Brand New, You're Retro

Secondlife is built of state of the art software, using the finest in modern graphic technology and IT innovations. It is full of sharp images. But, it seems to be human nature to hark back to simpler times, like those of our youth, when video games involved charmingly clunky collections of pixels, housed within linear stories in our pc’s or consoles. We didn’t have your fancy megapixels, crisp quality soundcards and HD videos. We had 4bit graphics, a speaker making blippy noises, and hard drives that your phone would wet itself laughing at, but we were happy.

It’s heart-warming nostalgia exactly like the grey-haired rambling above that has inspired the appearance of Retro-Style in Secondlife, and one man at the forefront of this is Eagan Snowdrop, founder and designer behind the store “Old School Avatars”, building avatars that look like they stepped out of the old Sierra On-Line games of the 1980’s in into our 21st century virtual world. I spoke with Eagan about his creations:

Voodoo Buwan: So, what was the inspiration behind Old School Avatars?
Eagan Snowdrop: I'm a really big Sierra fan, always was. Their characters had a certain look, in a "3d" world for the time (3d meaning that you can move behind objects). Anyway, I always loved Leisure Suit Larry on the PC. I couldn't decide what I wanted my av to look like, so I made Larry and really liked the look. So I made more.
Voodoo Buwan: What sort of reactions have you had to the av's in this world of photo real textures and the like?
Eagan Snowdrop: Well, mostly people like them. Although, I think if people don't like it, they really don't like it. I suppose, it’s love or hate:) I get more dances when I wear Larry (I have no idea why on that one)
Voodoo Buwan: Must be the polyester leisure suit
Eagan Snowdrop: lol. Well, maybe leisure suits never should've gone out of style.
Voodoo Buwan: So, have you found many other closet Sierra fans?
Eagan Snowdrop: Well, in most of the crowds I go into with them, at least one or two people know who it is. I don't know how many people are big enough fans to waste a perfectly good Sunday evening making a 3d Larry though, but a lot of people remember the game fondly.
Voodoo Buwan: So, any plans to extend your unique style to any other classic characters? Maybe outside of the Sierra canon?
Eagan Snowdrop: I'd like to, certainly. However, I think I have to be careful. While I don't think anyone will be real upset about these characters as avatars, other companies might feel very strongly about it.
Voodoo Buwan: Yes, I suppose the thought that you may be profiting from copyrighted material?
Eagan Snowdrop: To be honest, what is most important to me is that people have fun with them. As long as I can make my rent here, $L isn't a huge deal to me. Hmmm then again, maybe that's not good business to say that! :D
Voodoo Buwan: Well... good luck with your fantastic designs... Hope to see more soon.

merovingi clothing fair.............

read the next part all about HELL!..........
over in the daily news

Merovingi Clothing Fair 2007 Cont.......

After hours of struggling to get back onto SL after a disastrous download/update I wandered along to the Merovingi Clothing fair, press day, for a sneak preview of what its all about.

I was amazed; I was teleported into heaven, that's what it looked like!

I was met by Pips Fetid and Nevah Lobo the hosts of the fair and also on the board of directors of the Merovingi group; A philanthropic group that donates all profit from its casino to :

Relay for Life & the Swedish Child Cancer Foundation.

Once i had rezzed i was invited to turn around to see the survivors wall, it was covered with pictures, some of SL members and some photographs of people all of whom had survived cancer, it was incredibly touching to see;

Nevah walked me over to the Memorial garden to see the dedications of loved ones lost;

Once i had looked around (and composed myself), I allowed myself to ask my host why he had done this:

Nevar Lobo: I did this because my best friend is a cancer survivor and i have just walked her through her pain and chemo, she is now in remission. When we were trying to come up with a charity it was the only one i could give every ounce of my effort to, because it was so personal, to many people we lose everyday cuz there is no cure. I am not able to fight for that cure in RL, so I'm fighting for it here and my staff. The owner of Merovingi is fighting just as hard.

