ROLE Magazine June 2009 by Rohal Schnyder

JUNE 2009

THE BIG QUIET DEATH IN SL MUSIC HIP HOP NEKO’S OBSESSION FASHION GOTH, SUMMER FUN & MALE STUFF

ROLE

STAFF Publisher Rohal Schnyder Executive Publisher Leeza Catteneo Editor in Chief Ofelia Laval Copy Editor Damon Dollinger Advertising Leeza Catteneo Art Director Leeza Catteneo Fashion Coordinator Felicity Blumenthal Stylists Ana Lutetia Cayce Newell Felicity Blumenthal Keeley Huet Stacie Pryor Tomoyo Breitman Fashion Spread Photographer Zoe Demar

ROLE MAGA Z I N E

Contributors Aldwyn Zanzibar Express Zenovka Felicity Blumenthal Jura Shepherd Keeley Huet Paypabak Writer Raul Crimson Shelby Ziskey Stacia Villota

Editorial Office Concetta (194/172/22) Contacts editorial@role-magazine.com advertising@role-magazine.com www.role-magazine.com All the published material has been provided by the mentioned brands. Therefore, ROLE Magazine cannot be responsible for copyright issues and assumes no responsibility for inaccurate content or changes in the products or prices displayed. Copyright by ROLE Magazine. Reproduction or use of the content in whole or in part without the written permission of the editor is strictly prohibited.

EDITOR’S NOTE “It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of my difficult decision to leave SL. For good. Yeah, I know I’ve said this before but this time I really mean it. I owe too many people a lot of money. My husband found out I’m really a man. I don’t love you any more. I have an incurable disease so horrible that the doctors don’t even know what it is. They may never know! Thanks for the memories. Kthxbai!” The Big Quiet is our term for the friend or lover who slips away from the virtual world without a word -- leaving those left behind confused and worried until, as more time passes, feeling hurt, betrayed, angry, deceived. The companion to The Big Quiet is the noisy dramatic departure which often includes stories of RL terminal illness, extreme financial stress or RL physical death. Our cover story explores the phenomenon and how it affects those left behind. We welcome new staff contributors Raul Crimson and Stacia Vilotta! Raul’s article tackles the controversy surrounding SL photography and how and when the term “art” should be applied. Stacia introduces us to the neko world and explains the affection for well crafted neko accessories. Stylist and contributor Keeley Huet has a lush, gothic fashion spread for you to feast your eyes upon and stylist Felicity Blumenthal and staff photographer Zoe Demar created a gorgeous fashion spread showcasing the perfect beach wear for the season. Stylists Cayce Newell and Tomoyo Breitman return with their clever Mix & Match feature and Hot Finds. Dear Felicity provides you with seasonal fashion advice to help keep you on the right path. Stylist Ana Lutetia offers up the latest fabulousness from Armoire Diversity and offers styling tips for the guys in Masculino. Express Zenkova presents 3 male fashion bloggers wearing exclusive looks for men. Aldwyn Zanzibar provides ever-so-important tips on SL photography. Jura Shepherd covers the SL rap scene - making us wish we could find a way to see this genre expand! Omega Point is this month’s destination for travel writer Paypaback Writer and Shelby Ziskey covers the age-old debate of men everywhere: blond or brunette? Keeley Huet takes us by the hand and points out where to buy summertime nautical pieces to freshen up the look of your home. As we continue evolving our magazine we welcome your comments and suggestions. If you have an interest in contributing we’d like to know (editorial@role-magazine.com)! As always, the team at ROLE Magazine thanks you, our readers and advertisers, for the continued encouragement and support! Kind regards,

16 8

HOT FINDS SEY

COVER STORY THE BIG QUIET DEAT IN SL

FOR MEN THE JEWNAS BROTHERS

MIX & MATCH

BODY & MIND BLONDE VS. BRUNETTE

ART PHOTOGRAPHY IN SECOND LIFE, CREATIVITY AND CONTROVERSY

8 16 22 28 34 38

COVER STORY HOT FINDS MIX & MATCH FASHION SPREAD ARMOIRE DIVERSITY MASCULINO

GOTH SPREAD

NEKO’S OBSESSION EXPLAINED

42 46 56 58 63 69

FOR MEN GOTH SPREAD BODY & MIND DEAR FELICITY HOUSE & LIVING MUSIC

FASHION SPREAD SUMMER FUN

DEAR FELICITY

MASCULINO A DAY AT THE BEACH!

ARMOIRE DIVERSITY

56 58

HOUSE & LIVING LIVING ON THE SEASIDE OF SECOND LIFE®

86 GADGETS & “KNOW HOW” WORKIT! WORK IT!

TRAVEL GUIDE OMEGA POINT

72 77 83 86

ART NEKO’S OBSESSION TRAVEL GUIDE GADGETS & “KNOW HOW”

FINAL CREDITS

MUSIC HIP HOP IN SECOND LIFE®

COVER STORY THE BIG QUIET

They say you only live once but we know that’s not necessarily true. Ever wonder how many times you can die? Virtual worlds allow you to not only adopt a second life, but orchestrate your second death. Ever wonder who will miss you when you’re gone? Will you be properly mourned? How many songs, poems and blogs will your memory inspire? By Ofelia Laval and Paypabak Writer

People joining Second Life® often don’t really know what to expect and they certainly can’t anticipate with any degree of accuracy if they will find a reason to stay in the game. The learning curve is steep. The orientation process is unintuitive at best and could easily be considered downright inhospitable.

unintentionally hurtful? How could they leave without a word? Did they really love you? This is where our scenario takes an all-too familiar twist. There are two ways this type of situation tends to end. The first = The Big Quiet. The Big Quiet (a phrase aptly coined by staff contributor Paypabak Writer) is when your partner/Master/friend/lover disappears with no word, explanation or warning. The second = death. For obvious reasons, The Big Quiet is a much simpler option since it requires merely a lack of empathy and compassion towards others. Death is a lot harder to pull off and necessitates a cruel and sinister mind.

