Spectacular Sound & Adorable Alice

   The final Safari of the season (We start back up again on September 14) and two more absolutely unmissable destinations. If you and everyone you know don't know these places, well... Go. See. Enjoy. HG Addresses are as always at the end of the post.

First up, a visit to The Nuna Gallery on 3rd Rock Grid, more specifically, some sky-high sound based installations by the sorcerer of sound, Lorin Tone and region owner and brilliant builder and region owner Alia Soulstar.  

The Nuna is a walkable Encyclopedia of world art that is as peerless as it is rigorous. For me, it's one of the Seven Wonders of Opensim. Magnificent in its size, layout, detail, complexity, and precision, it must have taken a vast amount of time and talent to put together. This is a useful and beautiful place, an educator's resource of the highest quality, and a place that anyone can enjoy, and find within its walls serenity, knowledge and beauty. 

The Gallery opened in December 2019, and comprises five floors of outstanding world art, with information that sets it in context and basically will give you a degree in Art History by the time you've done the whole building, or, if you just sample a few bits, will in any case expand your mind and help you make sense of the world of art. It's bliss in a box.

The Magnetrail vehicle is lizard friendly.

 The final Safari of the season (We start back up again on September 14) and two more absolutely unmissable destinations. If you and everyone you know don't know these places, well... Go. See. Enjoy. HG Addresses are as always at the end of the post.

We have a proper trip to the main museum of art planned for the next season - this week the idea was to tour the two satellite builds Synapse and Aurora. 

To reach these two installations, you step out of the main building, and go down the hill until you find a square building. Click on the board to summon a Magnetrail rocket, select your destination and then fly up to Synapse and Aurora. It's as easy as that, and considering there were 20+ of us at the event, the rocket worked amazingly well!

 As things turned out, due to a RL injury, Lorin Tone couldn't join us on our visit (get well soon!),  so Alia Soulstar kindly stepped in to guide us around the build.  

We started up on Aurora. It's a parklike environment within a black, star-spangled sphere, and furnished with classical architecture, plus a TARDIS which lets you know we're in a temple to sound - for who of us does not know about the Music of Doctor Who and the colossal cultural effect it has had over the last fifty years. The main attraction of Aurora is, though, the round pavilion containing planets = and sounds.

Alia Soulstar

Alia Soulstar: In anyone would like a notecard, touch the big information sign. 

Lux Tergeste: The music is sort of contained in the spheres?

Alia Soulstar: Lux, yes, the music is in fragments contained in the spheres, they are randomised and they never sound the same

Nara Nook: Yet they all fit so perfectly together

Dabici Straulino: always harmonious

Thirza.Ember: Alia, how did you meet Lorin?

Alia Soulstar: Lorin just approached me at the gallery when I was building downstairs and said he had an idea for this, Aurora. At the time, to be honest, and it reflects no credit on me, I was skeptical... there is a lot of art around SL and here [in OpenSim] that wouldn't meet a RL gallery standard and I was setting a high benchmark for inclusion, but, I said show me what you got. He pulled out the sphere music he was working with and I said GOD YES!

lifted pixel: did it need much adjusting to fit in your build ideas?

Alia Soulstar: So this work is very much Lorin. My collaboration is just the environment. It's his vision, Synapse was more a joint artwork - we developed the ideas for that together, and HAL9000 is next level. The grid donated a 5x5 Var to house that level. We have collaborated fully on that one. It takes at least an hour to explore HAL if you don't stand still :)

Youca Godel: You build a HAL 9000? :D

lifted pixel: did you spend much time in SL before moving into opensim?

Alia Soulstar: I was in SL for maybe 2 years. I barely go there now. I've been in OS for at least a decade

Thirza Ember: this place is wonderful for calming and meditating

Lux Tergeste: Yes it is very relaxing

lifted pixel: i'm glad this was a quiet stop at first, it's the perfect venue to eat my lunch

Alia Soulstar: Yes. I just come here and sit sometimes. It is just that

Thirza Ember: Everyone's nerves seem to be on edge this past month, I don't know if you have all experienced that... we need more places of relaxation in the world

Nara.Nook: yes we do

lifted pixel: uh yeah the us is melting down, metaverse is a good distraction

Thirza Ember: so, there is a second part to this visit, (we will be returning to the Museum proper next season ) now, we go to SYNAPSE it is beautiful but very different from this, so be ready for a change. You can get there on the train or tp if you want. Please remember, the build Synapse has flashing lights, as well as sound, and if flashing lights cause you health issues, this is not for you

Arriving at Synapse

Lucy Afarensis: There is a lot of interesting stuff there

Alan.Scot: great for Epileptics :)

Ludo Davis: Yes They would have great feelings

Lucy Afarensis: No epilepsy but think I need to bail out of this one

Alia.Soulstar: Most of us think of music in preconceived ways—we think of melody, harmony, tempo, counterpoint. We perceive it as something scored or improvised by a composer, often with lyrics or libretti added to make meanings more explicit

lifted pixel: yeah the sounds here are awesome - running around the pillars

Alia Soulstar: That interpretation is really down to conditioning, the way your brain has been wired to assign value and meaning to a sonic experience. In Arabic/Indian music, there are microtones and "dissonances" which sound slightly wrong to a western ear, but sound harmonious to someone raised in that musical tradition. Musical bias has a lot more to do with what you have learned, than anything intrinsic in the music.

