Answers to Second Christmas Quiz

Written 28 December, 2011

Answers to Second Christmas Quiz

1. Move hither the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their belief (Oh, Come, All Thee Faithful)

2. Listen, the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

3. Nocturnal time-span of unbroken quietness (Silent Night)

4. An emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good given to the terrestrial sphere (Joy to the World)

5. Embellish the interior passageways (Deck the Halls)

6. Exalted heavenly beings to whom hearkened (Angels We Have Heard on High)

7. Twelve o'clock on a clement night witnessed its arrival (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear)

8. The Christmas preceding all others (The First Noel)

9. Small municipality in Judea southeast of Jerusalem (Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem)

10. Diminutive masculine master of skin-covered percussionistic cylinders (Little Drummer Boy)

11. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to ecstatic distinguished males (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)

12. Tranquility upon the terrestrial sphere

13. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounts of minute crystals (Frosty the Snowman)

14. Expectation of arrival to populated area by mythical masculine perennial gift-giver (Here Comes Santa Clause)

15. Natal celebration devoid of color (White Christmas)

16. In awe of the nocturnal time span characterized by religiosity (Oh, Holy Night)

17. Geographic state of fantasy during the season of mother nature's dormancy (Winter Wonderland)

18. The first person nominative plural of a triumvirate of Far Eastern heads of state (We Three Kings)

19. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted metallic, resonate cups (Jingle Bells)

20. In a distant location the existence of an improvised unit of newborn children's slumber furniture (Away in a Manger)

21. Proceed forth declaring upon a specific geologic alpine formation (Come Tell It On the Mountain)

22. Jovial Yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us (We Wish You a Merry Christmas)

Answers to First Christmas Quiz

Posted 27 December, 2011

Answers to First Christmas Quiz

Reader Willow got all the answers right-- and left a charming reply:

 Willow said...

Merry Christmas, Chey (and Sweetie)!

Thanks for your blog, Chey, and for all the great information you've shared this past year. Be well and happy...and here's a great big warm wish for a wonderful holiday season for you and all your readers. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Joyous Kwansaa...and Happy New Year!


Here are our answers:

1. SCICTT (Hint: Santa Clause is...) Santa Claus is Coming to Town
2. ISMKSC I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
3. JB Jingle Bells
4. IDOAWC I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas
5. RTRNR Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
6. CROAOF Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire
7. DYHWIH? Do You Hear What I Hear?

8. AIAM Away in a Manger
9. FTS Frosty the Snowman
10. OCAYF O Come, All Ye Faithful
11. ICUAMC It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
12. OLTOB O, Little Town of Bethlehem
13. JTTW Joy to the World
14. SN Silent Night
15. LIS Let it Snow!
16. WCIT? What Child is This?
17. TTDOC The Twelve Days of Christmas
18. GRYMG God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman
19. HTHAS Hark the Herald Angels Sing
20. WWYAMC We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Go here for a great read about the twelve days of Christmas!

Christmas Song Quiz II

Written 23 December, 2011

Christmas Song Quiz II

Name that tune!

I'll post the answers after Christmas.


1. Move hither the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their belief (Hint: Oh, Come...)

2. Listen, the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds

3. Nocturnal time-span of unbroken quietness

4. An emotion excited by the acquisition

5. Embellish the interior passageways

6. Exalted heavenly beings to whom hearkened

7. Twelve o'clock on a clement night witnessed its arrival

8. The Christmas preceding all others

9. Small municipality in Judea southeast of Jerusalem

10. Diminutive masculine master of skin-covered percussionistic cylinders

11. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to ecstatic distinguished males

12. Tranquility upon the terrestrial sphere

13. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounts of minute crystals

14. Expectation of arrival to populated area by mythical masculine perennial gift-giver

15. Natal celebration devoid of color

16. In awe of the nocturnal time span characterized by religiosity

17. Geographic state of fantasy during the season of mother nature's dormancy

18. The first person nominative plural of a triumvirate of Far Eastern heads of state

19. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted metallic, resonate cups

20. In a distant location the existence of an improvised unit of newborn children's slumber furniture

21. Proceed forth declaring upon a specific geologic alpine formation

22. Jovial Yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us

Christmas Song Quiz

Written 22 December, 2011

Christmas Song Quiz

Determine the names of the following songs from the first letters of the words of the title.

