Second Life

~ Wave Crashing upon a New Sim! ~

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The Waves of a Virtual Life

To live a Second Life, you must willing to discover,

what you find might surprise you;

 all the fun and activities that are covered

 

Beauty, art and activities abound…

it might simply be the creativity, the role play or the craze

but to find your niche, you have to take a look around.

 

One such discovery could be,

the spray, the foam, the waves…

All that has been created for the virtual Sea

 

The surf waves, scripted beauties that can provide something new

to those that are landlocked; the chance to ride upon a surfboard

the opportunity taken by so few

 

Take a ride upon a wave,

learn to control the board like a pro

listen to all on the beaches as they might rave!

 

The oceans of Second Life are fun

with the willingness to try something new

across the waves you will run

 

Teleport to a beach when you are bored

or when you need solace or space

paddle out to the wave, to the crashing and the roar

 

Rip along the waves, feel the virtual air

As you learn your new moves…

you will feel as if you are flying without a care.

by Sunshine Zhangsun

There is a new beach on the grid…one offering a great surfing experience.  Renn Luik, the creator of The Mother Road, has developed a life-like beach experience on Wing Princess for Mahina Kohime.  The beach is natural and open with the required amenities…shower, shelter and sand…just what is needed for a long day of shredding the waves.  This surf sim is on a full prim sim and is performing very well so far.  The HP Surf Teahupoo wave rolls in with a crash fading out into SSi Fluffies… the set up is beautiful.  The tidal pools are a great realistic touch and the protected floating pool is a nice place to hang out to watch the surfers.


Check out this sim soon…if you don’t have a board (yet), there are loaners there… but believe me, once you try, you’ll want your own board for sure!  And right there on the beach, you can pick up an SSi scripted board with Analog Jun‘s graphic design!

Grab a friend or go alone…it is an experience to be enjoyed…shred across the wave, and feel the virtual air… enjoy !


’til then…

Sunshine

Riding Away on a Wave…

/ Sunshine / Leave a comment
 

The Forever Summer Surf Fest II is now a memory… it ended with an absolute BANG! on Sunday 6/27/2010.  There were so many activities over the 10 days, so much to see and learn about… and all have agreed, the festival was truly a success!  Hat’s off to Revlon Benoir and Mick Lunasea for pulling together a community to celebrate Surfing of Second Life in a way that encouraged unity!     

The Festival officially opened on June 19th with carnival rides, exhibits and games already set up.  The Photos being submitted for the contest started popping up in the contest huts and people were free to mill about the entire full sim to see what the Second Life Surf Community has to offer.  Exhibitors ranged from surfboard texture designers to wave and board scriptor/creators to surf sims to other creators that support the community.  There were an amazing number of exhibits all creatively put together.     

  

 On June 20th, the first ever (that I know of) paddle board competition was held!  This contest required the entrant to lay on their boards and just paddle around the sim perimeter.  It was an event that anyone could participate in!  The competition was fierce and held in a multi heat style.  At the end, the results were…1st: Colleen Brennan; 2nd: Kim Henig; 3rd: Kalif Christenson    

   

After the Paddle Board comp, Jac and I hosted “Sol for the Soul” with DJ Azu Catteneo spinning some awesome tunes.  This event brought in quite a number of non-surfers and seemingly was enjoyed by all.  The music was great, the conversation lively and all in all fun evening.

  

  Throughout the week, there were other various activities generally anchored by a DJ or Band.  Lots of just gathering and exploring the exhibits and just hanging out with friends – old and new.  On Friday night, 6/25, the festival returned us to HighSchool with a Homecoming party of sorts.  DJ RJ Schwade provided the sounds, Tauri Tigerpaw provided the “speech” and the Festival Couple was crowned.  That couple just happened to be Jac and me, so we were awarded the crowns and then danced the night away with friends, laughter and fun.. 

  

  The weekend brought lots more activity with an awesome Fashion Show featuring surf- and beachwear on Saturday afternoon.  The Opium Modeling Agency did a great job showing off the creations of several of the surf community’s finest.  The models fought the lag and displayed some very hot and sporty looks.  The show was well attended and the crowd very receptive to the hot chicks in bikinis and the equally sizzling guys in boardies and such.  

  

The Festival’s Final Day was so action packed, that it was hard to leave the sim!!  Starting off with an incredible exhibition from HP Designs, we saw Leogarto Burt and his team on the HP Joaquina waves with HP5 surfboards and his new kite surfer.  The surfers zipped around and over the waves totally ripping it up.  It was action packed, fast and furious, and a great way to see just how much fun surfing in Second Life can be!  Next up was the mini competition sponsored by Vibrations Surf Alliance.  Competitors included surfers who had either never competed or had not in a long time to those that compete regularly.  It required the competitors to show their stuff on three different type of waves – the HP Joaquina, the SSI fluffies and the SSI Pipeline.  At the end of the comp, the competitors were exhausted but thrilled with the results:  1st – (tie)  MaryAnn Maa and OldSurferDude Danitz; 2nd – Kim Henig; 3rd – Maxwell Silvansky; 4th – Bullet Admiral. Truly a fun event, with Max never competing and MaryAnn not competing in a very long time, it was a true confidence builder as well!

  

After the competition, Sally LaSalle, a long time surf community member; former SLSA director and owner of the Chi sim, talked to teh crowd about why the surf community of Second Life is important and how all can be involved.  Then we were treated to Sebastian Saramago, Surf Systems Inc Creator,  speaking about “Future of Surfing Technology in SL” from his point of view.  Both Sally and Sebastian are well thought of throughout the community and the crowd was very complimentary of their presentations.  Sally’s Speech and Sebastian’s Speech can be found on the Surfwatch blog. 

