A popular myth suggests that Charles Dickens invented the classic English Christmas when, in 1843, his book 'A Christmas Carol' was published and became an instant bestseller. (Just as well, for Dickens at the time was in deep trouble financially, and gave himself just 6 weeks to write the book and get it out there to resolve his money woes!) While his book didn't really kickstart the festivities, it did crystallize many English traditions, and while Dickens is often condemned by writers as being the 'Commercializer of Christmas' in reality he wanted to promote the idea of helping those in need, without expecting to receive in return. The Victorian age was a time of wealth and technological breakthroughs, social upheaval and international unrest... anything sound familiar? 
The season is almost upon us, but before you begin to see palm trees laden with snow popping up on all the beaches of opensim, take a trip around one of the best made Christmas builds on the hyperverse, Victorian Christmas on OSGrid, by Zoree Jupiter - a great builder, although more famous perhaps for her wonderful singing voice.
Zoree is going to be a guest on the Mal Burns talk show Inworld Review on December 3 at 12 noon Grid time. You can watch the show online and add your comments and questions in the Live Chat, or watch anytime afterwards, to learn more about her story in music making, as well as her participation in the OSCC festivities during the weekend of December 9 and 10 this year.
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| Zoree with a snowman friend |
Zoree Jupiter: Because I do like that era :) I had looked for something in that idea the xmas before and had not found anything so I decided to make it!
Zoree Jupiter is a well known singer of great talent. Originally from the Azores islands, part of Portugal, Zoree currently resides in the USA and sings in virtual worlds multiple times a week - check out her busy calendar! . Her rich, vibrant voice is full of sunshine rhythm, and her repertoire includes everything from Fado to disco, in a variety of languages, and indeed she opened the recent Hypergrid International Expo by showcasing her amazing voice.
Zoree started singing in SL back in 2009, she has been on OSgrid since 2020
Zoree Jupiter: I came here to look for other venues to sing at
Thirza Ember: were you a builder in SL?
Zoree Jupiter: no! I just decorated my homes and a few trees and flowers but here I had the opportunity to explore my creativity with building. I had just started making some demos for Masala Estates and found that I enjoyed it. It was really fun as I had just learned to lay down a sim from beginning on the Masala Estates server so I had to think of how to shape it, etc.
One of the great things about this sim is that it's not just gorgeous to look at. You can also do some serious freebie shopping here, with a beautiful range of products from your classic trees and nutcrackers, to these lovely pre-Raphaelite paintings.
Thirza Ember: I love the fact that the shops have actual 'goods for sale' - is Jaelle a friend of yours, or an alt? (If you don't want to say, that's fine)
Zoree Jupiter: Jaelle is real!! She deserves credit for helping me make this come true, and also I would like to acknowledge Unadecal Masala for sponsoring the land! Jaelle has followed my shows in SL for about 6 years and came here to attend my open sim sets. I also knew that she loves Victorian things and had some of the homes and then purchased them here on kitely Market - Koshari Mahana's items... so after I designed the land, I invited Jaelle, and we both decorated it together I did the landscaping and Jaelle helped me with finding decor and decorating interiors etc.
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| Jaelle and Zoree |
A river runs through the region, make sure you cross one of the many bridges and investigate the shops on the far side - there may be a cookie in it for you! Also - I think there's some low flying reindeer up there, and wait, is that a naughty/nice radar ?
There's even a festive lighthouse, if you're in a maritime mood. The snow is not of the particle kind, which probably is re reason why on my visit there was no lag at all, it's a solution that helps the sim although many builders find all those extra strands of mesh a bit frustrating when they're attempting to move objects on the sim. Swings and roundabouts, as always, when you build in the virtual.
There are dozens of photo ops on this region, plus the 'shopping' and, of course, in the Christmas Season, Zoree will be holding a concert on the region - make sure you keep your eyes open for more news about the date for that, it's bound to be the highlight of the season.
HG Address: hg.osgrid.org:80:Victorian Christmas
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