pixel things can be one of primitive symbols of current digital age. And the 'cubic' shape can be done with perfect shape, even in regular SL prim period. Also, it reflects Japan pop-culture, like Nintendo games. So I thought this is rational style for me."

My next question was, "What were some of the reactions to the first cake stage?" She answered, "About the 9B Cake, people had interest about such pixel 3D things in the huge size. And also the mood was very optimistic and pop, which was not so usual in SL before. So, I think people enjoyed it. ... SL12B Cake Stage, I created a lot of icons for this time and tried to create mood of dreamy. SL13B Cake Stage, the SL13B official theme is 'Shared Adventure.'  For the cake, I defined the Cake Stage is the treasure of the birthday party and 'goal of the adventure.' So I combined a lot of coins, treasure boxes, and jewels with the Cake."

I then brought her attention to the badge she was wearing, "I see that your SLB card says 'Baker.' I take it that's one of a kind?" Mikati told me, "Yes, the badge I wear is an official thing of SLB, and it says 'Baker,' SLB Cake Stage builder called like this. One optional thing I can tell, the role name 'Baker' is not just a 'cool name.' On birthday party, person who make the birthday cake have not to open the 'oven' until done to bake, even if people complain to open it!" "So people were asking you where it was when other builds were going up?" I asked. "Sorry my English," Mikati answered, "You mean, if people wonderd when I finish the cake?" "Yes." "Okay, yes, the SLB cake is the biggest opportunity for Second Life builders, I am thinking. And every time I did all of my best to make good thing seriously. So I spent all of time until the final deadline. And I think many people were getting tired to wait for it, heehee. Some people actually asked me about it. ... I also understand their feelings. So I told the people, 'I am sorry.' But I did not open the oven, heehee."

I chuckled a little at the giggles, then brought up, "And after a couple years, you were asked to do the cake again, and then the year after that." "Yes," she answered, "I think this is pretty rare thing of SLB. Because I heard that every year different builders build it. I think cake builder who built three times, I am the first."

Changing the subject slightly, I asked, "Besides the cake stage, what else have you been working on recently?" Mikati responded, "Recently, I joined an art project of a university teacher from Germany, It is purposed to archiving SL artists works for the future. Virtual world is still early period, I think, And in the future, the Second Life culture would be a great material for researching how virtual world started. So I was interested in it and joined."  "That is interesting. How has this art project gone so far?" "It is managed by a person, Art Blue, in SL. The project already exhibited at LEA semi-official SIM, and in near future, the buildings will go to OpenSIM and bring to real life art biennare."

My next question was, "Of the SL13B, what were some of your favorites among the other builds?" She answered, "All of the buildings at SL13B is a part of the celebration, so I love all of the builds! And this time, I love all the performance stages especially. All the stages did really great job!"

I then asked her about her appearance, "I notice you have a few items on you right now, those gloves, the cake hat, the heart-shaped glasses, and the flower." She smiled, "Oh yes, heehee! The heart sunglasses is what I wear since 2011 or more earlier, my trademark I am thinking. It inspired from a move Lolita by Cublic. The hat is gift of the SL13B cake stage. I made this and I think already 2000 - 3000 people got it."

Another question was about her native language being Japanese, "Earlier you brought up language. You don't seem to be having much trouble with English. Has it been a difficult language for you to learn?" Mikati agreed, "English is my big trouble point, yes. Usually, most Japanese people are not good at English, and me also almost zero skill about English when I came to Second Life. But SL gave me amazing big opportunity to learn English while having communication with western people, and my English skill improved very much. Learning language is very big advantage of SL also I think."

"About how many other Second Life users are Japanese?" I asked. She thought for a moment, "I am not sure the exactly numbers of population about it, but I think Japanese Second Life users are many, like, European countries. Japanese SL users are usually enjoy together, but having communication with Western SL users is not so often." "So interactions between most Japanese and most US and European users are uncommon?" I asked. "Yes, I think so," Mikati answered, "This because wall of language." I then questioned, "In what interactions there are, have there been many misconceptions, mistaken ideas, of Japan and it's people among Westerners?" She answered, "Most of Japanese people is respecting western culture very much, and always interest to have communicate with western people even in SL. But also Japanese people think that making mistake on English can be rude with western, I think. So, usually become shy I feel."

I then asked, "Did you have any other future plans besides the art project you mentioned?" Mikati answered, "I developed my style for everyone even out of Second Life. So my future plan is , showing and making enjoy people out of SL. This is my current plan and dream." Wondering about her noted build, "Might we see another Mikati Cake Stage in the future?" She responded, "I am thinking my style is perfect for SLB cake. so i want to make it in the future again of course. But also the cake is good opportunity for another builders. So, It also nice if another builder will make it, I think."

Mikati offered to show me the scale model of the Cake Stage,  "I can guide you, cake mini scale model, if you like." We went over to a skybox in her sim she which used as a building area, "As we see, this is 1/10 scale model of this year cake. I designed and worked in this scale, then stretch to the real scale. 1/10 scale is easy to see and easy to calculate real size." She then asked me to follow her inside, "Okay, please follow me a little. ... This is interior part of the cake. Now we are 10-times giants, heehee!"

She directed my attention to a small stick several inches tall, "Do you see the red small stick here? This is the avatar size in 1/10 scale." I asked, "So if someone is 1.6 meters high, this would be .16 meters?" "Yes, exactly! But many times, SL avatars are near 2 meters. So i made it as 0.2 meters. Heehee!"

