Category Archives: Estate

December 29, 2014 · 2:44 pm

we know more

Baker *Beach*…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man#1986_to_1989

One of the roots of the annual event now known as Burning Man began as a bonfire ritual on the summer solstice in 1986 when Larry Harvey, Jerry James, and a few friends met on Baker Beach in San Francisco[8] and burned a 9-foot (2.7-meter) wooden man as well as a smaller wooden dog. Harvey has described his inspiration for burning these effigies as a spontaneous act of “radical self-expression”.[9] …. In 1987, the effigy grew to almost 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall, and by 1988, it had grown to around 40 feet (12 meters). Burning Man attendees informally called it “The Man,” and this name was given to each successive effigy, every year since Burning Man began.

Harvey stated that he did not see the movie The Wicker Man until many years later, so it played no part in his inspiration.

https://bakerbloch.wordpress.com/2014/11/14/more-map-stuff-01/

Returning to Lock Ness and Cherry Island:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Island_%28Loch_Ness%29

A castle stood on the island during the 15th century; this was constructed of stone and oak wood and was probably used as a fortified refuge. It has been suggested that Eilean Muireach may have been a hunting lodge, with Eilean Nan Con the home for the hunting dogs.[1]

Cherry Island = (residence of) man.

Dog Island = (residence of) dog.

Dog was forgotten about or submerged in time (after 1986 apparently). Man remained, sans smaller companion. Burning Man is bourne.

Burning Man is also a primary inspiration for Linden Labs’ Second Life, also in San Francisco like Baker Beach. An inworld event called Burn2 (originally Burning Life) has virtually attempted to recreate the excitement of Real Life’s Burning Man since 2003.

—–

More Burning Man:

Cacophony Society connection, c1989:

http://ljmichel.com/burningman/burningman.html

From the mouth of those involved, including more cacophonists (interesting, for example, that The Man may have started out as The Woman):

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/events/Hot-Mess.html

A pivotal year was 1996. Burning Man could become Woodstock or Altamont. The safer route was picked, which was inevitable. Else the whole event would be nuked.

Philip Linden Says Second Life Must Evolve Beyond Burning Man Era

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/09/burning-man.html

When Philip Linden resigned as CEO last year, I asserted that “The Burning Man era of Second Life is over.” But it is one thing for me to say that, and quite another for Philip himself to compare Second Life to Burning Man, and not just in the positive sense of a place that fosters freeform creation in an egalitarian community, as he always has — but tellingly, also in its most limiting connotation:

Presently, Second Life still isn’t very accessible – most people still don’t have the time to get over the steep learning curve and get to the amazing stuff inside. Similarly, the total number of people willing to drive 3 hours from Reno into the middle of a barren desert carrying a week’s worth of drinking water and food is limited.

At the moment, as Philip notes (having just returned from another Black Rock jaunt himself), Burning Man has reached a plateau of about 50,000 attendees. (As it happens, that’s roughly the number of Second Life users in-world at any given time.) This, he says, must change:

Try not to cling too tightly to what we have now. The design, the UI, the orientation experience, the tools – all these need to change, a LOT, for Second Life to become accessible to hundreds of millions. Those changes are sometimes going to be disruptive and painful… But a bigger part of my heart wants to see it reach everyone, and so we must evolve.

Background:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070205/secondlife_cover.art.htm

(continued in: tale wag)

Big Island Revisited 01

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Pons

bb:

Hucka D, you have to be aware of these little synchronicities in research: Green and Adair conjunction in Oklahoma in two separate places.

—–

“I found a pink cone near August, West Virginia. Pinkie… the wee-est. Mysterious movings of this cone mentioned here. Pinkie is Peter, again.”

http://www.traveling219.com/stories/elkins-marlinton/pink-cone/

—–

Loose Thoughts…

But here’s the reason I’m sure that Derleth should be invoked here: the presence of a Pons sim immediately east of Chesaux, and then the presence of *Holmes* sim directly east of that — all in a row. Derleth saw his character Solar *Pons*, similarly, as a direct successor to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock *Holmes*. Yet as Hucka D. has already discussed, Pons and Holmes are also the names of comets, and thus their conjunction here in the Comet Archipelago may have nothing to do with a Derleth homage, but just one of those happy or meaningful “accidents” that seems to occur with such frequency when dealing with SL mythology.

