ICON Lifestyle Magazine Vol 1 Issue 5 July 2009

CLICK by comPOSEureFlix Saiman and Shane Gordano ICON of the MonthAm Pro Rides Abacus Mimistrobell Designing the DreamGOL Creator Dakota Neuman Performing Arts in a Virtual WorldBallet Pixelle

Issue 5

ICON

Time seems to fly by so fast. We are already publishing our 5th edition of ICON and it is even more exciting than our first. This month we are very excited to bring you an Exclusive to ICON, Abacus Mimistrobell and his amazing new Sim, Designs and Collaborations coming up. We also welcome Imogen Miklos to our staff as our Managing Editor. We also have a lot of very interesting and ex-citing articles including new amazing product by CLICK, Flix Saiman, A look at a very talented designer, Drack Diesel and much more . We really appreciate your input and would love to hear from our readers what interest you the most. Please be sure to drop by our HQ on the ICON lifestyle Sim and drop a note card with people, places and things you would like to see in future editions of ICON lifestyle maga-zine.Take a moment and check out the magazine and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did publishing it.

ICON EDITOR’S NOTE - WIL DREADLOW

Publisher & Editor in ChiefWil Dreadlow Managing Editor Imogen Miklos PR & MarketingRubyStarlight Writer Fashion EditorDaija Arida Graphics, Design and LayoutPatty Cortes Senior WritersAndo Joubert Ruin Quan Staff WritersDainty Xue DecemberLove AeonEmeraldEyes Honi Jae90 NiznaLindsay Stratten Lizzyox AllenLorelei Larsson Lovely SheaMarymac Dougal Moonshade PastorelliPet Karu SweetSmiling Merlin Vanessa Knoller Zoie Kurrajong Photography TeamPhotography Editor ShannonCharlize GossipGirlPhotography and Ad Creation Brie Pinazzo ContributorsWriting Patricia Rang Persia Bravin RubyStarlight WriterPhotography Sharron Schuman Moose Moomintoog Sales and Advertising Rob1977 Moonites

All Material used by permission and is property of ICON. Reproduction or use of the content in whole or part without

the writen permission of the Editor is strictly prohibited.

On the cover: Abacus Mimistrobell

Cover photography by:Bethany Heart

« A creator, an innovator, and above all a man passionate about what he does; Abacus Mimistrobell has been on the leading edge of Second Life cars and motorcycles since he first stepped on the automotive scene in 2007 with his brand, AM Pro Rides. »

- By RubyStarlight Writter

ICON RADAR - ICON OF THE MONTH

Like any content creator, Abacus started with an idea, a dream and prototype he’s declared fell well below his own standards. And now, two years later, he and his team have broken new ground with their new line of vehicles that they are in preparation to launch on July 4th, 2009, the two year anniversary of AM Pro Rides.

Having a conversation with Abacus is to truly be in the presence of an innovative genius. His passion shines through as he talks in depth about every de-tail of his upcoming launch, sharing with me his new concepts and collaborations that only someone as dynamic, hard-working and genuine could possibly accomplish.

As I look around his new showroom, Abacus begins to tell me about his upcoming line of vehicles. I ask him what has changed from his last releases to make this new batch so exciting.

He starts off with the technical concepts being im-plemented into his new sculpted vehicles, “What I have in the works currently is new sculpt cars added to my lineup. Also bikes [with] ultra advanced ‘si-mulated vehicle manipulation’ so to speak; all new never before seen in cars options.”

Now for those of you like me, “simulated vehicle ma-nipulation” just flew right over your head. I questio-ned him further on the concept and discovered that what he and his scripter, Les White, have developed is an integration of real world vehicle physics derived from the real versions of the vehicles Abacus has created in SL, scripted into his beautiful new cars.

Abacus clarifies further, “It’s basically the new concept of RL car integrated specification ratios. So this would mean adding in the specific qualita-tive properties that are used in real life vehicles to measure things like horsepower, power to weight ra-

tio, gear length ratios, speed and acceleration, and wheel base dynamics that would ultimately affect how the SL car would drive and function in com-parison to the RL version of the same car that I’ve attempted to represent in SL.”

Sound complicated? It is. Les White has spent months and countless hours studying the physics and dyna-mics and incorporating that into the scripts to crea-te a SL driving experience more “video game-like in power”, where the vehicle responds more to the power and handling that would be experienced in RL than it ever has before; more than any vehicle in SL ever has before. Go ahead and say it; Wow.

In addition to the spectacular nature of the drivabi-lity of the new AM Pro Rides’ vehicles, there comes a high standard of new vehicle design and aesthetic appeal.

Abacus gives us some insight on the new vehicles that will be launched on July 4th. “One of the new sculpt cars we will be releasing is the 2002 AM Pro Farrari 360. It is a representation of a design stan-dard, that one of the world’s top car manufactures has beat to death in design, as it has attracted the love of many, many new and vibrant car owners.”

The Farrari is absolutely spectacular. Abacus brought it out to give me a firsthand look at his stunning new design. Upon rezzing, the vehicle is smooth, flawless and a vibrant cherry red. As he goes over each intri-cate detail he explains the features in depth, each new innovation that he’s added to make it not just a great driving car or even a great looking car, but a fully interactive and customizable one. He’s ad-ded features such as “full spectrum color change with 3 changeable baked base textures (like paint undercoating), new HUD page options with 22 diffe-rent interchangeable sculpt rim designs, and a new gearing HUD that uses the first of the new physics

math; with function speedometer and tachometer which allows the driver to now shift in proper timing with the RPMs [as well as] new race mode that ads a rear spoiler and AM Pro Race Texture for more of a track appeal.”

In addition to the visual options the vehicles will have, Abacus has been collaborating with animator Redd Columbia, owner of Cluster, for another unique and really fun aspect to the vehicles; The AM Pro Rides Pas-senger Emote HUD. This HUD is given to the passenger of the vehicle when it is in use. Upon attaching it, the passenger will then have the option to animate them-selves and interact with the vehicle and driver in a way that they haven’t been able to before. Everything from talking to the driver, passing out in the car, tex-ting, drinking and yes, even throwing up over the side. The animations are ranging from charming to hyste-rical, which was definitely the goal. Abacus wanted to add this feature for more than the factor of charm and humor however. “A lot of people have come to me for my vehicles, as their detail makes them good for photos and machinima, and I think these added animations will definitely improve that quality. I want what we spend so much time making to be apprecia-ted by people who can use them in many types and styles of application.” So photographers, get ready for the ultimate prop car, because these ones will be an incredible addition to your work.

No doubt AM Pro Rides has been developing their concepts to truly soar over the competition. Each of these features allows the owner to not only go home with the best car in SL, but one that they can change and mold to match their own style and personality.

After gushing over the sleek Ferrari, Abacus breaks out with something that can only be described as elegant and completely awe inspiring. “Another concept we will be entertaining is one by what some would call the world’s leaders in design concept and functiona-

lity. BMW [has] created a concept car unlike any the world has seen with their BMW GINA concept; producing a vehi-cle made with an entirely fabric body. As the design states, the GINA is an acronym for Geometry in Infinite Number of Adaptations. It gives the concept that design can be fluid and freethinking and non-conformist. It’s more [of] a philo-sophy than a car design.”

The GINA will leave you at a loss for words. Being a BMW inspired vehicle, the car is of course luxurious, but the fluid, sleek lines of the body style is like nothing that’s ever been seen on the road. The texturing done on this particular ve-hicle sets the car itself apart as a complete masterpiece, something that will be high in demand by men and women alike.

Abacus let me in on another fun side project for the brand as well; A calendar featuring his best designs with some of SL’s hottest and most well-known ladies including Anto-nia Marat of artilleri, Colleen Desmoulins of The LOFT, the elusive Elisne Allen, former supermodel and talented pho-tographer, and even I managed to be humbled with an invitation to pose as well. The calendar is in production, being photographed by the talented Bethany Heart, Aba-cus’ long-term girlfriend and pre-fab designer for The LOFT. Abacus has himself claimed the photos are some of the best he’s ever seen of his vehicles, and they will be free for you to take home.

Possibly the most exciting part of all these updates and changes is the AM Pro Rides sim. The sim itself will open on June 27th, with a new feature; A prototype concepts forum, where he will be presenting his ideas and concepts from himself and his team before the product actually goes into production to give everyone an idea of what is to come. There will also be a section devoted to news on collabo-rations and branding initiatives as well as a history of AM Pro Rides and information regarding the involvement in the RaceSL series.

However, the most anticipated change will be the location

of the sim itself. On June 27th, AM Pro Rides will have a new home, merging with the sims of Scope Cleaver Designer & Architect (SCDA) and Maximum Minimum by Maximilian Mi-losz, our very own June ICON, “In an effort to bring our styles of design and our passions for fine detail into one space.”

This merger will bring together three of the most accom-plished, talented and respected builders and content creators into one location; A kind of powerhouse of design. Abacus tells me his feelings on this move:

“We believe that we all have the resources and business sense to combine our skills of marketing, advertising and practical experience to benefit one another. We feel that this kind of merger will not directly affect our products as much as it will help us help each other stimulate our respec-tive company’s growth.”

After the move is complete and the new line is launched, Abacus also hinted at a joint effort project between him-self, Scope and Max. However, he’s holding onto that infor-mation for a future announcement, so make sure you keep your eye out for some exciting new projects.

After extensive conversation with Abacus it’s so clear that he is a passionate man who absolutely loves what he does. Each statement he makes about his ideas and creations is riddled with anticipation and eagerness that is both re-freshing and intoxicating. Even someone who doesn’t have a particular interest in cars couldn’t help but be moved by the infectious positive energy that he brings when discus-sing his work. Yet at the end of the day, he’s still a simple man with big plans, summing it all up with the perfect state-ment that encompasses it all.

“When all is said and done I think I’ll just go back to doing what I’ve done best .. and that’s making the ri-des.”

And we very much look forward to it.


Abacus has big plans for the future, including an update of his entire fleet to include all the features of his new line as well as a whole series of new vehi-cles we can all look forward to.

1931 Ford Model A Roadster Coupe

1964 Austin martin DB5

1998 Defender 90

1973 Blown Pontiac GTO

1993 Nissan 240sx

1992 Batmobile

2004 Audi R8

2008 Strech limo

BMW 3 Series Variations

1947 Harley knucklehead

10 new chopper concepts by AM Pro Rides new sculptor, Kinwork Axel

Complete photographers’ sets can now be rezzed at shutter speed thanks to builder and machinima artist Flix Saiman and his business partner and pose designer Shane Giordano. The pair created the CLICK by comPOSEure system, which was released May 30.

The system includes fully contained scenes, many of which allow a photographer or machinima artist the ability to quickly rez a four-walled scene and shoot a range up to 360 degrees. Each scene, or set, comes with custom-designed poses. According to Saimon,

each scene can be used as a photographer’s set, for decoration or for machinima work.

