Under New Skies

Environmental lighting is here at last! With the latest release of the First Look viewer, residents now have the chance to see the Grid in a whole new series of lights.


Linden Labs have acquired Windward Mark Interactive, developers of advanced graphics technology designed to bring realistic visuals to real-time simulators. Their Windlight product uses advanced algorithms to simulate the way light is affected by real-world atmospheric factors such as dust and fog. The company are also responsible for Nimble, which recreates the way real clouds behave.

Windlight has been integrated into the First Look viewer, available now, and residents can now choose from a variety of preset atmospheric conditions and times of day, or even create their own. The Windlight interface does a lot more than this, but it is beyond the remit or ability of your correspondent to even attempt to explain how these extra tools work!

Instead, for your viewing delectation, a few pictures showing some of the presets available in the first offering of the Windlight package.

Top: "A - 3pm"

2nd: "A - 6pm"

3rd: "Coastal afternoon"

Bottom: "Coastal sunset"

All these were taken from the same spot by Kacy's Bridge, that crosses our creek between Tanglewood and Kittiwickshire. I think you will agree, dear reader, that this amazing new technology adds an incredible new layer of realism to the whole SL experience!

Bridge Building

Having organised my time more effectively, I was able to be on the Grid when my beloved was building. Normally I have slipped away to bed by this point, the time difference between us being what it is, so I was thrilled to have this bonus time with Kacy.

Our plots in Tanglewood and Kittiwickshire are separated by our creek, so a bridge was vital for access to and fro. I had dropped a split trunk across to serve as such, but my intended wanted something a lot less make-do, so set about creating something herself.

I settled down to watch and learn, as Kacy started to draw uprights out of the air, shaping and moving them with a fluid ease. Being something of a builder myself, I rarely see this flow, always dealing with the dialogs and numbers. It was therefore a real delight to just watch something take shape in front of me.

Kacy has a true designers eye, and as her RL involves working with graphical software, the Build interface of SL poses few problems for her as she translates vision into form. Of course, it also gives me a chance to just drink in her beauty,
as she stands still and moves the world around her.

I was thrilled to be asked my opinion on this shape, or that form, though I have to say I could only answer in the appreciative. It was not long before we had a bridge, a simple but beautiful statement in design, the planed wood of the uprights and the rustic-finished rail marrying well, the infill sections between the uprights continuing this theme through to its elegant conclusion.

So now our lands are physically united, and I can get on with the task of joining them visually, through landscaping and planting, again with my love's direction. The finished bridge is for sale, should visitors wish to take a little piece of our Paradise home with them.

Signs And Portents

On completing my joyride on the mark 2, I caught up with my good friend Mr 1wuz Gray. I had roused him from a deep slumber with my rooftop flypasts, but though groggy after sleeping off a particularly hard weekend of RL work, he was keen to show me his latest build, the new store he is building in Kittiwick.

Here we are stood outside the Tun tavern, looking at Mr Gray's properties across the street. Mr Gray is the one on the right.


The shop is looking very nice indeed, all the textures being either made by 1wuz himself, or modded from public domain images, a not unchallenging task in itself. The inspiration is a real building, a large photograph of which stands behind the construction site - see photo #4 in this set. As Mr Gray says, whilst the store takes it inspiration from this shot, the finished build will no doubt have become something of its own. All builds are organic, undergoing a process of evolution and adaptation on the journey from thought to form.

I was very taken by the sign my friend has hung on the site, as he says, to let people know that it is an ongoing project, and won't be a construction site for ever. The roof will be peaked rough with shingles along the front, so I understand, and I for one cannot wait to see the project reached completion, I am certain it will be stunning.

Sadly, it appears that not everyone shares my view of Mr Gray's talents. The red onion-domed structure next to the shop, 1wuz's home, did look different originally, I am told, but certain members of our usually tolerant community objected to its design, citing lack of authenticity as an issue. Mr Gray did in fact change it to how it can be seen now, as he is a very community spirited fellow, but he did make his feelings known by the temporary display of the sign in the last picture.

I find it very sad that certain non-resident members of the Caledonian populace should feel they have the right to bully other, much more highly thought of, resident members who have the temerity to possess an imagination. The offending, and offensive, gentleman in question, who I will refer to only as Mr B, is well known in Caledon for his troublemaking, and his obvious desire to receive a damn good thrashing, and it is to the credit of all that none have stepped forward to grant his dearest wish - yet.

The arrival of Kittiwickshire seems to have brought out the worst in other residents too, as evidenced by the several monstrous builds across the sim which must have necessitated the removal of far too many of our ancient Caledon Oaks. I do what I can on my plot with the planting of more RL sized trees, but once a tree that has stood for millenia has gone, it is gone forever, and we are all the poorer for its loss. Sadly those responsible for these eyesores are all of the same, self-centred cut, so it will do no good to point out that Kittiwickshire, like Tanglewood, is a forest sim, and that our Guvnah himself declared his antipathy for such rampant residential development in the Kittiwickshire Information Pack given out to all the sim's Founding residents. A notecard will be sent to Mr Shang containing my sadness at what has been done so soon to this part of the forest, I do not expect much to come of it, but at least I will be doing things the right way. It matters not how much you paid for your plot, you hold it in trust, not outright, and a covenant is a covenant that binds us all. If it is not to your liking, move somewhere that has either a covenant more to your taste, or preferably, all the way to the Mainland.

This is a Steampunk sim, but sadly it appears the deadhearted Victorianists are determined to remove any trace of wonder and delight from it. I just hope we can all learn from the lessons these controversies have sparked, and move forward together, sim by sim, taking only the best of ideas and attitudes with us.

Aeronautica Updated

I have at last updated the Scaggs Aeonautica blog, with a review of the WMW Hovercycle Mk.2, an early variant of a craft produced by Miss Carricre Wind, of Port Caledon. The current model is the Mark 4, and if its older cousin is anything to go by, it should be a joy to pilot.

I am pictured here during the review flight, undertaken over Tanglewood and Kittiwickshire, which together make an excellent area to enjoy the delights of aerial conveyances.

Circle Of Friends

Being Saturday, I was at my usual loose end when not beside my intended, her RL being more demanding at weekends, so after attending to some of the re-glazing of the Rakehell, I headed off to my sister Cheyenne's domain of Pele. She and Sweetie were out on one of their epic shopping forays, so I sat on the train and just relaxed whilst it chuffed me around the island. I didn't have too many circuits to make before the girls returned, clutching an assortment of boxes to each others bosom. Such a devoted couple!

It turned out that Sweetie had spotted, and just had to have in order to make her life complete from that moment on, an Elven Drum Circle, such as may be found in Tanglewood or at Riverwalk. To go with this she had also purchased a complete Gamelan Orchestra. Sweetie then set about setting the pieces up, and Chey TP'd in their friend Boofhead Oh, the Antipodean artist who lives above Pele and whose work she has featured in her blog. He at once fell upon the Kenangs and Sepangs (spp?) of the Gamelan, which he explained to me were Indonesian percussive instruments. Hearing him talk about his experiences in Bali to which these objects created the soundtrack really was fascinating, Boof can certainly create a picture with words as easily as with his canvas.