You rough it out and obtain/avoid/seek/use/laugh at the “freenis” (freenis = free penis). Next, make a friend with more experience who is willing to help and teach. You learn that “draw distance” extends further than 94m! You learn of flight band! You learn about animation over-riders, griefers, wearing a “bald base” under your prim hair and where to finally, thankfully, buy good shoes.

“Death.” I use this term loosely. Let me be crystal clear. I am not referring to actual, physical, real cessation of life. Statistically it’s without argument that SL residents die in real life. Fact. That said how many people leave their account name, password and friends list information with their real life roommate/spouse/ mother/guinea pig and ask them to notify their SL loved ones if they meet a sudden and unfortunate demise? This is a step very few people are willing to take, if they even have the thought in the first place? Who would want their privacy invaded prematurely? Imagine having to explain to your Mom, drunk on boxed Chablis, that your virtual self is a hedgehog residing in the ample cleavage of a caged, naked slave girl. Point made. No? Toss a tentacle-sex monster into the mix. Anyone who has tried to explain the very real

Time passes. You fall in love. You amass friends, business associates, create a fashion blog, and post your stylish “look of the day” to Flickr™. You voice-verify that your partner is actually the gender they claim to be and you are off and running! Your second life is G.O.O.D. So, one day, your partner doesn’t show up. You think, “Meh, probably nothing to worry about.” Sunday. Monday. Tuesday. No word. A week passes. You leave messages in IM, email, cell phone. Nothing. A week slowly and painfully grinds to a month of absolute silence. Something is seriously wrong. You cycle through love, anger, hurt, betrayal. Replay that last conversation in your head. Did you say something 9

emotions we experience when we interact with other residents to the uninitiated knows how difficult and unbelievable our relationships seems.

scenarios are impossible to justify one can allow that perhaps the initial intent of the man in this example was to see what it would be like to live as a woman in SL. Others, having painted themselves into a virtual corner, find themselves unable or unwilling to shoulder the responsibility of the pain they are about to cause another, opt to create an “out” for themselves and suddenly claim to have a terminal RL condition which necessitates their departure from SL.

I have had a long-time acquaintance who is heavily into role-play and for him, part of that role-play includes finding the “love of his life” (du jour!) and convincing her she’s the only one he’s ever really loved. His pattern is to woo a partner, secure her, enjoy the endorphin rush of the new love, tire of her within a month or two at most, spend increasingly less time on-line in the hopes she’ll grow bored and leave or take a new lover - at which point he’ll return, indignant and get to play the hurt victim. If the woman doesn’t get the hint and leave on her own accord in response to his absence he’ll pack up his toys and disappear without a word, leaving a distraught partner in his wake. He’ll tell a couple of his friends he’s “Leaving SL Forever” then slip into one of his many alts and start anew. I watched his pattern play out on a grand scale a few months ago when he planned to marry a moderately well-known woman in her little corner of SL after painting the relationship as the “No, really, forget all of my other marriages, we both know you and I should have been together from the very beginning!” ultimate love. The wedding was planned. A sim was modified. Lots of lindens were spent. The woman claimed to know him best and even knew of all of his lies and his pattern of disappearing but didn’t think it would happen to her since she believed she was the “Love of his life.” Long story short: he didn’t show for the ceremony. Literally left her standing at the altar with dozens of guests present. Rumor has it he returned in an alt to love up the woman who landscaped the sim for the wedding but he has since taken up with a different woman in another alt. C’est la vie!

Even more difficult to understand are the people who see SL as a playground in which to purposefully seek out opportunities to satisfy their emotional needs without consideration of others. A calculated effort to manipulate and gain sympathies from as many people as possible. Once a person has acquired enough friends in SL to establish an audience, they will reveal the details of their “RL condition” to receive the inevitable outpouring of sympathy and concern. Next follows the claim to be unable to pay for medical treatment. This is particularly easy to believe as so many people are without healthcare, particularly in the US. Depending on the social circle one has ingratiated themselves into, designers, bloggers and other persons of influence will usually begin a campaign to raise money through collections, benefit events, yard sales or donate items for a special sale. The construct of SL wherein we all contribute to the world with our builds means the grid is bustling with very kind-hearted and generous people who are quick to help someone in need. Műnchausen by Internet is a term used to describe one who creates an online persona, in social networking or virtual environments, then fakes real illness or death for attention and sympathy. Dr. Marc Feldman of the University of Alabama is an expert on Műnchausen Syndrome – a disorder in which one fakes illness, and states that the internet is the perfect setting for people to engage in this type of deceit. The internet has many ‘’… virtual support groups which are unabashedly nurturing. For someone who feels hungry for attention and sympathy, one is guaranteed to get that promptly by falsely claiming an ailment.’’ Once the story has played itself out the person will often begin all over again with a new persona and an even more elaborate and impossible story.