“I’m a machinima artist also and realized that there were really no good sets,” Saiman said. “When Shane asked me about this project, I was looking for somebody who could create the poses for it, and we just clicked. Hence, the name.”

Vivien Janick and Greg Paslong, both certified Photo-LIFE photographers, have used the CLICK by comPO-SEure system in their professional work. “We have their wonderful props loaded into our PhotoLIFE 3.0 [studio] now,” Paslong said. “There is no product available in SL that combines Flix’s wonderful builds and texturing and the beautiful poses created by Shane.”

Currently, Saiman and Giordano are offering five sepa-rate sets for the CLICK system. Plans are to release a new

ICON RADAR - CLICK

set weekly.

“The first three were much of the SL we experience,” Saiman said. “I wanted an urban one--Grunge Alley. I wanted a classy one--the Ritz Elevator, and a BDSM one--the Vault. We ran out of time on the Vault, but it’s been released, along with the Detective Office. The Bedroom was already really highly requested, so it went next.

Ideas for future scenes include Vegas, Sci Fi, fanta-sy-- pretty much every genre will be used. Then once we hit as many genres as possible, we’ll circle around and make the second sets for it.”

Saiman explained that the CLICK system is different from flat backgrounds, because “it adds that extra bit of realism--the ability to interact with the picture instead of being static. That, plus some of the angles

I am envisioning for some of the pictures, like shots from outside the Detective Office window, over the shoulder of somebody in the Vault, from the window into the al-ley.”

The system comes in an easy to use HUD/control pa-nel—a simple plug and go. When buyers purchase a new set, they get a HUD, control panel, a rezzer, the prop and a note card. “If they already own the system, they just drop the note card into their HUD/control pa-nel and the prop into their rezzer, and it’s ready to go,” Saiman said. “The HUD can expand as many sets as you want. It has unlimited room.”

Each set comes with multiple poses, so more than one model can be used at a time. “We can rez an entire room and have 15 to 30 po-ses for it, all in one set up,” Janick said.

Currently, the couple poses aren’t installed, but they will be delivered in future updates. “We’ll add couple poses to all the sets we have currently plus future ones,” Saiman said. “The couple poses will be for sale, but anybody who buys the sets now will get them at a dramatic discount.” According to Saiman, the newer sets will come in two versions--with single poses and with both single and couple poses.

“Shane is a photographer, so all of the builds have photographers in mind,” Ja-nick explained. “Shane and her partner, Tweet Jaxxon, make the poses. They make sure the bends are right--hands are right, and so forth. Then Flix comes in and makes sure the shadows, textures, etc. will work with the photography. It’s a perfect partnership. His shadows rock! They are very real, and he creates them in great detail.”

“The light sources I’ve included and shadows are mostly the base ones,” Sai-man said. “So that there can be a little less of the post processing. You would still need to use dramatic lighting for the avatar. I did build everything in full bright though, so the lighting won’t affect the set at all.”

Saiman explained that he and Giordano recently used the Grunge Alley set in a DCNY store. “The sets would be useable as machinima sets as well or art pieces. There are a lot of creative people out there that can come up with more things to do with these than I.” However, he believes that they may be too small as party sets. “No set will be over 10mx10mx10m, and all will be under 200 prims. Their primary purpose was for photographers as sets, so we’re trying to keep the prim count down as much as possible. So, I set a limit to my builds at 200 prims.”

Grunge Alley comes in at a mere 116 prims. “Yeah, building is all in the textu-res anyway,” said Saiman, who creates his own textures from scratch. “If your textures are clean, they can really accomplish a lot for your build. I would like some builds to go over the 200 prims, like the Detective Office. I would have liked to clutter the desk more, maybe add some elements on the table—a Fedora on the coat rack. But I had to keep to my limit, and the set came out beautiful anyway.”

Single sets range in price between L$1,500 and L$2,500, and they are sold on Boreas sim at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Boreas/185/135/22 and through Xs-treet SL and Metamart. The CLICK by comPOSEure system is included free with each set.

Article by Moonshade Pastorelli

ICON RADAR - CLICK

Currently, the couple poses aren’t installed, but they will be delivered in future updates. “We’ll add couple poses to all the sets we have currently plus future ones,” Saiman said. “The couple poses will be for sale, but anybody who buys the sets now will get them at a dramatic discount.” According to Saiman, the newer sets will come in two versions--with single poses and with both single and couple poses.

“Shane is a photographer, so all of the builds have photographers in mind,” Ja-nick explained. “Shane and her partner, Tweet Jaxxon, make the poses. They make sure the bends are right--hands are right, and so forth. Then Flix comes in and makes sure the shadows, textures, etc. will work with the photography. It’s a perfect partnership. His shadows rock! They are very real, and he creates them in great detail.”

“The light sources I’ve included and shadows are mostly the base ones,” Sai-man said. “So that there can be a little less of the post processing. You would still need to use dramatic lighting for the avatar. I did build everything in full bright though, so the lighting won’t affect the set at all.”

Saiman explained that he and Giordano recently used the Grunge Alley set in a DCNY store. “The sets would be useable as machinima sets as well or art pieces. There are a lot of creative people out there that can come up with more things to do with these than I.” However, he believes that they may be too small as party sets. “No set will be over 10mx10mx10m, and all will be under 200 prims. Their primary purpose was for photographers as sets, so we’re trying to keep the prim count down as much as possible. So, I set a limit to my builds at 200 prims.”

Grunge Alley comes in at a mere 116 prims. “Yeah, building is all in the textu-res anyway,” said Saiman, who creates his own textures from scratch. “If your textures are clean, they can really accomplish a lot for your build. I would like some builds to go over the 200 prims, like the Detective Office. I would have liked to clutter the desk more, maybe add some elements on the table—a Fedora on the coat rack. But I had to keep to my limit, and the set came out beautiful anyway.”

Single sets range in price between L$1,500 and L$2,500, and they are sold on Boreas sim at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Boreas/185/135/22 and through Xs-treet SL and Metamart. The CLICK by comPOSEure system is included free with each set.

Article by Moonshade Pastorelli

Flix Saiman

GOL | Designing the Dream

Too many times, in fact, on more occasions than I can remember, the same thing happens. After ac-cepting an invite to some friend or business acquain-tance’s house warming party, I arrive, eager with congratulations and bearing gifts for the proud new homeowner. I find myself experiencing a strange, but now very familiar sensation, a combination of secret envy and slack jawed admiration for their latest abo-de. It seems that amongst the people with taste in Se-cond Life, those connoisseurs of exquisite design find there is only one place to shop when seeking a new home, GOL. -By Persia Bravin

Dakota Neumann - designer, builder and visionary behind the ex-ceptional line of villas to be found at GOL, is clearly a man who is passionate about executing and promoting only the very best design

concepts within Second Life. Each of his creations vibrates with re-markable detail and upon entering one of his villas; all your senses re-veal you are in the presence of something special. Creamy limestone tiles clad the exterior walls. Thick planks of sun bleached oak line both the paths and decking areas and tranquil waterfalls with spar-king rivulets, one of Dakota’s signature design statements, adorn the entrances, gently welcoming you into each and every build. When asked to describe his houses, Dakota answers, “I have always tried to develop my own style, something which one can recognize as diffe-rent from other villa designers. I think my typical customer is someone who, of course, likes my designs and is looking for something uncon-ventional. They appreciate architecture and beauty and therefore search for unusual details to distinguish their own tastes. My houses are luxury objects and the layout is different too-not many rooms, but open spaces, which are easier to navigate in SL. They can be viewed from any side and each side is different. There isn’t one better angle and in reality, the entrance could be placed anywhere. This is what I refer to as “balanced design” where all looks well proportioned.”

Although not a trained architect in Real Life, Dakota has held a li-

ICON RADAR - GOL

concepts within Second Life. Each of his creations vibrates with re-markable detail and upon entering one of his villas; all your senses re-veal you are in the presence of something special. Creamy limestone tiles clad the exterior walls. Thick planks of sun bleached oak line both the paths and decking areas and tranquil waterfalls with spar-king rivulets, one of Dakota’s signature design statements, adorn the entrances, gently welcoming you into each and every build. When asked to describe his houses, Dakota answers, “I have always tried to develop my own style, something which one can recognize as diffe-rent from other villa designers. I think my typical customer is someone who, of course, likes my designs and is looking for something uncon-ventional. They appreciate architecture and beauty and therefore search for unusual details to distinguish their own tastes. My houses are luxury objects and the layout is different too-not many rooms, but open spaces, which are easier to navigate in SL. They can be viewed from any side and each side is different. There isn’t one better angle and in reality, the entrance could be placed anywhere. This is what I refer to as “balanced design” where all looks well proportioned.”

Although not a trained architect in Real Life, Dakota has held a li-

felong fascination for all aspects of building design. His residency within SL, has allowed him to exert his creative desires. Drawing inspi-ration from RL architectural pioneers such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Daniel Liebskind, GOL villas sit low on the landscape, merging and empathic with the natural elements that surround them. Dakota understands that bringing organic features indoors and embracing the best textures Mother Nature has to offer is critical for creating a relaxed living environment. These are houses for those that demand open space and the vast windows reflect light throughout, leaving no area in shade. As Dakota explains, “I love natural materials, so all my textures are mainly about different stones and wood. I really love how they complement each other. Also, I like experimenting with glass texturing and believe the glass I use in my windows is different from others you see around and the straight horizontal lines; flat roofs and sleek design all intersect with each other. Ultimately, I want my customers to feel as if they own something which has been made with passion and not for my personal profit.”

Indeed, the villas to be found at GOL have won Dakota legions of design conscious devotees from across SL, all seeking that special

home. But why, I ask him, does he feel so many resi-dents of Second Life have the need, want and desire to own virtual property? Smiling, he says “ Yes, I have asked myself this question many times. One might think it is strange to own a virtual home, but we all need a private place where we can escape from the rest of the world with our friends and loved ones, even if it is virtual. It can also become a status symbol, like owning well-designed clothes. Truth is that Second Life can be experienced very fully and we can enjoy all that can be done here.”

I dare to ask Dakota which villa is his favorite design, a tough question for a man that is justifiably proud of the hard work he has carried out in creating not only his villas, but the whole GOL concept and thriving commu-nity that surrounds it. “I would have to say my personal favorites are the “Jaquela” and the “Jimbaran” for their design features. I think they perfectly balanced even if they are very different from each other. I also love the “Aradia” because it was a challenging project to complete for some reasons and has a special meaning. I am due to launch a new line of villas too. The design will be in GOL style, but very different and will be an evolution of some of the concepts found in the “Jim-baran” design.’’ Despite the quality and craftsmanship evident in each villa, Dakota maintains his prices at a level within most people’s budgets, believing that good design should be accessible to all, echoing the business practice and ethics of respected RL architects such as Le Corbusier. It genuinely seems that Dakota’s guiding force is to enhance the aesthetic appeal of our envi-ronment and his main motive is to contribute his skills to the whole Second Life community. With such rare prin-ciples as these, there is no doubt that GOL Project will continue to thrive and attract new style aficionados for years to come.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/GOL%204/28/135/23

ICON RADAR - GOL

HomewoodICON RADAR - HOMEWOOD

There are many interesting communi-ties represented in Second Life but I find none more fascinating or friendlier than the community of Homewood. I first dis-covered Homewood through a friend of mine and soon found myself visiting the beautiful grounds, the fun club, and the quaint shopping area and then even-tually even calling it my home. Barna-bas McBride, the Lord of Homewood, is a true gentleman and has made the development of this community a priori-ty in his life. His dedication to building a friendly, warm and beautiful community is reflected in the people who live there.