I then asked her if she had seen some giant avatars in the official Cake Stages. She answered, "Oh yes! I have seen once such very large avatar at the cake few days ago! It was nice humor for the cake, because the cake is huge. Heehee!" It did cross her mind that it made everyone else look like her scale model, "The viewing looks similar with real size when you hold your camera to the red small stick."

She then brought me to a platform where there was a model of last year's Cake Stage, the one for the SL12B.  "This themed '12,'" she told me, "The twelve candles have twelve icons." At one point, she compared them to the twelve tribes of ancient Israel.

I then brought her attention to two huge pillars on the other side of the sim. She answered they were for the art archiving project she mentioned earlier, "Oh yes. These are the things of the art project that themed archiving SL arts. The tower shape outside is given parts. Artists build things using their typical style inside it." Of her sim, there was no house or relaxation area, "This sim is just for my private work place ..."

It was about time for the interview to come to a close, "Did you have anything else that you wanted to add?" Mikati's answer to that was, "I just want to add a thing (for the residents), I thank you to have opportunity of featuring the cake, and thank you for contributing for SL culture for long time."

It was about then the interview came to a close. Mikati and I would later meet up again at the "Cake Explosion" in which she brought down her build in a spectacular manner as a public event, as well as her making an appearance at the SL Newser beach party. While it's unclear whether she'll be building another Cake Stage soon, no doubt this cheerful designer is far from finished.

Bixyl Shuftan

Beckye Burnstein: Second Life's Visible Woman

By Bixyl Shuftan

Have you ever heard of "The Visible Woman?" In the 1960s and 1970s, these model kits were available for either adults or older kids interested in anatomy. When assembled, they represented a body with transparent skin, allowing one to see the bones and organs inside. I was reminded of these models when I ran into a certain resident in Second Life, Beckye Burnstein.

I ran into Beckey at the Paris 1900 sims. We chatted for a bit, then after a comment about the interesting things people can create in Second Life, she asked, "Wanna see something interesting?" She then began removing items of clothing, but instead of bare skin, what was revealed was a combination of bones, muscle tissue, and organs, "I have (a) full skeleton and most organs attached under my skin. I removed (my) mesh shirt so you can see. ... Last part I found was mesh boobs. I applied a flex/muscle texture to it. Thought you might like to see it. I would love the whole world to see it, but it's kinda hidden. *giggle* When people cam in too close and get their cam inside, I always get some IMs. *giggle*"

Beckye went on, "I started collecting organs about two years ago, adding stuff when I find it. The uterus was a great find. I started to add muscles to the bones too.....takes a while to adjust everything perfect." She told me she had gotten her start at a roleplay sim, Nor, "I  was a machina/cyborg, trying to become human. I got a skeleton and a brain, then a heart." She had been inspired by the movie "Bicentenial Man," and much like the movie's robot hero, her character was eventually considered human. She eventually left the roleplay, but kept on collecting organs.

The organs themselves are worn all the time. But the arm bone and muscle visuals are not usually on as the skeletal hands are a bit large. She had yet to adjust their size down to normal, "Since I started Second Life five years ago, I always try to improve my avatar, make it look as realistic as can be, inside and out. As I like to say, "I logged in one day and felt empty inside.' Ha ha ha." When her see-through appearance is fully on, "no skin at all except for my face. If you cam under my hair, you ll see the skull. Camm deeper...you ll see a brain."

"Building this avatar made me learn some about anatomy. It's really fun to do. She also described some interesting incidents with the avatar, "One time, I was visitng Detroit Sims roleplay, as an observer. I was just walking around, minding my own, being a good observer. And one of the sims admin went totally out of character, stopped the RP and pointed out to everyone that I had organs and skeleton," Becky laughed, "was funny."

"Another time," Beckye described, "I was in a court trial in Nor, as a witness. During my time on the stand, I had to go pee, real bad. I couldn't hold it any longer, and I began to start peeing right there, in the court room. That was the highlight of the evening (laughter). ... Little thing called a 'Tinkler,' makes you need to pee once in a while. Adds to the whole bio thing." I chuckled, "Did it come with a bottle?" She answered, "No, but I can add a script to put inside drinks that would accelerate the pee cycle, and have it rezz a nice pee puddle. Also has some Restrained Life Viewer functions, but I don't use them."

Beckye commented, "I have thought of making a HUD that would include all body functions, with animations, and organs react to all this. Can go from healthy/sick, bone fracture, realistic pregnancy,endless possibilities." She also thought of scripted hair that grew every day, "with a HUD to make a haircut, so you have to wait for long hair, etc. You could have a neglected look. Next think, I'm leading to build hair, and my partner will figure out scripts to make my folly come to life, before 2016 hopefully."

I asked Beckye what did her partner think or her body building. "At first, he didn't get it (laughter). I had to explain it to him, and he told me I was crazy. After explaining it again, he told me, 'there might be a way.' So, he'll have to figure that one out. Hee-hee. I know how scripts work, but I can't write them. Sometimes I find the logic of 'how to,' and he writes the codes. It's a blessing to have a scriptor as a friend. Most builders I know can't write complex scripts. All scriptors I know, they can't build prims (laughter). This is how we met, through building."

Becky says she might pause her building efforts to see what SL 2.0 has in store in regards to avatars with bodily functions, "I hope this is where they are going."

Besides her body building, Beckye is also into Second Life aviation, flying planes such as her personal 737 within Second Life.

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Lomgren Smalls (May 2009)

The following was originally printed in Second Life Newspaper in May 2009.

