Littlefield Dozen

 Wow Littlefield grid just turned 12 today, and as always Water and co have put on another splendid display of their grid's goodies on the Anniversary sim, HG Address at the end of the post.

Walter Balazic

As ever, along with a place for the dancing festivities, there are lots of displays that show off the wide variety of regions on Littlefield.

Hype for HIE

 Today is the Opening party for the Hypergrid International Expo, a two day conference - Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 April, held on HGSafari grid, on a dedicated sim called HIE. 

Tonight's musical guests are Zoree Jupiter, Khiron Ametza, and Wolem Wobbit, giving us three hours of beautiful music to enjoy.

It's an opportunity also to get another look at the Expo Park and see if you missed any of the great Freebies and information that can be picked up on the 130 different publicity booths dotted around the sim.

The full schedule of the event can be found on the HIE website, in simple terms, the event begins at 9am SLT which is 6pm in Europe, there's a German session and a French session on Saturday, which starts at 12 noon SLt or 9pm in Europe. On Sunday, the same routine, with an italian session at 9am SLT (6pm in Europe) and a Spanish session at 12:00 SLT (9pm in Europe).

As you may have read, there are Subtitles provided inworld, so you can follow along what is being said by the speakers even if you don't speak all the languages.

A great mix of art spectaculars, interesting talks, and fine music - in company with many friends old and new. The event concludes with a fabulous set by songstress Forest Azure. 

Hope to see you there !

HG Address grid.hgsafari.org:58002:HIE

Elements of Azure

 In virtual worlds, the weather tends always to be nice. Bright sun, azure sky, or something dramatic to create the setting for a particular build. But sometimes it's good just to stop and think about the weather itself. What is it, how does it affect our moods, our sense of self and our interactions with others? A change in windlight can dramatically alter the context of an art build, ask any artist who has seen their installation wrongly lit, they generally get pretty steamed up about it. Weather is mood, and mood is fundamental to any creative endeavor.

Forest Azure at her build on the Opensim World's Fair

At the Opensim World's Fair build, on Wolf Territories Grid, (exact Hop at the end of the post) Forest Azure explores the theme of 'The Elements' as experiences inworld. She has evoked a potent portrait of the emotions that the weather can fill us with - mysterious, passionate, pensive, and more. 

It's a series of beautiful black and white photos, beautifully presented in a structure by Rez Rezzal that embraces and proposes the images without encroaching on their atmosphere. Forest is a fan of his style, and with good reason!

Forest Azure: he is all about the feel of something, an the story.

'Winter Wreath' is a glimpse into the liminal world of windows... what side are we on?

A lot of work goes into creating these scenes and tableaux, since, of course, Opensim has no natural weather of its own! So to get the right balance and vibe is down to the artist herself. The delicate brutalist walls of this build perfectly set off the monochrome images, topped off with a thundercloud in miniature, hanging above it at just the right height. 

Forest Azure's The Elements is one of the many art gems on display at the World's Fair, be sure to check it out, in this final week of the show. You won't regret it!.

HG Address/hop

hop://grid.wolfterritories.org:8002/OpenSim%20Worlds%20Fair/1168/1215/22

Bloom, and the Cat's Meow

Bloom Peters has made a major breakthrough with her ongoing project to make it possible to use MIDI  (the Musical Instrument Digital Interface that lets you connect electronic instruments to computers) to musically animate objects inworld. If you have ever read this blog or been on Safari, you'll have been blown away by Bloom's region Crescent Melody, with its fabulously crazy orchestra - here's us all enjoying a concert for Cornflakes Week 2024.

Looking at this gif, are you thinking what I'm thinking? How cool would it be to have the possibility of making your own musically inspired animated scenes - even a whole region - of objects all playing along to a tune. Well, that opportunity is just around the corner...

Before we get into the nitty gritty, I had to ask about the cats.

Thirza Ember: you'll keep the same look, the same animal orchestra?

Bloom Peters: nope it's getting a much more professional design so that on release date people can use it right away to create music or use it to control regions and things. There is a major breakthrough with the machine. I created a program in python. It's called "Midi to Opensim"

Lampi's Heart

Perhaps you're been depressed recently by that rather mean spirited ad on Opensimworld. Somewhat damned by self praise, it has probably turned off more people than it has attracted, as a possible home grid. To take the taste out of your mouth, why not go and see something completely different, and yet, in a way, an allegory that both real and virtual communities can benefit from, while enjoying some exceptional art. HG Address at the end of the post, of course.

The celtic ethereal beauty of Lampithaler Artist's Cloudshead Worldheart is breathtaking. Islands float and even fly away, uprooted from the great sim sea, seemingly freed of all the laws of physics, they form a little archipelago, untethered and fancy free. It's on Pangea Grid, a fabulous collective of truly creative people, run by the wonderful Marlon Wayne and ably maintained by the paws of Kitty Sarrasine,  who keeps the place in tip top shape, technically.

On arrival, you'll se a topiary lady with a book. It contains the German text outlining the story, but go to Lampi's website and you can read a sample of the plot in English. 

Party On

It's the weekend - Saturday night, and the place to be os Event Plaza. But wait - OSGrid is offline for long term maintenance! 

How can this be? 

The familiar triple tent and steel structure, a semicircle of dancing fun. It all looks very familiar, with just a little bit less lag than you generally would expect to find, even when arriving long after the party has started.

Destiny at the Movies

 It's finally here, Loru Destiny's fabulous Opensim Film festival. Months in the making, this unique event pitted the wits and witticism of all of Opensim's filmmakers, representing people from many different grids, languages, and parts of the world, all sharing their visions of the virtual world with us.

The sim has that 'somewhere way out West' look to it, with ruddy bluffs and a bit of a canyon, the ideal space in which to have a vast Drive In with all your favorite muscle cars and rusty trucks.