I thought I 'd give you a quick preview of my latest building obsession...

I wanted to wait until it's entirely finished, but I couldn't resist.

Damn clock tower...

Two days of RL Christmas shopping can be tiring. Gifts and groceries, traffic jams (lag), crowded stores, and no teleports. But there can be always something that puts a smile on my face, and hey, I swear I didn't edit this picture....

SECOND LIFE® AND LINDEN LAB® ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF LINDEN RESEARCH, INC. NO INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED.

Linden Labs, thanks for the peanuts too!

And Merry Christmas to everyone!

Lovely night the other day. Not only it was a special *day* for me, but also I went to the Moonlight University Christmas Party, and I had lots of fun.
My aim was also to show off the lovely hat that Banana had just given to me as a b-day present, and I thought I would look cool dancing the chicken dance with such a lovely garment keeping my bald head warm in a open-air disco a thousand feet high in the SLsky.

But as often happens during parties, one of the guys went wild a little and showed off his hilarious Mickey Mouse pants on stage..



And it became...contagious..
The ensemble hat/mickeymousepants/greysocks/trekkingshoes did look perfect on me, don't you think?



And here is the 'rear end' view :)



So contagious that the entire teachers' committee in Mickey Mouse pants decided to give a warm Christmas salute from the stage..



aaaaaaaaaaand just one of us kept them on even for the staff official picture!
(okay there is also one of us wearing a M.J. avatar so they wouldn't put the blame on me only)


OMG someone fugged me here too

But I just couldn't resist. As the party finished, I had to go visit my friend Bunni and show her how cool my after-party look was and we captured the moment..



And, omg, here I am today working on my new creation with good Mickey giving me building hints. (Poor Banana was hiding in fashionista-shame behind her posestands but as the French say when it comes to haute couture...c'è la vie! lol)



That's all folks!

Once upon a time there was a man. Somehow this man got bored one day and decided to do something new..something he had never tried before!

He just hit the BUILD button, lol. And he built, built and built.

And dont'know why, it all started with food....


Then the man had his little spiritual moment and decided to make it a church....



And THEN, he tried his skills at german-italian medieval architecture...but with bad results (damn textures!!!!)



btw did you know that building 64 octagons in a row will make you worry about prim limit, even if the prim limit is 3k???

Anyway, he got bored with architecture too and decided to expand his interests in air transport..


yes, it really is THAT HUGE, it really is THAT YELLOW, and yes, it DOES FLY!

But somehow he decided to get back to his old passion, car racing..
the guys at the racetrack told him it was the wrong way though.


So maybe he could try...SCULPTIES? He did try.
Sitting on a mushroom and winking at someone....



But in the end, he decided to go for the masterpiece..


Hmm, ok i have been told it just look like a wedding cake. But I guess i couldn't avoid that since it actually looks like a wedding cake in RL...(waves at John Key and some kiwis and Bananas..)

This is it for now. The man is now lost learning sculpty paint but will come back from the future someday..



Happy building everyone! (in case you're trying, lol)

Hello everyone, I somehow managed to remember my blogger password today and promised some friends I would post a very PARTICULAR picture they have taken a while ago..

So here we are...



There isn't really anything to comment about, when you 're trying on some Gorean scribe clothes and being beaten to death by some ladies you thought were good friends...(and they said they were trying to cheer me up!)

Blogpost on my building adventures is coming, so stay tuned, lol.

ciao:)

Hello everyone, remember me? I thought I'd give you a quick update about my wanderings in RL and SL.
In RL, I am a little overstressed by many things, but fortunately things look like they're improving a little,mostly because I am a great, smart and wonderful man...(insert laugh here).
SL has been a good escape for me anyway, mainly because of my IM window, as everytime I login there's always that bunch of lovely people (old and new friends) who entertain me with their wit and caring...and when there was really really NOTHING to talk about, I 've been developing my newly discovered passion for building silly things in Second Life. I am still wanting to post pictures of my personal view on architecture and engineering (hey, I am not serious, lol) but somehow I lack the courage..even if it's just for a laugh ;). And well, I've been told that when you feel a lack of courage in anything you do, that's just the right moment to do it....:)

Btw, there is something really funny I did yesterday, and I thought it was worth some pics..I played a little with the edit appearance button, and since this happens very RARELY (lol), I thought I could do something meaningful with it. Erm, 'meaningful' means I added some good fresh meat on Midd's belly and hips, trying to make his shape look as identical as possible to my RL shape, and see what could come out of it. Here are the results!
(dont laugh at the pose, I know it's still a female one, lol)


As you can see, I couldn't do anything to minimize the pectorals and the famous 'six-pack', as it is included as a gift from the creator of my shape, but the overall figure resembles my RL body pretty well. Of course I had to work on proportions, 'cause no way I am that tall in RL (2.18 metres vs 1.80 and definitely happy about it, lol). Didn't want to work on the length of Midd's legs, 'cause it always gives me troubles when changing jeans and they never fit perfectly with the clothes I use for the upper body. Here's the equivalent of Midd in RL...:)



The blurry overzoomed pic is good enough to hide my face but not good enough to hide the ducks I was playing with..LOL. Now let's move to the butt pics:



Weird it looks like I was posing FOR THE DUCKS this time in RL...



