The church and graveyard...
...next to the horse-drawn hearse.
The gothic Lucidity nightclub:
A spot for quiet contemplation...as long as nothing creepy pays a visit.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wretched Hollow
Wretched Hollow is home to Wretched Dollies, a nightclub called Lucidity, and assorted gothic/Victorian/EGL stores, including Sick With Lust, Kamikaze Dolls, House of Debauch, Sugar, The Black Canary, Silent Sparrow, and Likka . The entire sim is quite atmospheric, and fun (in a creepy way) to visit entirely outside of the shopping.
The church and graveyard...
...next to the horse-drawn hearse.
The gothic Lucidity nightclub:
A spot for quiet contemplation...as long as nothing creepy pays a visit.
The church and graveyard...
...next to the horse-drawn hearse.
The gothic Lucidity nightclub:
A spot for quiet contemplation...as long as nothing creepy pays a visit.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
RFL 09 - Last Post, I Promise!
Cleaning out my pictures folder today, I realized there were two more from RFL I had neglected to add to the earlier post. Both were taken early on Saturday, just as the relay was starting.
Below, Team Caledon waited for the official start. I'm off to the left, in the Caledon t-shirt, with Mr. Touma Yoshikawa, Miss Kymber Schnook, Mr. Wrath Constantine, Miss Autopilotpatty Poppy, and Miss Aevalle Galicia, and one other Caledonian, in front of the Team Caledon site.
A little later, after the race has started, the same group (plus Miss Aubry Clarity) cheering on the runner.
Below, Team Caledon waited for the official start. I'm off to the left, in the Caledon t-shirt, with Mr. Touma Yoshikawa, Miss Kymber Schnook, Mr. Wrath Constantine, Miss Autopilotpatty Poppy, and Miss Aevalle Galicia, and one other Caledonian, in front of the Team Caledon site.
A little later, after the race has started, the same group (plus Miss Aubry Clarity) cheering on the runner.
Roller skates! I knew I needed something else on the track!
Sagrada Familia
Based on the famed Barcelona cathedral Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, or the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family, designed by Antoni Gaudi, the astonishingly detailed Sagrada Familia cathedral in Second Life was designed by Miss Ainee Kohime.
One can take a balloon ride around the cathedral for better views.
The spires ascend 150 meters into the sky.
The textures are remarkable, both outside and in.
One can take a balloon ride around the cathedral for better views.
The spires ascend 150 meters into the sky.
The textures are remarkable, both outside and in.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A brief review of the Seventh Son trilogy, by J.C. Hutchins
Though this has nothing to do with Caledon, Steampunk, or, indeed, with Second Life, I felt compelled to write the review and post it here, as well as pimp for the print version of Seventh Son: Descent, coming out in October. (In addition to Descent, the story continues in Deception, and Destruction.) For everyone who heard about the books years ago and has already heard the podcast novel (the novel was originally written in 2005, and podcast in 2006-07), I got on the podcast merry-go-round late, okay?
Author J.C. Hutchins has written and recorded a podcast thriller that carries the listener along from one cliffhanger to the next, getting drawn ever-deeper into the characters and conspiracies that span this sprawling trilogy. The first book, Descent, starts with a bang: the President is killed by a young boy. Seven men are abducted by the military and taken to a secret installation. They learn that they are clones, “Betas,” as they are dubbed, the result of decades of research and limitless black funds. The “Seventh Son” project has been following their lives for years, and has intervened now only because the project heads believe that the person responsible for killing the President is the “Alpha,” the man from whom the Betas were cloned. The hope is that the Betas can think enough like Alpha to help track him down. And why not? The Betas share Alpha’s memories through age 16, when the cloning began.
From that premise, the novels sprawl across many episodes (though the action encompasses a remarkably short time), with multiple cliffhangers. The Betas – and the listener – slowly learn the full extent of the Seventh Son project – and the full extent of Alpha’s plans. To say more would spoil the pleasure of one surprise after another as the story unfolds. Suffice it to say that the plot twists continue right to the end of the satisfying and appropriate Epilogue.