Have I ever had moments when I felt so frustrated or angry that I felt like blowing away my inventory, logging off and never looking back without a word? Of course. Would I? Absolutely not. What are the circumstances which would drive a person to The Big Quiet or fake their death? Digging through the internet there are stories of people who engaged in a relationship which included deceit feeling backed into a corner and with no choice but to “come clean” or disappear -- a man pretends to be a woman, has a female avatar and dupes a lesbian avatar into a relationship but is unable to sustain the lie. While such

The vast amount of medical information online 10

has made it even easier to cook up a story. ‘’Medical information is so readily available,’’ Dr. Feldman said. ‘’You can type the most esoteric ailment into a search engine and get back dozens of pages dealing with it.’’ It is, of course, easier to fool people who cannot see you or hear your voice: there is no need to shave your head or lose 50 pounds to alter your physical appearance. People must choose to believe the words that are written or not and must rely on their instincts as to whether or not a story is true.

“Paypabak Writer” rezzed in February 2007. I estimate I lost control of her six weeks later as she became involved with a Dune role-playing sim and her story became enmeshed with a variety of avatars from all walks of life and time zones. Role-playing within roleplaying … How little the “atomic me” knew how deeply I would become involved with other players. My first SL love’s profile showed some naïvity towards experimenting with a particular lifestyle and to my mind, was just inviting a world of hurt from someone willing to exploit that “invitation.” It’s a pattern I’ve come to see all-too-often with other acquaintances and my pattern seems to be jumping in to rescue them.

As someone who has been on the receiving end of The Big Quiet from a business partner my advice is to try to not let the experience change the core of who you are. It is important to be able to continue to trust and to give trust to those who show they are worthy of it.

As our affair had its ups and downs, it reached a point where she would miss a date, apologize but then miss the make-up date. She was never good with sharing emails, but when she’d not logged on in several weeks, I became concerned. I tried emails with no response after IMs failed. The Big Quiet moves from concern over what may have happened in first life, to worry over what I did or she did to cause the disappearance, and as the silence settles heav-

Below staff contributor Paypabak Writer shares her experience with The Big Quiet in her own words. - Ofelia Laval

ily, you begin to feel betrayed. Was I ever loved?

mate I lost control of her six weeks later as she became involved with a Dune roleplaying sim and her story became enmeshed with a variety of avatars from all walks of life and time zone. Roleplaying within roleplaying … How little did the atomic me know how deeply I would become involved with other players. My first SL love seemed to be rather naïve with her profile about experimenting with a particular lifestyle and to my mind, just inviting a world of hurt from someone willing to exploit that “invitation.” It’s a pattern I’ve come to see all-too-often with other acquaintances and my pattern seems to be jumping in to rescue them.

A crucial aspect of the virtual life is the spontaneity of this 3D Chat environment, the co-authorship of stories and the interactions put us in the moment with no past or future, just a pure present where what else is there to feel but love? We fall in love with being in love. I’ve spent way too many hours reading so many similar stories of this virtual abandonment of the loved one; I have become quite philosophical about it. When someone would come into Paypabak’s life who contributed strongly to her shared story, she tried as much as possible to temper the heat of the moment with this long view. Nonetheless, she felt The Big Quiet glide over a few more SL relationships. I have recently been persuaded of a paradigm that a friend of mine who recently passed away in real life posted in her profile: “Reality is not about truth or physics. It’s about crafting a story so persuasive it will be taken at face value.” I drew close to a number of people where it no longer mattered who or what their atomic reality was, I took them at face value and they were insinuated into my heart. As I’ve written elsewhere, “When Paypabak Writer stepped into Second Life, she gave up control of her life despite the incredible illusion of control she seemed to have in choosing her appearance and how she could shape her backstory. The people with whom she interacted gained control and shaped her development once she risked sharing the crafting of her story with others. That others wanted to be part of that story is what my friend was driving at: a story so persuasive it will be taken at face value.” I am still considering whether this paradigm is true to first life as well.

I didn’t have a name for The Big Quiet until my dearest friend in SL, who often consoled me during the worst parts of a Big Quiet, decided to take a sabbatical of unknown length, and for awhile left me wondering: did I do something wrong? But she wrote me an email that didn’t really say goodbye but that she wasn’t going to be around anymore and didn’t want to leave me wondering. She accepted the responsibility that I would be hurt and miss her, but she could not go on. And rather than fight her on it, to protest and insist … I thanked her and let go. And that has made all the difference. -Paypabak Writer

Another Second Life lesson that reflects First Life: Love is more a matter of letting go more than holding too tightly. This is most often the case in an argument where one insists on being right and holds that more important than being in a relationship. That pretty much ends badly every time in virtual or atomic relationships. Knowing why someone slipped away into The Big Quiet is another aspect of this that has me wondering do I really need to know? If I really examine my friends list, I can think of any number of people I’ve unceremoniously dropped. Paypabak Writer rezzed in February 2007. I esti13

