Miss Bay City 2014

The judges have spoken and for good or for ill, Miss Bay City 2014 has been chosen and she is me. Looking at the list of entrants and thinking about the wonderful answers they gave to Event Emcee Pygar Bu's questions I'm sure it was close call for the judges.

Alyssa Elizabeth Kintsugi
Cinder Roxley
Lorna Stratten
Linsey Carter
Maureen Boccaccio
and me!

The judges were Marianne McCann, Adudenamed Anthony, and Evola Courtois.

Thank you to Pygar and the judges and many thanks to the other contestants. I had a small hope to win but I entered this year for the same reason I entered last time ... to fill out the field. Any of you ladies would make fine a Miss Bay City and I certainly hope you try again next year. If for some reason I am unable to fulfill my duties this year I leave it to Pygar and the judges to choose one of you to fill the sash.

The job is primarily ceremonial and to have fun, but I'd still like to dedicate my year to the memory of our dear Ever Dreamscape and use my office to help make Our Fair City a bit more silly in her name. She helped make Bay City a fun place to live and I'd like to officially carry on that tradition.

This doesn't mean that I will be setting things on fire, mind you.

Or does it?

The Ancient Greek Regions

It all started with a post by The Lab on the profile feed ...

See the original post here.

So I sent a Poultry Report staff photographer out to take some pictures around the Sea of Fables and here's what she sent back ...

Sea of Fables - Bohol (SLurl)
A quaint little village with houses anyone may use (great as changing rooms).

Hera's Island - Sargasso (SLurl)
Silent Mole's 101 LI tribute to the goddess Hera in her apple garden.

Bacchus Island - Baffin (SLurl)
Atlas with his burden overlooks Hercules about to battle Ladon in the Garden of the Hesperides.
Near by is the old Teen Grid Transfer Station, the last stop before "graduating" to the Main Grid.

These are just three places in the Greek Isle regions, a former part of the old Teen Grid, but now accessible to all explorers. Sailing is encouraged – there's a timed course, actually, and a Rez Zone on Hephaestus Isle (SLurl) – and numerous islands to explore. Brush up on your Greek mythology and history or just have some fun. You might even explore the Labyrinth (SLurl) if you dare. It is one of the most ambitious builds of classic Second Life with a nice reward at the end. If you like the village in Bohol, visit Posiedon Island - Celebes (SLurl), a place familiar with those who have tried The Grid Hunt (AKA The Magellan Hunt; SLurl).

Don't forget to thank a mole from the Linden Department of Works when you see them for the Greek Isles and the numerous other LDPW builds dotted around Our World. Plenty of private islands are featured by The Lab in social media but the workhorses (workmoles?) of the community make sure there are plenty of great but under-promoted places to visit.

Ice Buckets on Topless Tuesday

Late Monday night, not long before I logged off, I got a message from Marianne McCann ...

As with Real Life Ice Bucket Challenges I had 24 hours to respond with a video (which I'm not capable of creating) or a donation to The ALS Association. Of course, I did both, zipping off to get free ice bucket (SLurl) and making a donation at the same spot then went to bed and thought about the photo I would sub in for a video.

After trying on all my wet shirt options, digging out my wet hair, and heading to a sandbox, I was stumped. Having tried the bucket's built-in animation, I knew I'd have to use a static pose and rez the bucket above me if I had hopes of getting a well-timed picture. After looking at a number of options, I set up a very simple scene and snapped away ...

You can see the original on My Second Life here.

Bucket Challenge accomplished!! I challenge CC Columbo, Slim Whitman, and Jennifer Jade Whitman to answer the challenge within 24 hours! And since this is Topless Tuesday, I re-created the same picture with an appropriate outfit.

Happy Topless Tuesday! I have this image in the Topless Tuesday in SL Flickr group, too.

Hot Bay City Nights (Official)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Marianne McCann
Bay City Alliance
marianne.mccann@gmail.com

HOT BAY CITY NIGHTS 2014

Event feature top Second Life™ vintage automakers.

BAY CITY, SL (18th August, 2014) - Now in its third year, "Hot Bay City Nights" celebrates Bay City's mid-century theme as well as its large network of roads. The event will showcase vehicle makers who create automobiles from the Bay City "theme era," stretching from 1940 to 1965. 

Established vintage automobile designers will be found in the Bay City Fairgrounds, in the North Channel region, from August 23-30 to present the best in vintage and retro vehicles for all Second Life™ avatars.

Additional events will provide plenty for all to do, including the crowning of 2014's Miss Bay City and a number of charity car wasesh. The event will raise funds for Child's Play, a charity that provides toys and games for children in hospitals around the world.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact: Marianne McCann

# # #

Topless Tuesday in Bed

My Topless Tuesday started with staying in bed for an extra couple hours, surrounded by kitties and stuffed animals. One day I'll figure out a way to do that in Second Life. Until then, I'll just be comfortable.

