A Life in Review

 Earlier this summer, the virtual world community was saddened to learn that Mal Burns had died. News aggregator, creator and presenter of Inworld Review, co-founder of the Hypergrid International Expo and extraordinary contributor to the Opensim Community Conference, Mal was a well known face and voice around Opensim and in Second Life too. 

He was also a much loved member of the HG Safari tour group so we wanted to celebrate his virtual life with a gathering of the kind he would have approved of - an opportunity to dance, hear some Jazz, and also hear the comments of a few of those who knew him well, whether they had been guests on his show, fellow tourists on Safari, or colleagues from other projects.
About 40 of us gathered - some were friends who rarely get into Opensim these days , like Fuschia Nightfire and Wizardoz Chrome, names anyone who knows the Safari from way back will recognize immediately, just to mention two out of a really exceptional list of attendees. Good thing James filmed it!

The region where this party was held was built by Mal to be his new home for Inworld Review, but also a park and place for him to experiment with the various treasures that he found when out and about on the hypergrid. 

Calendar Guys

 Another year, another calendar, this year "Men of Opensim"... no, no nudes, you can get them anywhere with depressingly banal results, instead here the focus is on guys going places, or well not exactly going but staying places and making stuff that you can visit. Of course, the number of interesting people in Opensim is uncountable, but these  just represent some of the goings on in the virtual.

You can get the calendar for free at the HG Safari clubhouse, and it's a gift offered in the Notices if you belong to the HG Safari group on OSGrid. The calendar part is a MOAP or media on a prim, linking to the Safari's Google Calendar, which will show you our upcoming seasons of events, plus the grid birthdays of many places on the Hyperverse.

So, who's in the calendar?

The Stars of Exupery

 There is a kind of law of the shortest distance to the image, 

a psychological law by which the event  to which one is subjected 

is visualized in a  symbol that represents its swiftest summing up.

                                        Wind Sand and Stars, A. de Saint-Exupéry

He fell out of the sky in 1935. 

Antoine de Saint Exupéry was born into a noble but impoverished family of Lyon, France in 1900. He became a pilot in the years between the world wars, transporting people, mail, and goods around North Africa and the Med, frequently flying over the Sahara. That desert, and its peoples, were so far from the modern hazards of life in Europe in the 1930's, that they captured his imagination and, along with his other adventures in far flung places, gave life to a series of books, rich with limpid prose, exquisite descriptions, and timeless reflections on life and love. 

It was in the Egyptian part of the Sahara that De Exupéry crashed, during a race from Paris to Saigon, in 1935. Of his many plane crashes, this one - and the 4 days that it took him and his copilot to be found - were the most influential on the rest of his life. Hope and fear, mechanics, mirages, and hallucinations, coffee and oranges, and a passing Bedouin got him out of the situation, and no doubt led to Saint Exupèry's career as a writer. 

The best loved and most widely distributed of his works is The Little Prince. It's one of those books that everyone should have read, and once read, you will probably decide to read it again. It's a short read, most people can get through the whole book in about an hour.

The planets

Safari Finale 2025

 And so here it was at last, the Season Finale of HG Safari - in fact, the finale for the whole year, and where better to end our long journey than at a futuristic build most definitely not possible in real life even with all the cool light effects that galleries and concerts now can give people, none of it really compares with Nyx Breen's combination of 3D objects and environments, lights, particles, animesh and EEP. If you're not sure what EEP stands for, there is a nice big fat link for you. 

Nyx Breen wearing a special shiny outfit designed to enhance the Finale experience

It's been, what, two years, maybe a little more than that, since this new way of manipulating the environment in your sim was launched, and for many residents and builders, it's probably seemed a bit too complicated, so they have perhaps grabbed some freebie EEPs to liven up their sim, and left it at that.

Not so Nyx Breen, who in his RL career is a photographer of great talent and so is preternaturally in tune with the importance of ambience in terms of light and density. He has turned EEPs into such an art form, on sims that the folks over in the other place can only dream of - vast cathedrals of color are here in Opensim for us to enjoy, to wonder at and of course, to dance in.

N'orlins Night

 Our second stop this week was among the tombs of the Lafayette Cemetery of New Orleans. It's located on Ms Cal's grid Lagniappe ( you will find the HG Address as always at the end of this post) and she was on hand to show us around this extraordinary, photorealistic region.

Ms Cal: Welcome, explorers, to the heart of New Orleans—the iconic Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, a true gem in the middle of the Lagniappe grid! Please be sure to click shared environment for the best experience... follow me and I'll give you a little history while we walk to the city of the dead....

Ms Cal

Ms Cal: Back in 1788, New Orleans faced a major yellow fever epidemic. The old St. Peter Street Cemetery was too close for comfort, and the water table made in-ground burials a rather soggy affair. So, city officials created Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 as a solution.