Sweetie was finally satisfied with the layout of the Pele Percussion Circle, and the four of us set to creating some lovely sound montages. Not having heard the Gamelan pieces before, I was myself transported to the steaming forests of the Pacific, their sound is just so redolent of all that is Indonesian. And they fitted very well with the more traditional, Western sound of the Elven drums.

I ended up spending a fair period of time jamming with my sister, her lover and her friends, and explaining to them in great detail exactly why I was so in love with my betrothed. If I am not with Kacy, I find myself talking about her, so firmly is she in my heart and mind. The girls were very patient, oohing and aahing at the requite points in my monologue. Maybe next time they will be more careful to ask me questions such as "So how are you and Kacy getting on?" !

My sister produced a guitar IRL and Boofhead got out his clarinet, and the jam spanned two lives as well as 3 continents! Chey treated us to a rendition of a scurrilous ditty about SL, which had us all laughing and losing time on our percussion, and she does have a very good voice. I hope soon to have her debut on the Grid, perhaps as Kacy and mine wedding singer.

Boofhead had to log off in the end, and Sweetie then TP'd over Viderian to keep the rhythm going. My friend is very practiced at drumming, having been part of a similarly spontaneous ensemble in Tanglewood not that very morning! We carried on the session for a while longer, then Chey gave us a tour of the newly outfitted Dragon. I can recommend the dance poles! It was a good end to an evening that was a lot better than I had expected it to be, lost and lovelorn without my far better half as I was, and my heartfelt thanks to the girls, and Boofhead, and Captain Vollmar, for their good-natured, very patient and most welcome company.

Home Makers

Now that we have our Kittiwickshire plots safely in our property portfolio, my love and I are building a new home to hang above them. Ever ones to want our Second Lives together to be as wonderful and as fun as possible, we are building a huge sphere to live in. Well, we already have the one giant airship, time to push our imaginations that bit further!

The sphere itself was created by an amazing gadget, not unsuprisingly called Sphere Builder. Using Chat commands, you can have it create fantastic structures, that are perfectly spherical, although if you want you can manually tweak the settings to produce all manner of spheriod, globular or ring-based shapes. My great and heartfelt thanks to Miss Exuberance Lafleur for the use of this device.

So we had the shape, now what materials to use? We are Steampunks, so metal was the preferred medium, and being above two wooded sims, as it will be, we had to glaze it, just as the Rakehell is. You can't waste a view like that! My darling intended is an absolute genius with Photoshop, the windows are all created by her. Copper in the main for the frames, along with brass and bronze, really give this the Victorian Steampunk feel.

Once the basic structure was up, next stage was a floor. We don't need too many rooms, I think we decided on 3 or 4, each given over to one aspect or other of our life and love together, so the first horizontal divide has been run across the centre. Kacy is a brilliant designer, and can put my ideas down on paper or screen so much better than I. We seem to share the same vision in everything! The floor is of dark oak with a maple sunburst, the pattern arising quite spontaneously from way the floor had to be fitted to allow for the central staircase that will run the entire height of the structure.

My beloved is constructing this, taking her inspiration from the one in the Library in Tinyville. The texture for this will take some thinking of, but again, with her skills, vision and determination to have the best we possibly can, Kacy will undoubtedly surprise and amaze me with the finished piece.

We may need to add a small extension sphere to the top or the bottom, or perhaps to one side, acting as a wing to house the art collection we are already building, and a means of access other than flying up through a hole in the roof is needed, but these are all things to come as and when.

Just as with all our projects, working together is the best part of this for me. When the build is finished, we will pack it all into a Rez Foo - or a Rez Faux - and place it above Kittiwickshire, there to hang in the sky like a jewel. A home for our life together, that is truly ours, built from scratch, ready to begin our SLs as husband and wife. Truly this home is where my heart is.

Not Quite The Longest Day

Yesterday all members of the Militia were summoned to Tanglewood HQ, in uniform and ARMED! Had the balloon at last gone up? Were we finally to take the fight to Noyalternberg, exact revenge for their vicious assault on Victoria City?

Not quite. On arriving at Headquarters, we were all sat down by Colonel O'Toole, recently repatriated back into the arms of Mother Caledon. Captain Paris handed out copies of the day's script as the Colonel explained that we were to be filming all day! The script did indeed include an assault on the enemy capital, but all of a sudden the Kaiserine herself, Kendra Bancroft, arrived with the terrible news that a griefer attack on her lands had rendered them unusable for the day's planned attack. The actions of such people beggar belief, they really do.

It was decided that we would film what we could, so the first scene was set up. This involved a briefing to the militia covering the planned operation, given by Sir Edward Pearce, sporting a very fine clockwork arm. We as the audience had to sit and look attentive, as we were being shot (with cameras) from behind. The majority of the filming was being done by Colonel Oolon Sputnik, with extra angles being shot by Ms Bancroft, Colonel O'Toole and Sir Edward.

Sitting looking at a board gets a bit boring after the first hour, so the next scene gave us a chance to get rid of some of our tedium. We all had to jump up from our chairs in wild jubilation at the news we were to attack, and so the "Hoooo!" gesture was handed out. At the given signal, we all pressed Shift+F4, and the effect was hilarious. As Sir Edward put it, it was like watching a colony of berserk red and blue penguins! If we give the gesture to the Secret Mirandas, the enemy are sure to crumble against a transvestite Hoooo! Charge!

That was the end of the first session of filming as far as the Militia were concerned, so as Colonel O'Toole directed the scenes involving the CAF, us ground pounders took a break. Captain Vollmar introduced me to a young lady friend of his, a Miss Hailey Hammerer, who had come to have a look round his home of Tanglewood. Very good they looked together in their pony avatars too! I took them over to Scaggs Grove East where we all had a play in the Well.

The next scene we were required for was the launch of the troop carriers, laden with troops and bound for Noyaltenberg. The carrier blimps were made by Miss Carricre Wind, and are truly amazing craft. Each carries a pilot and six troopers, who can be ejected from their seats all together by the pilot. Perfect for either parachute or airlanding operations.

This scene involved 3 transports taking off, very much akin to the embarkation montage from "A Bridge Too Far". Mouselooking at the ground fall away as our blimp, piloted by Oldsarge Dowd, took off was quite something, and looking around to see the other two transports, also laden with troopers, is a sight I shall never forget. Truly are we making machinanima history with this project.

My darling intended came to watch us as we took off for the last shot of the day, and there wasn't a prouder man than I on site then. That she should want to come and see me playing at soldiers made me feel 10 feet tall. We made the last pass, and then Colonel O'Toole released us from our duties. Colonel Sputnik had taken over 38 gigs worth of footage, and his PC was starting to complain. I think everyone will be amazed when he has done his editing, he was certainly waxing lyrical as he was filming!


My love and I returned home to our little piece of Heaven, and sat for a while by our campfire. I held her close, in what Kacy has dubbed my "Tanglewood Strangler" pose, overjoyed to be home from the Front. There are surely more days of filming ahead, including the final assault (Yay! I get to shoot people again!), but sitting there in our garden, the woman I am to marry in my arms, the War seemed a million miles away.

