3star Tyne's Creeping Frog Princess

Kermit the Frog always makes me smile, but I like him best when he sings, "Someday we'll find it, that NPIRL connection... the builders, the dreamers, and me." Oh, wait... I'm the one who sings that! Figure I'm going to get some ribbitin' for that one... :) Eh!

Speaking of frogs, 3star Tyne, designer of several breathtaking outfits for women who embrace the Not Possible IRL mantra - including the much celebrated Glass House Mary outfit - brightened my morning today when she shared her newest creation with me... the Creeping Frog Princess ensemble.


Photo by 3star Tyne

I tried the gown on myself and found it to be ultra feminine and diaphanous, featuring a soft floral print, and a crown of flowers, too. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had 3D green frogs leaping off my arm and chest and waist. Virtual jewelry and virtual nature!



You may be wondering to yourself, "how is this Not Possible IRL?" Glad you asked! I guarantee that I would not be standing still long enough to have a photograph taken if this were happening in Real Life.

You can find this outfit and many other lovelies at 3star's shop, which you can teleport to directly from here.

Tell your kids that they can do anything, and they just might

AM Radio just brought this to my attention. While this is not taking place in the metaverse, it is pixelated, heh! Importantly, it is definitely Not Possible IRL.

Tooter Claxton weighs in with his Muscle Man, and a Maze, too

So... there I was, hangin' with some NPIRLers on Monday when Tooter Claxton - Real Life graphic designer, in-world builder and one of my absolutely fave avatar creators - TP's in. You learn to expect the unexpected where Tooter is concerned, and sure enough, a stocky, body-builder dude I'd never seen before made the approach. "You need some weights, Toot," I said.



As soon as he began typing his reply, I realized that he had already taken matters into his own hands. He was lifting - and pumping - Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Eeeps, that's too weighty for me!


This photograph by Poid Mahovlich

There's this tempting air valve on his shoulder... *fingers_are_itching_almost_uncontrollably_now*



Anyways, Toot's been making more than avatars. His latest is a maze that rezzes as you go. Teleport directly from here, and then look for it next to the big pile of ears...



Walking through it, you'll discover that it temp rezzes letters, and that those letters spell out words. Figure out the correct sentence and send it to Tooter via notecard. If you get it right, Toot will give you a free avatar. Your choice, too.


Here, Poid Mahovlich and Taliesin Bauhaus are giving it a shot

There are several sentences, but only one is the right one, so you might need another go at it. Or maybe a few. I've just been notified by Tooter that my second submission was wrong. Toot, I'm going to get this right. I am.

Robbie Dingo's "Screenburn" - Who needs to dream when you can build your own?

Photo courtesy of Robbie Dingo

Robbie Dingo has invited us to follow an episodic and original story which he is filming entirely in Second Life. You may subscribe to it here via free video podcasts. The first episode has been completed and is viewable now.

Robbie defines the word "screenburn" as "a permanent disfigurement of areas on a C.R.T display caused by non-moving text or graphics being displayed continuously over long periods." The filmed Screenburn will be largely based on a short story he wrote around 1992, which he will now bring to life via Machinima.

DanCoyote Antonelli's music-driven virtual flight choreography

DanCoyote Antonelli's ZeroG Skydancers "Second Spring," - presented by the NMC - shatters so much new ground, it's a wonder I was able to walk out of the place in a straight line. And the music by ZeroOne Paz! I want that track on my iPod now.

This was the first weekend of the third season, and only my first time there. I admit now that I was worried that all the buzz I'd heard about past events was nothing more than feverish hype... but that theory has been squashed to bits.

ZeroG SkyDancers is virtual flight choreography, to an original sound score. As young as the metaverse is, it is easy to see that DanCoyote Antonelli is having an enduring influence, tearing through the mediums of dance and music and art and recasting everything in his path.

SkyDancers will run through the end of March, and tickets are $3,000L, but you'd better lock yours in soon or you'll be locked out. To keep lag outside, too, DC is hyper-limiting the seating. Contact DC@spensley.com for tickets.

Gary Hazlitt just filmed and edited this sparkling trailer.


You can see a higher resolution version of this here.

Spiral Walcher introduces "the new neon"

I live for those IMs... unexpected, urgent, and magical on the other end of the subsequent teleport to something surprising and new. I received a couple of those messages this past week from Spiral Walcher, who's incredible top hats were featured here not even a month ago. Spiral is yet another terrific content creator AM Radio has introduced me to.

Just look at what he is doing... playing with Windlight and textures! I've sent a few samples to Torley Linden as I think these are shining examples of the pluses of Windlight, but haven't heard back yet. Please someone, show Torley this!