Pumpkins and Prizes on Yaksha

 It's that time of year again and we were guests of Nani ferguson and ANge Menges on their Halloween Hunt this week. The sim will be open until November 6, so you can come back and complete the Hunt, if you wish. It's called Yaksha, over the years I've often asked Nani if there's some sort of storyline or cultural reference behind the odd and distinctive names they pick for their sims, and she's always said something like 'it's funny' so I'm guessing this year is much the same. You can invent your own etymology - bonus game! The full HG Address is, as always, at the end of the post.

Ange Menges: Welcome to all the safarista, you don't have a lot of time, so I will help a little those who want to play the game. You can visit the sim as you like, and for those who want to play the game, start by reading the panel carefully. In the region you can find 10 laughing pumpkins that will give you a gift.  Follow me inside the castle so I can show you one.

Pangea's Birthday

 This weekend there will be a big party event to mark the 4 years of Pangea grid.

There's a parade, a ballet, a party, on 12 October from 11.00 am SLT on region Koeln not to mention en exciting GoKart competition. Marlon Wayne and his merry band of builders, scripters, and artists are celebrating a big milestone. Here's an in depth interview with the man himself.

Marlon Wayne: My virtual life began in 2006 in Second Life. Back then, I was fascinated by the limitless possibilities of this virtual world, where one could build their own projects and immerse in communities. I was especially drawn to virtual Cologne, partly because of my real-life proximity to the city. I quickly became part of a special family in the virtual city and was passionately involved in the carnival, as well as in music and show projects.

When Second Life changed its terms of service (TOS) in 2011, I decided to move to Avination. I was allowed to take my virtual version of Cologne with me, which remains an integral part of Pangea today. In Avination, I met many new people who accompanied me on my virtual journey, and some of them are now part of Pangea.

After Avination closed in 2015, I began looking for a new, stable grid that could be a reliable home for my vision and the virtual communities we had already built. However, the search proved difficult because many grids at the time were struggling with technical issues and unstable servers. Although I didn’t have the technical expertise to run my own grid, I was determined to try. I rented a server, but I knew I would need support.

sim Koeln as it looks today on Pangea

Luckily, I had already met Kitty Sarrassine in 2010, an extremely talented server administrator and programmer. Thanks to her technical knowledge and tireless effort, I was able to bring my vision and long-held dream to life: creating my own grid. Kitty supported me from the beginning and played a crucial role in making this project a reality.

On August 31, 2020, the first avatar of our new grid was born—Kitty Sarrassine herself. She worked meticulously to ensure that every detail was set up correctly and that the grid ran smoothly and reliably. After weeks of hard work, it was finally ready, and on September 27, 2020, the second avatar, Marlon Wayne, was born.

Bink's Ballet

 The bees and the flowers, what's not to love. They are pretty to look at and essential for life on this planet as we know it. Why not bring that spirit into Opensim, where cross pollination between builders, artists, tech people and of course the public create a veritable ecosystem of fun and fecundity. 

Bink met me on sim Koeln on Pangea to talk about her upcoming show. It's going to be on 12 October, at 11 am SLT so save the date, this is going to be a great opportunity to see something extravagant and also catch up with so many friends, and friends of the grid.  The HG Address is at the end of the post, but if you're a regular reader, you know that already.

Bink Draconia: I always wanted to create a men's ballet..Men's ballet is different... it's a funny kind of dancing. i don't know why, but just karsten Runningbear wanted to dance in a tutu for me... so i needed to create npcs for it.... (ok, that's a joke, i wanted npcs from the beginning^^)

Bink Draconia

Thirza Ember: hahaha well that is a funny idea, but Karsten is class so anything he is an inspiration for, will be very good. So your show will be part of the Pangea Birthday celebrations on October 12?

Bink Draconia: yes.... first Lampithalers rainbow parade will start at 19.00 CET, then the ballet and after that an art show by Lampi.

Thirza Ember: oh that's great, a nice mix of entertainment... tell me, what is the biggest challenge with the NPCs?

200 days to go...

Wait, what? Two hundred days from now? That's forever! 

Well, kinda... but time is like a train, chugging along with a regular rhythm but moving much faster than you think until it's suddenly right there, on top of you! So we're already planning ahead for the next HIE event, which will be from April 4 to April 6,  2025. Scroll to the end of this post to find out how you can stay informed about the event via the Socials.

What is HIE, or Hypergrid International Expo? 

It is an Opensim conference, party, expo, and art performance extravaganza, experienced live and archived on our Youtube Channel - please help people find it more easily by giving a Like and Subscribe! 

