Get your steampunk on

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

Nix Sands describes himself as a neo-Victorian, a humble tailor, tinkerer and occasional adventurer, but that representation seems quite muted when one comes across this outrageously good freebie at his shop, Xcentricity: Victorian Steampunk Clothing for Rakish Gents & Reckless Ladies.




Photos courtesy of Nix Sands

You can pick up your own gloriously free copy of the Monstro hat by teleporting to Xcentricity directly from here.

Then Cutea Benelli, co-creator of Bogon Flux, one of the most imaginative builds in Second Life®, as well as Epsilon's Fabulous Eyestem Thingy, and hundreds of the most delightful cyberpunk fashions and avatars, has insured that future steampunk fashionistas needn't compromise personal sophistication and elegance when it comes to adorning their avatar's feet.



The Vapour Vanity luxury steampunk heels are available in a zillion colors and metals but all feature a "mini-chimney" emitting tiny clouds of steam.

Teleport directly to Cutea's main store, Grim Bros. from here.

Poetic steampunk flight, by a Victorian Japanese

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

Japanese steampunk creator Yooma Mayo is probably best known for his whimsical bicycles and the delightful steam-powered monorail that transports you from the ground up to his cliff-perched shop in Second Life®, YGD.


Bryn Oh zipped up the monorail on a recent visit with me

In Real Life, Yooma likes to fly kites - the dual-line kind - so when he learned of human aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal's glider, he determined that he had to make his own. Virtually. The irony is that Yooma is afraid of heights but joined Second Life because, "I wanted to talk with people from other countries, use "build tools," and fly in the sky."


Lilienthal (1848-1886) in flight

The resulting virtual Courant d'Air glider is a thing of beauty and heaps of fun to use and fly.



Both photos by Katati Noel, for whom Yooma created a "special edition."



You can visit his YGD shop by teleporting directly from here to Winterfell Anodine, a Caledonian sim where, according to Yooma, "The street and the scenery there seen from the sky are beautiful. When I looked for the land for my new shop, I knew that it was the place. Now, I have built my first shop in a "foreign country."

Special thanks to Yooma's friend, Katati Noel, for alerting us to this and for the use of her photos.

The little steampunk mermaid, and pixie and Cinderella

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

Update! ZOMG, gender adjustment time. I mistakenly believed that Onakagoo was a woman when I wrote this post, so I've gone ahead and corrected all the she/hers-isms. Sheesh.

Steampunk, highly detailed and hot hot hot, I give you the flying avatars by Japanese Onakagoo Epin (rez: 11/22/2006), available at his 109 Prims Circus fantasy store in the sky.

Capturing avatars in steampunk flying cages is a running theme with Onakagoo. Take his Flying Little Mermaid avatar, complete with a steampunk tail and breastplate, as well his own submersible.


Shown here with Vampire Mermaid hair by 3star Tyne (teleport directly from here)


Note how the avatar is anchored firmly to the interior of the submersible


Mercifully, Onakagoo has also provided a shatter-glass box on the side of the submersible with a pair of prosthetic legs, should the mermaid in you decide to go walking

The Flying Little Pixie is caught inside an hourglass-shaped lamp, but the crystal has shattered, making room for her lacey steampunk wings.



You can detach the flying cage and go about your pixie business wearing the mechanical (but nevertheless dainty) outfit Onakagoo provides you with.



In lieu of a heart, Onakagoo appointed the pixie with a bell...


You can ring my bell

Finally, the Flying Little Cinderella isn't really an avatar, but an attachment you wear... a whirring, rusty steampunk carriage. Talk about making an appearance (or disappearance come the stroke of midnite) at parties!


I'm wearing Eshi Otawara's latest: the POPI outfit, complete with a giant poppy hat and dangerous hat pins


Housed within a sphere megaprim, the 109 Prims Circus store is its own environment and worthy of a visit whether you purchase anything or not. Teleport directly from here.