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If you’ve ever been at Luskwood (or the Cutlass Club), you may have noticed a resident so small, it’s hard to find him without looking for his nametag. This would be Lomgren Smalls. Having long been known for his six-inch high avie, and to a lesser extend occasional custom work on micro (and mega) avatars, he has made a little real-life news recently. I recently had a chance to talk with him.

Bixyl Shuftan: Where did you first hear about Second Life?

Lomgren Smalls: Well, I had heard about it several years ago, back when I hadn't even thought of joining. Probably a good three, four years, maybe more than that. I think it was probably during 2006, because that was my first year being at the El Goonish Shive forums at Keenspot (El Goonish Shive is an online comic).

Bixyl Shuftan: So what got you to take a look?

Lomgren Smalls: Well, I joined the Trillian Astra alpha back in early Jan 2007, or maybe Dec 2006. Trillian Astra is the next version of Trillian, which is an IM client aggregator of sorts. It allows you to connect to multiple IM Networks. AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, etc. One of the first people to add me as a friend on the Astra network was a furry on here already, and finally convinced me to go ahead and try Second Life.

Thus, my born date is late January 2007 ... but when I tried it ... it was so laggy that my avatar never loaded. So I gave up on it again. I finally decided to try again on March 3rd, 2007. Made it in, things loaded, and from there, met new friends, etc, and haven't left.

Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds like things went well once you started.

Lomgren Smalls: *chuckles* As well as can be expected with SL.

Bixyl Shuftan: When did you first start building, and how did it lead to your work on avatars?

Lomgren Smalls: Heh. I started building and learning right from the start. My very first stop was Luskwood, on the recommendation of my friend from Trillian Astra. After a couple of days, I visited the Ivory Tower of Prims to learn about building. I remember thinking at the time that it'd be cool if I could build, but I never expected to be able to do this well at the time. I was building silly, simple little things at first for practice, like tables, chairs, the usual. And then I got it into my head to build something steampunk. So, me being the crazy kitty I am, I started on it as a major project, building in Perry. This actually took only a week for me to do, even back then ... and my first actual month in SL hadn't quite finished yet. Here's a pic, just check the date

Bixyl Shuftan: Thanks.

Lomgren Smalls: The picture was after it had been refined a bit and I was trying to package it for possible sale. But the last part of the original that I have was built and finished on Apr 1, 2007. I have tweaked it since then.

Bixyl Shuftan: Looks good

Lomgren Smalls: So, I was building from the very beginning. It took me about 6 months in SL to learn enough to make the original base of this av. But the main thing about me and building ... I love a challenge, and seeing just what I can do.

Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, looking at you, it's obvious someone did quite a bit of work on how small one could make an avatar. How did this begin?

Lomgren Smalls: Well, back to the El Goonish Shive forums, it was there that my online persona became a 6 inch tall male anthrofeline, if you want to describe it formally. So, naturally, one of the things I wanted to try and do in SL was make myself, well, myself. One of the first things I got was the original NorthStar micro, with help, as a kit. It was actually twice my current height, about a foot tall. But I customized it and eventually learned enough to make it move. I then took what I learned with that and made my own. Including my own animation and such to get it to work.

Bixyl Shuftan: How long did it take before it was fully ready?

Lomgren Smalls: Well, probably 20 hours at least, but I keep tweaking it and such. That was figuring out the scripting and figuring out how to shrink the head and tail down properly. The rest was me using the NorthStar micro as a pattern and trying to figure out how to improve upon it.

Bixyl Shuftan: I take it your micro was a hit with everyone on first sight?

Lomgren Smalls whispers: Hehe. A lot of people liked it, and I still get questions on "where did you get that?" and "how did you get so small?"

Bixyl Shuftan: *chuckles* What have been some of the more unusual reactions to your micro?

Lomgren Smalls: *chuckles* Well, they've ranged from the innocent to the adult... so... I've seen a lot

Bixyl Shuftan: Those who've read the paper for a while will recall you've also done work on macro avatars, super-large ones.

Lomgren Smalls: Yes, I've done some work on megas before, mainly to see just what was possible. Most people were saying even a 30 meter av was impossible. But, me being a builder, I knew what link limits and root prims were, and how they affected things. So, I was able to design and piece together a statue-style mega avatar that was ... a lot larger than anyone expected was possible.

Bixyl Shuftan: If I recall corectly, you built a mega-vixen about 224 feet tall

Lomgren Smalls: It was actually for Halloween, because I was becoming known as a micro ... and I built the vixen for a friend, and I made a mega version of my own regular av, around 65.5 and 68 meters tall, respectively.

Bixyl Shuftan: Did the work take about as long as your micro?

Lomgren Smalls: The vixen was built over the weekend before Halloween 2007, quite literally. My avatar was finished the Monday before. I recall Halloween being on that Tuesday

Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, I remember seeing her a few days later at Luskwood. Needless to say, she left quite an impression. ;-)

Lomgren Smalls: *grins*

Bixyl Shuftan: How easy is it to move in the megas?

Lomgren Smalls: Not easy. You literally have to fly them around. And hover, making them appear to stand on the ground.

Bixyl Shuftan: Do they lag a lot?

Lomgren Smalls: Not really. They are made of normal prims.

Bixyl Shuftan: So what other work have you done since then?

Lomgren Smalls: I do all sorts of work. I build stuff other than avatars. Everything here on my property, for instance. I've also built stuff for friends, castles ... let's see. I've done commissions, for micros, other avs... one of them was for The Phantom Creeps robot used by Rob Zombie in a few of his videos. So, just in general, a little of everything. Most recently, I've been finishing up some work on a couple of micros that I can actually sell, Relay for Life.