They are rezzed in a sandbox in the sky over IBM 6. Still, 2D photography doesn't do them justice. They move and shimmer and change in much the way many particles do. You simply have to go and see them for yourself. First teleport here and then look for these coordinates: 171, 106, 101. Then fly up... looking for a black box in the sky.





This is a floor... again, 2D stills do not do it justice.



It all started with his experimentation with this box and a couple of others.





Then, just yesterday, Spiral TP'ed me to this... an electric forest! Teleport directly from here.



I'd say this is the beginning of an important new technique, wouldn't you?

DynaFleur - the dynamics of group collaboration that flies

Once in a very rare while, about as often as a blue moon occurs, a group of people who are all completely different from each other, but unexplainably compatible, come together to work on a project that becomes much, much greater than the sum of its parts. Sparks fly. One thing builds on another and then another... and you just know that whatever they do is gonna be sweet.

From left to right: Douglas Story, Persis Trilling, Desdemona Enfield, Poid Mahovlich, Dizzy Banjo

That appears to be what happened when Douglas Story assembled his crew of unruly, hilarious, hard-working and ultimately gifted collaborators to create something quite odd, quite beautiful and quite Not Possible IRL: the DynaFleur.

Douglas Story and Desdemona Enflield, who once gave us the FlowerBall, have teamed up with Poid Mahovlich (terraforming) and Dizzy Banjo (music and sound) to create DynaFleur, a kaleidoscopic, sim-wide, kinetic installation that plays on Douglas' photographic take on flowers. Teleport directly from here.


Dyna Fleur from Kitty Lalonde on Vimeo.

I took on this lot of delightful Residents of Second Life to learn more.



Bettina Tizzy: Douglas: What's the chemistry of the team you've assembled here and how is it different from previous efforts you've undertaken?
Douglas Story: This was a larger group - and a more expansive project (than the FlowerBall). Everyone here is so skilled at what they do, and they all (you'll forgive the phrase) 'get it,' right from the get-go. I just get out of the way and let them do.
Bettina Tizzy: But why did you pick each of them?
Douglas Story: Good looks. Purely. I mean....just look at 'em! Dizzy's a little bit homely, but still.


Douglas Story

Bettina Tizzy: Were you always this fond of Real Life flowers?
Douglas Story: It started when I acquired a digital camera a few years back after many years away from photography. Reading the instructions, I noted that it would focus as close as 3/4". I took it out, and stuck the lens into one of my neighbor's roses.
Desdemona Enfield giggles.
Douglas Story: Voila! Amazing beauty... and I was off. The Xmas gift I sent to my friends, was a stargazer blossom given to me by a friend whose niece is a ballerina.

Bettina Tizzy: Desde: How did this experience vary from the FlowerBall project and what is new and different to Second Life with this work?
Desdemona Enfield: This involves motions, the use of Keystone's (Bouchard) idea.
Douglas Story: Yes, we were riffing off that.


Desdemona Enfield, photographed by Poid Mahovlich

Desdemona Enfield: This also involves hundreds of interacting scripts instead of tens. One of the main issues has been administrative.
Bettina Tizzy: How so?
Douglas Story: Testify, Sister Des
Desdemona Enfield: Central control, update procedures, version control... the dull stuff. What if we get it all installed and then someone reminds me "duh. sound!"? Ok, I need to upgrade 400+ scripts. There are simple ways to do this.. but the catch is to make it simple to do. Technically it is like any updater.
Douglas Story: I originally envisioned a veritable field of cilia... the entire back half of the sphere, (what Dizzy named 'The Void'), covered in the pink cilia. But we found that with too many cilia, the motion was not as wiggly and nice as it was, in Des' lab.


The cilia! They make a fluttering, then sucking noise as you pass through them. Photograph by Poid Mahovlich

Bettina Tizzy: Poid: I had no idea that you were also a terraformer! What are the main challenges and do you have a tip or two you'd like to share with us on how to approach terraforming?
Poid Mahovlich: I like to terra by hand and use no 3D tools, so all is created in-game. Douglas gave clear conceptual guidelines via maps and a 3D mock up. I filled in the blanks and we worked together on what he envisaged. As for tips, don't eats hot dogs at the same time as terraforming :)


Self portrait by Poid Mahovlich



Douglas Story: I showed Persis my draftsmanship, and was advised not to quit my day job.
Persis Trilling: That drawing was nowhere near as nice as the mock-up.