Many thanks to Poulep[Oh]ndeuse who's fabulous Flickr stream I follow. It was she who guided me to Onakagoo and his latest magic.

Attitude adjustment with the help of a little steam

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

I thought I'd take a moment out of our busy virtual lives to celebrate a couple of individuals who inspire us in Real Life with their steampunk approach to architecture and life even, and also to alert you to the existence of the Clockwork Quartet, a musical group in the UK that isn't really a quartet at all but rather a thirteen-piece band featuring an odd assortment of instruments, including a musical saw and a double kit composed of old typewriters, scrap metal, metronomes, clocks and other found objects.

The Clockwork Quartet is of particular interest to us since one of our own, NPIRLer and Second Life®r Art Laxness (aka Will Segerman) is a member, performing on the 5-string banjo. For your information, it was Art who created the charming (and sadly copybotted) prim newbie that so many of you - including myself - have enjoyed placing in highly irregular situations.

~*~

Then there is dedicated Burner and steampunk creator, Tom Sepe, with his steam-powered Whirlygig Emoto, among many other things. Drop in to Second Life and say hi to us sometime, Tom. I've a few people I'd love to introduce you to, including some of your fellow Burners.



~*~

Lastly but hardly leastly, David Trautrimas, is a Canadian artist who disassembles old kitchen mixers, hole punchers, waffle irons, staplers, vacuum cleaners, coffee machines and other household objects, photographs the parts, and then puts them back together digitally, into what he calls “Habitat Machines.” Can you say "Brazil?"


Oil can residence, 2008


The Typewriter Factory, 2008




Sprinkler house, 2008


Electric razor cooperative, 2008

Many thanks to David Trautrimas who graciously allowed us to reproduce his photographs here.

Oh that Pandora Wrigglesworth! She has done it again!

Posted by Alpha Auer...

I would have expected nothing less than total hilarity from the lady who has endowed the metaverse with the clockwork brain, which is prominently displayed in my blogger picture to your right on this very page, but I really have to say that Ms. Wrigglesworth may have outdone even herself with this latest one - the Rococo Fantastico hair. Thus, without further ado, first a direct quote from the creator herself:

"Now is your chance to show that snooty Marie Antoinette who the real queen is. Rococo Fantastico is the biggest hairstyle you will ever see. It takes six zeppelins and four propellers just to keep it up! Includes clockwork ballroom with porcelain dancers. Choose your own color, bows, flowers, and style!"


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So indeed, Rococo Fantastico comes with a full menu which allows you to decide on the colors of all its components and even gives you style options. Needless to say, I immediately went for the dark steampunk style. However, in the event the menu turned out to be a bit of a lifesaver beyond all of the stylistic issues: I was somewhat dubious prior to acquisition whether I would actually be able to wear this - the problem being my one pride and joy in this life; my ears (well, my tail too of course, but it is all an ensemble you know...). My ears must be visible at all times! This is indeed the one area in my life where I would rather die than give an inch. After all, I only have 768 pairs of them and visible they must be. (Not all 768 of them at once obviously - but I am sure you get my drift). But, I need not have worried: The construct - I hesitate to call it by such a banal phrase as mere "hair" - has a handy little re-sizer built into the menu and thanks to this piece of state of the art technology I managed to size down the hair to the point where my ears did in fact become visible. A bit of a mohawk style it ended up being but I quite liked that too for some reason.


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I may or may not wear Rococo Fantastico. Who knows?... The occasion may indeed present itself! One thing is for sure though, if it weren't for the prim count and the fact that I am running perilously low, I would rez it on Syncretia in a nano second. This is utterly utterly wonderful!


The ballroom with puppet dancers (close up)
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You can teleport to Curio Obscura, Pandora Wrigglesworth's shop, directly from here.
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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!!!
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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.

Les oreils très NPIRL...

