Torley Lives

There once was the story of a martial artist — let's say, for simplicity's sake, a ninja — who fought with two swords. He dispatched his foes with ease, and with such speed and ferocity that no one could tell whether the swords he fought with were twins or in fact differing types (for example, a swashbuckler's rapier in one hand and a butterknife in the other). The other distinguishing thing about this ninja is that whenever passerby happened to come across some poor corpse in the forest he had given the bladed variant of the People's Elbow to, they could unmistakably tell it was the mark of his work. It was never known whether this was intentional on the part of the ninja, but even the most illiterate of village commoners knew that a certain bad-ass ninja had breezed through town to do some damage.

Why I said that I won't know until the future, but in the stream-of-consciousness writing I sometimes practice, I get certain globs — like jelly water — forming from the abstractions of my mental realms. I have an urge to drop a paragraph here, a sentence there, and maybe an off-key term or two. I won't go out of my way to make my writing convoluted or hard to understand, but in the big picture, some time from now, I have a good feeling this will make a lot more sense.

Second Life just went down for a few hours. Ohnoes! By the time I wake up, it'll be up again (I hope).?I had some pretty bad headaches today, so I took several naps. Unfortunately, the pain was still there. So I hope this will subside too.

A big meow-out goes to Wynx Whiplash, whose personality is as playful as her namesake.?I chatted with Wynx about her line of Mad Cat Dolls, which are on the rise in popularity around the gridverse. They often are found sitting on avatars's shoulders, eyes actually reflecting the emotional anger of a "real-life" incident that happened to Wynx's real cats when it was time for them to get their shots. Wynx felt this was a priceless moment to commit to prims, and I wholeheartedly agree.?However, without knowing this context, my little watermelon kitty might as well have her eyes wide open in curiosity as she comes on travels with me. Later that day, I happened to come across a Tringo game featuring Chloe Platini and Frostie Flora on stage, the latter dancing in one of Wynx's avatars. I TPed the creator herself, and we had a great hoppin' time. Go to ExtroVirtual Headquarters @?Bragg (223, 49) to get your own!

In the Cool Avatar Dept., we have none other than the incomparable Lucah Solvang, who has carried furry traditions in SL?to new heights of her own original excellence. Featured inset is her "plushie aircraft carrier", and she's certainly catched 'em all! Well, almost (sadly Trin and Nala are not onboard).?If there were more attachment slots, we could load Lucah up and send her across sim borders on a mission to crash the next region over… with cuteness! In the background walkin' pimpishly is Luskwood maven Arito Cotton, flanked by Iris Linden on the left and Phoenix Linden on the right.

Briarcliff Manor is now gone, and this is sad. But before it went, a grand party was held. The whole "going out in style" works. I happed to snap this shot as the lights — awesome light show, a mix of prims and particles, very high-contrast! — went to my colors. I didn't expect it, but it happened, and like so many things in Second Life, I'm amazed. But alas, the Manor is gone now, and we take little baby steps in the future. Establishments like SLAC (Second Life Anime Cosplay) will continue their business as memories are treasured.

Mah honeybunches and oats, Jadey, has her own blog now! It's called Dichotomato (yes, I really like this name, and would even if I were so emotionally detached), and Jadey shares it with her offline self, Keith.?Same person no matter what you call him or her, hehe. On here, we are extensions of our mortal selves, expressing ourselves in ways that wouldn't have been possible without this emotional technology. It's kinda like when you play a pinball game, there are certain main objectives you go for — namely, always connecting the flippers to ze ball — but it's always nice to score the multiplier bonuses!?A?lucid writer,?Jadey explains it all.?Check it out here.

Elsewhere on the web… Watermelon Love, one of my favorite new animations. This is genius. The aesthetic style is totally appealing to me and intrinsically familiar, yet so desperately alien at the same?time. And oh, it's got watermelons. What's not to love?

