A Study in Scarlett

 "Tomorrow is another day" remains one of the most famous last lines in the history of cinema. Gone With The Wind debuted in 1939. The film tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara and her family home Tara during the turbulent years of the American Civil War, and Rhett Butler, the love of her life. 

It's a film about the effects of radical change coming to what had seemed to be a settled way of life, and of the dramatic results that those changes bring to individuals and families.

Tara

The movie, and the story behind it, have been cleverly brought to life in OSGrid (the HG Address is, of course, at the end of the post) by the French builder and historian Wildrose Guardian, who has a particular interest in those life-changing years from 1860 then the United States found itself torn apart by conflicting ideologies that turned to physical violence. 

Film Fest! Will you take part?

Loru Destiny: My dears, I keep seeing little films here on Facebook that you lovingly created. Now I got an idea: how about an Opensim Film Festival?

Hmm that got your attention! We all love them, watching and making films to celebrate your virtual worlds. If you want to be part of this event, whether as a filmmaker, or part of the audience, or both, you may have some questions. Let's get some answers!

When is the deadline for participating?
Loru Destiny:  The deadline is 28 February 2025. After that I will prepare everything for the festival. This will take some time. I also have to agree the exact date of the festival with the video artists. So I can't say exactly when the festival will take place. But I'll do my best to organise everything quickly.

Ōpunguriddo

On this round planet, distances are no object, and in the virtual, you can teleport to a grid on the other side of the world in a moment. But one thing that can defeat us is the time zone issue. A quick glance at opensimworld.com will tell you that Opensim is at its busiest in the hours of evening in Europe and the East Coast, let's say from 11am to 8pm SLT. That translates to 4am to 1pm, in Japanese time - yawn! work! ...not an ideal time to get inworld; the Opensimmers of Oceania can also relate, no doubt.

Teddy Dragoone

That makes it even more special when there's an opportunity to hear from someone who's not in your usual time window. Meet Teddy Dragoone, class of '09 in Second Life. We met on the newly minted Open Grid, and I asked him to tell a bit of his story.

Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa, the blank slate, is a concept as ancient as Aristotle, and as modern as an empty sim. Often associated with the human mind in that magical moment before impressions, feelings, opinions and experiences have made their mark, the very words 'tabula rasa' can fill a creative person with the thrill of possibilities.

It's also the name of Ieko Catnap's art sim on OSGrid, and it's home to pleasant pathways leading between attractive buildings with a provencale feel.  In one corner, a little grey graveyard is enriched by this lovely fountain, with prim fish that say they were made by Virtual Christine, giving the place the feel of an authentic history.

Charming too are the little shops, a flower market, bakery, newspaper printers and more, the cutest has to be 'Chik' Ânes' with a bit of a Latin American vibe going on. 

Taarna's Mesh Wizardry

Many of us remember Taarna Welles as one of the few makers of good quality original mesh clothing, shoes and accessories in the first years of opensim, back when mesh was first coming in. 

One of the shops on Savvy

Bubblesz, Taarna's personal grid, still features her legacy build La Barronie from the olden days of Metropolis, and her more recent build, Savvy ,  features mens and womens clothing and footwear, a refreshing break from the aspiring crack whore outfits that make up so much of the apparel assets of our platform.

Ballerina stature on Savvy

More recently, Taarna has been working on a themed region called Domadun, adding yet another point of interest on this always interesting grid. You get a hint of the new region when you arrive on the Bubblesz Welcome sim... the portals are all decorated with a little witch's broom.

Prince's Passions

 suprema citius solvet amor die

He's Prince Amor, or 'the PrinceofAmor' - his precise name fluctuates, but for simplicity's sake let's just call him Prince - is pretty new to Opensim. He's only been here two or three years, but of course he's got a whole lot of SL experience under his belt from before. Safari goers will be well familiar with his Solar System build on OSgrid which we toured back in September. There's much more Amor on OSgrid, and hopefully over time we will get to explore the trippy Maze of the Mind, or his Star Trek build, and perhaps his automotive sim with over 300 cars, just to mention a handful of his personal sims. Along with these, he is known as the landlord of about 100 sims; his renters are either on OSgrid, or have Dreamgrid sims. It's always informative to get someone's take on the two platforms, especially if they're a fairly recent arrival, and it will be interesting to see if your observations are in tune with his. 

Prince Amor

I asked first of all for him to give us an overview of his experience in Opensim and the Other Place.

Prince Amor: Both experiences for me were about the same. When Second Life first started people there were helpful and kind. I was quite worried over privacy in Second Life at the time and they helped me a good while there. Gifts etc....things were free or close to it. Of course when Second Life first started Osgrid and it were one and the same. So it was the same kind of people. I do believe Second Life is not the same place now as it was, I believe it is because the good kind people came to Osgrid. I wish I had known of Osgrid then, but such was not talked about in the circles I was in.

LibDescent

Yes, OSGrid still has logins restricted, but it'll be open again soon, and when it does, here's a place you might like to (re)visit. It's a piece of virtual history and also - what could be better - a bit of a freebie shop, by Plastichansa Bade.

If you're a bit of an oldbie you'll remember the golden days of Metropolis Grid, and among the vast number of great artists from Germany and around the world who made that grid their home, you may recall the art of the Plastichansa Bade - and it's hard to think of Plastic without Zonja Capalini. They met inworld in 2016 and were a great artistic team for years. 

Two artists from Spain, they've graced the pages of this blog more than once. Even before our Safari trips began, Zonja's little grid Condensationland featured on this blog - later the oar was attached to Metro, making it easier for people to see. They participated in AvatarFest, that much loved pan-grid annual event, back in 2017, and of course, a lot of you will remember the tango place in SL called Arrabal - the Safari went there too, back in the day.