—–

Dr. Bloodmoney:

http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/5/jameson5art.htm

—–

Book found in New Wells (hole behind Hucka D.’s lakeside cottage in Chesaux, covered by Tron arcade game). On front is Blood Dr., on back is Dr. Blood. The book read from back is different from one read from first. It is a 4d book. It is found in the hole, or in direct conjunction with the hole. This is new material. The book is *not* Philip Dick’s Dr. Bloodmoney, but there still may be a relationship. It is a red book. Or blue book. Or both. Purest Green inside?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst

Players assume the role of an unnamed person known as the Stranger, who stumbles across an unusual book titled “Myst”. The Stranger reads the book and discovers a detailed description of an island world called Myst. Placing his hand on the last page, the Stranger is whisked away to the world described, and is left with no choice but to explore the island.[7][8] Myst contains a library where two additional books can be found, colored red and blue. These books are traps that hold Sirrus and Achenar, the sons of Atrus, who once lived on Myst island with his wife Catherine. Atrus writes special “linking books” that transport people to the worlds, or “Ages”, that the books describe. From the panels of their books, Sirrus and Achenar both tell the Stranger that Atrus is dead, Sirrus hypothesizing that he must have died since he hasn’t returned from looking for evidence against them, while Achenar claims Sirrus murdered him. Both plead for the Stranger to help them escape. However, the books are missing several pages, so the sons’ messages are at first unclear, and riddled with static.

As the Stranger continues to explore the island, more books linking to more Ages are discovered hidden behind complex mechanisms and puzzles. The Stranger must visit each Age, find the red and blue pages hidden there, and return to Myst Island. These pages can then be placed in the corresponding books. As the Stranger adds more pages to these books, the brothers can speak more clearly. Each brother maintains that the other brother cannot be trusted. After collecting four pages, the brothers can talk clearly enough to tell the Stranger where the fifth page is hidden. If the Stranger gives either brother their fifth page, they will be free. The Stranger is left with a choice to help Sirrus, Achenar, or neither.[9]

Both brothers beg the Stranger not to touch the green book that is stored in the same location as their last pages. They claim that it is a book like their own that will trap the Stranger. In truth, it leads to D’ni, where Atrus is imprisoned. When the book is opened, Atrus asks the Stranger to bring him a final page that is hidden on Myst Island; without it, he cannot bring his sons to justice. The game has several endings, depending on the player’s actions. Giving either Sirrus or Achenar the final page of their book causes the Stranger to switch places with the son, leaving the player trapped inside the Prison book. Linking to D’ni without the page Atrus asks for leaves the Stranger and Atrus trapped on D’ni. Linking to D’ni with the page allows Atrus to complete his Myst book and return to the island.[9] Upon returning to the library, the player finds the red and blue books gone, and burn marks on the shelves where they used to be.

Myst is a direct antecedent to Second Life, especially translated through legendary explorer Salazar Jack.

—–

Quoting again from this:

Loose Thoughts…

No coincidence, either, that Hucka D. becomes involved, early on in his SL existence, with the audiovisual synchronicity Tronesis, with music provided by the Peter Gabriel led version of Genesis. Peter/Pinky, in a way, is Peter Gabriel as well, as seen in the celestial mechanics of the Cross of the Lamb.

This has to do with a lot of other things, apparently, like (perhaps) the fact that the Mole Hill convexity on the island appears as a Mountain from a distance (another WV or West Virginia idea). Speaking of which, the *sealed* hole also represents West Virginia, I think, especially The Jug region of Middle Creek Island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Island_Creek#The_Jug

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, Azure Islands-, MAPS, Oklahoma, West Virginia

June 23, 2014 · 7:08 pm

I might be staying in Hector/Rubi now.