I spent some well-used time the other day to tweak some minor interface elements of my blog. Readability has been improved with more generous line spacing, and colors have been brightened and contrasted as I saw fit. Simultaneous entries I've trimmed down to 6 from 12, because I was concerned the graphics-rich page were taking too long to load. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way.

Cristiano Midnight has just started The Snapzilla Project, a quick-'n'-easy way to share your SL snapshots with others in an everevolving stream of secondary consciousness. I've already syndicated this thang to my blog aggregation 'cuz I wanna see what comes around the next bevelled corner. You can submit your own shots by doing the following from within Second Life:

1. Go to the File menu —> Take Snapshot
2. Select E-mail Postcard with the Receipient Email as pics@sluniverse.com
3. Fill out an evocative Subject and Message
4. Send!

It'll appear in a few minutes. I suppose it'd be nice if in the future, your location was transmitted too (like how it shows up when you send a Bug Report),?just so your fellow avatars can conveniently visit cool places you've been. At least an option.

Congratulations to John Prototype (legal name John Lester) and the Brigadoon family for being featured in an MSNBC article titled "Virtual world teaches real-world skills":

"Brigadoon" is a real-world experiment in social skills made virtual, a private enclave limited to a select mixture of caregivers and individuals with Asperger Syndrome, a higher functioning form of autism. The inhabitants, or "Dooners" as they call themselves, enjoy the same privileges as those in the more public arenas of "Second Life." They are free to create their own digital representations of themselves, called "avatars," build virtual houses and seek out friends. And, most importantly, they are free to create a "second life" with a level of social interaction that, for reasons of their condition, has been hard to come by in their real lives.

I have Asperger's, so I can relate. (Obviously! But then again, I tend to miss the obvious. *blush*)?I haven't been on?Brigadoon — yet — but the future is a big place . . .

What?certain photo contest featuring certain?weapons?and clothes of grand design?has recently reached its deadline for accepting entries? Why, it's the "Seburo/Saedaku/Seburo Pixel Dolls Clothing Line Photography Contest", of course. (What a mouthful!)?Voting will start on the 27th @ the 2nd Look Image Gallery. More details here. Head to the display Ariel's set up (Taravua 6, 92) and enjoy all the art so you can nominate your faves.

Want to own your very own space station? Well, BEDAZZLE's Gravity is for sale!

I'd like to take today to highlight some of my personal fave things in Second Life. I'm not going to rationalize WHY they're this way, but they just are.?I get my mind blown so often (not unlike that unfortunate dewd behind a desk in Scanners, only much, much kewler and more watermelony!), so I'm happy to have this blog to express myself and share my joys with you.

First up, this was from over a week ago, so please pardon the tardiness, but I've got the creations of??Eddie Escher and Fallingwater Cellardoor to highlight. They're a couple both in SL and OL (Offline Life), and although both very?technically proficient, Eddie gravitates towards the mechanical, while Fally does the "organic" (for lack of a better word). That seems quite complimentary to me. Mr. Escher has a set of new gadgets that take care of one of my favorite areas: OBVIOUS WISHES THAT HAVEN'T BEEN FULFILLED UNTIL NOW! Namely, have you ever found it weird that your av appears a little neurotic and/or empty (like a void!) while pecking away on air? A new favorite with the scripter crowd in particular via word-of-mouth but spreading outwards, you can see me typing on that holokeyboard while Eddie taps away on an old-skool typewriter. He's also got lightbulbs and antennae that'll respond as you taptaptap… and promptly cease when you stop. Visual feedback, excellent! Fall has a lovely arrangement of new flowers, including bridal bouquets. The colors are classy, the textures choice (something I'm very, very particular about), and I suspect when USB 3.1 SmellPorts come around, these will be among the first things I sniff. More pictures and info, here and here… head to Seacliff (149, 182)?and take the teleporter up if you want a piece.

Philip Linden, aka Philip Rosedale, President of Linden Lab, has left a panel of art cubes in a wall formation at the Welcome Area in Ahern. These just appeared yesterday and I haven't asked WHY they're there. I don't think I will. They just are, so in the meantime, I'm clicking on them and changing others. It kind of reminds me of daycare, although I was never actually in daycare.