Nevar Lobo: This is why we dedicated the fair to RFL myself, Pips Fetid and Hannah Liberty and we are all on the Board of Directors for the Merovingi Group oh and Chablis Crabgrass she worked with the cancer survivors to get the wall done, she is a survivor herself.

Nevar Lobo: what is important about this is that after the fair the Merovingi Group will move it and make a permanent display and garden for SL so none of the stones will be lost and in the garden here the stones that say In Memoriam on them are available for anyone to place a picture of someone they would like to remember.

Me: It must have been hard to build something so personal, to yourself and so many others?

Nevar Lobo: yes it was hard to build we all had our tears, but like fleicaa she will always be apart of SL and not forgotten.

Nevar Lobo: you know i need to give you two names of people from RFL that have just given all they can to help us Fayandria Foley is one and the person who did all the rfl work here and let us use a lot of these statues (beautiful statues can be seen all around the sim) is Tayzia Abattoir.

There will be 36 of SL's top designers showing at the fair and each and every one has a vendor in their stall with an item for sale for the RFL;

You will also find donation points around the site:

I didn't have time to see both sides of the fair but Nevah warned me: This is heaven so when you get to the gates of hell you have a whole new look and don't get lost in hell its breathtaking over there!

I can't wait to see it tomorrow!

I also hope that some of you will take the time to, not only visit the fabulous designers who have given 100% effort for this worthy cause, but also take the time to think about the reason for it.

I believe that at some point each person will be touched by this terrible disease and this is a small place to remember 'You are not alone'

More from the other side soon.................

Dana XxX

appearance part one

The very basic basics.........

Yes i know everyone went through tutorial island, quick as possible and probably took very little notice of how to sort out your appearance.
I have met a few long term members who still have no idea how to even colour a bought item, never mind actually make their own clothing.
So this guide is here to help - even if you are not new to SL - maybe you will find some of this helpful.

1 HAIR

OK step one, how do we get rid of the dreaded hat? Or that awful newbie hair we start with?
You know it took me a week to discover i could buy hair?
Then I couldn't get rid of the hair underneath the prim hair?

How to wear and adjust prim hair

Its one of those things in SL that is simple when you know totally confusing when you don't!
If you buy or find freebie hair most comes with a bald cap/base this is what you need to wear first!
Drag your box onto the floor (rez in world) then right click and 'OPEN'
Copy contents to your inventory, check the items are actually in your inventory (usually in a folder) and delete the box on the ground.
go to the folder and click to open it,
wear the bald cap/base
then right click the little box icon and click 'WEAR'
hey presto you are now wearing your new hair! (without the embarrassing newbie hair underneath)

Doesn't look right? hair too small/big? too high/ low?
OK once you are wearing prim hair you need to learn to either adjust it or your shape to fit.
Prim hair tends to come in 3 sizes so you need to make your head fit the hair, although you can make the hair larger/smaller too.
Look at your shape first and decide which needs to be changed your shape or the hair?
You decided the hair.....
right click on the hair
click 'EDIT'
you should see 3 coloured arrows appear and a pop up menu
the arrows will allow you to reposition the hair, click on the up/down or left/ right arrow and while holding the mouse button down, drag the hair up or down as needed, You need to be close up so zoom in to your face to see clearly where the hair needs to sit.
The hair is too big/small?
This is a little trickier if you haven't ever edited anything in SL before:
Look at the popped up menu and locate the little check boxes, by default the 'POSITION' box is checked, you need to find the 'STRETCH' box and check it.
Once you have done that 4 small white cubes should appear around your new hair
click on one of these and while holding the mouse button down drag the cube out or in depending on whether you need to make the hair larger or smaller.
Once it looks about the right size you may need to reposition the hair - check the 'POSITION' box on the pop up menu again and the arrows should reappear. Then adjust as needed.
Close the edit box.
This may take a little practice and a few tries to get it looking good, but stick with it and it will be well worth the frustration and lip biting.
Congratulations you are now wearing prim hair that fits.
On some prim hair you can also recolour but more about this in the next basic lesson.............