Nip And Tuck

As a single male I was typical in being a bit blase about my Appearance, but being now engaged to the most beautiful and naturalistic avatar on the Grid, I have taken a closer look at myself. Areas of concern were my nose and forehead, so I asked my beloved to help me sort out the slider settings for them.

What woman could resist the chance to perfect her partner's features? Kacy duly had me assume the pose, and read down the list of settings for the various components of my nose. She then patiently helped me tweak them until we arrived at a shape that was pleasing to us both.

The same was done to the forehead, and all of a sudden I was handsome! Well, less odd looking, perhaps. Like all such things, the difference is barely noticeable except from a particular angle, but now I feel content with my ava. Adjusting your sliders with your intended has to be the best way to have a nose job in the world!

Stay Out Of The Well...

....unless of course you want to be bounced 170m up into the air!

To provide an amusing diversion for ourselves and any visitors to our plots in Tanglewood, my love and I have installed a Bouncing Well on Scaggs Grove East. Developed by my sister Cheyenne who has the original on Pele, all you need to do to enjoy this experience is ignore the warning sign pasted in big brightly coloured letters to the side of the well, and walk into it. The cunningly placed Trampoline script will do the rest.

This is such a fun way to see the surrounding area! Set your Draw to the maximum of 512, and the view will take your breath away! What little you might have left after being flung that high, anyway.

This is a wonderful way to relieve the tensions of a hard day, be it SL or FL. If you stand just right, you can be bounced any number of times, but lag can create some impressive misses on landing - the other day I plummeted to the ground some 50m away from the well! Don't be put off by that though, the forest floor is nice and soft, and at least in SL you won't get grass stains on your clothes!

Maid For Each Other

My love decided he wanted a nameplate for our newly renamed airship. Something that harked back to the days of the pin up girls: saucy and sexy, without being too vampy. He had the brilliant thought of us posing for the artwork, and I jumped on board with the idea right away. What girl doesn’t like to play dress up?

He decided on the sassy French maid look for me and we went off in search of the proper outfit. I had seen some great ones at Silver Rose, and with my beloved in tow we headed off to make me a pin up girl. The outfit was more covered up and Victorian (obviously, it is Caledon!) than most of the ones offered across the Grid. We were going for classy, mind you, so a full latex maid’s uniform wasn’t really the order of the day. I took the skirt up above the knee, much to the delight of my fiancé, and we were all set to build the pose.

This, as it turned out, was much more of a challenge than I imagined. My love wanted a cheeky pose, with me slightly bent over, feather duster in hand, and he, the ever naughty master of the house, copping a feel. Sounded easy enough. Mordecai brought out this monster pose building contraption, and I started to get an uneasy “bride of Frankenstein” feeling. I looked suspiciously at my love, an eyebrow raised.

“No funny business with this thing.” I said, imagining all kinds of poses he could put me in.

“No, no of course not.” He stammered, surely mentally filing away all of the positions that had just popped into his head.

I smiled and jumped on, ever the good sport, and let my love tinker away. We spent the better part of the afternoon bending me this way and that, with several outbursts from me of “Can’t you just give me the controls!”. Alas, the machine was having none of my control freak ways, so my dear, always patient fiancé adjusted things one click at a time, as I directed from the sidelines.

We finally got my pose sorted and into a poseball. Which, by the way, had a vicious Stand! Every time I stood up I crashed through the floor. Rubbing my sore rear end, I huffed back upstairs to help Mordecai with his pose. This, I daresay, was even more tedious that my own. There is a fine line between a saucy swat on the arse and flat out groping, and we struggled to not cross over into the plain obscene. The poser machine must have gotten sick of my whining as it let me take over the controls and tweak my love’s pose. After more fiddling, and more than a few fits of laughter at the ridiculous poses I would make after hitting a button one to many times, we finally got it right.

A quick photo shoot, some editing in Photoshop, and a $10L upload fee later, we were in business. The nameplate now hangs on both sides of our airship. Its saucy, and, well mostly silly, owners posed next to the ships new name. I daresay The Rakehell is officially christened now, and I’m sure there will be many good times had aboard.

Remaking Paradise

With the arrival of Kittiwickshire on our boundary, the landscape of Scaggs Grove has changed somewhat. I knew we would no longer have open water as a view, but when it transpired the sims would actually touch, and we were left with a couple of muddy, sad looking puddles, it was quite a shock. My beloved was quite downcast to see our loveboat forlornly bobbing on its puddle, so to console her I decided to make some adjustments, and make the changes on our border our changes, thus making them easier to absorb.

As I had pictured there being an estuary or river between the sims, I set about digging a creek, so that our loveboat could get to the open water if it wanted to. At the sea end, I have placed some swimming salmon, from Sensual Elegancia, and I have some pike to collect from there also. Ms Charmaine Huber, and her husband Invincible, have done an excellent job with their shop, and if you are into fish and aquaria, theirs is the place to go! I also picked up some nice water flowers there, to dot about the creek.

Next followed a trip to the Heart Garden Centre, for a Weeping Willow, Lilies, Reed Mace and Sword Grass. The range and quality of Lillith's work is, as ever, breathtaking. The creek is really taking shape thanks to the work of both these leading SL plantswomen.

We needed some waterfowl, and as my intended has already demonstrated her capabilities as a duck wrangler, I let her take care of that side of things. A pair of Mute Swans, and a Loon, were duly collected from the Environmental Institute over on the Dark Delights sim. They look fantastic next to the loveboat, do our swans, and so symbolic of us. They pair for life, so the story goes. Kacy was also happily on hand to tidy up my work, as you can see from the second picture, the addition of a Willow had made that end of the plot seem very crowded, so under her direction I thinned out the planting (O would that arboriculture was this easy in RL! No need for grubbing out roots or stump grinders! Heavenly!), and the result seen in picture 3 is a lot better, much more a pleasant feel to the site. Thank you, darling!

Suitably loved up after working on our land together, which always engenders a deep feeling of closeness between us, I took my love over to our eastern plot, and showed her the surprise I had in my pocket. Whats that? O come now dear reader, that is hardly going to be a surprise to my wife-to-be, eh? No, this time the surprise in my pocket was Forest Interlude, a fantastic installation piece by Julia Hathor. This was the work I was after when I purchased her Summer Log installation, Forest Interlude is not always available, so I snapped it up the other day when I had a chance.

It has replaced Summer Log by the pond, but we shall reinstall that one over on the plots by the creek. Forest Interlude is an amazing creation, the poses very nice. It was the first time I had been able to properly see Kacy in Mouselook, and to see her lying beside me, head on my lap, well reader it really took my breath away. I am engaged to the most amazing, most beautiful woman on the Grid, and last night, leant against our log, next to our pond, looking up together at the stars over our plot, was the most tender, most real moment I have had in Second Life. Others may see this as a Game, never letting it touch them, always dismissing the interactions here as meaningless and virtual, a character role they put on when they log on, and leave behind when they sign off, but that kind of superficial engagement with this experience is not for me. We deal with real people, not AIs cleverly scripted, I am in love with a real woman, and she with me. This is all real stuff, it just happens in a world we can make to our own liking. How amazing is that?