Things seem to be swinging in the opposite direction now. Noru Museum, when completed, will be capstone of my experience in that sim. Parktown and Chilbo are still around, but reduced. Nothing left in Noru, essentially, except for what I’m building. No chance to expand beyond what I have, really, because of mandatory and necessary tier cost cap. Can’t expand to 1/4th sim any longer except for a month or 2 at most. Actually, no need to now. VWX Town, Rubi was a peak in that respect. And VHX City in Heterocera is still a viable force, unlike Chilbo, really (or Parktown). Now must study the *history* of Jeogeot. Nothing in Noru — but the Rubi Forest is still in Rubi and directly next to my Hector lot. Might even put up my Noru parcel for sale tonight or in the next couple of days. Take Hector/Rubi off the market.

Future site of Last Stone Bar?

Biking past the Rubi Forest on the way to Collagesity.

Visiting a friend’s mandala creation in Burning Life. Check her blog out.

Top Row, probably the original row of stones in Hector.

Hidden amongst the trees now: Noru Museum — in *Hector*.

The always beautiful yet terminally short lived Home o’ Fibs.

The Waterfall House has returned — still the Rubi Museum?

Corner Stone.

Return of Pietmond — Kinda

Baker Bloch sits under the lower wall of Mysten Parva, one of the twin cities of Mysten in Lower Austra owned and created by psimagus Hax. “Is this really my virtual home?” he might ask himself while sitting here. Turns out it’s probably not.

Soon Baker began work on illegals builds again in the old Teepot area, just like he did in the Mysten/Siliconicus/Goremoor area earlier this year. A forest with a considerable number of plant species suddenly springs up next to the version of the House of Truth already there, also containing a shed, several monuments, and some other, assorted objects Baker found in his inventory and thought worthy of inclusion. So is Baker destined to return to Teepot? Turns out that’s probably not going to happen either.

A perceived center within this new forest… really an extension of the forest I already set up there around the House of Truth 2 years ago now.

Although severely depopulated from when I first came upon it, Sunklands still retains some classic spots, such as Q’s Gas n’ Glass in the Pudding Hill sim making up part of Big Sink (largest of 6 identified sinks of Sunklands). I’d also like to write soon about Kidd Road now connecting Big Sink with the Blackmount Sink in essence, which is not Linden built but privately made. That’s actually something of an improvement over the old Sunklands, acting as a unifying artery of transportation cutting across its heartland. Although tenuous, Sunklands still shows promise.

Which brings us to *Pietmond*. Yes, Pietmond has been reborn and now represents the true virtual home of Baker Bloch, not Lower Austra, not Teepot, not Big Sink even. But since Pietmond is in Sunklands as well, Baker Bloch is a Sunklander once more. Ich bin ein Sunklander (etc.). And probably not by coincidence, I’ve basically decided to create a new domain name called sunklands.com. Probably should go ahead and register it — I was kind of surprised the name was still available to be honest.

For the rebirth, we start on the western edge, where I revamped a small park containing a central pond and waterfall surrounded by small hillocks. Since creating this park about 2 years ago, someone — perhaps about a year ago I suppose — decided to insert a plain prim (“plywood”) block on basically the top of the waterfall, of about 10mx10mx20m dimensions. Ugly, obviously — ruined the effect. So although I couldn’t move or delete the thing, I decided to disguise it as a building, or the structure I’ve elsewhere called Home Orange, and used as my main office space in given locations. Unfortunately since the hidden prim is solid and not phantom, I can’t actually use the building. But it certainly looks better than before. Because the building looks kind of odd sitting on top of the waterfall, I also decided to add an obelisk to the tableau, and in the center of the fronting pool itself. This helps hide the rather incongruent juxtaposition of building and waterfall, I hope.

Baker Bloch here sits in the Orange House (not to be confused with Home Orange!), which is another new edition to Pietmond and perched on the ridge above the aforementioned park — I guess I’ll call it Obelisk Pond Park. Nice view of the park from the lower floor here. Again, Orange House has been in a considerable number of virtual towns of my making now, including the oldest and most long term version of Pietmond, where it acted as Baker’s office for several months.