Bixyl Shuftan: What can you tell the readers about those?

Lomgren Smalls: Well, they're going to be based a lot on my current outfit ... because this is my "Relay for Life" outfit. The main difference is that the head actually is built by me, instead of being a shrunken version of the Luskwood Cat. I also have a female version of the av in progress, just needs a little more work.

Bixyl Shuftan: I've seen another micro done by you. About how many macros and micros have you made for others?

Lomgren Smalls: Macros ...  let's see ...  maybe 2-3, if that. Micros ...  closer to 8-10.

Bixyl Shuftan: Changing the subject, you recenly got a real life job through SL. How did you hear about it?

Lomgren Smalls: Well, I had been looking for a better job for a while. And my friends here in SL knew about it. So, through a couple of the online Second Life papers, they learned of an on-SL job fair being held by the state of Missouri. And they told me about it

Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, and your getting the job made a little real-life news as well. The articles stated your micro made quite an impression.

Lomgren Smalls: Yes. I know people probably think I'm crazy for going to a job fair as a micro, but to me, it makes sense. 1: it's who I am. 2: It shows what I am capable of doing. Of course, I was dressed for the occasion, wearing a dark gray tux.

Bixyl Shuftan: Have your new fellow employees spoken much about Second Life, considering how you got the job?

Lomgren Smalls: A bit, yes, as I've talked to them about it. They're happy with me working there, I'm happy working there, my boss/etc are happy with me.

Bixyl Shuftan: Great ... As I recall, you were also on local TV news.

Lomgren Smalls: Yes, a couple of times. Never expected to be on TV at all. *chuckles*

Bixyl Shuftan: Besides the RFL avatars, any future plans that you'd like to share?

Lomgren Smalls: Well, I plan on making non-RFL versions (of the avatar), and hopefully making a version 2.0 of the av someday in the future.

To those who haven’t come across them, articles about Lomgren getting his state government IT job can be found here: http://assignmentfuture.blogspot.com/2008/09/finding-real-work-in-virtual-worlds.html .

*  *  *  *  *

Lomgren would go on to put his "Lomtech" micro feline avatar up on the market. He also worked on an improved version of his existing avatar with more fluid movements, but whenever it danced, it would float a couple feet in the air. He never did find a way around that bug.

Lomgren remained a devoted member of the Passionate Redheads Relay for Life team. It's folding in 2013 was undoubtedly a bitter blow. He would go on to found another team, but shortly afterward, he took an indefinite hiatus from Second Life. I occasionally come across him in Facebook, Minecraft, and various Steam games. In the meantime, his neighbors in the Sunweaver community continue to talk about him, and wait for his return.


Bixyl Shuftan

The Oldbie Project – Aley aka Arcadia Asylum

By DrFran Babcock

There are some residents in Second Life™ that fill me with awe and admiration. Arcadia Asylum is one of those people, and her legacy is sprinkled across the grid in the plethora of builds that bear her name. Almost everything that she has created is available free and full perm. Everyone is encouraged to rip apart her masterpieces, change, improve, use parts, and admire. Arcadia left Second Life™ some time ago, but has always been around with some name or other. She is currently using the name Aley.

SLNewser’s very own Gemma Cleanslate wrote twice  about the Aley’s LEA build in April of 2012 (http://slnewserdesign.blogspot.com/2012/04/sea-of-aley.html  ) and the Arcadia Asylum library in August of 2012 (http://slnewserdesign.blogspot.com/2012/08/arcadia-asylum-library.html  ). She is compelling and cannot seem to stop building. Her current build is the underground amusement park: Seaview, that I have visited already several times. There is a lot to do there, and I had to come back a few times to take it all in. I brought friends each time, and they delighted in the offbeat humor of the constructions. At the urging of my co-worker Gemma, I asked Aley if she would consent to an interview, and she was more than gracious in agreeing. When I first teleported into Aley’s underwater sandbox, she was playing with a build of a shrimp boat. A few visitors came and went to pay regards during the interview. Aley was always friendly and welcoming. She admitted that she could chatter on forever, and that seemed to be what happened. The interview that follows is candid and interesting. Was she pulling my leg…I am not sure? I will report what I witnessed, as that is my responsibility as a reporter. 

Join me as we visit with a Second Life™ original:

Aley: This version (of the shrimp boat) will be able to net scoop stuff and, there’s the nets deployed. I'm going to sail around the Blake Sea and catch more mermaids.

SL Newser: It is common knowledge that you are Arcadia ?

Aley: Yups.  No need to look for the name; just follow the thousands of full perm freebies.

SL  Newser: When did Arcadia come here?

Aley: Oh, Arcadia wasn’t my first account [smile]. I first heard of SL in the late 90s when it was barely in Beta. Linden Lab was getting some web news and real life news about them trying to start a virtual world. Well, SL sounded like a huge dot com scam deluxe: “Pay exorbitant rates to rent server space and call it land.  So, I followed SL before it was open to the general public. I wasn’t about to “pay” to look at it. When SL opened free accounts, I started one. I think my first account was named Bubbles. I goofed around a while till that account was fried by glitches. You could totally loose your account due to the bugs back then

Hmmm, let’s see when I started the Arcadia account I was miffed and let some time lapse. I started hanging out at the old Calleta Hobo Info Hub, and got into open sourcing there.

