Object Hair: lat Oh and ALpha Hair

Posted by Alpha Auer

Many thanks go to MillaMilla Noel who alerted me to the existence of lat Oh and ALpha Hair at the Cyberbunker.



I have been developing a craving for what I have begun to call "object hair". So, I am indeed beginning to sport quite a little collection of it and now 3 of lat Oh's hair styles have landed in the so named little folder under the "body parts" of my inventory. And no demo hair either I might add - I am so going to be wearing these sweet babies!




(Please note that I even tucked my ears away from sight in full honor of the occasion!)

lat Oh's collection is small but each and every style is utterly exquisite. So check it out right here my friends and a merry day's shopping to you all!
;-)

The classy urban warrior goes to Dirty Lynx

Posted by Alpha Auer

OK, time to let you in on a little secret over here: After spending some considerable time (not to mention financial resources) in the pursuit virtual apparel design, I have come to the conclusion that I may have learned enough through sheer power of observation and have consequently decided to join the ranks of metaverse designers. Thus, currently I am working diligently on putting my own collection of NPIRL wearables together. I shall be revealing further info regarding this little venture in due course - however, on my own blog. (I mean there is such a thing as a limit to naked, unashamed self promotion, right?)...

And I have to tell you that I am depressed about the whole thing before I have even made my debut: There is absolutely no way that I can presume to compete with the talent that is already out there! Point in case would be Loki Dancer. Dirty Lynx is a store covering the gamut of avatar needs from clothes and attachments to skin and hair - one item better designed and textured than the next. The theme is urban warrior and neko, however the ware displayed is a far cry from the, at this point, somewhat predictable urban warrior/neko output. There is a finesse, an observation of detail, a balance of color and shape that really puts the design work at Dirty Lynx in a class apart. Subtle! That is the very word that I am groping for... Nothing is overdone, over designed. And then the textures: Beautifully detailed and crisp. (If there is one thing that I cannot abide it has got to be blurry textures! ;-)


Tomcat Urban Warrior


Freerider Urban Warrior


CyberAngel

There is a vast range of attachments available at Dirty Lynx, however I have stuck to one category: Shoulder armor! Again, even in this there is a much wider range that one can indulge in than what I am presenting here. I have limited myself to three - which is not to say that is all that I got while I was out there. Basically, when I finally managed to tear myself away from the place I was laden with all kinds of wonders - and not just shoulder armor either. Oh no sirreee... :-)))

You can teleport to Dirty Lynx directly from here.

tis the season to be steampunk....

... fa lala lala la la

Posted by Alpha Auer... ;-)

Although a sizable proportion of virtual worlds Residents (including myself) do not celebrate Christmas in the religious sense of the word, this time of year has nevertheless come to be associated with festivity, merriment and the exchange of presents in a big chunk of the globe. Point in case: In my beloved Istanbul supermarkets and shopping malls are brimming over with "New Year" trees and decorations even as we speak. And what's more we seem to have managed to adapt the tradition to suit our own secular/muslim culture: The biggest seller in tree ornaments for the past few years has been a truly gaudy plastic adaptation of the tip of a minaret that you stick on top of your tree in place of where the angel would normally be put in a Christian household...

So, I have been wracking my brains in the pursuit of suitable seasonal gifts that we can inflict upon our loved ones in the metaverse and this establishment seems to me to fit the bill to perfection: Primtronics, a co-venture by CJoke Oh and Skalli McMillan is a delight of a store specialized in avatar attachments, with a steampunk neko twist but added extras!

OK, let us face it: Is it just me or is everybody beginning to notice the proliferation of truly well designed, meticulously detailed and textured steampunk and neko objects throughout the metaverse? Now, on the one hand this is of course wonderful news. We are obviously entering an era of high sophistication in virtual object design. However, on the flip side, a lot of what I am seeing out there begins to be repetitive in concept. Or I am simply beginning to become an extremely spoilt little neko person who turns up her snooty little whiskers at most of what she stumbles upon? In short, nowadays I am definitely looking for something more - and that something more for me usually ends up being something funny. And these two people are indeed funny! So, let me show you exactly what I mean:


For that incorrigible introvert who inevitably prefers a party of one, why not get them the fully animated Shoulder DJ? Comes with its own charmingly pulsating disco lights border and glow spotlight...


For that special man who likes to cook, the leg holster mixer? Very handy around the virtual kitchen, I am sure...


His 'n Hers Crazy Antigravitation-Experiment V1.1 Backpacks... Perfection itself for that personalized little touch!


And here is another one and oh my goodness! It even has its own little wind turbine: The industrial landscape backpack "MinniKraftwerk" will (hopefully) manage to put a smile on the faces of all of those moaners that you have to get gifts for, the ones who claim to be carrying all the weight of the world upon their shoulders?


A very naughty follow me pet is the Kuhschraubaer (German for cow-bear-heli). Although I did have the little devil firmly leashed it took me forever to get her to fly to heel. Not to put too fine a point on it - she just simply would not oblige! So, this gift would most definitely not be for those authoritarian, "do-as-I-tell you" souls amongst your acquaintance...


Quite a different proposition from the naughty flying cow is the Pilot-Teddy, a lovely great little cuddly guy - obviously the perfect gift for that romantic dreamer...


For that eccentric individual, the mountaineering neko, a rope tail comes complete with its own handy knife...


And finally, for that naughty naughty boy, ear and shoulder laser guns! Zapppppp!!!
...

