A Pocket Safari

Our second stop this week, after the intense colors and sensations of Nyx Breen's build over on Pangea grid, was a landscape region, all swamp, woodland, and subtle colors. Pandanus Pocket - what an intriguing name! The HG Address is of course at the end of the post. Landscaper Chelsea Louloudi has been in opensim for well over a decade, and has recently found a new home on Wolf Territories Grid, where she very kindly offered to show us around her latest creation.

Thirza Ember: Hey everyone, It is very VERY early in the morning in Australia, where our hostess Chelsea Louloudi lives

Chelsea Louloudi: Hello Everyone!

Bink Draconia: =(-,-)=HuHu =(-,-)=

Yara Eilde: Hello Chelsea

Max Well: hi

Thirza Ember: Chelsea has a translator orb, so that can help everyone understand our conversation (I wish it had a setting for typonese): on her head

Chelsea Louloudi: ahaha Thirza...i'm getting a good giggle Welcome Everyone...great to see you!

Thirza Ember: you guys remember Chelsea's work, she did collaborations with Mudpuddle - remember the Pepperland sims?

Nara Nook: Yeah :)

Jame Atlloud: oh yes

Thirza Ember: over to you Chelsea - I hope you have plenty of black coffee

Chelsea Louloudi: I do Thirza! earlier than i calculated

Thirza Ember: tell us the truth what time is it there

Chelsea Louloudi: 6:06 am

Dings Digital : good morning!

Chelsea Louloudi: morning Dings :)

Nara Nook: Thank you for getting up so early

Chelsea Louloudi: So Welcome to Pandanus Pocket Why "Pandanus Pocket"? The Pandanus is a tree that is common in my part of the real world in the sub-tropics... the name has always appealed to me, as it conveys that tropical feel.

Thirza Ember: that was absolutely not the answer I was expecting

Forest Azure: it is a good tree for lothorien!

Chelsea Louloudi: On this deck is an example of Pandanus tree and it's fruit, which is edible and the leaves are also used in cooking.  Take copies for yourselves. Also on this deck is a stand containing landmarks of my favourite shopping destinations and also interesting places. Just touch it and you will receive a folder. The treasure chests also contain some goodies.

Tina Bey: hola a todos,I'm a little late today!

Thirza Ember: oh the Pandanus,  it's like a yucca, in a way

Chelsea Louloudi: yes, very much so, Thirza, Pandanus Pocket is themed in places that appeal to me so it's somewhat eclectic... a bit of "reality" and a bit of fantasy.  Its always in development stage :) so some places aren't fully completed.

Forest Azure: ah! i thought it was the big big tree down there

Chelsea Louloudi: they do get big, you can make it any size you like

Thirza Ember: I'm going to plant them on safari and see if they are an invasive species lol

Taarna Welles: How does this pandanus fruit taste?

 Chelsea Louloudi: Anyway, we start here at the Swamp

Taarna Welles: Lot of nice detail to look at, Chelsea.

Thirza Ember: oh you have the statue of Mal

Chelsea Louloudi: Here is the street food area.  

Thirza Ember: i wore my red riding hood shirt

Chelsea Louloudi: i love that shirt

Thirza Ember: i'm pretty sure they have her hidden away somewhere here

Chelsea Louloudi: we dont speak of it, Thirza

Thirza Ember: Chelsea, are you a detail demon? do you have to get every detail right or it drives you nuts?

Chelsea Louloudi: that's it Thirza, drives me nuts... and creative blocks... 

Nyx Breen: how else do you build honestly

Chelsea Louloudi: what great company to be amongst!

Chelsea Louloudi: The big Penelope Piranha in the corner to your right, was annoying the swamp taxi...without going into gory details, it ended up in this tank The Swamp Taxi runs from here to several points in the swamp. We will be travelling through the outskirts of the township which contains some little shops with a few cute  treasures, then we'll be heading to the township

Thirza Ember: how much time do you spend looking for the perfect asset, and how much figuring out where to put the assets you already have? that's virtual building's biggest paradox...

Chelsea Louloudi: a lot of time, Thirza, and it has to be exactly what i have in mind

Forest Azure: well, what you have in mind is really worth the time and effort

Chelsea Louloudi: Here we have staff quarters and our resident psychic reside here

Thirza Ember: the resident psychic isn't here today due to an unforeseen emergency

Chelsea Louloudi: lots of things we don't mention in the swamp

Forest Azure : i think the resident just walked through me

Thirza Ember: i love the mix of freebies as part of the aesthetic... also - the houses are all to die for, i feel like i want to live in all of them lol

Chelsea Louloudi: the tram travels to the swamp club and recreation area

Max Well: I love this forest with its footbridges

Forest Azure: ooh.. drinking beer on a bike!

Chelsea Louloudi: oh, bike not working?

Forest Azure: it is, i just was distracted by my beer, which is working very well

Thirza Ember: Chelsea can you tell us a bit about what it's like being on australian time when so many opensim people are either on european or usa time zones, I'm really curious to understand how that works out socially

Chelsea Louloudi: It gets a bit lonely, Thirza, though its easier to meet up with European and UK time zone people than US, your hours are compatible with my evenings

Thirza Ember: are there any aussie groups ? I remember years ago a couple of aussie grids, but it's a long time since we visited one

Chelsea Louloudi: I havent seen any, although i spend a lot of time working here or just hypergridding

Thirza Ember: Jokaydia was a really early opensim grid, that was based in australia

Chelsea Louloudi: oh yes it was

Nyx Breen: yes remember that grid

Dings Digital: being a builder or creative person often is being lonely

Chelsea Louloudi: true Dings, I really dont mind it, though i really enjoy company too

Nara Nook: The solitude is good for creating

Forest Azure: /me looks around in this large group of builders and creative persons

Chelsea Louloudi: right Forest :D   i'm in awe of who is actually here

Forest Azure: /me grins

Chelsea Louloudi: so onwards towards the remnants of the medieval Pirate ship

Jimmy Olsen: howdy allz

Thirza Ember: hahahaha Jimmy's amazing new safari gesture

Jimmy Olsen: AHHHHH. OH.. ♥♥♥  SA-FA-RI!!!!♥♥♥

Jimmy Olsen: LOG IN TO FIRESTORM....