Eventually, I got sick of SL bugs and semi-quit for two months. When I tried to log back in LL had deleted my whole inventory. The eventually restored it, but I was pissed off,  and stayed away as best I could. Back then Linden Lab was scrubbing account data if they were dormant for a month. Those were the wild old days in SL

The whole grid would semi regularly be crashed offline by organized griefer attacks.

Anyone could fart and crash a whole sim offline for hours. Building stuff was tricky, as a crash and rollback would even remove back up copies from your inventory. SL had deadly bugs for a decade, but is way more stable now.

At this point we were visited by Heather, a mermaid, and she hung around for a while begging Aley to write a book of her life. Aley said it would never happen. Instead, we started talking about gender in Second Life™.

 Aley: I use pretty gender neutral avatars. At my age I'm more asexual than anything

Heather: Asexual is good. Less time fending off idiots.

Aley: It unclutters alot of life.

SL Newser: Well, to change the subject…why do you offer so much for free?

Aley: I was retired all through the SL business, and wanted nothing to do with clients and stuff anymore. I have social security and a small pension, and I live like a church mouse.

SL Newser: How did you learn to build so well, Aley?

Aley: Oh, I was a CAD engineering draftsperson for probably 20years, so I could fart out 3D models. My whole family was into construction. My youngest sister is a professional welder. My dad was an engineer at a huge contracting corportation that did the NASA contracts.

SL Newser: What was your favorite build from those days?

Aley: I have no favorite builds, just favorite projects. I live for big projects. The old slum city project was great (http://spiritofarcadia.wordpress.com/a-slum-city-video/ ). The sim owner eventualy turned the sim into a BDSM porno sim, so I deleted it all. As if SL doesnt have enough of those already. I had anger management issues back then, but I’m better medicated now. Better living through psychiatric pharmacology. Current therapist hasn’t a clue what to do with me. How to you write a treatment plan for a nutcase with no common craziness issues.

SL Newser: Awwwwww. I am not going to write about this…

Aley: Please go ahead. I was never in the closet about being a mental patient. I want it out and known that you can do pretty well with your life with mental illnesses, if you get help and work with it.

I lost track, what was I rambling about?

SL Newser: What 3D software do you use?

Aley: Now? SL is my main 3D software these days

SL Newser: So, you are not making mesh, but using sculpts ?

Aley: I have fiddled with stuff like Maya, etc., but LL punishes mesh. You get more vertices with sculpts then equivalent mesh, and no size penalties. I use a dozen in world tools. Here’s the thing: I worked for around 20 years hunched over auto CAD and, I’m NOT going back to that hell. In SL I have direct interaction. I can model and play and chatter, and best of all get direct feedback and help. This isn’t a job, it's a social hobby to me. Little, if any of my work here is truly original. I pester everyone around me for ideas and bits and pieces. As i don’t sell anything and give it all away free, few have any qualms about playing.

SL Newser: So, tell me about your current build, Seaview, the underwater amusement park. What was the inspiration ?

Aley: Thats all Ardour Allen's idea. You know about the old Privateer Space Project? (for more information about the Privateer build read my friend Lauren’s aricles : http://npirl.blogspot.com/2008/01/aleys-privateer-island-part-i.html and http://npirl.blogspot.com/2008/01/aleys-privateer-island-part-ii.html )

SL Newser: Yes, in fact, a friend of mine asked me to ask you what happened to it ?

Aley: LL happened. That ended during M. Linden’s mis-management. The idea behind it was to fully utilize a whole sim, to build up to the sim ceiling. You see, people in general think in two dimensions—out of sight; out of mind. I wanted to experiment with making something that would force people to think up and down too. A few caught onto the idea. There was a place called Starbase Alpha, or something that was based on the concept after I worked it out. 

SL Newser: Thanks.

 Aley: The Blake Deeps is 13 sims and owned by Hollywood Rentals. They own and manage about 200 sims. Well, I started hanging out with the local pirate and sailing community about three years ago, and rented that plot where Flotsam Town (another Blake Deeps build by Aley) is located. I started guerilla decorating the seabeds in these sims, meaning the owners dident know what i was up to.

Setting up Flotsam in Blake Diego boosted its traffic a dozen fold, and the little sneak stuff i did here boosted general boating traffic.

SL Newser:  So, they kept you.

Aley: When Fanci passed away and her properties were at risk the main owner of Hollywood Rentals bought them up, and made four new open water sims named after Fanci. This time they asked me to decorate the place on purpose [laughs].

The owners wanted to expand from just pirate and age of sail theme to the mer community, so we started a crazy experiment to see if you could combine rentals underwater with events on top of the water, and keep waterway clearance for sailing

Ninety percent of these sims are homesteads with a quarter of the prim allotment. I developed ways to develop homesteads by pirating LL owned ocean sims. There’s a glitch, or was,  where some rollouts could reset auto return to zero. That made it extra fun (smile).

The average prim counts for all the underwater stuff in each sim is around 200 prims. That leaves 300prims for passing ships, boats, and planes, and the rest go to the renters. Detailing 80% to 100% of a sim wide seabed in 200 prims is a major challenge. The Blake Sea ocean homestead sims use around 1,000 to 2,000 prims for their seabeds, and you have seen how barren they all look

Well, Mark (Hollywood Rentals) wanted to bring in mermaids, and I was the only one around who was developing homestead seabeds, so I volunteered to get in on this. We dragged in the Safe Waters Foundation to help with community building

SeaView Park is the result of being totally out of ideas for what more underwater stuff to make. I tried to make an arctic underwater area but ran into all kinds of problems, so I gave up. Ardo (Ardour Allen) said: “Make an amusement park.”