HOT FINDS SEY

Imagine wandering around a sim. You come across a dark oak building. Entering, the smell of new clothes hits you. To your left, you see an assortment of unisex accessories. Scarves, bags, belts, bracelets – you name it and you’ll find it! Males would be satisfied with the wide range of punk style clothing while the women can happily tackle the upper story. Welcome to the brainchild of designer Risey Arai! Welcome to Sey. Styling by Cayce Newell and Tomoyo Breitman Hailing from the Land of the Rising Sun (or rather, Japan) Risey is as much an emerging designer as his name and country implies. Risey brings to us the latest trends from Japanese street fashion. From the high-quality items he continues to amaze us with, his dedication and passion in delighting the residents of Second Life® with his stunning work is evident. Without doubt, Sey is definitely a place to visit and a “hot find.” Sey Main Store itutu RR (60/169/22) Sey on Xstreet Click here to visit Sey’s Marketplace Sey Blog xseyx.blogspot.com

Hair: +*gl*+dolls+Hunting cap black Skin: :GP: Sundust [Dark] Lovely-Olive Branch 1 Dress: :sey Retro2piece [A] Undershirt: (Part of ) Dollita/ Midnight dress (olive) Hoodie: :sey maki2 hoodie_v.3 [R:’s black-long] Leggings: M * A * ii * K * I Sculpt Legging Pieces Bronze Lashes: [Glow] Studio – Vanity eyelashes - natural Bag: =IZUMIYA=Casual Ruck[[Black]] Shoes: :sey SAKURA Drops-2 Model/Stylist: Tomoyo Breitman

Hair: +*gl*+Umbrella+platinum Skin: :GP: Sundust [Dark] April-Redbud 1 Outfit: :sey HaruBara=black= Leggings: (Part of ) ::: B@R ::: Tokyo Drive Lashes: Silhouette Lashes: DANGEROUS Cap: :sey “Wild 6” cap Necklace: (NS) Rock’n’Rolla Chain Clutch: +plus *Rock Clutch* in Black Shoes: :sey Goth 0 black&sox Pose: AnaLu

Hair: ((JUNWAVE))LoosePony*BROWN* Skin: :GP: Sundust [Dark] April-Redbud 1 Shirt: :sey Silk shirt=aoi= Shorts: :sey short denim [dark green] Scarf: :sey Afghan stole=simple[A] 10textureschange+resize Bracelet: :sey Leather wristband-SDX/black[Xsmall] Waist Pouch: *~MM’s~* WaistBag-SimpleBelt-BR(uni-girl) Earrings: !SyDS! Four Leaves Eearrings type A Lashes: Silhouette Lashes: DANGEROUS Shoes: :sey denim HH/2color/resizable/D Pose: Pretzel*Poses

Skin: Petal frex Lovely-Firehouse 2 by :GP: Hair: O-two in black by Glitter Nails: turquoise by :bijou: Top with belt and skirt: :sey HaruBara navy Jeans: :sey Soft jeans [B] Shoes: :sey denim HH/2 color/resizable/A

Model/Stylist: Cayce Newell 18

Skin: Acorn dark Lovely-firehouse 2 by :GP: Hair: Umbrella in platinum by Glitter Hat: :sey bon bon hat (texture change) Dress: :sey Retro2piece (D) Socks: :sey 3line3set-BR_KH Shoes: :sey denim HH/2 color/resizable/E Bag: :sey bon bon bag (texture change)

Skin: Character skin by Rockberry Hair: E.O.S. in black by Glitter Scarf: :sey Afghan stole=simple A 10 texture change Cap: :sey CAT&MOUSE knit cap Jacket: :sey RJK2 (white) Jeans: :sey Soft jeans [F] Shoes: Superstars in black/white by Soreal Tail: Black feline tail by Atomic

MIX & MATCH By Tomoyo Breitman & Cayce Newell

Skin: Jennifer in pale/deep red by Redgrave Hair: Namonaki in black by Glitter Hat: Red pillbox hat by Paper Couture Socks: sculpted socks in red by Maitreya Shoes: Superstars in white/red by Soreal

K1 O LO + D A

LOOK 3 C + G

LOOK 2 E + C + D Skin: Jennifer in pale/deep red by Redgrave Hair: Namonaki in black by Glitter Hat: Red pillbox hat by Paper Couture Socks: sculpted socks in red by Maitreya Shoes: Superstars in white/red by Soreal Skin: Ashley in pale/smoky1 by Redgrave Hair: rawsyowki in black by Glitter Monocle: Classy monocle by VintageWear Tattoo: Neverland 2049 by Barerose Shoes: Coquette Noir - Swank II by Indyra Originals

A (Milk Motion) My admiral jacket

B AXEL Simone Floral Skirt - Black

C AXEL Marlow Blouse Tie - Cream 22

D [LeeZu!] BritPants /silver

LOO

H + G

Skin: Petal frex dark Lovely-Firehouse 2 by :GP: Hair: Orokane in black by Glitter Sunglasses: Plastic candy glasses in cherry by Nylon Outfitters Legwarmers: legwarmers knit in off white by Cubic Effect Shoes: Kitten heels in blood-night by 50 flats

LOO

K4 A + F + B Skin: Acorn dark Lovely-firehouse 2by :GP: Hair: Umbrella in platinum by Glitter Hat: Mobstress hat by Kyoot Army Shoes: EnamelBuckleGladiator in gold by Aoharu

Model/Stylist: Cayce Newell

E [MG fashion] Nautical Coa - long (red)

F [MG fashion] RolledCuffsShirt (firebrick)