 After the speeches, Syx Toshi announced the winners of the Photo Contest – 12 photos received accomodation and will be part of a calendar to be published later.  Those submitting winning photos were as follows:
1st – Livia Nayar; 2nd – CoolKat Delicsio; 3rd – Monq Pinklady; 4th – Aeryn Kidd; 5th – Rockytheskaterboy Dreadlow; 6th – Rayzza Rubble; 7th – Sunshine Zhangsun; 8th – Renn Luik; 9th – Matti Portal; 10th – Figger Arun; 11th – Maryann Maa; 12th – Rom Heungsung.
 
Then for the finale…  the SLNFL Bronco Cheerleaders cheered in the Final Event – The Beach Boys of SL concert!  For the next 1.5 hours or so, the crowd of 65+ danced, shouted, and swooned to the sounds and songs of the Beach Boys.  Definitely a great way to end a Surf event… the quintessential band for the world of surfing for the last 45 years!
 

   

Truly all in all, the biggest accolades go to Revlon Benoir and Mick Lunasea who pulled this event together.  This festival allowed all to come together and get to see and hear about the sport of Surfing in SL as well as enjoy the time with friends – new and old.  Revy and Mick totally shredded the waves by encouraging the SL Surf Community to feel the sense of unity… Can’t wait for Surf Fest III!!!
 
Let’s go surfin’ now.
Ev’rybody’s learnin’ how.
Come on a safari with me.
(Come on a safari with…)

Early in the morning we’ll be starting out.
Some honeys will be comin’ along.
We’re loading up our woodie with our boards inside,
And headin’ out singing our song.   

Come on baby, wait and see, yes
I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me. (Come on along.)
Yes baby, wait and see, yeah,
I’m gonna take you surfin’ with me.   

 Let’s go surfin’ now.
Ev’rybody’s learnin’ how.
Come on a safari with me.
(Come on a safari with…).   

   

  

~til next time…keep on surfing the waves!
~~Sunshine~~

     

~ Metamorphosis ~

/ Sunshine / Leave a comment

met·a·mor·pho·sis, the definition…

  1. change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means  
  2. a striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances
  3. a typically marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching

Before The Metamorphosis Began...

 

So, a few weeks ago, Jac and I were discussing our sim, Sol Mañanero.  We were commenting on how much we enjoyed the natural planted areas and talked about some of our favorite spots – real life and Second Life.  As we were conversing, it became evident that another change was in the air for our sim.  Jac asked me “Do we really need a commercial area?”  I replied,  “Well, when we first moved here, it was not in my top 10 wishes, but it made sense at the time…so if we don’t need to have one, I’m good with eliminating it.”   So a little time goes by (hours), and it was decided…Sol Mañanero would get back to nature.  We would have a natural beach break, no commercial, lots of plants, water features, etc.    

Within just a few days, we removed all the shops and every other prim along the shoreline and all of the public area on the sim.  We (ok…Jac is the primary terraformer and planter) got to work and started re-creating our world.  This world was to be more personal to us, designed to provide a beautiful place for people to visit and enjoy while featuring what we enjoy.    

Sol Mañanero (May 2010)

 

Jac didn’t do much to disturb our home, just the grounds around it.  Rocks have become a more important part of Sol Mañanero and these have added so much depth.  The elevation of our home and other parts of the sim really seem to be better displayed with a rocky shore line and hillsides.  We now have a beautiful, wild, jungly area that reaches down near the shoreline.  We have new waterfalls, and enhanced river and streams.  There are trails to follow so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of nature including flora and fauna.  Butterflies, hummingbirds, herons, egrets, seagulls, and cormorants are all to be found near the beach and water areas.  We have put in a stables with a beautiful green grass meadow up on one of the higher elevations, as well (my major contribution was creating the stable from parts of our home) .    

Sol Stables

 

Sol Mañanero still offers an awesome surf break with the surf waves on the sim to the west (Playa Sol Mañanero) and if you love to dive, we still have a great area for diving as well, just under the waves.  On our main sim, you will find a few sweet little places to curl up and relax or even float in the water by the primary/central falls.  You can walk the trails and explore a bit.  The Sol Stables are reached by walking along the southern water’s edge to the most east side and then up the switch back trail.  Here you will find our llamas grazing with our horses.  Feel free to bring your own horse or if you peek into the stables, you will see that we have horses available as well. Our horses accommodate both one or two avatars.  Back down near the central waterfall nearest our entry point, we offer a kayak rezzer just down the trail.  Here you can rez either a single or double kayak and head out to explore the sims via water, so very peaceful. Truly our sim is great for an activity-filled date or outing – surfing, diving, kayaking, horseback riding, walking and relaxing – all perfect for that time spent with a friend!    

Sol Mañanero Beach (May 2010)

 

River Through Sol Mañanero

 

The Central Falls of Sol Mañanero

 

Birds at the Falls

 

Kayaks in the Stream

 

Kayaking Around The Southern Shoreline

 

We had a little “open house” party on April 25th to show off what Jac had gotten done by then, but every day … there is a change he shows me and a few that I can show him.  I can not tell you how much I’ve loved this metamorphosis … it is breath-taking in so many ways.  This is our home…Sol Mañanero…and this just simply fits us…for now *smiles*  

You should visit… and see the changes.  When you do, be sure to let us know what you think!  

’til next time, keep exploring and finding the beauty of Second Life!    

~Sunshine