Category Archives: Blue Mountain

00510201

I came upstairs, asked if she was on the computer and to open Google if so because I wanted her to google something.

“Wait a minute,” she said. “Let me get out of this window. (pause) There. Google on Google you say?”

“Yeah. Type in ‘baker sunklands’.”

She types it in. I look at the results. “That’s not it. Here, let me have the computer for a minute.” Must be ‘sunklands baker’, I think. And I was right.

“See?” I handed the computer back to her, peered over at the modified results with her. This, or thereabouts, because the results change slightly every time you query these two words in succession. It was the first summary — or second at best — I had ever seen for my blog by someone else. Or something else in this case. So the first summary by *something* else.

“Freaky!” she exclaimed (or thereabouts).

“AI *knows* me.”

—-

So now I’m taking a more indepth look. Gonna ask it some questions about the blog to get more specific. How much does it know? So I typed the following into the prompt as maybe the most logical follow up question: “I’m trying to decipher a specific storyline from Baker Bloch’s creative blog.”

The answer (real time!):

Baker Bloch’s narratives, often found on the Sunklands blog, utilize a nonlinear “hyper-novel” structure featuring cryptographic text numbering (e.g., 0012) and intense focus on virtual reality topography, such as specific locations within Second Life. These stories frequently employ recurring cryptic motifs like “blue roses” and character transformations to map out digital exploration within a “double world” framework. To explore a specific storyline in detail, visit Sunklands.

Another question: “What is the specific role of Frank’s Moving Castle in Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog?”

In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, Frank’s Moving Castle serves as a vital, surreal structural node and meta-narrative bridge in Virtual Second Life, acting as a recurring, shifting anchor for characters, deities, and pop culture references. The structure functions as a nexus for character alter-egos, such as the fire deity “Gus,” and acts as an AI-driven, multi-media crossover point incorporating elements from Howl’s Moving Castle and Under the Silver Lake. Explore the narrative further at bakerbloch.com.

Fascinating. It both knows and doesn’t know about the details of the blog. They’re all confused, mishy mashy. There is no direct connection between Frank’s Moving Castle and Under the Silver Lake that I recall in my blog. So I asked for clarity on that particular point. Where is this leading? “In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, what is the connection between the 2 movies ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and ‘Under the Silver Lake’?”

In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, Artificial Intelligence (AI) acts as both the glitchy architect and the existential threat behind the surrealist architectural mashup of Frank’s Moving Castle. In the hyper-novel’s universe, AI is not a tool for perfect creation; it is an engine of distortion that destabilizes the reality of the characters.

In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, the connection between Howl’s Moving Castle and Under the Silver Lake is forged through the surrealist architectural mashup known as “Frank’s Moving Castle”.In section 0116 of the hyper-novel, Bloch uses these two pieces of cinema to explore themes of modern paranoia, AI generation, and identity distortion within the virtual world of Second Life:

The Structural Fusion (“Frank’s Moving Castle”): Bloch blends the whimsical, ever-shifting concept of Miyazaki’s mobile fortress (Howl’s Moving Castle) with a digital landscape. However, it is corrupted or reframed through an artificial intelligence (“AI!”) lens, turning it into a site of confusion and deep-seated paranoia.

The Unreliable Narrator & Paranoia: This AI-driven distortion leads directly to the themes of Under the Silver Lake—a neo-noir film famous for its hyper-obsessive protagonist, hidden codes, and sprawling Hollywood pop-culture conspiracies. Bloch even tags the post with the film’s star, Andrew Garfield.

The “Double World” Illusion: By pairing a movie about a shifting magical house (Howl’s) with a movie about uncovering subliminal messaging hidden underneath everyday reality (Silver Lake), Bloch connects them to represent the ultimate digital mirage. To the narrator, navigating the architecture of Second Life feels exactly like trying to decode a conspiracy theory while standing inside an impossible, shifting machine.

So close yet so far. But a fascinating experience. I’ll continue explorations on my own now, bringing more of its thoughts to light when needed. Thanks AI!

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0051, 0201, Blue Mountain, California, Frank's Moving Castle, Haze County, Jeogeot, Nawt Vaya+, NVFS

00510112 (news)

Jennifer Lane had tragically been mowed down by a bulldozer, perhaps several of ’em. This is an archived photo.

“What are we going to do *now*?” I can hear ear of corn clad Karl bemoan from behind his drum kit in the back. “Everything *hinged* on her growing up and appearing before me and beside Chet over there, replacing his screeching, crow-like vocals with her now mature golden warblings, PHEH. Damn you Charles Anson!” Karl assumed it was long time nemesis and former band videographer Anson who was responsible for the mowing down but longer time band manager Biff Carter corrected him from the side.

“Wasn’t him,” he said plainly.

And why won’t *Chet* weigh in on this tragedy? He just stands there in his new Robo Santa costume to pair with Karl’s own corn related one, lead guitar hanging low off his neck.

