Shishen Guardians at the Shanghai Pagoda

I always have some Steelhead-related project going on like the manholes, for instance. If you stroll around Steelhead, you can see two different versions of them: leaping trout throughout most of Steelhead's sims and for Shanghai, it moon bridges.

Lunar asked me to do another project for Shanghai: A shishen/si shou guardian compass in the pagoda. If you visit the pagoda, which you can't miss, you can find it. The Chinese characters for "Shanghai" mark the very center of the sim. The shi shen are as follows: the "Black Warrior of the North" (which is a tortoise fighting with a snake), the Green Dragon of the East, the Red Bird of the South and the White Tiger of the West. I based them upon ancient tomb markers and created them with the "woodcut" look like the manholes. Go see it for yourself!

Sharknado & Shanghai

Only in Steelhead would there be a Sharknado themed party...

Last night I braved the crashiness of my computer to come inworld and support my friends Lunar and Tensai, as they made the difficult decision to close Steelhead Shanghai...

I've spoken a lot about the ephemerality and challenges of SL. One of those challenges is knowing when to make decisions that are truly painful, but necessary...

I know how much hard work went into this sim's creation. I helped create projects for it myself and will be sad to see it go away...

But Steelhead is a strong community and being able to continue to maintain that community is what is most important. That's life in SL. We have projects and places we love and lose. I know that feeling firsthand myself. It will be missed, but we move forward.

You can read all of my former posts about Steelhead Shanghai here.

Opening Celebration of Steelhead Shanghai Sim

I would like to invite you all to join the citizens of Steelhead for the official opening celebration of their latest sim, Steelhead Shanghai! The architecture and narrow, mysterious streets of this Steampunk-meets-Asia sim are fantastic and a must-see.

WHERE: Behind the Shanghai Slums on the isle across from the pagoda
WHEN: 7 - 9 PM SLT

Steelhead Shanghai featured on Treet TV "Designing Worlds" show

Steelhead Shanghai was featured on the "Designing Worlds" show. Hosts Saffia Widdershins and Elrik Merlin joined Lunar, Tensai and resident Elegia Underwood on a tour of the sim. For those who might have a problem viewing the video below, you can view it HERE...

Steelhead Shanghai's Landed

The spanking brand new "Asian Steampunk"-inspired sim of Steelhead Shanghai landed while I was away. It is still in the terraforming and construction phase. I love when sims are fresh out of the LL oven like this. It's so extremely interesting to me to see how they evolve and what builds end up there. There are only a very few lots left, so if you're interested, please contact TotalLunar Eclipse...

Empress Elle

Sometimes I feel like getting all dressed up just for the heck of it and went through my large collection of cultural and international clothing. SL makes it very easy to find traditional and historic clothing from around the world. Tonight, I thought I'd take a picture at the Shanghai Pagoda wearing my new ensemble from Legends of China. I am dressed as Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Xetian, China's only female emperor who ruled the country for almost 50 years. Was she ruthless in her acquisition of power? Perhaps. Did she successfully and peacefully rule? Definitely.As I am usually in 19th c. clothing, I totally enjoy wearing things that are beautiful and fantastic such as this...

At the Artwalk

While roaming the ArtWalk, I came across these great sepia-toned photos by Lorimae Undercroft. Look! The Steelhead Shanghai pavilion!

Steampunk Meets Asian Influences in Steelhead

The Steampunk Asian-influenced sim of Steelhead Shanghai is now open to the public. Parts of it are still under construction, but you can now see for yourself that it is certainly shaping up to be a stunning sim...I paused for a moment on one of its moon bridges...
This is Steelhead...so of course there is a trout temple...Lunar, the "Mad Elf Builder", takes a break from his work for a moment...