palais March 2011
SL Magazine Toi Sparta Black Swan Frets Nirvana
Second Skills Education in Second Life Discrimination in SL Building of a Family 1
I take
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a deep breath
and remember the heady first minutes and hours I spent in Second Life. Falling out of the sky, on an island with concrete walkways, a piano and a house on it and some other things I do not clearly remember. Those around me looked exactly like myself, or like the other default avatars of the time. 3
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About 30 minutes into my adventures I got stopped by an avatar who looked decidedly not like those around me, a helper for new residents.
Second Skills Education in Second L ife Continued on page 36
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palais SL Magazine
Board Madison Arnahan Blue Tsuki, Carley Noonan, Cat Boccaccio, Elizabeth Weinberg, Flor Nachtigal Chief Executive Officer Tika Lundquist Editor-in-Chief Flor Nachtigal Advertising & Marketing Director Madison Arnahan Creative Director Tika Lundquist Production Assistant Linda Doune
Contents
Editors Cat Boccaccio, Flor Nachtigal, Shon Charisma Writers Bobbi Laval, Carey DeCuir, Elizabeth Weinberg, Dashiell Parkin, Flor Nachtigal, Iana Melune, Logan Berry, Michiel Seetan, Shon Charisma, Traci Nubalo
Blog Elbereth Exonar, Elizabeth Weinberg, Victoria Lenoirre Second Life® and SL™ are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc.
Photo: Jami Mills
Photographers Bobbi Laval, Carey DeCuir, Cat Boccaccio, Chrissy Voir, Elbereth Exonar, Jami Mills, Tika Lundquist
March 2011 Editor’s Note
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The Mind’s Eye
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Conquering Good and Evil
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Frets Nirvana
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Second Skills
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Prejudice in our corner of the world
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The Building of a Family
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Toi Sparta
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Editing Second Life Photos
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Lost Packets
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I Would Walk Inside a Time
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Visit our blog at palaisorleans.blogspot.com and read Palais SL Magazine at issuu.com/palaismagazine
G E d i t o r ’s N ot e H
Dear Readers, This issue was conceived as a free for all, where the selection of content would be up to each individual writer. Knowing our group of writers, I was filled with anticipation. I hoped for a large variety of content, original points of view and great passion in writing. And did they ever deliver! When asked what moved her, Shon Charisma immediately replied that Second Life families were of great interest to her. She proceeded to write an article exploring the formation of these families, how they function, and what needs they fulfill for their members. Carey DeCuir explored one of the darker sides of Second Life, prejudice and discrimination. She finds that we bring our real world biases into Second Life, and on top of 12
that we create our own. So, not only racism and homophobia exist here, but as a culture we created entirely indigenous forms of discrimination, like the hostility towards furries. Iana Melune was fascinated with one escort in particular, who takes great pains to bring her client’s fantasies to life. Could it be that fulfilling the fantasies of others is a fantasy that is as valid and intense as any deeply held fantasy that brings us here? My own article was sparked by a series of conversations with educators, particularly with DaveH Heberle, who maintains that whatever one does successfully in Second Life, one can do in real life as well – including owning and running a business. I am very happy that for this month we could again find two beautiful poems to share with you. Dashiell Parkin’s “Lost Packet” is a wonderful assessment of communication and love in the virtual world, and Logan Berry’s “I Would Walk Inside a Time” speaks of memories.
In our occasional series on Second Life Photography, Bobbie Laval has contributed a primer on editing photos. Knowing little about the process, I found the explanations so compelling and clear that I just had to try for myself, and much to my own surprise, succeeded. Our Editor-at-Large Elizabeth Weinberg has contributed a review of the movie “Black Swan” in which she particularly examines the lead character and her self-destructive tendencies. In his column, Michiel Seetan of Alanis Gallery examines the fundamentals of perception, arguing that our perception of the “real” world is actually a process of interpretation and reconstruction, to the point where even the real world can be seen as virtual. Finally, Traci Nubalo had a long conversation with guitar virtuoso Frets Nirvana. The article is fun, and quite technical, for all those who really like a look behind the scenes. Enjoy! Flor Nachtigal, Editor in Chief
Photo: Cat Boccaccio 13
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The Mind’s Eye by Michiel Seetan
“Hamlet: My father! – methinks I see my father. Horatio: Where, my lord? Hamlet: In my mind’s eye, Horatio.” William Shakespeare Michiel Seetan co-owns Alanis Gallery Sensual Images in Xaara 16
And not only your father, Hamlet, methinks. Those who prefer to heed only their own view of the world are fond of the platitude that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. The broader scientific truth is that we behold reality itself in the mind’s eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin. To take our visual experiences as an example: the optic nerve sends information in the form of electromagnetic impulses to the brain which then sifts and interprets the data. I’m not arguing that there is no external reality – the doctrine, known to philosophers as ‘immaterialism’, that nothing exists outside our own minds has always struck me as being a tad egomaniacal. But reality as we know it exists for each of us only in a virtual form, reconstructed by a virtual reality headset installed when we are in the womb. If you are unconvinced, dip into Oliver Sacks’ latest book “The Mind’s Eye” in which he presents case studies of people whose view of the world has
been dramatically transformed by neurological disasters. Nor am I arguing a case for biological determinism. As Goethe said, whereas other animals are taught by their organs, human beings teach their organs and have the capacity to dominate them. What we see, hear, smell, taste and feel depends on how our pre-installed virtual reality headsets are tuned by our experiences, and the great artists are those who have managed to fine-tune their headsets in order to transmit a clearer vision of the external world to the rest of us. We are not compelled, to borrow a concept from Richard Dawkins, to be anaesthetised by familiarity. My point, for those of you who have managed to keep your eyes open, is that reality in real life is every bit as virtual as reality in Second Life: in fact, some people, freed from the physical constraints of their “real” lives, are able to experience a more worthwhile version of “the real world” in Second Life; and all of us here have the opportunity of enhancing our own view of reality by seeing how others, especially all the fine SL artists, behold their worlds.
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Conquering Good and Evil One perspective of the movie Black Swan by Elizabeth Weinberg
Black Swan is a movie directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Natalie Portman as Nina the lead character. In the movie, Nina wins the lead in Swan Lake. Nina is perfect in the role of the delicate White Swam but struggles to find the evil Black Swan identity within her own abilities as a artist. The movie chronicles Nina’s struggle to perfect the character of the good white swan and the evil black swan. Nina is obsessed with the perfection of her art, performing as a ballerina with a distinguished ballet troupe.