[MG fashion] SailorShorts (white)

H (P-K) Mariniere striped dress Turquoise

Hair: Maitreya Piper II - Natural Blond Skin::GP: Sundust [Dark] April-Redbud 1 Shorts: -Veschi- Jeanius! Black Bangles: *Fishy Strawberry* Istanbul Bangles Hat:[SG*] Get on! - Hat/ Black Stockings: Stocking 5018 dark cyan by Tsukasa Vultee Lashes: Silhouette Lashes - DANGEROUS Shoes: STYLE - Inner Hoochie Shoe – Black Pose: Torridwear A

LO +

OK F

Hair: PE Flynn Jet Black Skin::GP: Sundust [Dark] April-Redbud 2 Skirt: (Part of ) Modd.G Lydiah Summer Dress (The Babydoll Pink) Cigarette: FNKY! Cigarette II (long ash) Lashes: Silhouette Lashes - DANGEROUS Bread: TOSL *Bag of Baguettes* Shoes: Maitreya ChiChi Velvet Golden Pose: Torridwear

LOOK 3

E + F

LOOK 1 E + G Hair: .:.Foam!.:. - The Valerie - Browns Skin::GP: Sundust [Dark] April-Redbud 1 Tank: MALT Long Tank Bag: *Dark Mouse* Straw Summer Bag (Red) Lashes: [Glow] Studio – Vanity Lashes Natural Stocking: Stocking 5091 black thigh-high long by Tsukasa Vultee Shoes: HOC Apparel - Bolts Sneakers Pose: AnaLu

A (Milk Motion) My admiral jacket

B AXEL Simone Floral Skirt - Black 24

Hair: booN TOM245 hair brown Skin: :GP: Sundust [Dark] April-Pure 4 Scarf: Cachet-SCARFtube_knitt2_teal Earrings: * DF * ALDA necklace-earrings-turquoise Shoes: Kalnins Shoes - Coquette Bangle:+*R*+: Traumerei Bracelet Lashes: [Glow] Studio – Vanity Lashes Natural Pose: {flowey}

K OO

5 +

LOO

A + Hair: ETD Felicity - Black B Skin: Redgrave – Hana Brown Tank: MichaMi GlamTank in DarkBrown Cuffs: {Gisaci} Buone Vacanze Shorts cuffs Necklace: (Royal Blue) Love Stone Pendent in Multi and Gold Stole: =IZUMIYA=Red Stole((Simple)) Tights: G.L.A.M Tintable Metallic Lycra Tights Lashes: [Glow] Studio – Vanity Lashes Natural Shoes: Maitreya Verve Black Pose: Torridwear

E [MG fashion] Nautical Coa - long (red)

F [MG fashion] RolledCuffsShirt (firebrick)

Model/Stylist: Tomoyo Breitman

[MG fashion] SailorShorts (white)

H (P-K) Mariniere striped dress Turquoise

FASHION SPREAD SUMMER FUN

The warm weather awaits this June. We are packing up and hitting the beach! We are all about summer fun, spending time with friends, catching some sun, and strolling the endless beaches. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve also got a few cute ideas for what to wear! Stylist: Felicity Blumenthal Photographer: Zoe Demar Location: Los Rocas

Fukmi Sideways Swimsuit: Firanelli - Yvette - Red Hat: Elegance Hats - Lisette - Red Sandals: *HUB* - Venus Sandals - White Pearl Bracelet: Genesis - Aidan Bangles Hair: Truth - Felicity 2 (Mocha) Skin: DrLife Silk Girl Skin Cici16 C0 Pose: [LAP] - Hold It

Gemini Galatea

Swimsuit: VictoriaV - Miami Beach bag: [Lelutka] - Sack Bag (White) Sunglasses: ROLE Optic - Eternity II Sandals: AOHARU - Suede Lace up Sandals (White) Hair: Analog Dog - Monday (Jet) Skin: Laqroki - Imani Nougat, makeup 5 Pose: [LAP] - Searching

Jura Shepherd Skin: Laqroki ~ Diane 02 Ebony Shape: ::SHIKI:: Jura Shape Small Eyes: ** [ Riddle ] ** Realistic Brights - Ocean Blue Hair: ETD Lydia - Nickel Swimsuit: Wig Wam Bam - St. Tropez SwimSuit Jewelry - Genesis - Autumn Set Sunglasses: ROLE OPTIC - SG-60 Princess Pose: [LAP] - Lawn Bug PR4

Rylan Carling Swimsuit: Surf Couture - Love Meh Sum Beach Kini - Blue bag: ROMP - Beach Bag (Blue) Bracelet: LeLutka - Strung Stones Bracelet Hair: Exile, Rosalie Black Pack (with sunglasses) Skin: LAQ - Kat [Peach] 01 Pose: [LAP] - Comfy PR4

Lila Axel Swimsuit: Nyte Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Day - Tiz Bikini - Hued Sunglasses: Surf Couture - Splash Shades - Vodka Sauce Earrings: Paper Couture - Pink Tourmaline Chandelier Earrings Bracelet: Genesis - Aidan Bangles Hair : Truth: Aradia - Mocha Skin: Curio - Sundust April - Tulip1 29 Pose: [LAP] - Sunny Day PR4