Thrillers aren’t for everyone (usually including me), and science-fiction thrillers require two different suspensions of disbelief: first, that the technology is plausible; second, that the hero or heroes are capable of the death-defying acts depicted. Seventh Son adds a third necessary suspension of disbelief: that, given the technology and the world the author has created, the events that require such heroic action are sufficiently plausible. Cloning technology, mind control, super-secret military clearances, advanced jets, megalomaniacs, and more come at the listener at a dizzying pace.
One of the remarkable things Hutchins managed to pull off is the depiction of seven separate main characters. As I started to listen, I decided to write down the names of the characters and something about their backgrounds, to remind myself of which clone was which. However, after several episodes, I threw away my crib sheet, as each was sufficiently distinctive to need no mnemonic device. (It helps that Hutchins has a slightly different voice for each of the characters, something that also eliminates the need to introduce each speaker with “John said,…”) We have Michael, the soldier; Jack, the geneticist; Mike, the criminologist; Thomas, the priest; Jonathan, the U.N. big-timer; Kilroy 2.0, the mentally unstable computer hacker; and John, the hippie musician. Each was taken from a prior life, from friends and family, and shocked by the various revelations. Each reactions to the news – being a clone, the heretofore unknown brothers, the plots within plots, the role that each must play – in a different way. Their professions often play a part in the action, as the soldier helps organize his civilian brothers, the priest grapples with the spiritual implications of being a clone, the hacker uses his computer skills and his connection with the hacker community, and so on. With so much attention necessarily paid to the seven protagonists, the supporting characters are substantially less well-developed, but the listener still gets a sense of distinct personalities.
The books allow Hutchins to explore a number of themes, particularly the morality of cloning – especially the effect on the clones (something echoed in Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper) – and the hubris of scientists.
The miscues are few. Occasionally one gets the deus ex machina feeling as a character reveals a new piece of information about, say, the limitations of mind control technology. The head scientist stubbornly clings to his belief that the cloning project was a good idea even after he sees the wreckage it caused. (One is reminded of the New Babbage adage, “What could possibly go wrong?” as chaos reigns.) In Hutchins’ world, the United Nations is actually useful and competent, rather than being populated by hundreds of bloviators who can’t even agree on condemning genocide. And, in a country where secrets are sold for fifteen minutes of fame and an appearance on Larry King Live, could anyone build an underground rail line hundreds of miles long, from New York City toward the west, in utter secrecy? Ultimately, though, none of that matters once you’re strapped on to the rocket and holding on for dear life.
Once I started listening, I couldn’t stop. It’s the audio equivalent of the page-turning novel you can’t put down. Each episode averages about 30-40 minutes, with a few much shorter and a few much longer, and each comprises one to three chapters. Somewhere along the line, the episodes started to include “the story so far,” which may be more accurately dubbed “in last week’s episode,” to refresh the listener’s memory. They’re bite-sized, and delicious!
Download the book at http://www.7thsonnovel.com/.
Author J.C. Hutchins has written and recorded a podcast thriller that carries the listener along from one cliffhanger to the next, getting drawn ever-deeper into the characters and conspiracies that span this sprawling trilogy. The first book, Descent, starts with a bang: the President is killed by a young boy. Seven men are abducted by the military and taken to a secret installation. They learn that they are clones, “Betas,” as they are dubbed, the result of decades of research and limitless black funds. The “Seventh Son” project has been following their lives for years, and has intervened now only because the project heads believe that the person responsible for killing the President is the “Alpha,” the man from whom the Betas were cloned. The hope is that the Betas can think enough like Alpha to help track him down. And why not? The Betas share Alpha’s memories through age 16, when the cloning began.