I managed to pull this very busy man aside for a brief conversation about Homewood and his experien-ces in Second Life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed spending the time with this gentleman.

Ruin Quan: Barnabas, when did you first come to SL and what brought you here initially?

Barnabas McBride: I had read about Second Life, initially, through some professional journals (education) and thought it might be an interesting instructional tool. I didn’t actually try it out until my sister asked me to give it a try. A funny thing happened with that - I didn’t know her avatar’s name nor did she know mine right away. When exploring around SL, I was chatted up by a girl in a club. We were amazed at how similar our interests were. Yes, it was my sister. Not many men can say they have been picked up by their sister.

ICON RADAR - HOMEWOOD

There are many interesting communi-ties represented in Second Life but I find none more fascinating or friendlier than the community of Homewood. I first dis-covered Homewood through a friend of mine and soon found myself visiting the beautiful grounds, the fun club, and the quaint shopping area and then even-tually even calling it my home. Barna-bas McBride, the Lord of Homewood, is a true gentleman and has made the development of this community a priori-ty in his life. His dedication to building a friendly, warm and beautiful community is reflected in the people who live there.

I managed to pull this very busy man aside for a brief conversation about Homewood and his experien-ces in Second Life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed spending the time with this gentleman.

Ruin Quan: Barnabas, when did you first come to SL and what brought you here initially?

Barnabas McBride: I had read about Second Life, initially, through some professional journals (education) and thought it might be an interesting instructional tool. I didn’t actually try it out until my sister asked me to give it a try. A funny thing happened with that - I didn’t know her avatar’s name nor did she know mine right away. When exploring around SL, I was chatted up by a girl in a club. We were amazed at how similar our interests were. Yes, it was my sister. Not many men can say they have been picked up by their sister.

Ruin Quan: With all that in mind, and the story that you told of how Homewood actually came to be, what have been your major hurdles and major joys over the time you’ve spent here?

Barnabas McBride: (smiles) I could write a book about that. Based on my observations of what did and what didn’t seem to work for SL clubs and social Sims, I developed a set of ideas about what I wanted to help create. A place that was friendly, active, varied and accessible. When recrui-ting staff, I impressed upon the candidates the desire that we foster a friendly caring atmosphere. Some places have no events and some perhaps too many. We settled on one event at 11am targeting our European guests and an event at 6pm targeting our North and South American guests. Each day was marked by theme event that varied from day to day and offered a small prize (250L) for the best in-theme appearance. Also from the beginning, there were no mem-bership or cover fees. I may have made things more difficult for myself in that we had no shops. Many shops, like a mall, generate too much lag. I would rather use other means of creating revenue. That is what prompted the first residen-tial islands to be added to Homewood. This formula worked very well for us. We have a solid base of regulars who see this as something akin to a family of sorts. Rarely does so-meone enter during an event and not get greeted by half the crowd - newcomer or regular.

Ruin Quan: You mentioned earlier that you had begun to in-vite some of the better-known, classic role-play designers to the shopping area in Homewood. Could you tell us a little bit about the unique arrangement that you have with vendors here and how they benefit charity?

Barnabas McBride: At first we had zero vendors - actually turned them away. Then, a few regulars and staff asked if they could put up a little stall to sell their own creations. We experimented and found that with plain picture vendors, set over 96m from the club, there was no discernable lag. Later, I was very impressed by one firms scripted products (Primtro-nics) - so much so that I invited them to join us. This opened

One key factor in these other firms was their «fit» as to what our patrons might need and buy, but also, would they buy into our charity programs as well? We don’t charge rent to our vendors. Ins-tead, they are asked to donate a portion of their actual sales to our charity program - currently Re-lay for Life. In this way, aside from taking time to set up a shop, vendors are in a no risk situation here. They pay nothing if nothing sells and choo-se what they will pay if they do. This might be the place to point out that Homewood Estates dona-tes all monies, after expenses, to charity. Not one Linden goes into my pocket.

Ruin Quan: Last year there was an event that crea-ted quite a stir. I believe it involved male Lords and Sirs dancing for dollars in an effort to drive charity. What was that all about and was it successful?

Barnabas McBride: (squirms a bit) As in most clubs, we have attractive, witty, vivacious girls adding to the place. For this event, the men of Homewood Estates stepped forward and took to the stage . . . I was shocked at how many people showed. It was hard to move. I don’t remember how much money we raised exactly but I know it was a signi-ficant amount in real world money.

Ruin Quan: The Replicated Bunratty Castle of County Clair, Ireland is obviously a work of love and dedication, what on earth prompted you to take on such a daunting task and how does it fit into the overall scheme of things as Homewood moves forward?

Barnabas McBride: MMM…how about I always wanted a castle? No, I guess that doesn’t sound good enough . . . (laughs) In truth I do love castles, the nicer aspects of Medieval life and was very in-terested in what might be found in Second Life. I think half my time was spent travelling around SL

looking at medieval Sims. The vast majorities were cardboard cut out type things or someone’s inter-pretation of some Hollywood fantasized interpre-tation. The exceptions were notable, the Eilean Donan Tower House on the Scotland Sim and the last pre-fab build from Castle Clan. Our first castle was ok. It certainly was a step in the right direction and it was hard to push the delete button when we decided to start again. The second castle was started only after some significant research with photo and video documentation. We made an earnest attempt to recreate a real castle in Se-cond Life. I think we have a bit over 1200 hours in it now and 2500 prims. Garion Thielt is the lead on the build. In making the place as realistic but also prim saving, Garion has developed many new techniques both in sculpts and in texturing. The castle is the venue for our formal balls and Sunday live music performances but is open at all times to anyone who cares to tour it.

Ruin Quan: What are your plans for Homewood going into the future? Do you expect any major changes?

Barnabas McBride: Nothing major is planned. We will continue to slowly grow into what the people who live here want to have. Most of them are ra-ther happy with what we have.

Ruin Quan: With that much land under the Ho-mewood umbrella, how many people are living here and what are your favorite spots? I’ve done some traveling around the islands and have seen some beautiful Sims

Barnabas McBride: We have always tried to de-velop beautiful Sims that are natural and afford some degree of privacy whilst having a gentle flow from one Sim to the next. This is especially easy to see when you sail from Sim to Sim. At pre-

sent, we have 15 Sims, all but one of them are full fortunately or unfortunately depen-ding on how you look at I guess. People tend to settle in and stay. Perhaps 3/4 of the landholders have done so since their particular Sim was created. We have very little turn over. As I mentioned earlier, any surplus funds from tier payments, after ex-penses, are donated to charity.

Ruin Quan: A couple of quick questions in clo-

sing. What would you tell a newcomer just coming to Second Life?

Barnabas McBride: Have fun, remember the car-toon characters you are interacting with have a real live person on the other side of the screen, have fun, be scrupulously honest, have fun, forgi-ve perceived slights, have fun and don’t sacrifice real life.

Ruin Quan: As far as creative people, any advice on how to survive long enough to exercise that creativity and become a contributing member of a community like Homewood?

Barnabas McBride: If you are speaking of for per-sonal edification, spend time playing with the buil-ding tools. Read forums. Join SL groups that spe-cialize in what you are interested in. Watch others make things. For the person who wants to make and sell things: find out what people want, work really hard on developing your product so that it is exemplary and don’t go off and get some large parcel to sell from as you will spend all your re-sources keeping the land rather than working on your products and finally, even if you lose some of your margin, the customer is always right - bet-ter to give a smile and a product than undermine your reputation. If they are contributing to a place like Homewood… (Smiles) Never be prideful, you aren’t owed anything. Be justifiably proud of your good works. Treat others better than you treat yourself. Be happy for what others accomplish. Be plain speaking and honest. Most important, forgive others even faster than you forgive your-self for errors, mistakes and slights.

Ruin Quan: Barnabas, I’ve thorou-ghly enjoyed our discussion. You have always impressed me as a gent-leman of honor. I would suggest to the readers that they come visit Ho-mewood and the Undercroft to find out just how friendly this commu-nity is… I did and now I call it home.

ICON RADAR - HOMEWOOD

This month’s designer spotlight is for all the men. The designer’s name is Drack Diesel. He owns a wonderful store called Arca-vim that is stocked with clo-thes, shoes, accessories, and even some skins with shapes! Drack uses beautiful textures backed up with amazing de-sign and sculpty making skills. - By Daija Arida

The first thing you’ll notice when walking into Arcavim is the amazing store becau-se it compliments his design aesthetic to a tee. Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Drack some questions about his crea-tive endeavors in Second Life.

ICON Magazine: Why did you decide to name your store Arcavim?

Drack Diesel: I wanted a unique name that no one else had, so I decided to sort of create my own word. Arcavim is sort of broken into three parts, «arc” meaning bend and “vim” is another word for life yet rarely used. So the idea means bend of life.

IM: What inspired you to create a store build like this?

DD: I just took from the style of clothing I wan-ted to create and tried to design the atmos-phere I wanted it to portray. I wanted a sense of adventure in every aspect of my designs! I wouldn’t necessarily categorize Arcavim as steampunk, while it can be used in that way and definitely draws from some of its aspects.

ICON CHIC - DESIGNER WATCH

I feel the way I’ve done it is more versatile. But I did draw inspiration from movies like “The Time Machine” and “Stardust”. IM: Did you intend to have more than just clothing available in Arcavim?

DD: Well, when I first got into SL I started dig-ging into the design aspect and wanted to learn as much as possible. So, I’ve done just about everything. I don’t currently have a

team of designers or anything it’s just me! So, I sculpt, texture, and work out my scripts, etc all on my own.

IM: So you’re a fashion guy in RL as well. What kind of RL fashion do u like?

DD: Well I don’t go around in vests, Victo-rian trousers and steampunk goggles, I’m not quite that eccentric in RL. I like designers like Diesel particularly, hence the last name. *lol* I like designer clothes, worked for Armani Ex-change for about a year when I was in Ve-gas. I suppose that’s where I got more into clothes.

IM: You told me before that you are pursuing photography. Are you thinking about bringing that into SL?

DD: I do all my advert shots and product shots, etc. But photograph in SL is a different game then RL. In RL, you might try to take a photo-graph using available light where as in SL you manipulate your light. Then to achieve any sort of blur you have to do it by hand since everything is infinitely sharp in game.