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Fox Searchlight presents a film directed by Darren Aronofsky Starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel Written by Mark Heyman, Andrew Heinz and John McLaughlin Running time: 108 minutes Rated R
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As a member of a ballet company, Nina is in constant competition with the other members of the ballet group. And Nina thrives on the competition within the company even as she is tormented by her own feelings of inadequacy. Her constant attention to the perfection of the outlines of her frail body invade her night dreams and occupy every waking moment of her day. Ironically, Nina thrives on her artistry even as she is destroyed by her obsession with becoming the perfect ballerina. Every moment of Nina’s day is preoccupied with her need to be perfect in practicing her artistry. She scrutinizes each line in her body and each movement of her dance with such an obsessive need for perfection that she is an abysmal failure in her own eyes. Her perceived inadequacies evolve into self-deprecating behaviors. While bulimic, but Nina’s self-hatred is even more obviously expressed in the form of self-mutilation. What cannot be perfected must be tormented and damaged. Nina reminds me of the deeply troubled individuals who cut themselves as if they have a need to punish themselves for their on humanity. 20
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Like Nina, these troubled individuals have a need to perhaps cut out their impurities to erase their own personal demons. Driven by a need to reach beyond her abilities, Nina represents a person who despises her own human nature. Through her struggles, Nina helps the audience understand why selfdestructive people are as they are. While the movie is disconcerting and disturbing, the piece has value in helping us understand that which seems incomprehensible. I see the movie as conveying a valuable message to those who do not understand self-destructive behavior. Nina’s struggle with her artistry is a metaphor for the many who seek some form of perfection at the price of their own happiness. Nina does not see herself worthy of happiness, and she punishes herself for failures that to others seem nothing more than minor, human flaws that are present in all humanity. Nina seems to be preoccupied with her need to rid herself of this humanity, seeing it as flawed and a burden to her art and her competitive nature. And so she seeks to rise above and expunge her human nature.
Every moment of Nina’s day is preoccupied with her need to be perfect in practicing her artistry 21
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Frets Nirvana Lifted up by music
by Traci Nubalo Photography by Jami Mills
I was once invited to be in a small group for a live, televised interview with guitar god Eddie Van Halen. It was a fun, fast-paced affair which ended in an audience Q&A segment. After a few minutes a young rockerlooking dude got the mic and said, “Eddie, I would give anything to play guitar like you do.” The rock star looked the kid over and replied, “No you wouldn’t – because you didn’t!”
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After the audience quieted down again Van Halen concluded: “All of those nights when you were out on dates, I was sitting on the end of my bed playing scales. While you were partying with your boys I was at home by myself, learning new songs.” I’ve never forgotten that comment. And I was recently reminded of it when I was invited to see Frets Nirvana perform a concert in Second Life. His lovely manager Shady Forsythe had explained to me that Frets has been playing all of his life. And it certainly showed! He’s the personification of that player who has had the axe in his hand day and night for decades. His levels of expertise (and comfort) at his craft are extraordinary and it’s easy to imagine Frets at 18 (or 28 or 38) declining the party invitations so he could work on that tricky guitar scale for another few hours. He’s an amazingly eclectic player; his bio says, “At any moment in time you can hear him playing something from Merle Travis, Chet Atkins or Jerry Reed then moving on to old Delta type blues tunes.” While I find that an apt description, it’s just too narrow for my taste. There are layers 26
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upon layers of style and ability flowing from those ten fingers and I sense that the years of playing and learning have brought him to a profound level of understanding of the craft.
“I have a few guitars – approaching 50! lol My wife says they multiply like rabbits.” And the result is pure audio magic. I was able to spend a few minutes with Frets recently and we had an animated, informative discussion that covered a lot of territory.
F ret s N i r va n a
constantly practicing with the gear just like I do the guitar. Everything is brought together through an Alesis Firewire mixer that goes into my Mac computer for streaming into SL. TN: And what guitar(s) are you favoring these days in SL? FN: Well, I use four different guitars when I perform. But I have a few guitars – approaching 50! lol My wife says they multiply like rabbits. But for SL I use a Taylor GSMS with a maple back and sides and spruce top. I have always liked how that wood combination sounds with a mic on it. So it is a good all around acoustic guitar. Electric is either my old ’67 Fender Strat (highly modified with Bartolini pickups) or a G&L Legacy , again highly modified with Bartolini pickups. Then I use a 1930 Single Cone National resonator guitar and a 1990’s Continental Tricone resonator guitar. TN: Awesome. Wow, you love tech talk don’t you? FN: ;)))) Geetar player - recording engineer, etc. That’s one reason why the focus is on instruments instead of just strumming and vocal. Sound has always been what draws me first. If it’s not there I don’t listen.
Traci Nubalo: My readers like to get into tech issues a bit… Frets Nirvana: I can do that! lol TN: How are you getting that crisp guitar sound?