HIE gives Opensim people of any and all grids, whose first language is not English, the opportunity to speak about the projects, experiments, sims, and builds that they are proud of. They get to tell their stories in their own languages, and we provide a sort of Subtitle system that allows you to follow what's being said in English, or any one of the major languages of Opensim.

In the past, HIE has been held on Craft Grid, with the kind assistance of the lovely Licu Rau.

This year, we have a new home, a 3x3 space on the new HG Safari grid - address at the end of the page. This will resolve a few logistical issues, and means we have a brand new playground for all the HIE activities.

Nazirah Avro speaking in Spanish, HIE23

Why aren't the talks in English?

Simple - there already is a very big annual event for Opensim, where all presentations are given in English. It's called the OSCC  the Opensimulator Community Conference and this year the 12th annual event will be held on December 7 - 8, 2024. However, not everyone's comfortable giving a lecture in English, so the Hypergrid International Expo is a space for these other voices, a sister convention, if you like.

Summer-palooza on AMV

 A long weekend of summer fun on AMV and it all begins on Thursday 11 July! 

Alternate Metaverse Grid is famous for its many festivals and special events, and this happening is bound to be a great one, with five VAR regions dedicated to getting your summer started with a swing. If the great outdoors has been nothing but heatwaves and downpours, why not stay inworld, where the best weather is always guaranteed?

HG Addresses, as usual, at the end of this post, and of course if you look here you'll find the calendar of events on the grid's website

Cat on The Arts

Cataplexia Numbers: OpenSim and its community are blessed with so much art and creativity! This is our way on Alternate Metaverse to celebrate that, and encourage more arts in every genre! We open our festival to all who wish to be a part of it! Join us on July 11th through July 14th - Help us celebrate and enjoy the arts!

Community Art exhibition

You've probably visited this festival in previous years, and will remember the names of the sims - The Arts, In Tribute, OpenMic Arts, AMV Special Events, and Festival of Arts. Having 5 regions allows for plenty of space for exhibits, fancy stages and unique venues for all the performers and presentations.

What kind of summer fun? It's fair to say there's something for everyone, from burlesque to community art exhibits you can tour by boat. 

Finale on Atraxia

Our final destination for this season was a chill trip to the trippiest, most unusual VAR regions in opensim, owned by 3D artist, photographer, and curator Nyx Breen, whose talent is well known but never everyday.  Nyx Breen was on Inworld Review  a few weeks ago, check out the interview in which he discusses both immersive digital art, and a bit about his rl work. and the HG  Address for this enormous build is at the end of the post, as tradition demands. 

Nyx Breen

Nyx's work with EEPs (the Environmental Enhancement Project) has become something of a legend, he has hacked the usual expectations of sea and sky by adding all kinds of unusual and striking images, thus exploding the concept into a full blown art show that occupies all your senses rather than being a passive if pretty background. Every now and again, he changes the settings, creating yet another mood on the region.

Dorothea Lundquist: Hi Nyx :-)

Nyx Breen: hi there, everybody welcome

Forest Azure: heya nyx

Petlove Petshop: Thank you !! oh wow !

Cornflakes Week

'Tis the season... but wait, no real world seasonal atmospherics involved, this is all virtual. Cornflakes Week is coming!
Always held during the final 7 days of February, this year's Cornflakes Week is 22-29 February. It's a festival just for opensim, and for everyone... not linked to any religious or national festivals, making it an all-inclusive addition to the many fun real-world oriented events that happen inworld. 

The first Cornflakes Week event was celebrated in 2015, and HG Safari always celebrates it

Biker Bad

 Sons of Anarchy (often referred to just as 'SoA') portrays biker gangs in California - specifically the fictional NorCal city of Charming. The show garnered respect and a loyal following for both its gritty drama and its equally gritty soundtrack. Running from 2008-2014 on american TV, it's the story of a chaotic combination of family ties, dodgy deals, rundown roadhouses, violence and vendetta... not to mention, the Harleys.

CCI grid is the home of SoA Bad and the beautiful Siwas. They are both talented builders; the Safari has visited two Scandinavian builds here in the past. First, Siwas' charming recreation of the city landmarks of Tromsø, and then the exquisite and immensely detailed Viking village on their region Lofoten. Bad is such a fan of Sons of Anarchy, it's right there in his name. And here we are on their Sons of Anarchy inspired sim, Bikerworld. Full HG Address at the end of the post, as always. 

A Serenissima Safari

The nickname of Venice is 'The most serene' = La serenissima. Not an emotion one associates with the Safari, either in the preparation or the execution of our visit, and this was our first trip to a fabulous grid, Aviverse, so there was a lot at stake. Another big turnout this week, and it was all to play for with a tight schedule of tour and concert... would we make it? Read on and find out.

