"The Cats" Building a New Raglan!

I am so excited! We Raglan merchants will be allowed back on the new Raglan Shire sim soon. In the meantime, I went up to the build to take a look around and ran into Pan. This is my new shop in the "Birdhouse" section. I LOVE IT!

Along with head builder Nil (left) and a crew of tinies known simply as "The Cats," they have created a spanking brand new Raglan Shire tree city of platforms with Tudor-style shops and buildings...

Pan was working on the bucket lift next to my shop and had Nil and me to ride on it and test it out with her. SO much faster than the old acorns!

A Bit of MST3K Fun

I was watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K): The Movie today and couldn't stop laughing (it used "This Island Earth" as the movie). It had been a long time since I had seen any MST3K. Pure comedy.

I remembered that I took this shot while having fun with Lunar on the Make Him Over Hunt the other night. Yeah, sure, not the most ladylike of poses in a minidress, but I don't think they care...

Insane Wonder Wheels and Tiny Freakshows

Raglan Shire has a great amusement park going on right now. I convinced Phin to go on the Wonder Wheel with me... But I "accidentally" set the speed setting to "Insane"...
Somehow he was brave enough to go on another with me and opted for the more sedate pumpkin twirler ride...
Then we found the entrance to AlohaLani Heron's Tiny Freakshow! Somebody get that clown a bandage!
Which was really very well-done presentation-wise, not to mention absolutely hilarious. We couldn't stop laughing and had a great time. My fave were the Siamese Siamese kitties...

How I Spent the End of Burning Life

Well, the festival's wrapped up. Installations are being taken down. The fun's now over. So when Lunar asked me to join him there, I was like "Why not?" and popped over. I found him chilling on a sofa with his feet up calmly munching on popcorn. I thought the glass walls and decor looked pretty comfortable and sat down with my own cup and happily munched away as well. He mentioned something about the "fish" and I thought he meant the one on the table across from us in its tank...Um...little did I know that he meant THAT one!
installation: "Fish Out of Water" by Khloe Carter

Elle's Guide to SL Sims...of the Fuuuuture!

I recently had a discussion about the futuristic sims of SL and here are some of my faves...

Suffugium
This cyberpunk sim is laid-back and filled with interesting, talented regulars. A fantastic build unto itself, explore its buildings, get lost in the sewers or chill at the basketball court and listen to music. Look out for those probes!Extropia Core
Most futuristic sims I came across were dystopic or post-apoc in feel. Extropia was like a retro breath of fresh air in that space age optimism kind of way. Home to Sophrosyne's Salon--where the audience is as interesting as the topics discussed there on Saturdays--Extropia is a bright shiny Tomorrowland vision of the future and well worth a visit...
The Wastelands
This collection of post-Apocalyptic sims is renowned for not only the ingenuity of its citizens and builds, but their true individualism and talent. Not to mention, where else can scavenging turn into survival of the fittest?
Future City
Like a Blade Runner vision, Future City's multilayered, sky-grazing, incredible builds will have you coming back to see it again and again...Please open officially soon! PLEASE.
Insilico
The future is now and evolving at this new high-in-the-sky cyberpunk build. Keep an eye on it as its community grows...
Midian City
Gritty dark urban RP and one of the best builds on the grid to me...
City of Lost Angel's
One of the now biggest (with new sims recently added), oldest and "baddest" of the dark urban future RP sims where demons, angels, lycans, vampires, humans and everyone else roam and use the CCS combat system. When the RP's good, the RP is good there. And if you're squeamish or think you should have lots of limits or if you don't think something bad could happen to you here, why the hell are you there?
Toxian City
Like CoLA, a dark urban future sim, but personally I found the RP a bit easier to get into as a newcomer. Wear an observer tag or go ahead and put on the DCS combat system and jump right in. Maybe you'll even get to join the rest of the citizens in trying to take down one of Toxia's infamous toxic waste monsters...
Space Colony Necronom VI
This futuristic sim is set on a space station filled with slaves, cyborgs, crew members, aliens, traders and pirates. Very much a mature sim and RP experience, but it also has a very interesting HUD called NeMit, which allows you to accomplish missions without necessarily being a part of the overall RP.