FN: Various elements. For acoustic guitar I use vintage microphones – Neuman KM56’s or an AKG C34 stereo, run through a Joe Meek Twin Q parametric/compressor. The electric guitar is run thru a Korg multi-processor pedal with amp simulations in it. Knowing what I want is the key because there are all kinds of options to choose from. I am 27
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TN: Well, let’s do some more. The acoustic guitar process – do you go for the mics plus one line directly in theory, or multiple room mics? FN: No line in on the acoustic – all microphones. And it is stereo mic’ed now at all times. I really do not care for acoustic guitar direct, although my guitar(s) do have excellent K&K pickups in them. When I played in RL I had to use them. But in SL I don’t. So no direct line on acoustic guitar; too sterile sounding for me. But it is all me all the time; no tracks and I am always playing. I want as big a sound as I can get. TN: Yes. Thanks for reminding us about that. And thanks also for stealing a line from my article: “he plays like a man with several hands.” *smile* FN: lol By the way, I am also playing tambourine with my foot. TN: Frets, let’s cut to the chase here. You own fifty guitars; former exec in a major guitar company; VP of Sales of one of the first Digital Audio Workstation companies, New England Digital; on the road and in the studio most of your life. What happened to you that didn’t happen to Johnny sitting next to you in
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school? (And I hope your name is not Johnny!). FN: No, my RL is name is Richard. lol What happened ? My mother said the first look she saw from me was determination. lol So when I get into something, I get into it! When I got interested in music… it was “Katy bar the door”… and still is on anything I do. For me I can’t relate to sitting around with nothing to do. TN: Understood but still – what was the entry point in music? FN: “Louie Louie”! lol TN: lmao Too funny! FN: Then it was the Yardbirds. Then the Ventures. Then the Stones. When I heard the guitar solo in “Louie Louie” I said, “That is what I want to do!” TN: And therein hangs the tale. Were you in fact the kid with the 6-string in his hands all day and night? FN: Yes, although my parents bought a guitar for Xmas for me when I was like six or seven. I took some guitar lessons and it did not click for me. “Red River Valley” just did not hit me. So it went in the closet. Then a couple years later I took it out and they 28
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were like, “What kind of animal did we unleash?” Practice at 6 AM till I go to school; come home and practice after school; do my homework then practice some more, etc. Then I formed a garage band and got to know the police really well! lol TN: One critical juncture for you seems to be that you transitioned from flatpicking to finger style. When and how and why did that take place? FN: Well, when I finally grew up (lol) I figured out I was not going to be a rock star. So I actually quit playing for fifteen-plus years to concentrate on my career. When I finally had the success I needed in life and could slow that down and got back into guitar my thinking was, “I do not want to be in a band again.” That led to the fingerstyle so I could play all of the music myself (melody, rhythm, harmony) like a piano player does. That really was just about 6 years ago. But I have applied myself to it. lol. When I was Director of Marketing at Gibson I met Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, etc. They all do/did that. So putting two and two together that is where I went. 29
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A Frets Nirvana show in Second Life is like a master class in guitar. He’s able to fluidly weave between musical genres with great ease and skill without sacrificing the cohesive “concert feel” that he and the other toplevel SL musicians are able to present. Using the finger style technique that he discussed, Nirvana was able
I play in lift peo
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to put a brilliant sheen on George process of looping during a live set Harrison’s classic “While My Guitar takes real skill and musical huevos Gently Weeps.“ He played a complete grandes. The tiniest error in accuracy, arrangement of this great composi- intonation, or rhythm can bring the tion fingerstyle then used the loop entire production down like a house pedal to capture the strummed of cards. acoustic rhythm track and deftly laid At that same concert Frets opened an acoustic single line lead over the his bag of sonic tricks and out came top. Frets makes it look easy, but this “Pipeline”, that gem from The Chantays later covered by The Ventures in 1963. It’s surf to the max and the audience was all but hanging ten. But Dr Nirvana had other plans. At the turnaround, after neatly looping the basic rhythm track onstage, he laid some nasty, slide guitar over the top. In a flash the take went straight to space. It was instant “Pink Floyd playing surf music.” These are the kinds of connections made only in the mind of a man who completely “gets it”.
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“Life is not one ‘groove’ and it has its ups and downs.” 32
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TN: In SL you play such a wide num- of them right now. *passes you the ber of styles. Care to discuss that for microphone* What do you want to say to them? us a little? FN: I am absolutely humbled by FN: Sure I play some Beatles, Chet the fact that people want to spend Atkins, Stevie Wonder, Ventures, their valuable time listening to me. I Django Reinhardt, Tommy Emknow they have a lot of others they manuel, Bob Dylan, and none of it can listen to or other choices for sounds like any of them. lol My intheir leisure time. And they have terests are very wide musically. Life lots of other demands on their time. is not one “groove” and it has its ups So I thank them for every second and downs. So in my opinion, muthat they invest in listening to me. sic should mimic life, so it hopefully I will give the “Frets Guarantee”: I keeps it interesting for the audience will give it my all in every way to and it definitely keeps it interesthave them be lifted up by music that ing and demanding for me. I play in I play and produce. And of course, SL to lift people up with what I do I know what I provide is different. musically. But if it did not push me But am hopeful they will come away I would get bored and it would be like a job. I enjoy the fact that people with a smile on their face and an awareness of some new music that like what I do musically. And that it they can get interested in. puts demands on me all the time to keep improving and keep it interest- TN: Wow! Nothing like the strong close! *smile* ing. Then also getting to know a lot FN: No BS – I mean that. of the people because there are real people behind these cartoon charac- TN: I know you do, Frets and I’m so happy to hear it and you. Your music ters. It really is a Second Life for me as it is for others. I don’t have to deal really is a breath of fresh air here. FN: That is the goal. Thank you for with traveling around, setting up the kind words. equipment to play for people, etc. TN: Frets, I could keep this up with TN: Well, you just mentioned your you for hours. But we only have so fans – my readers – our friends. many pages. So thanks, man. You’re in direct contact with a bunch 33
Cove r s t o r y
Second Skills Education in Second L ife
by Flor Nachtigal Photography by Jami Mills and Tika Lundquist
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Continued from page 5 This helper gave me the first of many lessons in Second Life skills. Later I was taught by many people, on subjects ranging from teleporting to building to roleplay. Other, harder lessons came from Second Life itself, or so it seemed. Those mainly concerned my sense of identity, fantasy, ambition and how my two lives relate to each other. Even though I knew that Second Life was used as a teaching tool by real world educators, even in spite of knowing some educators, I remained convinced that Second Life can teach mainly about the use of virtual worlds, and about our own fantasies and desires. 37
Just a tiny who come to most do  not cl curve, sa 38
E d uca t i o n i n Seco n d L i fe
Second Life is rich with content and very, very complex. Simply mastering the technical skills is time consuming and requires effort. Yet this knowledge is required before any other learning, centered on real or second life can happen. Brinda Allen, my first instructor, tells me that just a tiny fraction of those who come to Second Life stay, most do not climb the learning curve. Having helped over 1 000 new residents, she has an idea of the obstacles new users face. And those who come to learn have to overcome the same barriers as all of us who come for pleasure. An understanding of culture is also required for long term survival in Second Life. Many cultural assumptions we bring from real life do not
