Monthly Archives: January 2015

Twinned Swannanoas

http://www.newsleader.com/story/life/2014/09/27/swannanoa-mysterious-mountaintop-marble-mansion/16242299/

The Dooleys called the palace Swannanoa because Sallie dearly loved the graceful white birds and the fact that they mated for life. It is possible that the name had a dual meaning as there is a river in North Carolina called Swannanoa — the Cherokee word for beautiful trail. A carving over the entrance to the mansion contains a swan and a paddle and would seem to support the theory that the word came from that region and was connected to the river there.

Then a third Swannanoa, a variant name of Petersburg, NJ according to GNIRPs. It was the site of a mansion built by one of the Ringling Brothers brothers famous for the circus. Circus animals drank the water of Lake Swannanoa Ringling created from 2 natural ponds. Another 2-n-1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Swannanoa,_New_Jersey

The name Swannanoa is reported to be “derived from the Cherokee word Suwali-Nunna, meaning ‘trail of the Suwali tribe,'”[3] however the name was used in this case under the impression that the translation is actually “the beautiful trail.” The street names within the development are all named after Native American tribes.

And then a bit down the same article we have this:

Weird Swannanoa

Due to the Ringling Brothers Circus connection, the elusive Midgetville has been rumored to be located here,[4] in addition to several other New Jersey towns. There are local legends about the ghosts of circus animals haunting the area. A human ghost is also said to haunt the retirement home located on the lake.

I was curious about this, because the 2003 independent film Station Agent was shot just in the next valley over, and starred Peter Dinkage, born with dwarfism. Again, Station Agent plays an important role in the carrcasses, namely Carrcass+6. Station Agent is centrally fused with Beatles songs from Revolver and Rubber Bullet Soul within. The song Norwegian Wood acts as a center for the 5 used songs here, itself lying in the center of 3 likewise Rubber Soul tracks (the 2 Revolver tracks as a frame for these). Norwegian Wood is now the name of a mistified Middletown neighborhood. In the synch/carrcass, Norwegian Wood highlights a possible relationship between Dinkage’s character Finbar McBride and Olivia Harris, played by Patricia Clarkson. But just as in the song, a sexual relationship is not consummated, but the two remain friends, which is more important in the end.

See here for more about Midgetville:

Small Wonders of Midgetville

Midgetville-House-1

The most credible reports of Midgetville that we’ve investigated are probably the ones that center around a remote enclave of houses in the woods of Jefferson Township in northern Morris County. Though the houses are quite small, it is this community’s close proximity to the old Ringling Brothers’ Estate which really made us wonder whether we had at last found the true Midgetville we had so long sought.

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More Crossroads

http://www.mrjumbo.com/contents/delta99/3delta/clarksdale.html

61cross49

In the Falmouth collage “2989”, set in Whitehead Crossing, the conjoined green man and the gray man face in different directions very similar to the 49/61 signs to their right. Green=61, then, and Gray=49. Together in this way, they represent the sign itself, and thus 2989 itself.

2989excerpt

I just found a red umbrella in one of my freebie Second Life purchases last night, and copied it to my inventory. Interesting to see if anything develops from that resonance.

Gray and Green Man, Pooh and his umbrella and honey pot, have reappeared in Embarras 04/05, the newest tetraptych and equaling my largest work. Examples of another tetraptych are found in both the Gilatona-Lis (last work) and Falmouth (middle work) series. Here it comes very early in a series, if this progresses onward as those other two from previous winters did.

Page about “lego philosohpy”, a concept I’d like to explore more. Legos are relatable to the Second Life prims that are used to construct objects in that particular world. Prim creation has been partially usurped by sculpties. Witness this picture and info that use to hang in Noru’s Collagesity Town Diner…

Jeogeot: West End, 03

Jeogeot West, etc., 02

… well, that’s not the actual picture by Melodie Darwin that was there but it’s a photo of the same Linden build, still found at the terminus of the West End Road. The town of WES is no longer around, however.

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Collagesity 02

Looking south down Jack Street now, named for the gallery forming its entire northern border. In contrast to nearby Church Street, this one has some vegetation along the side. It’s also about twice as wide as Church. You can see the TILE Tower in the distance, not technically a part of Collagesity but certainly within its “metro region”. If you use a 128 meter draw distance like I generally do, the tower starts coming into view about 1/2way down the street. For these photos, however, I’m employing a longer 192 meter draw.