Don't waste this precious gift called the Grid by denying the reality of what goes on here. Live you Second Lives to the full, every minute of them. Wonderful things can, and do, happen here. It is scary as hell sometimes, but only by being scared, and overcoming that fear, do we really know we are alive.

Caledon's Guardian Angel

In peaceful thought the field of death surveyed,
To fainting squadrons sent the timely aid,
Inspired repulsed battalions to engage,
And taught the doubtful battle where to rage.
So when an angel by divine command
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land,
Such as of late o'er pale Caledonia past,
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast;
And, pleased the Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.


This picture was one of those wonderful gifts of a moment where the composition just is. Captain Vollmar and I were engaged in a spot of target shooting, still being fired with a nervous energy from the Gunfight competition, on my plot on the edge of Tanglewood where Kittiwickshire is being formed. We were just taking a breather to watch the Guvnah at work - the very act of Caledon's creation happening before our eyes! It was quite a charged moment, there in the sunset, a scarlet nimbus flashing over the nascent sim as Desmond wrought its shape with his words (or maybe it was just my ancient graphics card playing up), and as I turned, just camming about to see what was being born from the seas about Caledonia, there was the shot, Viderian, the sunset, the land - all just where they should be for a nice moody snap. Captain Vollmar is one of Caledon's most steadfast defenders, often to be found patrolling Tanglewood to see off any griefers, or else engaged in his duties as an Officer in the RFL Militia, and does have a fine pair of wings, so the Guardian Angel title to finished picture (simple crop and scale in GIMP, I am sure that someone with a knowledge of PS could tweak it further to make it look really good) was almost inevitable. It needed something saying about it though, and I was lucky enough to come across these words, from The Campaign by Joseph Addison (1672-1719). A judicious word change, and the work was finished. The first arty picture on this blog! The artistic side of Caledon must be starting to have an effect on even me!

Competition Gunfight

Yesterday saw the occasion of the inaugural Pistol Shooting Competition at Steelhead. When I heard that Viderian Vollmar was entering, I straitway promised to make a donation of L100 to SLRFL if he won, and L200 if he didn't. The prize was a staggering L2000 and a custom pistol from Mr Gerami Fizz. I felt sure that my dear friend would easily scoop such a purse.

We headed for Steelhead at the appointed time, collecting our brother officer Major Erasmus Margulis en route. We gathered in Main Street with the other contestants awaiting the arrival of the events organiser, Mr Finnian Fitzgerald, who was regrettably delayed by malicious currents in the Aether.

He made it through eventually, and we made our way to Gunfight Alley. Here a range had been set out in front of the Grand Hotel, competitors to stand one behind each of the yellow deals, where they would stand ready drawn to a count, on the 3 then opening fire at their opposite number, being allowed to move laterally whilst doing so. Fizzworks pistols were the pieces to deliberate with, and on paying our registration fees of L10 each, it turned out there were 8 competitors in all, 6 in total from Caledon and 2 from Tombstone. Such an interest from the residents of my homeland suggests such a competition would be well received there, so maybe something to think about for the future.

Being 8 in all, the competition divided itself into rounds very nicely. The results of this competition are as follows;

Round 1: Mordecai Scaggs lost to Klumb Dagostino, Erasmus Margulis lost to Viderian Vollmar, Teddy Paine lost to Intolerable Ginsberg, Virrginia Tombola lost to Nux Chaplin.

This last bout was the most fun of the day, with the protagonists blazing away for what seemed like hours until Miss Tombola succumbed. It was then discovered that she was using a Derringer, and thus had been unable to really hit Mr Chaplin. Major Margulis handed over a pistol for her to use, and the bout was refought, to the same end. There was something vaguely disturbing about a clockwork man standing over the bloody body of a Victorian schoolgirl, but one gets used to such sights after a very short time on the Grid, and with the expert attentions of Dr Mason, the local sawbones, Miss Tombola was soon restored to full and vibrant health.

Onto the semi's and Captain Vollmar fell to Mr Dagostino, whilst Mr Ginsberg succumbed to Mr Chaplin. Still the Militia had given a good account
of themselves, and we had a Caledonian in the final! This was a fine affair, both men blasting away for all they were worth, till Mr Chaplin emerged victorious! We see him here looking suitably pleased with his purse of L2000 and showing off his custom Fizzworks pistol. And to think he had won, first time out, with the Rusty Pistol from the FWC Basic Set I passed to him!

It therefore only remained for me to make my promised donation of L200 to RFL, and Captain Vollmar being the noble creature he is, declared he would match my donation as the loss had been his. We returned to Militia HQ and paid the vendor there, Captain Vollmar being accompanied by his friend Miss Twinkle Paperdoll, a lady who designs sims and who he had promised to take gun shopping. Miss Paperdoll was very pleasant company as I showed her round the Rakehell, then she and Viderian went to purchase said weapon.

A good fight was had by all, and I must here congratulate Mr Fitzgerald, and Miss Tensai Hilra, for organising such a superb tournament. With any luck they will be heartened enough by the response to hold another, and maybe even to hold it in Caledon - perhaps in honour of the first winner?

Stress Lindens

I was taking a look at Kittiwickshire, now that it has risen from the sea next to our Tanglewood plots, trying to picture where our new plots would be, when I was joined by my good friend Mr 1wuz Gray. He was wearing his Otter tiny ava on this occassion, and very dapper in the top hat and waistcoat of his own making he looked too.

Mr Gray has been after land in Caledon for some time now. I hadn't realised he was actually based on the Mainland, never having seen him away from Caledon, and such a part of the community is he. However he is now a very happy otter, as he has picked up two adjacent 512m plots in the town that will be built on the west coast of the sim.

We walked over to where he thought these might be, and we sat down to talk of many things and take in the wonderful view of Lionsgate and beyond. He is a wonderfully talkative chap, with a very dry sense of humour, and we always have wide ranging and enjoyable conversations.


We were joined at length by two more of the soon-to-be Founders of Kittiwickshire, Miss McElroy and her friend Miss Alena. They are both Neko's which is to be expected, given the name of the sim! The Shire will be another fur-friendly part of Caledon, as is Tanglewood, although I would say that Caledon as a whole is very fur-friendly, given that our Vicereine is a descendant of Sekhmet, the lion-headed Goddess.

We were all having a jolly good moan about the state of the Grid, or more particularly the parlous state of the Customer Support that exists at the moment. I had trouble with my Inventory recently - thankfully now resolved through my own actions - and spent 25 minutes holding on the toll free helpline before being bumped to Voicemail, and Mr Gray had a similar tale to tell of his attempts to get resolution of a L$ issue he was having. His difficulty has now been resolved, once more with no help from LL. We all feel acutely the removal of Live Help, as the Support Tickets our voicemails generate seem never to get a response.