Jimmy Olsen: CHECK YOUR ATTACHMENTS NOW!!

Jimmy Olsen: SAFARI OF OPENSIM! GATHERING CITIZENS!!

Jimmy Olsen: CROSSING THE BORDERS NOW! BOUND FOR THE HYPERGRID....

Jimmy Olsen: HYPERGRID  ♥♥♥ SA-FA-RI ♥♥♥

Next, into a cave system with underground river, lava flows, elven lights, crystals, waterfalls and more. The passages are vast enough to fool even Chelsea, who uses these pillars to guide herself. Neat writing in blue on them, maybe there were Orcs in the offing...

The passage led in the end to a Vernian submarine.

Taarna Welles: Nice in here

Thirza Ember: Mal was always talking about caves, remember James?

James Atlloud: oh yes, and they are so difficult to build

Chelsea Louloudi: to the north here, i have been placed on sailable sea

James Atlloud: where is captain Nemo?

Dings Digital: with radio... "calling all earthlings. please stay away"

Thirza Ember: Oh here come the textures,  i love that - first you see the bones of the build, and then when the textures arrive, it becomes a whole other thing. 

Jimmy Olsen: do u remember the old times in SL when  u crashed, log in back, with boobies and tennis stuck in the  butt? lolol

Chelsea Louloudi: oh memories Jimmy

 James Atlloud: oh yes - and no hair

Nara Nook: still happens here sometimes when you grid hop

Tina Bey: That's why my skin is clothing, everything is very light

James Atlloud: my hair is thusly painted on

Thirza Ember: or if you jump with an animesh attached, very strange things can happen,  i have a gif of me on Pepperland, by the bins, where my avatar has adopted cat animations

Jimmy Olsen: and opensim can be weird on these stuffs too,  i had a case from  a friend.. 22 doors from a house.. just one specific door she crosses. she crashes... all time.. and all doors had the same script

Taarna Welles: Spooky

Nara Nook: the quirks keep it fun

Thirza Ember: but we are stubborn, we just keep relogging lol

Chelsea Louloudi: amazing what we  get used to

Nara Nook: There could be a good novel in that

Tina Bey: yes, just as we weave patience

Thirza Ember: it's amazing we are in a sub all together with people from south America, all over Europe, USA, and even Australia today

Nara Nook: we are the world

Tina Bey: and the end of the world

Thirza Ember: it's worth making the effort to have the chance to hang out with so many clever creatives !

Chelsea Louloudi: its always a mind blower Thirza

Thirza Ember: on Nyx's build, where we were just before coming here, he is looking for many more collaborations with artists,

Nyx Breen: always -  friend me and ask what we can do

Forest and her bottle o' something

Forest.Azure: /me notices she is trying to empty an empty bottle

Taarna Welles: for those who likes to drink air.

Thirza Ember: Forest, hope is eternal

Jimmy Olsen: good thing i have my own  coffee

Nyx Breen: yes sir jimmy the black juice drives life

Jimmy Olsen: i need it, i woke up 5.45am today lol

Thirza Ember: lol Chelsea can relate to that

Thirza Ember: if no drink, Forest, maybe it contains a message

Forest Azure: /me chokes on a written message

Forest Azure: /me reads the message .. ooh thirza, it says ' hope is eternal '!

 Thirza Ember: wow and out into the fresh air again!

Chelsea Louloudi: western end of the township

Thirza Ember: Chelsea a question - do you keep building until you have finished a region, then you like to start a new one, or do you constantly rebuild? or do you simply change details? Jimmy here for example, he is constantly rebuilding

Jimmy Olsen: LOL,  i don't actually rebuild much thirza.. only if better on lag or mesh quality or something enhanced but normally i keep the thematic

Chelsea Louloudi: your regions are great, Jimmy. No, i get stuck on one and move on to the next...that's why none are ever finished, plus i get creative blocks and too much in my head

Jimmy Olsen: i tell u.. i liked the cave.. caves are difficult to build

Nyx Breen: do you get much traffic on your lands

Chelsea Louloudi: no Nyx, i haven't advertised it yet... and i wont talk about the murder motel

Thirza Ember: murder motel???  that sounds scary

Chelsea Louloudi: yes, there was a murder here but talking about it isnt good for business

Nara Nook: oh just one murder then

Chelsea Louloudi: something to do with the resident psychic

The way a story sort of wove its way through our visit says a lot about the narrative talent of Chelsea and reinforces the idea that Opensim is just born to be the backdrop and birthplace of movies and novels. But it was incredibly already time for us to stop our tour.

Max Well: thank you very much Chelsea for this charming walk, it was very pleasant

Jame Atlloud: So much feeling comes from this tour - it was quite lovely!

Forest Azure: thank you so much, lovely tour and place

Nara Nook: This was a lovely tour. Thank you.

Alex Salamander: Thanks for the great experience here

Chelsea Louloudi: well, you'll all just have to come back and check the progress

Tina Bey: maravilloso!!

HG Address: grid.wolfterritories.org:800:Pandanus Pocket