Lux Tergeste: It is a difficult place to describe or take pictures of. One needs to experience it.

Lux, Youca, and the gorgeous CyberGlo

CyberGlo CyberStar: wow, it's like i am inside a video game! oh wait...

Alia Soulstar: What Lorin has done with this work is challenge those biases. He has tuned the instrument but You, the listener are the composer. Your listening experience is unique to you, depending on where you stand and how you move around and through the work. This “music” lacks the features I’ve described above, it’s created as an ambient field of disorganised sound where You are the main organising principle. In my contribution to the work, I’ve attempted to make Lorin's subversion more explicit. I’ve created a stage which represents a simplified abstraction of brain architecture. The synapse is the site of transmission of electrical nerve impulses between neurons. Neurons process information. All your cognitions, memories, models and symbols are stored in the interactions between your vast library of brain cells. In Synapse you move between "dendrites" to rewire this sonic network however you see fit.

Youca Godel: So freaking cool, Alia!

Thirza Ember: lol we are so used to standing still, it's hard for us to move about. Such an interesting region, you could spend a week on it I think and still not see it all

Alia Soulstar: Yes, walking around is the best way to view the work

CyberGlo CyberStar: shouts: I can taste the warm!  hear the light!  and touch the sound!

humbletim and Alia

Ludo Davis: Make sure it's the sound

Beth Ghostraven: wow, trippy, man! Mouselook is really cool too

Lux Tergeste: the place is fascinating

lifted pixel: i'm feelin it

Youca Godel: I concur.

Alia Soulstar: I owned a Tangerine Dream CD a few years back titled "Journey through a Burning Brain". That title stuck with me and influenced this work

Beth Ghostraven: Alia, that makes sense - great representation!

lifted pixel: burning brain is something i definitely vibe with lol

CyberGlo CyberStar: i am using a special viewer called 'alchemy next' which is not old alchemy viewer.  alchemy next uses 2021 microsoft graphics technology that fixes a bug in the 2007 firestorm graphics rendering.  i can see the most minute detail in textures, and the sharpness is amazing!

Lux Tergeste: Alia, thank you so much for showing us the two installations. They are truly inspiring.

Alia Soulstar: You are all most welcome There are more things to see at Nuna so don't lose your landmarks :)

Beth Ghostraven: Alia, is this open all the time for visitors?

Alia Soulstar: Yes, 24/7

CyberGlo CyberStar: Thank you Alia

Thirza Ember: may we come back next season? ...as you can see, we try not to break anything

lifted pixel: unless you want us to break something!

Alia Soulstar: everyone is welcome. The main gallery is at ground level, and there are other satellites

Lux Tergeste: Good to know, Alia

LadyKa Ramel: Thank you very much Alia, unusual and beautiful place

Then off we swept, into the ether, to a grid called CopyKat, where Oni Kiri has built a dreamy, charming region based on Alice in Wonderland, and through the Looking Glass. 

It's a theme that is beloved by many in virtual worlds, and for that reason, has been reimagined many times which makes it even more of a challenge to make a really good job of it, that stands up in comparison with the others. Oni has taken the challenge, and crushed it with a lovely region, as full of delight and attractive pieces as the book is itself. We met Oni down in the Landing area, under the water on Adachi5  

Thirza Ember: Here we are on CopyKat grid, we came last season to see Cherry's build Jukebox, this time, it's Oni's own creation we are visiting

Nara Nook: I love these chairs

whirli placebo: it's so lovely, Oni.  I came early and walked around.  so brilliant :)

Oni Kiri: i'm thrilled to have you all here WOW !! Welcome

Thirza Ember: thanks for having us and getting up so early!

Oni Kiri: hahaha is my pleasure

Thirza Ember: let's go up into the fresh air? what do you think?

 Beth Ghostraven: /me follows Oni into the tree

Jeff Kelley: t'es tout petit, Max

 Max Hill: ben je me vois normal. c'est la taille du decor qui fait ça je crois

Youca Godel: I'm hearing Prince's "Raspberry Beret"

Oni Kiri: anyone wants anything they see let me know !!!!  if you want something, can you send me notecard with name? be happy to give later ;))

Beth Ghostraven: the books please, Oni?

Youca Godel: A flamingo, please?