Isha Cullen: Welcome to Aviverse

Gin Leeder [it→en]: Welcome everyone!
snowbody Cortes: chi gha 'sciugà il canal?
KingScorpion Resident: buonasera a tutti
snowbody Cortes: sera King 

Gin Leeder [it→en]: if you want to visit the tower, remember to increase your viewing distance to be able to see the wonder of the landscape from above
Mal Burns: beware if you have vertigo
Nyx Breen: where is the gelatto shop?

Lavia Lavine: I know two whole words in Italian.....Spaghetti and Pizza.

Coming Up Roses

It's December and what better time to start thinking about ...Carnival Season... wait, what?  The Xmas tree still hasn't been decorated! But you know, it's never too soon to begin thinking about your creativity for the coming year. What better way to kick it off, and to kick away the winter blues, than by entering a nice float in the Carnival Parade.

Sim Koeln

Why on Pangea grid? 

Well, it's one of opensim's premier arts grids, with spectacular regions by Tutz Zabelin, Lampithaler Artist, Nyx Breen, Bink Draconia and more. 

The grid owner Marlon Wayne is based in Cologne, where Carnival gets started way earlier than it does in most countries.  Consider this -  Mardi Gras, which is the big Carnival date for most people will be February 13 next year, but for the people of Cologne - in German,  Köln - the carnival season begins on November 11 at 11 minutes past eleven. Pangea has a region called Koeln, which is how you spell Köln when you can't use an umlaut. It's a cityscape that the Pangeans use for all kinds of community art events and a visit at any time will reward you with one  collection or another.

Nyx by the Numbers

 You have to admire a man who's bold enough to wear short shorts and if his shorts are short, that's the only thing he's short of. Space, time, energy and talent - Nyx Breen has got a lot of all of it.

This is Zahlensymbolik, on one of the Immersive VAR regions of Pangea grid, one of 6 grids where Nyx has a presence in opensim. Zahlensymbolik is a German word that suggests a lot of ideas - numerology, the symbolism of numbers or aspects of mathematics, the magic in counting. Deep stuff! However, never fear, this is not a superstitious sim, more a place where numbers are made to dance and delight.

Nyx Breen: The name sounded fun after I had used google translate English to German, more of play on the sound of it than the meaning. I'm a numbers person, yes - but more on the math side than the numerology side.

Nyx Breen

 Zahlensymbolik (let's just call it 'Z')  started as a sim months ago, and then the effects took on a life of their own, with fewer prim and more effects. There are 8 sections here, each different. 

Hands: FeliX at Pangea

"Hands" is a new installation on Pangea Grid, and the opening party yesterday was a delightfully relaxed party, attended by - among others - the two artists who collaborated in the making of the build, FeliX Ringtail and Lampithaler Artist.

A grey-green misty environment elevates and unites the elements of the build, creating a far-away feel, so appropriate when you think of Lampithaler's love of fairy tales. 

Nyx's Numbers

 From ancient runes to modern architecture, through fortune telling and religious bliss, the mysteries of the natural and supernatural, number symbolism is a potent and pervasive thread running through so many forms of creativity and mystical thought. 

On Pangea, Nyx Breen's latest creation Zahlensymbolik - German for 'number symbolism' - places you directly on a stone hand, the palm uppermost, in a sort of nest of light. 

OSFest is Coming...

 Osfest is just around the corner, and people are getting busy preparing their exhibits, temporary shops, artistic installations, and theatrical and musical performances. 

A dedicated grid is being set up to host the event. There are a lot of moving parts as ever, and a theme that encompasses music, art, culture and history - plenty of scope to play with ! And  just in case you're curious, here is a little bit of a glimpse into the thoughts and experience of three participants, all doing something slightly different, to make this event shine.

 DJ Sofee is a familiar figure over on Alternate Metaverse Grid, along with the delightful Ted Junior. You may have read Sofee's monthly journal BlaBlaBla, it's full of news about AMV's people and places. Perhaps you've attended one of her FunSize Dinkie events on AMV, or seen her spinning tunes as a DJ. She's going to be part of the party at OSFest.

Sofee Giano: This year I was asked by Rosa Alekseev if I would like to DJ at the OSFest 2023 on the 26th and the 28th at 12noon for one hour on each date, I told Rosa I would love to, but going way back to 1860 to 1970 is a bit out of experience and knowledge of music for this genre and style which the OSFest is doing, so I will be playing more modern style Jazz with a twist to try to fit into this years theme. 

Portugal by Tutz

Every musician likes a nice stage to perform on, but generally speaking, a visiting singer doesn't expect to have a whole sim built for them. 

That's what makes the region over on Pangea pretty and amazing, and all around pretty amazing. How did sim Portugal come to be?