And now onto a wee bit of complication: While I have done all that is in my power to furnish you with tips as to how best to annoy your loved ones with your gifts, the items at Primtronics are copy but no transfer. However, the good news is that they do have gift certificates available at their shop, to where you can teleport directly from here. So, all that remains for you to do, is to present the objects of your bounty with a gift certificate and precise instructions as to what it is that you expect them to get once they land at Primtronics. And then - well, just hope for the best I suppose... I mean, once you let them loose in there with all that cash there is really no saying as to what they will actually be walking out with from that oh so wonderfully imaginative location.

The Mythological Avatars of June Dion

Posted by Alpha Auer

I am continuing with the thematic survey of the oh so very Not Possible in Real Life avatars and fashions of June Dion - this time with a selection from her many mythological avatars.
...




Above Egyptian mother goddess Isis and sun god Ra, below war goddess feline Bastet and death god canine Anubis.


The Lord and Lady of Deer...


The Dark Elf


The male Midgardsormr according to Norse mythology is the sea serpent, whose tail encircles the earth while Nidhogg is the is the she dragon who eats the roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasill.
...

You can teleport to the Bare Rose Tokyo directly from here. You can view more and larger images of the Bare Rose mythological avatars here.

The Zodiac Avatars of June Dion

Posted by Alpha Auer

One of the things that I have been failing to grasp for the longest time is why the whole metaverse isn't singing the praises of June Dion from morning to night. True, the "Bare Rose Tokyo" has more green dots than just about any other location on the Second Life® map, so this lady most certainly does not seem to be in need of any further endorsements from the likes of me. However, I am still surprised that so many people of exquisite NPIRL taste do not seem to have heard of her utterly mind numbing volume of output, imagination and creativity. I cannot do much better than Xiamara Ugajin, my own freebie/cheapie shopping expert alt, in describing the Bare Rose, June Dion's amazing clothing emporium:

"... The Bare Rose Mall covers a wide range of clothing and accessories that runs the gamut from Cyberpunk and Goth to Japanese Ethnic. And what makes the whole place even more perfect is that no matter how well made (and everything there is extraordinarily well made and detailed to perfection), the prices are still very reasonable. However, reasonable or not, the main avatar has still managed to spend several fortunes in there simply through the sheer volume of what she bought... although June Dion's style is diverse, pretty much everything in the mall itself is wild. Cybermythologies transformed into spectacular, elaborate outfits..."

The Bare Rose carries literally hundreds, indeed maybe close to a thousand (and possibly even more) separate outfits, both for men and women, and it would be impossible to make an even superficial coverage of this bounty with only just one post. Thus, I am planning on making a number of posts about June Dion's clothes and avatars, which I intend to undertake based upon themes such as "mythical", "historic", "cyber", "fantasy" and the like.

So, without further ado, here is the first of these themes: Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you a selection of the Zodiac Avatars of June Dion...


The Lord of Capricorn and the Lady of Gemini...
...


The Lady of Libra...
...


The Lord of Scorpio and the Lady of Leo...
...


The Lady of Cancer...
...


The Lady of Aquarius...
...

All of these, as indeed most of Dion's eccentrically beautiful apparel is made out of multiple attachments, usually modeled as sculpties, which will need to become attached to just about every part of your virtual anatomy. Thus, whatever the Linden Dollar cost of these garments might be, they will doubtlessly be prohibitive in terms of avatar render cost. But in her defense I have to say that I have been wearing oh so many June Dion outfits ever since I first discovered the Bare Rose, and I have yet to crash in any one of them.

It is quite obvious to me the this lady spends extraordinary amounts of time not only in front of her image processing software, rendering to perfection the complex designs of her clothes (every seam, every pattern, every stitch on these garments aligns down to the very last pixel!); but also in research: The patterns and styles used in her garments make it quite obvious to me that June Dion knows her art history and her stylistic references backwards and forwards.

And yes! Prices: What is probably the most befuddling about all of this is that virtually nothing that you purchase at the Bare Rose, no matter how complex, no matter how many attachments involved, ever goes over 180 L$'s and most of it stays around the 120 - 130 L$ mark! Amazing or what?

You can teleport to the Bare Rose Tokyo directly from here. You can view more and larger images of the Bare Rose Zodiac Avatars here.

Electric Lady: aoimizuno Meili...

Exquisite craftsmanship. Humor. Intelligence. Imagination. On top of which the person behind all this is quite obviously a darling, as will become apparent from the following:

When I contacted aoimizuno Meili about her work last week I received the below email from her. I was so touched by the charm and the modesty of her short response that I will simply quote it in its entirety. I really think that she conveys the spirit that lies behind these enchanting neko avatar attachments in a way that I never ever could no matter how long I blubbered on about all of their wonders.

So, here it is:

I thank you so much that you are interested in my stuff and it is a great surprise that you have found me, who lives just on the edge of a corner in Second Life®.



I'm not too concerned about business in this world and it is a great pleasure for me to create objects and share with other people which is just an idea in myself.



My aim is to create "originality", things that have never been seen before and which would be easily definable for people as that this "would have been made by LPP".



Most of my inspiration comes from within and quite suddenly without my paying any particular attention to the process: Before sleep in bed, during lunch time or a coffee break...Therefore I am usually in a "blank" state like white paper ;) before I get started. Before I used to try to make something come up from my brain but I have given up on that. Primarily because what I do is not for business but really just for fun. The creating of an object is really quite wonderful because in its own way it can link people in this world just like "prim work" links the objects themselves.

Sorry for my broken English however I really hope that you can understand what I mean..."

* You can teleport to aoimizuno Meili's wonderful shop LPP, directly from here.
* For further close up inspection you can also see huge shots of her objects on my Flickr.
:-)