The Lesbos Memorial Park

Grief-stricken, I took a little corner of Lesbos a few years ago and set up a memorial for a Second Life friend and lover who died suddenly in Real Life. Eventually it grew to be a memorial for all our lost friends and loves and sisters. With each Isle remodeling, a memorial has always been included in one form or another and each time a small part is dedicated to the first honoree, Parker Koolhoven.

With the current remodeling of the Isle, the Memorial Park has a new form, as well. The last version was cobbled together and I was never really, really happy with it. Sure, it had some clever bits, but it wasn't quite right. This time, I got it right ... I let my wife, Angela Seale, make it. Well, sort of. She took an idea of mine and ran with it. In the process, I chimed in with design suggestions and requirements, lent some textures and trees, and re-imagined an older idea. She poured her passion and several clever tricks into great design taste and now we have the new Memorial Park.

The Memorial Park again is behind the University building and facing west, pretty much at my insistence. I've always thought of sunsets as symbols for the ending of a life. The Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami memorial Torii gate is back to lend a bit to the Asian inspiration that started this whole incarnation. The one cherry tree from the last memorial has been joined by a second.

I told Angela that I wanted mostly very shallow water. Originally, I had thought to make something like a Zen garden -- a large area semi-submerged with memorial stones scattered about. Angela thought of an amphitheater. I wanted more water so I added some falls to her back wall and some fountains. The Diana statue is off-sim, as is the Torii gate in the other pictures.

Candles, one for each remembrance, are still a part of the memorial, as is the large piece with a rose and flame for Parker. Fortunately, we haven't added too many candles.

The westward view. The original Torii gate (also made by Angela) was mated with some simple rocks, but this time around I paired it with some new rocks and an off-sim lighthouse from TUFF. The sky here was highly manipulated but I love the effect.

The Memorial Park is a very special place. And now I'm too choked up to write any more.

The Lesbos University

The second major build I completed for the 2012 Isle of Lesbos remodeling was the University building. For a couple generations of remodeling, the Isle has had a "University," the first with actual classrooms. I'm not clear on the original intent behind having a Uni, but over time it simply became a big building with a room for table games and fencing, a living room, photo studios, and various other amenities. Once we even had a combat room. The latest incarnation has added a Great Room for sitting and socializing plus three dorm-style bedrooms and a dorm-style bath. A dining room was also added while the area for photo studios was greatly expanded. The courtyard is now the main entrance to the Isle and has already proven to be a great place to meet others.

The Uni at sunrise.
To the left and up the hill is Menagerie Isle, the sister sim with breedable pets. Under the glassed roof of the Uni is the Great Room while the main section houses all the other amenities. The courtyard is a unique spot and my "office," where I keep my laptop and cats and lunch. The water tower up top is a big empty ... or is it?

The courtyard with me in my "office" with Isle Security Officer JoyJoyJenny in her mermaid bowl. That's the Norwegian flag as the Isle's owner, Miss Jane, is from Norway. We keep the reindeer elsewhere *giggle*

I love the Great Room, though I'm looking for some really nice pillows for by the fire. My original intent was to have this sort of greenhouse-like with the game tables, but Isle Manager Threshin's idea of a sitting area is just as nice. I still might sneak in lots of plants, though (shhh ... don't tell her).

This is the Game Room. Behind the wall to the right is the dining room and a nice picture window is to the right. There is lots of room all over the Uni for expansion and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Maybe my favorite room in the Uni, the Bath Room. A couple really great showers and a handful of tubs, all with cuddles and intimate poses, is a soft, inviting space. Nearly ever time I visited since finishing it last night, it's been filled with women. The purpleness wasn't exactly intended, nor was the room itself.

When I started the Uni my only mandate from Threshin was to put in dorm rooms. So I planned four generous ones and bought four tubs, recommended furniture to Threshin, and built away without care. Once the building was installed, however, I was told the three of the rooms would be bedrooms and one should have all the bath items. Second Life is a funny place, though, as I hadn't expected communal intimacy rooms would be at all popular. For example, the large treehouse we've had for a couple years had a "group sex" room that attracted enough visitors, but seldom more than two at a time. Visitors would see it occupied by a couple women and leave or avoid it. Same with the hot tub ... "I'll leave you two alone" was the mantra. But the bath room has already had groups of women tubbing and showering away already.

The Lesbos Bath House

One of my first builds for the 2012 remodeling of The Isle of Lesbos was the bath house. For about a year, our little corner of Second Life was without one and everyone missed it. From the beginning some six years ago, Lesbos had a castle, a beach, and a bath house. It was high time the latter made a come back.

The main structure is round, as bath houses often are. Round buildings are "softer" than rectangular ones and more inviting. The large windows let in a lot of light while their placement up high allows privacy for the visitors inside. An extended deck replaced a shorter one after the structure was placed so visitors could relax sea side and enjoy the sunset, rez an inner tube bumper boat, or fish.  Behind and on the hill is the Lesbos University building, the Isle's main structure. Westward and off the coast is a nice light house from TUFF and a Torii gate made by Angela Seale, originally set out as a memorial shortly after the 2011 Japan earthquake/tsunami. A future post will cover the Isle's memorial area in more detail.

This birdseye view shows the open roof. At one point I had thought of planting a tropical topiary in the center pool you see and let bits stick up through the roof. I rather fancied the bath house to be part greenhouse, what with the big windows and all, but that didn't work out. As I rather fancied the roof idea, though, I created a nice scuplty to save prims and ran with the design anyway. Yes, at one point I thought of enhancing the feminine symbolism by making the building ovoid.

Inside I was stuck for an idea to have flowing water seem reasonably plausible. Ewers weren't quite right for the semi-Medieval theme and then I thought of barrels. The windows are "alpha textures" from a Prefabrica texture pack. I have an all-prim set I can put in, more than trebling the number of prims in the whole build. I can live with the conflicts these have with the alpha-texutred trees outside to keep the prim count low. I figure most women will be too busy concentrating on the mulit-pose pillows and other pose sets to notice. Not shown are the two massage tables. I thought of adding steam, but it would have interfered with the animated water. Oh, if you are an engineer and you notice the 'oops' I made, s'okies. There are no real physics to worry about here. I promise to eventually redesign it.

If I had more scripting skill I might have done a few things differently. Sinking the structure into Linden water would have been cool rather than using prim water, but the whole building would be totally different. And if prim count wasn't important I'd like to see the higher-detail windows. All-in-all, I'm rather pleased with the build. It didn't take great technical skill (just some experienced-builder tricks), but attention to details in prim alignment and texturing sets it above some similar ideas I've seen, if I do say so myself. I hope the ladies enjoy it.

What I've been doing

The Airstrip Club offers a full flight schedule, hang gliding, sky diving, and strippers.

Just before the Old Year ended I started picking up my prims from the Isle of Lesbos because just after the New Year started a complete remodel of The Isle of Lesbos started. Here is a wee section of it. I'll post more pix soon, but I'm so busy getting things done.

Billion with a B

Or do they just mean WoW-type games?