Poid Mahovlich: The main challenge was to get the scale in place.
Douglas Story: Poid's landscape contributed so much. Her ideas were crucial.
Dizzy Banjo: Yeh, we did little models of the sound design, too.
Bettina Tizzy: Poid... you've also taken an active role in marketing this, and evidently to much success. How do you think that is going?
Poid Mahovlich: Extremely well - and better than I had anticipated - I am a bit taken aback by the fast momentum of it all! The collective response has been comprehensive and the feedback outstanding.*

Bettina Tizzy: Dizzy, what was the first thought that entered your mind - from a music/sound standpoint, when you first saw the DynaFleur? Did you take one look and think... dang... that brings such and such a song to mind... or?
Dizzy Banjo: Initially I thought it would be more musical (the actual sounds made by the objects), but as I was writing, making the sounds... they became more and and more sound design oriented, and about portraying a certain type of characteristic. For this end, it felt right to make a mechanical technological sounding "cloud of sound."
Desdemona Enfield: Molecular bonds and thermal vibrations.


Dizzy Banjo, photographed by Poid Mahovlich

Dizzy Banjo: The other end of the installation is organic.. and that was all about creating a sensation of the sensual, but the music is really trying to communicate the strange and intoxicating beauty of the exhibit and also Doug's photography.. these giant bizarre flowers.. with a great beauty but an almost menacing or "unknown" presence at this scale.
Douglas Story: I was thrilled with what he came up with - all his observations were dead on.
Dizzy Banjo: Musically something else has happened, which I'm not sure I understand entirely yet myself.
Douglas Story: Des and Dizzy (sounds like a comedy act) got together and bounced ideas off each other.
Desdemona Enfield: I tell jokes, Dizzy laughs.
Douglas Story: As usual, Des is the catalyst that spurs new thoughts - and adding her own.
Desdemona Enfield: Dizzy wanted sounds in the void that were random yet not random: they should seem random... but actually be deterministic so that they do not overlap. I used standard prime number and modular arithmetic to create the sequences, in the same way that encryptyed messages seem random, but are not.
Dizzy Banjo: This system.. is actually really fascinating, but plays such a passive subtle role. I think it has great potential in future projects.
Bettina Tizzy: What is your background in scripting, Desde?
Desdemona Enfield: Other than a life of melodrama? I have done programming from time to time. C Java, graphics, communication... but I only admit this when I am brunette.
Bettina Tizzy: And when you are a redhead, Desde?
Desdemona Enfield: Does not waste time scripting, (smiles).
Douglas Story: I've forbidden red hair on this crew.
Desdemona Enfield pouts.
Douglas Story: I have a weakness for redheads, and can't afford the distraction.


Photograph by Dizzy Banjo

Bettina Tizzy: Persis... have you lost your mind? Or better yet, how do you keep sane working with this crew?
Persis Trilling: I've stayed out of it for the most part, as what was going on here was so exciting. Look at our visitor logs.
Douglas Story: (smile)
Persis Trilling: Traffic lately has been healthy, and momentum is building. I'm pleased with the tight integration, particularly between the landscape and the built elements. My ideas about architecture have been evolving since I first started. I started with the idea of a real landscaper, relatively flat. A project like this has the complexity of a place like Falling Water, and Falling Water does not have a great soundtrack.
Douglas Story swoons at the comparison
Desdemona Enfield: (Thinks falling water makes a big splash)
Dizzy Banjo wouldn't mind soundtracking some Frank Lloyd Wright...
Persis Trilling: On the main campus, it was important to establish an institutional identity. On the Alexander Beach sim, I learned how wonderful it could be to have an integrated composition. This is the next step in that thought process.

Bettina Tizzy: What are the most fun comments you've all received about the DynaFleur?
Douglas Story: A favorite from Fleep Tuque: "I don't know if I'm awed or creeped out." That after passing through the cilia... The disgusting comments I get about the images here.....I just don't understand. All manner of comparisons to other things.


DynaFleur by Poid Mahovlich

Bettina Tizzy: The hawaiian upholstered furniture...? (Said furniture was later replaced with black leather couches and chairs, after a bit of inside jousting).
Poid Mahovlich: I don't want my face or image anywhere near this couch, thanx ever so.
Douglas Story: I took a photo of a shirt I have...
Dizzy Banjo: Now that should have stayed.
Poid Mahovlich: We burnt it
Dizzy Banjo: In fact, I want it.
Desdemona Enfield: Ah, the furniture management crisis.
Douglas Story: Some people of vision and good taste liked this furniture.
Persis Trilling: Others said it was . . . well
Poid Mahovlich: *blinks



Bettina Tizzy: The name...?
Douglas Story: I was expressly forbidden by the management to use the word "Thingy" in the title of this. There's a strong anti-"thingy" lobby, allied with the anti-Hawaiian shirt lobby.
Douglas called his last art installation, the FlowerBall, an "interactive art thingy"
Persis Trilling sniffs
Desdemona Enfield: Oh, I was not referring to the DF, Doug, (smiles).
Douglas Story: "DynaFleur" was concocted by Miss Enfield here
Poid Mahovlich: I liked the carwash name :)
Douglas Story: haha... Cosmic Carwash

The opening reception with the artists took place today, followed by ballroom dancing with music and DJing provided by the proprietor of the Blue Note Jazz Club, Naydee McGettigan.