I was desperate enough for anything, so I told Ardo to start building it. It ends up as a nice Victorian era amusement part. I managed to drag that project out to almost three months, and now it’s done.

I'm more interested in lower prim impact then perfection

SL Newser: No one complains about your work

Aley: Sure they do! I closed down at least five marketplace shops. Some folks can't compete with freebies, especially when there a fraction the prims. SL is a sort of social game. My game play is less prims and free

At this point we sort of drifted off into talking about other content creators and how scultpts were superior to mesh. At times it seemed as if Aley was impatient with me because I didn’t know enough about her body of work, which was true.

I haven’t put in all that she told me, but probably more than I should have. Aley is a remarkable person, at turns confident and proud, then a bit less so, as when she told me that the builder of the Nemo sims’ textures made hers look like crayon drawings.

There is too, too much information out there, for me to give you a list of resources. You can go and see recreations of actual builds at an Arcadia Asylum Museum. Aley herself has a marketplace store full of full perm freebies, and the grid abounds with lore and goodies all from this prolific woman.

Do spend some time learning what you can, and if you see me in Fanci’s Deep at the Seaview Amusement park, say hello.


DrFran Babcock

Ub Yifu – RFL Designer Builder

By DrFran Babcock

My first awareness of Ub Yifu came during the 2009 Burning Life. We were still calling it Burning Life, and not Burn back then, and I still recall the sense of wonder I experienced upon encountering Ub’s Gulliver installation. “How did he do that?” was the question everyone asked upon seeing his larger than life Gulliver, tied to the playa.

I was thrilled and surprised to find that Ub Yifu was doing a designer build right next to my team’s camp. For those who don’t know: Every year for Relay for Life most teams build a campsite, but some residents are invited to do a build on the annual theme (this year: 100 Years of Hope), and these are called Designer Sims.  As soon as I realized that Ub was our neighbor, I ran over and asked him for an interview. He could not have been more pleasant.

By the way, if you run into Ub Yifu, you will never forget him. Bryn Oh, well-known Second Life™ artist, described his avatar as her favorite. He is a recreation of the famous Picasso Don Quixote and Sancho Panza drawing, complete with both characters! He is a original and creative fellow, and I was happy he agreed to talk with us:

SL Newser: How did you find out about Second Life™? What has kept you here? 

Ub Yifu: I first heard about Second Life™ in 2007 on French TV. They were saying that anybody could build anything in 3-D there, so I wanted to try[smiles]. And… guess what? It was true! So, I got addicted to building things and haven’t stopped for six years now—starting from the basic prim to mesh now.

 SL Newser: How did you come to make statues in Second Life? 

Ub Yifu: I came here to create things, but since I was painting as a hobby in Real Life I started earning a few Lindens importing my Real Life painting into SL. Then, I decided to make the 2-D paintings in 3-D, and I started reproducing famous painting from Matiss , Picasso, Magritte, and DEGAS in 3-D. That lead me to reproduce real life sculptures 

SL Newser: Tell me about your workflow. How do you go from an idea to a three dimensional Second Life™ object ? What tools do you use? 

Ub Yifu: I usually start from pictures and use several 3-D software programs to do the shapes I want. Now meshes are changing the game, and open many windows to 3-D creation.

SL Newser: How did you arrive at your concept for the build you have made for Relay for Life? 

Ub Yifu: Well, I had some help! Ipunin Pera is very aware about the cancer fight with her own charity and she gave me a lot of good advice. The theme is 100 years of the fight against cancer, and I  in the present time sims,  so I tried to symbolize the research from all over the world with a giant microscope studying earth looking like an atom. Around this, the researchers are working hard and helping people. On the ground the people from all over the world gather to do the fight! (Note: You have to come and stand with Ub Yifu’s statues, and experience the feeling of being part of the fight against cancer.)

SL Newser: What would you like the rest of the world to know about Second Life™? 

Ub Yifu: It’s really a place where you can make your dreams come true, especially for people who like to be creative. 

SL Newser:  What other plans do you have for the future?  

Ub Yifu: I’m working on new mesh statues all the time now, and the new thing on my sim is the exhibition of a new Flickr artist doing Second Life™ pictures every month. I found a great community of creative people there and I’m glad to share some space with them. During July 2013 come see Bamboo Barne’s pictures.

I could not agree with Ub any more. I went to the sim where he has his gallery, and ended up exploring and playing in his Gallery for over an hour.

Ub Yifu’s Relay for Life build is a colorful series of paths that lead to a giant research microscope. There are also rides to play on, and multitudes of settings for taking of pictures. As the sign in the playground  there reads: Imagine a world without cancer.

Where to find Ub Yifu’s work:

Ub Yifu’s Designer build at Relay For Life (opening July 13, 2013): http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20IMAGINE/34/147/21

SKY SCULPTURES GALLERY: https://my.secondlife.com/ub.yifu/picks/077bf72b-71c7-df01-d9d5-876953e804e4

Ub Yifu also does custom work, and can recreate your avatar as a three dimensional sculpture.

Also:
Gulliver statue at Burning Life 2009: http://www.flickr.com/photos/99404124@N00/3936144076/in/photolist-6ZPLv3-7KDPBK

DrFran Babcock

Interview with Tuna the Oddfellow of Second Life

By Grease Coakes

A little known secret of Second Life is a magician who has his very own Tunaverse. Tuna Oddfellow, who has been a long time resident of SL since August 15 2005, is a magician in real life. In Tuna's own words, using Houdini as an example, he enjoys pushing boundaries and seeing how far he can get.


