So I've just attended my first virtual SCA gathering in Second Life. I happened upon it accidentally when a couple of the SCA in SL group members started instant messaging each other about an event that was taking place in a few minutes, and my account is set to deliver all group messages, so I asked and was invited.
Pretty hospitable, just like the real SCA. Huzzah! The gathering took place on a store roof, which had been converted into a large field with a tourney eric and some nice colorful tents. A circle of viking chairs around a toasty fire completed the scene. A screen of trees protected us from the virtual mundanity below.
There were just four of us, and we traded some ideas for marketing the virtual SCA group, chatted a bit about our respective real life kingdoms and eventually the topic turned to NSTIW stories.
ANd it struck me: I have experienced my first virtual NSTIW story, while sitting around a virtual fire, drinking virtual mead, and virtually 'LOLing'.
Ironic. And sort of creepy. I wonder if there will ever be virtual tournaments? Or A&S contests?
They are hoping to attract more SCA members to the virtual world, especially fighters. Yes, I know that it's not like fighting in real life, but seriously, in SL you can launch yourself out of a catapult and fear no harm. Now, wouldn't THAT make a great battle scenario?
So if you have a Second Life account and are looking for other SCA members, log in and search for the SCA in SL group. As of now, they are meeting on Thursday nights, which knowing the SCA, is likely to change at some point in the future.
That pesky stomach flu stuff sure put a hurt on me. Rest assured I am not dead, and currently working on this years' guide to gift-giving for Anachronists.
Hopefully, this weekend, you will all marvel at such wonders as I was able to find on Amazon, all conveniently mocked in list form for your enjoyment. Well, I'm only going to mock a couple of them. I'm still feeling a little bit down, and my sense of humor has not totally recovered.
I can only mock to my fullest potential when I'm healthy, you know.
Also, I am going to be paring down the content of this blog soon, and branching out with another blog devoted to virtual reality, Second Life, and some science-fictiony goodness.
Look out for updates and changes, as I seem to do every year about this time...
I saw the trailer for the upcoming Beowulf movie, and honestly I wasn't that impressed. Not that I was expecting the same kind of impressed I was when I watched the Lord of the Rings trailer for the first time. I loved reading Beowulf as a kid, but I'm afraid I'm going to be one of those awful people who pick apart a movie because some liberties were taken with the plot. Or the characters. Or whatever isn't quite 'right'. I dug around on the official Beowulf movie website hoping for more, something that could make me love this movie enough to shell out the $9 or more that it costs now for a movie ticket. Maybe I would stumble across a some golden treasure that would reassure me that yet another one of the classics isn't about to be murdered.
And LO! In the special features area of the website I discovered that a whole island has been created in Second Life devoted to the Beowulf movie experience! I went at once, armed with just a dagger, into the murky depths that is the virtual world...
UPDATE: Ok, I'm not so sulky, now. While I have used the Movie Quote Generator in the past with some success, having just found the Advertising Slogan Generator turned out to be great comedy timing, otherwise "Beowulf" would have not been on my mind...
I've been visiting replicas of real places in Second Life, which I think is a great way to experience a monument or city you might otherwise never get to see.
But, one must be careful of tangents in the virtual world, for there is much to distract you in the metaverse. Sometimes a guide can keep you on the right track. There are actually virtual travel agencies now within Second Life that will take you on a guided tour of pretty much whatever you are looking for. Castles, scenic balloon rides, tall ship cruises, whale watching, scuba diving and the list goes on...
That would be a cool job, huh? Virtual Tour Director. I thought so too, so I started to do a little online research on the subject.
Which led me to a site called Virtual Tourist, wherein I made myself a member just so I could create a virtual map of where I've been, lived and would still like to go:
Today is my third 'rez-day'. Three years ago today I signed into Second Life for the very first time. Three is OLD, considering most of the growth there has been in the last year or so.
This was pointed out to me earlier this evening, while I was 'virtually' hanging out in Washburne, an area created by Firefly and Serenity fans.
I had stumbled across their weekly virtual Browncoat Shindig and found myself relaxing next to a campfire. I made sure to wear my "No Space Monkeys Allowed" shirt and busted out a bottle of Blue Sun liquor. I thought it strange, that in my real life, the dancers would be nearest the fire, and for once, I had it pretty much to myself the whole time.
While many others were dancing and having themselves a great time, one of the revelers mentioned it was my rezday, and sure enough, it was. I was floored with the "coincidentalness" of it all.
I mean, what are the odds I'd inadvertently be celebrating my virtual birthday with total strangers who are Browncoats??
Be warned. This is an extremely long, image heavy post!