Artist Information

Douglas Story creates his extreme macro photography with a 5 megapixel digital camera in and around Los Angeles. Douglas has displayed his work in group shows in Los Angeles, and in Second Life at the Aho Museum, the Angel Dorei Gallery and the Artisan Gallery. To earn money to buy new shoes in Second Life, Douglas produces and edits promos for network television.

A Second Life resident since 2005, Desdemona Enfield, in her more serious moments, studies the Zen of Scripting and occasionally dabbles in building. She's highly verbal and will scroll everyone off the screen when given an opportunity. In real life, the daydream that comes closest to her vocation would include a checkered history in computer graphics, medical imaging, data protocols, and embedded systems, plus a tad of physics and mathematics.

Dizzy Banjo is a composer exploring new methods of soundtracking virtual environments. He is experienced in providing music for more traditional media outlets, such as radio, trailers, advertising and video games ( for clients such as Czech National Radio, Boosey & Hawkes, Revlon, and Sony Playstation.) However more recently he is concentrating on developing the possibilities of non linear composition and multiple user interactive music. He is currently working on a number of projects in this field including soundtracks for the in-world presence of the country of Mexico, a book on Second Life published by Intersection Unlimited and a major virtual business event.

Poid Mahovlich says, "I build creatively using smoke and mirrors. I am a geek dreamer; driven by ethereal fuel some days, nerdtech and biscuits on others. I am a Real Life professional conceptual Artist: a self-proclaimed Wizard who has a severe allergy to Hawaiian shirts."
.

Music in Second Life: A meditation in the hands of AldoManutio Abruzzo

Musician AldoManutio Abruzzo disagrees with me when I say that listening to music in Second Life is Not Possible in Real Life. Aldo, sowwwy, but when was the last time you were able to listen to (and be present at) a live music concert, while simultaneously holding one or more conversations with near and distant friends (in Real Life and/or at some far away point on the grid), without disturbing other listeners or the performer? I rest my case. :D

Fact is, I've been happily surprised with my own experience of music in Second Life. Not only have I discovered a number of new-to-me recorded talents via some wickedly good DJs, including thomTrance OToole and Alec Paragon, but I've also been introduced to several really superb artists through their live, streamed performances.

Granted, and this must be said... I love the thrill of zipping around in my RL car - way too fast, according to the California Highway Patrol which has ticketed me and sent me off to driving school for more than a couple pedal-to-the-metal infractions - while listening to my fave tracks at an exhilirating volume. Please don't hate me for this! I do keep my windows rolled up so as not to inflict my musical tastes on others.

But there is another kind of music that slows your heart rate, calms the mind, and leaves you refreshed. That would be the music of AldoManutio Abruzzo. Listening to his work is not unlike standing at the end of the beach after a storm, looking out over the ocean and wondering about the great questions of life.

Not too long ago I was one of the fortunate people who were present for AldoManutio's well-attended live performance to commemorate the inauguration of Princeton's new Alexander Beach sim - built by our very own Scope Cleaver . It wasn't the first time I've attended AldoManutio's concerts, and it certainly won't be my last, but something about this last one left me in such a peaceful and mellow state that I might as well have spent the hour in a yoga class.



But getting back to whether AldoManutio's music is NPIRL or not. If it isn't, then why is he so often the choice collaborator for some of the most admired content creators of things that are Not Possible in Real Life, weaving his soundscapes through their works with an aural needle and thread? I asked Aldo this and more.

Bettina Tizzy: Please describe your music, Aldo.

AldoManutio Abruzzo: I improvise my music on the spot. I don't really "hear" the music so much as strive to "listen" to it as I am playing. It isn't until after the fact - during editing - that I truly get to hear what happened during those moments of playing... a touch of Fripp here, a dash of Shankar there, followed by a little Rachmaninoff; or I might throw in an American folk spiritual.

I don't use pre-recorded loops or sequenced synthesized passages in my live performances. My live performances are just that: spontaneous compositions being created on the fly at that moment. I do sometimes improvise upon recognizable themes (Douglas Story was recently shocked to hear me doing variations upon "Greensleeves" but it is, in fact, a venerable lute song and numerous variations have been written .. .I just happened to do some new ones that night.). This is why I try to always record every performance ... I operate from the assumption that people have come to hear music they have never heard before and, unless I record it, will never hear again.

Bettina Tizzy: What was your musical training?

AldoManutio Abruzzo: I began musical studies on the trombone and studying classical guitar in high school. I taught myself to read lute tablature and, as an undergraduate at the University of Texas, began performing Renaissance and Baroque lute music on an original instrument with the Madrigal Singers (under the direction of Morris Beachy) and the Collegium Musicum. I also performed privately with a group of friends. My lute studies culminated with a Master Class with lutenist Paul O'Dette.