Another obelisk/monument has been inserted to the south of the pool as well (pictured above the edge of Baker Bloch’s couch here), making the appellation Obelisk Pond all the more appropriate.

Newly positioned Orange House seen over top of Peter SoSo’s grave and between House Greenup (right) and House of Truth (left). The House of Truth, in new version Pietmond, has replaced the circular gazebo formerly situated at the same spot. However, the House of Truth sat on this spot during most of the classic Pietmond phase, making the switch a natural. This gazebo would shortly return to Pietmond, as we’ll soon see.

Now to the eastern side of Pietmond, where more significant changes have taken place. So first I worked on the westernmost parts of Pietmond and then then easternmost parts, seeming to need to reinforce the frame for the whole. First off, I rebuilt the old Pietmond Heights Town Hall (left) which had fallen into disrepair in the meantime and was, for example, missing the whole front wall. Now it’s in better shape, although the interior is still unfinished, and likely will remain so. It’s more a historic landmark for certain now, which is fine for me. Next, we have an Arcadia Asylum built shop in the left background, where formerly no building sat. It doesn’t have a history yet. In the center of the picture we find the return of the “Brash” statue to eastern Pietmond, but further east than when it found a home in the center of Pietmond Heights, as seen here in this 2011 Baker Blinker Blog post. I do not own the land at the center of Pietmond Heights now, although it is for sale and perhaps I can procure it later on (1024 parcel). Anyway, around Brash are pieces of the old Newton-Jasper memorial park also present in older versions of Pietmond, including a map of Jasper County, Illinois and a ribbed fountain with a deciduous tree of uncertain species growing beside it. Brash’s head, which he is standing on (as in a head stand) is basically covered by a blue flower bush — concealment meaning unknown for now. Is Brash also *bash*ful?

To the right we find the moat surrounded Smelly’s Bar, present in Pietmond since its 2010 beginnings, and then another new edition in Pietmond beside it in the below picture: the Sync Lair Gallery, first found in Maebaleia’s Carcass-One village earlier this year.

The Rose Cottage, another Fatima Ur creation like House Greenup and House of Truth but smaller and cosier in design, has been erected on the only land I actually owned in Pietmond at the time this picture was taken. This may be the site of Baker Bloch’s new, official office, but I’m still uncertain of that, and another candidate has especially surfaced in the meantime just across the sink from here. All is still in development.

The handstanding Brash seen in the distance from behind Goldie, making a very nice set of east-west bookends to Pietmond.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, Jeogeot, Lower Austra, Nautilus, Pietmond-, Sunklands, Teepot+

October 27, 2012 · 7:22 am

Lion’s Roar Tomorrow…

… and will probably just turn over the bottles to keep them from breaking, along with taking down the 37 pieces of track. Just like with Billfork, I can rebuild all this later. I still have some bottles set up in Billfork, but they are reversed and stuck in the ground itself. The ones at Lion’s Roar are standing upright.

The problem? Why Hurricane Sandy of course. There’s a very good chance for some accumulation of snow (a rarity even in these higher elevations for October) and also high winds are expected. I can’t take a chance with my bottles smashing. Good news out of this? I think I can just leave my pots and non-glass objects where they are there.

So winter is almost here, at least an early taste. Batten down the hatches as they say!

—–

Knock:

The town will still be here, as they say. You don’t need the physical town to have a town. Lion’s Roar will always be there.

bb:

Thanks Knock.

Knock:

Wallace3, please.

Wallace3:

Sorry[ once more]. Soooo….

Knock:

We must have addition spirits, as I think Hucka D., your Hucka Doobie, would agree.

Wallace3:

Return to Second Life.

Knock:

Probably. Any ideas?

Wallace3:

I’m from Jeogeot, so I just could establish a base there again.

What I “have” still:

Am I still a refuge from Jeogeot? Pietmond has been destroyed for 9 months now. Boris was very short lived. I should ask Knock — as Wallace3 I mean. But I think he would encourage me to return to Jeogeot, to write the history of that continent. Can I do this from Nautilus instead? No, he would probably answer. So I have several options. The most attractive, actually, may be Noru again. The Centre.