Tren encourages me to blast off a big cat in celebration upon my purchase of a new chair by Brian Mifflin. Now, you've seen plenty of chairs in SL, but these are different. How so? Well, they SWIVEL and you can raise and lower the height. Just like, well, the "real world". How obvious is that? Another wish fulfilled, so . . .?SCORE! I'm glad Brian did this. This is actually a newer version he's improved since the original, 'cuz the first version didn't have textures (and now you know I particular I am about these!). I customized mine all watermelony. Here are some suggestions for a future version:

• scripted command to bounce on them, or even eject you and spring you forward (emergency!)
• more heights to adjust from, since this is SL and I'd like to be able to telescope wayyy up
• a way to ride it like a vehicle back and forth across the aisles like Torley Sr. does at Costco

More info about these chairs in this thread. Don't settle with a stiff chair for your desk when you can get something more flexible and fun. If you go to get one, please IM Brian and let him know I send my good words. Thankyou. =^_^=

?
Some more gentle advice from your travelling catbot companion:

1. Be a part of the The Gates of Second Life. Spread the art! THEY REALLY FLAP.
2. Play at least six games of Tringo before making up your mind about it.
3. Read Ready Jack's Notes. They're essential.
4. Befriend at least one member?of a "group" you normally don't hang out with. For example, if you're an elf, you might find common ground with a cyberpunk. Furries certainly count!
5. Climb Steller's beanstalk… take the challenge and you could bag L$500 from her!
6. Visit the Rivendell Project before it disappears today.
7. Visit Briarcliff Manor before it disappears tomorrow.
8. Visit the Frananthema Macrobuild in Kexland @?Meins (112, 115) before it disappears next week.
9. Wanna make the Welcome Area more, well, welcome? Contribute your ideas and suggestions here.
10. Aggregate?SL blogs to save time?and keep up-to-date with the official Announcements!
11. Say thankyou to a Linden for making Second Life such a wonderful place to be!

This could be the battle hymn for a conquering race of friendly, watermelon-colored extraterrestrials, but since it's not, it's going to be today's blog entry in the words of Torley I. Torgeson! I was hyperhyperkinetic today, quite literally bouncing myself around and getting wrapped up in all sorts of stuff. And then I had a nap, and zoned out, so now I'm very mellow. Almost glacial, but naturally so, ya know? After a shower I feel refreshed. I've got a headache though, prolly 'cuz of all the ideas about to burst in my head like sunspots. I reckon I'll be taking the next few days, or weeks, at a more stretched-out pace. In the now, though, I have more adventures to share with you!

Toast Bard is one in a number (posse?) of ex-TSO players who've come to exist in Second Life. She's a good friend of Shagz Anubis who I mentioned previously, and connections coming together,?one thing I find really cool is how they've grown beyond the repetitive routines of TSO to display their creative style in SL. Teasing about her name aside, Toast constructed this insidious base reeking of demonic evil… 600 m?above Alua (60, 233) . It has some of the lurking horror of Alien, some of the wiry suspense of Event Horizon — although I have never actually seen that movie — but keep yourself immersed in mouselook and don't look on the outside! Pay attention to the details! Sometimes, Toast fires toast from a toast gun, bounces out of a toaster, and drives around in a toastmobile. I like her.

Dee Firefly and I met up the other day. We originally got in touch because she wanted a free Franimation Overrider which'll replace your default walk, run, fly, etc. with BETTER animations. No longer do you have to look like a waggling urchin while making your way through the gridverse! And if you want one, just IM me. Dee has an island all her own, and we shared our experiences of having previously experienced virtual worlds, but none so populated as Agni Prime (my own term). We both come from a lineage of Myst, and so, when visiting, you'll find she's put a lot of work into arranging the layout of her domain for that type of ethereal gorgeousness. Her main treehouse was made by Satu Moreau (the kewlips) and up above, where this pic was snapped, was crafted by Thili Playfair. Great builders of the living fairytale, these two. Might I mention you can type "show" and get naughty? Head to Dee's Tol Galen @ Dacia (225, 42) .