While I understand this may not appeal to the pure SCA folks that read my site, I've got my virtual readers to think about as well. Someday this site may have to break up into two or three separate blogs to accommodate those opposing interests. But until then, this will still be a confusing mash of the past and future.
Back in the 1950's, authors like Issac Asimov literally created the science fiction genre. Many of the things created in their imaginations (like robots and space travel) became real, years later. In the 1980's it was authors like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling creating worlds where 'cyberspace' and virtual reality co-existed with the real world.
The future, I believe, is here.
I've found some free time lately (or would that be escapism?) to visit the vast and amazing world of Second Life with my avatar, Anahita Veil. I started Second Life, waaaay back in 2004, when it was a mere babe in comparison to the overwhelming world it is today.
You can't help but hear all the media hype about "SL" now, what with so may big companies jumping on the virtual bandwagon as fast as Linden Lab can keep pumping out new SIMs (a 65,536 square meter region) for them to plant virtual headquarters and massive corporate logos on. One SIM (which is not yet open to the public) can be seen from the map feature in the SL user interface and is one big GIANT Red Bull logo.
Even CBS is getting in on the latest machinima craze, by making a promotional clip for "Two and a Half Men" from within Second Life.
In its infancy, SL had no outside advertising. Any resident of SL could create whatever logos and advertising they needed to promote their own content. Of course there were a few who ripped off 'real world' logos, but the most successful residents generated completely original virtual content for other residents to buy.
Every time I return, I stare in open-mouthed amazement at the creations of some of these residents. Unlike online games like World of Warcraft, where you can 'slightly' tinker with your appearance or make items (based on the game) to sell, Second Life is completely created by the users, all based on the underlying script language, LSL. Anything and everything is completely customizable. What follows is a photo show of images taken in just the last few weeks.
I was minding my own business, just flying around looking for interesting builds, when I noticed the Bat Signal. Further investigation proved that there was no cause for alarm.
I wandered a bit more, to find a movie theater that shows real-life streaming movies, all in a very convincing theater environment. Complete with concession stand!
I couldn't get any of the movies to play, so I investigated the projection booth, thinking maybe the camera needed to be activated in some way. And lo, I find Tom Servo. Ah, there's the culprit!
I can watch movies in 'real life' any time I want, right? I thought a better use of my time would be to keep looking for more cool stuff. So I visited a cluster of SIMs dedicated to reproducing New England. Having lived there in real life for 11 years, all I can say is WOW! Nice job! Now all you need is some virtual seagulls dive bombing you for your fish and chips and it's perfect.
After growing tired of New England, I figured I'd search around for another historical genre that interests me, that of the Old West. I guess watching HBO's Deadwood has rubbed off. Now, this is where SL gets really deep. There are SIM's that require you to dress in 1900's turn of the century garb and you have to wear a special badge if you only wish to observe and not role-play. That is because they have gun fights in the streets of town and Indian tribes that will kill you if you mess with them. Just like other online MMPORGs, there are health stats, weapons and bad guys. I figured I'd find the local Doc just in case a stray bullet came my way.
Maybe it was the occasional gunfire, but the finest SL RPG in the virtual west, Sigil, started to weird me out. Thought I'd see Al Swearengen come around the corner any minute. So I packed up my virtual bonnet and left for 'modern' virtual life once again. Searching for pirates ( another favorite pastime ) found me a beautiful virtual model of a pirate ship. There are so many good ships in SL now that I could do a whole post just about them.
The Venture: she flies the banner of Caledon, the name of the SIM on which she's anchored. Inside her hold, I came across a wonderful virtual invention: a real-time global projection of the whole Second Life map. It rotates in time with the game clock and updates as new SIMs come online. Fully user-generated, the Venture is outfitted for virtual travel, but sadly, the oceans do not yet interconnect, so sailing the virtual seven seas is not yet a virtual reality. Yet I am still awed by this feat of virtual cartography...
Heading over to Dublin SIM I found they've built virtual Trinity College. There's even a room where, just like in real life, you can see the Book of Kells open inside a large glass case. I've always wanted to see this in real life, but at least virtual is better than nothing.
Second Life is now being used by architectural firms, marketing agencies, presidential candidates and environmental and activist groups. At Friends of the Urban Forest, you can buy a virtual tree that will grow, and the real world foundation will plant a real life tree in San Francisco.
Remember, all of this was created by the residents, who are real people like you and me. How long will it be before the virtual world starts having a measurable environmental impact on the real world?