Tuna does an incredible job of pushing boundaries as he puts on an amazing light show, the Odd Ball, for your computer screen that you might see at a dance club. In fact he won a contest held by NBC 4 the TV station as the most talented avatar in Second Life in 2007. His color and lights show wowed the judges, earning him the prize. His prize was 1 million Linden which translates to roughly $4,000 in US Dollars.

His light show at his small land will blow you away. Every Monday at 6pm SL and every Sunday at 12 Noon SL, Tuna meets with Jana Kyomoon, a real life ambient musician who created a music album you can get here. http://www.last.fm/music/Jan+Pulsford/Ambient+Reflections+of+Jana+Kyomoon.


Of Jana, Tuna had this to say, “For Jan and me, entertainment duo is more correct than business partners. Though I would love to work with Jana professionally.”

Her album is called “Ambient Reflections of Jana Kyomoon.” I’ve heard Jana’s live music at Tuna’s odd ball and it was very relaxing along with the mind blowing effects that Tuna offers. I had joked that her music is very mellow that it could be romantic. Tuna said that would be too odd though (ha ha!).

In his Tunaverse group he always asks what time is it when his oddball is about to start? His answer every time is:

“Time to get odd odd odd!”

In fact Tuna claims his real life is stranger still.

Tuna Oddfellow, "Well my Second Life is like my first life, both are stranger than fiction. In first life, I spent years as a magician. You know, finger flinging, sleight of hand, reading minds, escaping from chains the works. For many years I had performed magic at private parties, restaurants, as a street magician and as a master of ceremonies."

Looking up Tuna on the web I saw that He has been a real life magician in real life for 26 years along with his job in Second Life as a cofounder of odd studios.

Despite some physical pain Tuna still gets out to perform in real life as he still pushes the boundaries of life,  "I aim to push my own boundaries too."

Grease Coakes, "Oh sure everyone should push their own boundaries to see what he or she can achieve."

Words are hard to express the light and color show that Tuna puts on twice a week so it’s best that you experience it yourself. I remember seeing the lights and colors actually move and not stand still like a normal background. Not so fast that it makes you dizzy more like a slow turn with many colors that your avatar gets drowned in. It’s easy to lose track of other avatars and your own in the colorful world that Tuna creates for you along with Jana’s ambient electronic music.

Pictures say a thousand words sure, but you have to see his Oddball to have any idea what I am talking.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dragonhenge/134/123/652

Grease Coakes

Editor's note: Tuna has certainly been making shows for quite a long time. Good to see he's still at it. 

The ZeroG Skydancers – Staying Power for a Reason

By DrFran Babcock

Namedrops

I was minding my own business, just listening to Crap Mariner read 100 Word Stories. It was nice that Lauren Weyland had shown up because she has been so busy in First Life that she’s not been around much. I could hardly keep from jumping up and down when she Instant Messaged me and asked me if I wanted to go see the Skydancers after Crap was done. I remembered reading about the ZeroG SkyDancers back in 2006 on Hamlet Au’s blog: New World Notes (http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/12/your_tube_your_.html ), but had never had the fortune to score a ticket to one of their events. She told me that I had to have a ticket to be admitted, but she was speaking to the staff, and one would be sent my way. The notecard ticket arrived, along with a HUD, and some instructions on setting my viewer to midnight and draw distance to 512 meters.

DanCoyote Antonelli

After a short stop at Curio to look at skins (that Lauren!), we teleported into the Linden Endowment of the Arts sim that currently houses the SkyDancers. Without a ticket you cannot get into the sim. We were cordially greeted, and took seats. The HUD is a bit of a job to attach to your screen, but once that was accomplished, Lauren and I chatted happily with the assembled audience, which (no more name-dropping) contained some of Second Life’s luminaries.

DanCoyote is an imposing figure, all black with a huge Mohawk. He spoke to us in voice about what to expect, and briefed us on the story we were about to see unfold before us on the 3000 meter stage. DanCoyote has been performing in Second Life with the SkyDancers since 2006, and while these performances have often been covered, they bear repeating. Mr. Antonelli has coined the term “hyperformalisn” to describe the art he makes. His definition is long and very intellectual and philosophical. My definition of this immersive, artistic expression is: “Wow!”

The Story

The stories presented change over the years, and for this show DanCoyote introduced us to a world in which the colorful Sufollo, beings of another world, peacefully play in complete joy and freedom. Their whole world changes when the horrible Gopus Bülie—red, spiney and growling—enters their world and tears them apart. The only hope for the Sufullo is Hereau, a Sufollo who is changed to fight the Gopus Bülie. I won’t have to give you a spoiler here, because the show ends differently each time, and like a Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is completely affected by the audience observing the performance.

The Show

There is no adequate replacement for being at the show. Immersed in the slow dance of the Sufullo, I melted into the kaleidoscope of colors that passed before me. The music, specially written for the show by Josh Zamo, was ethereal and evocative; a perfect complement to the floaty Sufullo. The intensity of the look, the feel, the multi-sensory experience was enough for me to forget I was staring at a computer screen. I don’t want to ruin if for you, if you can get tickets, so I won’t tell you more of the story.

The Players

The stars of the ZeroG Skydance are the dancers who commit many hours to the practice of their flying and dance moves Kudos go to: Anhinga Chaika, Tatiana Kurri, Angelique Menoptra, Buffy Beale, Pielady Smalls, Talulah Bancroft, Wytchwhisper Sadofsky, Juji Kumsung, Neena Botanical and Dot Pellazi for their aerial skills, and to DC Spensley for the out-of-this-world costumes. The sets were constructed by Selavy Oh and Oberon Onmura.