Upon hearing "Another Green World" and "Music for Airports" in the 1980's, I was strongly influenced by the work of both Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, but didn't make the move fully into electronic music until the mid-90's when I started working with computer-based synthesis projects. With the development of more affordable looping devices, I began to utilize looping techniques - especially in live performance situations - to develop the layered textured music that I perform here in SL. The Ebow was added to the tools that I use in 2004.


According to Douglas Story who collaborated with Aldo on the FlowerBall installation: "His music is ethereal, complex, otherworldly, deeply layered, and fascinating. He's up there in the Robert Fripp league... no kidding. However, he refuses to take requests at his concerts. I keep yelling for Smoke On The Water and Freebird, and he never plays either." Teleport directly from here

Bettina Tizzy: Where might people hear your music?

AldoManutio Abruzzo: The main installations that have been deemed as "permanent" are located on the Princeton University sim: Douglas Story and Desdemona Enfield's "Flowerball,", the soundscape that is playing inside of Scope Cleaver's maginificent "Alexander Beach" build and the adjacent sculpture created by Juria Yoshikawa. All three soundscapes are more or less permanently available for listening. The previous installations done with Juria were designed to have a limited presence, but the music from those installations is available either by direct, free download from one of my websites or from the SECONDTune vendors. Almost all of my music is available in one form or another, one world or another.


Photograph of Alexander Beach by Harper Beresford

Moreover, people might hear my music almost anywhere... they have found my webstream and have been playing it on their properties. Not much I can do (or want to do) about it. There are some SECONDTunes vendor-kiosks scattered about that are selling MP3s of my performances from Second Life, so people can always grab one of those for a few hundred Lindens and listen anytime. Additionally, my music is available on the Cruxy players that can be used in-world. As a "performer", my music is normally heard in venues, but as of 1 November 2007, I am not scheduling any further "regular" performances in the clubs or venues. I will still be performing in Second Life, but they will be very specific, special appearances.


I find it interesting that several of the artists who have created the most lauded and very Not Possible IRL installations in Second Life, such as this marvel by Juria Yoshikawa found at the Princeton sim, have turned to AldoManutio to incorporate his soundscapes, especially when you consider that he often uses the sounds of nature, such as waves, or thunder.

Bettina Tizzy: Whom would you like to collaborate with?

AldoManutio Abruzzo: I regret not being able to accept the chance to work with Dancoyote Antonelli when the offer was recently made to work on a project with him. Frankly, he is one of the few visual artists with any vision and critical apparatus I have met in Second Life who are attempting to perform at the same level of quality that I am pursuing here. In general, I must say that I am less than sanguine about the quality of what is classified as "art" in Second Life. I can only hope that other visual artists are coming in-world who will raise the overall quality of work.

Bettina Tizzy: What is missing from the sound/music experience in Second Life, both from the musician's and the listener's standpoint?

AldoManutio Abruzzo: In all fairness, I can only address this question from my own perspective as a performer, since I have found it increasingly difficult to enjoy other performances in Second Life. Small audience capacity, stability, and lag are the three single biggest impediments to high quality performance here, as I see it. I could say that the cultivation of an audience that is appreciative of non-"traditional" art music is missing, but that's something that has be developed, one listener at a time, and I do have some hope of that happening as we see more and more traditional classical musicians appearing in here. I think people like Thom Dowd are to be applauded and supported for trying to bring less well-known work in-world.

The capacity to have multiple performers playing in small ensembles would be great. Several brave souls have attempted to perform in small ensembles, by using Voice Chat, but that isn't that promising ... it's bad enough using it for voice.

More venues such as the Alexander Hall on the Princeton sim and Circe Broom's RatePoint Concert Hall (teleport directly from here) are needed to provide venues that don't have pose-balls for dancing and the music can be taken seriously. While she does have comfy cushions that are scripted, Bibi Book's SkyCastle (teleport directly from here) is among my favorite venues for my more "spacey" performances, simply because she has kept the distractions to a minimum and she herself emphasizes the need to support live music (not as presented by DJs, but rather, performers). We need more of that support and attitude.

Komuso Tokugawa rocks the first day of the year

Just past midnite this morn and again near midnite tonite... rockin' to Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher, Komuso Tokugawa-style. Closure for the first day of the year. Jurin Juran, thanks for those TPs.

Jopsy Pendragon's particles - the most fitting way to bring in a New Year - Happy 2008, everyone!

