Deadwood Burns

(I received this dispatch via courier from a friend in the New World. - RJ)

I was en route from the small town of Eau Claire, Wisconsin to the West Coast - Portland, Oregon, to be precise. The stagecoach had made its way into the Black Hills of South Dakota and was planning to stop in the town of Deadwood for the evening.

When we reached the town, however, we discovered tragedy had struck: the town had suffered a fierce fire, and the entire central area was destroyed!

As I stood, surveying the damage, a rugged frontiersman by the name of Mr. Caed Aldwych appeared. I comiserated with him for some minutes, and asked him how the fire had started. "They say it may have started in the California, ma'am," but no one really knew. Reports were that a number of residents had perished. May God have mercy on their souls. Mr. Aldwych then left to recover his tools; he planned to salvage what he could of his property and start rebuilding that very evening. "You are a brave and determined man to do so in this hostile environment," I said. True to the image of the stoic frontiersman, he merely shrugged and set upon his chosen task.

I wandered the now-deserted streets, sketching the scene. Here are some of my efforts:

I was told that lone, sad-looking gentleman was a Mr. Clay Kungler, an important man in town. I dared not approach him in his grief.

We shall rest as well as we can in the coaches and set out again for Portland at first light.

(M. Sand Rau has made a 10-minute film of the incident, available here. - RJ)

Nemo - Undersea Steampunk City

As has been reported elsewhere, last Tuesday was the opening of Nemo, an undersea steampunk city inspired by Jules Verne's famous captain. Naturally, I had to pay a visit.

The entrance into Captain Nemo's realm is through this hatch, connected to a small platform atop the sea. Open the hatch, summon the elevator, and ride to the lower level.

Inside, a series of interlocking chambers await. The room below is filled with crackling electricity, generated from Tesla coils, powering arcane pieces of equipment.


Captain Nemo's workshop has several nautical projects underway, including this device with mechanical arms, modelled after the giant squid pictured on the far wall.


What could all this energy be used for? Quite mysterious.




Outside the structure, a craft circles endlessly. (N.B. If that craft were available for purchase, I'd buy one.)


The build, by Mr. Sextan Shepherd, is beautiful. One can see the rust and rivets in the daguerrotype above, and the attention to detail everywhere.

The new sim drew a variety of visitors. What I found interesting was that very few were dressed in Steampunk garb, or anything approaching it. (I donned Mr. Sands' diving helmet for my undersea explorations.) One supposes publicity for the build went well beyond the Steamlands, and curious of all types wanted to pay a visit. I hope this bodes well for Nemo's future.

[Edited 4/1/10 to reflect the change in SLURL.]

Svarga Returns

When I started in-world, as a younger nerd than I am today, I did what any good nerd would do: I bought a book. Several of them, in fact.

One of the ways books on Second Life filled pages was to have a section on "must-see" destinations. One that got a mention, if not a full writeup, in most books was Svarga. The Second Life In-World Travel Guide lists Svarga as one of the "best of the best," and describes it as follows:

In Hinduism, Svarga is considered one of the parts of Heaven. It's the waiting room, so to speak, before your reincarnation....After a year's work, Svarga is a full functioning virtual ecosystem brought online by resident Laukosargas Svarog. This SIM uses artificial clouds that help to carry the plant spores and bees to pollinate the flowers.

(Humorously, the section notes: "It's very common to see residents relaxing. Feel free to say hello, but understand they may not say hello back.")

I visited early on, and took some pictures, and meant to post them. I'm not quite sure why I didn't. Then the sim closed, and it hardly seemed worth posting on a location that no longer existed.

The other night, I heard that Svarga was back. (And now owned by Linden Lab, according to New World Notes.) I paid another visit, a little older and, I hope, a little wiser.

The sim looked exactly as I remembered...and, indeed, exactly as the camera remembered.




















The first three pictures are from November 2, 2008; the final seven are from March 22, 2010. The blue dragon, by the way, is an avatar and not part of the environment.

Steam Sky City - rebuilt!

After the recent outrage perpetrated against Steam Sky City during the celebration of the Guvnah's 5th rezday, I thought I would fly to the aerial city to check on the state of repairs. Imagine my surprise when I found a fully functioning Death Star that repairs had progressed far beyond anything I could have imagined! (Apologies for the struck-out text. For a moment, a sinister voice from a galaxy far, far away appeared in my head.)

New rotors keep the city aloft. They are in greater number than before, and spin more rapidly. (And, though the picture does not do them justice, the textures on the base of the rotors are amazing.)

The infrastructure has been rebuilt, providing a transparent canopy throughout the central core of the city.


