On Offworld

Any day of the week, no matter what the season, you'll find music and dance parties happening all over Opensim. It is one of the enduring and vivifying features of the hypergrid culture. I asked popular German DJ Genie Fegte to say why he thinks this is so.

Genie Fegte: Music is international and lets you forget the problems of the world for a moment. Music can connect people, even across language barriers. You enjoy the music together and shut everything negative and evil out of your head for a while. I think that's a main reason why parties are so popular in virtual worlds.

Offworld grid is a popular spot for dancing on Friday evenings, European time. It's a grid with a long history, all the way back to 2007 when the owner, Genie Fegte, set up his first opensim grid called  "Land of Vikings". This of course was before hypergridding became a commonplace in opensim, pre-mesh, and things were still pretty basic and often very unreliable. 

Genie Fegte:  I never let that put me off and continued working with Opensim. I am a perfectionist and when I have a problem in front of me, I sit on it until it is solved. I got my first computer in 1988. There was no real internet or pre-made programs. So I learned to program from magazines and books. Everything I know about computers today I taught myself.

Tony, Jerry, & Little Willow Bay

Here is a heads-up ... or should that be deadheads-up? ... hmmm ... good question. 

What isn't in question is the following news - tomorrow,  August 1st, at 5pm - 8 pm SLT, there will be a concert by Tony Saunders to mark what would have been Jerry Garcia's 82nd birthday, held on the sim Little Willow Bay, on Neverworld, with some very special architecture put together by some of  NWG's best known builders.

Govega Sachertorte: Mr. smokes and Nexus Storm built the sim and I added the art and art info. The pieces are a gift grant to the SCA who is collaborating with the foundation on this. They will be livestreaming the event, and so will we. 

Little Willow Bay region on Neverworld is a virtual take on RL Sausalito

The full address is at the end of the post, as always! 

Wait a minute, why is this event on this sim, you ask, and not the Jerry Garcia Tribute sim that we visited back in 2023? 

Remembering Torben

 This week, on June 28, there will be a special event on Pangea grid.

It was in the early Fall of 2022 when we got the news that Torben Asp had passed away after a long illness. 

Born in Denmark, and later resident in Ohio, Torben was known for his gentle demeanor, his electronic music and his otherworldly particles. He started in Second Life in January 2007 and was a sought-after performer there for many years, and later also in Opensim, where many grids can claim the fame of having him celebrate various anniversaries and milestones with them. He was there for the Safari whenever we asked him, and many other grids and individuals will tell you the same.

That's why Pangea grid has decided to offer each one of us a chance to celebrate his life and talent with this event. If you have pictures of Torben, you will be able to share them on the specially dedicated region, and so we can all remember the very good times he brought to us in our virtual homes, and into our lives in general.

The event will be at 11am SLT on Friday, June 28
 and the location is pangeagrid.de:8002:Torben Asp Memorial

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. 

IDD - Great Idea

 This photograph was blatantly stolen in the night from Zoree Jupiter, there, I said it. 

And what a night it was! 

A night of 30 minute music sets on a special region AMV International,  showcasing singers from around the world, and celebrating the vibrant and fascinating multicultural community we're all part of. 
 The celebration of all things international is of course in the air with the HIE event coming up in April 19-21. HIE is a sort of opensim convention, with a big but simple Expo 

Jazzed Up in Opensim

Poppy Fields and Forest Azure organizing a Jazz and Blues Weekend and it's coming up on September 9 and 10. It's sponsored by Masala Estates, (thank you Unadecal!) and will be held on a dedicated sim, HG Jazz & Bluesfestival. It will cover both Euro and US-friendly hours, 11am - 3pm on saturday, 11am - 5pm on Sunday, for your listening pleasure.  

The full lineup of performers is: Rez Rezzal, Icky and Sum, Charice Singer, Acidicloop, Ruud vandeSande, Clan's Band, and Poppy and Forest themselves.

