Music and other things - a gentle ramble

Hello everyone

As many of you will know, one of my great pleasures in world is playing my flute. This is something I am utterly incapable of out there in the outside world, and I have always been envious of those who could pick up a musical instrument and play anytime they liked (yes, I know it takes a lot of work and practice to reach that stage, it's just that even with the practice I was as tuneful as a bucket of rocks rolling downhill!).

I certainly don't class myself as a musician, not like those wonderful live performers who so enrich our communities, but I was looking yesterday at the work I put in to bring just one tune into our world. First, I have to source the sheet music for the tune, checking that it is not too complex for the restrictions scripting puts on us - Wagner's Ring Cycle would have to be done in small chunks! Then, if the score goes outside the range of my flute, I have to transpose key (and boy, have I made some errors doing that!). The score has to be transcribed (each note changed from the musical notation to a code the script will recognise) by hand - sitting on the couch while doing this is my favorite, though I can not listen to music at the same time because the tunes get mixed up!

Once the score is ready, I copy it into the world in a notecard, thankfully no uploading fees! Then it I copy it into my flute's HUD, and it is ready for testing! This is when the real disasters show up, though I am getting better at it, and at tracking down my mis-encoded notes. Sometimes, if there are just too many notes in a tune, I get a "exceeds length, truncating at.." message, and the whole thing has to be junked. But usually, I reach a stage where I am reasonably happy with the results.

This is where the hard work really begins to pay off for me. I love just stopping somewhere and starting to play, watching other people stop and listen, until there is a small group clustered round. I guess this is the nearest to playing a real instrument I will ever get, and the feeling is wonderful! Even when there is no-one around I play, creating a mood around me by careful choice of what I am playing.

It's not an activity that brings in Linden, certainly not enough to cover the effort of bringing new tune in, and that is not why I do it. And I was looking round the world, at all the things we do and make, the beautiful locations that are built, the DJs who play the music we party to, the creators of the really useful gadgets or clothing we wear.... Except for a few, the effort that has to be put into what they are doing is always going to exceed the Linden that can be earned. So why do we do it? All I can imagine is that it's our individual love and appreciation of this marvelous world we have, that we want and are enthusiastic about contributing whatever skills we have to make the world a better place for all the people there.

That's what I hope is the case anyhow - what do you think?

Tepic

Robots Robots Robots

When I was a young boy in real life I had a fascination with robots of all kinds. I had many a robot wind up toy, and of course I loved droids from the star wars movie. I liked the Cylons from the original Battle Star Galactica almost more than the heroes of the series. So, when I was shown "The Museum of Robots" I was very excited to share it with you. I quickly wished myself into my android (a type of robot) form and went about exploring.

The Museum is dedicated to all manner of robots, including vintage robots like "Robby the Robot" and "Tabor the Great" as well as more modern versions like the "T-101 Terminator" and "Cylon Centurion". There are also a few vintage movie clips available of old black and white movies where robots were the main plot device. Outside is a gallery devoted to entries in Robot build contests. Most are very well made, some comical and some serious.

Up on the third floor of the main museum building is the obligatory shop where some of the robot designs from the contests are available for purchase. Of note, the coolest one in my opinion, a robotic steam punk hand, is a freebie.

There is more to see at the Museum of Robots, including an exhibit dedicated to a man who makes robot shapes out of every day items such as teapots, refrigerators, and other household items. I did not have the time to fully explore, so go there and let me know what I missed out on!!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kubrick/200/151/24

The Spacexcape Project

Well, after Sokmunky suggested I visit the Spacexcape Project, how could I miss taking a look?

I've been in sl for quite a while now, and have seen some very nice builds, some imaginative
ones, some stunning ones, some beautiful ones, (and a few I wish I hadn't visited!). This one is quite extraordinary, in thoughtfulness, design and intriguing beauty.

