I have a gift box!

Queen Coronet, of Queen & Co. (Oganically Rezzed Prims), has a new skybox and for just L$100 it's a fabulous bargain. As you can see in these pictures it is giftbox-themed with wonderfully trendy colors. The structure uses only 55 prims so it should be friendly for a basic 512m² parcel (which is 16m x 32m), but since it has a 20m x 30m footprint you'll need a larger parcel.* Probably a good idea anyway as my first thought when I saw Queen's post on Plurk (Web) "This would be a great shop building for a fashion designer or a jeweler," so you'll want plenty of prims anyway.

I love the fountain wall that graces the entrance porch and the first of two rooms. It is nicely textured with the right amount of glow. A clever touch is the ribbon from the the top of the "box" extends down the falls. The animation is smooth and has virtually no affect on lag.

Inside is a beautiful chandelier and flowing decorative ribbon. Very attractive accents that fit beautifully in the cleanly laid out interior. The colors are quite complimentary. Queen has rather good taste. Pretty typical the other products in her shop (SLurl).

The layout just flows with the simple checkered floor providing a continuity between the three distinct spaces. Plenty of room for store owners to set up vendors or displays. Since the structure is Copy/Mod one could easily adapt it to a chic, modern home.

* If you have just a basic parcel the overlap onto neighboring parcels does not affect the prim allotments in those areas if the Root Prim stays over your land. As long as your neighbors don't mind, of course. Unless you remove prims you'll have 62 prims left for displays or furniture. (UPDATE: Please see the comments section. I mis-measured! It does fit within the confines of a basic parcel.)

What's in My Closet?: Baggy Pants

Yes, this is me, in baggy pants that weigh as much as any ten outfits I own (yes, this is virtual -- work with me). Certainly not my style. In fact, I've often made fun of such apparel both in-world and in meatspace. But the Isle of Lesbos was having a party and the theme was "Baggies" so I had to support the crew. I surfed XStreet SL for a while and found a couple fairly conservative outfits -- well, conservative for the style -- and chose this one from Lacey Rumpler (Web). For L$200 I think it was a steal. Not only did I get the huge pants, but I got a fancy belt (that I edited to remove some things I didn't care to have), body paint stars, animated color strips (on the pants, belt, and as jewelry), plus a hat and some nice hair (neither pictured here) and other goodies. Again, not my typical style but I think I carry it off. What do you think?

Evolution of a Prim Doodle

It has been a year since I added this beach pool, first featured on this blog in May 2008 (Web), to the Isle of Lesbos and I've been asked to revise it for use as a club on the Isle. I always thought of it as a sort of club anyway, but now it will be part of our Rez-on-Demand system that allows us to quickly change out structures based on event themes. Several weeks have passed since I was asked to start the project and it struck me that I've had a subconscious reluctance because I know it would need to be expanded, dramatically changing the original form. The bar needs to be moved from dead center, club placement dictates that the structure could no longer anchor on the beach as originally designed, and other changes will be needed.

But I've finally buckled down and started, donning my builder's belt, sturdy boots, and a hard hat for safety. And as I learned in High School Shop Class, I've eliminated all loose clothing that could pull me into dangerous machinery. The gap you see to my right in the picture leads to a new reef on the Isle and I'm thinking of leaving it open so folks can easily swim out or dive.

Maybe my original idea has passed on or maybe this is just an evolution, but like paper doodles, prim doodles are free-form thought exercises whether they become useful or not. I build for fun and sometimes there is someone who likes what I do. Hopefully, someone will like what my original doodle becomes next.

Wear Gray Fashion Show TODAY

SLurl

The ladies of NAIL Productions are nailing and hammering again to bring you a fabulous fashion show. On October 16, 2009 at 7pmslt we are proud to strut the runway for The Wear Gray Fashion show at the Pavo Isle festival area, (SLurl), featuring the talents of 31 different designers from all around the grid and their gray outfits made exclusively for the Wear Gray Campaign.