At least economically, it already has a foothold. Goldfarming has been around for years, and people have sold virtual magic items and countless other virtual goods on eBay. Virtual game economics are about to take a dive though, as eBay has recently announced that it will ban virtual goods from auction. Thankfully, they are exempting Second Life, which they do not consider 'a game'.
Today I read that World of Warcraft has officially reached 8 million members. And Second Life has breached 2.5 million; when did that happen? Also today, the SCA Group on MySpaceturned 4000! That's more than 10% of the paid membership of the SCA (approximately 30,000 paid members).
Winter is knocking on my door. My prediction of the first snow of the year was only off by two days. I really don't like winter, but it's much nicer to spend it in this area than where I used to live, in New England. On the plus side, it gives me an excuse to wear my Jayne hat.
Speaking of Firefly, there's been a huge growth in fans lately, which of course, translates to more websites and cool Firefly and Serenity things that can be found online. Oh, and Serenity also WON A HUGO AWARD on Saturday, August 26 at LA Con IV, the 64th World Science Fiction Convention. Here's the video of Morena Baccarin accepting the award, reading Joss Whedon's acceptance speech (PG -13 if you are worried about swear words).
Well, I had intended to embed THAT video into this post, but since that feature was disabled by the owner of the clip, I'm going to have to give you this one instead. Also because Nathan Fillion just asked me to 'please put this on the internet'. It's Joss Whedon and about half the Serenity cast at a stop on the Wizard World tour.
WOW- is this ever cool! Create your own Serenity ship from paper! The instructions are in Portuguese (I think), but the diagrams are good enough to figure out what you should be doing with all those pieces. You'll need a color printer, sharp scissors, glue and lots and lots of free time.
If you happen to be a PodCast junkie, you'll love The Signal and FireFlyTalk, two podcasts devoted to news of the 'verse. On both sites, you can click to listen now or dowload them for later.
If you'd rather listen to music, try some Filk. Oh, you thought that particular brand of songwriting was native only to the SCA? The Bedlam Bards, normally known for their Renaissance Fair performances are Browncoats!! They've written a filk of "Hero of Canton" and called it "The Creator of Firefly - the man they call Joss!" clicking this link opens an mp3 postcard, where you can get a FREE download of the song!
And FireFly Filk is a site with lyrics to many, many more great songs, but you'll have to do your own singin'.
I haven't figured out how to do a link into Second Life yet, but there's a a bunch of new Firefly/Serenity things going on in that virtual universe as well. Why, just the other day, I was able to walk through TWO different full size Serenity ships. You can now buy avatars that look like any of the cast, and there's a group of people trying to create a whole 'verse themed SIM.
All I can say is, you KNOW you've achieved cult status when people create a cookbook based on your story. Big Damn Chefs is about to publish The International Browncoat Charity Cookbook. Their collection of recipes submitted by fans from all over the world is huge. MMMM.... Livin' Legend Eggs, Special Hell Chili, Fruity Oaty Bars.... I'm gettin' hungry...
With the end of Pennsic yesterday, I expect that thousands of SCAers are headed home to unpack, tell their best NSTIW stories, and finally get a full nights sleep after two weeks of paradise.
Did anyone think to bring home some of the famous Pennsic chocolate milk for me? Is there a trailer stuffed to the gills with weapons, tents and garb boxes, also carrying a cooler, perhaps filled with the 'food of the gods' itself? If only I could believe in such miracles....
Man, I cannot WAIT for Estrella to hear the War Wagon again. Neither can you? Well, aren't you lucky?? Look what I found on my hard drive....
OH YEAH. GO OUTLANDS! I swear I'm going to make good on my threat to create an Outlands Cheerleading Squad someday.
I really CAN talk about SCA all day, hmmm? Better move on to other things before I get stuck this way....
One of my greatest regrets in life was that I never went to see Duran Duran in concert. Yes. I am a geek. Let's get that out of the way right now. Good. I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time, or didn't have the money for the huge stadium shows. Imagine my utter shock at finding out that they will be playing a virtual concert in Second Life on their very own Sim set up for that purpose.
They could choose avatars that look like younger, 80's versions of themselves, complete with new-wave hair! I wonder if they will play a bunch of B-sides (if you don't know what THAT means, you were born AFTER 1985) like Secret October, Khanada, and Faster than Light from their vinyl?
I've got over $2k of Lindens burning a hole in my virtual pocket. Bring on the REFLEX! I've gotta go tease my hair...
It has been over TWO WEEKS since my last confession. No, I'm not a recovering Catholic, I just thought that sounded like a nice opening line.