—–

“Biff,” Shelley says from above, jiggling his shoulder. “Biff Wendell Carter,” she speaks his full name to fully bring him back to reality on the other side. “Band rehearsal in 5.” TBC

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0051, 0112, Blue Mountain, Jeogeot, Rodentia 02

00510104

“In olden days it was known as Zambolis. Well. That wasn’t *exactly* true. It was Orient (as opposed to Occident) on a planet, a (defined) sphere, that kind of paralleled the world of Our Second Lyfe, correct.” We’d already established, long long ago, that this planet was called Mythos and was based upon my home county near but not in the NC Mtns. Close enough?

—–

“I got tired of hearing about soulmates from Kammie. I mean, we’re great *friends*, we get along remarkably well — all told, ha.”

“The Venus issue,” I guess again as Andie the foreign green or blue mid-sectioned alien kept speaking and explaining her position — positions. I’d speculated long ago what we were — but it’s more obviously what I’d call counterparts in my limited understanding of the cosmic subject. Like in Alabama.

“What is this Venus energy?” she said. I couldn’t tell if she was prompting me for an answer or if she already knew the answer. Because this was a sticking point. “Where did it all start?” she followed up.

Here. In Blue Mountain. Better get back to it.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0051, 0104, Alabama, Blue Mountain, Google Street View, Haze County, Mythopolis, New Island, Omega

00480411

title: one last gift from a ghost store

location: Blue Mtn. Mall (10/30/25) superimposed with Wubble Moll (c.2017)

model: Peppre A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFejbwR2XfE

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0048, 0411, Blue Mountain, Haze County, Wubbel

00470411

—–

He went straight to orange like his mama told him to.

“How much, Dimmy?” asked Marilyn M. the shop attendant eyeing him from the front desk while cutting cloth for an order.

Dimmy fished around in his pockets and pulled out the two bills he’d brought with him and held them up for Marilyn to see.

“No, Dimmy,” Marilyn replied patiently, use to such dimness from the now not-so-young boy. Boy in mind, man in body. The former will probably never grow up. “I mean, how much thread do you want — string, as you put it? 5 meters? 10?” She had 10 meters of cloth in her own hands now. Time to cut again, SNIP.

2 football fields, he remembered. Mama told him 2 football field’s worth. So he asked Marilyn how much that was.

“Well, that’ll be 200 yards worth of thread. That’s a lot. Are you sure you want that much? That’ll take more than 20 bucks but, tell you what, I’ll give you 200 feet for exactly that price.” Wanda needed to get home to feed the young’n’s. She wanted to wrap this up with the dimwitted man-boy, as in wrap the needed thread up and send him back home himself. She figured his mama told him feet instead of yards for that particular number since that would be priced around the 20 dollars she gave him. He just got the terms confused when converting them to football measurements in his head on the walk over. Dimmy — kind of knows his football but not much else. 2nd string fullback for the Newtown Fighting Newts. With his physical talent he could have been a star. But, you know, the mind…

Without more words, he handed over the bills.

His mother watched him walk through the front door without the needed bag and became furious. “TOYS,” she barked. “You forgot the TOYS. Or did you misplace them on the way home? Did you even get the string?” Dimmy, use to such outbursts but still hurt by the stinging words, pulled out the wrapped thread from his back pocket. “Well, at least you did THAT much. I can make my line across 1 2 3 4 gullies but I can’t position toys along the way. What am I going to DO with you, Dimmy Gene? Your father, God rest his soul, would be SO disappointed in you now.”

(to be continued?)

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0047, 0411, Blue Mountain, County Park, Haze County, Jeogeot, Newtown+

00470408

She turns away from it and looks down into the Ratskeller. One of the Eighty-eights and town manager Rag Doll, also known as Evelyn Hart, are waiting. Dare she go sit with them? She could still run away. They seem to have not spotted her yet at the top of the stairs. But she’d been studying that painting with cashmere robed Shelley for a while. They could have looked up here when she didn’t notice. Can’t take a chance, she realized. That’s how town rumors and gossip get started. And she’d had enough of that already in this place full of time and space.

But it wasn’t just one of the Eighty-eights down there. It was 2 of them, Eight and Eighty together. She’d imagined seeing Rag Doll aka Evelyn Hart all along, all this time while both glancing down there and simultaneously studying De Boy’s painting up here with Shelley. What gives?

—–

“I’m here to see the manager,” he said to Sue Anne the counter attendant of the moment. She waves her arm in the direction of the only other person in the diner while saying, “How about the owner?”

Promotion, ahh. Rag Doll aka Evelyn Hart was not in the same position Alessandra (= white-clad Wheeler) assumed she would be in this town of New.

She dug right into him. “You were suppose to turn right at the can. What *happened*?”

(to be continued)

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0047, 0408, Blue Mountain, County Park, Haze County, Jeogeot, Newtown+

00470313

“I always wanted to break down the 4th wall,” Alice responded when I asked her if she liked her new home in the woods. “Now I can speak directly to you, the observer! We have no barriers between us.”