The two ladies had similar tales of what could be termed total disinterest from LL, and then Miss McElroy produced the perfect spleen-venter, a chat puppet of Leigh Linden. He doesn't like being shot at, apparently, so we all copied and produced multiple Leighs, which we then proceeded to ridicule by making them say coarse and biologically impossible things. A great way to blow off some steam about LL!

Whilst camming around I caught site of the Rakehell hanging above us. I have always known that it would look good floating above two forest sims, but I was stunned by just how good it does look! Once we have moved to our new home out of the way of sightseers, the ship will be fully glazed, and made available to the public as an observation platform, as well as an occasional concert and party venue. With Draw turned up to its maximum, the views from our dirigible are amazing, and something that all should have the chance to enjoy. For now it will be a pleasure reserved for friends and family, but watch this space for the re-opening of the Rakehell in the next few weeks, as a true landmark!

Dragon Dance

Once the ducks had been untumbled, we returned, my love and I, to our plans for the evening. We were headed for Chey's Dragon skybar, and as Viderian was at a bit of a loose end we dragged him along too, determined to get him to have some fun.

I had to quickly relog on arrival, as rebaking wasn't helping, and on my return was confronted by the sight of Captain Vollmar table dancing! Chey, Sweetie, my beloved and Dakota had decided, as women will, that we - namely Viderian and I - should dance for them for a change. Faced with such formidable beauties as these, we could nought but comply!

The captain gave a good account of himself, and then it was my turn. It seems my penchant for naked dancing is now well known, but I spared Kacy's blushes and merely took my shirt off. The rest belongs to her now. I got quite a few tips thrust into the waist band of my breeches, and Sweetie is certainly no lady with some of the comments she made! Dakota wondered if I wanted a job dancing tables at the dragon, but I had to decline, Militia business and creating a home for my intended and I takes up all my time these days.

Not to be outdone by mere males, Kacy was next up on the table, giving vent to her inner stripper. Suffice to say she gave the best performance of the night, at least in my eyes! We all then took to the dance floor, Chey and Sweetie, my love and I, and Viderian with Dakota! The captain had hit it off with young Miss Burns, and ran through some of his collection of avatars for her, settling on the Blue Cheetah, as she found that one the most pleasing. Must have been the colour, going nicely as it did with her hair.

The rest of the night was spent dancing and laughing. We tangoed, waltzed and salsa'd by turns, till my beloved and I were back on our favourite set of dance balls at the Dragon, the Slow Dance. They worked their familiar magic on us, and we made our farewells, leaving our good friend amongst his new friends. I heard the next day that he had a thoroughly good time - mission accomplished.

I am wondering now if the Dragon shouldn't become a sort of "off base" officers mess for the Militia, sometimes men facing battle need more than just a dram and a patriotic song. When one is reminded what joy there is in life, one will fight all the harder to preserve it, nor throw it away lightly. If nothing else, I can't way to see the faces of my brother majors when they too have pass the initiation ritual of trial by table dance!

Tumbled Ducks

As my love detailed below, we have been working diligently on our (second) little piece of heaven in Tanglewood. On our last trip to Creative Fantasy I spotted the infamous ducks mentioned below, and just had to have them. After a bit of searching (they seemed to enjoy their home at Creative Fantasy very much, and were not for sale there) I found the same set and promptly carted them home with me. The TP was interesting as I tried to wrangle my feisty mallard and her three young ducklings, but in the end we made it, and I went about trying to get them settled into their new pond.

Seems simple right? No training required, my ducks loved me already, as evident by their love nibbles during our teleport; this was going to be a piece of cake. Being the well mannered ducks I was lead to believe they were, all I had to do was simply set the SW and NE coordinates I wanted them to swim in, click to activate, and Voila!, they should be treading contently in our little pond.

This, dear reader, was anything but the case.

My first mistake came from jumping in too quickly, which I often do, and plowing ahead without reading the instructions. I clicked my mallard affectionately, telling her what a good duck she was, and poof! She tumbled end over end right out of the pond and out of sight. She was gone in a flash! I looked up at my beloved, a bit embarrassed my duck was misbehaving so, and found him trying desperately to stifle a laugh.

“It seems to have tumbled away love.” He said calmly, as he tried to keep himself from bursting out laughing.

Right, yes, I could see that.

“She’s feisty darling, like me. She just wanted to go for a little roll in the grass.” I said nonchalantly. He nodded as I begrudgingly pulled up the directions.

After a quick read I was able to set up their rectangle. Well, this actually took quite a few more attempts, and another half a dozen tumbling ducks, but eventually I got it. Now mind you, dear reader, my feisty ducks tumbled quickly away, and were impossible to catch. They just seemed to vanish into thin air, and I assumed they were either taken to the SL duck heaven in the sky, or would be auto returned to me if found wandering Tanglewood. I had to log off for a bit, and when I returned, indeed a few ducks had made their way safely back home to my Lost and Found folder.

That was that, or so I thought.

My love and I enjoyed a bit of time in our plot, and then went off to do some other things aboard the Rakehell. We were in the middle of deciding what to do for the evening when an IM came over the Caledon group channel.

Tamala Tombola: A kind soul has alerted me to the fact that there are "dead ducks" all over my property. I'm indisposed. Would a kind soul, who is able, please check the situation out for me? [18:30] Tamala Tombola: Somebody able to dispose of the poor creatures.

I knew right away they were my tumbling ducks. Now laying pitifully on Miss Tombola’s plot, confused and alone, and waiting for me to come rescue them. Needless to say I grabbed my dear fiancé and dragged him down to find our missing brood. After some frantic searching we finally found the poor dears. Strewn about Miss Tombola’s plot, looking pathetic indeed. I dare say I haven’t laughed that hard in ages, as my love and I gazed down at our tumbled ducks, both laughing so hard we could barely speak.

Our dear friend Viderian Vollmar happened upon us as we lay rolling on the ground giggling. Turns out he was the one that had originally spotted our rebellious group of ducks, and thought they were some sort of vandalism. He thought they looked so dead that it must have been some sort of griefing. This brought on yet another fit of laughter from my beloved and I, but we eventually got a hold of ourselves, and I lovingly scooped up my tumbled ducks and returned them safely to their warm, cozy folder.

A word of advice, dear readers, if you are going to purchase a pet, be sure you understand first just how it needs to be treated. Having to send an apology IM for my tumbled ducks over the group channel was both hilarious and humbling. But, in the future, I will make sure to read the instructions before unleashing any more madness on the fine residents of Tanglewood.

Being A Couple

Yesterday my love and I spent time working on one of our plots in Tanglewood. AuroraSkye came over to see us, and offer her congratulations on our betrothal. It was very nice indeed to see two of the most important people in my life getting on so well, but then I knew they would. Discussing details for the forthcoming wedding, no less! Aurora is very dear indeed to me as a sister, Kacy is more precious to me than life itself, for without her I do not live. I am blessed by my family here in SL, and my sisters have all welcomed my intended into this family, the Scaggs Ensemble as the group now is, we are all of us made greater by her presence.