I'll post the answers after Christmas.


1. SCICTT (Hint: Santa Claus is...)

2. ISMKSC

3. JB

4. IDOAWC

5. RTRNR

6. CROAOF

7. DYHWIH?

8. AIAM

9. FTS

10. OCAYF

11. ICUAMC

12. OLTOB

13. JTTW

14. SN

15. LIS

16. WCIT?

17. TTDOC

18. GRYMG

19. HTHAS

20. WWYAMC

Christmas Songs

Twinkle, Twinkle, Avatar

Written 21 December, 2011

Christmas Songs

Okay, counting down to Christmas with assorted ridiculousness!

My oldest readers might remember Sweetie's spontaneous Christmas song, made up on the run in Second Life:


Sweetie: (Saved Sun Dec 09 05:01:18 2007)

[2:00]  Sweetie: oh Linden tree oh linden tree, your lagging but we love you

[2:00]  Sweetie: oh linden ttree oh linden , we cant' copy or tranfer you

[2:00]  Sweetie: yoru bulbsa re bright  adn on full brght

[2:00]  Sweetie: i look at you

[2:00]  Sweetie: in forced midnight

[2:00]  Sweetie: oh linden tree

[2:00]  Sweetie: oh linden tree

[2:00]  Jeremiah Pintens: HAHAHAHAHAH

[2:00]  Sweetie: we gather round you faithfully

See? Done in less than one minute!

Then there was this one:

Twinkle, Twinkle, avatar
I"m not sure quite where you are
Though I know you're standing there
All I see are shoes and hair
Twinkle, Twinkle, avatar
Your alpha texture's gone too far

Sweetie's brain should be a military secret!

Dress for the Weather

I just know these underdressed avis are going to catch a cold.

The Lindens Don't Understand the World They Created

Thank You Very Much, I'm Not Twelve Years Old.
I Have No Desire to Be a Frigging Vampire

Written 15 December, 2011

The Lindens Don't Understand The World They Created

Nothing does more to convince me the Lindens don't have a clue about Second Life than their ads FOR Second Life.

The ad above greeted me full-page today when I went to the Second Life website.

How can the Lindens be so clueless about their very own world?

The Lindens could be advertising what makes Second Life truly unique: making things, doing wondrous things you couldn't possible do in real life besides turning your avatar into a pixel vampire, creating art, creating community, exploring, learning new skills, making friends and maybe even meeting your future real life partner (as I did), being a citizen on a new frontier.

Instead it's Second Life mundaneness: vampires, buying shit, and fake families.

For god's sake, put Torley in charge! Torley gets it.

Whimsy From Above

Whimsy Kaboom as Seen From 150 Meters Above Whimsy

Written 15 December, 2011

Whimsy From Above

Whimsy is lovely from above.

Dragon in the Blue Zone

Written 15 December, 2011

Dragon in the Blue Zone

A few days ago I was watching a group of visitors on Whimsy. One avatar was a dragon. I watched as he or she rezzed and sat upon a saddle and invited another avatar to ride.

As they flew away I started taking snapshots.

Problems at Ballet Pixelle

Written 14 December, 2011

Problems at Ballet Pixelle

Over the weekend Sweetie and I and our friend and Sweetie's conspirator-in-training Elysienne went to see Ballet Pixelle's production of The Nutcracker.

Things started well. They really did. But then the sim began to crash. Repeatedly.The stage-- which was on another sim-- and dancers on it would disappear. The music would continue to play, but chat and IMs stopped, meaning it was time to relog.