Codie Redgrave's Rouge is Red Hot

I love CodeBastard "Codie" Redgrave as she is a sweetie and makes me smile on a regular basis. Fellow Gardener Eshi Otawara had told me that she was working on a project for Codie and I had seen teaser pics, but Codie tp'd me over tonight to see her "Rouge" sim for myself and all I can say is "Wow." I can honestly say that I've never seen a sim like it...How could I not love a place that's done in my fave colors of red and black? After all, red is one of the thing's Codie's known for...well...besides her derriere that is (*winks*) and Eshi even incorporated that into its design too! Yes, that is the terraform of the sim!
Acc. to her press release, Rouge will serve as the new home of the Boudoir Rouge Gallery Walk showcasing the portrait series, as well as the Code Red lounge and Rouge Boutique. Of course, we had to dance on the poles in the lounge and I have three words for you: Eshi frickin' ROCKS!
Rouge'll be opening today, July 5th, with a big ol' party from 2pm - 5am SLT, and party access might be limited to Code Red group members. Some of SL's coolest designers such as Callie Cline and Shai Delacroix will be having giveaways to celebrate. Here's Codie, the Red Queen herself, getting her twirl on...Oh c'mon y'all...you know I had to have a go on it!!!!

Baube & I Amuse Ourselves

Baube & I went to the Prim Hearts amusement park last night. One great thing about having RL family inworld is being able to do fun stuff like this together! We arrived there and she just said "Oooo!" and took off running...We rode the log flume, which was so much fun we did it twice...
And one of the Scrambler rides. Nothing like having it in mouselook to make one want to hurk in RL...
And this ride was no better...We had so much fun we were hungry. Wait...Baube, did you wash your hands???

SleezyWood...Not A Steelhead Urban Legend

I let a certain elf convince me to go exploring Gnarli's Egyptian wonderland with him. All I'll say is the pyramid was quite a surprise...But not as much as SLeezyWood, a sim nearby to Steelhead that I had always heard about, but didn't know was real...
Let's just say that the decor is "trailer park chic" and highly creative. I didn't know what made me laugh harder: the cop car on a home's roof or this...
We raced shopping carts around in a parking lot... And even met the sim's owner Sleezy Riggles. Way too much fun. Visit it for yourself!

MC Escher Relativity House

In my wanderings I found a MC Escher "Relativity" house by Furia Freeloader (which is also available for sale)...Am I going up?
Am I going down?
Am I going anywhere at all?

Virtual Montmartre

Right next door to Virtual Harlem is Virtual Montmartre, the Parisian neighborhood where so many artists and creatives called home and a hangout spot. Both sims are the brainchild of Bryan Mnemonic, a professor of English lit specializing in that of 20th c. African American lit. Paris was seen as a place of freedom for many African Americans, weary of the segregation and marginalization they felt here in the U.S. Poet Langston Hughes spent time here in 1924 and Montmartre was where so many Black expatriates called home after WWI. Here I am with Sacre Coeur in the background...Walking up the hill in pumps was a breeze *gasps for air*...
The famous Moulin Rouge...I found this beautiful light-filled room. The sim is still in development, but well worth the visit!

Virtual Starry Night...Again

I had just wrapped up the latest issue of the Steelhead Anvil, so I treated myself to Virtual Starry Night...again. I came here months ago when my computer still really sucked and I couldn't see a thing. This time however, was quite a treat. First, I took a moment to sit at the cafe... Then, I walked across his Hiroshige-inspired "Bridge in the Rain"...
Before sitting down in the sand admiring the "Fishing Boats on the Beach at Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer"...
And finally, I got to see the sim's namesake, "Starry Night." I saw this many years ago in NYC and this version is wonderful. I know that so much has already been written about this already, but it is worth it to take the time to walk through the interactive gallery. Virtual Starry Night is a wonderful example of how SL can be used to educate and look at art in an entirely new light...

Gone and Dragged Gryff Into It...

Told Gryff about New Toulouse and we went over. Look at that sunset and you can see how he fell in love with it the same way I did. He'd like it to have a permanent location for his "Patina" photographs. Puck came over to see the sim too...At one point Dia and I ended up on one of Mama Cree's scooters exploring the swamp...
At one point, I just couldn't take it all anymore. And yes, the streetcar IS named "Desire"...
Puck got into the moonshine at Lafitte's and raving along with Ellis about revenuers and got out his gun. "Has he shot his danggummed foot off?" Ellis asked once...
Ellis, Lily and Mama Cree sitting quietly...for now...