Dana XxX
P.s would love to hear about your newbie hair disasters. D

This year, our theme is Heaven and Hell, complete with clouds, angels, and fire and brimstone. Our event spreads over two sims, both completely devoted to this fair, and we have thirty of the best clothing designers in SL participating. There will be prizes, DJs, new release outfits, and a chance to vote for your favorite designer (the most popular will win a prize package from the Merovingi Group including tier-free land for a year, and a cash prize.)This year, our list of designers includes:Rebel Hope Design

Nyte N Day

DE Designs

RFyre

Analise

BareRose

Goth1c0

Beckenbauer Productions

DKs

Nocturnal Threads

Rising Phoenix

Mischief

Bewitched...

along with many others.

A good part of each sim is devoted to Relay for Life, including a survivor wall, cancer information center, and a memorial garden devoted to those who were not as fortunate. We have also asked that each designer have one item where at least part of the proceeds go toward RFL.

So I will hope to see you all there for a great event and a worthwhile cause. DanaXxX

The Winning Lady !

Congrats Pinky !

Time for bed........................

BED BED BED ITS ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT THIS WEEK....

Being very tired this week, for various reasons! I thought I would look into beds in SL.

Just why do we have them? We don't sleep in them? For the other thing, well, who needs a bed for that? There are plenty of places we can use, so aren't beds just using up prims in our homes?

How many people have actually seen your bed? I know its nice to keep things looking normal - But this is SL where its play time all the time, isn't it? Does a secondlife house have to look normal or have all the usual rooms? Thinking about it though I have now had three secondlife homes and all had both a bed and a bathroom (an even more unnecessary room)

Take a look at some of the styles of beds I found on a random search:

The beds avaiable in a quick search are incredible from satin luxury to blood oozing down the sides!

So what ever you do in your bed use you imagination to create it, nothing is impossible or improbable in SL.

DanaXxX

Grand Opening and Gala set for Multi Media Arts Center in Somerset

by Calamity Hathaway

The SL public is cordially invited to attend a Grand Opening Reception and

Gala to celebrate the creation of the Multi Media Arts Center in Somerset (230, 197, 66) on Saturday, April 7th.

The MMAC is an omni arts, multi cultural, multi venued, multi media, multi purpose facility designed to showcase arts and entertainment within the Second Life community and the world at large.

The MMAC will offer a professional concert stage theater, cabaret performance

space, cinema, comedy club, jazz and blues club, an art gallery and listening room,

underground dance club, formal ballroom, amphitheater, the Terrace Sculptor Garden, and a

mini mall. Future events will include live-streamed concerts, web casts, on demand media,

visual arts, social activities, special events and more.

The grand opening activities begin at 11 a.m . with gallery tours and continue with

an opening cabaret show at 3 p.m.; the gala reception at 5 p.m.; MMAC Executive Director

Dash Renoir will speak at 5:30 p.m. followed by a Louis Valore piano and vocals concert at 6

p.m. An after party will begin at 8 p.m.

Formal attire is recommended for the red carpet event, and a L$500 donation is suggested, but not required, all are welcome.

Inworld please contact Dash Renoir,

MMAC Executive Director or Calamity Hathaway, Public Relations Agent.

What to wear for naughty schoolgirl and bad boy event...

Some great outfits here and just a little bit different too

sure loved dressing up for this one LOL

obviously a short skirt was a must for the girls and stockings or long socks, it was a lot of fun. But what about the guys - hmm some made a real effort with this event and i loved this one -

Great tunes and great outfits HOT event!

Dana XxX

update

I haven't been here for a bit (my bad) I have finally got my new shop up and running its been keeping me pretty busy this last week.
Just to give a little something back I added a money tree - hmm
I didn't realize money would end up falling off it if it wasn't picked so if you are under 60 days old PLEASE get down there and pick some of my money - it looks so untidy lying all over the floor!
Any way if you need some new clothes take a look I am now doing a lot more men's wear as I keep getting asked for it.
New dancers things are also in stock plus more on the way