North Brother Island

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North Brother Island

“The last unknown place in New York City.” This is the subtitle of the book about North Brother Island by Christopher Payne, and also in the land description of the brilliant, virtual North Brother Island which just opened yesterday, June 29.

The sim is the latest in a series by Serene Footman and Jade Koltai based on real life locations. I have enjoyed all the virtual places they’ve created, and don’t want to take them for granted because there really is nothing else quite like these sims that I know of.

In one of the ruined buildings there’s a projector showing slides on the wall of the historical island. For more information on this project and the history of North Brother Island, please refer to the Furillen blog.

When I arrived on the island, the first thing I noticed was the lush nature sounds, especially those of birdsong. The foliage is dense with old growth trees and underbrush, all very well placed. There’s a surprising number of buildings than it seems at first, and I’m not sure that I found every one. Following the broken paving seems like the best way to navigate.

The sky is gorgeous. I’ve lightened the exposure on these photos, and cropped them; otherwise they are just as what I saw on my viewer.  I enjoyed immersing myself in the sim, and snapped lots of photos.

Many of the builds appear to be custom made for this creative project. I was pleased to see a version of Hackberry Hall by Never Totally Dead.

I can’t imagine the scope of research and planning that goes into creating these sims, but in addition to that, the creators surely must be master shoppers. 

Some of the best photographers in Second Life photograph sims such as these, and it’s interesting to see the variety of images that avatars make. Some of them will be collected in the newly created North Brother Island Flickr group.

North Brother Island won’t be around forever. Some of the Furillen sims are around longer than others, and they’ve all deserved multiple visits.

The sim is atmospheric, and the authentic feel of it is maintained even with the hangout places that avatars expect and enjoy. There are some groupings of comfortable chairs, and someone left lit candles.

Sessy’s Grassland of Contemplation ~ Fox Paradise

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Fox Paradise, Sessy's Grassland of Contemplation

My first visit to Sessy’s Grassland of Contemplation was prompted by seeing photos such as the one above, which was taken near the landing. It’s a beautiful setting, with tai chi and meditation activities near the tree.

I was content to spend quite some time exploring, and a few days later returned with a friend to collect some photos. The lighting in the water was gorgeous too, and I found a nearby cave that I was too tall to walk into.

I don’t recall enjoying the look of red mushrooms anywhere else as much as I did here.

From the land description: “Fox Sanctuary: Welcome to fox sanctuary, part of the fox sims! everyone is welcome here, furs, humans, whatever you like to be in sl, it’s the home of Daesa’s fine art studio, none better anywhere.”

I never did find the fine art studio, but I saw what looked to be a glass walled media room perched on the side of a mountain. Crossing over this bridge, I wandered uphill on a path that led to a sunlit area.

There were ruins, floating trees, and crystals over a pool of water. When I cammed down, I could see a club underneath the area, but couldn’t find a way to enter from this location.

The five different sims have different names, with different land descriptions.  “Fox Grove a place of ruins, a place of mountains and caves, for some a place to relax, for others a place of exploration, for a few a place of spiritual commune, but in any case a lovely place to be and come to; all are welcome!”

I found the cave entrance to the club, “In Heat”. There are signs outside so it isn’t really hidden. “A club for everyone! Furs, humans and anything in between! Unity is the name of the game here, good music, good friends and good fun, all night!”

There’s a music/party room behind the area with the game tables.

Higher up, there are autumn trees, and views from the mountains. I fell through some of the areas, but my friend teleported me out. It isn’t a problem really, and these sims are way less laggy for me than I find many to be.

The sims are created by Victor Kenzo and Sessy Karu. There were a few other avatars around during the times I visited, but I had plenty of space and peace.

Fortunately, flying is allowed. There was someone inside the mountain cabin both times I visited, so I haven’t been inside yet.

“Bridge of Sighs, Fox Landing ahh fox landing, a place of heights and valleys, a place to take in the mountain air and relax with a loved one or climb the ancient hills.”

