9-11

 Each year on the eleventh of September, a ceremony is held on Littlefield grid to remember the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001 when planes were used to smash into the twin towers in New York, and the Pentagon. Another flight, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, rather than the intended target in Washington DC, thanks to the heroic efforts of the passengers. 

This year's 9-11 memorial event on LFgrid.

The story of that day, or better, the thousands of stories, personal testimonies and remembrances of the many and varied people who were caught up on the events, fill millions of pages both printed and on websites and blogs. Many of the stories are harrowing, some are inspiring, a lot are heartbreaking. Those events were so shocking that people who had only the most tenuous links to the buildings - maybe they visited one of the locations a day or two before, or knew someone who had once worked there - still feel a dramatic bond to the places and events of that autumn day.

Almost a quarter of a century later, and the recollections of bravery and loss are still tangible when you visit the RL site of the 9-11 Memorial in the real life city of New York, but if that is impossible for you, the the virtual venue on Littlefield is an unforgettable alternative. The photos in this post are all of the region 9-11 Memorial, on LFgrid.

SoA and the Cat's Paw

SoA BAD: Hello, Hello, and welcome to the CCI Grid and today to the Lofoten Islands and please be quiet for a moment. 

Our second stop of the day, and a very optimistic SoA prepared to give us an uninterrupted explanation of a very beautiful, large, accurate, and enjoyable region on his grid, CCI  which he shares with Siwas. She's Norwegian, he's German, and their home grid is a delightful mix of the two cultures and sensibilities, with a lot of fantasy and humor thrown in.

SoA BAD: First, a quick note. Set your lighting to regional lighting to create an atmosphere that corresponds to a sunset at this time of year. You can take a look around the horse farm while I provide some information about Lofoten for those who are really interested. After that, we will walk across the island together.

A Red Safari

 Our first stop on this week's trip was to Red Square, in Moscow, on the russian language grid Spacegrid -  our first ever trip there, and since opensim is all about bumpy rides to exotic places, surprises were in store. The HG Address is of course, at the end of the post.

Safari Gets Desolate

Tosha Tyran: I just woke up, am still somewhat uncoordinated

Cherry Manga: coffee?

Tosha Tyran: I got myself a beer - more appropriate I thought, haha

Thirza Ember: can I have a red bull instead of coffee?

Cherry Manga: omg, lol! you both are savages!

Yes,  we are savages, which is a good thing because the second destination of this week's HG Safari tour - the Fall season premiere for 2025 - was on a sim that savages thrive on. Well, to be fair, anyone who loves post apocalyptic landscapes, zombies, aliens, elephants, or witty posters, or an adventure playground, or lovely grungy freebies including some great PBR materials would like this new sim Desolate Expanse by Cherry Manga ... yeah I guess that is pretty much everyone. Just about two months old, it's a concept sim constructed with the help of visits by Cherry to some of the best loved Freebie purveyors in Opensim. And while it's desolate, it's definitely not despairing. You'll need to be wide awake to tour this sim without missing all the lovely details, and gifties too.

It all started with a small disappointment for many of us.

Forest in the Fall

Star Ravenhurst: Why am I sunk in the floor?

Thirza Ember: titanic shoes?

Forest Azure: do you see the dancefloor? I don't :)

George Equus: Instant rez for me, glad to  say

Francisco Koolhoven: I see it

Star Ravenhurst: It's fixed, I see everything fine

Yes, Safari is back for our 2025 Fall season and of course, when a bunch of people suddenly arrive on a new sim all together it can take a little minute before all the elements are visible to everyone... not to mention the occasional missing texture here and there, but that's all part of the fun of going as a group. The HG Address is of course at the end of the post.

Our first stop this week, and our second stop too, were both on OSGrid. In fact, this very first destination on sim Forest of Azure, with our hostess Forest Azure, was supposed to be part of last season's lineup. Only, as you may remember, OSGrid was offline for a little while there, back in the Spring. Nice to have it back up and running, perhaps better than ever. We certainly were all glad to be there.

Forest Azure

Forest Azure: welcome ye all!

Cherry Manga: ty Forest

George Equus: Thank you

Forest Azure: Hello all ye safari people! So glad to see you again and welcome you here!  And so great the safari season started again! We are here in the first place for my Maze gallery, but you have time to explore other parts of my region as well, or to dance here if you like, or maybe even both! Let me first show you the tp boards.. here is one and they all look like this.

September = Safari

The Fall season of HG Safari trips begin on Wednesday September 3 with ten weeks of trips, each one lasting two hours. The event starts at the Clubhouse on HG Safari grid at 12 noon SLT, which is 9pm in most of Europe, and you can find the events advertised on the OSW Events page, and in the Discord and Facebook groups for HG Safari. Inworld, there's a large HG Safari group in OSGrid where the event is announced about an hour before go time. We go to two different destinations each time, usually on two different grids, hence the emphasis on HG! 

The group meets just a few minutes before go time (12 noon SLT) at our Clubhouse. Yes, it's OK to come early there, then you can read the information about the trip and exchange some gossip with other Safari regulars. The Clubhouse is nothing more than a simple meeting place or waiting room, where you can click on the big prim to get the Notecard and LM pack for the week. Our permanent guest is the Drama Llama who absorbs all nonsense and turns it into alpaca beans.

If you've ever wondered why our events aren't announced weeks in advance, or why the event starts at the clubhouse and not directly at Destination one, here's the answer. 

Finders Keepers

 If there's one thing everyone can agree upon about Opensim, it's the ephemeral, here today gone tomorrow nature of the beast. Assets, regions, addresses, inventory - even whole grids can suddenly not be there any more. At the same time, new people and places, new builds and ideas are always springing up. Whether you're a full-on builder, a grid owner, or just an average avatar trying to look good, you have probably been out there, looking for assets to dress your sim, your art idea, or your body. 

Famous freebie sims are of course the first port of call, but depending on what it is you need, and how much time and expertise you have to go searching, you can't always find exactly what you're looking for. Or can you?
Two years ago, Nico Kailani started a group in Opensimworld that helps out with that. Here's a direct link to the What Are You Looking For group. Yes, it's true, OSW is often blasted for the drama, bullying, and over-sharing by a handful of troubled souls, but remember, all that nonsense is really only on the Home Page - the site has other useful and underused features, and 'Groups' is one of them. 

Nico Kailani: Before the “Looking For” group, the only place people could ask for help finding stuff was in the OWS front page chat Box. Requests for help were too often drowned out by toxic chat from trolls and people with personal vendettas. Even at its best, what you say in the Box quickly disappears because you can see only the last dozen or so messages.

'Groups' on OSW can be tricky to find, but you can see them all by clicking here and of course, you can find the Groups you have joined by going to your own Profile, and scrolling down to the bottom right side of the page. 

Hundreds of groups have been started over the years, but very few have more than a handful of members, or are actively used. Nico gives a practical example of why her group has thrived.

Nico Kailani:  The question, “Does anyone know of any open-mic clubs in opensim?”, was asked in the Box some days ago, and there was no reply. I posted the same request in the “Looking For” group and within two hours there was an answer. What we are doing right is, quite simply, helping people. The message board format worked as I had hoped. Our group of dedicated and very knowledgeable volunteers are the reason for our ongoing success. My main job is to encourage them with posts like this. You can still see the very first posts made two years ago on the “Looking For” message board, as well as all of the replies and comments. They are threaded, so real conversations in the group are possible. The conversations are respectful, helpful, and there is sincere gratitude expressed for the help offered. It’s an example of the best of OS.