| The dance floor at HG safari clubhouse |
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Still Standing
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Open Season
The first real Safari after a pause of over three years, and about thirty people showed up! Would we survive to the end? And not just because the first destination promised death by dinosaur - would lag or confusion defeat us?
The answer was a resounding No! Thanks to all those who showed up for this Hunting and Fishing Safari, where we played, stepped in dino dodo, fished, got squashed, fished, crashed boats... and, most of all, thanks to Ange Menges and Royale Mobian, the hosts of the two hours of the Safari. As always, the addresses of the two destinations are at the end of the post.
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Counter Tops
Havoc Rau is an unmissable figure. Tall, with dark good looks and impeccable manners. He has his own city, and knows about mesh, heck, he makes the stuff (free for us opensimmers, for money to those unenlightennd types in SL who don't know about the Free Worlds). He is, to me, a hypergrid hero, a man who spans the gap between complicated role playing and HG Tourism.
A couple of weeks back he came to save me from the Zombies on OSGrid, as you may have read in an earlier post. This week, he offered to show me his etchings, I mean his tarns, on CounterEarth. What could a girl say, except for 'yes please'?
CounterEarth, if you didn't know, is an amazingly beautiful grid that takes its theme from the novels by John Norman, who began writing them in the 1960s. (The grid address is at the end of this post.)Here is a pretty unbiased review of the first novel to give you an idea of what it is all about. The grid, on the other hand, has to be seen to be believed, and believe me, it's the tops.
Friday, January 7, 2022
Post Pre Safari Safari
Just as a test, and to make sure we are all on the same page, we had a meet up on the new HG Safari region on Wednesday. The event was advertised in Facebook and Mewe and in the OGgrid and Craft HG Safari inworld groups. Thanks to all who attended, and those who IM'd saying they saw the event even if they couldn't make it this time.
It was a chance to catch up with old friends and to meet new Safari fans. Also, a learning opportunity for those unfamiliar with what '12 noon Grid time' (which is Pacific time, just like back in Second Life) calculates to where they live. Anyway, about 25 of us managed to navigate the time zones, and cope with the fact that the Safari's main base is on OSGrid now. Oh, and there is a space between HG and Safari in the name of the new sim. Which is quite a lot to take in, if you think about it.Monday, January 3, 2022
Ball Park
We all have our foibles, even you. Well, OK, especially you, don't imagine for a moment the rest of us haven't noticed. Anyway, mine include not being able to resist clicking on a free raccoon, and being the world's worst Hunt player. You can guarantee that in any Hunt game, not only will I not find any of the prizes, but I may actually break the mechanism. Imagine, then, with what trepidation I went to the Tangle Grid Christmas Ball Hunt, which ends on January 15. Would there be raccoons? I had to know.
Thursday, December 30, 2021
Total Annihilation
Today, Ubit killed me. He has probably been wanting to do that for years. Unfortunately for him, it didn't take, and here are the photos to prove it.
| Ubit's Revenge |
You probably remember sim Outbreak on OSgrid. The zombie game was set in a lovely European town, with trees and squares and alleys and a big old church in the middle. The textures were, if I remember correctly, by Michelle Theiss, but the heart of the matter, the scripting, was by that Queen of Code, Total 'call me Louise' Sorbet. I had the great pleasure of catching up with her the other day and hearing her news.
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Metrodämmerung
It started with Maria Korolov, during one of her OSCC presentations, when she was talking about grid statistics.
Anyone who knows me knows that I spend most of the OpenSim Community Conference gossiping and flirting with whoever will put up with me, especially during the more arty or bookish parts. But I sat still and attended during Maria's bit (and also that brilliant Graham Mills lecture, with the ship. That was awesome.)
| Graham Mills' Liverpool history project is on Kitely |
Anyway, Maria was talking grid stats and there was a slide showing traffic on the hg and so on, and somehow Metropolis got mentioned, and a voice from the audience, in what I can only describe as a contemptuous font, said something along the lines of 'Oh you can't hg to Metropolis.'
Saturday, December 25, 2021
Present Joy
A landmark is a bit like parmesan. It looks so solid that you think it will last forever, and it kind of does, until one day you open it and find it's gone off - or offline. Usually when you need it the most.
Since returning to opensim, I have been checking out Freebie places old and new for this page Facebook, and for the updated Freebie LM collection you will soon find inside this poster at the HG Safari clubhouse.
Someone mentioned that Rayvn's Roost Concourse on My Virtual Beach was worth a look. I headed over there, and was lucky enough to find online Trizaria 'Trizzy' Hunter. She is co-owner of the grid, with her partner Rocky One. Trizzy kindly took a few minutes to tell a little of her story.