Felicity Blumenthal Skin Flicks: Cross Bikini w/ Sash - Green Hat: Elegance Hats - Erin - Straw Jewelry: EarthStones - Bali Crescent Jewelry Set & Bracelet - Silver/Chrysocolla Shoes: Surf Couture - Freedom Flops - Beige Hair: Foam! - The Valerie - Reds A Skin: Tuli - Faith Group Gift Tan Pose: *Luth* Couple’s Pose 9 - M/F

Express Zenovka Hair: [ND] “Deception” - Black Pearl Skin: -Belleza- Miguel Deep Tan 0 (hair) Earrings: -SCAR–TISSUE- ring lobe piercings Glasses: ROLE OPTIC SG-54 Cato IV Tattoo: tattoo chains of faith_GoK Shorts: Alphamale - Swimtrunks - Swirls II - Olive Sandals: [LeLutka]-CARSON sandals/cornflowerblue *tinted black 30

Nika Dreamscape Skin: Gala Pheonix- Petal [Dark] Lovely- Chocolate Peach 1 Hair: ETD Emily - Crimson Ring: Infinity Fine Jewelry ~Infinity Wedding/Engagement Ring Swimmies: [SC] Orange and Polkadot Bikini: *Zanzo* Lolly Dolly Bikini Necklace: House Of Heart ~ Soho (Gold)

Ryker Beck

Matt Hutson

Swimsuit: ::eLDee:: Sei Green Swimsuit Necklace: EarthStones - Knotty Beads Necklace (Labradorite) Hair: [Aden] Charlize (Black) Long Skin: Genesis - Candace Peach “Bouquet”

Trunks: Water Babies - Low Rise Square Cut (cherry) Hair: [ND] “Mess It Up” - Black Pearl Skin: The Abyss - Scorpio Origin 1[A] Body Hair Pose: [LAP] Chicken Fight Group Pose Set

Damen Gorilla Skin: Adam n Eve - Dylan T2 Hair Clean Shave. Shorts: *Valiant* - Sea Drenched Floral Shorts Glasses: Custom Glasses by Damen Gorilla 31

ARMOIRE DIVERSITY

The great challenge of creating a look that works for both genders is picking clothes that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have shading on the fabric for a specific gender. For instance, some girly tees have shadings and wrinkles drawn to mimic the female body and on some male tees you can see shading to mimic male abdominal muscles. Fortunately, some designers do create unisex items even if the majority of their clothes are exclusively for girls and boys. Other designers exclusively create items that be worn both by women and men in SL. The first step to create a unisex look is to check the shading patterns on the clothing. If the shading is for a female you can disguise the shades by adding suspenders, a scarf or a jacket. However, there are two things that we must also look at: how many layers are available and what is the rise of the pants. For a male, we need tops both in shirt and underpants layers or simply a jacket layer since the shirt layer ends at the belly button on the male body. Most pants are usually low rise for males and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why the above mentioned layers are needed. With that in mind, I accessorized the same look (shirt and pants) for a male look and for a female look. By Ana Lutetia

Girl

Boy

Skin: Freckled SinSkin Tone 5: 11 Hair: Maitreya Piper II - Autumn Eyes: *Kookie* Editorial eyes V1 - Grey thunder Lashes: PanJen Lashes type 4 Piercing: DK Piercings - The Line Manicure: :::Sn@tch Nail Candy (Pale Peach)::: Scarf Belt: .:StoRin:. - Gwen Waist Scarf *strawberry* Necklace: .+*AA*+.Layered flower necklace *pink Shirt: *KUROTSUBAKI* OCS floral Jeans: LikeA*DENIM DARK BLUE DP#04 4TYPE Shoes: [Detour] London Flats HotPink Poses: -AnaLu- *fresh poses*

Shape: [M] m.Mauro - Shape 2 | Mauro by Manifest Shapes (modified) Skin: [PXL] Jude Spring Face00 HH0 BHN Hair: PE Mykal Wine Eyes: *Kookie* Editorial eyes V1 - Grey thunder ArmWarmers: Canimal - Armlets! (prim arm warmers) Belt: =IZUMIYA=HipBag-Black Shirt: *KUROTSUBAKI* OCS floral Jeans: LikeA*DENIM DARK BLUE DP#04 4TYPE Sneakers: [ hoorenbeek ] Samoa - Beige/Blue Poses: [LP] Anime Boy Pose Pack 1

MASCULINO

The weather has been warming up enough for you decide to take the weekend off, go to a beach, and enjoy it to the fullest. You grab a backpack and cram it full of necessities for a day at the beach and some stylish clothes for a night out. By Ana Lutetia For a day at the beach you must not forget your sunscreen and shades. It’s hot enough to go the beach but sun exposure is dangerous and you have to watch out. In SL™ you can search for surf locations, grab a surf board and hit the waves. Epic Conditions Surf has a great beach, beach shack and surfable waves. As it simple as a beach-look may seem, it’s always a great idea to add some accessories. Starting with beach shorts designed for surfers, I also picked up sandals and aviator sunglasses. Instead of leaving your upper body completely naked, you can add a tattoo and, for the finishing element, a necklace. The necklace is sold for female avatars, so a little editing was required for the perfect fit.