Boy, time sure flies when you are moving an hour away. I feel really bad I haven't kept up with the headlines, but honestly, not much has happened in the SCA lately. Well, other than Sir Bela Kos winning Outlands Crown Tournament and a run down to Dragonsspine for "Shake the Midwinter Blues."
So, my SCA life is on hold until I can get all my garb unpacked. Looks like I won't be making it to Feast of Fools this weekend, either. The truck for the last big furniture trip to Denver comes on Saturday morning. After that I'll be waaaaay too pooped to even consider driving over 2 hours for an event.
Well, here's the list of amazing things I found online in the last couple of weeks. ............................................................................... Kitemitsu.org has some FABULOUS Estrella War photos Run by a fellow MySpacer "Kitemitsu Daikatsu", this site has a wealth of down and dirty battle shots. Even a few Outlanders! Check out Kitemitsu.org and select "Pictures" from the menu...
............................................................................... Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog Boy, is Middle English a tongue twister. Chaucer's Blog is a bit tedious on the eyes, but whoever is writing this blog is funny. And has way too much free time. ............................................................................... College Of St. Golias in the Outlands makes the news From El Defensor Chieftain.com: A battle from the Middle Ages rages in Socorro almost every Saturday.
New Mexico Tech serves as home to the College of St. Golias, a group that studies and practices the customs of medieval times as part of the international Society for Creative Anachronism Inc.
Recently, members of the group traveled to Phoenix for a competition and won with their kingdom, the largest geographical division in the society. (read more)
............................................................................... Make your own Treehouse Does Rogue Camp need a permanent treehouse? Check out Instructables.com Treehouse Plans. Click the orange 'step>>' button under the image to see how it's done.
............................................................................... Also on Instructables.com - Applying textures in Second Life If you are like me building with prims in Second Life is like trying to learn Swahili from a cat. But this handy article about applying textures on individual object surfaces clears up so much.
............................................................................... Star Blazers!! Did you watch this as a kid?? I remember racing home from school so I wouldn't miss a single minute of Star Blazers. This was my very first exposure to an animation style that would later be dubbed "Anime" and end up reaching cult status.
And next time I have a spare $300 lying around, I'll be buying seasons 1-3. I'm sure they won't be nearly as cool as I remember. Hey, I was TWELVE. Give me a break. At least it isn't Pokemon.
............................................................................... Cate Blanchett will reprise her role as Elizabeth!! When I saw the first Elizabeth, I developed an almost pavlovian response to brocade and beads. Mmmm...late period garb....
But I digress.
An upcoming sequel promises more finery, and being set 15 years after the end of the first movie, one can only guess at the intrigues and plot twists we'll be lapping up at the theatre.
Could opening night be an opportunity to wear my Red Dress? Hmmm...yeah, maybe if I want to stand through the whole movie. I can't see that gigantic hoop fitting into a movie seat.
............................................................................... And just for the Star Wars Fans... And because I love embedding video in my blog...check out these kids loooong fight scene. Their choreography is AWESOME. ...............................................................................
While some of you may know about the lay-offs I've experienced in the past year, some may not. Suffice to say I'm looking at creative ways to make money without handing over my soul in return. I've talked for a long time about opening a store, and I'm taking some baby steps towards this real life goal.
But what about my virtual life? I've been playing Second Life for quite some time, and I've made a few Lindens here and there, but that is NOTHING compared to the folks in this article by WIRED Magazine.
I've met a great many cool people in Second Life, but I've never run across "Second Life's most famous landowner, Anshe Chung, who reportedly makes more than $150,000 a year in the virtual world." My God. A tenth of that would set me up for a long time.
WOW. Did you read the Ebay listing? If you buy the land, you even get a Virtual date with her. What kills me is that someone actually bid nearly $1,500. You know what I could DO with $1,500?? In REAL LIFE??
Sigh.
I suspect that my programming and scripting skills are not really fast enough to be able to make a virtual job work well. Some of the builders in Second Life seem to create their goods as if by magic. It all goes way over my head. I looked into creating a "Virtual SCA Barony Sim" a while back, and even asked an acquaintance of mine (who was president of the SCA at the time) whether she thought it could work or not. The response I got was lukewarm at best, and that the SCA Inc would not be able to back it or condone it.
Maybe I should just start a Renaissance Faire Sim. Then we could have virtual turkey legs, virtual jousting and virtual bad accents! Hell, I'd even set up a "Virtual Vegetable Justice" booth.
As long as I could get Anshe to sit there and let me throw tomoatoes at her.
Join me in yet another geekerific online timesuck hobby.
Look at this photo. We are watching streaming video, and playing Mystery Science Theatre 3000! Can you believe it?? (I'm in the far left back row, by the way...)If you decide to check out Second Life, look me up. My SL name is Anahita Veil.