Each crash delayed the performance by 10 minutes or so, which must have been frustrating to Ballet Pixelle staff and dancers.

After the third crash we gave up and went home to play K.R. Engineering's Pentadee dice game.

Pictures follow.

Phoenix Gets Mesh!

Written 14 December, 2011

Phoenix Gets Mesh!

The Phoenix team has just released a mesh-enabled version of their Phoenix viewer! Download now!

If you've already downloaded, download again, as the first mesh version had a couple of bugs that have been fixed in the just-released update.

So cool to see mesh!.

Here's the Linden boat that's free to paid subscribers, with and without mesh capabilities:

Here's the Linden Boat Without Mesh Enabled. Pretty Horrible, Huh?

Here's the Boat with Mesh Capabilities. Big Improvement!

Southeast Whimsy

Writtten 4 December, 2011

Southeast Whimsy

For the three-and-a-half years since Whimsy was born the southeast corner of the sim has been privately owned. Now the land has become vacant and we have given it the full Whimsy treatment.

We've constructed a journey from chaos to peacefulness. From a platform in the raging sea a path wends its way through surf and rocks  to the shore and winds up a hillside to gardens. The path ends in a serene garden that offers views from the top of cliffs to the tumultuous sea.

Photos are below the fold. Notice there's snow on the ground. The brief Whimsy winter has arrived.

What's Bowling Without Ugly Shoes?

Because Second Life is too short for inappropriate footwear.

Get your free ugly bowling shoes at our PG Den of Iniquity. Ride the lift to the top of the blimp tower and then ride the rail car to the PGDoI and climb the ropes up to the balloons.

Retro Photo Shoot

Written 2 December, 2011

Retro Photo Shoot

Last weekend Sweetie got an IM from Phideaux Mayo, publisher and editor of Retrolopolitan magazine. Phideaux had noticed Sweetie at a particle show and wanted to feature her in the magazine.

Phideaux came out to our PG Den of Iniquity and took photos of Sweetie-- and, incidentally, me. We wound up following her to Flashman's, a club she now operates with a partner.

The December issue is now out, and Sweetie and I are indeed in it. Sweetie got special permission from the CIA for me to post her image here in my blog, but I see they changed their minds and sneaked in and redacted her.

Here are the three of us at Flashman's"

Chey with Battleship Backdrop

Written 2 December, 2011

Chey with Battleship Backdrop

I made this shot by using GIMP to merge two photographs. One showed my avatar to advantage; the other made the Yamato look good. I was, of course, in the same pose with my camera at the same angle.

Yamato

Written 2 December, 2011

Yamato of Japan

That's me giving the victory sign after having had a successful run with the Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" fighter interceptor/bomber on the Yamato of Japan sim.

And They're Off!

Written 2 December, 2011

And They're Off!

The PG Den of Iniquity wouldn't be a den of iniquity at all without horse racing, now, wouldn't it? I mean, ya gotta bet on the ponies!

So I bought this great horse race game from Mechanical Toy Factory and Sweetie, I, and our friend Elysienne settled in for a night of PG debauchery.

In the Audience

Here's a photo of me at an impromptu concert and particle show given by Tyrehl Byk and flautist Cypress Rosewood. That's me in the red dress just to the left of the avatar at far left. Note the dark avatar that partially obscures me:

Bilizzard!

Written 29 November, 2011

Blizzard!

Seems we're having an unexpected blizzard on Whimsy!

Automated Ticket Giver at the Robot Cinema

Written 26 November, 2011

Automated Ticket Giver at the Robot Sanatarium

Return to SLeezyWood

Written 29 November, 2011

Return to SLeezyWood

I should know better than to seek destinations at the Linden Showcase. I'm usually disappointed.