Saturday, December 18, 2021
Frost Burn
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
A New Safari Season
After more than three years absence, the Safari hypergrid tours are coming back.
The ten week season begins on January 12. Currently Francogrid is experiencing maintenance issues, so although the old base is still there, we have a new home (courtesy Ange Menges) on OSGrid. the name of the sim is... you guessed it, HG Safari (note the space between hg and safari when you type in the address. In satellite view you'll see this on the map.
As many of your know, OSGrid is itself in the middle of an asset crisis (*insert here your witty remarks on the subject*) so it has not been all plain sailing to get the new sim up and running. So if you notice some content or textures not working, please be patient. It's a work in progress.
The Safari Market has a few of the old favorites, and you will find the Meshanthropy store on the island too. I am most proud of being able to import the lovely sailing ship built by long time friend of the Safari, Aime Socrate.The new HG Safari trips will depart from OSGrid on Wednesdays at 12 noon SLT (Pacific time, that is) which, for Europeans, is 9pm Paris time. We have invites to 17 different grids, and will be doing a range of activities, from talks to dances to hunts to art installations.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
The Last Safari...
It is a hard thing to write about, the last Safari. We stayed home, uncharacteristically for us. And lovely Wizardoz Chrom made a wonderful machinima of the event.
Cherry Manga made all kinds of amazing big art for us to be dazzled by, all around the simple clubhouse and the great sailing ship, handmade by Aime Socrate so long ago.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Hunting and Racing: the Penultimate Safari
Friday, May 11, 2018
Safari goes from Alexandria to Arizona
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| Pharos of Alexandria |
Friday, May 4, 2018
Zen and the art of Gridhopping
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| TG Lucan |
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Safari Regulars
There are hundreds of posts on this blog about the builds and content creators we have visited, this is the only post dedicated to the Safari Regulars, who are also builders, scripters, coders, grid owners...
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| The calm before the storm - meeting at the clubhouse before the Safari starts |
Monday, April 30, 2018
An Illuminated Safari
HG Addresses, as always, at the end of the post.
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| Rusty and the TanGLe gang keep us entertained as we cam the Expo |
Saturday, April 21, 2018
An Open Space Safari
First up, Discovery Grid, and three very interesting regions reflecting the spirit and interests of the grid. This is a sporty, out-doorsy place, just packed with interesting scenery. We arrived on Spirit Rock Ranch.
Friday, April 13, 2018
Safari Town and Country
Magnolia Mountain is the project of CelticMaidenWarrior Lancaster. The talented singer still plays regular gigs in Second Life but she has discovered the joy of opensim, both as a builder and as a performer. She plays a 12 string Blue4u Nowicka, and offers a mix of tunes from the likes of the Eagles, Carol King, Carly Simon, and Van Morrison to mention just a few - her repertory is as wide as it is delightful. The region she's working on will soon host weekly events.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Sweet April Whirls

The origins of Zweet ZurroundingZ, romantic arcadian hills and woods topped by ethereal palaces and rotundas, are lost in the mists of Second Life.
Friday, March 30, 2018
A Copy/Mod/Trans Safari
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Safari does Art and Ice
First, to mark the Equinox - the Spring Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere - we visited a beautiful exhibition on Ignis Fatuus, curated by Wizardoz Chrome and Aime Socrates.
Friday, March 16, 2018
Safari Countdown
A week later, Fuschia Nightfire and Wizardoz Chrome joined us, on an epic five stop tour that involved a lot of crashing and cloudiness.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Safari Meets its Destiny
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| Tom Albury, known in SL as Moses Rae |
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Art and Kart Safari

We tried to hard to make Ieko Catnap rez during our visit to imaginaire-de-ieko-18, with no success - luckily I got this snap of her earlier. Otherwise,
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Safari and Cornflakes: Made In Opensim
This was the 4th year of Cornflakes Week, and once again people got creative in the best way. The event even got a mention in New World Notes, a blog about Second Life.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Cars Coins and Canvas
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| Desert cities add intrigue to the game on Desert Oasis region |
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Corny Calendar 2018

Thursday marks the beginning of the 4th annual Cornflakes Week in Opensim, and yet again, many grid owners have pulled out all the stops to make it a fun and silly one.
If you missed previous years, here's a video of last year's event, to give you an idea of what happens
Friday, February 16, 2018
Seeking Cinderella's Shoes

This is a great way to see who's a good driver, and who isn't...
Safari does Chromosomes and Cats
Our first stop was at one of the VIBE grids, this time the Genome regions built by Max Chatnoir.
Clowey Greenwood, who manages these four regions, named for the heroes of genetics, Crick, Mendel, Huxley, Hooke, met us on the welcome region and showed us around.