fraction of those Second Life stay, limb the learning ays Brinda Allen
apply here. Outside of Second Life, when is the last time you discussed 39
the effects of bereavement with a wolf who actually talked back? Have you ever met a lady of the Victorian age whose passion is constructing submarines? Putting these things in perspective requires some opening of the mind, some breaking down of barriers. Similarly, truth, time, reputation, relationships and many other fundamentals of human existence all function a little different in Second Life. This cultural adaptation may require formal learning and is often a prerequisite for anything else one might want to achieve here. I was recently introduced to Forceme Silverspar, whose teaching centers on one aspect of this cultural adaptation, the mastery Second Life dominance and submission. She teaches about safety (yes, this is an issue in a virtual world), roles and responsibilities, protocols, technical skills, role play skills, emotional needs, and the various communities. Does it sound like a lot? It is, because we create a real and very complex culture here. Those who teach here have to keep this in mind. After these initial hurdles are overcome, actual teaching may finally occur. My friend Kim Chihuly, a professor of
Cove r St o r y
mass communication, has long used Second Life as a teaching environment. She points out that breaking down geographical barriers, group discussions with diverse people and supporting ideas but constructing virtual environments are all viable methods of teaching in Second Life. Then again, students tend to not hang on to Second Life for long after their courses are finished, which may well speak to the difficulty of mastering the essential Second Life skills and the effort required to integrate here. I recognize the validity of Second Life as a learning environment, mostly to explore “what if� scenarios, like recreating historical places and events or scenes from literature. The act of creation naturally leads to a deeper understanding of the material as one starts actually living with the content. Even so, I might have held my reservations about Second Life as a learning environment indefinitely, if not for a chance encounter that led me to DaveH Heberle and the campus of free-ed.net. In our first few conversations Mr Heberle mentioned the near infinite possibilities of Second Life as a learning tool. His basic assumption is simple: Whatever you 40
can do in Second Life, you can do in real life. This seemed like a stretch at first, but with the examples given, I caught on to what was meant. You can run a business here, and the skill needed is much the same in both worlds. As in real life you have to find your product, produce and sell it. Details may be different, for example no warehousing is ever needed in Second Life. But a business still requires business sense and skill. Second Life makes all this available for small sums of money, and if a business fails, there is no large financial loss involved, unlike in the real world
Forceme Silverspa teaches about saf roles and respons protocols, technica and emotional ne people’s lives and careers are on the line. Sometimes the lesson for real life is not one might expect. Most businesses fail, and business owners who do not succeed might be well ad-
ar fety, sibilities, al skills eeds
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Students ten to Second Li their cour
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vised not to quit their day jobs. Similar analogies go for those who have to
nd to not hang on ife for long after rses are finished
build a portfolio, like photographers, graphic artists and fashion designers. Again, many of the skills that go into creating a virtual portfolio transfer to the real world. Imagination, composition, graphic skills are the same. Other jobs require interaction with people as their main component. Surprisingly, Mr Heberle used bartenders as an example. According to him, the main factor in the success of a bartender is not mixing drinks, but rather the ability to keep customers coming and spending money. After that, mixing drinks is secondary. But bringing in customers and keeping a tip jar filled can easily be practiced in any Second Life club. Mr Heberle prepares his students for these tasks on a large campus consisting of 23 square kilometers of buildings, each loaded with resources that students can access. Courses, 43
over 400 in all, come in the form of boxes that contain links to real world content ranging form renaissance painting to operating room procedures. Learners are from literally all walks of life and from all over the world. Some come from battered women’s shelters, have very little education, and might need instruction on the most basic life skills like counting money. Others are from Harvard. All come to learn, most come to find the skills to help them make a more secure living. So while Mr Heberle uses Second Life as his tool, the content he teaches is focused on survival in the real world. This includes preparation for a multitude of tests and degrees, like the SAT and GED. Free-ed.net does not award any degrees, there is no credentialing. But knowledge is knowledge and it helps pass exams wherever they are administered. And so, some time after my long conversation with Mr Heberle, I ask myself what I learned in nearly 500 days in Second Life, as a person, a roleplayer, a builder and yes, as a writer and editor. Where do I take my new knowledge – and do I perhaps need a different day job?
Fea t u re
Prejudice in our corner of the world Discrimination in Second Life by Carey DeCuir Photography by Jami Mills and Tika Lundquist
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What is Second Life if not a want or be anything you want. multiple lifestyles. In Second overt consequences than you ied relationships, the only
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place for exploring personal A place where you can develop Life you have far more options might experience in real life. proviso is to be respectful of
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fantasies? A place where you a different persona, or series for exploring various behavSecond Life is a place where the real people behind the
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can look like anybody you of them, and explore new and iors and activities with less you can explore new and varavatar.
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So, if Second Life is a place for adults to practice their own
For example, have you seen places that prohibit the animal people? Whats wrong with fantasizing about wearing a tail or having more body hair? Don’t we love our animals in real life? Where would this prejudice against animal people come from? Since there are no animal people in the real life, this must be a prejudice born in Second Life. Perhaps it all goes back to: “you got to be like me or you just aren’t cool”. A number of sociological studies suggest that people bring their gender and racial biases with them into Second Life. These studies show that darker skinned avatars have smaller 48
social circles, get less help from other avatars and experience racial slurs. Child avatars also hit a lot of hot buttons, yet many people fantasize about not having to grow up or having any responsibilities. And for a real eye opening experience, try switching genders for a day and see how differently you are treated. And speaking of switching genders, gender bending seems to elicit very strong reactions in Second Life, often going beyond just being angry. I find this to be very curious. Don’t we all watch people of the “other” gender, maybe even, oh my god, lust after them? Are we not fascinated with
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fantasies, why is it that some
fantasies experience prejudice?
the differences between the genders? Don’t we wonder what “they” are thinking and how to get their attention, or not? So, what is wrong with having a fantasy life as someone of the opposite gender? After all, we are fascinated by that other gender (and they don’t even have fur). Well, some say gender bending is “dishonest” or deceitful to other people. Now there is a proverbial can of worms. How many people, married in real life, have relationships or are married in Second Life… and do not discuss this with their real life partner? And how many people, monoga-
mously married in real life, role play at being strippers, prostitutes, BDSM stars or sex slaves in Second Life, yet would never dream of telling their real life partner? Perhaps honesty is really a one way street and truth gets muddled at the real life/virtual world boundary. Or perhaps what bothers people most about gender benders is to find that their Second Life lover is really of the same gender and they just can’t deal with the homophobic issues that elicits. It occurs to me that I am just being prejudiced against prejudice. Perhaps Second Life is really meant to be a more sinful and deceitful version of the real world?