From that premise, the novels sprawl across many episodes (though the action encompasses a remarkably short time), with multiple cliffhangers. The Betas – and the listener – slowly learn the full extent of the Seventh Son project – and the full extent of Alpha’s plans. To say more would spoil the pleasure of one surprise after another as the story unfolds. Suffice it to say that the plot twists continue right to the end of the satisfying and appropriate Epilogue.
Thrillers aren’t for everyone (usually including me), and science-fiction thrillers require two different suspensions of disbelief: first, that the technology is plausible; second, that the hero or heroes are capable of the death-defying acts depicted. Seventh Son adds a third necessary suspension of disbelief: that, given the technology and the world the author has created, the events that require such heroic action are sufficiently plausible. Cloning technology, mind control, super-secret military clearances, advanced jets, megalomaniacs, and more come at the listener at a dizzying pace.
One of the remarkable things Hutchins managed to pull off is the depiction of seven separate main characters. As I started to listen, I decided to write down the names of the characters and something about their backgrounds, to remind myself of which clone was which. However, after several episodes, I threw away my crib sheet, as each was sufficiently distinctive to need no mnemonic device. (It helps that Hutchins has a slightly different voice for each of the characters, something that also eliminates the need to introduce each speaker with “John said,…”) We have Michael, the soldier; Jack, the geneticist; Mike, the criminologist; Thomas, the priest; Jonathan, the U.N. big-timer; Kilroy 2.0, the mentally unstable computer hacker; and John, the hippie musician. Each was taken from a prior life, from friends and family, and shocked by the various revelations. Each reactions to the news – being a clone, the heretofore unknown brothers, the plots within plots, the role that each must play – in a different way. Their professions often play a part in the action, as the soldier helps organize his civilian brothers, the priest grapples with the spiritual implications of being a clone, the hacker uses his computer skills and his connection with the hacker community, and so on. With so much attention necessarily paid to the seven protagonists, the supporting characters are substantially less well-developed, but the listener still gets a sense of distinct personalities.
The books allow Hutchins to explore a number of themes, particularly the morality of cloning – especially the effect on the clones (something echoed in Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper) – and the hubris of scientists.
The miscues are few. Occasionally one gets the deus ex machina feeling as a character reveals a new piece of information about, say, the limitations of mind control technology. The head scientist stubbornly clings to his belief that the cloning project was a good idea even after he sees the wreckage it caused. (One is reminded of the New Babbage adage, “What could possibly go wrong?” as chaos reigns.) In Hutchins’ world, the United Nations is actually useful and competent, rather than being populated by hundreds of bloviators who can’t even agree on condemning genocide. And, in a country where secrets are sold for fifteen minutes of fame and an appearance on Larry King Live, could anyone build an underground rail line hundreds of miles long, from New York City toward the west, in utter secrecy? Ultimately, though, none of that matters once you’re strapped on to the rocket and holding on for dear life.
Once I started listening, I couldn’t stop. It’s the audio equivalent of the page-turning novel you can’t put down. Each episode averages about 30-40 minutes, with a few much shorter and a few much longer, and each comprises one to three chapters. Somewhere along the line, the episodes started to include “the story so far,” which may be more accurately dubbed “in last week’s episode,” to refresh the listener’s memory. They’re bite-sized, and delicious!
Download the book at http://www.7thsonnovel.com/.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
RFL - Mars and Steelhead
Not content with a single build, the indefatigable engineers in Babbage constructed Martian Dreams, a Steampunk trip to the Red Planet.
Chaired by Miss Breezy Carver and designed by M. Reitsuki Kojima and others, this depicts a future Babbage base on Mars. (That Clockwinder chap is certainly an expansionist sort. Manifest destiny, indeed! Perhaps Dr. Obolensky had the right idea after all.)
Mars is an inhospitable place, as illustrated by the rugged terrain outside. Below, a rocket waits on a launch gantry. Elsewhere, an enormous drilling machine - steam-powered, of course - works its way into a mine. Writings on a Stonehenge-like structure suggest the presence of life on Mars - answering David Bowie's question - at least some time in the past.
Inside the protective dome, the colonists live and work and play.