From men’s suits to gowns to skins, we are pleased to be showing the talents of such great designers as Musashi-Do, Dreams, That Rocks!, BalAni’s, SUS, Coquette, Ameri’s Designs, Blacklace, .hc&co., A-Bomb, Morbid Mausoleum Designs, Cilian Gel, Kaotik Kreations, E3D, Poebe & Feeb’s, DragonLady Designs, Cat Crap!, XTC Designs, PeeBox, PixelBody, Extremely OFFCourse, Hate This, HopScotch, Kitsune Couture, Lacie Days, Lady Disdain, Larnia Kids, Ambylicious, Milady’s Fancy, RGK and DeadBunny. The show is sponsored by VR Style Magazine, SilverStar Modeling Agency and N.A.I.L Productions.

For more information about this charity campaign please go to http://weargray.blogspot.com/

What's in My Closet?: Faerie Slave Dancer

It is a rare day when I wear just one avie or set of clothes and I'm constantly tweaking anything I wear. For example, I put on my Faerie Slave Dancer "silks" by Summer Seale for an event at Lesbos and started with my darkest drow avie. Eventually I changed to my human skin and ears. For this pic I ended up changing into a SinSkin light blue drow with Playful Kitten Mischief Bound hair. But it's the "silks" that are the focus. People always ask "Where did you get those!" with eyes all wide.

This picture hints that there are particles, but with simple chat commands a fog of particles emits from the anklets or streams of colorful asterisk-like particles come from the wrists and ankles. Each of these effects are great when dancing. Oh, and there is no top to this outfit so folks might not look at the particles for long or the animated glow to what little cloth is on the skirt.

Summer Seale's store

Lesbos Haunted House & Freebies

The Isle of Lesbos has a free 5-minute carnival-style Haunted House ride in the mall sim, open to men, women, child avies ... well, anyone not banned. It can be a wee scary and has flashie-lights, but it's all in fun. I'd post more pix, but that would take away some of the surprises. When you arrive (SLurl), click the door shown here then the swirly light to enter.

Well, here's one pic from inside, exclusive to this blog. Be sure to set Midnight after you enter the House. World > Environment Settings > Midnight This will give you the right lighting for the special effects, like this demon skull ahead of the ride car. Other settings should be fine. Use your keyboard's arrow keys to look around as you travel so you can see everything.

At the end of the ride you can grab copies of the plushie toys shown here. Just buy for L$0 each. No, you can't buy the piggy. That's my alt in the Prize Avie from the Loco Pocos Halloween game (Web).

Loco Pocos Halloween 2009

How lucky am I? Lucky enough to be invited to a press preview for the Loco Pocos Halloween 2009 Trick or Treat game. Just like last year's game (as blogged here), you grab a customizable pumpkin after teleporting to a creepy, dark neighborhood and go from door to door, "knocking" in hopes to get a gift.

Sometimes when you knock you get a trick not a treat, even though the door asks your preference. You can be blasted with fire, as seen here, attacked by a ghost, or crushed to death. A couple new tricks await you this year but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Just be ready for anything, including lots of candy that you can nom at or give away if you get duplicates. Other prizes like an arrow-through-the head are given out, too.

And if you are given a special key, you can win a new avie! Teagan Blackthorne, pictured here, on the left, won while I was there and quickly added hair, a dress, and some shoes to this adorable piggy. She and I both found that sometimes you have to click on a door two or three times before it is "knocked." It isn't a problem, really, and I thought it was just my mouse until she mentioned it.

During my 30-minute run I got a lot of candy and helped snag some bugs in the build, pointing them out to the ghostly owner, Damien Fate, and trying to steal candy from his pumpkin. Damien worked very, very hard on this, like all his projects, and if you see him floating around, be sure to give him a hug.

Though I didn't win the prize avie, I think I looked pretty sportin' in my demon avie, one of several recently released spooky new ones (read more about them here). They are L$350 each with another L$100 each for the leather jacket and leather pants I added. You can buy them in the store or in the Trick or Treat village as you see here.

The game opens at Midnight SLT on the 7th. Read more about it here or go to Loco Pocos Island and use the teleport there to start.