M is for Music

Morlita Quan's Second Life adventure started 16 years ago, and it was pure boredom.

Morlita Quan:   I even remember myself thinking : " Ok, I won't stay here more then two days". But as you well said, SL is a nest of creativity and very soon, I had the luck to meet persons there who used SL as a professional tool for art and music, and not like a simple social game. 

Morlita at her new, as yet unfinished, gallery on sim MorlitaM on OSGrid.

Sixteen years later, Morlita is still working on projects that overlap between the real and virtual worlds. Recently she has revived her interest in Opensim, and has an exciting new sim on OSGrid - address at the end of the post, as usual!  What, though, makes virtual worlds a special place to be creative?

Name Check

 Yeah, what is in a name?  Full Name, Default Name, Display Name, Username, Modern and Legacy... 
Originally when you joined Second Life, you chose a first name - it could be anything you wanted that wasn't wasn't too obviously rude or copyright infringing. Then you picked a last name from a list of about 50 possibles. This surname list was gradually refreshed, so that people who joined around the same time would often find they had 'cousins' - think of the improbable art trio of Selavy, Bryn and Saveme Oh, all linked by that surname, if not much else.  

It was a golden age of witty and punny creativeness, and a huge dose of crass daftness also. Many of the Last Names invited a play on words, and people rose to the challenge with great choices like AM Radio, Hok Wakawaka, or Rolling Shuffle. I bet you can remember a few good ones, put them in the Comments if you want. 

It's painless and quick to change display names in SL

So far in Second Life's impressive 20 year lifespan, there have been over 11,300 Last Names (here's a list of them). That includes both the ones suggested by the Lindens, and custom names people have requested. Some of the earliest Last Names were Baskerville, Prudhomme, Jetaime, Sideways, and Binder. Interestingly in the first four years of SL, only 360 different Last Names were available, each being retired after a few days or weeks, apparently at whim.
Back in 2010 some big name changes happened in Second Life. New account holders had to pick just one name, and whenever legacy form-filling required a second name, they all used the same one - 'Resident'. 

Safari Animals

W. Gynoid in "Hippo dreams"

It was a beast of a Safari this time, and not just because it was 'bring your your own sheep' week. 

          Outlands was awash (make that handwash only - do not dry clean) with  pure new wool, much of it in particle form. FYI if you are in need of a good sheep particle, one is available at the clubhouse on Outlands sim, Metropolis. No questions asked.

Metaversel: Double Take

Last night, in a dual exhibition on Francogrid and SL, Anne Astier (known as Mariaka Nishi in Second Life) presented her new show, Welcoming Woman. It's a sort of family album, looking at the thoughts and feelings surrounding parenthood.

To be honest, not something I could get fired up about; pictures of, and by, other people's kids aren't that interesting. At least not as much as Mum and Dad imagine. However, the show was part of IMAB, the intergrid arts festival, and was the first to involve a dual stream in both worlds. There was a nice big screen at Francogrid, and of course in SL too. 

The transmission wasn't perfectly smooth; for some of us, on FG, there was no picture despite furious toggling; but luckily the thing was also transmitted on Livestream, so we could all get a chance to see what was happening. Well, we got a good look at the cleavage of the ladies present at the event, anyway. Which I suppose is something Mothery, right?

It took 5 attempts to get to FG from home, via Hyperica; when I finally got there, only the ticker tape at the bottom of the screen would load for me. Maybe not being a 'local' FG resident prevented me seeing the picture - but it didn't matter. I was far more fascinated by the kilt worn by Francogrid's genial president Fabrice Parisi. Nice knees.

While the group attending the opening in FG was small, there was a fine turnout in Second Life, in part to recognize the work of the Tournicoton Gallery (which closes this week due to financial constraints), and in part no doubt because Ultraviolet Alter was due to perform after the presentation.
Ultra put on a great show, and there were many familiar faces at the event, including the Monarch of SL art, Bryn Oh, sporting an unfamiliar face - this is his new look. 

I like it a lot; the post-apocalyptic beanie, the army boots and the greatcoat suggest austere times for which the artist is prepared. I suggested a sidearm might be in order - not a utility belt, please, they've been done and done. He mentioned a possible accessory, which would be a paradox of utility - I hope he shows it off to the world soon.

As usual, the Imprudence Viewer makes mesh far more amusing than it's meant to be; Apmel got some great photos of the SL side of the event, go to his blog or his Facebook page to check them out.
On the whole, from the IMAB point of view, the show was a moderate success. Most of the public seemed to know little or anything of Francogrid prior to Mariaka's presentation, so that was a positive step forward, but having identical exhibitions in both worlds does not really encourage anyone to get off their pixellated butts and go into open sim. And although appearance is not everything, people do like to feel they can look their best at events - in many cases it's their only contribution to the evening. Clothes, skins and poses are available, it's up to us to make the most of them, however 'superficial' that side of things may seem. It kind of matters.
Here's hoping we will get more shows in Francogrid soon. It is a lovely grid, full of interesting projects in Cognitive Science, Cinema, Art and Literature. Perhaps, too, more SLers will get the open sim bug, and come and see what's going on.
Kilts will be optional, of course.