You start in a gallery area, with glowing warp holes to take you to the main entrance (there is also a vehicle of some sort, but it didn't come when called, this is a known problem, which is why there are alternative ways in). Do look round, there is some nice artwork here, as well as some clues as to what you might see inside.

Taking a warp jump or any other way, you find yourself in an entrance chamber, where you have a decision to make on how to proceed. I'll not say exactly what your choices are, but you may get an idea from the pictures in the blog! I enjoyed it so much I went back and tried several more times, and there was a minor glitch on a couple of occasions where I dropped through the next room - this must be a common occurrence, as there is a very handy warp hole to take you back again!

Eventually, you arrive at a room with four tunnels leading off to different areas. You can choose between "Identity", "Space", "Technology" and " "Communication". I visited all of them, and they are well worth spending considerable time exploring. I have included various pictures to give you a taste of the different areas.

My exploration involved several visits, some by myself, some with a friend, and on the whole, I would recommend visiting with a couple of good friends or with your partner. Having someone to try different activities with is definitely the way to go!

At the end of one of my visits, I met a very nice person called Spacexcape Bridges, one of the designers. We had a pleasant conversation, during which she told me that the Project will be closing at Christmas, I would urge everyone to take the opportunity to visit before this happens, as it is truly a wonderful build. There may be the chance to have a guided tour at some time, I will be exploring this, and letting people know.

Good exploring,

Tepic

Horse Field Trips

Hello,

if youre interested in the field trips for riding yourself, i have from most a notecard with SURLS for the way. Just contact me inworld.
So far i have done:Avarien Sims (Grendel's Children), no notecard, but worth to visit, Bliss Garden Center, IOW Sims

Sven

Horse Field Trip to the IOW Sims

Hi all!

I offered a horse trip to the IOW Sims (http://daryth.com/draconica/index.php/Main_Page) and announced it in the Kulture Kids, SLC and Goonies Groups. Around 12 Kids followed the call and we started to ride at 9:15 AM SLT.
We started in Limbo then rode through 8 Sims:Tir na Lir, Tir Infernis,Tir na Seilidhe,Tir Zephyrus,Tir na Nog,Hatchie Heaven,Cathedral. It seems this day we had a lot of luck, nearly no lag, even the Sim crossings were no problem at all.
We visited some Temples and saw some nice Houses and in Hatchie Heaven was a nice Pirate Place, where you can swim, fishing, relax. At the Limbo Sandbox we saw some funny buildings for a Helloween Contest.
At least we went to Cathedral and met some Dragons and got a nice ride with a Dragon.
Pais wrote his own report, you can read it here and there is also a small video:
http://paiskidd.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/exploring-the-isle-of-wyrms/

Sven

SLC Blog UPDATED

In an attempt to make the SLC Blog more useful and interesting for its members we have updated it with new graphics and buttons. Gone has the lists from the side, instead there is now one post that you can post places you have been to and loved and wish to share with the rest of the Child Avatar Community.

We Also have many new articles from members of the SLC writing about their experiences. If you to would like to contribute tot he blog, please contact Loki Eliot.

Also the Kid Avatar Advice List has been updated also and is perhaps less agressive than before :-p

Finally we have a list of office (club) hours which are held every day at the SLC Learning Tree at Whippersnapper for new members to come ask any questions, or for old members to come chill and discuss new ideas. Times are available in the side bar.

Thank you everyone in the SLC community. :-)

PLACES TO GO

We have done away with the list and are now allowing YOU the option to post any kool places that are fun and safe for Child Avatars to explore and enjoy :)

Please use the comments option to Post a description and paste a SLURL.

Sven Homewood - Everyone knows me hehe

Hi,

Many know me and i will intodruce myself a bit. I am since 03/16/2007 in SL and was first month adult. I adopted a SL Kid and we had a lot of fun. After a time we split up in good and went our own ways. I changed into a Dragon (sometimes you can still see the Dragon) and then into a Kid. I'm doing a lot of things, build and script. I do offer horse field trips and will write about it a little bit.

Greetings