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The Building of a Family An SL perspective by Shon Charisma Illustration by Cat Boccaccio Photography by Liliana Dinzeo, Pet Karu, PsyLynn Quartz, Saphire Chenault and Unity Productions
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Families are vital components of our lives. Through families, we receive unconditional love, trust, devotion, support, and encouragement. Are families also vital components to our Second lives?
Liliana Dinzeo and one of her SL families. From left to right: Constantine Abrastraza, Liliana, Ewan Glenelg, Arizona Raymaker, Sundae Fairweather, Grubber Robonaught 54
To many of us, yes. Many continue to see SL as merely a game, a place to live out fantasies that have nothing to do with their real existence. But there are just as many people in SL who want to connect with others in a way that creates familial connections that live beyond bits, bytes, and prims. SL families, for some, are sparked by real-life relationships that move into SL. Liliana Dinzeo, a woman of strong faith with a passion to see miracles, works, and wonders, found her family begin this way. “A couple of us know each other in RL,” she said. “We are believers, and are brothers and sisters in Christ. We get together all the time at Sugars Shore Ballroom, and have adopted many of the regulars there as family. Usually the family becomes closer when RL experiences call for prayer from other family members.”
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Saphire Chenault, my RL/SL daughter, had a similar experience. “When it comes to me becoming a part of an SL fam, I kinda fell right in. I knew my SL mom in RL and followed her to SL and got adopted by her and her RL bestie, who is also in SL, she said. “Outside of my immediate SL family, I adopted a daughter who I adore so much – who happens to be the sister of my SL bestie.” For some of us, like PsyLynn Quartz, family life starts fairly soon in the SL journey. “My family in SL started on my 5th day, when my SL mother (Sylenia Beeswing) and aunt (Kymorya1 Kinomis) took me under their wings,” she said. Once these families are developed, the activities that take place are as familiar as those that take place in real life. Being around one another and talking are important aspects of the familial bond, both mentioned by the three women I talked to. Quartz also mentioned activities like shopping, teaching, and managing land and clubs together while Chenault saw family outings to the zoo, fairgrounds, and to skydive as important to her family life. It is not surprising that communication is key to these relationships.
SL provides both text and aural capabilities that are used often. There is nothing as simple and as necessary to the building of strong relationships than talking to one another. The more we communicate, the more we learn about one another, the deeper the connection and the deeper the familial bond – in RL and in SL. It also comes as no surprise that love and support are the main benefits of being part of an SL family. Dinzeo receives “a support system, a shoulder to cry on, a prayer at the speed of light, people that you can have fun with and care about in SL and in RL.” That care in RL is an important part to Chenault as well. “Although SL is considered a game,” she said, “we are all RL people behind the keyboard with RL issues. It’s nice to have someone you can confide in about those issues.” For Quartz, having a vast network is important, too. I thought about this “vast network” and realized that by developing these deep relationships in SL, you are building a network of knowledge, information and sources of support for future endeavors and projects, because family is always there to lend a hand if necessary.
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What we want from an Second Life family is often similar to what we want in our real life families. I talked with pet Karu,
from my SL family than I do my RL family, but I love them both equally.” Dinzeo touched upon something that I have found true of virtual spaces, whether a 3D universe like who has a degree in counselling in SL or a text-based chatroom – people real life and also in Second Life, and sometimes express themselves more asked her why she believed people freely, and this can help to build were compelled to create families in deeper relationships. “In SL people Second Life. “In many ways we desire tend to be more open with their feelour Second Life experience to remain ings,” she said, “at least when you isolated from our first lives,” she said. are close, and that gives you more of a chance to help each other. I find “However, as we linger here awhile, it’s faster to IM one of my SL family we start to pull in those elements members to pray for something than which afford us the sense of that trying to reach a RL friend or family which is familiar. It can start off by member.” simple sayings like, ‘you remind me The RL/SL blur also seemed to of my Mom‘, ‘we’re as tight as sisters’, intensify both sides of the familial ‘we’re brothers from other moth- relationship. Dinzeo noted how her ers‘. We notice personas developing friendship with a RL friend deepwithin and around us, which makes ened, when this friend, her SL sister, us start to establish this as a home went through an extreme amount of base, a collective of friends who will grief and she was able to be a real life be there for us and the sense of fam- friend/sister and help her through ily (with its structures) develops.” the tough times. Those I interviewed agreed. Quartz, Family doesn’t change. It doesn’t Dinzeo and Chenault all found their stop being family once we log out. It RL and SL families were similar. “They continues even as we move about our fuss the same and praise the same,” real lives, a sentiment that Chenault Quartz said. Chenault stated that “to echoed. “I am beginning to meet my a certain extent, I receive less stress SL family in real life, and we treat 56
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Saphire Chenault with her daughter, Bellz Loxely 57
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each other and love each other like a family.” When Quartz was asked if any aspect of her SL family moved into her real life, she replied, “Oh yeah, after all, we are human... if my mom is in pain, I want to comfort her, and if someone hurts me or makes me mad, she is right there feeling with me.” One segment of her reply resonates with me and encapsulates why we form these families: “after all, we are human.” It is an innate part of who we are, needing to connect with others and build these relationships. Ultimately, these SL families become an integral part of people’s overall SL experience. “I think it makes SL better,” Quartz said. “It’s hard to PsyLynn Quartz and her family. be alone in here, but family helps From left to right: Falkon you be with like-minded people as Wickentower, Sylenia Beeswing, opposed to constant longing for that PsyLynne, Linda Soup perfect friend.” Having people that care, no matter the space, makes the world a better place to be. Chenault agrees. “Family life is 100% important to me,” she said. “Having people there who care is wonderful for all, but especially to those people that don’t have families in RL due to certain factors. It’s kind of a relief to be able to have one in SL.” And although Dinzeo cherishes a little alone time, The Cast of Unity Productions 58
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her “time in SL is very boring if not Storming: The gloves are off and for my family. The social interaction we know just enough about each other and close friendships I have with my to be dangerous with emotions. Those SL family gives me joy.” little annoyances are confronted in Building SL families seems to have this phase. Many people, regardless many positive benefits; I asked Karu of the size of the group, do not read if she foresaw any problems that the signals well and assume that might arise. She felt the negatives did annoyance with behaviors means not detract from the overall positive disapproving of or not accepting a attributes. “In the long run, no,” she whole person. This phase is delicate stated. “There are many within SL and should be observed by those in who were not afforded the luxury of roles as leaders or family heads, and a stable home life while growing up. diffused as much as possible through This platform gives them an oppor- mediation and lots of reassurance that it is not the person, but the tunity to gain or even regain that.” But she did go further to explain behaviors. the importance of understanding the Norming: Karu explained that phases of group development: “In the through normalization, we have short term, as with all groups, group discovered what triggers others have dynamics play a vital role and know- and ourselves also. Here we should be ing the elements of group formation quick to not revert to storming, but and what to expect when a new finding solutions without mediation. member enters a group can help tre- Just like with sibling rivalry, at some mendously, Karu said. She said that point Mom and Dad say, ‘work it out all groups go through four phases: yourselves’. Generally, the kids do.”