IM: So to someone that’s never been to your store… What can they find here?

DD: Well clothing wise, I will design a whole concept of an entire outfit and break it up into individual pieces. From there, I figure out how many different versions I can do and draw from a color palette I planned ahead

lease from this same palette so it can be mixed and matched with anything else. I try to incorporate as much customizability from the users end so people aren’t restric-ted so much. So, for instance, if you buy a black jacket you can adjust the cuffs, la-pels, straps etc to different accent tones. Same thing for the boots, there are a load of combinations you can create to indivi-dualize yourself within the design.

IM: Being a shoes fanatic, any shoes in your future? DD: I currently offer two pairs of boots, we’ll have to see shoe wise as I delve into the female line.

IM: That was my next question. So you are thinking about creating a women’s line?

DD: At some point yes, I have a few more projects for the guys to do before I head into some female concepts. The focus will likely always be predominately male here. But I’d like to offer some stuff for the girls that would go along with the guy’s outfits here.

IM: Would u like to talk about them? Or is it a secret?

DD: Well I’ve drawn up a few concepts so far for a female jacket design and a dress.

IM: Out of all the items you’ve created, which one would be your all time favorite?

DD: Hmm, that is hard because product wise, I conceptualize an entire look, not just an in-dividual item. While I build everything to be mixed and matched and flow together, the-re was an initial base look for this first collec-tion. Which I’d have to say is my favorite.

IM: What can you say about any new releases or events happening with Arcavim?

DD: Just come check out the new collection and sign up to our new group for new release information. There will be more jackets, boots, hats and etc coming out in the near future! Eventually, I’ll be doing some women’s stuff as well. For the time being, it will be predomi-nately male attire.

IM: You are extremely talented sir. And we wish u the best.

This month we wanted to feature Dol-lita. Krisha Ivanova is owner and she has some really cute items. It’s a fairly new store and it’s completely awe-some. She doesn’t have that many designs, but what she does have is completely adorable. The designs are fashion forward and in your face. Kind of a Lady GaGa feel. In which that’s the way rl fashion is going now as well. With that futuristic look. Go by the sto-re and check it out. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sorgo%20City/122/47/22

Hair: Bish~ Toss me Around in BlackDress, leggings, & bangle: Dollita~ Midnight dress in fushia, Leggings in black, Bangle wild in leopardNecklace: VG Republic~ circle charm(no longer available)Handbag: *MM Luxe*~ Croissant Satchel(no longer available)Shoes: ETD~Calf Boots in Black


Hair: Bish~ Toss me Around in BlackShirt, Shorts, & necklace~ Stripe shirt in green, glittershort in green, nec-klace MyHeart in redShoes: ETD~T-strap Peep Wedges


Fashion ICONS of the Month- By Daija Arida

I love fashion and I know there are many other fashion freaks out there. So I’ve decided to dedicate this section for those who are fashion obsessed like the rest of us. I will be picking (every month) a fashion ICON, whose style I love and want to feature so that everyone can enjoy. So for June’s ICON of the month, I’ve picked Tact Arida (and no he’s not my husband or brother =D) and Claudia Halberstadt. And for July’s I’ve decided on Cleo Carbetta and Dimitri Shinn.

(Left)Hair: Analog DogDress: Beauty Avatar ~ Bilbao DressShoes: Stiletto Moody ~ Bare IngridSkin: Redgrave called Moon Tan Skin/Ice

(Right)Hair: Analog DogDress: Beauty Avatar ~ Florence DressShoes: Stiletto Moody ~ Bare IngridSkin: Redgrave called Moon Tan Skin/Ice

OMG!! Claudia, has a eclectic way she loves to dress. The girl has a serious shop-ping problem, but don’t we all. She can go from ass kicking diva (fishnets, guns, combat boots) to the most chic chick in the room. She puts style together like a true fashionista. And I most definitely had to put her as my female Fashion Icon for June.

ICON CHIC - FASHION ICONS OF THE MONTH

Tact, has such amazing style. I love how he uses a combination of things, from hats or scarves and flip-flops to loafers. This guy defiantly knows what he’s doing when it comes to style. Please, check out his blog at http://tac-tarida.blogspot.com/. And I’m so glad that we chose him for our very first male Fashion ICON.

(Right)Skin: ATOMIC] ~ MSkin_Strapped_TanEyes: MADesigns ~ EYES - MIRRORS - envyHair: MADesigns Hair ~ ALEX ~ GB IICap: !_Ce_Cubic effect ~ Hunting cap(Black)Necklace: Twosome ~ Sophisticated long nec-klace/blackT-Shirt: Muism ~ Deep V Tee/GreyUnder Pants: Zoobong ~ Bonus Boxers 6Pants: COCO ~ VintageSalopette(MidnightBlue)_Pants-without-thongSandal: ARAI ~ sandal_blkBangle: ARAI ~ banble001Tattoo: dEVOL ~ Hail the jewel in the Lotus Tat-too

(Left)Skin: ATOMIC] ~ MSkin_Strapped_TanEyes: MADesigns ~ EYES - MIRRORS - envyHair: booN ~ ERA794 hair matHat: amerie’s NAUGHTY ~ Pistachio_HATShades: LeLutka ~ GARBO shades/blackVest: Sweetest Good-bye ~ OK GO - Khaki + Black (man) /vestSuspender: Emery ~ SuspenderTop: Emery ~ Top #ZebraPants: &Bean ~ Shoreline Dusk 1Shoes: Gbberish ~ Justice Trainers - Shoebase (Courage)Bangle: ARAI ~ bangle002

ICON CHIC - FASHION ICONS OF THE MONTH

I stumbled across Cleo’s blog when I was looking at someo-ne else’s blog and I’ve been following it for a long time now. She’s a fashion freak! =) She is always fresh, new and different. With each entry you get something stylish and sexy. Love her blog. Go check it out at http://cleocarbetta.blogs-pot.com/.

ICON CHIC - FASHION ICONS...

(Left)Shirt: ARGRACE - Natural (White) Lady`sJeans: Maitreya - Skinny Jeans #02Necklace: Karma. - LCKYLOVE necklaceBag: +plus - Absolut Essential Bag BlackHair: TRUTH - Isabella in caramelBoots: TESLA - Angelina *Black* BootsSkin: DUTCH TOUCH - ::FoResT:: Deep-Peach *BlueEyes*Eyes: Redgrave - Angelina eyes

(Right)Shirt: NINIKO - Chiffon Cutsew redPants: Sey - 7B CargoPants khakiBracelet: Atelier AM - Ball braceletShoes: Surf Couture - Freedom Flops (tin-ted)Hair: Aden - Autumn II lightbrownSkin: Curio - GP June 2 Zenia 2 sundustEyes: FTL - Cabochon Eyes II Konjo

...OF THE MONTH

Dimitri, I have stalked on Flickr for a while…lol. Only to see how eclectic he could be, and boy is he! He goes from cargo shorts and a tee to a button-up, slacks and flip-flops with the snap of a finger. He is obsessed with fashion and has his own blog, so check him out at http://dimageinsl.wordpress.com/.

ICON CHIC - FASHION ICONS...

(Left)Hair: Lelutka DJ PitchSkin: Damiani Neo V2 Stubble Eyeliner HairedEyes: MAdesigns Eyes of Truth Pale Ocean CottonShape: PersonalJacket: Meriken Co 4dots flower shirts bluePants: Muism Trouser WhiteNecklace: M.R.M. Surf Choker PlanetChin Piercing: Punk Store Moller Labret Spike 004Shoes: Aoharu Walk Mesh Belt Sandals Gray

(Right)Skin: Belleza Johan Tan 6-E hairEyes: MADesigns Eyes Innocence Cold TreesShape: Bjorn by Noon Twine (to be re-leased soon)Jacket: Aoharu Jean Jackey Washed BlueInner shirt: Muism 40% transparency tank topPants: Armidi Low Rise Chinos BeigeSunglasses: Steinwerk AviatorNecklace & Ring: Mhaijik Spring Cord BlueszShoes: Redgrave Aviator Loafer Bronze

...OF THE MONTH

LIZZY’S STUDIO NAILS Lizzyox Allen: So lets talk nails…Anastasia Magic: Okay I’m going into business mode now.

Lizzyox Allen: *clears throat* so what made you start Stu-dio Nails and get into the whole nail business?Anastasia Magic: I’m a designer in RL. Not specifically for nails, but a designer in general. So I wanted to create something unique in SL that would enhance the appea-rance of avatars, females specifically. One day I put on a ring and thought, “Wow! This ring is awesome but my boxy finger is ECK!”

Lizzyox Allen: *laughs* So true. What do you design in

Real Life?Anastasia Magic: I am a designer for engineers and architects, etc. Basically they have ideas, and I put it on paper and make it all work.

Lizzyox Allen: Sounds like fun! So you made your nails work with rings, correct?Anastasia Magic: We know that Linden Lab only offers one attachment point for hands, so we offer to link our nails with any ring created in SL as long as they are mo-difiable and transferable. There are so many amazing jewelers out there. We wanted to be compatible with what avatars already own. We don’t want to change their appearance, just enhance it.

Lizzyox Allen: Definitely, that’s an excellent feature to have for all those SL players especially couples!Anastasia Magic: Yes. We have had many couples come in and ask what is the best for them and honestly everyone that has come in to get rings linked with nails LOVES THEM!

Lizzyox Allen: So I’ve seen a few different nail stores around the grid and I’m wondering what you think ma-kes yours different?Anastasia Magic: Well, I was one of those avatars that went shopping for nails and each shop is unique in style and product line. The thing I didn’t like personally was having 5 sizes of nails in one color. My inventory got over-crowded very quickly. Studio Nails is different because we offer the Revolutionary Nail HUD. This allows you to change nails to any color under the SL rainbow and al-lows you to add 4 different levels of optional shine. As an added feature, we offer nail art sold separately that can be uploaded onto the HUD automatically. It just does SO many things, that you won’t ever need another set of nails for one specific design or color.

Lizzyox Allen: That’s great! So basically, if you don’t find anything you like then you have a very particular taste.Anastasia Magic: *laughs* Yes, very true. We have a team of RL graphic artists and RL nail artists that create the nail art. They do a lot of amazing things. We have nail art for everyone. You name it and we either have it or can make it for you.

Lizzyox Allen: Wow that’s amazing, no wonder the nail art is so pretty and diverse. So when did you first begin Stu-

ICON CHIC - FASHION INTERVIEW

dio Nails?Anastasia Magic: Well, after months of research, planning and design, we officially opened the shop on April 11th, 2009.

Lizzyox Allen: Oh not to long ago then? Anastasia Magic: Nope - about 8 weeks.

Lizzyox Allen: So in those 8 weeks, would you say that the word about Studio Nails has got around the grid?Anastasia Magic: I think so, yes. Over the last 8 weeks we have been in a few fashion show, bridal fairs and accessory expos.