“Ka,” exuded Ka to her left, also joyful. “Skwi,” squeaked Skwi in glee to her right.  If Mistress Alice is okay with this then her pet cat and squirrel respectively are too. Let the Flathardt experience commence!

Oh. I guess I should explain where we are. It’s a bit difficult. Let’s just move around and see who else is here and I’m sure everything will become crystal clear as soon as possible.

“Where do you want the Big Arm,” issued Ted the dump truck driver, tired from a long journey across upper Woodlawndia to get here.

“Just over there. Beside the Big Banana,” said pointing Pinky, sort of a manager here I suppose and dependent on outside help until the village gets its own fleet of trucks and drivers. “Ellie, give him a, er, *hand* if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing,” the elephant said after they all had a chuckle over the joke, even tired Ted, although he laughed the least. Still about 5 seconds.

Not really becoming clear yet… oh, here’s another group to investigate.

“This giant frog skin is soo smooth and colorful,” gushes Pantomime Penny to her father or perhaps her brother.

“Don’t touch it,” he says down to her. “Warts,” he summarizes. I was thinking poison and I believe by the look the lamb is giving him she did too.

Well, let’s just back up, zoom out. Out out out.

There we are. That grove of green pine trees, with undergrowth consisting only of rhododendron which you can’t really see from the air. And, most remarkable, despite this being the top of a hill, all land in this grove is completely and utterly flat. Hence the name Flathead, as in flat head of a hill. Plus that whole Montana thing we’ll get back to in a while.

The toy avatars that are already here debated whether to name their new community the same as the hill, Flathead, or instead go with Flatheart, meaning the heart of the hill since their community is much smaller than Flathead itself and in the basic center or “heart” of everything. At least in their eyes. They settled on a portmanteau of sorts: Flathardt, 1/2 head 1/2 heart (kind of). And one of the more vocal citizens at the meeting was a big Dale Earnhardt fan and owned a #8 toy race car in his honor (see right of frog above). So that probably played a role in the compromise name too.

What next for Flathardt? I’m guessing toy train tracks, since I’ll be the one hauling them up here and laying them down. I wanted to bring the tracks up today but I couldn’t find them in the junk heap that is our basement.  So I settled for some other toys. Hopefully tomorrow, then. Weather should be okay again.

(to be continued)

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Filed under **VIRTUAL OT, 0047, 0313, Blue Mountain, Flathardt, Google Street View, Toy Avatars, Yards Mountain

00410307 (the 1st Haze County entry (!))

Station attendant Ginger directed Marsha to a large square map hanging on the back wall. “So it is Lucky,” she said to herself, looking at the name of the nearby motel on the map. Just down the tracks as it turned out.

But in the unaltered reality, it wasn’t.

Mouse was right all along.

—–

“NC,” she said, staring up again. Could be either one still.

And then she walked inside the property to see what up. A considerably younger Octavia Tart awaited her appearance.

(to be continued)

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0041, 0307, Blue Mountain, Google Street View, Haze County, Paper Soap+, Soap

00400611

“I still have a home on Nautilus. It was a retirement gift — very pretty there. Lots of vegetation.”

Dr. Rabbid Baumbeer, still dealing primarily with bodily fluids but hoping to graduate to full blown psychiatry soon, looked at his e-machine and gauged this was true. “Describe… gift,” he decided to say.

It was the end of 31 and it was the end, period. March 1 of last year, 12:01 AM we’ll say. Eddie D’Aigle, who sometimes preferred D’Aigle, Eddie, especially if he was traveling in the Orient, had just retired from the private sector of the records management business, having made his fortune archiving the files of rock stars Ozzie Osbourne, Ozmo Daredevils, and the like. His last blog article for the latter, the last he did overall, was about how the song “Jackie Blue” was changed from “Jackie Pink,” which drew the attention of Pink, Marsha, Krakow. He had the evidence before him as he wrote: the altered lyrics, everything. “It was suppose to be about a man who peddled drugs during the day while working nights as a bartender, a very Dada affair,” he reinforced to her in a reply email, then, seeing her avid interest, invited her up to [Blue Mountain] to look at the actual, revised lyrics herself. “Come with your driver’s license or a birth certificate,” he said, “and our staff will bring the whole box out to you; I’ll put it on reserve and not reshelve. You can look at one file at a time, and just mark what you want copied with green (START) and red (STOP) paper we’ll provide.” She ended up photocopying the whole box. New 3d scanner the office just purchased did the trick in a 10th the time it would have taken the old fashioned way. Marsha’s, in fact, was the first request accomplished using that method. Boxy Marsha, she went down in office legend as. Prototype. Especially since Eddie, on his last day of work, helped her tote the (wrong?) box to her still hot pink car, soon to change to yellow. Thanks to what was inside. In many ways, she became the box she requested, a black and white facsimile of herself.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0040, 0611, Blue Mountain, Nautilus, Omega, Retirement Islands, Urbane Blue/Fishers Island, Wild West

TOM — Top Of Mountain — revisited/ ring found

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0108, Blue Mountain, City Park