The Last of Boston

 The Last of Boston is a zombie game based on the TV show The Last of Us on Neverworld Grid.

The build was due to be our first destination in this special 10 anniversary Safari tour, but,  the code gremlins got active in the inner workings of Neverworld's opensimulator on this occasion,  timing grr!

The usual suspects of Safari all showed up at the clubhouse, ready to go see the Boston sights, but instead it was a nice excuse to hear people share some of their feelings about our trips (and complain about the seats at the clubhouse - these people have no stamina!) 

It's been 10 years since our first forays into the unknown, with so many crashes and uncertainties in the planning and executing of our guided tours, so there was something appropriate about our last minute crisis. That's happened so many times it's a bit of a miracle when things all work out perfectly, as they often do.

But regardless of the stress related to trying to make these trips happen, I'd like to thank everyone who has joined us for their good humored patience and generally upbeat approach to Safari trips, no matter what they bring. After all, this is all about the people. If you want perfection, there are thousands of impersonal video games out there. 

Cornflakes on Neverworld

Cornflakes Week comes round once a year, and it's a great opportunity to show off your imaginative side in a uniquely Opensim way. This year, as usual, the Safari celebrated the week long event with our Wednesday tour split into two halves, with our first party destination on Neverworld Grid. 

Never Plaza... the calm before the storm.

Be ready to be amazed by what the Neverworldians pulled out of their corny inventories...

But first, a shout out to everyone who dressed up! Lots of cornflake hats, plus Angelic Kisses rocking an Alpha Tribe outfit by Felix Ringtail, Lavia Lavine and four-legged friend sporting spots, Roff clowning it,  James in a vintage carpetman avie with lit-up face, Forest ant-itified, while a colorfully ringed lifted pixel took to the corny dancefloor, as she prepared to livestream the event. 

Remembrance at Georgetown

To mark the passing of one year since the end of hostilities in the First World War - still called the Great War at the time - a new annual event was organized, called Armistice Day. The War had officially ended on 11 November 1918. In London a new temporary memorial, pale and austere, had been set up in 1919. It was called the Cenotaph, literally meaning "empty tomb", to symbolize all those who had lost their lives in the conflict. The permanent version of the monument, by Lutyens, was completed in time for the 1920 commemoration. 

It was an Australian journalist, Edward Honey, who proposed possibly the most important part of that first Armistice Day... the idea of a minute's silence in respect for those who had died. The suggestion was picked up by the authorities, who made it a central part of the ceremony, at eleven minutes past eleven. All were agreed that the event should not be a celebration of military might, but a 'devout invocation for the utter necessity of World Peace.' This solemn and deeply meaningful tribute to those lost in conflict has endured for over 100 years, and is marked throughout the Commonwealth and beyond as Remembrance Day.  

Tig Eberdene of Neverworld Grid has a special event coming up on the Friday before Remembrance Day (because naturally the real thing needs to be celebrated in the real world) but her tribute to the fallen is no less poignant and well prepared for being in the virtual. You can visit her region over on Neverworld and see her recreation of a military base, Canadian style, and get a sense of what the day and the armed forces in general mean to her.

The region is called Georgetown and it's part military base, part township, and all very much Canada.

The glorious fall colors feature here, alongside a carefully constructed collection of historic architecture, modern buildings, woods, and mountains - and even a set of military trenches! Tig hasn't been on Neverworld all that long, but you can tell immediately that she is a seasoned builder, and this is not her first rodeo - the general build and all the little personalized details make that clear.

Happy Birthday Neverworld!

 Neverworld Grid is celebrating eight years of fun and creativity this week. on a platform famous for the ephemeral nature of so many virtual places, what a milestone that is!

If you missed all the parties, you are still in time to check out the excellent Birthday Build on the nattily-named NWBB8.

Neo Rome

 Nexus Storm is a great builder! But you knew that already. Also, that the Neverworld family like to collaborate on builds - perhaps you remember the Total Recall region the Safari visited a while back. This time, we went to Rome -with a twist, a Neo twist.

Many people wonder, sure, when you read in this blog Safari people saying things like "I will definitely come back and explore" - do they really mean it? Well yes. Here's photographic proof. There were about 15  to 20 of us on the enormous region, and that of course made a certain amount of lag, even with all the possible precautions taken by the very skilled Neverworld teams - including turnings off their fabulous NCPs. Despite all their best efforts, Whirli found he couldn't move. So he simply waited for us to all leave, and for the region to be restored to its complete glory, and then he went back. Only to be eaten by a bear.

The build is an incredible mashup of all the best styles - roman bones, but its sinews and muscles taken from many fictional genres.

Rainbows, Sounds, Jellyfish and Doodles

The summer is coming, and while this blog will continue to have new posts, the weekly hypergrid Safari trips will be on hold until September 6.
The final stop of the Spring season was at the Grand Opening of a virtual gallery. It showcases the pictural art of late Jerry Garcia, best known as the lead guitarist and vocalist of The Grateful Dead.
 Peter Agelasto opened the ribbon cutting ceremony with a few words.

 Peter Agelasto: Hello friends, family, sisters and brothers. Welcome to the opening of the Virtual Jerry Garcia Archive Museum, We are so grateful to have you join us for such a special event and free concert.  Thank you everyone who has helped bring this to joyful place life...  Manasha and Keelin Garcia, my teammates over at the Jerry Garcia Foundation. Huge special thanks to the creators behind the Neverworld Grid. Govega and your team. 

Peter Agelasto

Virtual Recall: Welcome to Mars

 Straight out of our Star Trek experience on 3rd Rock, we leapt over to Neverworld to see a brand new build based on the film Total Recall. Another huge build, demonstrating the variety, talent, imagination, and humor that make opensim the best place in virtual. HG address is, of course at the end of the post. Thanks to all the Neverworlders who were there to welcome us, and to the 3rd Rockers who continued the fun by coming over from destination one to see this very different build.

Where Posh turns into Sleeze: Okay here you are after filling up on some greasy snacks with dust included, now go back through the blue light  alleyway and turn right ... you coming across an area that looks ... sleezier. Yup, you are closing in on Venusville.  It ain't the Hilton. Note to self- keep your valuables out of sight

Govega Sachertorte:  Hi everybody, big crowd

Joshua 7: Hi All, welcome to Mars!

Hope Lunasea: Bigger than what I was expecting. lol...

Beth Ghostraven: We crash sims for fun, lol, not so much lately though

Govega Sachertorte: Welcome to Mars. Mr Smokes, Nexus Storm, Ares Halostar, Alba Wyrril, they are the main builders

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.

A Packed Safari

 Safari people can fit a lot into a small space, whether it's time - a bare ninety minutes - or the narrow tunnels of the unusual Andron Rae build, 'The Caves', on Neverworld, our second destination this week.  But before the spelunking, there was the great leap forward, in terms of bag and baggage, as imagined by Ai Austin, who you may have come across on VUE grid, or (as happened to us) encountered him on Space Camp, a Gerry Anderson inspired region on OSGrid. 

Ai Austin at Venus' beach house on Space City

But before we went anywhere, everyone came to the Clubhouse, which is such a delight, as familiar faces and old friends and new pals all show up. Community organizer  Valibrarian Gregg joined us, I think for the first time, and Prax and Alexina, who were Safari regulars back in the early days came along, as did musician Whirli Placebo, who has played for the Safari many a time, and was this time in off-duty mode.   For the address of the places we visited, look at the end of this post, as usual.