Posted by Alpha Auer ;-)

Today, dear aficionado of all things great and small that are NPIRL, we shall be considering ears that could not possibly happen in Real Life. And who better than me, a full fledged, card carrying neko, to lead you down this intricate lane of Second Life® body parts?
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aoimizuno Meili's output is certainly no stranger to this blog. Not only were her NPIRL eyes featured in a post dedicated to eyes alone, but we have also looked at a small selection of her truly magnificent avatar attachments here. So, here are some wonderful lightbulb neko ears (above) and the octopus ears (below). Both can be seen in-world at her shop LPP, to where you can teleport directly from here.
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Again, a big favorite of mine, on whom I have posted only recently, Thomus Keen has such a magnificent pair of mechanical steampunk neko ears that I truly could not resist in adding them in here as well: These have the most naturalistic cat ear twitch that you can possibly imagine and furthermore come with a texture menu which lets you choose between various industrial textures - the badlands texture shown here being my favorite. These beauties can be admired at Keen's wonder shop Steam Powered Nuts, to where you can teleport directly from here.
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Jamie Clementine's Hybrid Elite ears are not neko ears in the absolute truest sense of the word, being much too large and too rounded to be true cat ears - thus, a true hybrid indeed. Umm? Rabbit, donkey and just a sprinkling of feline maybe? Wonderful! And you can get them by teleporting directly from here.
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Sinthoras Braveheart is a delightful person who basically got fed up with paying exorbitant prices for all of his neko needs (I know just how he feels) and proceeded to create his own. These great puffy neko ears with earrings come in many different colors. And as for the price? Well, you will just have to find out by clicking right here.
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And finally, let it never be said that, while we are on the subject of ears, the NPIRL blog is going to refrain from making mention of the inherent attribute of the Second Life appearance palette which will let you create your own completely impossible in Real Life ears with just a few dab handed flips of its sliders. Here I have just conjured my very own Dr. Spock elf ears which I have suplemented with a freebie elven ear attachment by Terry Toland, available from here.
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Industrial Steampunk =Thomus Keen

Posted by Alpha Auer


"The Spine Jetpack". The mechanical neko ears and tail, the steampunk clock bracelets and the boots are designed by Thomus Keen as well.

I cannot possibly have one favorite designer in Second Life®. Indeed I cannot have 10, or 50 or even a hundred - there are that many talented, imaginative people out there, all of whose output never ceases to delight me - not to mention of course, totally bankrupt me ;-)... However, if someone were to push me up against a prim wall and hold a virtual gun to my head - under such dire circumstances of duress, I might conceivably divulge the name of Thomus Keen as being on the very very top of my list.




"The Steampunk Glider"

Being the builder of Steam Forge and Steam Isle, one of which also houses his design enterprise Steam Powered Nuts; as well as the quite recently rezed Role Play environment called Apocolyptica (intentionally mis-spelt ;-), Thomus Keen's prowess as a virtual architect will definitely need to get covered in a separate future post. Today I will focus on objects and vehicles designed by Keen. I have not been able to interview Thomus Keen at such a length as I would have liked to have done, however looking at his Renderosity homepage I am inclined to think that the artist T.King, who is Thomus Keen's Real Life manifestation, is a professional game environment designer who has worked on the likes of Everquest, World of Warcraft, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.




"The Airship Davintus"

In the one brief conversation that he and I had some time ago, I did manage to gain some insight into the working processes behind his fine output when Keen told me that he "fuss(es) a lot over details and quality, so sometimes it can take a month or more for a single release", after which point he changes very little of the original design, adding that like all Second Life designers worth their mettle he too has his ongoing battle with prim counts, particularly in attached objects, with regards to avatar render cost. Thus a very long time is also spent in prim reduction processes; a good example to which would be a Katana which started out at 130 prims, and when it was finally done, was down to 49 prims, thanks to numerous custom made sculpties.




