By Jupiter

 Dewdrops, on a sultry summer day, could not be more welcome. And when Azi Az and Danger Lytton put out the invitation 'Do drop in', the appeal is twice as strong, twice as compelling.

The Dew Drop Islands on OSgrid are delightfully mysterious. Make sure you have Advanced Lighting enabled in your graphics, or you will miss out on the spectacular sky that makes you feel like you've arrived on a moon of Jupiter. A watery, flower-abundant moon, where you begin to wonder... and wander... everything has delicious doubt written into it.

On landing, a question. Is this a dragon, or a sea snake, an illusion, a guardian or a greeter? 

Art and Soul at the OSF

OpensimFest has as its motto 'The chemistry of community' and that's why the regions take their names from the periodic table. Some are words we're all familiar with like Oxygen and Carbon, while others have names that sound a bit made up, come on, admit it, by scientists who just want to mystify their craft. 

The heart of Chlorine. Greyer than I expected, tbh

Here are two OpensimFest regions you might like to explore,  one with an everyday name, the other sounding more exotic. What do they have in common? Big art, and interesting projects. Both regions are full of good things to look at, I've chosen my favorite three from each, so go and explore, perhaps you'll find something I have overlooked.

More than Music: OSF's Event sims

OpensimFest opened on Friday July 8 and will stay open for a full 17 days, including three 3-day weekends with twelve hours of musical entertainment, focused on the four Event regions that are all smooshed together, with four separate stages, so each performer can have the backdrop that matches their musical style. There is a shared dance floor spanning all four regions, and you can hear the music, whichever sim you happen to be dancing on. If you missed the first couple of days, no worries, there is plenty more to come.

Some of the performers have really gone to town in creating an ambience for their events, like this set up by Karima Hoisan, a perfect environment for the wonderful poems.

Many have brought the house down just with a bit of nifty dancing, as seen here where Holocluck Henly and Snoots Dragon are giving it welly.

Spectacular Sound & Adorable Alice

   The final Safari of the season (We start back up again on September 14) and two more absolutely unmissable destinations. If you and everyone you know don't know these places, well... Go. See. Enjoy. HG Addresses are as always at the end of the post.

First up, a visit to The Nuna Gallery on 3rd Rock Grid, more specifically, some sky-high sound based installations by the sorcerer of sound, Lorin Tone and region owner and brilliant builder and region owner Alia Soulstar.  

The Nuna is a walkable Encyclopedia of world art that is as peerless as it is rigorous. For me, it's one of the Seven Wonders of Opensim. Magnificent in its size, layout, detail, complexity, and precision, it must have taken a vast amount of time and talent to put together. This is a useful and beautiful place, an educator's resource of the highest quality, and a place that anyone can enjoy, and find within its walls serenity, knowledge and beauty. 

The Gallery opened in December 2019, and comprises five floors of outstanding world art, with information that sets it in context and basically will give you a degree in Art History by the time you've done the whole building, or, if you just sample a few bits, will in any case expand your mind and help you make sense of the world of art. It's bliss in a box.

Goodbye to Metro

 Nobody would argue (and on this venerable grid, that is really saying something) that the hero of Metropolis Metaversum is Neovo Geesink, seen here dancing along with the other star of the Goodbye to Metro party, LadyJo Martin. Wait, did this gif capture the hand of Kashi Takeshi? Classic Opensim. Metro was slated to close permanently on June 30, 2022, and we decided to party her offline.

LadyJo in green, Neovo in grey, with the partygoers

The party got started, not at noon Pacific as advertised, but well in advance, thanks to the fabulous

The Gift

– Adieu, dit le renard. Voici mon secret. Il est très simple :

on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur.

A secret, a heart, a book, a voice, a concept, a collaboration, and a sim. A gift.

It began with Unadecal Masala. He runs a region hosting service, where you can rent a fast, efficient region connected to OSGrid, and I think other grids too, but you should ask him. He has always been a supporter of the Safari and Opensim Arts in general, and he offered a space for a project by and for the Safari. 
The idea of doing an event  this season to mark the 122nd birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupery was already on my mind. His most famous text is The Little Prince, written in French but translated into over 250 languages and dialects, making it one of the most international and best loved books in the world.

But who to take on the job of imagining the book for opensim? It could only be one person, Wizardoz Chrome, machinimer, conceptual artist, word lover and a brilliant and delightful collaborator, not to mention one of the founding members of the Safari. She soon involved others, including Tina Bey, Art Blue, Venus Adored, and Cherry Manga, who presented each of us with a white animesh rose, freshly invented by her, on our arrival on sim Exupery. A truly international group to celebrate these sublime words that have resonated in hearts all around the planet.

Babylonie

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; 

and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language;

 and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, 

which they have imagined to do.  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, 

that they may not understand one another's speech.

So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: 

and they left off to build the city.

Genesis 11:4-8

Arrival - Photo by Fitheach Eun

Ignis Fatuus grid, our second destination this week. Ustengrav is a new region from Max, Chip and Harthelie, whose prowess in intricate construction and textures is always mindboggling. The theme is Mesopotamian, proto-Mediterranean, with  a little pre-Columbian mystery in there for good measure. An idyll of idols, if you will. Colors and textures, layout and lighting, this is not a build that is meant to be immediately understood.
We were, how can I put this, informationally challenged, in that yes, there was an intro to the build, in