Kacy and I put in a pond, a small woodland pool, with a bench nearby, and our log from Creative Fantasy, wildflowers about it, Cattails and Papyrus with their feet in the water, and a Mallard and her ducklings swimming on it. These caused a deal of fun as my love was setting them up, the lag or the after effects of the update meaning everything took longer than normal. Every time she got close to getting everything set, off they would tumble across the grass! Very cute! In the end Kacy did manage to get them to behave - after I had logged off to attend to a bit of RL. Turns out my being stood by them scared the poor little things! Can't blame them really, however gentle I might be inside, I am still a big red daemon on the outside!

Now they are swimming happily on their pond they look absolutely the cutest things! We had trouble with the plants too, at first sharing them with the Group worked, and we could both move them in Edit mode, then the Grid got jealous of our affection and I couldn't move them any more! Seems the update has affected the way permissions work on things, others have told me of similar things happening. So I dutifully stood where I would have put them, and Kacy dragged them over for me.


In this way we really did work together, making this little part of the ancient Forest of Caledon ours in every sense. I have spoken of this at length before, but I will not apologise for doing so again. Kacy has entered my life like a dream come true, a woman who loves me as I am, patient of my foibles, accepting of my quirks as she is of my love for her, and who truly wants to share a Second Life with me. No more pedestals, no more worshipping from afar and feeling less than, no more doing loving things in the hope of some token of affection. Now I have someone to walk beside, someone to share this whole experience with, not just parts of it here and there. Even though at times we inhabit separate spaces, we are never apart, love, real love, keeps the feeling of being together constant across time and distance.

Now I am living my Second Life, not just doing it. It is a life that feels both very familiar yet shiny new, well known and unknown at the same time. Love renews, love is timeless.

Love is a word I have used many times before on these pages. I didn't have a clue what I was talking about, till the moment Kacy Despres appeared in my SL, with that first IM that told me she liked long walks on the beach, and oolong tea. Since them I have been living as if in a dream, but awake and fully conscious, with all my dreams made flesh and walking hand-in-hand with me. Now I am starting to understand what Love really feels like, that small word oft used and much abused, yet with the power to quiet the raging universe when it is on her lips.

I love you, Kacy Despres.

Loving Kacy

Snow Patrol - Set The Fire To The Third Bar

(feat. Martha Wainwright)

I find a map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from A to where you B
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place
Where I'd find your face
My fingers in creases of distant dark places

I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science

Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms

After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

And miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

[ Lyrics found on http://www.metrolyrics.com ]

Another Amazing Avatar

One of the things that I love about the Grid is the incredible variety of avatars that people use. For other examples see my post on my sister Aurora's Sparkleball ava, or Mr Ellis Dee Winders amazing collection of arthropoda.

I dropped in to Pele to see my sister Cheyenne, and found her in conversation with Miss Lafleur and another friend of theirs, Miss Stargazer Blazer. Chey and Xubi are working on Miss Blazer's new house, which apparently will feature a Stargazer Lily theme, to fit in with Miss Blazer's name. It is her favourite flower, she told me.

I looked around to see where Miss Blazer was - and then it dawned on me. The huge Swallowtail butterfly beside me was Miss Blazer! Why I was surprised I don't know, this is SL after all! The avatar is quite stunning, and very highly detailed as well. Having a tattoo of a European Swallowtail on my shoulder blade I was very interested in this ava. I wouldn't wear one myself, but you cannot deny it is a stunning piece of workmanship. It is also quite large, being about 4 feet long with a good fathom of wing span.

I am afraid the crucial detail of who actually made this avatar has been misfiled in my rather lackadaisical memory, but I believe Miss Blazer said she had it made specially as a commission. I am certain that it will attract it's creator a lot more work as Miss blazer wears it abroad, I can't think of a better advertisement for their craft.

The rest of my visit to Pele was spent in pleasant conversation with my sister and her friends. They were all very interested to hear about my fiance, and congratulated me on finding such an amazing lady, and more so for persuading her to marry me! Xubi hadn't met Kacy yet, and of course neither had Miss Blazer, so I passed around a picture of her which I just happened to have on me. It was the forerunner of my beloved's Profile picture, and the 3 ladies were soon all ooohing and aaahing, every one of them telling me how beautiful, lovely, natural my darling love looks. As if I hadn't noticed this for myself!

But it is always nice to hear other people appreciating Kacy's beauty. Xubi, an inveterate skin collector, was keen to know where my love purchased hers, but again my filing system let me down. I am a man, after all, you should know we are not good at retaining useful information like that! You will have seen Kacy's post introducing herself to you all. She is going to be posting on here too, as her husband-to-be I am thrilled that we are going to be doing this blog together now. I hope you will all welcome her to you hearts (though not as closely as I have, of course!) and I just know you will find her literary style as wonderful as I do. A new chapter in my life has begun, and it is only right that it be reflected here as well, after all I am going to be sharing the rest of my Second Life with Kacy, so why not this blog also?

An Introduction

*Steps into the bright spotlight of the blogosphere, clears her throat, and raises a hand to shield her eyes*

Wow. That’s bright.

Hello, dear readers, I wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself. I am Kacy Despres, I like long walks on the beach, oolong tea….Oh wait. Never mind.

I will be posting here alongside my dear fiancé, entertaining you with tales of our misadventures and endless good times. I’m sure you will wait with bated breath for my next installment, but for now I just wanted to say a quick hello.

It was a pleasure meeting all of you, I’ll be back again soon with something of a bit more substance, like my latest shopping adventure or foray into building. You know, deep, important things such as that!

Making The Forest Bloom

My love of gardening is no secret to you, dear readers, and some of you may even remember the Romance Garden I created in Huchu. I think my old friend Sheikh Nefwazi would have liked that one, I remember fondly the many discussions we had as he worked on his great treatise, but sadly I have not the prims to create a Perfumed Garden in Caledon.

Nor is the forest floor of Tanglewood an appropriate setting for a formal layout. A much more naturalistic scheme is required, all wildflowers and shrubs to attract jewelled butterflies. Romance is enjoyed wonderfully in such an environment, and with a few poses dotted here and there, I think I can create a piece of arboreal loveliness for couples to enjoy.

I am taking it slowly, planting up an area here, a drift there, always looking to my intended for the final word of approval. My love is taking a very much more active role in the creation of a home together, and that is something I welcome wholeheartedly. A refreshing change from the past, where I would create a shared space with only my own ideas to go on, ever worrying whether or not it would be found pleasing to the other. No, to have a partner who truly wishes to be one, is the greatest joy in my SL so far.


I have planted the area by our campfire with ferns, Golden Broom and a few Hostas, but I felt more colour was needed. So off I took myself to Creative Fantasy, where Miss Hathor has an incredible variety of wildflowers available. Our plot now has a drift of Colorado Columbines,and a little group of Skullcap and Hypericums, sited around the TP point, together with a lovely wild rose complete with hips, the whole screened from the path by a few gorse bushes so as to draw the visitor in, their curiosity piqued.