Lizzyox Allen: Wow! That is a lot of things in 8 weeks!Anastasia Magic: Yes. I can’t say enough about the team at Stu-dio Nails. Everyone works really hard.

Lizzyox Allen: I hope you give them a break now and again.Anastasia Magic: Of course! We go shopping together and joke around. It’s a very friendly atmosphere. If it’s not fun, then what are we doing? But they do know when its time to work and time to play and that’s what makes them the best.

Lizzyox Allen: Sure sounds like it! So what are in the future plans for Studio Nails? Can we expect any new upcoming events or updates?Anastasia Magic: For the future we hope to grow our existing community of Flicker and run a 10k contest. We will also be crea-ting more styles of nails particularly the length. Of course, we’ll add more designs as well. There are about 350 designs in the shop right now and we routinely update with new things. We also have monthly raffles and custom orders.

Lizzyox Allen: Wow, so there’s a lot of variety now and on the way!Anastasia Magic: Indeed, the more options, the better. We do sell all of our nails in 6 different sizes as well, so if your shape changes you’re already set to go.

Lizzyox Allen: Well it’s been such a pleasure talk-ing with you and we hope the best for the future for you and studio nails.Anastasia Magic: Thank you so much. Feel free to take the free gift as well and register for our mailing lists. We send out our specials on our mailing lists.

Couture Eveningwear

Model in Red Dress Lovena Allenskin: Redgrave moon blackgown: FallnAngel`s-Nani dress-redjewelry: CCD-Arianahhair: Damselfly-Isydora-black Model in Black Shannoncharlize Gossip-girlHair...Truth-Polly-WalnutSkin....Belleza-shit doesn’t say, it was ahunt skineyelashes.. . .Rhapsody Studio-Paint-splashJewelry.....Allenbear De-sign- Princess Gelasia Set PurpleDress....Indyra- Couture Collection:Mystere Model in Purple Daija AridaHair... [LeLutka]-O’HA-RA - CharcoalSkin...Fresh Fx Body Shop(FFX3) Cocoa - SmokeDress...Mimikri Ma Chere in FushiaJewelry...JCNY - FAITH Collection Model in Gold Beyonce KuhnSkin - Glance - Beyonce(not available)Hair - ETD - Anisa Ches-tnutJewelry - JCNY Lady Di-vineDress - Vintage Autumn

The Gothic BrideModel.. Lovena Allenskin:Redgrave moon blackFallnAngel`s: Gothic Wedding Gown-redjewelry: Bastchild Silber pearl twist choker set w/ color changehair: House of Creations-Balck Rose-deep black w/ hairband

The Couture BrideModel.. Daija AridaSkin..Fresh Fx Body Shop(FFX3) Cocoa - SmokeHair....[LeLutka]-SAAB - LBrownDress...Fellini Couture- Butterflower

Model.. Daija AridaSkin..Fresh Fx Body Shop(FFX3) Cocoa - SmokeHair....[LeLutka]-SAAB - LBrownDress...Fellini Couture- Butterflower

The Flashy Bride

Model.. Beyonce Kuhn

Skin - Glance - Beyonce (not on the market) Hair - Tukinowaguma - Garry Ash

Jewelry - CCD - Madelaine Dress -Meghindo’s - Missez Gown

The Traditional BrideModel.. OneCrazy FrogSkin.. Redgrave-Leticia in Tan Skin /*glamour-smokyDress...VictoriaV Chiara Bridal dressHair...Precious med - DarkBrown gurl 6Jewelry...necklace, bracelet, ring Jordan’s Jewlery

Model... Claudia HalberstadtSkin...Chaisuki nove desert winds tannedDress and veil [HS] Stores - [HS] roped heart brideHair..analog dog bun_ AD- helke bangs_ ad ElekoJewelry.. Alienbear designs princess gelasia crown, heart diamonds teardrops earings, princess gelasia draping drops diamonds cho-ker all in white

The AntiqueBride

ICON CHIC - TOP 5 WEDDING JEWELRY SETS

JCNY - LADY DIVINE, Formal jewelry setBy JD Hansen

CHLOE - 1879 SetBy Kieran Debevec

ICON CHIC - TOP 5 WEDDING JEWELRY SETS

PURPLE ROSE - Amore Wedding SetBy Storm Babeli

EMPEROR - Infinity platinum ring By Lorenz Hax

EMPEROR - Infinity platinum ring By Lorenz Hax

*ByKay* Sissi Jewelry (complete set)By Kayleigh McMillan

ICON CHIC - TOP 5 WEDDING LOCATIONS

Cobblestone Vineyard

Photo by Amerique Silverspar


Celestina’s Weddings


Serendipita Eventi


The Wedding Isle


Fanastacia Weddings

DISCOVER BLACKOPAL DESIGNS

Once again I get to talk with and about one of my favorite designers, I love this job!

I first encountered blakopal Designs on a search for Victorian clothes. I have been looking everywhere for something a little bit dressier than most of the Steampunk clo-thing that I have run across. Instead, I deci-ded to seek out “real” Victorian designers. Imagine my delight when I discovered a store not only chock full of classic Victorian clothes, but with a solid collection of pirate designs (I’m just a big kid and everybody wants to be a “pirate” sometime in their life) that were not only accurate but exquisitely done.

Thus began blakopal being on my regular visit list, I have a problem with clothes … I have to have something new regularly or I go bonkers. Blakopal has proven to be a gold mine, their clothes improve with each new design and even my friends and closest family members have found something there that makes them also return again and again just to see what is on the table.

The main store of blakopal is situated in a Victorian/Steampunk neighborhood, which is in itself a delight to wander around. They recently enlarged the shopping area to accommodate the collection. The proprietors of blakopal and Trilobyte are both bright and pleasant and can often be found on site helping customers find the best fit for their needs.

Interviewing them was a pleasure, and I hope all of you

readers take the time to discover the store and experience the exciting world of blakopal Designs.

Ruin Quan: Your store is a shrine to two different styles of clothing, the Classic Victorian and the Pirate. What is it about those two styles that ap-pealed to you enough to build a business around them?

bG: Well TriloByte is a former real-life Space Pirate, and we have made RL pirate outfits for friends for years. I enjoy making period costumes with a twist ... like the idea of a pirate in space. Basically taking a pattern from a 1670s military uniform and transporting it into the future, and working out what that would mean design-wise. The clothes we build in-world come from the sensibilities of the Victorian world we live in but putting a Steampu-nk twist on them. Adding odd bits, and having fun with the patterns. Pirate outfits are just fun to make. It’s one of the few outfits where guys get to be extravagant. There’s a wide gap in the clothing market in SL. I hear from men all the time how there isn’t enough fun stuff for them to wear. I try to give them fun things to choose from.

readers take the time to discover the store and experience the exciting world of blakopal Designs.

Ruin Quan: Your store is a shrine to two different styles of clothing, the Classic Victorian and the Pirate. What is it about those two styles that ap-pealed to you enough to build a business around them?

bG: Well TriloByte is a former real-life Space Pirate, and we have made RL pirate outfits for friends for years. I enjoy making period costumes with a twist ... like the idea of a pirate in space. Basically taking a pattern from a 1670s military uniform and transporting it into the future, and working out what that would mean design-wise. The clothes we build in-world come from the sensibilities of the Victorian world we live in but putting a Steampu-nk twist on them. Adding odd bits, and having fun with the patterns. Pirate outfits are just fun to make. It’s one of the few outfits where guys get to be extravagant. There’s a wide gap in the clothing market in SL. I hear from men all the time how there isn’t enough fun stuff for them to wear. I try to give them fun things to choose from.

Ruin Quan: What brought you to Second Life in the first place?

bG: We saw a program called Visions of the Future, and in one part theo-retical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku was talking about Second Life and it spar-ked our interest.

Ruin Quan: How did you get into design and selling the clothing? So many of the people I interview say they made something for themselves and friends started asking for copies.

bG: I have been designing clothes in RL my whole life. Doing clothes in SL was just a natural extension of that.

Ruin Quan: What was your first design? Do you still sell it or has it been re-legated to your inventory?

ICON CHIC - BLACKOPAL DESIGNS

bG: The first design I really had fun with was the Dancing Peacock Gown. It was created for Burning Life last year (SL’s version of Bur-ning Man). The gown is still in the store, and spawned one of our all-time best-selling gowns, the Black Feathers Long Gown.

Ruin Quan: Your store recently moved to a lar-ger location, I assume that business is good?

bG: We decided to get the larger space be-cause we were outgrowing the building we were in and wanted to give ourselves enough room to expand. We enjoy that our store has the feeling of an olde time shop, and didn’t want to have to crowd the shop with sales signs.

We were fortunate to get the land that we are on now, and have some of the best neighbors. We love that people come to our store to buy something and end up wandering around the town, or even deciding to buy land here and

joining the community. We have a map table of New Babbage just outside the shop so people can see where they are and what there is to explore.

Ruin Quan: What kind of response do you see to your clothing? Do you find you have more repeat customers or do you have a larger one-time client?

bG: We see a lot of repeat customers, but also get the occasional visitor who needs something for a fancy-dress affair or pirate party. We also get loyal customers bringing their friends in to show them our things. Overall we hear good things from people who have bought our clothes. I am always sur-prised when I am out and about in SL and get stop-ped by someone along the way, telling me that they enjoy the clothes we sell. That makes me feel good.

Ruin Quan: Do you plan on staying in the genres that you have succeeded in so far? Or are there plans for blakopal to branch out into untested wa-ters?

bG: I’m always trying new things, I don’t really feel like I’m designing for a specific genre. Making Victorian gowns and Piratewear is a lot of fun, but so is doing more fantastic Steam-punk clothes. I pretty much just make whatever is on my mind at the moment. Often times people will send a request our way and that will spark an idea that we hadn’t thought of be-fore. There’s a lot of sharing of ideas. TriloByte and I are always tossing ideas for new clothes around. You just never know what will come out next, and that’s the fun of it.

Ruin Quan: What is your biggest pet peeve about Second Life?

bG: The Alpha Channel Glitch… it drives me crazy, and has made me shelf several designs because I just couldn’t see my textures properly.

Trilobyte: Sometimes people complain too much in chats…seems like there is just constant bashing going on. It gets to be very negative. If it’s such a horrible experience, then why are people spen-ding their time here?

Ruin Quan: What is your favorite thing about Se-cond Life?

bG: We are fortunate to have the opportunity to share our creativity with so many people. Having SL as an outlet for my clothing designs has ope-ned up a market that simply wasn’t there before. In RL I had to deal with things like getting mate-rials, doing fittings, and GRAVITY. In SL, I come up with a fun sketch for a clothing idea ... and it gets up and starts dancing around. It’s awe-some!

Trilobyte: Open-ended creativity. I’ve been for-tunate to work on some really creative art pro-jects in RL, but am bound by things like physics and budget. In SL, we’re limited only by our ima-ginations.