An aft control tower now stands where the visitors' cabins once were. (And, ahem, Mrs. Volare: that was where my home point was - still is, actually. That sister of mine can't figure out how to deed her land to our group so I can rez in my own house. Well, her own house, to be technical, but it's family, for goodness' sake!)


I happened to catch a glimpse of the CAT hospital ship en route from the Iron Cloud.


Inside, the engines have been entirely rebuilt, and appear much more powerful than before. One suspects any future rogue catgirl pirates will be in for a surprise! (Unless I just let the cat(girl) out of the bag. Oops.)


I tested out the controls on the aft flight deck.


As an aside, I heard an interesting rumor the other day: that Babbagers were hearing that the fiendish Doctor Obolensky was taking credit for the attack on Steam Sky City. On the one hand, I would not put such an audacious maneuver past him, though Caledon seems quite far from his usual area of operation. On the other hand, the Doctor is never publicity-shy, as one may recall from his decision to place his name on the bombs he had mercenaries drop on Babbage. It is hard for me to comprehend that he might have been behind the scheme and yet not made his participation more apparent. Methinks this claim an effort to take credit for someone else's perfidy. In any event, as Clockwinder Tenk apparently tolerates the Doctor's presence in Babbage, I urge Mr. Tenk to investigate this claim and, if it contains any grain of truth, to take all appropriate action.

Aether Salon: Music Boxes!

Sunday was the monthly Aether Salon, in New Babbage. Sister was feeling under the weather, so she asked me to attend in her stead. The subject was Music Boxes, with featured guest Miss Canolli Capalini.

Miss Jed Dagger introduced the Salon...

...while Miss Viv Trafalgar introduced the speaker. Miss Trafalgar, it transpired, is a music box collector. One could not help but feel this month's topic was very special to her.


Miss Capalini noted that, while the music box as we think of it is a 19th century invention, there had been efforts to "capture" music over the centuries.

"[P]rior to the 18th century, there were, of course, many musical inventions, dating all the way back to antiquity. Most notably, Heron of Alexandria. He didn't make music boxes that played music, but created inventions that mimicked the calls of birds.. the whispers and sighs of maidens, heraldic trumpets enough to fool the mind into believing they were hearing wisps of music upon the air. In the 9th century in Persia, two brothers made a set of automatic organs that played continuously driven by water."

Below, Miss Verlia Bilavio, Dame Ordinal Malaprop (in background), and Miss Stargirl MacBain.


Miss Capalini noted that the modern [19th century] music box "produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique. Some of the more complex boxes also have a tiny drum and small bells, in addition to the metal comb. Note that the tone of a musical box is unlike that of any musical instrument."

Below, Miss Maribelle Bronet, Miss Ceejay Writer, and Miss Rowan Derryth.


She observed that it was the Swiss who perfected the music box, using skills developed in watch-making. However, the age of the music box was not long-lived, as Mr. Edison's phonograph largely rendered such boxes obsolete.

Below, I sit between Miss Saffia Widdershins and Mr. Marion Questi. Behind us stand Mr. Jasper Kiergarten and Miss Bookworm Hienrichs.


Miss Capalini then showed some of her creations, including this music box custom-ordered for a wedding; it played Etta James' "At Last."

This was an early creation, and has a clock mechanism as well as a music mechanism.

Note the spiderweb in the upper right hand corner and the spider in the lower right hand corner of this exquisite box:


I listen intently.


Next month's Salon will feature a return of Mr. Hotspur O'Toole.

The Purple Prom for RFL

On Saturday afternoon, Mrs. Volare (Fogwoman Gray), co-chair of Caledon's RFL team, hosted a dance in lush Tanglewood Forest to kick off Caledon's RFL events. Miss Soliel Snook played upbeat music from a variety of eras.

Miss Snook dances with Mr. Gabriel Psaltery.


Miss Garnet Psaltery, Prim Perfect publisher Miss Saffia Widdershins, and Caledon newcomer Miss Kirey Somersley. Mr. Psaltery is the nephew of long-time Caledonian Miss Psaltery.


Miss Elize Foxclaw dances with Mr. Monty Streusel.


Miss Ranma Tardis.


I dance. My neighbor, Miss SpinWeaver Radmussen, is in the background.


Miss Widdershins.


Mr. and Mrs. Vivito Volare.


Miss Darlingmonster Ember, in a most magical gown.


The dapper Mr. Bodhisatva Paperclip.


Miss Elizabeth Burleigh, with Miss Random Wezzog in the background.

Though the event started out a little short of gentlemen (though, with the exception of Mr. Paperclip, not short gentlemen, I hasten to add), others, including Professor Paracelsus Schonberg and Mr. Jorge Serapis, arrived. No doubt this is but the first event for Caledon's RFL team.

One can only wonder what the fund-raising capabilities of a combined Steamlands team might be...