Shape: [M] m.Mauro - Shape 2 | Mauro by Manifest Shapes (modified) Skin: -Belleza- Jonas med (hair) group gift Hair: >TRUTH< Zach – burgundy Eyes: ** [ Riddle ] ** Grey Eyes Necklace: =IZUMIYA=Pendant/Surf Sunglasses: (NO) Aviators (gold & green) Tattoo: AITUI TATTOO - Mechanical Fern /Full Body/ Shorts: *Action Mens Boardies Chex - Green Sandals: KK Outfiters - Journeys Leather Sandals (Men’s Black) Poses: =IZUMIYA=SS Poses 39

Shape: [M] m.Mauro - Shape 2 | Mauro by Manifest Shapes (modified) Skin: -Belleza- Jonas med (hair) group gift Hair: >TRUTH< Zach – burgundy Eyes: ** [ Riddle ] ** Grey Eyes Tattoo: AITUI TATTOO - Mechanical Fern /Full Body/ Piercing: :::MONO:::chin piercing Headphones: Gritty Kitty: Studio Headphones Jacket: magi take spring jacket [ gray ] male Pants: Tokeo.Unisex Ravepants-PaintSplatter Shoes: [ hoorenbeek ] Cargo – Blac Poses: =IZUMIYA=SS Poses

It’s time to party! This nighttime look evolved from the unisex Ravepants with sculpted attachments for a loose look. The idea was to create a simple yet different style for a guy’s night out. Along with the Ravepants, I have added the Spring jacket leaving the tattoo on in the underlayers. For these pants, sneakers/trainers work perfectly and, in my opinion, better than shoes. As for accessories, I simply added a mouth piercing and headphones. This look would also work with a scarf, some gloves and cuff bracelets but the original idea was to make it simple and, since you’re out for the weekend, you won’t have all of your wardrobe with you.

FOR MEN THE JEWNAS BROTHERS By Express Zenovka

James Schwarz James’ nautical look was inspired by a nice summer day spent outside at the docks. Revolving his style around a tank from Milk Motion, he wanted a classic and simple look that is instantly recognizable. Hat: Apollon - Homburg hat set03 Hair: Uw.St Hibiki size-S coffee Glasses: Sera Korea - Glass Large Suspenders: Armidi Limited - Basic Suspenders [Black] Tank: Milk Motion - My sailor tank black Watch: Europa Watch - Inovator Pants: Zaara : Classic jeans for men *black* Shoes: Shiny Things - Tritones black velvet Bag: Sera Korea University - Freebie Bag Skin: Dernier Cri - Cole: Cream - 5 ‘o Clock Shadow

Francois Ghost Francois’ outfit is brought to you courtesy of his laundry hamper. He’s basically (re)wearing his current favorite jeans and making public his love affair with plaid. As for his accessories, he explains them best: “of course elf ears, boots, and tattoos go together like p,b&j.” Hair: Gritty Kitty: BLACK Lenin Ears: Plastik - Animalistic Elven Ears Piercings: Custom by Takuma Setsuko Shirt: *Thimbles* I <3 Plaid - Darryl Hybrid Tattoo: .:Addict:. Good Bird Bad Bird Pants: Zaara : Classic jeans for men *indigo* Boots: [0N] Wo Boots Skin: Damiani Liam Goatie2 Natural Haired

Izzy Bereznyak Izzy’s outfit is a mash-up of his favorite elements. From the white sneakers to the open jacket to his shades and hair, Izzy just wears what he likes. He is a big fan of the underwear layer of Zaara’s jeans, which let him wear his checkered shirt (“checks are the secks”) untucked. Glasses: (VW) Retro Shades - Metal Smokes: FNKY! Cigarette II (long ash) Hair: Uw.St Mickey-hair type-B size-S coffee Jacket: [ hoorenbeek ] Jacket - Tweed Shirt: Pig - Masculine Gingham Shirt Blue/White Pants: Zaara : Classic jeans for men *black* Shoes: *ordinary design* Primates Skin: Damiani Joshua V.2.0 Fullbeard Olive 43

GOTH SPREAD JUST A DREAM?

Not everything is what it seems in this virtual worldâ&#x20AC;Ś Throughout the beautiful sim of embryo un jour du lumiere something dark is haunting every corner. Sexy, romantic, mysterious.. gothic fashion trips over the edge of normality and into the your pixel dreams. Come join us in a place where dreams are dreams and nightmares are realâ&#x20AC;Ś Styling and Pictures By Keeley Huet

Keeley Huet Bra:(Armidi) mesh bra black Hair:(Boon )FTN683 Black Skirt:[HD] pinstriped high waist skirt Skin:(WOT?) skin 004{dcc} Hair butterflies: (Canimal)-Skellyflies Shoes:(Canimal)- Gothdamn shoes- pink Socks:(Wrong) fishnets pink Gloves:(Mimikri) gloves- pink Necklace:(Naith Smith Designs) Rock and Rolla chain- Female Lashes:( Rhapsody) [ glow] studio-peacock Eyes: (Nomine) contacts Orc & Supernova POSE: Striking poses: Fay Wray pose 7 46

GHOST: Keeley Huet Dress:(Kyoot)Exquisite Corpse Gown Skin: (cupcake) Lovespell-Lace-Goth-black lips Boots:(Redgrave) biker boots- black Face mask: (OS-SC) Mask Black Gloves:(Cachet) Part of Wednesday outfit Hair: (Lis_noir) Sri- Noir