I have a confession to make. You know how some people take on what can only be called celebrity status in Second Life? Generally speaking, they have a few things in common. Their rez date goes back to 2005 or before, and they are terrific and knowledgeable content creators in some special way. Now, I’ve had the good (or bad, depending on the person) fortune to work with many celebrities in Real Life throughout my career, but never have I been more excited than the day I met Jopsy Pendragon. Happily, he turned out to be everything I imagined and so much more. Not only is he gifted at content creation, and teaching, but he is also one of the nicest celebrities in any life.



Jopsy Pendragon (aka John P. Crane, rezzed 1/15/04) is the founder and owner of the Particle Laboratory in Second Life... a mecca for particle lovers and script learners in the metaverse, largely because of the seemingly exhaustive and excellent tutorials available there, as well as its intimate sandbox for "script tinkering." Teleport directly from here, and take the hot air balloon to any of the local destinations offered there.

The San Diego Reader recently published an extensive interview with the Real Life man who operates his avatar, and while there are some inaccuracies, it is well worth reading.

I met with Jopsy this weekend at the Cloud Chateau, one of two places at Ethereal Teal - Jopsy's sim - where you can experience his gorgeous particles... to learn more about the man and his work.



Bettina Tizzy: According to The San Diego Reader article, you were already on BBSs and involved with other virtual worlds before you rezzed in Second Life. Were you on The Well, for example? And what brought you to Second Life?

Jopsy Pendragon: I was near and by and around the Well, but never actually in it... In the days when it was hot and hopping, I was nurturing my own fledgling text-based VR, (a TinyMud called DragonMud, which turned 18 years old a month ago), so any time I spent away from there made me feel neglectful.

I was dragged into Second Life kicking and screaming, protesting all the way, "No, I'd rather not try yet another lame VRML hack with blinking textures and kludged- together-features..." but my friend insisted, gave me a demo and I grudgingly admitted that there might be promise.

My early days... wow, well, I went a week, maybe two, before I found and bought land: 512m for the-then-high-price of L$2 per square meter. From Stroker Serpentine, if I remember right. I still see him around. I built a small home and lurked, trying to create interesting things to get people to stop and visit.

It was very quiet and lonely in Second Life back then, honestly, but I like to tinker so that let me be creative with fewer distractions =) I'd build things and stick in strange functionality hoping people would discover them... walls that opened, fountains that launched people into hidden rooms... all sorts of silly stuff. Most folks didn't explore thoroughly, but it made giving tours fun. :)



Bettina Tizzy: Your first particle... What was its genesis? Were there any particles in Second Life when you arrived?

Jopsy Pendragon: Particles were one of those things that just seemed to have no useful documentation at the time. I hadn't done much scripting at that point. A few modified door scripts, some animated texture stuff... so my friend (the one that dragged me into SL) and I were beating our heads against this particle thing.

We had a *very* early version of Ama Omega's particle script, which helped, but there was so much guesswork still. Our first particles were awful... imagine a hat with exploding bacon.

There were particles, but mostly it was the old llMakeExplosion, llMakeFire, llMakeFountain, llMakeSmoke kinda stuff. llParticleSystem was still a new function, apparently.

Back then we had 'dwell income,' and since I liked to upload textures, and wanted to buy more land, I was doing anything to get traffic to my space. Holding particle classes back then was *VERY* effective at that.

And then... my life shifted. I got a new job, one that I knew would hold me away from Second Life for several months. So before I started the job, I put all my class notes into a standing exhibit, called it The Particle Laboratory, and pretty much vanished for a year... (between June 2004 and June 2005)

I checked in from time to time, but went from 18 hour days here to 1-2 hour days in Second Life. I'm wrapping up that job now, (and trying to find my replacement so I can resign with honor. ;) and then I'll be back to my foot-loose and fancy free play-in-SL all day mode. I still go kinda dormant in the summertime. Hard to be indoors and online when it is nice out.





Bettina Tizzy: So you left your scripts in a place you hastily called "The Particle Laboratory?" Still on that same 512m parcel of land?

Jopsy Pendragon: It was kind of modelled after the Exploratorium in San Francisco... exhibits to interact with and such. Oh no... I was already up to the half sim allocation I'm at today by then. I was worried at first... nothing to 512sqm, 2 weeks. 2-3 weeks later, I went up to 1024. A month later 2048, a week later, 4048, 2 days later 8096sqm...


Today, the Particle Laboratory is a busy destination for scripters and particle lovers and, of course, anyone who wishes to learn how to make these totally Not Possible in Real Life miracles of beauty

Bettina Tizzy: The Particle Laboratory has a long and important history in Second Life. Did you ever record its milestones on a notecard or celebrate anniversaries and have 'cocktail parties' and such?

