New Freebie from [PoP Shop]

To the surprise of many, I do sell and give away stuff I make in Second Life. Once in a while I have an in-world shop but you can always find my products on the Second Life Market place here. Partly out of boredom, a new free item was added today (get it here): The [PoP Shop] Builder Deck w/Pose Stand (& bonus Alignment Guide).

I took the classic builder grid we all know and love then messed with it.

It still works like the classic grid, but that noir scheme makes everything you build classier.

A 7 LI Alignment Guilde uses lasers to make your builds even cooler (yeah, man!).

A handy pose stand allows you to edit avatar attachments and follow the grid into the sky if you pop it up to some 2000m like lots of builders do these days. Gratuitous glowy effect included at no charge.

Three Breast System

Topless Tuesday got me to thinking ...

A woman's breast size in Second Life is in contention nearly as often as whether she really is a woman or not but it usually aligns itself along the lines of whether one believes an avatar is an idealized character or faithful representation of the Real Life typist. You may recognize the debate more in terms of child avatars, furries, and other non-human or non-adult groups. More subtle is the frequent confrontations over appearance (Read: Fashion Police).

Actual "live" picture that often
appears in my SL Profile.

As a Real Life woman of somewhat excessive mammarian proportions as seen in the picture at the left, I've almost always kept the SL breast size sliders almost maxed. And a couple years ago my wife bought a set of Lola's Pushup "Implants" for me to wear so I could be closer to my RL proportions. Despite the clothing headaches and the inability to get a really good blending between avatar and prims, I wore them with some frequency.

Then came along a love of mesh clothing and the need for "standardized" shapes so bits of me wouldn't bulge out all over thus I had to reduce the size of My Girls. I justified it somewhat by taking a cue from RL – stuffing them in clothing can make them look smaller so that's what I figured SL was like – walking around with E-Cup boobs smooshed into a D-Cup dress and being so uncomfortable that when I'd get home I'd have to take them out to breathe. Just like RL. Then I'd wear a bustier shape whenever I was nude or at least topless so the lie was fairly acceptable. The difference between the implants and the so-called Standard breasts is quite dramatic, though, and it seemed pretty silly to wear the prims at times. Still, I did make it into the Busted Magazine 2012 Calendar as Miss May and then into a feature for the November 2012 issue (pages 112-115).

After taking the plunge into mesh clothing I went for mesh feet and later mesh hands, both from SLink (SLurl). Like the Lola's, the match between skins and prims wasn't easy. I got as close as I could, but when SLink announced that skin makers could use an "applier" system to match their product to the mesh bits, I started shopping for new skins. A secondary goal of mine was to buy a new set of implants, the Lola's Tangos, that used the applier concept, too. I hadn't planned on wearing them often, but in for a penny, in for a few more pounds (big breasts are heavy, according to my back).

Lo and Behold! After setting up all the mesh bits with the new skins (Unbra's Indigo C62; SLurl) I bought, I found myself wearing the implants pretty often. Partly, it was because I ran through the Hello Titty prize hunt gathering a ton of nice, free clothes and nearly an equal amount of purchases so I just had to wear them all (cripes, but SL has made me so femme despite my RL butchness).

That's when I stopped caring about size. Well, not entirely. I still love my Big Girls and I still love a good-sized "rack" on other women both iRL and iSL, but I wasn't going to give up on my mesh clothes. And some of the implants outfits looked better with a larger (or smaller) size than I would normally choose. So I decided "to heck with it" and relaxed. I'll wear whatever breast size I want for whatever outfit I'm wearing or whatever mood I'm in at the time. So here's my Three Breast System.

Mesh-friendly "small" breasts. Depending on the skin I choose, the shading can make them look fuller, but essentially they are on the D-Cup side. Also great for "system" shirts, particularly t-shirts with graphics. The smaller size keeps the texture from bunching in the cleavage. Oddly enough, I and my two alts that share this shape get hit on at least as often as my bustier versions. These Girls also don't get comments from the Fashion Police and look good with a little physics bounce.

My Daily Big Boobs are closer to my RL cup size and far more gravity defiant, but they look strange in most system clothing and don't fit 99% of my mesh clothes. Still, I think I did a nice job shaping and I'd be just as happy if I was this size in Real Life. I'd estimate them to be a firm (pun intended) DD-Cup despite not being maxxed on the sliders.

Break out the Tangos! You've seen some women with ridiculously-sized implants (in both worlds) I'm sure, but these are only 5% larger than the out-of-box size. As mentioned above, some outfits look better if the breast size is increased,  but I almost never go above 10% bigger than the original and for some outfits I'll go as much as 10% smaller ... which puts them at the size of my Daily Big Boobs, but with a perkier shape.

That's my Three Breast System. If you do the math, it's more like six breasts, but then we're getting silly and just having this many is hard enough work. The viewer's Saved Outfits feature makes the math easier. I have each "size" set up as a nude/dressable base will all the attachments I need so I just have to wear that then find some clothes. Of course, I've saved complicated outfits and costumes regardless of which breasts they include, but having the three bases sure makes it easy to get dressed in the mornings. Well, those days I actually dress.

Towel Day Freebie

I always get excited about Towel Day, May 25th each year, and even though I seldom leave the house, I always have my towel with me that day. This year I created a special towel for women in Second Life to enjoy (though I'm sure quite a few guys will enjoy seeing women wearing it) and you can get yours FREE on the Marketplace here.

"Towel Day 2012" is embroidered on the front.

With a strategic placement, a custom-designed logo adorns the towel shows your holiday pride.

Towel Day is an international and annual celebration of the life and work of the late Douglas Adams, author of such classics as the five book trilogy starting with The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the two book trillogy starting with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. All-in-all it evens out so Don't Panic!!

