Dwarfins

Our Little Dwarfin Family

I hold breedables in absolute contempt, but I have to say Dwarfins are oh, so cleverly and skillfully made!

Sweetie and I noticed them on display at one fair or another at Christmastime. I was impressed. She wasn't, but only because her ancient Macbook wouldn't rez them (she refuses to give it up because Agent 99 once owned it and scratcher her initials into the back. When I suggested that perhaps she was reading it upside down and it had actually belonged to Agent 66-- well, you wouldn't believe the look she gave me.

So anyway, we ran across them again at the Fantasy Fair and joined the group to get a free Dwarfin. We both drew females, so Sweetie bought a female and a rock for the dwarfins to worship. I bought food for them to eat-- for, you see, you're in perpetual hock to the creator for grub; the dwarfins turn into stone if not fed. The food lasts for a day or more, depending on how much you spend. Food is a ham, which dwindles away as it is consumed.

So yeah, it's a racket, but it's a nicely-crafted racket, and we've had fun playing with our dwarfins this week. Our little dwarven dwarfin family of three has now grown to four-- there's a newly-created rock on the sea decks on Whimsy Kaboom with a newly-minted dwarfin ready to be chiseled out so she (it's a girl!) can begin life. That'll (hopefully) give my male a mate.

Maps!

I love maps of Second Life-- maps of the first sims, maps of Linden Roads and train routes, maps!

Sweetie and I recently visited the New Kadath Lighthouse. It's an art gallery, and currently on display is the best collection of Second Life maps I've ever seen.

It's a wonderful exhibit. You should visit.

Examples are below the fold.

Fallen Gods

A month or so ago Sweetie and I visited one of our favorite places (JD Mechanical Toy Factory) to see what was new. We found the place turned upside-down. A lot of the goods for sale looked like the work of  the toy factory's Jeanne Dibou, but were unfamiliar. We were perplexed. Only now, as I write this, when I teleported to the toy factory to get its coordinates for the SLURL in the link above, did I realize we went someplace else entirely and not to the toy factory at all. The toy factory is still there, and now the entire sim has been developed. I can't wait to explore this weekend!

So anyway, do NOT miss the toy factory, but that's not what I wanted to write about. Last week Sweetie and I visited Annon, one of the Fallen Gods sims. We found a lot to like there; in fact, in many ways it reminded us of our sim Whimsy Kaboom.

Fly the Friendly Skies

Sweetie had been conspicuously absent all afternoon, so I went on a search for her. I found her in the upper gardens rezzing and crashing biplanes created by Twisted Laws' full-perm runway plane generator I had given her. She was training for her new job as an air traffic controller.

"Don't interrupt me!" she said. "I have forty-two Stearmans in the air!"

"And a dozen or so in flames on the ground," I commented. "And that one about to hit the torii.

She shrugged. "Acceptable losses."

If you keep up with news in the real world you probably know commercial flights have been stacked up for the past few days due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. And why is there a shortage? Because the controllers are being required to take mandatory no-pay furlough days because of the sequester-- you know, the delayed government cutbacks forced on Obama by the Republicans during his first term. We are now post delay and all sorts of government services are being scaled back. Don't even think about who's not inspecting your drinking water or the beef you had for dinner last night. Just be happy Sweetie will soon be on the job with the FAA.

"You didn't really get a job as an air traffic controller, did you?" I asked.

"Of course not," Sweetie said. "They would have red-flagged me for any number of reasons."

"Like being on the no-fly list," I said.

"Or wearing my katana during the job interview," she said.

"Or all those wanted posters," I said.

"I'm just going to show up in uniform and lockpick my way into the control tower," she said." "But I'll need to know what I'm doing, so I'm practicing."

"That runway is a bit crowded," I said.

"You should have seen it before I lost those twenty-four planes," she said. "And look straight down! The airplanes make a perfect image of John Lennon."

"I think he just winked," I said. "That's awesome!"

"Exactly," she said. "Straight lines are so boring."

"Sweetie," I said, "you can't lose any planes to art in real life."

She gave me a pitying look. "That's why I'm practicing."

I hope to God practice makes perfect.

Beep Beep! The Oui Coupe!

Pandora Wriggleworth's tiny Oui Coupe is a riot and a bargain at five hundred bucks.

Henry Ford would be proud that it comes in basic black--

Obey! Says Pandora Wrigglesworth. Consume!

We Love Curio Obscura

Sweetie and I absolutely love Pandora Wriggleworth's Curio Obscura shop. It's full of clever gadgets, priced reasonable, and the shop itself is a hoot.

Most people never realized it, but the old shop was a giant mechanical insect-like creature. Well, spider-like, as it had at least eight legs.

Enkythings

Once upon a time, Enkythings was one of the go-to places for shoes in Second Life. My friend Peter Stindberg took me there and I wound up buying several pairs of shoes.

Now, of course, Second Life is about fake feet and mesh-- and yet while Enkythings no longer seems to be making new products, there's still a store in world, where shoes sell for laughably low prices. The sim, happily, is named Shoes!

If you visit, check out the back wall near the entry. There you'll find several models for sale at just $25L. Demos are available.

A few weeks ago Sweetie and I visited. I was focused on the shoes, but she was appreciating the design of the store. When I tore my eyes from the display I wondered how I had missed it.

Linden Endowment for the Arts

The Linden Endowment for the Arts  is a partnership between Linden Lab and the art community in Second Life. Lea maintains twenty-nine sims on which selected artists showcase their work.

I think this is wonderful!

To visit, just open your map, type in LEA in the bottom search box, and teleport. Have fun!

If you're an artist, you should submit an application for the next round of builds.