I likely missed the obvious again. I NEVER KNEW BEFORE THAT THE LUNA FOUNTAIN HAS CONTROLS! I heard from some oldbies that this panel has been around awhile, but I dunno if it disappeared for awhile and came back like the trolley. It's nice to see it in the here and now. Tren Neva, armed with shotgun, gets prepared to blast cats off of the fountain while I play with the spray jigglation. Luna doesn't seem to get visited nearly enough, so why dontcha head there with some friends and dance in the water?

I'm always on the lookout for cool things made by cool people. While there are some names I mention frequently on my blog, that goes hand-in-hand with their quality in quantity: I don't cut someone short if they are continuing to better a track record of established excellence. At the same time, you have relative newcomers like Reyo Neutra, who built the three vehicles you see here, all sci-fi themed. See if you can identify them. My favorite happens to be the flying train, which is like something out of Back to the Future III. Reyo graciously gave me a ride, and as she did loops and whorls around the sandbox, it awakened my senses and revitalized my horizons. Yes, really. Here's to hoping I mention Reyo some more! Promising talent.

This is the part where I blush, because this is a hella K3WL avatar, but I can't remember for the life of me who made it. I am ashamed. Inside this floating sphere are a family of felines enjoying social discourse and savoring their warm milk. Actually, you know what, that gets me thinking of A Clockwork Orange, and then the ugly truth spills out: maybe these cats are droogs, about to partake in a little of the ol' ultraviolence. OH NOES!!! Thankfully, a skirt comes into scene to foil the?dastardly?plot.?If ya see who made this avatar, please give 'em a good word from a Torley and get their name. Credit where credit is due. *blush*

It's already been established that I have a gambling problem, but here I am anyway at the Cowell Racetrack — catchphrase "Where?millionaires are minted!". Alby Yellowknife is presiding over the octet of horses as they do their thang. They can be ridden too! (Which I did for several rounds like Tobey Maguire?blending his roles in?Seabiscuit and?Spider-Man.) I ended up making my money back, which isn't bad considering you can wager as low as a?single Linden. Check out the Events calendar for times, but if you want to see it on your own adventures, just beam to: Cowell (139, 70) .

Nothing like a good ol' dragon party in the Island Sandbox while setting up?the newest clubel franchise. Following a global message from Rheya Linden reminding Residents not to fire in sandboxes?and safe areas, I suspected something?might be up in "the new Jessie". One thing led to another, I ran sequentially into a bunch o' my buddies while TPing others, and then came across this big beast made by Varick Eisenberg. IM him for more info about his creations — he does commissions, and you can get a majestic throne to go with them too! As he writes:

Ever want your own pet full-size dragon (meaning an AV could fit inside its mouth)?

Well now you can have one! Your very own 198-245 (or beyond) prim dragon with voice reactions, blinking eyes, and smoking nostrils. Dragons are designed to fit a person's wants and needs, plus each name is one and only, making sure that your dragon is unique.

Each dragon also comes with a DragonLord Throne. Which, while not only being stylish, the throne also helps keep people from bothering your Away or Scripting avatar through the use of texture notices.

And at the tail end of another set of voyages, I finally get to hang out with Zuzi Martinez after some strange kind of passive estrangement. I have her Calling Card from long ago, but neither of us can remember how this came to be. Oh well, no time better than the present. Clearly a purveyor of fine taste while typing in present tense, I notice her careful usage of textures and aesthetic placement of a glorified painting of herself which I give the bold thumbs-up. This is in her abode above her Romper Room crew's land. We exchange some fun items (I'll have to rez the space lotus soon, Zuzi!), and share our stories. Fly up about 250 m from Palulop (159, 44) to see this.