La Dolce Safari

          On the day after the night before in the US election, the special Italian Night Safari was a much needed moment of  restful, intelligent fun in the company of a borderless band of creators and thinkers. 

          We meet on Francogrid. Some Safaris have last minute changes, or there is a special gift for the group, so it's worth taking the time to join us here, rather than going straight to the first destination. 
          Also, the LMs for each Safari remain in the LM giver for about a week, in case you want to get them on a later date. And as usual the HG Addresses will be at the end of this post.

Jade Serenity: whats today's thing?
snowbody cortes: La Dolce Vita, Jade
Dabici Straulino: and zamunda
Sunbeam Magic: Beautiful gown Thirza 

Thirza Ember: this is 1 of the 3 free outfits next to the LM giver, all gifts from Craft. This dress is originally a stunning red, I colored it in case someone else wears it too.
Sunbeam Magic: wowsa, i'm grabbing mine!!!

          First up, a trip to Endivatomic. Thai Low and Christine Endivatomic had prepared a game for us at their outdoor restaurant on sim Zamunda.

Christine and Thai

Thirza Ember: look around on the walls... find the writing... click on it... you'll get a note that will explain what you are reading. For every one of the 35 messages on the wall that you find, you get a point on the blue scoreboard by the market. You can cam, or walk around.
 Sunbeam Magic: what's on the menu ?
Dabici Straulino: oyster
Aime Socrates: octopuss

          In addition to the game, Thai Low had organized a great playlist of Italian music, a lot of it in dialect, from Northern Italy. Very unusual and interesting stuff!   

Christine Endivatomic: and more points you have, more Thai will give you presents!! wowwwww
George Equus: Saves leg work...
Jade Serenity: oooo neat - i saw the writing
Dabici Straulino: very nice idea Christine and Thai - to go beyond translation and discover the meaning of expression
George Equus: Really good idea!  and some very good expressions. Praise the CAM  :)
Dabici Straulino: Thai, with time it could evolve as bringing how the same message is carried in different languages. eg: une pierre deux coup, kill two brids with one stone, zwei Fliegen mit eine Klappe totschlagen
Thai Low: ahhh yes Dabici, we was wondering the same with Chris... and weird, some sentence are really common worldwide


Dabici Straulino: great, this is a very nice concept that you are developing here
Jade Serenity: mmmm cheese
Thai Low: and some tipical... we can't figure out why this difference
Dabici Straulino: Celle avec les nouilles et cul, jamais lu ou entendu
Christine Endivatomic: jamais entendu en france????
Dabici Straulino: jamais entendu au Québec
Jade Serenity: i like the saying over there "Blah blah blah" LoooL!
James Atlloud: 'Eat the soup or jump out the window!'  whoa
Sunbeam Magic: So far my favorite saying is # 20 ;)
Thirza Ember:  The next step is to see if we can write a story with all these expressions in it.
Christine Endivatomic: It's a challenge I like!!!!
Dabici Straulino: Thirza, this is a nice creative challenge to write a story that integrates expressions like that, when I was learning german we had those challenges - really fun

Aime drinks his way through the game

          The score board kinda stopped working for such a big crowd so we went on the honor system, By the end of our 90 minutes on the region, the winner was.... George Equus, with 34 out of a possible 35 expressions found.
George Equus: hehe  :)   is fun and a cool way to see this very nice region
Thirza Ember: thai, Christine, what is the story of how you met and how you made this grid? seems like an international romance.....
Jade Serenity: oh i would love to hear
Dabici Straulino: me too
Thai Low: no, just.. we met in SL... then, because Chris is a thyran, she wanted a grid for herself... and she bought me as slave,  but i'm a weird slave, always in strike
Christine Endivatomic: Hoooo
Thai Low: LOOOOOOOOLLL
Christine Endivatomic: LOLLLLLLLLL Ok I will remember that!!!
Thai Low: ok... maybe the story was not exactly like this, but there are some truth under it - we really met in SL
Christine Endivatomic: the true story is that I just ask a day: 'What is an opensim?'
Thai Low: LOOOOLLLLL
Christine Endivatomic: and hop!!!
Thai Low: Yess.. true... we was translating a movie, and she ask about opensim
Jade Serenity: there we go! a real romance
Thai Low: but but but... because she knew that this kind of question make me start
Jade Serenity: giggle
Thai Low: so.. in a way or another she knew i would become a slave
Christine Endivatomic: a good slave would bring me a coffee...and I have to go by myself...Back in 2 mn


          ...and pretty soon our 90 minutes on Endivatomic were up.
Thirza Ember:It's time to go to Craft, guys... They are gathering in the square... there are already a lot there... we have vintage music from the Fellini film era, the 1960's... dancing, and stuff to see
Sunbeam Magic: I must come back and find the other 4 sayings I missed
Dabici Straulino: I will come back too
Christine Endivatomic: Thanks to you all to have played the game!! :)
Thai Low: Really thanks to you all for coming it was really great to have u here
Lucy Rosadisharon: you are welcome Thai
Lucy Afarensis: It was fun 
George Equus: Great build
Sunbeam Magic: lol and don't change a thing !
Thai Low: ahh Sun, come back and u will find more.. i'm gonna put more and more
James Atlloud: Thank you for the memory.