Click to embiggen or visit this pictures and others in Flickr's Topless Tuesday in SL group.

Hot Bay City Nights Poster

Bay City Fairgrounds @North Channel 23-30 August 2014

Miss Bay City Info

This just in ... Some details for the next Miss Bay City contest to be held during Hot Bay City Nights starting on August 23rd have been released by event emcee Pygar Bu.

This contest is for all avatars, and there are no limits on how you present yourself. However, we would like you to appear in some sort of vintage clothing appropriate for the period (1940-65).

The contest will be held during the event, hosted by Pygar Bu, and DJed by GoSpeed Racer of KONA Radio. Contestants are encouraged to "act the part" of a beauty contest participant, and will be expected to answer a pageant-style question or two.

What you get from the contest: a special group tag in the Bay City Alliance group (if you aren't a member, ask Marianne McCann for an invite), a sash and tiara, and city-wide recognition! :-D

Sound like fun? Bring your best smile, and be our next "Miss Bay City"!

The annual event will again be held at the Bay City Fairgrounds (SLurl). Creators of some of Second Life's best vintage automobiles will have their wares on display and if previous years are any indication, there may be some freebies to grab. Dances and a car wash will be held with all proceeds going to Childs Play, a charity that seeks to enrich the lives of children in hospitals.

Reporting for Etv News and The Poultry Report, I'm Uccie Galway.

Do you remember ...

Here's an oldie from very long time resident Javier Puff. This is about 8 or 9 years old and I believe it stemmed from a contest held by Linden Lab to create video adverts for Our World. I'd love to see a shot-for-shot recreation of this with they way Second Life looks today but I lack the talent and my hardware lacks the sophistication.

Getting Ready for Topless Tuesday

Click to embiggen or visit the Topless Tuesday in SL Flickr Group.

Random Thoughts

• It has become abundantly clear to me that I blog almost exclusively on Tuesdays of late. I post my Topless Tuesday pic with a brief few comments, link to Flickr then I'm off like a prom dress. This tells me that I need to explore Our World some more, something I used to do quite a bit. Now I mostly pop into various beaches and swim around or lay on the beach while reading.
• Swimming in SL is fun, though I miss Real Life swimming. Having to attach a separate swim HUD is annoying as is turning on/off my regular movement AO HUD when I exit or enter the water. I know that Our World is now (in some eyes) obsolete, but perhaps it is time for The Lab to re-engineer the viewer so that there are standard animations for being in water.
• After all these years, body parts still talk. You know the ones. They are annoying at best and downright inappropriate in public places like shops, Infohubs, and the like. Why is it important that I know what one of your organs is doing at a particular moment? I'm tempted to go rogue and click away, randomly and often, until I get booted or someone leaves.
• I find it amusing that when I cam around at home the Kennylex-made cannon I have on my porch fires without being touched. Some particle sources do this. Also, some animations. As I write this I cammed about to greet someone and a row of girls "bounced" on the beach towels from Standing to Laying, taking on the pose in the towel.
• The User Interface of the Official Viewer still operates as if designed by engineers and not users. You would think that Third Party Viewers would fix this as they are, almost by definition, designed by users. No. In each case the designer is a geeky programmer not who tends to think in logical progressions like the ever present Directory Tree. There are too many bloody steps to change Windlights and the pop-up panels are unnecessarily large. Stop relying on "the task is done" and go for "the task is done with elegance."
• Sometimes if I forget to turn off my AO when sitting on furniture so the HUD's sit animation is played. Others don't always see it this way when I do and sometimes I don't see the AO being dominant while others do. This applies to everyone, I suppose. Right now a girl near me is floating mid-air in a relaxed sitting pose when I know the animation in the towel she's occupying should have her laying on her belly. Maybe SL 2.0 will address this.
• There is so much progress with using mesh to create ultra-realistic homes, furniture, and landscaping, but it seems to me that very few creators are working to bring similar gains to the underwater realm. PADI's Dive World sims were spectacular in their day and I'd love to see what they might look like with today's mesh advances.

• When I was showing off some new bedroom furniture on MySL today (see above plus here and here for more examples) I was trying to angle the shots to as the mirror wouldn't show it was fake and thinking "I used to have a table with an animation to do this" and "I wish SL really had mirrors." Not long after, I ran across a MySL post from Torley Linden that eventually led to the video below.

•  I need to enjoy my home more. Finances iRL are getting tight and even the $15/USD monthly tier I pay might get squeezed. Gone are the days when I raked in tons of SpaceBux hosting events at Lesbos and handing it to my sister Threshin for rent so that isn't an option, either. Premium membership is paid up for almost a year so I could at least have a Linden Home.