My last venture was to a place that sells mobile homes and RVs. It looked too much like a real RV lot-- flat and boring-- but unlike real life sales lots, this one was chock full of camera traps. I had one hell of a time getting out of this vehicle:

Do you see me driving this thing across the country? No way!

And so I took myself to a place that KNOWS how to make trailers trashy-- the one and only SLeezyWood!

Besides, I was low on herb and intent on raiding this shed I found back in early 2007:

Alas, the shed and the grow lights and the plants were gone-- no doubt hauled away in a bust by the ever-vigilant Bay City police-- but I did find some classically shabby blue-collar abodes. Photos are below the fold.

HO-Made Pizza! Sheesh!

Baja Rides the Bull

"Must... Get... Penny... Royce's... Name... Off... The... Scoreboard!"

Written 26 November, 2011

Baja Rides the Bull

Baja Mekanic, who lives rent-free in the lava of the volcano Pele (she seems to like him), holds the high score on the bull-riding game at Whimsy's PG Den of Iniquity.

Even though he holds the high score, Baja seems obsessed with beating his record. Here's what I witnessed last night:

Now You See Them, Now You Don't!

Notice the All-Prim Top Worn by the Avatar in Blue

Written 26 November, 2011

Now You See Them, Now You Don't!

(AAOOOGAAH! NUDE BREASTS BELOW THE FOLD)

I rarely wear revealing clothing in Second Life-- probably partially because despite a body that's far less than perfect, I've always worn exactly what I wanted in Real Life, and probably partially because I think more is sometimes less (in other words sometimes more clothing is sexier than little or no clothing).

Night before last I tracked Sweetie to a fancy dress show. She straightaway crashed, leaving me to stand and look around.

Straightaway, I noticed an avi with an all-prim top.

Now, all-prim tops are subject to disappearing because they don't rez properly or just haven't rezzed yet, so I was surprised when, after seeing her breasts covered, they suddenly popped out.

Photos from Tyrehl Byk's Catharsis Particle Show

I can't say enough about how well orchestrated Tyrehl's Catharsis show is. The particles make pictures, the music coordinates with the visuals, and every song tells a story.

More photos below.

Tyrehl Byk's Fabulous Catharsis Particle Show: Go Immediately and See It

Catharsis

Night on Bald Mountain

Written 25 November, 2011

Tyrehl Byk's Fabulous Catharsis Particle Show: Go Immediately and See It

Tyrehl's latest show is Catharsis, and it's truly a tour de force.

Through interaction of particle, prims, music, and camera viewpoint, Catharsis not only paints pictures in the sky-- it takes its audience through the same sort of journey 1940 viewers experienced when seeing Walt Disney's Fantasia .

Tyrehl's show has some abstract particle effects, to be sure, but he's skillful at painting pictures with particles, making, for instance, constantly changing trees.

This is the last weekend, so go NOW and see it.

Here's the New World Notes article on the show.

Here's the URL for Tyrehl's schedule.

And here's the SLURL for the particle show.

More photos forthcoming.

GO NOW!

Free Foliage at Nature's Touch Nursery

Written 24 November, 2011

Free Foliage at Nature's Touch Nursery

Yesterday a friend told me everything at Ricardo Avalira's Nature's Touch Nursery on the Sweet Water sim is free until the 27th.

I tried to go last night, but the teleports silently failed. Tonight another friend IMed to tell me about the sale. I kept trying until I got in, and then teleported in Sweetie.

Sure enough, everything on huge plot was free-- evergreen and deciduous trees, palms, flowers, grasses, garden structures, off-sim islands-- hundreds and hundreds of items. The only item that wasn't free was Ricardo's tree house, which was priced at $100L.

Needless to say, I stocked up-- and so should you! Go here. Keep trying until you get in.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spectacular View from the PG Den of Iniquity

Written 24 November, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

The PG Den of Iniquity: Part III of III

Written 20 November, 2011

The PG Den of Iniquity

Part III of III

For a long time now I've had a rail car that runs along tracks just as Kitto Flora's steam train does. Unlike Kitto's train, the rail car will climb at any angle and even run along walls or upside down, which is perfect for craziness on Whimsy.

