Friday, November 16, 2012

The LA Experience

 Short post! Mostly for a little place this time, featured on the Destination Guide for real places. I wanted something different, and people who know me know that I grew up in LA... it's been a while since I went back and I have to admit I miss the place, despite my love of the beautiful British Columbia.

 It's a little club called Whisky a Go Go, and outside  it's just a single street corner, but gosh, I love it. It certainly feels very Los Angeles. Cars and billboards and a 76 gas station... wow. I never even realized the difference between LA and here were so stark until I saw this place again. For all urban areas are similar, they do also have their own little differences... or not so little?

So admittedly? I really like this place and it's little detailings... I will admit that I was slightly disappointed to discover that the shops on this 'street' were barren of anything. They're just hollow boxes, and I had hoped to discover actual little details within them.

 But otherwise... wow. You know what I was most impressed by? The sunset. The haziness (because LA is covered by a layer of smog, and it's actually pretty obvious most of the time) and the graffiti and cars everywhere. The bits of dirtiness. LA, to me, is almost right in the middle of what urban centers are like, but I may be extremely biased. British Columbia has a dirty, but considered clean in comparison, downtown. Los Angeles... well, I remember as a child when my uncle took me downtown and I refused to get out of the car because I just couldn't believe how scary the outside was!

Of course, after that, I've been to worse cities, but if given the choice... I probably still wouldn't step outside the car in downtown LA. ^^;; I probably wouldn't step outside in downtown Vancouver, actually.

Shamera is wear (for this occasion):
Hair -- D!va Hair [ Tomoko2 ] (lucky board free)
Top -- R.icielli Peplum Jacket/#blue ($15L hunt)
Shoes -- R.icielli TESS boots in black ($15L hunt)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

SLOW


...why, yes, I am rather slow lately, mostly due to NaNoWriMo and role plays taking up most of my free time. But I had this lined up from October, and figured I could take the time to write this out, at least! So you'll get this in-between my writings about secret agents and government conspiracies!

What's 'this', you ask? It's a region called SLOW, cloud covered and serene with several stores to shop and several areas to frolic. I originally arrived with the intent on shopping for arm warmers for the upcoming cold season but hadn't been able to find any in the store I was directed to. Instead, I wandered out of the store in hopes that maybe I was just slightly off and it might be a neighbouring store when... well, let's just say I hadn't been expecting the calm beauty of the place. SLOW is a flooded region, and you might want to pull on a pair of waterproof boots to wander through. There's areas with rain and there are dry areas, but it's all as beautiful as you might expect when you put on a pair of headphones to listen to the quiet and calming power of a storm.

The sky is hazy and grey and the buildings are all either wood or stone, washed out and grey like a lazy day spent lounging in bed while rain platters on your windows to lull you to sleep.



...I gave in and bought those curtains, by the way, because they are beautiful, beautiful things. I'm thinking about buying a set of umbrellas as well, which is sold in one of the stores with animated textures for raindrops falling off the umbrella and gathering on the fabric. (Ignore any words that don't make sense, I've been word splurging for the month.)

Now this is a place that I've been back to on more than one occasion because it's just so calming and peaceful... ever had that stubbornly bad day which leaves you with a rain cloud that won't leave your head? I'd actually suggest this place when you're in a mood like that. With the gentle rain and soothing background sounds, it's bound to wash away all bad moods.

What else can I say about it? The pictures don't do it justice. It's not somewhere to go if you're expecting big and fast entertainment. Honestly, SLOW is very aptly named for those times when you're feeling lazy and just need somewhere on Second Life that reflects your attitude... or somewhere you need to calm down at. In fact, it's hard for me to pull words to say about it because it's more of a feeling and an aesthetic area than it is a place to be written about.

Looking for that quiet place to relax and not even hang out with other people? This is it. I have to admit, I've been using this place to get into the mood for writing lately, just parking my avatar somewhere and enjoying the ambiance of it all. If I could step into Second Life to do my writing, I might make a long pit stop right here.


I might have... intentionally taken pictures there again when I realized I took some nice pictures and then that I totally wasn't dressed correctly for the sim. (I was ready for winter! Not a little rain.) So I went back with another outfit and therefore you guys get two outfits for the price of one!

 Shamera is wearing:
Hat w/ hair -- Rosy Mood (free)
Jacket -- SPLASH (free)
Jeans -- R.icielli Anna ($10L hunt item)
Boots -- *COCO* (free group gift)






Dress -- *COCO* (free group gift)
Scarf --{ Zeery } (old free gift)
Socks -- Utilizator (not free)
Shoes -- Loords of London (free@ Beginners Luck)

Saturday, November 3, 2012

MadPea Carnival


 Everyone in Second Life has heard of MadPea before, right? They're one of the prominent names when it comes to games: puzzles, adventure, mystery, etc, etc. And if anyone knows me, they'll know I love playing games on Second Life. The Devil's Labyrinth had been one of my favourite places years ago, and that was long before MadPea, even. If you've never played one of their games on Second Life, or worse, have never heard of them, you're definitely missing out!

 Admittedly, my next post was going to be about SLOW or even The Well, which was a game I saw when signing onto Second Life once. But then the opening page advertised MadPea Carnival, and I completely lost track of what I was doing in order to visit the grid.

(I think I had been doing something for NaNoWriMo, but then again, I can't quite remember. I am doing that this month, though, so I may be scarcer when it comes to posts, mostly because I don't really have time to explore as much as I'd like to... NaNo, Haven, a convention this weekend, birthdays, and this blog? November is a busy month!)

But let's go back to MadPea. To me, this entire place is extremely impressive. There's a lot of attention to detail and textures, and all the pictures look like this because I allow regional windlight settings. Looks cool, doesn't it? It certainly makes the rare red splash in the entire carnival all the more noticeable. I like to keep regional windlights on mostly because I want to see what the creators of the sim intended for me to see. Not many people have their own windlights, though, it seems.

The fun part is, this actually is a carnival! There are games and stores and many, many poses to take pictures on. There are rides and items to win for those who dare to try their hand, and then there are promotions for the games that they still have on Second Life (there are a few that they took off, I believe, as I remember a very old one that had to do with... twins? Or at least one area on their grid that told a story and you had to climb and climb and I was stuck for hours because I'm terrible at gathering clues), so it's not to be missed!

It maybe slightly gruesome and a little scary to the average person, but it's well worth a visit. My pictures don't do the region justice at all, especially when you see the occasional mechanical spider car run along the tracks of the roller coaster.

Be aware that this is a very prim and texture heavy area. I was lucky that I didn't really lag, but it certainly did take a good amount of time before everything loaded. This is a huge area, and I haven't explored all of it yet. In fact, I think it's going to take me a good while to go through all of this if there are various games from MadPea that I've missed (and I'm certain I missed quite a few-- their latest hunt, for one), and then there are the games to be played just right here.

If nothing else, I suggest going because it's one of those places on Second Life that really shouldn't be missed. I made a friend on that sim, even, who told me about a gorgeous sim he used to go to that didn't exist anymore. Don't be like me and be that person who has no idea on what they're missing out!


As a special dedication, for anyone who knows me and my love of Cthulhu mythos (how can you not know with how much I mention it in my blog?) is this little area which seems to have cracked the middle of the carnival. There's definitely an Old One slowly awakening in this area, and I don't recommend getting too close to it lest you don't mind losing your sanity.

(Like I said, I had originally been dressed for elsewhere, and too impatient to find an outfit for this area to change into. I'll be better in the next sim, I promise!)

 Extra pictures (because I couldn't stop taking them!):