With the addition of the plot I recently purchased from Mr Drinkwater and now renamed Scaggs Grove East, we have more land and prims to use for this project, with further valuable prims being freed up when our home is moved to sit high over the forthcoming sim of Kittiwick. My love has already been thinking of how we shall use this extra plot, and a pool shall soon be dug, with an instillation from Miss Hathor forming a centrepiece. We tried the said piece out for size last night, when we visited Serenity Falls on yet another plant finding expedition, and I think couples who visit the completed Grove will enjoy canoodling upon it. We certainly did!

A wider of variety of blooms is being gathered, and I hope to be able to declare the Grove open for public use quite soon. Of course the land is fully accessible now, but I am hoping that people will have more reason to visit when all the poses have been placed, and shady bowers completed. It may not be a Garden in the same sense as the one in Huchu, but Romance will surely bloom here just as readily!

We Are Engaged

After having revealed our love to each other, my beloved and I had a day or so apart as our RLs intervened. I have the perfect pose-set for reunions though, "Awaited Embrace" from Sexy Jesse's Motions.

Once reunited, we set off to find a ring to symbolise our union. I think I neglected to mention, but I telegraphed Miss Kacy's parents as soon as we returned to the Prometheus that day, and received word back within moments. The answer was yes, I could take their daughter as my wife with their blessing and best wishes. Indeed they seemed more concerned about what she might do to me than what I might do to her! She is certainly a spirited young woman, to say the least, full of fire and verve, more than capable of handling me correctly.

We looked at a number of jewellers, finally ending up at a shop I can't remember the name of, and purchased the most exquisite ring by Elexor. Platinum set with diamonds, a timeless, classic symbol of love pledged eternally. As a bit of a ring maker myself, I was very impressed with the craftsmanship and the level of work gone into this piece. It looks so perfectly at home on my betrothed's finger too!

On returning to our home in Tanglewood, I proposed again, properly this time, getting down on one knee using an anim that came with a bunch of roses. My heart beat in my mouth as I offered myself to Kacy once more, after all a day or so had passed since my previous proposal, made as it was at a time of high emotion - but my love said yes a second time, and the ring was slipped on her finger.

We sat by our fire, as we are wont to do of an evening, to speak of many things and hold each other close, but tonight we did so as a couple pledged to marry. I IMd my dear sister Cheyenne, asking if she could spare a couple of minutes for an important matter - she came straitway, leaving a service at the Church of Elvis to do so. Kacy and I had decided we would tell Chey before anyone else, she has been very supportive of us, taking Kacy to her bosom from the outset.

I think my dear sister had probably guessed what was coming, there is not much escapes her eye, but she did a grand job of feigning surprise. If she thought we were being a bit hasty, then she did not show it. Cheyenne knows me well enough, and I have told her of my love for Kacy on many occasions as well, to know that if we think we are ready for this, then we are.

So now we have all the fun of deciding on outfits, what words to say, when the big day will be, and so on. We do know that we want to get married in Tanglewood, this is our home, and where we have spent many happy hours together. Once Kittiwickshire comes on stream, I shall create a new home for us above it, so perhaps once that is completed we could get wedded. Whenever we do, the only detail that I care about is the fact that we are now to be married. All the rest will surely slot into place, as it has done so far in bringing Kacy and I to this point. We are engaged, dear reader!

True Feelings Revealed

My young ward, Miss Kacy Despres, had been absent for a few days, with matters elsewhere, so it was with great delight that I received a telegram saying that she was back in the vicinity, and would I be able to show her a thing or two, once again?

You will know, gentle readers, that I have been Miss Despres escort about the grid the last few weeks, taking her to all manner of places and generally introducing her to some of the stranger customs to be found abroad - and indeed in my home of Caledon! I have always enjoyed the young lady's company, indeed she seems able to make this old djinn feel quite the young imp again.

I chose Steelhead for our visit, as there are parts of it I have yet to see. We managed to avoid the shops (not without a supreme effort of will) and headed for the Town Square. Miss Despres wore a lovely outfit, one entitled "Victorian Miss" I believe, from Druscilla's Delight in Caledon Tamrannoch. As you can see in the (albeit touristy) snap I took, she looks quite the part indeed!

Those of my readers who have been following my time in SL for some time will know of my love of gardening. I still feel the loss of my Romance Garden in Huchu, and whilst I am thoroughly enjoying trying to create a more naturalistic planting scheme in Tanglewood, I yearn for the formalised beds I seem to excel at.

I had heard of a Garden in Steelhead, and Miss Despres agreed that it would be nice to see it. Moments later the keen-eyed lass had spotted the entrance. I believe, although I could be wrong, that this Garden is the creation of a Miss Luminah, though my knowledge of both the lady and her works is virtually nil. Perhaps if we had known it to be a Romance garden, Miss Despres and I might not have been so eager to enter it, but in the light of the events that followed I for one am glad we did.

One of the first pose-sets we happened across was that timeless classic "Soul Intentions" from Bits & Bobs. Those of you who know this pose will no doubt be rolling your eyes to heaven at this point, having already guessed the punchline, but please bear with me a while longer! There was a strange glint in my young charge's eyes as she suggested we try the pose for size, and my heart was beating ten to the dozen as I heard myself agree readily.

Now for all my claims to be a romantic, I had not used this pose-set before, and was to some extent caught off guard by the quality of the animations. As we stood there, face to face, her delicate hands held in mine, I felt something move within me, a door opening that had been shut and barred many, many years ago, a door untouched and unknown even during my previous romantic entanglements. The light that spilled from Miss Despres soul (we daemons can see in many wavelengths that the mortal eye cannot perceive) flooded into this room so long, too long empty, burning away the dust of centuries, and all at once I was pledging my immortal soul, my undying love, my coal-fired heart to her - at least I think so, I seemed to be babbling incoherently for most of the occasion.

My young lady smiled, the light within me reaching almost painful levels as my soul was cleansed of hurt, and placed a finger upon my lips. She bade me be silent just this once, and then with the voice of an angel spoke of her feelings for me, how they mirrored mine for her completely, and that she desired nothing less than to be mine only love, to walk beside me always as we live out our Second Lives. In short this young lady was in love with me! That is what the light was, I realised, this light that burnt away the scars left by previous lost loves, this light that healed the wounds still raw - nothing less than the pure sunshine of a true love returned. Embracing, we were both shedding tears of joy at this sudden and unlooked for revelation - but then are not such the best of all?

We found a gazebo further into the Garden, and there I held her close to me, Miss Kacy Despres, formerly my ward and now my love forsaking all others. There are a few hurdles to overcome, notably the telegram I must send to her parents, dwelling as they do overseas, asking for their blessing on our union. How they will receive such a missive remains to be seen, as they placed their only child into my safe-keeping whilst they were away - but I have known her father's family for a while now, ever since I helped young Francois Despres avoid the kiss of Madame Guillotine back when the Frenchies were sorting out the power of their trade unions, so perhaps he won't be so against us as might be expected. And he has always joked that the dowry he would demand should this event ever come to pass would be my Philospher's Stone. A small price indeed for such a life as I now have with Miss Kacy at my side - I think I will give my spare one though, all the same!