The rail car has a couple of disadvantages, though. First, every piece of equipment and track has the same name. This makes it necessary to either unpack the components from boxes with each use or to put each in its own named folder. It's not a deal-beaker, just annoying.

The biggest annoyance is the large non-modifiable sign that rezzes the car. It has to be positioned just so in relation to the track, and it's well, big and unsightly. Unfortunately the sign, like everything else in the kit, is non-modifiable.

The car runs well, though, and was perfect for the route from the blimp tower to the PG Den of Iniquity.

The rail line ends on the deck of the PGDoI. Visitors can move from the deck into the Gobbler's main room or climb the ropes on the port side to enter extensive hidden rooms inside the balloons.

The main room (at the Gobbler's new expanded size) is large enough to hold a grand piano and harp on one side and a large bar on the other and still feel spacious.

This steampunk clock I coincidentally just bought is a perfect fit.

A stair leads to two rooms below decks-- one a lounge, and the other the control room. The lounge now holds a Greedy Greedy table and the control room features a playable pool table and a great steampunk horse racing game I just bought at The Mechanical Toy Factory.

The lowest level features a dart board and Whack-A-Mole and Zombie attack games. There's a well-appointed sitting area done up on Arts & Crafts style.

Up in the balloons are a bowling lane, a shooting arcade, a model train, and a mechanical bull.

 Now all of Whimsy's games have an elegant home.

Well, almost. I keep Settlers of Second Life (255 prims!) and K.R. Engineering's On-A-Roll and SLopoly games in inventory to help keep prim count and script time under control.

Go here to visit the PG Den of Iniquity  in Second Life. Take the robot lift up to the blimp tower and then ride the rail to the PG Den of Iniquity. There are two floors below the main level, and huge rooms inside the balloons; just walk the ropes on the right side (as you face the entrance) to enter the balloons.

The PG Den of Iniquity: Part II of III

Written 19 November, 2011

The PG Den of Iniquity: Part II of III

Since early 2008 Whimsy's games have lived on a series of platforms 1800 or so meters above the beach.

I tried several times to make the platforms into something interesting, and I failed every time.

Putting the games in the Gobbler airship was a no-brainer-- once I had the idea, that is. Ask me why it took so long for me to think of such a solution. Just ask. I won't answer.

With a new lift and with the blimp tower remodeled, I awaited Sweetie's approval. Which I got, sort of.

"Why isn't the tower in the middle of the opening in the roof?" she asked.

"Uh, because it's been off center for two years now?" I ventured.

"It needs to be centered," she said.

"Fine," I said. "I'll just lasso the tower and a dozen or so pieces of the lift and move them to your satisfaction."

"Good," she said. "And rotate it all 90 degrees while you're at it."

Readers of this blog will know this is how Sweetie and I work. She puts up something to get me motivated. I rebuild it. She critiques it. I rebuild it again. This would piss me off, but it's impossible to get pissed off when I know it'll be better after the redo. And it's always better after the redo.

So I  carefully selected all the parts to be moved and relocated and turned the blimp tower. And then, because they violated her sense of balance and proportion, I redid the walkways Sweetie made long ago. Then she demurely suggested the Gobbler would work a lot better as a game palace and center of PG depravity if I would just drag it 20% bigger.

The PG Den of Iniquity: Part I of III

Written 19 November, 2011

The PG Den of Iniquity

Part I of III

After months of being a slug in Second Life I've been busy the past week or so, making the PG Den of Iniquity (Sweetie named it-- of course!).

The PGDI floats above and  some distance away from our huge built 4000 meters above Whimsy:

I installed the Gilded Gobbler airship about 30 meters above the top of the blimp docking tower. It looked good hovering up there. And then Sweetie renamed it.