Forming: The formation, coming Performing:
In the final we find the collective functioning and most members are content and at peace. Minor dysfunctions may occur, but they do not impede the forward growth of the unit. Mind you, if
together – honeymoon period. This stage is extremely polite and cordial. We don’t want to offend anyone. We tend to bite our tongues when something annoys us.
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Counselor and Unity Productions founder, pet Karu 60
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family forum. We are a collection of King’s kids, brothers and sisters, who through divine destiny found each other in SL, joined our gifts and our love of God to carry the message of God’s great love through our songs, our dance, our writings, our building, our mission and platform -- permeate this arena and infect it with that which has infected us -- the love, peace and joy of God.” In summarizing her thoughts on family life in SL, Dinzeo stated, “the members of the core family that I belong to in SL support each other, care about each other’s real lives, and pray for each other. We have a strong commitment to each other and are loyal. When someone has a party, we all celebrate, when someone has a death, we all mourn and pray. When someone needs a job, we all are encouraging and giving tips. It is a good thing to be a part of, and makes SL the place we want to be.” I think that’s the point. We want to have the love, support, and care of people who matter to us within that space, that place we live. It doesn’t matter if it’s virtual or real. It’s all real when we speak of the love of a family.
and when a new member is thrown into the mix-- a baby, child, or adult, boyfriend or girlfriend-- just like in first life, the roles must be firmed and the place of existing members assured. I can definitely recognize these phases of group development when I look at my experience with the organization Unity Productions (UP). UP is a faith-based organization that began last year in Second Life, Founded by Karu, UP’s mission is to develop educational, inspirational, and entertaining products that help the UP family and its followers grow in grace, deeper in love, higher in purpose, and together in unity. Over the last eight months, members of UP have definitely traversed the phases of group development -- learning each other’s likes and dislikes, roles within the organization (the family), learning how to move together and grow deeper together in our love and care of one another. Karu agreed that she sees the familial aspect within UP. “With UP, our sense of family came from what we have in common, our faith!” she said. “We are Christ followers and that of its own right is a 61
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Toi Sparta
An escort with something special by lana Melune Photography by Carey DeCuir
Toi Sparta is not the usual escort you may encounter in the  seedy part of town or at a run-of-themill SL brothel. Instead, she brings something special to her clients, giving them the experience they long for in RL when they fantasize about the sensual scenario that turns them on the most.
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The scenarios that Toi enacts with her clients have covered a wide variety of fantasies. She’s done some as tame as a nice quiet romantic interlude to extremes such as being abducted by a deviant mad scientist. She’s played pretty much every role from a schoolgirl to a soccer mom, from Amazon warrior to furry. Toi said, “I believe, in a world like SL, the only limits we have here are the limits of our imagination.”
and they talked me into trying it. By nature I’m a very sexual person, so it came over so natural to me. It was crazy and I got paid a lot more than I was making at other jobs and I was having a great time in the process.” Toi stated that she could make a substantial amount of lindens depending on the amount of time she chose to work in a given week. She added, “One aspect of escorting that doesn’t get enough credit is the fact that you work your own hours and for as long as you want. Not a lot of gigs in SL allow that and most importantly, people are always looking to play here so your “shop” never really closes. I worked a few smaller clubs then the higher end establishments However, this very talented, creative and it was all fun. However, what reand insightful escort did not begin ally turned for me was a request I got her virtual life with this in mind. Toi from a client to role-play a scenario. reflected, “When I first started I had He wanted a schoolgirl scene, nothno plans on escorting. My friends got ing underage of course, just your me involved in SL and then all found typical professor/teacher thing, and other things to do. It wasn’t long until that started the ball rolling for me. I I learned that you can play in SL for felt, if we’re here in this world where free, but you can’t really have fun un- we can do anything, why don’t we? less you have some lindens”. She went This is when I started suggesting to on to say, “I tried a few different gigs, clients that they tell me their fantanothing really took. Eventually sies. I would then go out and get the I met some girls who ‘worked’ outfits and accessories to fulfill their 64
An esco r t w i t h so m et h i n g s p eci a l
fantasy. Thus, as you can imagine, my wardrobe and inventory is huge.” She also has a multitude of looks for her avatar depending on the requirements of her clients. She can portray any ethnic or life-style look imaginable. However, Toi lamented, “It was all fun but still, I felt that something was missing.” What was missing was the environment in which the fantasies needed to be enacted. This is when Toi started doing her research of appropriate sims for each scenario she was asked to fulfill making sure that the sims allowed the “build” capability to rez whatever may be needed to complete the fantasy. Additionally, she comes equipped with useful huds like Tenderlove, for the sensual romantic fantasies, or TNt, for the edgier/BDSM type fantasies. This allows for the right animations for their avatars which enhances the visual stimulation of the experience. Toi explained, “I started researching sims, finding ones I could use to enhance the fantasy, matching each client to the perfect environment for each respective fantasy. I request that my client stay in his role and I do the same. There is no set script to 65
the fantasy, we simply play it out and see where it goes.” Interestingly, Toi is often asked by her clients, what her own fantasy is. Toi said, “I thought about that for quite some time and realized that I really and truly like what I do. That’s when it hit me that being a call girl/ escort/mistress is what I fantasize about.” Toi invested in a skybox that she uses when she’s playing the role of a mistress because, “It’s like that penthouse apartment where you’d expect a mistress to be patiently awaiting a visit by her lover. She’s close by his office so her naughty executive can sneak over and play with her whenever he desires her.” Her penthouse apartment also came in handy when she had a request for a scenario involving a superhero who unexpectedly lands on her patio while she’s relaxing there. He then proceeds to seduce her resulting in some wild role-play where his super powers are revealed in the most extraordinary ways. “Each fantasy has its own uniqueness”, Toi said, which also makes it more challenging and requires more effort to pull it all together.