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Looking north up same. Don’t know if that tombstone was once part of a cemetery. Have to think about that more, along with a possible relationship with SoSo’s grave behind TILE Chapel. It almost appears to lean against the back of Norum Gallery. Baker Bloch may establish an office in Norum’s vacant 1st floor room soon, as he did in Noru. But if he does, I think he’ll request that the tombstone be moved, along with any possible, attached corpse. He’ll also have to deal with the obviously unpleasant memories of his death via heart attach attack within the same room, albeit a temporary death. Okay, maybe this won’t be his Minoa office after all. 😮

Hucka D.:

The grave of Iva Ben Steppedon is also near that room. In fact, directly underneath the window in the room. Send Baker Bloch over to investigate asap. Or maybe it should be Karoz Blogger.

bb:

Thank you Hucka D.

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Interior of Gallery Jack and its centering map of Jasper County, Illinois. To remind: each of the various Art 10×10 series are named for population places in or near this county, or for the county itself. In chronological order, these are Greenup, Rose Hill, Yale, Newton, Oblong, Hidalgo, Wheeler, and then Jasper. As I said before, only the Greenup and Oblong series are not represented within Gallery Jack.

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Also in Minoa’s Collagesity is found the House of Truth, another virtual village staple of mine.

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Now it contains a very nifty view into the Great Rubi Forest through a transparent wall on its second floor. I’m sure Baker Bloch is planning to spend some time here just thinking and pondering and enjoying virtual life.

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Collagesity looking from the southeast now. I’ve turned on some additional shadings for the 2 above photos and also the remaining snapshots of this post.

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Sam Parr’s Diana statue. We can now see she’s aiming her arrow directly at a town busker, yet another Noru carryover and a GUI-tarist named Tom Joe if I recall correctly. Maybe he can deflect arrows with his guitar, if it comes to that (it won’t come to that).

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A look north up Flower Avenue toward an as yet unnamed gallery I haven’t mentioned before, containing the new and still burgeoning Embarras collage series. Can’t wait to see how that develops.

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And lastly we visit Town Park in Collagesity’s northeast section, which I worked on a couple of hours last night.

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Baker approves!

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Collagesity 01

I’ve been working on shaping up Minoa’s Collagesity next to the Great Rubi Forest for several days now. I may have reached a point of relative stability with the creation of a small but pretty cool Town Park. The railroad is gone, true, but all in all I believe that the Minoa version of Collagesity is on even keel with Noru’s version now. Let’s take a peek, shall we?

We’ll start with a map… Because I’ve been generating so many collages in the past several years, the galleries holding them now dominate the town. The axis for both Noru and Minoa Collagesity remains the Power Tower Gowlery and, especially, the more recent Falmouth Gallery containing the still quite unique Falmouth series of 61 collages. Beside this comes the Sam Parr *Library* and Gallery holding the last collage series I created in September, when I was still in Noru. There it was projected to be the Admin Building of Sam Parr State Collage, along with acting as a library and gallery. What’s the status of the college? I think it’s dead in the water presently, especially as I’ve begun a new collage series beyond Sam Parr as of a couple of weeks back, represented by what I’d number as 6 healthy art works already. If there is a college still to be created (and ex- Sam Parr State College president Karoz Blogger is still desiring such), it will probably be centered around Falmouth, and thus possibly called Fal Mouth College. A direct connection with Whitehead Crossing’s hypothetical Falmouth Castle is still implied. I’ve been thinking of WH X-ing quite a bit lately, but I’m not sure it will be a Spring hiking focus still. My back is basically healed up — excited to get *back* out there in the woods soon!

The Power Tower, Fal Mouth, and Sam Parr alignment follows the eastern border of the town (east is at the top in the below map). The next largest building in town is probably Gallery Jack, holding 6/10ths of the Art 10×10, the long term collage work that predated Gilatona-Lis (Power Tower) and Falmouth (Fal Mouth). Beyond my original Greenup series from 2004, the only digital collage series I’ve created not represented in a current town gallery is the Oblong series from 2007, which I still consider a peak creation. I’ll attempt to rectify that gap soon. But back to the map… let’s just examine some of the streets…

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We start at the west end of Church Street, named for the TILE church or chapel whose entrance is off of it. Flat Ebbe Linden, now raised to a vertical position, acts as a greeter to Collagesity from this direction. To the left is the red bricked Norum Gallery, still holding the collages of Julie Sadler. She’s changed her name since I first created this gallery in 2010 in Sunklands’ Pietmond but I always forget exactly what it is. Besides, Sadler is a map synchy name, and remains relevant because of it. In GNIRPS (map database), Sadler is connected with “*Gray*son” and “South” (Texas and Kentucky), as explained here and here a bit. The South’s Scarlet O’Hara has been included in a recent collage as well.