From behind, the addition is more visible, and but still pretty proportionate with the size of Midd's butt. (I wish I could say the same about my RL butt, sighs, lol)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the experiment. I have, lol.
And in case you see Midd chasing ducks inworld, remember it's not him...it's me!

Due to some RL issues that will keep me away from the computer (not 'completely away' but kind of, lol) I will take a hiatus from blogging. I probably will come back sooner or later and in the meantime, I wish my 15 affectionate readers a good time in SL and lots of fun.

A special mention goes to my lovely friends Rohana, Bunni and Jenni, whose great minds and sensitiveness I value like gold, and whose words I treasure among the most special gifts I could receive from this crazy world named Second Life.

Banana is the only one who won't miss my writings, 'cause she will keep reading them in some sort of form anyway, lol.

See you all soon guys!

I will be teaching in SL anyway, so any offer for help is appreciated :P

Erm....well not really, just thought I had to share this amazing work by my friend Paolo. It took him more than a week to make it, and he is giving it for free to all his friends. If I had made such a wonderful thing, I 'd have sold it for a trillion L$!


I guess this is the only time you will see me as a transvestite, even if it's a robot-woman from the movie Metropolis (1927). Here is the original picture:





Btw the movie tells the story of a scientist who is dumped by his girlfriend, and decides to build himself a perfect woman instead. He eventually ends up being sexually attracted by the robot...Erm, do you see any connection with Second Life?

/me feels a need to hurry and delete his female alt account...LOL

I thought I could spend some words on the Artists Voice "strike" going on these days.
I agree with the idea, I mean it's for a good reason. Content theft is a problem that must be solved in ANY way by Linden Labs. But I doubt this 2-days strike can be effective afterall. It would be effective if we really could stop all money transactions, so causing a little damage to LL and let them know how much the community cares to avoid creations being copied and resold for nothing. Unfortunately this won't ever happen, as it is quite impossible to spread such a message to the majority of SLers and convince them to listen to the call. Plus, the protest was meant to be extended to the blogosphere, as in....no shop, no blogging. I wonder what effect can this have on the overall result, being the blogosphere just a small part of the entire SL community and definitely not the leading one- I am implying that most SLers don't and won't ever know what this Artist voice thing is!

Anyway, I haven't shopped these days. LOL

Fortunately, I have been busy building and it stopped me from blogging. (Means, I wouldn't have blogged anyway)

But now I have to upload textures, and this requires money transactions. How do I do?
Can I wait a little more and then upload all the textures I need? After all, I am just delaying my money transaction, that will happen anyway. What do I do?

I know what I can do. It's in this picture:

God bless Nutella. I am jumping from the keyboard into the jar head-first. It's worth it, believe me!!
/me passes the spoon to the artist

Ciao:)

Some say it's not good to look at the past...and I agree. But hey, I do it a lot! Unfortunately, I have a great memory. And this time, I really had to go back at Nebula and see what it looks like now. Look at this!



Some of you already know the story, but in case you don't know what I am talking about, you can read more here and here.
The fugly building on the bordering land made Banana move out, because she thought it wasn't nice to build a wall or a mountain range to hide it from sight. And that is just what the landlord is doing now! AHAH I can't stop laughing.


The mountain is quite big for a such a little strip of land. Couldn't they just tell the nice dark lady to move out as well?
Ah, life. First or Second, it's a hard one. ;)

Ciao:)

/me is looking for any american/canadian/english/irish/welsh/scottish/aussie/kiwi/south-african (from the North Pole?It's ok as long as you are a native english speaker) fellow Slers who want to join my classes for some simple conversation (voice would be perfect, local chat is ok) with italian students of the English language.

It's a lot of fun, I can assure ya. :)
Post a comment in here and we can talk about it inworld.

TY!

(premise : this whole post is a joke, so don't take it seriously. It's just the result of a day-off work, a better desktop computer, an NVIDIA graphics card, a zero-lag sim and my very-second attempt ever at building ANYTHING with a meaning in SL)

Oh I so wanted to go explore today. Looks like everyone goes exploring these days, so I had to try myself. So, today's place is called MCOTW, which I believe stands for "Middleton's Corner of The World". It 's not on the Showcase, as it's pretty new on the grid and needs a little fixing to be done before it can be opened to the crowds. But I managed to get thru a lot of security, passport control and finally flew over a deserted land, until I spotted it on the ground...