Ruin Quan: Some of the designers I know are so tied up in their work that they rarely get to en-joy the magic of Second Life. Is there something special you do... or somewhere special you go to unwind in world?

bG: I like the strip clubs. :) ... we have an allo-wance in the business budget for strippers and

‘sploders.

trilobyte insists that he never stops goofing off.

bG: actually, we both enjoy the community events in New Babbage. There are monthly balls, and building challenges and contests going on most of the time. One of the machines I built for fun, the Steampunk Duck Factory now lives on the blakopal property. I also enjoy the SL events like Burning Life and the SL6B event going on now. I have a build there now that I’ve been working on for the past few weeks, including a free Expedition Suit.

Ruin Quan: How often do you design new clo-thing? Do you have a predetermined schedule or do you just do it as the mood strikes you?

bG: The creative process is ongoing. There isn’t a predetermined schedule. There are always ideas being bounced around, and designs are


working themselves out in my brain while I’m working on other things. It never stops.

Ruin Quan: You have a partner you work with, how did that come about and do you both have certain assigned duties or do you consult with each other through the whole process?

bG: My SL partner TriloByte is my RL partner too. We both have our ta-lents and interests and complement each other well. My main focus is in designing and creating the clothing, and his is in building and run-ning the shops. He’s great at the running of the business in world and on Xstreet, which frees me up to be able to focus on what I do best. We are constantly sharing our ideas about everything though. He gives me his thoughts on what clothing items might work well for men, and I help create marketing materials.

Ruin Quan: What do you tell new designers that come to you for advice? I know that it’s difficult to establish yourself in Second Life as a top-notch designer, which you have been able to do, any words of wisdom for those beginners?

bG: We don’t really think of ourselves as ‘top notch’ designers, we just enjoy what we are doing. As for helping other desi-gners, I try to be helpful when people come to me with ques-tions. There is a big learning curve when you are starting out and it’s important to just stick with it and keep learning, trying new things. There’s a lot of really great information available online, as well as some wonderful resources in world, like The Oxbridge University in Caledon. There are all sorts of classes that are extremely helpful.

Ruin Quan: If you had it to do all over again, is there anything you would have liked to improve upon in your Second Life ex-perience?

bG: SL is a learning and growing experience. There’s

bG: We don’t really think of ourselves as ‘top notch’ designers, we just enjoy what we are doing. As for helping other desi-gners, I try to be helpful when people come to me with ques-tions. There is a big learning curve when you are starting out and it’s important to just stick with it and keep learning, trying new things. There’s a lot of really great information available online, as well as some wonderful resources in world, like The Oxbridge University in Caledon. There are all sorts of classes that are extremely helpful.

Ruin Quan: If you had it to do all over again, is there anything you would have liked to improve upon in your Second Life ex-perience?

bG: SL is a learning and growing experience. There’s

always an opportunity to grow, explore, and try new things. There is no wrong way to do it. I see no reason to ‘start over’. That would mean losing the information that was learned along the way. I really enjoy where we are now, so no. I wouldn’t change anything.

Ruin Quan: What a pleasure it was to talk with you guys, I look forward to your new designs and being somewhat of a clotheshorse and believing very strongly that making your AV look as good as possible. I urge readers to get over to your store. There really is something for everyone.


ICON CHIC - RUNWAY RUNDOWN

INTRODUCING FDASLBy Patty Cortes

On June 20th and 21st, GLANCE International Agency (GIA) hosted the first major event of the Fashion Designers Associaion of SL. This is a group of SL designers who support each oher in their career by sharing fashion tips and giving solutions to each other. They aim at growing their virtual businesses together.

Never-seen-before outfits have been presented on the catwalk, created by Ranena Olivier (Ranena Olivier Couture), VNP Ninetails (Vassnia), Potnia Theas (Ora Trei Designs), Ralektra Breda (Ralektra Breda Designs), Elle74 Zaftig (Bellisima), Sebastiaan Obviate (Sebi’s Fashion), Penelope Heron (!MPOSSI-BLE Fashion), Ansjela Amat (Jela Couture)

The blog of GLANCE International Agency featu-red several interiews of the participating designers. Singularly Introduced by Kingston Augustus, GIA Fashion Writter, you can read them on http://glan-ce-international.com

Check out their blog to know more about this crea-tive collaboration on http://fdasl.blogspot.com

Stages Design : Babyhoney BaileyPhoto Credits : Sharron Schuman

Springtime in Venice fashion festivalThe festival of fashion done by Premiere Modeling Agency between days 15 and 16 June showed seve-ral collections of various designers of Second Life were among them Baiastice, LBD, AZUL, Stilleto Moodys, Bliss Couture, MEB, Alatiel Fashions, Orage Creations, Lady Thera etc.

The events occurred between 12pm and 3pm SLTM the clothes were of the highest quality models shown at the festival showed the fashion and casual fashion glamo-rous side of second life with full of clothes and decora-tions perfect glare. I could see during the two events in the concern to make it a festival for all history is very well done and with the participation of famous models including the models were: Liane Maertens and Mimmi Boa who completed the event further.

Credits: Article by Vanessa Knoller.Photos by Sharron Schuman.

ICON CHIC - RUNWAY RUNDOWN

The ReBourne Loft, A Unique Build

The ReBourne Loft, A Unique BuildICON CREATIONS - THE REBOURNE

Danny Bourne and Suite Sella have a secret. Together they have created a small company that makes the best skyboxes, ever. They call the two skyboxes that Bourne built, “the Manhat-tan loft”. As you look around, you feel as if you have actually been transported onto a rooftop loft in downtown New York city; the lofts

are that realistic. Strangely, buil-ding skyboxes is not a great inte-rest to Bourne. “I was always buil-ding stuff, trying to get a grip on how things work here but never intended to sell or make it a ca-reer,” said Bourne.Once his skyboxes were built, his partner Suite felt that they should be shared. “Suite encou-raged me to show my work to the community

ICON CREATIONS - THE REBOURNE

because she loved my builds and found it should be available for other people to enjoy second life better,” Bourne acknowledged.

He attributes the realism of his skyboxes to his attention to detail. The larger skybox has a bathroom, elevator, two balconies, a city view, and two lofts. The walls are brick and the unit comes with hard wood floors. “I have sold a nice number of these, and people love it,” says Bourne. “I try to make it feel as real as possible.” Bourne admits that he does not create any of his skyboxes from plans or from images, although, he did attempt to create from photos at one

time. “I am often too stubborn and end up fol-lowing my own imagination,” Bourne said.Will Bourne do custom work for a customer? “I prefer not to because the sim cost a lot of tiers and making custom skyboxes simply wouldn’t pay enough to pay for it.”

Since skyboxes were not Bourne’s first interest, what does he like to build? “I build jewelry, (men’s bracelets), furniture, (mainly to deco-rate our prefabs), gadgets, TVs, parcel radio streamers, plants, menu drive cuddle trees, and a boat. But the main focus are prefab houses now.”


How did Bourne get started? He admitted to being self-taught. “I simply clicked the build but-ton. It’s the easiest way. I learned to build and texture places before I played second life, thou-gh. I used to build racetracks for car race simu-lation games for the p.c. race community. Due to my skills and work in the race community I was offered a job with Sony, to become a graphic artist for PSONE games but I decided not to do it. In real life, I build and design real life themed interiors for a living (interiors like Mexican res-taurants, or Italian bars, or pirate themed kiddy swimming pools, etc).” His partner agrees. “It’s a great skill to have when designing second life homes,” said Suite Sella.

“I design them in real life and build them in real life, but I have used Second Life to make real life designs, several times. I often communicate with architects. I would consider myself an inte-rior designer in real life. But I also paint, build, do software stuff...it’s a broad package.”Bourne and Sella have been in business since Ja-nuary. “We are not a famous place in SL yet. The people that have found us fell in love with it and were very happy to buy a prefab. I am motiva-ted to build more prefabs, but we need more prims for that, so we need to sell a little bit more to make sure we can afford it.

By Patricia Rang


ICON NIGHTLIFE - BALLET PIXELLE

Ballet Pixelle: “Dancing into the Digital Future”An interview with founder and director

Performing arts in the virtual Second Life tend to bridge directly into the physical First Life, and with Ballet Pixelle, Inarra Saarinen is creating an important presence in both worlds. ICON caught up with this busy lady recently to find out what the virtual dance troupe formerly known as Second Life Bal-let is doing, and what they’re planning for in the future. - By Lorelei Larsson

Inarra Saarinen has been around the barre for a while. In first life, she is from Tokyo, but also lives part time in Hawaii. She trai-

ned as a dancer in New York City and Los Angeles. “I am, or have been, a professional dancer and choreographer. I have trained and danced ballet, along with jazz, tap, circus arts, oriental dance, and Balinese dance. I also have an MFA in dance,” she says.

“I started Second Life in January 22, 2006. I am a first life cho-reographer that moved outside of LA and NYC and had no professional dancers. I thought I would check out to see if I could do some work in a virtual reality. I started with just me on a small outdoor stage and made some basic animations. My ‘aha’ moment was when I was able to choreograph a turn that went on forever while a young girl transformed into an old lady,” she says.

Ballet Pixelle started in 2006, but in the early days, it was called

Ballet Pixelle: “Dancing into the Digital Future”An interview with founder and director

Performing arts in the virtual Second Life tend to bridge directly into the physical First Life, and with Ballet Pixelle, Inarra Saarinen is creating an important presence in both worlds. ICON caught up with this busy lady recently to find out what the virtual dance troupe formerly known as Second Life Bal-let is doing, and what they’re planning for in the future. - By Lorelei Larsson

Inarra Saarinen has been around the barre for a while. In first life, she is from Tokyo, but also lives part time in Hawaii. She trai-




Ballet Pixelle: “Dancing into the Digital Future”An interview with Founder and Director, by Lorelei Larsson

Performing arts in the virtual Second Life tend to bridge directly into the physical First Life, and with Ballet Pixelle, Inarra Saarinen is creating an important presence in both worlds. ICON cau-ght up with this busy lady recently to find out what the virtual dance troupe formerly known as Second Life Ballet is doing, and what they’re planning for in the future. Inarra Saarinen has been around the barre for a while. In first life, she

is from Tokyo, but also lives part time in Hawaii. She trained as a dancer in New York City and Los Angeles. “I am, or have been, a professional dancer and choreographer. I have trained and danced ballet, along with jazz, tap, circus arts, oriental dance, and Balinese dance. I also have an MFA in dance,” she says. “I started Second Life in January 22, 2006. I am a first life cho-reographer that moved outside of LA and NYC and had no professional dancers. I thought I would check out to see if I could do some work in a virtual reality. I started with just me on a small outdoor stage and made some basic animations. My ‘aha’ moment was when I was able to choreograph a turn that went on forever while a young girl transformed into an old lady,” she says.