Thursday, February 8, 2018
A Higher Safari
HG Addresses as always at the end of the post.
Our first stop was in a cube theater on South Horizon, given the name ' Onawero' for the occasion, to hear about 1biennale. We were greeted by Juliette and Art outside an interesting, almost matrimonial, build, with places to sit at the end of a long red carpet.
Art Blue delivered an address using Screenleap, so rather than each of us touring the
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Swon-fari
Swondo on OSGrid is one of those names we've all heard, or perhaps one should say seen, on OSGrid - the Swondo estate is adjacent to OSgrid's go-to region, LBSA. But what is it? What does the name mean, and who runs this place? All was revealed...
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| Sylvia Sonoda |
Sylvia Sonoda: My name is Sylvia Sonoda and in Real it is also Sylvia, ok we are here in OSgrid and I guess everyone knows how Opensim works right?
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Safari goes Big
Jessie Campbell: S U R P R I S E !!
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| Zinnia looking elegantly surprised |
Rosy Ogrady, a regular performer on 3rd Rock Grid, aid a few words, and it was so nice to see her along with other musician friends of Zinnia's, Truelie Telling and CelticMaiden Warrior, there to cheer her on.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Safari Buys the Farm
First up a trip to see Satyr Aeon, sometimes known as Satyr Gator. This lovely man is behind one of the hypergrid's most valuable tools, opensimworld.com - a web directory you have already bookmarked I'm sure.
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| Satyr |
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Safari goes High Seas and High Tech
First up, a trip to a brand new region on OSgrid, built by Azi Az and Danger Lytton, one of OSgrid's most famed couples, for their talent, for their
Friday, January 5, 2018
Poetry and Particles
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| Karima Hoisan on The River of Forgetting |
Friday, December 29, 2017
2018 Safari Calendars
As always, the calendar features many of the people and places who have made the past year so varied and vivid. From Furries and Burlesque, to literature and fine art, to racing and relaxing beaches, this past year has certainly proved that OpenSim is full of wide open spaces, and lots of friends too.
Both calendars are available inworld as free, full permission items, at the safari clubhouse. hg.francogrid.org:80:hgsafari and they'll be available at other venues over coming days.
You can also buy a real world version of both on Lulu.com if you are so inclined, then you can feel like you are inworld even when your internet goes wonky.
The Women of Opensim The Men of Opensim
The calendars inworld come complete with the Landmarks for all the destinations photographed, so you can go and visit the lovely and in some cases little known corners of opensim. Inevitably, there are more destinations and more intrepid grid jumpers than there are months in the year, so all our models consider themselves representatives of the wider world of interlocking grids.
A big thanks to all the models for their time and patience and trust. I leave it to you to pick up the calendar and see if you can identify all the victims...
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Puzzles and Poles
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| Antonio Salamander |
Sunday, December 24, 2017
How the Groac'h Solved Christmas
Groac'h is a sorceress who's not a fan of Santa.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
The Jewels in the Crown
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| Hyacinth Jewell |
Saturday, December 16, 2017
HIE is today!
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Safari Repels All Borders
Alpine, on 3rdRock Grid, is full of winter sports. You can ski, skate, try the sled race, and throw snowballs here. We met up with the 3rd Rock crew, including Michel Farrell, whose real world radio show 'The Music Cafe' is a great feature the grid, and well worth a listen, even if you're not inworld!.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Safari Walks on Aire
This week we finally returned to Aire Mille Flux after almost three years, and it was well worth the wait to be able to meet up with Marc Moana aka Marc Blieux, on the welcome region of one of the finest art grids in all opensim. We sat on drawing pins and learned about the origins of this magnificent place.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Safari Struts its Stuff
This week, two eminently visitable destinations, on nestlife-world, and on Counter Earth grid, HG addresses at the end of the post as usual.
First, we were treated to a re run of the Fashion Show on Loru Castle. It was a great event, with about 32 people present, from a dozen different grids.
Nextlife-world, owned by Achim and Dina Twisterling, is not a huge grid but it held up very well to our arrival on the glorious Loru Castle region, home of the Queen of the Evening, Loru Destiny.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Loru Destiny Fashion Show
The HG Address of the event is nextlife-world.de:8002:loru castle
The gala will be held in the grounds of Loru Castle, a beautiful recreation of a real-world small German castle.
It's a gem of a schloss, really a summer pavilion from the 1600s, with lots of photo realistic textures...
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Safari goes to Dallas
This is the second of two posts about HG Safari 166.
The HG Address for this wonderful place - a must-see in opensim - is at the end of the post.
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| JFK Memorial in Dealy Plaza |