To the right in the below photo is the TILE Chapel, I believe I’ll call it…

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… another carryover from Noru’s Collagesity and still with the All Knowing and Wise Cracking Carrcassonnee strategically positioned within. Big Carr has been pretty silent lately, but I’m sure now that Collagesity has been rebooted she’ll have her opinions about its future. Baker just has to tune his Big Ear into the information. Additional note: I’m not sure the TILE Chapel is now connected to Sam Parr State College, as it was in Noru. Again, we’re awaiting news about Karoz Blogger before debating the school’s status further.

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A right turn takes us down Flower Avenue, perhaps the prettiest of Collagesity’s several lanes. It leads directly to the town diner, also found in Noru and containing the same objects within basically, including Head of Perch. More on that particular subject soon, I’m assuming.

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Town Diner interior, 2nd Floor

The grave of the mysterious entity known as SoSo is found in back of the TILE Chapel. The purple thing on the church’s roof with the light bulb head is a new addition to my virtual towns. Welcome to Collagesity, er, “Little Climbing Light”! (as I’m reading its name inworld).

Nice! As I’ve just checked, LCL’s creator is Agnes “Charlie” Sharple. I’ve also just visited her shop at Hugo Chavez Plaza and procured quite a few more freebie creations. Thanks Charlie!

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Interesting juxtaposition of Collagesity structures from the grave site.

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Looking east toward Sam Parr Library and Gallery. Or should that be Gallery and Library? Anyway, Diana the Huntress still points her bow and arrow directly away from it and down a small lane I’m tempted to call Arrow Street.

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Quite a collection of characters have assembled in The Plaza fronting Sam Parr. Animals and humans and aliens and robots and mystical beings alike.

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Southern terminus of Main Way, the longest street of the town. Way in the back you can spy The Cottage positioned along its northern border.

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Another Collagesity view, from over The Plaza this time. In the background you can see the side of Big Wheel Gallery, another brand new addition to my virtual villages — empty so far, however. It sits atop Gallery Jack.

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2989, etc.

The 2989 Winnie the Pooh lego set called The Big Honeypot still shows up near the top of an image search for that number. Nice.

http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/2989-1

2989 is 49 * 61. Like the famous Clarksdale road crossing…

589px-ClarksdaleMS_Crossroads

https://bakerbloch.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/so-forth-big-log/

“I think we must return to Big Log and Whitehead Crossing. ‘Your choice’ I can hear Hucka D. say in my head.”

A crossing, as symbolized by an “X”, is also a multiplication. Winnie and his Honey Pot from the lego set shows up in Embarras 04/05 now. Related to their appearances in Falmouth, esp. concerning Whitehead Crossing collages there. We must build something.

https://bakerbloch.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/diamond-beach-arkansas-beach-etc/

Pooh searches for Master Bee at 4 Sticks, crossing Big Log to enter. 4 Sticks misses him. Gift of honey stuck on knob of Big Log. This is legend. 4 Sticks knows this is Crossroads and 49 x 61 = 2989. 2989 is the Master Number. 2989 is the Master’s Number.

As I’m checking, this collage’s name is actually “2989” containing the lego set. Named after the set of course. This would be at The Emerald in WH X-ing, or just in front of it.

https://bakerbloch.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/i-dont-03/

It’s the largest Winnie the Pooh lego set. Like a city in itself. Whitehead Crossing style.

Hucka D.:

Correct. You can build one[ now].

