Pure Lunacy at Magicland

Lunacy? No, it was a great idea. Stone and  Hope Lunasea invited the Safari over to Neverworld grid for a visit this week to Magicland. The theme of the visit to this region is theme parks, as in Disney and co - all the fun of the fair. We met outside the cinema.

Stone Lunasea: Welcome everyone to Hopestone's Magicland!

James.Atlloud: great music

Hope Lunasea: Hey there, everyone. Welcome.

Dings Digital: Hello :)

Paela Incognito

Incognito? A little less these days. Anyone who's been around Opensim for any length of time will be familiar with the name Paela Argus, and if you've ever dropped in at LBSA Plaza on your way somewhere, or looking for some help, or company, you maybe have seen the attractive lady avie hanging out there. 

Recent events on OSGrid have given Paela even more visibility, so it seemed like a good time to get to know the person behind the screen a little better. Starting with the basics of good manners. 

Thirza Ember:  I know that nowadays you go by Paela Osgrid inworld, rather than Paela Argus. Do you prefer if people refer to you as ‘he’ or ‘she’? 

Paela Argus: I honestly don’t mind. People can use either “he” or “she” when speaking about me — it doesn’t bother me at all. In the virtual world, I present myself as a woman. It’s my way of breaking the realism of real life, keeping a clear boundary between virtual life and real life. This separation is very important for me — especially for the balance of my real-world marriage. Because first and foremost, I’m a husband and a father to a big family. And I take that role seriously.

Thirza Ember: You’ve been on OSGrid for a long time, Paela, what is the secret of your longevity? 

Safari Does Bad Driving

Oh yes, very  Bad - but in a very good sense! This was our second stop of Week 11 of HG Safari 2025, and like our first destination, this build is brand new.

Yara Eild, SoA BAD, and Alex Salamander

SoA BAD and Siwas have a new attraction on their grid, CCI - the Nuerburgring. Really, that should be 'Nürburgring' with an umlaut. But, as we all know, Opensim doesn't do umlauts, so there's an extra e in there. And speaking of 'extra', this build is extra in every way - extra large, extraordinarily detailed, and extra fun. The idea of having a Safari here came from two Safari regulars - Yara Eild and Alex Salamander.

Actually, that should be 'Nuerburgring with Nordschleife'  (the HG address is of course at the end of the post) and that is because this race track has a long and complex history. Nordschleife - the 'North Loop' - extends the circuit from just over 5 km to a whopping 21km. 

Safari Ferðast um Ísland

Back for season 2, and HG Safari was invited to come and do a 'ferðast', or tour, of Jimmy's recent build, Iceland, on Wolf Territories Grid. A nice big crowd showed up to inaugurate the season, which will last just seven weeks this time, ending at the end of May, so if you're thinking you might want to attend, don't delay. 

This lovely sim, our first stop this week, was built in a matter of a few days by Jimmy, and it absolutely captures the spirit of the island. HG Address - yep you guessed it, at the end of the post.

Jimmy Olsen, builder of Iceland

On hand to take the lead for the tour, the lovely Tessa and Xenon Darrow, a brilliant and funny lady, both were ready to help us find our way around this interesting sim. 

We arrived outside the Hallgrimskirkja, the Lutheran cathedral of Reykjavik, dating from the 1980's. 

WB Osgrid

 Welcome back, OSGrid! About a dozen people were on LBSA a few minutes ago when these pics and gifs were made. 

LBSA back up! with Admins Sarah Kline and Paela Argus. 

People dancing, chatting, laughing, working... and a lot of them trying to rebuild their avie. Ellen Tiratzo was there, talking about the best way to stop being a cloud. Carmen Ever, very smart, was totally prepared for this day. 

Carmen Ever: I had a folder with my outfit all ready, and so when I got here, I transferred it from Neverworld , and it loaded immediately

Una, IARs, and OARs

In the troubled period since OSGrid went into long term maintenance, Unadecal Masala has found himself in a unique position. He not only rents regions to people in OSGrid, he also rents full independent grids. Most of these grids are small and private in nature, but some are public and they operate their own land rental schemes. Una doesn't have a grid of his own, his motives are simple.

Unadecal Masala: As a mark of respect for their efforts in attracting members and building their own communities, I decided at the beginning that I would never compete with them by setting up a grid where I rent land. I do have a private grid, but this is for testing purposes only.

We met up on HIE region, in the Hypergrid Expo park, on which is still open, if you haven't yet gone around and picked up the LMs, information cards, and freebies. I wondered what Una's reaction was to the whole OSgrid situation, and what had been the effect on his business and his clients. First reaction?