Thus far Toi estimates that she’s done at least 40 different fantasies. 66
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Does she really get turned on herself by the fantasies? Toi confesses that she really does. She keeps several ‘toys’ handy in RL as she lives out the fantasies with her clients. She says that multiple orgasms are the norm for her with each role-play scenario. Most importantly, Toi gets great satisfaction knowing that she’s created dream fantasies for her clients. While her clientele are mostly men, she does get a small percentage of women as well. She says of her female clients, “Ladies are such a nice change. It’s like getting strawberries when they are in season.” Toi has some favorite scenarios that she’s generously shared with us below: “One of my favorites revolved around me playing a French maid hired to clean in a big mansion. When I showed up I was given my instruction to clean downstairs first then upstairs. As I worked, the gentleman who employed me enjoyed watching me for a bit then he went upstairs. When I finished downstairs (we had a designated amount of time) I proceeded upstairs, (I was told no using my camera to pan around). As I got to the room, (I was instructed on which rooms to clean first) 68
I opened the door and went to work cleaning. As I got to the bathroom, I walked in on my employer naked with an erection. He explained he was very horny and his wife was away. Then he propositions me to help relieve his situation. That was such a turn on for me, because he was completely naked and he had me keep all of my clothing on, except for my panties. Another favorite episode involved a professional businesswoman being accosted and sexually taken by a street thug late one night in a subway. When I learned about this one, I did some research to find a good location and I actually found a sim that had working subway cars you could ride. I dressed in sexy business attire and I proceeded down to the subway. Once there I waited for the car to arrive. He showed up soon afterwards, and when the car arrived we both got on. Once it started moving, he made his move, preventing me from screaming, pawing at my body, running his hands on my silky stockings. Eventually we ended up having wild sex as the train continued moving under the sim. It was really a hot experience, with the potential to have someone waiting at the next stop at anytime.
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I also have a few clients that enjoy being pitted against a female in physical altercations, so was the case when I was an Amazon warrior. I was captured by the Romans and forced to meet a legionnaire in a cage. I really enjoyed this fantasy as it was very visually exciting. We both looked really good and the wrestling cage had some amazing animation. We battled with the match going back and forth, losing armor and clothing as it continued. Eventually, his brawn won out and at the end he beat me and being physically exhausted, he was able to have his way with me. On a side note, normally, if I’m hired to wrestle, I don’t try to lose unless that is what my client wants. Often they like to see who comes out on top, with the winner getting to have his or her way with the loser. Then there have been these really hot scenarios such as the time I had an ongoing scene with an older gentleman (older avatar, I assume he was older in RL too) who hired me as his personal assistant/nurse. We met weekly and he would usually have me accompany him to different outings. I was only allowed to wear a skimpy nursing uniform. Once 70
he was ready, we’d go back to my place where I would give him a massage and help him relieve the stress that built up from his RL workday. I enjoyed this one a great deal because he was really into oral sex, and that’s one of my favorite sexual activities in SL and RL.” Toi Sparta takes her work seriously, while at the same time realizing her own fantasy of being an escort. Her SL clients are fortunate to have a dedicated person like Toi who sincerely takes an interest in pleasing and satisfying her clients and who goes to great lengths to ensure the most realistic manifestation of their fantasies. Toi works with La Maison Exclusive Escorts and says she’s always happy to meet and make new friends. She says of her clients “It’s funny, but when I meet ‘one of my kind’, someone who enjoys taking advantage of the sexual freedom SL provides, it’s like I have this connection, like I can feel them inside and its always such a turn on.” Something tells me that Toi will have many new clients when they read this article. Perhaps she will continue to share some of her future experiences with us?
M a s t e r Cl a s s
Editing Second Life Photos by Bobbi Laval
Regardless of what software is used to edit photos, be it Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, or GIMP, the basic process is the same. The primary difference between the programs are the tool setting values. I first learned these processes using Photoshop. Now I primarily use Paintshop Pro, and the same basic methods work in GIMP also. I will assume that the user is familiar with the software they use, and our focus here will be on the process.
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Starting photo: This is a photo
I shot for an upcoming project; it’s a bit on the naughty side, a boudoir picture. This photo was shot using Photolife Studio, a stock background that came with Photolife, and the pose is from Virtual Props and Poses. The lighting on this is maybe a bit bright for what I would like, but it’s almost always easier to make lighting darker rather than brighter. I will normally
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take hundreds of pictures during a normal photo shoot, experimenting with several different lighting combinations. For every 100 pictures I take, there may be only a dozen or so at most that I like. Skins, shapes and clothes make a difference and in the outcome of a photo like this. High end skins, shapes, and clothes tend to distort less, leaving fewer glitches to fix later.
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Cropping: The first thing I do is
composition from reading photogcrop the picture. I do have composi- raphy articles and magazines. It is tion in mind when I’m shooting, but good to know some of the basics such I like to leave myself a little room as the “Golden Mean” and “Rule of usually and will take my time later Thirds” and keep these in mind while when doing the final composition. If you are shooting. Here I decided to you want to keep your pictures at a fill the frame. Though there are not higher resolution just don’t leave too many “Rule of Thirds” alignments in much room. There are many ideas this photo, there are some. I really and theories about composition. I like diagonal alignments, and that learned most of what I know about tends to be one of the trademarks 74
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of my particular style. I try to get as many diagonal alignments trending toward the corners of the frame. This picture shows many examples of this, her leg, neck, shoulder line, line of hips, line of arms, etc. In each if you extend that line it will trend to corners of the frame. I think this really tends to make for interesting photographs, but it is just one of many approaches to good composition. 75
Fixing the little glitches: Seldom do we get to take pictures that don’t have some glitches. Bending the avatar and clothes meshes in a pose will often lead to unwanted stretches and distortions. This image had several little glitches I was not happy with.
