Ōpunguriddo

On this round planet, distances are no object, and in the virtual, you can teleport to a grid on the other side of the world in a moment. But one thing that can defeat us is the time zone issue. A quick glance at opensimworld.com will tell you that Opensim is at its busiest in the hours of evening in Europe and the East Coast, let's say from 11am to 8pm SLT. That translates to 4am to 1pm, in Japanese time - yawn! work! ...not an ideal time to get inworld; the Opensimmers of Oceania can also relate, no doubt.

Teddy Dragoone

That makes it even more special when there's an opportunity to hear from someone who's not in your usual time window. Meet Teddy Dragoone, class of '09 in Second Life. We met on the newly minted Open Grid, and I asked him to tell a bit of his story.

Lil Bit More JOG

 Just as I publish a post about JOG, yet another cultural event happens there that's worth recording.

The summer festival called Obon, sometimes just called  Bon, is a joyful celebration of the dearly departed, and a moment of reflection about all the positive ways in which our ancestors near or far  have affected our lives, a sort of spiritual giving of thanks.

Looking down from the castle at the party venue

Mint B's region is a classic, with Cuteulala's castle as the backdrop to the main dancing area. There's a cool romantic midsummer moonlight feel to the sim, perfectly contrasted by the red and white colors of the festival - those are lucky colors!

I really love the little ghosties that dance around the central tower or yagura.  

The Jogged Heart

井の中の蛙 大海を知らず

A frog in a well knows nothing of the great sea

Doguu by Daiki Aabye 

On a hot day, there's a cool grid to wander through half a world away from Europe and on a very different planet, culturally. It's the Japan Open Grid, called JOG for short.

The main part of JOG is the great square continent, with the region Jog Central at its heart and all kinds of builds surrounding it, those closest to the middle have a permanent feel, like the 5 year anniversary Grand Staircase, the shopping regions and JOG Meet...

...and of course Dejima, 'Exit Island', as it was called, the one point at which, during the Edo period,  the West could interact with the Japanese culture and economy. We are talking the long period from the mid 1600's to the 1800's. 'Exit through the gift shop' comes to mind.

This, of course, was a period when Japan was trying to have as little as possible to do with outside cultures, in a bid to preserve their own culture and to repel the less attractive effects of western culture.  It meant, however, that the traditions and philosophy of the country were protected while a bit-o-bartering could go on undisturbed.