Learn about special events in your area and why you shouldn't be without your towel on the 25th of May (or ever!) at http://towelday.org/

Not all mermaids are pretty

Spotted in the waters of Lesbos, an un-pretty mermaid! Well, I think its a gorgeous avie, but it certainly is not your typical Disney-fied pretty waifish fishgirl. The owner got it free (AO not included) at Oubliette (SLurl). It actually looks great with a land-walking AO or a squished-ankles mermaid AO. All the collected fishing gear is detachable so the avie can be easily customized.

Guy Fawkes Day

Angela, my loving wife, found this great Guy Fawkes mask on the SL Marketplace for FREE (Web)! You can also get it at Sirius Solo's store (SLurl or check his Profile Picks). Get ready now for your celebration of Guy Fawkes Day.

What? You haven't heard of it? There's a whole history to it (check here on the Web, to start), but essentially it is the story of a man fed up with what he believed to be an intolerant and unjust government so he tried to destroy it with spectacular violence. He failed, but since then he has come to represent oppressed people everywhere. Or so those who adopt him as an icon believe. Read about it and make up your own mind.

But really ... you haven't seen the excellent movie V for Vendetta (Web)? Well, you have time.

More Adjustments

After grabbing the really cool free 'mesh' Minotaur avie from Creative Lab (SLurl) I couldn't wait to try it on. Since I'm volunteering at Burn2 I sat at the bar in the center tent ... and found the Animation Override (AO) I had was totally inadequate. Well, it was a freebie male AO, but it was still wrong for the size and limb proportions of the minotaur.

I"ve got a sinking feeling ...

I wonder if someone out there is working on scalable animations ... ones that automatically adjust to the avatar's proportions? One of my pixy alts uses an AO meant for a man, so the sitting anims are totally wrong. She sinks into the ground, for example, and folding her arms looks funny. But I like the "attitude" of the various stands and most of the other anims. If only it would suit her stature.

Since mesh clothes and avies are 'rigged' to the avatar skeleton, I'd think there would be something in the physics that would allow animations to be so fitted.

Gallery Gift Shop

The Gallery Gift Shop (SLurl) is a quirky sort of place, not because of the scenery or the structures, but that it seems to be more art gallery than retail shop. And then rather have the shop focus on one creator, the retail portion is made up of goods from many vendors (such as doP Kidd, hiroy Boa, Lindsay Rozen, Pandora Popstar, and a wonderful free prefab studio structure from Lindini2 Lane, along with others) presenting a rather eclectic selection of items. The shop itself is a delight, but the art is what held me there.

The wall art, according to an info note card, comes from SL's Flickr artists, but no Web addresses are listed.

I spent well over an hour wandering the rather small space, closely admiring works from the many, many artists represented (Agatha Latte, Pumpkin Tripsa, Khyle Sion, AM Radio, Yaskui Beck, and Trindolyn Beck, and Cory Edo, to mention just a few). Just about anyone should be able to find a sculpture, some fine wall art, or creative landscaping (yes, it's an art, dammit!) they will find breathtaking. The curator(s) arranged the selections tastefully and in a pleasing fashion. I felt like I was at a fine, yet casual, museum.

Be sure to step outside the shop to look about. Many hands cooperated to make this harmonious landscape. I can hardly wait to see what it looks like every four weeks!

According to a note card that came with a souvenir bunny sculpture (on the 2nd floor of the gallery), "This special event will be on a 4 week rotation. Items sold will be discounted, exclusive, transfer, or new released here first!" I'm marking my calendar to come back at least every four weeks.

I'm pleased to see AM Radio represented here, but he is just one of several prominent SL artists showcased.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank SpaceCase at The Virtual Vagabond blog for finding this shop and writing about the freebie inside (which I then shamelessly posted on the LKC Blog). One of the best ways to explore Second Life is to see where other folks write about. The effort to post, while often trivial, shows an appreciation and value.

New "Linden" Avatars

This tiger from Damian Fate is a lot like his Loco Pocos creations, but bigger!

What? Did I stretch out my Loco Pocos tiger avie onto a "regular" avatar shape? Nope. It's an avie from Inventory > Clothing > Intial Outfits > Animal Avatar Tiger. Along with a snot-load more avies, many furries, made by Pocos creator Damian Fate. Theres a bunny, a cat, a dog, a dragon, .... The list goes on, including several robots. Other creators are listed on some of the other avies, but Damian seems to have lots there. As does Renn Yiffu.

A poster of Renn's avies at his store.

Detail from "Linden Robot No11 LadyBot Pilot" by Renn Yifu, also among the new avies.

Happy Towel Day!

Are you celebrating Towel Day? It's the annual celebration of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams and you can  participate simply by carrying a towel all day, in SL or RL (I've got mine!!)

Visit the Towel for Towel Day freebie on the SL Marketplace for your free towel!

Freebie Alert!

Kaikou Splash has a new Hunt Gift! Find 10 gold coins at his shop and you can get this wonderful Mini Hover Craft! Biased Promotional Plug in 3,2,1 ... Kaikou is a friend and I used to live next to his shop, Splash Aquatics. Take time to explore the wonderful aquarium as you hunt for coins (I bet some are there) and enjoy the rest of this beautiful place.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gooruembalchi/123/175/70

Freebie with a Cause

Due to inventory size and lack of time, among other factors, I've gotten very choosy about the freebies I grab. But when I see one that can promote a cause I believe in, I go for it. The free NO H8 face art and duct tape pack from Ryker Beck's store Xodi (SLurl) is just such an item. This blog is not the place to go into the details of the cause (check here if you want to know more) but consider the real value of a freebie in your inventory. Does it just take up space or does it make a difference?