Unadecal Masala: Absolute dismay. Borderline desperation. Not only because of the grid going into long term maintenance, but because of the total asset wipe. Almost twenty years of OpenSim history lost in the blink of an eye.

Easter Hunt at Mana

Literally speaking, 'Ignis Fatuus' means foolish fire, but there is nothing foolish about the fabulous builds on this outstandingly beautiful French grid. And once again, this spring, grid owners Max Well and Nadir Rae are making imaginations soar with their farfetched fantasies. An Easter Hunt, beginning on 20 April, is just part of the fun! 

Full HG Address at the end of the post, of course.

Here we are on Mana, on of a bunch of new regions springing up on Ignis - this is the region where the Hunt will be held. When you arrive in this intensely blue place, you're immediately reminded of the importance of music in the lives of these two creators, in particular, Nadir's love of piano which extends to her DJ work over in SL, something she's been doing for over a decade. Look at those waterside notes.

Prince's Maze

Prince Amor:  quite a bit changed since last, with OSGrid closing up etc.. we are setting just over 100 regions, of which 20 are public, the rest are residential.

We met on Maze Grid, Prince's principality since OSgrid went offline for long term maintenance back on 4 March of this year. It's far from being a small place. Alongside the many residential sims, now home to many of those who rented from prince of Amor back on OSGrid, there are twenty that are public spaces, with freebie areas or art and fan builds on them, all worth a visit.

The Welcome region has an open air down to earth feel to it, with places to play and dance and hang out, but also teleports to other points of interest and a large Building Supplies area, where you can quickly pick up anything you're missing. I wondered how Prince has been weathering the recent events.

Prince Amor:   I feel let down, that is pretty well it.  I have 150 users, so I have 100 renters that were all  OSGrid... most made it here though.

Thankfully between social media and word of mouth, it is a lot more difficult these days for a person to remain out of the loop when something big like this happens. Rather like an earthquake, there had been tremors for some little time on OSgrid, giving us all warning. Prince wasn't in Opensim when the last great outage of OSGrid happened, from August 2014 to around February 2015, but he wasn't unprepared for the events of this Spring.

Prince Amor:  This was, for me, the first Big One. Lots of minor ones I weathered along the way.  I would have my renters  make accounts on my Dreamgrid  so when OSGrid went down they could have access to their lands etc.. in December when OSGrid went down then I learned how to do the stand alone so I evolved just in time for the big one

Thirza Ember: so did you get your oars and your renters stuff out in time before the whole thing went down?
Prince Amor:   oars - yes, but .iars were a horrible failure for most part, the ip protections totally broke them making them useless. But the OSGrid admin made the right choice of course. Once that big 6 tb breaks, or whatever size...

Thirza Ember: Really, relying on one grid, no matter who is running it, is kind of risky. People who say it could never happen to them because they take more precautions, sure, but ... hubris alert.

Prince Amor:  that is right and we have seen it again and again with smaller grids,  no matter what they are running. I really didn't lose thing. I know some  totally missed it  but my people did pretty good. That is why I would push my people to have an account with the Dreamgrid and here even but when it happened of course I pushed them as hard as I could. We still have things pop invisible or whatever as they wipe that drive, textures in the stores etc...

Prince of Amor

Thirza Ember: you are now transitioning from landlord of sims on a big grid, to grid owner. That is actually a different role... you have gone from being maintenance guy, to the mayor of the place have you noticed that change yet, how are you coping with the role, and do you like it?

Sunday HIE25

 The final day of HIE was another spectacular mix of cultures and languages, with presentations touching on a variety of themes from alien visitations, to gallery governance, to the clash of cultures, to the technology of the future. All this, and a fabulous international set by jazz and blues singer Forest Azure. 

Attendance was strong once again, with 40 plus in the audience to hear first of all Luciana Mattei speak about her wonderful primary school project, unAcademy, located both in the real world, of course, and on Craft-World grid, where she has a sim of the same name.

Saturday HIE25

The HIE region filled up nicely for our conference on Saturday, with a peak of 52 avatars on the sim during MorlitaM and Cherry Manga's flawless performance of "Dual Wave", an outstanding audio visual experience none of us are likely to forget. But lots more happened also!
For the full schedule, don't forget to bookmark the HIE website

The event kicked off with a five language, five person panel, welcoming everyone; Emil Jannings  in English , Richi Rizzoli in German, Minord Loup in French, Lorenza Colicigno in Italian and AnaMari Maggi in Spanish.