September is still a month away, but preparations are already well in hand, with this stage, built by Poppy Fields, featuring a great dome in dark blue, filled with stars and

Deadheads on Neverworld

 IT’S ONLY A SLIGHT EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT 
THE INTERNET IS A TECHNOLOGY THAT WAS CREATED 
SPECIFICALLY TO TRADE GRATEFUL DEAD SHOWS.
Scott Beauchamp, Pacific Standard Magazine

He was only 53 years old when he died in 1994, but Jerry Garcia packed a great deal into those decades -  133 songs,  four children, 30 years with an iconic band, a place in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, that whole Haight-Ashbury thing, and of course the missing finger. Before the Grateful Dead was formed, Garcia studied art, and though it necessarily took second place to his music career, he created well over 2000 pieces.

Paintings, sketches and doodly drawings are all part of the rich pattern of Garcia's artistic journey, brought inworld for this event - completing the circle between internet and deadheads, digital and analog, pencil, paints and pc.

Govega Sachertorte

This week a special RL/VW crossover event happened on Neverworld Grid, organized by Govega Sachertorte. You don't have to be a big fan to the music of the GD to appreciate what it means for events to double up their realities, and slip the bounds of geographical being there... it's just a case of relax and enjoy.

Crescent Roll

 Winxtropia Grid has so much going for it, it's almost a crime for us to do a double dip this season by returning there, and going to the same region - but who could resist, when it's for the purpose of enjoying more Sound music by Cutuelala Artis. HG Address, as always, at the end of the post.

Cuteulala Artis, photo by C Calhoun

Our second destination to celebrate Cornflakes Week 2023, was therefore back at the great Organ of Sound, in company with Boujee Gamergirl, Farstar Enoch and the aforementioned Cute, under a dome designed by YumYum Komani.

Cuteulala Artis: hi all! I will need to preload the sounds before i play full songs... for the best sound try to be near the circle or turn your volume quite up. This is a live in world musical experience no media is needed

Star Ravenhurst: We have been here before. This is awesome!

Cute Tunes on Winxtropia

It was our second stop of the Safari, and we had experienced a bit of lag earlier in the day. Luckily, that didn't stop the group from powering through, and not one among them regrets sticking with the adventure - indeed, quite the reverse. Our second stop brought us in contact with something unique and beautiful and we all felt privileged to be there, to experience it. The message came up - "You are now at Crescent Melody, Instrument Testing (150, 128, 21)"

Forest Azure: phew :)

Boujee Gamergirl: Hi Welcome

Star Ravenhurst: тμαηк чøυ ѕσσ мυ¢н【ツ】☺

Notes on a Safari

 This week two great musical guests, Joao Frazao and Moses Rae. Dang, even their names are musical. As usual HG addresses are at the end of the post.

Starting with destination two in this post, just to mess with your head. 

Blue Safari

There are two kinds of people in this world, those who do, and those who don't.

          This week Safari began with music and a big ole crash. Wolem Wobbit played the blues for us on the dance floor on hgsafari sim. Wolem is working on a great performance sim on Metropolis grid, called Chicago Blues. 

Go visit if you get a chance, you'll like it.

It took a while for stream to kick in. Wolem did back flips while we waited. I was thinking of all the signage I should have put up to make it easier for people to understand where we are and where we're going, but let's face it, nobody actually reads anything. 

Blueprint of a Safari

           Plans are like eggs, sometimes they get beaten.
           Sometimes the internet fades or folds in on itself, separating us from each other on this gossamer gauze we call the metaverse. Sometimes you lose your password.  
           Sometimes you lose the group.

          But then like a souffle, it all comes out golden and delicious.
          This week on Safari we started where we should have ended up last week, on Adrean's World. (URIs at the end of the post, as usual.)  Adrean Flux is a lovely person, and her grid is friendly and eclectic. The group's quest was to visit the pyramids and count them. It's an impossible task really, because what constitutes a pyramid, and what is a ziggurat... Right?

          Impossible for some of us to TP as we'd like to (or even log in) but everyone knows, if the first destination fails, head to the second. And if a Landmark fails, then use the HG address, which will take you to the Welcome Sim of the grid, and from there you can