Rock On

It's not the news that anyone wanted to hear, that 3rd Rock Grid will be closing its doors in May.  The longevity of the grid, and the circumstances that have led to its likely demise, make the news even more upsetting. But, I say, let's be positive. 

Write Plaza, da Vinci

Why be positive? First of all, because of all the wonderful places, events, and people of the grid who have given residents and visitors alike a dozen or more years of great memories. 

Secondly, these fine people don't plan to give up! Their new home may be different to the original grid, but while pixels are virtual, real people and their genuine friendships and talents are not. These people love one another, and they won't lose each other, and the many generous souls in the HG will no doubt find ways to help and advise them of ways to help them find a new home. I admire that, and I'm sure you do too.

Waking Dreams, one of the lovely music venues of 3rd Rock

And the grid isn't gone yet- it's not one of those overnight sinkings. This post is about what 3RG has meant to the Safari over the years.  Our very first visit was in December 2014, to the Ironbridge sim, back in the days of Tommy Rock - wow that's going back a long way. How many of you guys remember that?

We have had so many fun trips to 3rd Rock from the the Maze on Gaul to the concert hall on Lodi, (here's Truelie Telling giving us a taste of rock'n'roll on Lodi) 

The Starlight Ballroom, home to so many great events, was built by Zinnia Frenzy, and you can still find it on sim Melody.

We also had great fun with the winter sports on Alpine. If you click on any of the links in this post, they will take you to articles about the Safari trips to 3rd Rock, often guests of Zinnia and Kered, please go and check out the pictures - you may see some familiar faces!

Of course, not all these sims now exist; time goes by, people leave and new people come along, but the atmosphere on 3rd Rock has always been one of gentle friendship, and while there have been moments of displeasure and even anger, on the whole, it's always felt like a place where they avoided drama whenever possible. Of course, there's so much more, than simply the spots that the Safari got to, from residential islands to community spaces, like the Satyr Farm sim...

... to JayR Cela's  Lake region, which should have been a Safari destination later this year...

Great Central Lake a sailing and watersports region

... to the elegant Welcome sim, with this egg-enhanced fabulous Venetian palace, on Navigation island. 

Alya Soulstar's fanciful building on Navigation island, full of useful freebies for new members

3rd Rock Grid has a fantastic track record when it comes to music. Think of the No Borders Music Festival that was held annually for several years, a benefit for Doctors without Borders that attracted many of SL and opensim's finest singers.

Today, events throughout the week are held on sims like Melody, Waking Dreams, and Thoria Millgrove's Peapod sim, where there were weekly 'Celtic Capers' at Callaghan's pub. And of course the weekly Starfleet Boogie event. I'll miss jumping over there occasionally to catch up with good friends like Georgina and Dolfke.

Over the past decade, the Star Trek inspired roleplay community on 3rd Rock has evolved and endured expanded.

Just one year ago they celebrated the inauguration of a new ship, the Einstein, with David7 Bravin as captain... Here's everyone trying out the transporters during the grand tour.

In 2022 the Safari group also had the privilege of a guided tour by Alia Soulstar of her fabulous art history build, the NUNA gallery. It was such an interesting tour, and one of the highlights of our year, as she showed us some of the most significant works of art. This treasure house is as intriguing and rewarding as it is beautiful. 

We later had the chance to visit in the sky above the gallery some sound installations made by Alia in collaboration with Lorin Tone  and later, another great collaboration of theirs, the HAL9000 build inspired by the film 2001: a Space Odyssey.

What kind of people are the 3rd Rock residents? 

I believe they all strive to be something along the lines of the description in the inworld Profile of the late, and much missed, Kira Tiponi: "Hi, so you're curious about me? ...Well, ok then, here's a summary: I was born in Virtual Life, and have no memory of any Real Life. Whilst trying to find out how this came to be, I love great music, dancing, chatting, and the company of good friends."

Einstein region, by Kira Tiponi

So many great builds and great memories.

It's hard to say what the fate of the grid members will be in terms of finding new places to land, one can only wish Lazuli Pooraki and all the 3rd Rock family the very best of luck (they are due some!) and to not let this situation defeat them - their creativity and their community is worth fighting for.

Hops to some of the places mentioned in this post.
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/da%20Vinci/138/712/22
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/Einstein/578/436/22
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/Waking%20Dreams/254/294/40 
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/Great%20Central%20Lake/438/406/28
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/Melody/568/227/23
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/Myst%208/146/210/22
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/Welcome/382/442/29
hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/The%20Nuna%20Gallery/368/400/197