So now that I have a high speed connection again, I have been able to delve into the world of Second Life to my heart's content.
I decided to change my avatar to look like a character from Dune. I've spent so much time this summer without an internet connection, that it feels like I'm coming back into civilization after being in the desert for months.
I'm having a hard time re-adapting myself to virtual reality, though. Most of the friends I made are gone, or they just aren't logging on at the same times I do. There have been many changes too, with more sims, games and upgrades. Man, does every sim have to have a strip club now? It was only a short three months, and I feel like I've been left behind, to become a dinosaur. Geez, I guess I feel anachronistc.
The only other newsworthy item is that it's Ian's birthday tomorrow. Sorry I can't be there to help you celebrate. Here's hoping that we can catch up in person over my birthday in New Orleans. Assuming they are all dried out by then...
Found a great Amazon Throne in Second Life last night. Pretty much as soon as I sat down, someone who lived on the island came over to talk to me. I hope I didn't desecrate it or anything.
The view was great from here. There was all kinds of pagan art all over that I didn't get a chance to see before my computer crashed. They have even built a cave system under the mountain.
I'm just glad I don't have anything this big and heavy to move up to Sir Torins (where I'll be staying for the summer).
"Hey, Torin. You got room for an Amazon Throne in your garage?"
Because I could get used to this. Now, if only I could figure out a way to be Queen....
If I EVER needed a Gypsy Wagon, now would be the time. I guess an RV is really like a modern gypsy wagon, though. Not that I can afford one of those either. I guess my minivan will have to do for now.
Here's a photo of a bunch of them created in Second Life for an object building contest. I think it's very anachronistic to use high end technology to create virtual historical things.
Maybe I should just paint my minivan to look like a gyspy wagon. Now THAT would be cheesy.
So Thursdays are becoming my special night for Second Life, and I'm always looking for cool virtual events to attend to maximize my fun-time.
Last night was a dance party for the Legion of Villainy, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and dress my avatar up as the most eeeevil thing I could think of.
No, not George Bush.
I had recently bought an outfit from Torn, a great SL designer, that was an asymmetrical 'mutant dark angel'. It makes the left side of my character normal, but the right side has a super huge black muscular arm that ends in looong claws, a shredded black wing coming out of my shoulder, and creates a slitted reptile eye. Pretty scary! It was also made for a guy, so I had to get creative with the lack of upper body coverage...
I decided to tint my skin bright red, color my hair black, and with the addition of a set of red horns from a new friend, the outfit was complete. I became the virtual embodiment of my real super-power. I was the MUSE OF EVIL!
I showed up with an animated spider that followed me around, and after much banter and jokes about 'sharks with frickin' laser beams' and taking over the world, I was pronounced the eeevilest lady at the ball. I won $300 Linden Dollars, which in reality only adds up to $1.35 in real money, BUT that's NOT the POINT!
It has been proven! Even in virtual reality, I am the MUSE OF EVIL. You must all bow down to me!! Mwa-ha-ha-HAAA!
So I have a job interview tomorrow morning, and my stomach is doing flip-flops. Could mean that I'm onto something. When I interviewed at my current place of employment, I just had this feeling, for about 2 days before the interview, that I would get the job.
Then again, it might just be the flu.
Oh, and for those of you actually keeping track, I did NOT get the Liason job with Second Life. They were offering only $11.50 an hour part-time.
How about a resounding HELL NO!
Hopefully, if I am getting the gut instinct about this new interview, they'll actually offer a living wage. Then maybe I can go to more out of Kingdom SCA events.
Well, I had my virtual job interview last night in Second Life. I even dressed my avatar up in somewhat more professional clothing. I was really hoping this was going to be for the marketing position, but it was for the "Liason" opening instead.
It's been probably near 6 weeks since I applied, and I thought they tossed my resume. Apparently, there is a great deal of competition, so I'm happy they took the time to talk to me at all. Still have yet to hear what the pay scale is, but if I like it and I get the job, I get to use my home computer to 'go to work' in this vast virtual community. I could be like one of the hordes of computer programmers that are known to work in their bathrobes or underwear (yes, you know who you are...).
I applied to Linden Labs (the company behind Second Life) what seems like many moons ago for a couple of different positions. I just got an email saying they want to interview me. Still not sure if it is for the Liason or the Marketing position, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
So I've just attended my first virtual SCA gathering in Second Life. I happened upon it accidentally when a couple of the SCA in SL group members started instant messaging each other about an event that was taking place in a few minutes, and my account is set to deliver all group messages, so I asked and was invited.