As you can see, it really is a corner, so kudos to 'whoever' chose its name, 'cause it's pretty realistic.
Soon after landing there, I noticed the cool map on the floor. I know it's inspired by David Rumsey Maps but I definitely love the texture in this case, as I am a big fan of Google Earth.
Plus, I really can't say where that place on the map is, but it looks somehow familiar so thumbs up!



Now, this place is not really big, but still provides some good spots where you can sit and admire the sunset....(obviously, being it a corner you can't expect the mountain to rez on the edge of a Sim)



or, facing east, a spectacular view of the sun slowly rising above the sea...



There's a cool chopper bike you can ride, but you have to like its colour though...pink is not for everyone...



But what I found really interesting is this WELL BUILT store called 'Bomba Delight', right in the corner of the corner. No one there, so I ate 5 or 6 of those yummi thingees called Bombas (aka Krapfen in the original German), for free. They didn't explode in my stomach, but I am sure I 'll have troubles sleeping tonight.



Darn, I do love exploring now. But I think it can be little tiring though, considering that this place was only 10 X 10 meters and it has taken me a lot of patience and time to go thru all its amenities.

SLURL will be relased soon, but you can IM me for a guided tour. And you all guys, have a nice time inworld!

I have to admit, I love to google 'Banana's Hubby'. It's nice to know there are people who read my posts and even set them as preferites. But I didn't expect to find my name on here..

English Banana Bubble WHAT? LOL. This lady runs a website for cool banana recipes and I don't know how he decided to add my 'she is not the reason why i teach english in SL' blogpost on his suggested readings:

what can i say, my dear reader. I 've found your website interesting too, especially this particular recipe.

Chocolate PEANUT BUTTER banana muffin...MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

/me drowns in peanut butter.

note: i added halloween and pumpkin in the tag words below for mere traffic increasing purposes. Pardon me. ;)

Sitting on Banana's boobies. Now that's kinky! and no, i wasnt staring at her butt in the pic

AWW sad day today for my Nana. A fugly BDSM dungeon built by her neighbour made her ponder closing the store at Nebula..
Plus, it seems the effects of global warming are becoming a problem in SL too...so there she is contemplating a half-watered Potassium still in its astounding beauty.

Time to pack up.....but she decided to demolish instead...

and look what we have NOW! the one and only fly/sail-thru store in SL!

Come down here for a visit..sale ends in 24 hours..

CIAO!

WHY SHOPPING!
(link)

AHAH this girl, Zhanka really loves to get into trouble! Good luck!


" Why people (you) buy things in Second Life? Is it profitable in Second Life virtual environment?"

LMAO!

Among all the possible kinds of RolePlay in Second Life, you can also get the chance to join a Mafia community. There are lots of groups, Sims, and even stores dedicated to the recreation of some kind of "mafia atmosphere", for the full enjoyment of roleplay action and the celebration of badly generalized values such as Respect and Brotherhood. Add some beautiful 30's style clothing and sims, and the trick is done. I typed 'mafia' in the Secondlife.com search and here are the results (note: mature and adult content not included) :

436 groups.
Now, Mafia is still a huge problem in Italy. It' s something we aren't definitely proud of, and despite Italy ranks as the 5th biggest national community in SL, only a few d****e bags among us happen to join certain of those groups. I am aware the term "mafia" has been anglicized and has a broader range of meanings in popular american culture, but still, an average of more than 300 people are murdered every year and 40,000 families are affected by "that word" in my country and there is no way any of us would even dare to recreate this atmosphere in a virtual world. Popular TV shows such as "The Sopranos" have never been aired on TV here, and it is a criminal offense to publicly emphasize any mafia-related phenomenon.
Being the internet a relatively new world, I think it's our duty to keep it clean and accessible for all possible users. I know Facebook has deleted all its mafia-related groups, but I am sad to hear that among the addictive Facebook games such as Farmville, Pirates and CafèWorld, now there is also Mafia Wars.

Second Life contents are entirely user created, but I guess the Lindens must have some kind of control over certain 'politically uncorrect' behavior. Just out of curiosity, I thought of other shameful words in worldwide culture and typed them into the SecondLife.com search :

As you can see, no matches found for KU KLUX KLAN...

And 15 matches found for NAZI, just because of the various ANTI-NAZI groups.

and obviously no matches found for 'al qaeda'...

So, shall I just be glad that one of the darker stains on my country's worldwide reputation isn't considered off limits by Linden Labs, or is this worth some more thinking to Mr Philip Rosedale? I 'd like to know your opinions about it.

Peace :)

Oh, yes. Whatever our background is, we are in SL for one main purpose. To avoid being forced to live a first life all day long, and this implies we get rid of all the stress, problems, pay the rent, and we don't even have to drive to work, 'cause we can fly there. If married, we can also pretend not to have a wife/husband to care for. In brief, we are free.