Jopsy Pendragon: (No notecard or recording of its history) and there's been no real anniversary party for the Lab. I have held a grand opening (even had a ribbon cutting ceremony, complete with particle ribbons. =)

While the Particle Laboratory has always been where it is now, it has grown, and been almost completely rebuilt 3 times now. I'm often changing minor things, the fencing and such. It didn't always have a dedicated sandbox in the middle; it used to allow creation anywhere but too many griefers made me lock things down. Not deliberate griefing... more the self-replicating-waves-of-annoying-objects-passing-through kind of griefing. I tend to get very few hostile types looking to grief up this way.

Honestly, I was really surprised that the Particle Laboratory became so popular. I didn't advertise, never took out a classified for it... it's all just word of mouth =)


That "word of mouth," led to my own discovery of the Particle Laboratory, a place where I have spent blissful hours hacking away at someone else's scripts - most often Jopsy's basic free ones - to make my own little pretties.


For weeks I became obsessed with learning how to make this particle effect (shown here at the Cloud Chateau), and I have both Vandalite Defiant (and Jopsy's tutorials, of course) to thank for guiding me - a scatterbrain when it comes to scripts altogether - through the process

Jopsy Pendragon: My first brush with voice chat was with two Lab visitors who were curious what it was all about... not really ready to start learning but just exploring. They were talking about me saying things like "Wow, he must have a lot of free time... " and other such things, not realizing the person next to them was the person they were talking about. ;)

Bettina Tizzy: Ha! People who make particles today are often called upon to do "shows" and such... did you ever? And what has driven you to create such extensive particle script tutorials?

Jopsy Pendragon: I've done a few utterly unplanned, unannounced tinker-jams. Sometimes I get caught up in the music and playing with particle scripts... and just go a little crazy. The workshop deck used to be a big black box that I would create particle-scapes in for anyone that happened to be with me at the time.

Bettina Tizzy: Please send me an unannounced TP if ever you do that again!


When you visit Jopsy Pendragon's Teal sim, be sure to explore everywhere. If you are lucky, one of his "followers" may decide to tag along

Jopsy Pendragon: And why do I keep putting more effort into the tutorials and such? Hmm... I figure the better I explain things there, with visual examples that really show what's going on, the faster people will pick up the material... so that the questions I do get are the interesting ones and not the mundane ones. =)

A lot of the stuff I came up with has ended up in here, in the Cloud Chateau =)

The Cloud Chateau! Simply my favorite hiding place in Second Life! It was here, in this fantastical room filled with swirling, colorful particles, that I completely fell in love with virtual worlds. It was... love at first sight.






I'm not the only one who likes to dance and spend hours at the Cloud Chateau, as these three photographs (above) by NPIRL Flickrite Suzanne Graves will attest

Bettina Tizzy: So you have learned from this process of teaching, too?

Jopsy Pendragon: Of course! Like any fluid medium, practice is essential =)



Let's hope that Jopsy continues to "practice" for a long, long time...

Bettina Tizzy: Is there anything *new* happening with particles?

Jopsy Pendragon: Actually yes... Thanks to Blakar Ogre and Nicholaz Beresford (and several others), a whole slew of particle issues have been tuned up. I'm seriously in awe of their efforts. I've yet to peek at the open source client... I can and will at some point, but there are projects ahead of that. They've actually submitted fixes and patches that have had a phenomenal improvement on particles.

While it's hard to point at any one thing and say "That... there, that's what's better"... I can tell. Density is stronger, transparency is more controllable, speed seems better... and, well, particles can fade into existance now. Before they could only fade away...

Bettina Tizzy: Interesting... these are two modest fellows. You would never know about these activities from their profiles, but that's awesome news.

Jopsy Pendragon: They're deep into the internals of the client... I think that's where they have their fun with SL. Some folks socialize, some create, and some lift the hood to see what makes it run. :)

Bettina Tizzy: Particles and Windlight... your thoughts?

Jopsy Pendragon: Love it. With 'glow,' particles really pop nicely. Fire looks like fire, finally. I still can't get over how great water looks. The most recent Windlight finally fixed the "my face is made out of rough clay" effect that previous Windlight clients had.

There are changes though, which I'm very happy to go back and tune for. As I said earlier, particle density has increased... effects that were ephemeral and wispy are now more like heavy smoke or blinding glare.




The two photographs above were taken at the Cloud Chateau by ColeMarie Soleil who has reveled in Windlight

Bettina Tizzy: All FIC jokes aside, do you work closely with the Lindens?

Jopsy Pendragon: I love that a certain infamous someone thinks I'm FIC. I do know that a few of the Lindens know me by name and vice versa. I respect what they're trying to do enough to try to use their support system just like anyone else would.

The only exception to that is when people come to me with a discovered exploit. I've yet to find a consistent way to escalate exploit style bugs to Linden Lab privately and effectively... You don't want to just throw them in JIRA for everyone to see.

Bettina Tizzy: You make the best particle textures in Second Life. Are you going to make us more?