“Fox Hollow Welcome to fox hollow the volcanic tropical zone of the fox sims; there are a few caves and other things to explore here as well as the other five sims.”

Sessy’s Grassland of Contemplation and the adjoining Fox Paradise sims were a pleasure to explore and photograph.

 

Wanderlust Bench Art Park ~ May & June 2019

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Sansara, virtual art, Wanderlust Bench Art Park, Wanderlust Cafe

Serra Qendra, Elle Thorkveld, Kate Silver

The late spring, early summer exhibit is open until June 30 in the park, and Wanderlust Cafe and Art Park Expansion next door.

Wheedle, Klaus, Lil Mint

The art changes every two months, often new works, and some of it is available for purchase.

Pearl Grey, Art Oluja

Ranging from virtual photography to rl watercolor, as usual there was no hard theme or guidelines.

For those participants who like prompts, a poem entitled A Charm Against the Language of Politics by Veronica Patterson was offered.

Veyot

Several of the artists chose to respond to the prompt.

Wheedle

Nothing was harsh. The above poster is free.

Amy Inawe, Klaus

An essay called Grounding, written by Klaus, is available on a notecard; just click on the art photo.

Seraphim Placebo

Virtual photography taken at Mophire.

Lil Mint

Digital art on the  top floor of the gallery at the Art Park Expansion.

Serra Quendra

Serra has an installation in Wanderlust Cafe. There’s still plenty of seating outdoors.

There are 3D sculptures from a private collection scattered about, as well as posters with landmarks for current exhibits and destinations.

We’d love to have you visit.

 

 

“Inspired by……”

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EU Copyright Directive, Klaus Bereznyak, Mona Eberhardt, public domain, Quelques Choses

WordPress has just wished me a happy anniversary; I registered here seven years ago. In all that time, I’ve never once re-blogged. But today’s thoughts on the EU Copyright Directive were not written by me. I have not been following the issue.

The photos and words in the main body of this post were written by my friend and creative colleague, Klaus Bereznyak. He and I collaborate on projects inworld, and share publishing on several blogs. One of the blogs is private, for notes, ideas, communication, and such. The following is one of his posts, and I have his permission to share. It was originally created for our eyes only.  Rather than attempting to figure out how to reblog from a Private post, if it can be done at all, I am copy/pasting and using the media here.

Inspired by…..

I’ve read recently about the debates stirred up by the EU Copyright Directive that ostensibly protects the intellectual property of creators and artists but really just hands more power to, and lines the pockets of, the huge corporations that ‘own’ the artists. It is supposed to affect Second Life creations, according to Mona Eberhardt’s blog. In brief the problem arises when a creator makes derivative works using legitimate sources they have paid for, but these can be blocked if LL itself does not own those rights.

The tendrils of the debate reach into questions of whether it’s possible at all to make truly ‘original’ work if it borrows anything from existing popular culture. Apart from sparking lots of fantasy arguments in my head, some things clarified for me going forward:

1. Don’t stop making things
2. Keep being inspired by what you see and reusing it
3. Artists need and deserve to keep 100% rights to their work and not hand that to middlemen
4. The sharing economy of creative commons might be the only way we can thrive and, if we proceed with generosity and respect, these parasitic, fat corporations will hopefully just become a pathetic noisy sideshow.   

Most of what I have created here is sourced from the public domain. It is so rich. And since I have no interest in replicating the trashy trappings of branded and trademarked modern culture, I don’t expect to run out of options or fall foul of the directives.

The products we sell at Quelques Choses draw exclusively on public-domain materials that sometimes take meticulous hours of preparation to fit for inworld purposes; so I’m not at all embarassed to charge for what we make.

~ by Klaus Bereznyak May 13, 2019

I enjoy our shop!

edit ~ June 4, 2019; comments closed for this post 

Quelques Choses in New Toulouse

Quelques Choses at Studio Lot Be

Quelques Choses at Gate 51