No doubt they think fondly of New Babbage on Earth.
Going in a different direction, the Steelhead Salmons chose as a theme for their RFL build something closer to Earth. Mr. Eclipse evoked the Pacific Northwest by modelling the area after Crescent Lake, Oregon.
The tall trees, snow-capped mountains, and a cool lake in the middle were a welcome sight on a hot summer day at Chez Jameson.
Chaired by Miss Breezy Carver and designed by M. Reitsuki Kojima and others, this depicts a future Babbage base on Mars. (That Clockwinder chap is certainly an expansionist sort. Manifest destiny, indeed! Perhaps Dr. Obolensky had the right idea after all.)
Mars is an inhospitable place, as illustrated by the rugged terrain outside. Below, a rocket waits on a launch gantry. Elsewhere, an enormous drilling machine - steam-powered, of course - works its way into a mine. Writings on a Stonehenge-like structure suggest the presence of life on Mars - answering David Bowie's question - at least some time in the past.
Inside the protective dome, the colonists live and work and play.
No doubt they think fondly of New Babbage on Earth.
Going in a different direction, the Steelhead Salmons chose as a theme for their RFL build something closer to Earth. Mr. Eclipse evoked the Pacific Northwest by modelling the area after Crescent Lake, Oregon.
The tall trees, snow-capped mountains, and a cool lake in the middle were a welcome sight on a hot summer day at Chez Jameson.
RFL - New Babbage
New Babbage had a magnificent RFL build. The number of people involved are too many for one Journalist to remember, so look here and here for credits and thank-yous. Miss Breezy Carver, Miss Kandace Commons, Dr. Obolensky, Mr. Edward Pearse, and Mr. Greg Merryman all had a hand in creating the build, and my apologies to everyone I omitted. Below, an overview, with the Sphere d'Unite on the left, the airship tower center, and Ferris Wheel right.
The entrance:
The base of the Ferris Wheel, with its steel-and-rivets texture:
The Petit Palais:
Inside, some whimsical sights and RFL vendors:
Oooh, injury or death. What's life without risk?
An, um, interesting balloon:
The next building is the Gallerie de Machines. (Since when did Babbage go French?) Several shots below of the interior:
A Steampunk duck factory? Say what?
The exterior:
The Grand Palais:
The back side of the Sphere d' Unite. Everywhere, attention to detail.
The entrance:
The base of the Ferris Wheel, with its steel-and-rivets texture:
The Petit Palais:
Inside, some whimsical sights and RFL vendors:
Oooh, injury or death. What's life without risk?
An, um, interesting balloon:
The next building is the Gallerie de Machines. (Since when did Babbage go French?) Several shots below of the interior:
A Steampunk duck factory? Say what?
The exterior:
The Grand Palais:
Dr. Obolensky's airship and mooring tower:
The back side of the Sphere d' Unite. Everywhere, attention to detail.
An excellent build, displaying Babbage's Steampunk theme and engineering focus. And did I mention Mars? Perhaps next time...
Monday, July 20, 2009
RFL - Metropolis
Caledonians were also responsible for the Metropolis, an Art Deco homage to Fritz Lang's film of the same name. Miss Kamilah Hauptmann created the concept and design, adding a narrative of ancient solar mythology to the build to represent "the turning of destruction to a power for healing." Her Lyonesse also created the spotlights, the animated climb up the Sears Building, the Sun Throne, and various artefacts related to the mythology. Mr. Wrath Constantine and Miss Ceidru Gothly created the Art Deco steam train, some aircraft, and various embellishments, and Miss Virrginia Tombola created the replica of the Chrysler Building. (One wonders what it will be called now.) Miss SimplyAmy Iwish created additional aircraft for the build.
RFL - Team Caledon
Second Life's Relay for Life, uh, relay was this past weekend. Once again, the Steamlands were well represented, with at least five builds, at least three teams, at least seven of the top 15 finishers, and more participants than I could count.