            Sim Chameleon on Craft is a region that changes frequently. The Safari has been here before, to see the big map with all the regional foods on it, and this time, it's been given the Dolce Vita treatment.

          This is one of those sims where you just can't stop taking photos, where you risk blowing up your computer by setting graphics as high as you can, where the soundtrack matches the surroundings to absolute perfection, where the sim comes alive with the local residents, as well as just the right number of NPCs.

Chanel in full-on Dolce Vita mode   

           Chanel Rewell's group Sensation Millennium got together to make one of the best builds anywhere, an imaginative and exquisitely executed version of the historic center of Rome, the Rome of the Fellini film La Dolce Vita. The very talented Adam Kadmon, Giacomo Rexen, Eva Noir, Cris Clooney, Emy Morrison, Fiona Saiman, and our own Wizardoz Chrome put all this together in just one month, from original pieces in Blender, to cut-out figures, to street design, clothing, NPCs, building textures, and technical treats like the working cinema. Can't thank them enough. 

Sim creators and visitors await the arrival of the Safari group

Licu Rau the grid's godfather made sure all was ticking over perfectly, and as always the wonderful Craft community came out in droves  to greet us and make us feel at home.

          The film is a series of episodes or vignettes in which the principal character, a Paparazzo played by Marcello Mastroianni, visits different parts of the city, and gets together with various girls. The full story is here but suffice it to say the most famous moment, with Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain built by Adam, features heavily on this sim.

            But there are plenty of other famous Roman landmarks on the sim, with streetscapes by the amazing Cris Clooney and Eva Noir, and mesh wonderment by Adam, Emy, Fiona and Giacomo too. Look for the Farnese cinema in Trastevere...

... and Adam Kadmon's Piazza di Spagna, with those magnificent steps, complete with the statue of Christ flying overhead courtesy of a helicopter - a scene from the film -

          The Bocca della Verità - an ancient piece of Roman superstition dating back many centuries, you'll have to hunt for... although a clue may be hands lying around on the ground... 

Giacomo Rexen and Adam Kadmon

Giacomo Rexen: Who did what? I say, when it comes to building, Eva and Cris did 80%, Adam, Wizardoz and Emy the other 20% ...and I did all the rest!  
          There's also this spectacular Coliseum. The lighting, which I believe Cris Clooney was in charge of, is truly perfect. 

            Each area has its own charm and it's truly impossible to choose one as a favorite. Rarely do you see people work so well together in OpenSim, and it's a tribute to the true spirit of Craft, 'The friendly Grid'. 

Even the bathroom needs of visitors are catered for

Wizardoz Chrome: The builders and the technical  deserve a lot of praise for the work they have done, and for the kindness and collaboration they showed me, (I even destroyed an entire street trying to get a texture right, and they didn't get at all angry). Translations, attention to the server, all has been great. They even managed to get hold off the Helicopter with Christ, and a Mesh hotel... I love this Rome! It's not an exact representation, but there is so much detail, they even made sure the drinking glasses are the correct type for the period... I needed tables, and Cris made them... the buildings are empty, but if there had been enough time, they would have filled them too!

           This is an amazing build, for the sheer harmonious brilliance of the concept, the fabulous fusion of prim and mesh, the perfection of the texture, the evocative music, and the witty details. 
          Not built for money, just built for the Safari visit... how cool is that. 
Thank goodness that Licu and the gang have agreed to allow us to come back here for the special Sunday Safari (11 December) during the OpenSim Community Conference.
           The evening ended in the Wizardoz Chrome's gorgeous version of the Piper club, with a very special mix of classic Italian tunes given a pumped up beat that kept us dancing to the witching hour and beyond.


Visit before Chameleon is turned over to the next big build, or join us on December 11 when we will be partying here as one of the Sunday Safari destinations.
HG ADDRESSES
Thai and Christine's language game      endivatomic.eu:8002:zamunda
La Dolce Vita                                      craft-world.org:8002:chameleon