And the green and gray man also appear in that collage, like in Embarras 04/05. In the Falmouth work they are together. In the Embarras collage they are separated on near opposite sides of a tetraptych. In Embarrass 06, the next and so far the last Embarras collage, they are again separate, and seem to frame the line of green border trees on our Middletown property. Hucka D.? Still not there. The gray being, sans hands as usual, appears to represent death. Paul McCartooney kneels beside him holding out a yellow death skull already appearing in other Embarras collages. There it seems to be a mask that the Toy King wears, maybe to hide his identity. And the Toy King reappears himself, in the shadows to the right. He is without head again, like in Embarras 02. He still holds the white and pink toy mouse. White and Pink appear together in White County, Georgia. Ariel and Pink there may represent the artist Ariel Pink, that some (well, one) compare to The Residents.

The Green Lego Man, in Falmouth collages, is often found representing The Emerald itself, like he represents the green border trees in Embarras 06. The gray being, his counterpart, seems to represent gray death, or non-green or non-living stuff. He is positioned at the end of the row of green trees, The End.

Speaking of this Green Man in the “2989” collage last year, I further say…

https://bakerbloch.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/we-have/

“Green Man is again accompanied by Gray Man, Hucka D. Just like in “Forgotten Green” and “Cover Up”, the 2 other places he appears in the Falmouth collage series so far. Gray is lack of color. But of course there’s also Gray Rock nearby with its topping Seal Stone.”

—–

I think the He-men, namely the Mossmen, hated the lego town that Winnie the Pooh and friends made. Perhaps Winnie sold his soul to the Devil to make it (Devil = 4 Sticks character?). 49×61. 2989. The town perhaps was even called 2989. It appears to be the same as Edward’s Stone or Edward Stone or Edwardston. It (the residents) must have known the connection with Mythos’ Edwardston. “Edward Stone, Hucka D.” Still nutt’n.

And it’s important to note that the Falmouth Castle/Gallery is just beyond the crossing on Big Log. They must be equated. Falmouth Castle/Gallery is a quite close match to the Second Life Falmouth Gallery, which is also called a castle by its creator (Moard Ling). The 2 are fused.

In collage “2989”, Pooh seems to study the backwards “E” that represents the lower half of Jeogeot’s Korean Channel. Now this channel has lent its name to the lower valley of Green Stream, with its top being in Whitehead Crossing. Pooh must know of this relationship too. He understands that WH X-ing is at the top of this channel. He probably knows the Second Life source. Still within the collage, the signpost 61×49 lies just above a rendition of the Falmouth Gallery, itself beside the “E” spoken about before. Pooh’s red umbrella, in Embarrass 04/05, now becomes the pivot point of the whole collage, or the center point that all revolves around. It is mirrored by the similarly red Burning Man t-shirts on opposite ends of E 04/05. The tower of Falmouth seems to point to this pivot as well in “2989”. Not quite but close. Piglet — a pig shows up in Embarrass 06 now.

In looking closer, one leg of the painter’s easle in “2989” points directly to the umbrella’s center. It is the place where Russellian opposite sexed energies, red and blue, become balanced. We’re thus talking birds and *bees* here.

Lego Town or 2989 Town is where legos top Mattel and its He-men, etc., for control of the toy avatars. They are now The King. In Embarras 04/05, the Toy King, adorned with a yellow skull mask to hide his identity, looks on as Pooh and his lego wagon with the honey pot are about to round the corner into the second half of the collage. Passage from Embarras 04 to Embarras 05, as I’m numbering them, then.

The red and blue prostrate guy in Embarras 06, certainly giving the appearance of a dead man there and so adding to the elements of yellow skull and gray colored non-life dude beside him, first appears in the Falmouth series in a collage called “Rescue Ship”. Let’s look at part of the interpretation…

https://bakerbloch.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/nother-test/

collage83base11

Hucka D.:

…. Beemen [next collage in the Falmouth series] is an extension of “Rescue Ship” coming immediately before it. What is the ship? It appears to be the Pieland Second Lyfe island a bit out in the ocean. Are you asleep?

bb:

No.

Hucka D.:

… out in the ocean with the cat-turtle. The cat-turtle is related to the Green Turtle of Little Whitehead, which has now moved through the time/space portal to Monhegan Island, Maine. This is the Little Whitehead portal. Some art has moved to the location as well — by a group called Little Whitehead. This includes the floating, apparently dead red and blue fellow, and also the group of people staring at the far cliff. That far cliff is Whitehead; the body floats off Little Whitehead. The red and blue man oppositions the Green Turtle on the rocks to the left. The red and blue man didn’t make it to Little Whitehead, really, even though he was created by Little Whitehead. The red and blue fellow is like the red and blue robots surrounding Seven Stones just beside Green Turtle here — we’re still on “Rescue Ship”.

bb:

The red and blue robots can’t make a proper, true animation with each other, as I’ve theorized about before. They oppose each other instead, butt heads and so forth.