Ballet Pixelle started in 2006, but in the early days, it was cal-led Second Life Ballet. Why did the name change? “Mostly because I wanted it to be more global than Second Life and this platform. And, of course, SL’s trademark laws” Inarra says. She continues, “When I went to an expo in Tokyo, people thought it was for older dancers on a second career,”








Second Life Ballet. Why did the name change? “Mostly be-cause I wanted it to be more global than Second Life and this platform. And, of course, SL’s trademark laws” Inarra says. She continues, “When I went to an expo in Tokyo, people thought it was for older dancers on a second career,”

Ballet Pixelle doesn’t perform only in Second Life? “This is our third year of performing in Second Life and our second year of performing in First Life,” she says. “We have already done two First Life collaborations. We performed live for an audience of dancers, dance critics, and choreographers in New York City invited by the New School for Social Research. I also choreo-graphed a commissioned ballet, Phylogeny, to original music by Douglas Anderson, where we performed live on a large screen while the orchestra performed live in a First Life theatre. This was with Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis”.

is from Tokyo, but also lives part time in Hawaii. She trained as a dancer in New York City and Los Angeles. “I am, or have been, a professional dancer and choreographer. I have trained and danced ballet, along with jazz, tap, circus arts, oriental dance, and Balinese dance. I also have an MFA in dance,” she says. “I started Second Life in January 22, 2006. I am a first life cho-reographer that moved outside of LA and NYC and had no professional dancers. I thought I would check out to see if I could do some work in a virtual reality. I started with just me on a small outdoor stage and made some basic animations. My ‘aha’ moment was when I was able to choreograph a turn that went on forever while a young girl transformed into an old lady,” she says.

Ballet Pixelle started in 2006, but in the early days, it was cal-led Second Life Ballet. Why did the name change? “Mostly because I wanted it to be more global than Second Life and this platform. And, of course, SL’s trademark laws” Inarra says. She continues, “When I went to an expo in Tokyo, people thought it was for older dancers on a second career,”

Ballet Pixelle doesn’t perform only in Second Life? “This is our third year of performing in Second Life and our second year of performing in First Life,” she says. “We have already done two First Life collaborations. We performed live for an audience of dancers, dance critics, and choreographers in New York City invited by the New School for Social Research. I also choreo-graphed a commissioned ballet, Phylogeny, to original music by Douglas Anderson, where we performed live on a large screen while the orchestra performed live in a First Life theatre. This was with Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis”.

The dance troupe has had some first life recognition in the me-dia. “We have also been shown on FOX NEWS. One of our early fans was Pathfiner Linden who brought it into the piece during his interview. The troupe has also been featured in the first life international publication, Dance Magazine. “I hope these will lead to further collaborations and ideas,” she says.

Inarra has several goals she’d like to accomplish as far as brin-ging Ballet Pixelle into first life. “I want to continue to explore virtual and physical dance and develop the aesthetic vocabu-lary of virtual dance. I hope to collaborate with more First Life dance companies or to build our own,” she says. “I also have some ideas about cyber dance. The idea is to do more direct exploration of merging virtual and physical dance by utilizing each of their specific strengths”.

The troupe has performed six ballets in Second Life since it star-ted in 2006: Olmannen, Windows, The Nut (their version of The Nutcracker), Phylogeny, and Shuzenzi. They also did Les Fleurs Rose for Valentine’s Day, and a St. Patrick’s Day Ballet in 2009. Currently, they are about are about to premiere their new bal-let, Living Goddess.

Are the ballets original to Second Life? “All ballets are absolu-tely original; I write all of them,” Innara says. “So far, they are all written specifically to take advantage of Second Life. Soon I

hope to integrate First Life and Second Life more,” she says. “I get inspiration from all kinds of places. In Olmannen, I wanted to try out a fairy tale with some use of what Second Life has to offer: flying dragons, a young lady becoming old as she turns, and flying fairies. Windows, I have wanted to do for years to see glimpses of other people’s stories: how much can we tell from their movement? Shuzenji came from my love of Japa-nese culture and ghost stories,” she says.

And the music… is it original? Who composes and performs it? “All music (except for The Nut) is original. We collaborate with professional First Life composers all over the world, for exam-ple, Alazarin Mondrian in London, Louis Volare in New York, Solary Clary in Tokyo. Louis Volare has performed with Mikail Baryshinikov; Solary Clary (Sora Izumikawa) is a hit pop artist in Japan,” Inarra says.

The dancers move by way of animations. Are these custom made? “I create all of the animations specifically for Ballet Pixelle,” she says. “They are all done in both my movement style and aesthetic and as classical ballet animations. Since I have been trained in French and Russian ballet styles, the steps are technically authentic. Our dancers really dance with each other and with the music. There are no poseballs, synchronizing programs, HUDs or so on. This is art, not automa-tion”.

With all this original work, how long does it take to bring a ballet into production, from concept to audience-ready? “It takes about four months from conception to premiere to put on a ballet” Inarra says. “We rehearse twice a week for two hours each day. During dress rehearsal weeks, the time may increase”.

How many people are involved now in the production pro-cess, and what sort of jobs do they do? “There are now about thirty people in the Company. There are dancers of course, currently twelve,” she says. Inarra goes on to list some, but not


hope to integrate First Life and Second Life more,” she says. “I get inspiration from all kinds of places. In Olmannen, I wanted to try out a fairy tale with some use of what Second Life has to offer: flying dragons, a young lady becoming old as she turns, and flying fairies. Windows, I have wanted to do for years to see glimpses of other people’s stories: how much can we tell from their movement? Shuzenji came from my love of Japa-nese culture and ghost stories,” she says.

And the music… is it original? Who composes and performs it? “All music (except for The Nut) is original. We collaborate with professional First Life composers all over the world, for exam-ple, Alazarin Mondrian in London, Louis Volare in New York, Solary Clary in Tokyo. Louis Volare has performed with Mikail Baryshinikov; Solary Clary (Sora Izumikawa) is a hit pop artist in Japan,” Inarra says.

The dancers move by way of animations. Are these custom made? “I create all of the animations specifically for Ballet Pixelle,” she says. “They are all done in both my movement style and aesthetic and as classical ballet animations. Since I have been trained in French and Russian ballet styles, the steps are technically authentic. Our dancers really dance with each other and with the music. There are no poseballs, synchronizing programs, HUDs or so on. This is art, not automa-tion”.

With all this original work, how long does it take to bring a ballet into production, from concept to audience-ready? “It takes about four months from conception to premiere to put on a ballet” Inarra says. “We rehearse twice a week for two hours each day. During dress rehearsal weeks, the time may increase”.

How many people are involved now in the production pro-cess, and what sort of jobs do they do? “There are now about thirty people in the Company. There are dancers of course, currently twelve,” she says. Inarra goes on to list some, but not

all, of the crew involved in the production process. “Calia Cachin, Financial & Stage Manager; Willis Rossini, Sound Engineer; Skippy Flossberg, Web Master & MC Coordinator; Mark Cassini, Sets Consultant; Anaid Daviau, Usher Coordi-nator; Adele Halcali, Usher. Kae Sura, Public Relations Coor-dinator; Amelie Dibou, Ballet Mistress and Assistant; Vivienne Darcy, Ballet Coordinator; Sherrell Hird, Mistress of Cere-monies; and Espresso Saarinen is our roadie and builder,” Inarra says. Espresso Saarinen is also Inarra’s first and second life husband. Espresso is, she says, “chief geek and bottle washer” and also built the sleek and elegant theatre where the company performs.

“Some dancers do crew and vice versa. During dress re-hearsals they work as much as twenty hours per week!” Inarra is very complimentary of the members of the troupe, “I would really like to commend and recognize the cast and crew of Ballet Pixelle. These amazing dedicated and creati-ve people *are* Ballet Pixelle. They are dancing, rehearsing, scripting, making sets, coming up with new ideas. Their com-plete dedication and creativity is what makes Ballet Pixelle”.

The performance space is provided by IBM. “We perform in our Ballet Pixelle theatre in the IBM 10 Sim, “ she says. “We also have a home theatre for rehearsing, meetings, and so on in the Quat sim. So far, everything else is by donation, so there is no cost to come to a Ballet Pixelle performance,”

What should an audience member expect when they come to see a performance? “To be entertained, surprised, deligh-ted, moved, and to learn,” Inarra says excitedly. And what sort of preparations should the audience member make to create the most positive experience? “We recommend for you to get to the theatre to get a seat about fifteen minu-tes before curtain (the theatre fills quickly). Make sure your music player is on, set world environment to sunset or midni-ght, and take off blings and any face or body lights (to allow

the lighting to work for everyone). Remove any scripts or HUDs that would increase lag. Be ready to sit back and enjoy for an hour. And be prepa-red to get autographs and ask questions at the end in our Sky Lounge while dancing and drinking champagne,” she says.

If you want to watch Ballet Pixelle but can’t make it to a live performance, you can search YouTube for Ballet Pixelle or Second Life Ballet and watch from there. Visit the troupe’s website at www.balletpixel-le.org for schedules and information on auditions. You can also join the second life groups for more information and dates of performances. “To join the group, search for Ballet Pixelle, click on a join box in our Ballet Pixelle theatre in IBM 10 or in our Sky Lounge, or join our Subscribe Service in our theatre, where you don’t have to use up a group,” Inarra says

Currently, the entire troupe is buzzing with ex-citement as their newest ballet, Living God-dess is due to open the last week of June 2009. This new original ballet is set in Nepal, features stunning sets and costumes, and will run twice a week for the next four months. Be sure and make plans to attend at least one of the perfor-mances and see this unique and delightful new form of virtual performing art.


Fierce Tibetan Gods concertWhen I received the notice that Fierce Tibetan Gods were performing a debut concert at SLevolution, I hurriedly chan-ged my group tag and went to snag a seat. I spied the best view of all four jumbo screens and contacted ICON Editor, Wil Dreadlow if anyone was covering this si-mul-cast concert. I’m not an entertain-ment writer, but here was an opportunity I had to grab. This live performance was

being broadcasted from Miguel Pessoa Sound Studios in Boston and streamed into SL. How cool is that?

If I could sum up FTG’s music by genre, I’d have to create one, pure funky fresh downbeat tunes. I could go on for hours telling you that the sim was full 30 minutes before the show. The hot fierce beats inspired dancing, flying, twirling and the occasional «woot hoot». So, with my HUD in tow and fully loaded I motivated a few to join me in my reverie. I was fortunate to snag an interview with a member of the band, so I’ll let them tell you

ICON NIGHTLIFE - FIERCE TIBETAN GODS

all about this enigma known as Fierce Tibetan Gods.

Dear Readers, I introduce to you, SL personality, Gaius Luminos AKA Andrew Woolf of Fierce Tibe-tan Gods.

Pet Karu: Well, if you have about 15 minutes, I’d like to ask you a few questions.

Gaius Luminos: Of course.

Pet Karu: Fabulous! Umm, over here, step into my office.