You can buy Jopsy's amazing particle textures for a handful of Lindens at the Particle Laboratory.

Jopsy Pendragon: =) Thank you... I have every intention to do so.

One of the biggest sticking points for me with SL... and one of the few issues over which I actually got a little snarky at the powers that be, is over permissions... and, on their recommendation, I'm going forward with a different kind of DRM (digital rights management) method. Granted, it's an honor system, not programatical, but perhaps that's not so bad after all.

The problem is this: You have scriptors, 2D artists, modellers, soundsmiths, animators, etc., and while each of them may excel at their narrow speciality, few people are talented in all the areas that go into creating a superior Second Life product. Then, add in the power to market, advertise, manage sales and support...

Bettina Tizzy: Truer words were never spoken... yep yep...

Jopsy Pendragon: I dabble in everything. I can muddle by on my own fairly well.... but I would prefer to be a supplier. Someone that has scripts and textures that other people aquire rights to and incorporate in their products.

As things are now, the DRM in SL pretty much says that if I give you rights to incorporate my work into your product, your customers can rip my work out and then incorporate it into their products, and the deal "you and I" negotiated did not specifically say all your customers and their friends could sell my work.

The particle textures I sell have traditionally been no-transfer. I get a fair number of requests for full perms and handle them individually, but I'd prefer it if I could sell "Re-seller" friendly versions that were no-transfer to their customers.

The alternative method I'm adopting will finally allow me to automate the sales of full perm textures, copyrighted and such, so that the customer gets the texture KEY itself to use as they like... so long as they don't pass it on.

The funny bit, of course, is that I can't copyright the texture KEY... that's assigned by Linden Lab - their bits, their property - but to have permission to use the copyrighted work (the image), the secrecy of the key needs to be preserved.

I'm almost to the point where, for my higher end stuff, I might upload the same image multiple times... so that it'll get different keys... one unique key to a customer. If they let their key get compromised, ... I *THINK* I can use the DMCA to request that Linden Lab void out the image pointed at by that key... an extreme case to be sure... but still.



Bettina Tizzy: What are your plans for Teal (the sim on which the Particle Laboratory sits)?

Jopsy Pendragon: Since my early days in Teal, I've always wanted to make it more "Dark Crystal" like... (the Jim Henson movie from the 80's.. ). There have been several from the early days (who) were enthralled with trying to bring that world into this one with little to show for it (unless I've been uninformed!). There are themes in that movie I would love to adopt into Teal... paraphrased somewhat so that it's not a direct rip off... but still somewhat of an homage =)

Bettina Tizzy: Do you get bored with particles and want to stray a bit from Teal and go do other things? If so, what might those things be? Would you consider project collaborations with other content creators?

Jopsy Pendragon: Particles are atmosphere and illusion. I totally love them; wish I had them in Real Life, but I am sort of feeling I've kind of tapped out. Finding new things to do with them often depends on changes in Second Life which makes new things possible.

I still love playing with them, though. At this point I'm looking into vehicles and such as well, and having tremendous fun with them... and eagerly looking forward to Havok 4. =) I have played with it in beta, it's a vast improvement. Sim crossings are still sticky, but that will likely always be an issue. But otherwise, it's like silk. :)

I have built elsewhere, but not much. As for collaborations, I must admit (that) I'm a bit of a control freak. I'm either in the drivers chair and I pick the station, speed and destination... or I'm in the passenger seat and I help navigate. I'm weak at 'partnership.'

Bettina Tizzy: Your avatar...

Jopsy Pendragon: The simple short version? People in virtual worlds either play an idealized version of themselves... OR, (quite often) they play with a character that they find attractive. (Why else would straight guys play a game where their character is Lara Croft from Tomb Raider? Because they identify with her? uh... Nooooo)

In my case... well, it's both. ;) though I admit an "idealized version of myself" has been granted a lot of artistic license. ;) In the other realm I run - DragonMud - the founder/creator spirit is a dragon. I'm solitary, territorial... I hoard, I know how things work, and tend to be firey when provoked... It's not that I feel like I'm some dragon spirit, I just have traits in common with them... so that's what I identified with.

Here however, elves age slowly. They live a very long time. They tend to specialize in various things... particles being my 'mystical art' as it were... That's pretty much why I've got the long ears and fae/somewhat androgynous style: Hermetic Elf. I don't get bogged down in court intrigues. ;)


Jopsy Pendragon as satyr in his early Second Life days...

As this is surely my last blogpost of 2007 (it's almost 2008 in Europe as I hit the "publish" key, and the new year has already arrived in Asia and Australia and New Zealand), please accept my best wishes for a year in which all your First and Second Life dreams will come true. Many thanks to Suzanne Graves and ColeMarie Soleil for allowing me to use their photographs for this blogpost...





...and, may you embrace the dance of life!