Lux Tergeste: Lovely place, Oni Kiri :)

Max Hill: c'est sympa ce decor

LadyKa Ramel: oui, très

Ard Rhys: This place is fantastic

Thirza Ember: hehehe tim is that your usual teatime pose?

humbletim metaverse: depends on the tea :)

tim our resident lizard chooses the funnest chair of all

Beth Ghostraven: lol tim. I wish I knew how to force people's mesh stuff to go where it's supposed to go, there are still some clothing pieces floating around, in my view

Thirza Ember: yes, sometimes clothes, sometimes teeth and boobs.  I always think if it's only clothes wagging in your face, that's a good day

lifted pixel: it generally just takes a few more mins for the rigging info to download. You'd think theyd send the rig info first and prevent that!  Always wear system layer undies
Lux Tergeste: Hope I'm not sitting on somebody's lap!
Thirza Ember: everyone, who is your favorite character, in Alice in Wonderland

Lux Tergeste: the Cheshire cat, no doubt

lifted pixel: that caterpillar that be schmokinn

Beth Ghostraven: the rabbit - I'm always late too

Thirza Ember: the dormouse, like me, half asleep most of the time

lifted pixel: drowning in tea

Thirza Ember: your grid has become the most beloved for so many people, did you ever expect this kind of enthusiasm when you started?

Oni Kiri: never. My goal in beginning and same now is to provide all I have free and full perms

Thirza Ember: how do you keep up with all the content you have? It is mind boggling

Oni Kiri: oh is easy, so many contribute, it is a huge group effort, the hard part is dealing with all the  stuff people give me. I think are hmmm... 20 freebie regions here, and 40 other regions

Thirza Ember: Oni were you in SL before  opensim?

Oni Kiri: yes for hmm 8 years then came to opensim 8-9 yrs ago. I had store on SL, and I also helped open Kitely market. But i realized how silly it is to sell in opensim (god powers and oars) so I closed the stores and started giving it all away. I still have accounts in SL, but never visit. The idea for  me is to help provide as much content as possible to make opensim  much more funner.

Lux Tergeste: well, this place is great fun for sure

Beth as a little bunny

Thirza Ember: giving up on the money side of creativity is empowering, and lowers your stress level, I think

Oni Kiri: yes, no more police hat trying to find content. Live to give, share and help is a motto I live by. When I arrived in opensim 8-9 years  ago there was nothing here, no people no content. Two people in a region was a huge crowd. You had to make everything, hair, clothes, skins etc. I spent 4  years alone here as there were only a handful of people in opensim.

Oni Kiri

Thirza Ember: That's why we began the Safari, to get out and meet people and learn about their regions, rather than just wandering alone
Lucy Afarensis: Safari is great for finding stuff

Beth Ghostraven: the thing that drives me crazy about Opensim is trying to find things like clothing, etc - there's no marketplace to look them up in, and Kitely market is so expensive 

Oni Kiri: yes, i know a guy who is working on a metaverse search for content - maybe soon.

Beth.Ghostraven: which guy, Oni?
Oni Kiri: his name is Wiener Schnitzel, an awesome builder, scripter, coder.

Youca Godel: I used to play in the SCA.  Some friends got into merchanting with The Mongolian General Store. It took a while, but they started to notice that they didn't enjoy going to events as much. They started to define a "good weekend" by how much money they made. They gave up the store and started enjoying going to events again.  It was a hard lesson how to not ruin your creative hobbies by mixing money in.
Beth Ghostraven: Thirza, maybe next season we could take a safari to the best freebies shops?
Thirza Ember: that would be awesome, maybe a xmas safari,just shops
Oni Kiri: yay for freebies
Beth Ghostraven: and Oni, thanks for showing us this place!
Thirza Ember: we appreciate you joining us despite the hour Oni, looking forward to seeing how Adachi grows and expands
Oni Kiri: thanks for visiting, so happy to see the interest
Lux Tergeste: Thanks, yes. This place is wonderful
Ard Rhys: Yes, thanks for having us. It is a beautiful build

Beautiful books!

Thirza Ember: This is the last Safari visit of the Season. Please join us after the summer, the next season begins September 14 with Maria Korolov

Ard Rhys: Yes, Thirza, have a good summer and see you in Sep
lifted pixel: take care everyone see you next season!
Wizardoz Chrome: Awesome place thanks !
Oni Kiri: hope you all come again and explore other freebie shops and regions
Thirza Ember: hugs Oni and thanks again, you can bet we will be back
Oni Kiri: bye all, stay wicked

Oni Kiri with LadyKa

HG Addresses   

Alia Soulstar's great Art Gallery        grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002:The Nuna Gallery

Look for the Magnetrail station to get up to the installations with sound by Lorin Tone

Oni Kiri's Alice in Wonderland build     grid.copykat.ovh:12000:Adachi5