I'll break up this picture-heavy set of posts across the various groups and builds. First up: Team Caledon, which occupied a space in the RFL Start Here sim (something of a mixed blessing, as too many people did, in fact, Start Here, causing immense lag initially).
The team camp was a modest building from the outside, with bricks and rivets giving a nod to Steampunkery.
The designation "Diamond Team" signifies raising between L$1 million and L$10 million - only the "Purple" level - above L$10 million - is higher. Caledon raised slightly more than L$1.5 million, an impressive total in a deep recession when the Guv signalled a desire to cut back on fundraising efforts this year.
Inside, the building houses the Hope of a Cure Factory, created by Mr. Equine McMillan, representing "the power of cooperation against a common enemy, for a future that's a better place for all of us."
Paying the Factory yields the RFL Cure Rose, created by Mr. Omicron Llewellyn and Miss Soliel Snook:
Behind the main structure is a smaller, modest building, housing various fundraising goodies.
Of course, I was a complete idler compared to the big guns: Miss Fogwoman Gray (21.12 laps), Miss Eugenia Burton (21.00 - fine, a Steelheader, not a Caledonian, but let's not quibble), Miss Aevalle Galicia (20.96), Miss Darlingmonster Ember (20.77), Mr. Viderian Vollmar (20.69), Mr. Wrath Constantine (17.92), and Miss Random Wezzog (17.85). (Apologies if I missed anyone from the Steamlands in the top 15 - no slight intended.) I don't know how they had the stamina, or the patience to outwait the lag.
Congratulations to Miss Kiralette Kelley, Team Captain for Team Caledon in 2009, and everyone who put in so many hours, not just over the past weekend, but the entire season. It's heartbreaking to hear so many stories of cancer - survivors, relatives of cancer patients, the stories of those who didn't make it. But in shared tragedy is shared comfort.
I'll break up this picture-heavy set of posts across the various groups and builds. First up: Team Caledon, which occupied a space in the RFL Start Here sim (something of a mixed blessing, as too many people did, in fact, Start Here, causing immense lag initially).
The team camp was a modest building from the outside, with bricks and rivets giving a nod to Steampunkery.
The designation "Diamond Team" signifies raising between L$1 million and L$10 million - only the "Purple" level - above L$10 million - is higher. Caledon raised slightly more than L$1.5 million, an impressive total in a deep recession when the Guv signalled a desire to cut back on fundraising efforts this year.
Inside, the building houses the Hope of a Cure Factory, created by Mr. Equine McMillan, representing "the power of cooperation against a common enemy, for a future that's a better place for all of us."
Paying the Factory yields the RFL Cure Rose, created by Mr. Omicron Llewellyn and Miss Soliel Snook:
Behind the main structure is a smaller, modest building, housing various fundraising goodies.
The race itself - sorry, no pictures, as I was running, okay? - was horribly laggy for the first few hours. It was probably just great overnight, but I'm a slacker, and needed sleep. Sunday morning it was fairly low-lag, and I managed to complete two full laps at that point. All in all, I estimate I managed about four laps, or close to 48,000 meters.
Of course, I was a complete idler compared to the big guns: Miss Fogwoman Gray (21.12 laps), Miss Eugenia Burton (21.00 - fine, a Steelheader, not a Caledonian, but let's not quibble), Miss Aevalle Galicia (20.96), Miss Darlingmonster Ember (20.77), Mr. Viderian Vollmar (20.69), Mr. Wrath Constantine (17.92), and Miss Random Wezzog (17.85). (Apologies if I missed anyone from the Steamlands in the top 15 - no slight intended.) I don't know how they had the stamina, or the patience to outwait the lag.
Congratulations to Miss Kiralette Kelley, Team Captain for Team Caledon in 2009, and everyone who put in so many hours, not just over the past weekend, but the entire season. It's heartbreaking to hear so many stories of cancer - survivors, relatives of cancer patients, the stories of those who didn't make it. But in shared tragedy is shared comfort.
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