The Art Of Duelling

There will now be no need for me to die for Colonel O'Toole's honour. My apology has been accepted, and he therefore feels his satisfaction has been achieved. Which is a good thing, and now the whole sorry business can be left alone.

That left me with a brace of pistols untried. After the action at the Mansion, my good friend Captain Vollmar agreed to help me try them out. It is just as well O'Toole did not want to waste his time duelling with me, pistols at least are not my forte!

The good Captain laid me low at various ranges and under varying duelling protocols as well. it was determined that I need to practice my weapon handling, and this he graciously offered to oversee.

Some paper targets were set up, and over the course of the next half an hour or so I proceeded to lay waste to them. If Caledon is ever invaded by practice dummies there is a chance I can hold them off till the real defenders of our great nation arrive. Against the Noyaltenbergers though....

Still as the good Captain says, practice makes perfect, so if you hear gunfire and loud exclamations over Tanglewood, fear not, tis only me frightening the local wildlife with my target shooting!

Defending The Mansion

Word was received yesterday that plans to attack Victoria City and the Guvnah's Mansion had been uncovered! With diplomatic attempts to return the Kaiserine to her people moving somewhat slowly, the Noyaltenberg military had planned an assualt to free her, or instead to take our own beloved Guvnah Shang as recompense!

Accordingly I assembled, UNarmed, along with my fellow officers, in VC at the appointed time of 1pm. As the attack was rumoured to be coming from above, I strapped on my jetpack to watch from a higher vantage point. At least it gave me a chance to take some aerial shots of our beloved capital. I was not the only one to have this idea, Lt Lytton was poised atop one of the higher buildings, his own design of flier The SteamRay standing by to enter the fray if needed.

I descended to wait at the Guvnah's Mansion, along with several notable personages of Caledon society. The attack when it came was late, and consisted of the Noyaltenberg Hussars charging through the city, firing wildy as the action coalesced into an assault on the Mansion. This event was being recorded, so I followed any and all instructions very closely. I have no pictures of the attack, lag and the need to arm myself, fire, reload, revive myself, and move gave me no time or free hands with which to operate my Box Brownie.

The assault was halted, and then re run, so that more useful footage could be obtained. The second attack seemed to run smoother, as we now knew something of what was required of us, and so I fired, reloaded, died, revived, fired, reloaded, died, revived some more.

The whole affair was very hectic, as would a real assault be! The Guvnah was protected, the Hussars leaving empty handed but having spread choas in their wake. Brave Miss Garmes was wounded as she threw herself in front of a bullet meant for our beloved leader, thankfully she is alive and recovering well, though confined to a wheelchair for the moment. I think the principles were happy enough with the footage they got, and then I TPd home as pick-up shots were taken. As soon as any footage is available I shall of course post it here.

Founder

On a wall in the Guvnah's Mansion, Caledon VC, is a collection of 15 - though now there will be 16 - small wooden plaques, shaped like shields. These are the honour items given to Founding Residents, one for each sim.

There is a large poster nearby, which explains the meaning of each of the elements to the plaques. Name and picture are fairly self-explanatory, but the other symbols, such as the ring of stars or the thistle, carry more subtle meaning. They in fact refer to class of server and year of creation respectively.

So who gets these rather special items? Founding residents, those who are the first to hold land on a sim, and who therefore bear no small responsibility for shaping that sim, and giving input as to its future evolution. I have the great honour of owning two of these plaques, one for Tanglewood and now one for Steam SkyCity. They hang proudly on a bulkhead in my Prometheus, and are probably the two items that mean most to me. I am extremely proud to be a part of the life of these two sims, and perhaps I can help to make them places of wonder for all.

Such a dream takes time of course, but I am slowly making my plots in the forest somewhere for visitors to take a rest, and now I have a manufactory to complete in SC. I know not whether I will ever have any more of these Founders plaques, as the life of a community is based on the variety of individual visions that live within it, so the more sims I get involved with the less opportunity there is for others to contribute. Maybe I will try for a piece of Kittiwickshire, funds allowing, but that will be enough for me I think.

Whatever the future holds for me in Caledon, I shall at least have these two wonderful reminders of the small part I have so far played in its continuing development. Vivat Caledon!

Aetheric Learning

Victoria City, Caledon holds a wonderful institute of learning that all should visit - the Whitehorn Memorial Library. This imposing edifice is but a short step from the VC telehub, and can be reached by passing through the Reading Room which stands nearby.

I paid an all-too-brief visit to the Library the other day, but it is somewhere I shall certainly make the effort to visit regularly. The ground floor holds exhibitions on a wide range of subjects, and the floors above are a cornucopia of books on all topics. The full set of the Oz books, for instance, and of course classics by Wells, Verne and Conan-Doyle.

Alongside these are works on magick and alchemy! Perhaps fittingly so, as there are a number of devices throughout the Library which draw down learning from the Aether. This amazing resource is tapped into with the giant aerial that rises from the roof of this fine building. I am not sure what purpose the two diminutive guardians of this structure fulfil, but perhaps it is made clear in one of the many tomes within.

I attended the Library to catch the last day of an exhibition of scurrilous pictures regarding the Prince Regent, a collection kindly lent to the Whitehorn by no less an institution than the Library of Congress! Clearly an example of the high regard in which our expert Librarian Mr Drinkwater is held, without Caledon as well as within it.

Sadly this exhibition has now had to move on from Caledon, but there are many other collections and events taking place at our Library on a very regular basis. I have provided a SLurl in the sidebar, and I heartily recommend you pay a visit to one of Caledon's true gems.

A Public Apology

Not for the first time, I wish to apologise for the offence I have caused with a post on this blog. I wish to publicly state that the player behind the avatar Colonel Hotspur O'Toole is a person of great skill as both a characterful role player, and a writer, as his blog with demonstrate. My use of profanity was, and remains, inexcusable. The said remark has been removed. The person behind the avatar is also someone who is very committed to doing all they can to help raise money for RFL in this way, and whilst I do not believe I have ever said anything different, I just want it known that I do understand this, and respect this persons commitment and hard work very much indeed.

I do struggle, as I have admitted here more than once, to separate fact from fiction on occasion. I enjoy my SL as I can immerse myself in it. A curse at times as well as a blessing. The whole thread regarding the situation between Caledon and Noyaltenberg is meant to be fun, and I fear I am doing little to encourage such fun with the sort of nonsense I put in my last post. I may not like the fellow, and I am an overly sensitive ninny, but I must learn to moderate what I put up here. Sometimes it is not good to be such an open book. The post will stay, if for no other reason than to serve as a reminder of how not to post when one has a tendency to overreact.

In closing, I apologise for the language used, and to some extent the sentiments expressed. I will not apologise for being hurt, but such postings do nothing but make me look an idiot. Doubtless I will continue to do so, that is all part of my character and how I play him, in as much as there is any separation between avatar and numen in this instance.

Colonel O'Toole has demanded satisfaction, and he will get it. I will certainly use the occasion of losing a duel to draw a line under this sorry matter that I have created by my own stupidity, and trust others will do the same.