How To See The Show

I cannot recommend this endeavor more. Second Life has always been to me a place where individuals and groups can create the world they want to live in. The grand experiment comes to fruition when I witness the ZeroG Skydancers, and know the work and passion that went into this production. Come early, chat with the audience, and get ready to immerse yourself in the world of the innocent Sufollo. Thanks, Lauren for sharing this experience with me.

Seats are limited for the Wednesday evening at 6:45PM, Second Life time shows. You can contact SkyBank Alter in Second Life by Instant Message or via email at skybank@dancoyote.com, noting the date you wish to attend and how many seats you would like to reserve.  

DrFran Babcock

Culture and Fun

By Gemma Cleanslate

Linden Lab lost me for a week.  Now I am back!! 

Sunday I attended the opening of the very first "Culture and Fun" exhibit of a wonderful artist, Pan Yuliang. "Culture and Fun" is a group that sends out very interesting notices everyday with quotes and historical perspectives. ”We occupy with cultural things in widest sense. This includes  every kind of music, the belles-letters, poems, philosophy, history, painting, architecture and all other more or minor aesthetic and fine arts” is the group vision. Now they are starting a new venture of exhibits by artists that not only display their art but give you a wonderful background on the artist. 

Pan Yuliang is recognized world wide as China’s first modern artist. She had an extraordinary life and career which paralleled that of Modern China. She was born under the Empire, sold into prostitution, bought by a revolutionary, was the first woman to attend art school, the first to study with men, the first to study overseas, the first to exhibit solo and the first to combine Western and Chinese artistic techniques. And she produced exquisite art. 

Her entire history is available in several languages at the exhibit.  I recommend that you visit the exhibit which will end . The group founder, Lizzy Pleides, told me that the exhibit was put together by Tessa Zalivstok and Jaelle Faerye. There will be more exciting exhibits to see . This one will be there until November 25 or perhaps longer.

 http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Seduction/219/20/200

 For more on Pan Yuliang, check out this Wikipedia article.

Gemma Cleanslate

"Windows" by the Ballet Pixelle

I received a notice that the Ballet Pixelle was doing a performance of their original, ”Windows.” Since I had not been in a while I decided to go over to see it. The greeter met me and checked to see that I had received a playbill as I sat. The background of the stage was a city in the distance. The MC advised us that the performance was a three act play and the music should be set at the beginning of each act. The theme of this  ballet is stated as “Windows are openings that allow us to see a glimpse of a person's life; to be a bit of a voyeur for a moment in time.” 

As the first act opened we were looking through a window at a solo dancer who had just arrived home. Another window appeared with another dancer behind and then a third. Each dancer swayed and danced with passion as we watched and we wondered what each was thinking. Their moves are graceful as they twirl and pirouette, each in their own way. Act 2 took place in a diner as two teens seek to impress a handsome young man. Who won? I was not quite sure. Act 3 takes place in a lovely flower filled field with a young man and woman dancing their happiness in each other, as above an older couple watch and eventually become the dancers. 

The ballet is always enjoyable to watch. There is so much work put into their effort creating the moves and executing them. The stages are very well designed and pleasant to the eye. After the bows by all the performers they come and mingle with the audience offering autographed cards if you would like one. If you have not had the pleasure of seeing a ballet, try it. I admire all the work that goes into each ballet I have seen and look forward to the next one that I can get to see. 

To find out more about the ballet and the company, visit the website : http://www.balletpixelle.org/ .

Gemma Cleanslate

Herman Bergson : Artist

Most of you know of Herman Bergson as the philosophy professor about whom I have written many times. He has taught a weekly two-session class in Second Life at his classroom in Wainscot for over four years. Philosophy is his first love and and life long hobby.

In real life, Herman was a graphics arts teacher for years, and has taken that art to new realms in SL. If you read the article about Mistyowl’s Petit Galerie and went there, you saw some of his art. After the love of Philosophy, Herman’s love is for the Women of Second Life, especially the beautiful ones. There is proof of this at his own museum in Nederlands.

Of his art he says, “Somewhere in this sim I ran into a sign with a question, the Thotica Question it said: What is it we can do or know with SL that we can not do or know without it? My pictures may be a way to show an answer to that question. They are the visualizations of the tension I feel between Real Life and Second Life. You will see me often in a doorway or window or just watching from a distance. This 'Me' is the representative of Real Life. The remainder of the picture tells the Second Life story.”

You will find a notecard that will tell you more about his work. In both museums you can experience how he has incorporated his thoughts and yearnings into each photograph that he has taken. You can study his thoughts and try to interpret what is going on in his mind as he incorporates himself into the story of the view. Sometimes he is watching himself watching, and sometimes he is perhaps dreaming of the past, present, or future of the story depicted. It is hard to tell but fun to contemplate. He has met and known many SL women, as you will see.

When you visit the Nederlands Museum, and after you have perused the many photographs, be sure to take a walk over to his build that is an exquisite replica of a real-life church. Spend sometime inside looking at the hundreds of textures which are all pictures that he took himself and then placed carefully into his build. This church is part of an extensive group of buildings that used to stand in SL. He is multi talented as you can see as a creative master builder and photographer and knows how to use his photography to create art that all can enjoy.

Don’t miss it. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nederland/5/249/22

Gemma Cleanslate