"The Gearwing Raptor"

In Second Life, Keen describes his area of design expertise as "Industrialized Steampunk". Now, the gentle reader of this blog will probably have surmised by now that my personal preferences definitely lean towards the man made. Not to put too fine a point on it, I am not really much of a "nature girl" at all. Hardly surprising then that the mechanical, the industrial interests me and holds my imagination. And Second Life certainly proliferates in the type of output that captures me, over and over again. Even so, Thomus Keen's design work I find particularly fascinating: These absolutely Impossible in Real Life gadgets, flight equipment, jet packs and gigantic airborne vessels seem to me to hold a mechanical precision that is such that were they to be constructed in Real Life there would be no question that they would be fully operational. Structures like the Airship Davintus or the Gearwing Raptor, are such that every nut and bold, every joint, seems to adhere to an impeccable design logic which culminates in a Gestalt utterly convincing in its functionality. Keen also manages to convey this functionality in his textures which to me are probably the most convincing ones that I have ever seen in Second Life. Thus, the webs that join the mechanic/metallic poles of the flight attachment called the Steampunk Glider are textured in such a way that that we visually sense that these webs are of a far lighter material - possibly canvas or maybe even some kind of light durable parchment - than the dark poles and central flight mechanism that tie the whole thing into one cohesive structure - one fully capable of flying, one which conveys the very logic of being airborne.


"The Stephenson Rocket", 1829. Collection of the National Museum of Science and Industry in London.


"The Apollo 10 Space Capsule", 1969. Collection of the National Museum of Science and Industry in London.

However, it is not only the precision of the design but also the way in which Keen's work seems to reside upon very firm historic design references, which for me, ultimately sets him in a class apart. This strikes me to be very much the case throughout Keen's output, but becomes especially apparent in the way in which he endows wooden objects with mechanical usage, as was indeed very much the practice during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Although not too overly fond of museums as a rule, I do make an exception when it comes to Science Museums, and particularly the one in London, where I have most probably spent entire weeks pondering upon the mechanical object throughout its history, but particularly during the 19th century, the age of the Industrial Revolution. But not only that period either: Gazing at the Apollo 10 Space Capsule in close proximity to Stephenson's Rocket one becomes aware of the unique aesthetics residing within the functionality of the mechanical object and how this provides a continuity of a visual language of design from spacecraft and early day steam engines to astrolabes, cannons and armillary spheres. It is this aesthetics of functionality that Thomus Keen seems to be tapping into and which he displays in his many gadgets and vehicles at Steam Powered Nuts, where incidentally you can also find wonderful industrial jewelry, mechanical neko attachments and various other avatar apparel such as boots and weapons, all crafted by the extraordinary Thomus Keen.

It should be added here that Steam Powered Nuts also carries a wonderful fashion line specialized in Victorian Steampunk and Badlands apparel, designed by Thomus Keen's talented business associate Destany Laval, who in all likelihood will provide material for a future blog post before too long.

You can teleport to Steam Powered Nuts directly from here. You can also see larger, more detailed images of Keen's flight objects and vehicles here.

Magical retail destinations - Even in Second Life, they are rare: The 109 Prim Circus

Via one of our favorite content creators (and illustrators) of all time, four Yip, we learned of one exquisitely magical store that, were it not for the fantastic items for sale there, would still be a destination in and of itself.

The 109 Prims Circus is a steampunk/fantasy store created by Japanese Onakagoo Epin (rez: 11/22/2006). Unlike most stores and malls in Second Life® - sadly and exceedingly unimaginative and boxlike - this retail outlet is a jewelbox containing all sorts of lovely things.

These photographs do not do the place justice because I had to crop the heck out of them due to a bug in the latest Release Client viewer.




Housed within a sphere megaprim, the store is its own environment


Two functional merry-go-rounds with crystalized and ghostly horses go round and round


Steampunkish pods contain the store's offerings, and oh what delightful items they are, worthy of many more blogposts


One gorgeous item for sale, and very reasonably priced, is a steampunk crescent moon

Teleport directly from here.