Hucka D.:

They are not a true Allen Knob. This is a past war between Whitehead Crossing and NORRIS. Who triumphed? Who ever triumphs in a war? Soon civilizations will fall anyway, whether victors or not. Think of the Anglo-Saxons.

bb (looking):

4 Sticks Dude’s cane points to the top of the rocks; it’s positioned on the rocks, I suppose. And he stands on a branch projecting out from the tree that forms the largest Little Whitehead bridge in Whitehead Crossing.

Hucka D.:

The only true bridge[ now].

bb:

But now the bridge — in this collage — leads to Maine and its fairy laden Monhegan Island. This is the portal you speak of.

Hucka D.:

This is the portal.

bb:

Green Turtle seems to be a pivot between realities.

Hucka D.:

Yes!

bb:

It appears in Little Whitehead, obviously. And it also appears or can appear on Little Whitehead in Maine, on this island.

Hucka D.:

Absolutely. Actually isn’t too hard to do.

So, as I’m looking at this, the red-blue “Little Whitehead” dead dude serves a similar function in this Falmouth collage as it does later in Embarrass 06. It is contrasted with a green being (Green Turtle formation in “Rescue Ship”; Green lego man in “Embarras 06), that represents life, or going through a door beyond death. The Green Turtle is one of the 7 wonders of Whitehead Crossing (check). It acts as a portal maker. This naturally leads to discussion of “Beemen”, the next collage of Falmouth, and a central one, perhaps. Here we also have a direct extension of the lego town in “2989” coming several collages before it in the Falmouth series. The legos of “Beemen” are positioned on what seems to be Edward Stone, or the closest approximation I can find of it so far. Edward Stone can *just* be seen in the background in “2989”. This is about production of legos. This is about building. What is someone doing at the crossing now?

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Where to now?

New collage series is churning along. Embarras is still the name, I believe (pronouced: AM-braw, like the river that flows through Jasper County Illinois). I’m up to collage #6. Already I have a tetraptych and a diptych. All are based on photos and images of Middletown. Will I shift into other locations, perhaps a return to England and Wiltshire or the Lake District? Maybe Whitehead Crossing again, or some other spot from Frank or Herman Parks. Will have to start writing interpretations soon enough. But for now I think I’ll just gather images together — play around with them.

Collagesity is also starting to shape up finally. I have a number of collage galleries, and I’m putting the new stuff in what was called SoSo West — still might be called SoSo but I haven’t settled on a name yet. I’m just busying myself gathering images, as stated. Maybe Hucka D. can help. He likes to talk about the collages.

Hucka D.:

What do you want to shift into next? Middletown should probably remain a focus.

bb:

I agree. Sorry…

Hucka D.:

I agree. Collage 6 is about Future Home. You see The End. Like Baker Bloch saw the end in Collagesity Noru-style. He saw Many Islands, which is the end. Coming to join you Elizabeth and all that. But it is a mixture of you and your father. Study the individual elements. That row of green border trees is key. It begins and it ends, just like life. Count the trees. Go back.

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Embarras 06 base

embarras06base01

embarras06base02

embarras06baseall

Test:

embarras06test15

embarras06a01

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new SL gallery

2/17/15 update: This was originally called SoSo, but about a week or 2 ago changed over to The Red Umbrella, a brand new development in my virtual villages.

Snapshot1002_001

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Chats

“Hucka D., small chat tonight.”

Hucka D.:

Embarras is going well, I hear. Rolling along. This time you’ll create 20. Add it to Sam Parr. Study Sam Parr. Thank you.

bb:

The first is set on Cherry Avenue. As are the 4th and 5th as I’m numbering them. The third is from neighboring Lime Street, also in the Cherry-Lime community and inside the Middletown Circle. The second is an oddball in this respect, because the base setting is Goth Hill to the west.

Hucka D.:

[As yet] undisclosed relation between them. Thank you.

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Embarras 04 tests (bigger one!)

Part 1 test

cherry01ab

Part 2 test

cherry02ac

Part 3 test

embarras04cc

Part 4 test

embarras04df

All together test! (old)

cherry15aasmaller

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