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I want to fix the little jagginess and distortion at the knees, other jagged parts like the toe of her shoe, hip, shoulder blade, and breast. Also there are a few distortions in the mesh to fix, a misalignment in her stocking, and a missing strap of her camisole, and a missing part of her upper thigh. I also filled in a bit of her legs to make the legs look a bit more natural as well as a tiny little bit of her shoe that is missing. In this case most of these were fixed with a clone tool I set the clone brush pretty soft, 30 to 60 percent depending on what I am doing. I also usually set opacity at 80 percent or so. I try to blend things together slowly rather than all at once. Setting the brush very small and going over several times, fixing a bit stroke by stroke rather than trying to fix everything all at once. I set the size of the brush only as big as it needs to be. In essence I borrow adjoining pixels to smooth or fill in as needed. When I am smoothing out jagged edges I will smooth a bit on one side and fill in a bit from the other side until I get the nice smooth lines I’m looking for. (Photoshop users may often find it easier to use the liquify 76
tool to do this) In this photo there were no pixels to borrow to paint in the missing camisole strap with a clone tool, so I used paintbrush tool to paint in a strap. Use color picker to pick an appropriate color from the photo and a soft brush set to the appropriate size. Final touches I will replace pixels one by one using clone brush or paintbrush set to one pixel. I will also use a soften brush
E d i t i n g Seco n d L i fe Ph ot os
set to about 30 percent and 90 percent opacity to blend or smooth any blemishes, and in this case to soften the line in the background where the floor and curve of the backdrop come together. There are maybe more little things I can fix, but I feel making it too perfect makes the photo look a bit unnatural. This is what it looks like after fixing the glitches.
Enhancing light and shadow: Now the model in this pic-
ture is looking pretty good, but I am not happy with the lighting on this photo. Though the angle of this lighting is the angle I want, it’s a bit bright and I want to make the lighting a bit more dramatic. This lighting was a blend between using the studio lights and windlight. I tend to often shoot in a bit brighter light than I need. I tend to shoot in light that makes the model look good as this leaves me less post production work to do. Also the processes I use in post production tends to darken the photos a bit as I enhance shadow and highlight. The only thing I really can’t do well is change the angle of lighting. This photo has more front lighting than I would like, I will get to how ti fix that later. For now, I use a method Corinne Helendale shared with the PhotoLife group some time ago. I modified the method in a way that seems to work best for me and works well with a tablet or mouse. I start by making three copies on top of my layer that has my corrections on it. For now I turn off the top two layers making them invisible. Then I set the layer on top of my base 77
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layer to soft light and apply a Gaussian blur at about 25 percent. On this layer I then dodge and burn to deepen the shadows and enhance the highlights. I start with burn setting the brush very soft (about 20 %) and opacity 20 to 50 %. Brush size I can vary if I am using my mouse or I can set it very large if I am using my tablet. Then just draw in to enhance the shadows or any area you wish to darken. Starting with a very light opacity lets me go over and over to darken as much as I want. If I want more I can increase the opacity. I will then use a dodge brush and highlight all the highlights using the same methods, though usually with much smaller brushes. Ensuring I also get the eyes and lips. Next I turn on the layer above the soft light layer, which is just a copy of the base layer. Starting with opacity at 0 (zero) I slowly bring up the opacity, blending this layer in with the soft light layer under it until I’m happy. To preserve the shadows I just created, I turn on the top layer and set that layer to saturation mode. After 78
merging or flattening these 4 layers together the result looks something like this.
More shadow enhancement:
In most cases I would be done now. However with this picture, there is much more front lighting than I like, and I want a darker softer boudoir type feel. To fix it, create a new layer over the top of the picture and flood fill it with a white to black gradient or a clear to black gradient. Set the angle of the gradient to match the angle of light in the photo. In this case the light coming from the top right corner. Set the layer to either hard or soft light to get the blending
E d i t i n g Seco n d L i fe Ph ot os
you want. In this case I used soft light. You can stretch and move around the layer as needed. here I also wanted to add a bit more shadow under the model. To do that I just burned in
more shadow using the same methods as in previous step, simply adding a saturation layer over the top to preserve the shadows. Here is the final result:
I hope you find this useful for your own Second Life photos. To keep up with me, join the Laval Art Group, or
visit one of the many galleries or studios displaying my work: slurl.com/secondlife/San%20Gabriele/199/39/22 79
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Lost Packets by Dashiell Parkin Photography by Cat Boccaccio She said, I love you. He said, I grrrbbbllllesquaaaat. Somewhere between I love you and I love you back, meaning when the words must travel so far and Did you say you like the way I look (god I hope look from a lass and I crumble, hell the right word Girls, want to know the way to a man’s heart? Tell The telling is easy. The meaning is what mat Compliments come easy in a world of perfect Meaning, it is harder. It takes discovery. And your pixel skin and laugh. I was walking by a frozen sea and a woman told husband died. In that brief moment I knew more No packets were lost that day.
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a packet was lost. Love is like that in Second Life, hard to process, hard to find one’s true wide through so many filters. so)? I’m a fragile delicate Viking lord. Sticks and stones won’t touch me but the wrong does the same. him he is amazing, and mean it. ters. avatars. discovery takes placing yourself, splayed open before him, trusting he won’t look beneath me that she and holidays didn’t get along. She just couldn’t seem to celebrate since her about her than any profile could ever impart.
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I would walk inside a ti A poem about memories by Logan Berry – Photography by Cat Boccaccio
A time is not a friend who lays her head upon the ground and stares into a milky night and prays a million wounds will heal and midnight cries will end
I would walk inside a time and feel its living heart and climb into its head and search for peace and find a kind of grace instead No A time is graceless without heart or head or eyes or ears to hear our midnight cries
A time is empty as a sky when storms are silent behind the hills and birds are hushed and women cry with longing as their hearts recall a time
A time is worthless like a stone upon the sand upon a shore where millions walk alone unseen and salt is left where steps have been
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“All of those nights when you were out on dates, I was sitting on the end of my bed playing scales. While you were partying with your boys I was at home by myself, learning new songs. � Eddie Van Halen