There were six events, apart from the Welcome panel, three in German and three in French. 

Loru Destiny of ArtDestiny grid spoke first, on her own philosophy of Opensim, the importance of tolerance, of creativity and exploration, and of course of friendship and community.

Littlefield Dozen

 Wow Littlefield grid just turned 12 today, and as always Water and co have put on another splendid display of their grid's goodies on the Anniversary sim, HG Address at the end of the post.

Walter Balazic

As ever, along with a place for the dancing festivities, on the Anniversary sim there are lots of displays that show off the wide variety of regions on Littlefield.

Hype for HIE

 Today is the Opening party for the Hypergrid International Expo, a two day conference - Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 April, held on HGSafari grid, on a dedicated sim called HIE. 

Tonight's musical guests are Zoree Jupiter, Khiron Ametza, and Wolem Wobbit, giving us three hours of beautiful music to enjoy.

It's an opportunity also to get another look at the Expo Park and see if you missed any of the great Freebies and information that can be picked up on the 130 different publicity booths dotted around the sim.

The full schedule of the event can be found on the HIE website, in simple terms, the event begins at 9am SLT which is 6pm in Europe, there's a German session and a French session on Saturday, which starts at 12 noon SLt or 9pm in Europe. On Sunday, the same routine, with an italian session at 9am SLT (6pm in Europe) and a Spanish session at 12:00 SLT (9pm in Europe).

As you may have read, there are Subtitles provided inworld, so you can follow along what is being said by the speakers even if you don't speak all the languages.

A great mix of art spectaculars, interesting talks, and fine music - in company with many friends old and new. The event concludes with a fabulous set by songstress Forest Azure. 

Hope to see you there !

HG Address grid.hgsafari.org:58002:HIE

Elements of Azure

 In virtual worlds, the weather tends always to be nice. Bright sun, azure sky, or something dramatic to create the setting for a particular build. But sometimes it's good just to stop and think about the weather itself. What is it, how does it affect our moods, our sense of self and our interactions with others? A change in windlight can dramatically alter the context of an art build, ask any artist who has seen their installation wrongly lit, they generally get pretty steamed up about it. Weather is mood, and mood is fundamental to any creative endeavor.

Forest Azure at her build on the Opensim World's Fair

At the Opensim World's Fair build, on Wolf Territories Grid, (exact Hop at the end of the post) Forest Azure explores the theme of 'The Elements' as experiences inworld. She has evoked a potent portrait of the emotions that the weather can fill us with - mysterious, passionate, pensive, and more. 

It's a series of beautiful black and white photos, beautifully presented in a structure by Rez Rezzal that embraces and proposes the images without encroaching on their atmosphere. Forest is a fan of his style, and with good reason!

Forest Azure: he is all about the feel of something, an the story.

'Winter Wreath' is a glimpse into the liminal world of windows... what side are we on?

A lot of work goes into creating these scenes and tableaux, since, of course, Opensim has no natural weather of its own! So to get the right balance and vibe is down to the artist herself. The delicate brutalist walls of this build perfectly set off the monochrome images, topped off with a thundercloud in miniature, hanging above it at just the right height. 

Forest Azure's The Elements is one of the many art gems on display at the World's Fair, be sure to check it out, in this final week of the show. You won't regret it!.

HG Address/hop

hop://grid.wolfterritories.org:8002/OpenSim%20Worlds%20Fair/1168/1215/22

Bloom, and the Cat's Meow

Bloom Peters has made a major breakthrough with her ongoing project to make it possible to use MIDI  (the Musical Instrument Digital Interface that lets you connect electronic instruments to computers) to musically animate objects inworld. If you have ever read this blog or been on Safari, you'll have been blown away by Bloom's region Crescent Melody, with its fabulously crazy orchestra - here's us all enjoying a concert for Cornflakes Week 2024.

Looking at this gif, are you thinking what I'm thinking? How cool would it be to have the possibility of making your own musically inspired animated scenes - even a whole region - of objects all playing along to a tune. Well, that opportunity is just around the corner...

Before we get into the nitty gritty, I had to ask about the cats.

Thirza Ember: you'll keep the same look, the same animal orchestra?

Bloom Peters: nope it's getting a much more professional design so that on release date people can use it right away to create music or use it to control regions and things. There is a major breakthrough with the machine. I created a program in python. It's called "Midi to Opensim"

Lampi's Heart

Perhaps you're been depressed recently by that rather mean spirited ad on Opensimworld. Somewhat damned by self praise, it has probably turned off more people than it has attracted, as a possible home grid. To take the taste out of your mouth, why not go and see something completely different, and yet, in a way, an allegory that both real and virtual communities can benefit from, while enjoying some exceptional art. HG Address at the end of the post, of course.

