A Haven for Jimmy

Everybody hopes to have one, a little private haven somewhere in the virtual world. So many creative people share their fabulous sims with the general public and enjoy and allow strangers just to pop in at any time, and that frequently includes having lots of freebies in the form of art and assets - we're very fortunate to have them ! But it's also nice to have a place where you can kick back. 

This is Jimmy Olsen's hideaway, Tromsø, on Alternate Metaverse Grid.

You might have heard him called the Norwegian Elf, in reality Jimmy is Brazilian. That's a very un-Scandinavian country, where right now it's very hot! As a way to beat the heat, his inworld home sim is far cooler and darker than his RL experience. Jimmy has a special script that makes it rain on his region when it's raining in Tromsø (and it rains 234 days a year, on average) so no wonder he suggested I bring an umbrella when dropping in on him!

The EEP is everything to Jimmy. That's how he starts every build, with the feel of the sim, the colors and the shadows becoming an integral part of the construction - and incidentally, covering the occasional imperfection. It might seem impractical to some of us who prefer to build in mid daylight so they can see what they're doing. But too much stark daylight can crush creativity for some people. Which category do you fall into? Or do you do a bit of both?

Jimmy's region is a confection rather than a reproduction of Norway, where he has been on more than one visit over the years. The emphasis is on contemporary architecture, rugged scenery, and trees, many many trees.

That's one of the things he's most well known for, this trees. Jimmy got started in building plants when on Great Canadian Grid, then found his way to Sacrarium Grid, where they gave him a sim for his content. Nowadays, we know Jimmy best for his fab build Europa on Wolf Territories Grid, and for the four iconic stores on AMV grid - the Greedy Museum (Greedy tables have always been one of his great interests and contributions to Opensim entertainment), the Light and Sound Museum, the 3D Museum with all its flags and signage, and of course, Flora.

Atmospherics like the fog, rain and snow plus lots of other scene stealing features like off sim surrounds are all featured on Tromsø but are available on Flora, but to see how Jimmy puts a sim together is a bit of a masterclass. He often updates regions you might think couldn't be improved upon, like the aforementioned Europa, which now has a whole new look on the Ranch sim, compared with the description you may have read about in this blogpost from a few weeks back.

The many creations, and the many different grids Jimmy has been on, have brought him to the canny conclusion that "it's better to back up" - how true! No matter how good any grid is, how reliable and honorable the intentions of any of us, it's always wise to have your content safe on your own hard drive. This philosophy also answers the question as to why any Jimmy olsen plant contains a bunch of textures. He does this with the idea that as grids fade out of the picture, these images won't disappear out of opensim, even if the original place where they were uploaded has gone offline. 

Chatting with Xenon Darrow, and Jimmy Olsen, on Tromsø 

Sharing builds, even if it's just with a few close friends, is of course key to making and enjoying your build. Xenon undoubtedly brings all her vivacity and joie de vivre to these sims, and Tromsø  is no exception - that is 'her' house in the background of this photo, with a very fancy kitchen in view!

It's good to know that people who contribute so much to the comfort and enjoyment of opensim also have fun and enjoy their inworld life. Wishing Jimmy and his pals endless more adventures!