Gaius Luminos: Erm, actually it’s my office *lol*

Pet Karu: *rofl* True! Ok, the band is really hot. How long have you been playing together?

Gaius Luminos: Since 1997 and thank you for saying that. *lol*

Pet Karu: Long time, so you’re not kiddies.

Gaius Luminos: Young at heart *lol*

Pet Karu: How did you come up with the name


Fierce Tibetan Gods?

Gaius Luminos: It was a joke that Greg Haw-kes made. We were called “Skydwellers” but everyone thought the joke was so funny, that it stuck.We’re also just “FTG” for people that can’t spell, like me.

Pet Karu: Coolness. How many members are in the band and what transformations has the band experienced?

Gaius Luminos: *lol* Got a spare couple of days? Ok...we’re more of a collective than a fixed “band” sort of thing. Kind of like an “ani-mal collective”, if you’ve heard of them. Peo-ple come in and stay for a CD then go do their own thing and come back, etc.

Pet Karu: *nods* Yes, but is there a core group?

Gaius Luminos: The core members are Perry Geyer and me, Andrew. We started the band, back in the Jurassic era.

Pet Karu: So why did you choose a Female character, Gaius, in Second Life?

Andrew/Gaius Luminos: Well, I didn’t really give it that much thought at the time, just seemedlike an interesting thing to do, to play a female personna in a game...then as the Gaiuscharacter matured thru time, i realised that here was a rather fascinating opportunity to see life ‘from the other side’ as it were, in a way that i could never do in RL. Gaius has become a window for me into the Female Psy-che, and she’s allowed me to be able tobe more empathic toward Women in RL, and that I think has enabled me to become abetter person.

Pet Karu: Your avatar is female. I thought it was 2 men.

Gaius Luminos: Yup, it certainly is!

Pet Karu: ohhhhh ok...welcome to second life. *lol* Which leads to my next question... what brought the band/collective to SL?

Gaius Luminos: *lol* Gaius did, it was my idea.

Pet Karu: how? Why?

Gaius Luminos: Well...although we’ve recorded lots of tracks over the years. We’ve never made

Credits : Photos from FTG Official Booklet

Andrew Woolf

Rie Imai


any kind of push to connect with an audience. We had an MTV hit with our video “Dreaming of You” back in 2000 and a few sporadic rl gigs but that was all. So, we’re currently recording our 3rd CD, and I just decided it was time to reach out!

Pet Karu: I’ve been waiting on this CD release for a while now, when can we expected it? Ho-nestly, I don’t watch MTV, but just sampling the tracks here I knew I had to own it. How do you feel your debut in SL went tonight?

Gaius Luminos: Well that’s two questions *lol* First one: We’re perfectionists...nothing goes out until its 200 percent, so it always takes a lot lon-

ger than when normal sane people do that kind of thing.

And second: we were actually bowled over tonight. I mean it’s our first gig here. We weren’t expecting anything like the turnout, or anything like the love we got back from second life. It was really, really cool *smiles*

Pet Karu: Willing to do it again?

Gaius Luminos: Absolutely not! Yes, of course! *lol*

Pet Karu: I’ve exhausted my 15 minutes, but one last question. How did you happen to have your first gig here at HERMES?

Gaius Luminos: Because they are releasing our 6 mp3 EPs, so it made sense to do the record release party here. All 6 of which are available now for purchase on SL exchange.

Pet Karu: Thank you for your time. We wish you much success both in world and RL.

Gaius Luminos: Thanks again, tashi delek (a Buddhist salutation) goodnight Pet!

This first leg of FTG’s Tour of the popular virtual reality game was the product of quite a few sleepless nights, on the part of a handful of ex-ceptionally talented people of various conti-nents, all of whom cyber commuted at all hours to make this particular shared dream a (virtual) reality. Round two rumored to be at Second Life top traffic spot ‘Dance Island’ in 3 weeks. FTG is represented In-world by Gaius Luminos, and Ga-laxy Productions LLC. Visit today :

http://www.fiercetibetangods.com/

Greg Hawkes

Perry Geyer


ICON IMAGES - GALLERY SPOTLIGHT

Memory is the painter’s picture

The sky is the seer’s eyes

Both don’t mix in a mind

But sky is the sun in the morning

Rain in the evening

Fixed with many things assigned

Colt Parx, Exceprt from the poem Key of Memory


JULY ICON GALLERY SPOTLIGHT

This month’s ICON Gallery Spotlight, RAW Art Gallery and Sculptures, has been get-ting a lot of press lately, but we discove-red this treasure quite by accident in our grid-wide art exploration. This one is truly a “must see”. One of the best collections in Second Life situated in a breathtakingly beautiful sim, RAW is packed full of some of the most inspiring and creative artwork we’ve found. - By Lorelei Larsson

Don’t let the quantity fool you, or discourage you from taking several hours to explore this huge gallery, it will be time well spent. Nicely organized into several distinct areas, this massive art exhibit is filled with quality work.

Second Lifer, Colt Parx, is the creative genius behind the astounding artwork you’ll find at RAW, and he also de-signed the sim, which is peaceful and lovely. Not to be missed is the Forest area, where, along with several nice art pieces, you’ll discover some cuddle areas and private spots for relaxing with a special friend. The sky and water-front area of this nature inspired park is one of the prettiest spots you’ll find on the grid. Midnight setting is a perfect way to experience it, but sunset and sunrise are equally beautiful. Make sure to explore around the water’s edge, there are a few surprises.

The interactive area is where you’ll find gorgeous sculp-tures with pose balls inside, so you can sit and meditate while surrounded by the beauty of color, light and mo-vement. Many of the larger sculptures have note cards embedded in them, so click and touch; poems and inspi-rational writings compliment some of these art pieces. The vast castle area is packed full of wall-hanging art as well as smaller sculpture pieces. The overall theme of RAW is emotional impact and inspiration. This artwork is not only rich in color and light, but also tends to commu-nicate deep messages that can be thought provoking, enlightening and moving.

And speaking of moving, many of the huge light sculptu-res scattered across the side of the mountain next to the castle invite the viewer to touch. When you click them, their form changes, and size and shape become some-thing the audience can participate in and control while viewing.

One of the most touching areas of RAW is the huge me-morial wall. Here, Colt memorializes and honors his former first and second life partner Ted, now deceased. There are note cards available that tell the story of the couple, and Colt’s journey of love and pain as his partner was dying of cancer. While Ted was sick, the two spent many hours together in Second Life, and the memorial wall is some of the artwork they created. This area is packed


with emotion, and its purpose is to give hope and hea-ling to anyone who has lost a loved one.

Much of the artwork throughout RAW seems to reflect Colt’s healing process after his partner of seven years passed away. Don’t assume however, that this is a pla-ce of mourning. This gallery is full of energy and appre-ciation for life.

In addition to showcasing Mr. Parx’s work, there are three buildings that house often-changing guest artist exhibits. These guest artist galleries offer an opportunity for visitors to experience artwork that is different from, but complimentary, to Colt’s, and well worth taking time to appreciate.

Exploring this sim and viewing and interacting with the Colt Parx’s artwork is inspiring. The work he has accom-plished is impressive. He clearly makes the most of eve-ry moment. As Colt says in one of the informative note cards, “The power of the mind is the most powerful thing we own. We each have one, but how we choose to use it and how we choose to use the memory we were given is the key.”


While interviewing a sim owner for last month’s edition of ICON, Point of View, I stumbled upon an upcoming event that had many of the ele-ments that intrigue me: mystery, harmony, and diversity rolled up into a smash-bang 1-day event called “Moon Valley’s Medieval Dragon Days ~ Spirit Festival”.

Now why would ICON be interested in an event of spiritualist and mystics gathering? I’m glad you asked. ICON is leading the edge on keeping abreast of the varying life-styles and communities within Second Life. We wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see diversity har-monized into a full-bodied flavor of what Second Life can offer.

If you haven’t had the enjoyment of attending a real life renaissance festival, check out your local enter-tainment section, they are not to be missed. What fascinated me most about this SL event was that it was to include eight spiritually diverse sims coordinating in harmony and celebrating unity. I had to witness this with my own eyes. After seeing the itinerary, I knew some of you dear readers would wish you were there

as well.

A spirit festival of this magnitude was the first of its kind for these sim owners. The brainchild for the festivities is attributed to the dutiful efforts of the newly re-es-tablished Moon Valley Goddess Orders. With such a huge undertaking, I expected the usual conference technical difficulties. I was delighted to find that the events I attended went off without so much as a SL drizzle. The events ranged in diversity as much as the avatars. Dragon Day’s array of events unfolded from general energy renewal, light work, gentle medita-tion, a channeling to hear the voice of God, and astrology connection.

While this article is after the fact, seeing the schedule might prompt you to consider attending the next event these fearless few brought to life. Let me show you why I was amazed by the host’s ability to pull this off. Below is a general overview notecard of the day’s events:

(Information Notecard)

Welcome to Moon Valley’s Medieval Dragon Days ~

ICON POINTS OF VIEW - MOON VALLEY

SPIR

IT FE

STIV

AL

Spirit FestivalOrganized by the Newly Re-Established Moon Valley Goddess Orders

Come and see what’s available in SL’s Growing Spiri-tual Network

Moon Valley, Isil Lad presents Medieval Dragon Days Spirit Festival. This cooperative effort involves 8 diffe-rent spiritual sims with presentations in Astrology, Live Channeling of ThothHorRa’ and Zeb and Zarna, NLP, Let your chakras speak, Poet and Writing workshop, Sacred Dancing, Burning of Bad Memories, Shamanic Journey and Mediation class. Readings are available by appointment in Tarot, Fairy Cards, Runes and Neu-rology.

But there is also lots of fun to engage in: Dragon Ra-ces, and Dragon Beauty contest, carnival fun, marry-go-round and kissing booths. The day concludes with an auction for a date to the «Celebration of United Spirits Dance” with the Lord and Lady of the Dance.

... Come join us for this special day.

Yes, it was jammed packed all day. Shuffling about from place to place, my note card in hand, I tried to attend as many activities as possible. Surprisingly, one thing I did learn was the Arabic name for God mani-festing in the flesh and dwelling on earth is AVATAR!

There was no vanity and need to overstep the syn-chronized timing as the crowd was ushered from one sim to another. Whether resting on meditation mats or meditation movement, (dancing) the participants enjoyed themselves and participated eagerly with questions, suggestions and insights. I witnessed egos laid aside for the greater good, so brotherly-kindness and sisterhood could abound.

I urge you to keep your eyes peeled for the next event by this group. Even if you don’t agree with the teachings, the fun should not be missed. Let us ac-knowledge the efforts of those who are seeking as much peace on this third rock from the sun by re-membering, «We are indeed our brother’s (and sis-ter’s) keeper.

Article By Pet Karu

ICON Lifestyle Magazine Vol 1 Issue 5 July 2009

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Transcript of ICON Lifestyle Magazine Vol 1 Issue 5 July 2009