The celtic ethereal beauty of Lampithaler Artist's Cloudshead Worldheart is breathtaking. Islands float and even fly away, uprooted from the great sim sea, seemingly freed of all the laws of physics, they form a little archipelago, untethered and fancy free. It's on Pangea Grid, a fabulous collective of truly creative people, run by the wonderful Marlon Wayne and ably maintained by the paws of Kitty Sarrasine,  who keeps the place in tip top shape, technically.

On arrival, you'll se a topiary lady with a book. It contains the German text outlining the story, but go to Lampi's website and you can read a sample of the plot in English. 

Party On

It's the weekend - Saturday night, and the place to be os Event Plaza. But wait - OSGrid is offline for long term maintenance! 

How can this be? 

The familiar triple tent and steel structure, a semicircle of dancing fun. It all looks very familiar, with just a little bit less lag than you generally would expect to find, even when arriving long after the party has started.

Destiny at the Movies

 It's finally here, Loru Destiny's fabulous Opensim Film festival. Months in the making, this unique event pitted the wits and witticism of all of Opensim's filmmakers, representing people from many different grids, languages, and parts of the world, all sharing their visions of the virtual world with us.

The sim has that 'somewhere way out West' look to it, with ruddy bluffs and a bit of a canyon, the ideal space in which to have a vast Drive In with all your favorite muscle cars and rusty trucks.

Getting International on AMV

Once again AMV grid is having their special International Diversity concert - indeed, maybe it's still going on! The idea, just like in 2024, is to have a bunch of singers from all over the planet to come in and do a 30 minute set, each one with a personalized backdrop reflecting their cultural roots, creating a feeling of vitality and world-trotting wonder from the comfort of our own desks, or, if we're honest, from a nice comfy chair.

Hypergridding has been a lagfest for the past few weeks, so I was expecting low framerates and a bit of a struggle but with over 30 people on the sim, once all the mesh boobs and brains shrunk back to their respective places, the whole sim was popping! 

Mr Mikie was singing when I arrived, followed by Cataplexia, who stepped in when Joao Frazao had an electrical outage. 

A Bayou Bye Bye

The final part of the final Safari of the season took us over to the brightly colored N'awlins build on Wyldwood Bayou Grid. It's a great combination of historical recreations, party venue, freebie mall (definitely worth exploring the sim for some unusual, useful, and beautiful finds) , and landscape with both swamp and street plan, a complete delight - HG address at the end of the post, of course! 

On hand to greet us, two Wyldwood stalwarts, Fitheach Eun and Kith Whitehawk. They held over the their traditional Carnival celebrations for us, so that the Safari could go out in style with a Louisiana spring in our step.

Kith Whitehawk: Now that's Mardi Gras brother!!!!

Luna Lunaria: These guys love playing rock blues :-)

Safari Boosts its Brains

Our first stop of the week was on Virtual Learning Village, usually this grid is mostly closed to Hypergrid tourists because it is a place of learning and meditation, for improving your brain health. What better place to end a hectic 10 weeks of HG travel. The sim has a European feel, like an elegant suburb in a historic city.

Lisenna welcomes the HG Safari group - arriving a little bit at a time, and in grey.

Lissena Wisdomseeker: Welcome to Virtual Learning Village!  VLV was created in 2018, but I have been active in Opensim since the first OSCC. I volunteer at the conference every year.  I had a region on Avacon first, then Max and I talked about developing our own grid. Our vision was to have a place outside of Second Life where we could offer our programs for organizations and groups who would benefit from a more private, controlled environment where they can design their own regions. Max's team has given this grid a very special ambiance and I am very proud of what we have built. Many thanks to Max and Buildwerk.

Lissena Wisdomseeker: whispers: Sunny has a place here, and Fran has helped us too

Maximillian Merlin: We are now in the Hypergrid region of Virtual Learning Village. The Virtual Learning Village is a non profit virtual 3D platform. The grid was developed by Lynne Berrett (Lissena Wisdomseeker) and Maximillian Merlin with his volunteer Buildwerk  team. Our umbrella nonprofit organization is the Ageless Mind Project. Our purpose is to provide lifelong learning of many kinds, all based on best practices for promoting brain health and total well-being.  The VLV grid offers limited access to and from the hypergrid, to protect our students. We have devoted much time and thought to making this virtual world more user-friendly and sheltered than SL can be.