But there's a couple I know, who doesn't agree at all. In fact, despite knowing that ending up being unhappily married/partnered in RL is the number one reason for the success of Second Life(/me was in the group), they decided to get married in SL, in a wonderful, perfect ceremony. My admiration goes to them, and my thanks too, because I really enjoyed being there to witness the start of their new life together.

*sorry, crappy pic, but lag was bad and my laptop couldn't handle to rez the whole chapel at once, lol

Moon and Josh, you guys were able to bring tears to my eyes yesterday.
May your love grow bigger and bigger everyday, and you be happy for the rest of time!

Tanti auguri di cuore!!

/me is looking for any american/canadian/english/irish/welsh/scottish/aussie/kiwi/south-african (from the North Pole?It's ok as long as you are a native english speaker) fellow Slers who want to join my classes for some simple conversation (voice would be perfect, local chat is ok) with italian students of the English language.

It's a lot of fun, I can assure ya. :)
Post a comment in here and we can talk about it inworld.

TY!

Wow, Second Life.

When you think you ‘ve been thru all kinds of emotions, events, when you think you are experienced enough to handle whatever may come your way..you find out that this electronic thingee you’re typing onto and those copper wires on the floor are always there ready to surprise you, or shock you for some reason.

I was busy commenting on London’s post about RL identity tonight, when I logged on SL and found a few offline IM’s.

(Avatar name is altered, *no translation* needed for the Italian viewer interface )

-- Registrazione degli Instant Messages abilitata --

[13:55] Mandy McCallen: You were nice to me, for that i will always remember you

[13:56] Mandy McCallen: Now I have to leave, you are all in my prayers

[13:56] Mandy McCallen è Offline

This woman I met by chance at some friends’ place, and after a short conversation she offered to help me with my teaching activity in SL, providing my boring and monotonous dissertations on grammar with some pleasant Irish accent/native English pronunciation exercises. I appreciated her spontaneous effort at helping me (she refused to get paid for it), and noticed it was beginning to become very important to her. I could tell by the tone of her voice, and by some other conversations we have had during the few days of our friendship. She shared some sad details of her RL, and how much SL provided an escape to all the S**T she is going through at the moment. I can undoubtedly say….SL was just making her life a happy one.

Now she is gone, and for ever.

Damn SL, we will never be good enough. ‘Cause there is no way ANYTHING like this can happen in my RL, and I wasn’t prepared for it.

Just in SL, damn SL.

YES I KNOW! SL is SL, RL is RL.
But I just couldn't resist.
Congratulations Valentino, you are the greatest of all ;)





@ Quaintly...that skyscraper should remind you of something! ;)

I have mentioned in my previous posts my dissatisfaction with the standards of the graphics in SL. I am not a computer nerd, so I am not enough qualified to judge, and I know that it's just my opinion, as most people I know are quite happy with things they see on their screens.
But I believe that the quality of the SL environment depends a lot on the creators, they way they imagine things and the way they build them. As for avatars, I don't think there's much they can do, I mean... a good skin is a good skin, a bad skin is a bad skin, but they look just the same to me, lol. I accepted my skin and shape for what they are, and all the times I have thought of changing it into something similar to the way I look in RL, I gave up 'cause judging by the previous results shown to me, it wasn't even worth trying. Anyway, hope is never a bad thing and, even if I am not sure yet, I think i 've just met the right guy these days. I can't call him a friend yet, but he's been the only SL builder/creator who hasn't gone mad at me for interrupting him while working on a creation.For this, I consider him one of a kind, lol, and definitely a nice guy. We chatted a bit and I forgave his one-hand typing of course, 'cause his other hand seemed to be very busy...I started to admire his skills and asked him to show me some of his previous works..which were amazing. I dared to ask for a custom job, and he basically made it in a flash ! I have a fetish for high-tech electronics in RL, and asked him to build an exact replica of my mobile phone just to see how far his skills -and SL graphics- could go. I allowed him a couple of days....It took him just 15 minutes. He said it's not perfect, and that he would make a better one in a hour time or so. I can see why it's not perfect, but just 15 minutes to see my RL phone rez in SL are well worth my appreciation. So here it is..



So I thought I could show him this picture...and ask for his opinion about it.




Hmm, he thinks he can do a better job than that. So shall I trust him and get me a new skin? Problem is, I have to take a perfect picture of my RL face, and if it's the way he described, it's going to take me hours. It's all a matter of getting the right light on my cheeks, so that every wrinkle on my face can become a pixelled line, lol. I 'll think about it, actually it's a week I am thinking about it. Once it's done, and if I like it, I guess I 'll just pay more attention to people complaining about my appearance, 'cause I won't be able to blame SL graphics anymore...or will I?

ciao:)