Geo Yohogania Hair:(Armidi Hair) The Law - Smoked Mahogany Undershirt:(MIA )Undershirt (Black) Piercing:(Aitui) - 1 Captive Bead Eyebrow Ring /surgical steel Shoes:(Jeepers Creepers) - All-Black LF Eyes:(Nomine) Stained Contacts - anime white & hazel blue Skin:(Nomine) Sylvan Male China White - plain sideburns Shirt:(English Element) - Half & Half - Gray & Black Trousers:[Tokeo]-JesterJeans- Chain

Grier Winter Outfit:(leezu Baxter)-NOIR Efraims Daughter Set Shape:(Silhouette shapes) Cloe Skin:(Wot?) Skin 004{pyc} Hair:(Exile) Laynie-Twilight Pose: Striking poses: Audrey Kitching pose 3 49

Damon Dollinger Hair: (ARGRACE) - Casket (Button) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Long - Black Skin: (TheAbyss) Scorpio Dystopia Body Hair Eyes: (Rebel X )- Starman Eyes Shirt: (Addict )- Control (partial outfit) Trousers: (Fear & Clothing) - Low Rise Jeans - Jacked Boots: (Shiny Things) - Xing Boots - black Eyelashes:(EDDESIGN) male eyelashes Piercings (own custom) 50

Faith Choche Shirt:(Pink Outfitters) poppy sheer blouse- black Trousers: Kyoot: Nonsensical pants: leather Hair:(Boon) NWA501 Black Skin: (&bean)Pale: The anger :placid Shoes:(Aoharu) Suede shoes-Black Piercing:(Aitui) septum piercing Ring: (Paper Couture) Time square ring non bling Shape:(Silhouette Shapes)Jessi

BODY & MIND BLONDE VS. BRUNETTE

Do blondes have more fun? This quintessential question will never be answered in our lifetime for sure. It is certain, however, that our hair color is a strong determinate of how others perceive us. We’re all guilty of making a visual judgment of someone in 30 seconds and hair color is a large factor in that assessment. Even more interesting is how our hair color directly affects how we see ourselves. By Shelby Ziskey

Blonde or brunette? There is no real debate about which is better. Changing your hair color is as easy as changing your outfit in Second Life®. Men have a definite preference when it comes to a women’s hair color, and in SL it doesn’t have much to do with the mythical IQ factor associated with each.

get some attention, even if he is the one to initiate. As my male avatar, I conducted a little survey ingame showing random men pictures of the same female avatar with blonde hair and again with dark brown. I asked 10 men at a dance club, 11 men while shopping at Armidi and 10 men at a pose ball store. For brevity’s sake I didn’t include redheads (a subset of brunettes which represent 4% in real life). I asked each man to tell me what they thought the personalities of the two women would be like and which one they would be most likely to pursue.

I didn’t set up a test for females. It seems to me in SL, women take a man as a whole and typically aren’t attracted to one feature. A male avatar that is well put together, no matter what the “look,” is always going to

Most attractive overall Appears intelligent Appears independent Appears approachable Appears high-maintenance or likely to cause drama

Blonde 49% 20% 30% 75% 40%

Brunette 51% 80% 70% 25% 60%

Picture by Shelby Ziskey Sunsilk commissioned a study regarding this very subject. Part of their findings was that the rise of the brunette has been noticed by fashion experts. A league table of the world’s most beautiful women compiled by Harpers & Queen magazine featured brunettes in the top five slots. The actress Angelina Jolie nabbed the top spot, followed by the model Christy Turlington, Queen Rania of Jordan, the film director Sophia Coppola and the food writer Nigella Lawson. Uma Thurman, the star of the Kill Bill films, was the highest-ranking blonde at number six, according to the survey of 1,000 fashion, arts and media experts and plastic surgeons. Uma Thurman, really?

women gossip to the brunette about the blonde which made me laugh more than anything in SL so far in the three years I’ve been here. On the other hand, as a blonde, I was flirted with much more often and my friends list was quite sparse when it came to women friends. When I am approached as a brunette it’s usually by men with great manners. I am approached by women as well. I rarely have rude men flirting with me, even when I’m in places where a more aggressive, direct approach is the culture. So the question is, does your hair color affect your personality, or do other people’s stereotypes influence your experience -- therefore modifying your behavior? Or both?

In my own experience in SL I’ve lived as a blonde as well a brunette. I had exactly the same avatar and the same skin with the exception of the hair. I didn’t modify my behavior or personality whatsoever and found that I had two vastly different experiences. As a brunette, my friends list is double the size from when I was blonde, and there are more women on it than men. Traveling in the same social circles the 57

I have to wonder where the time flies away to. I cannot believe it is already June! The beach gear is making its way out of the closet, sunglasses are a permanent fixture, and all I want to do is stretch out in the sun. Wasn’t it just winter a second ago? Can you believe this is ROLE Magazine’s 7th issue?! So speaking of the rapidly approaching summer months - let’s look at where you can find great seasonal accessories and where to go to show ‘em off! By Felicity Blumenthal

Dear Felicity, of styles and colors. You might also try ICON -I know they have a great sculpted broad rimmed hat there as well!

I would love to stand out a little more, and not just be wearing a swimsuit at the beach. I always see the fashionistas so well accessorized and I wonder where they find all the great stuff! I’d love to know where to get a nice straw hat or a gorgeous swimsuit with a sarong.

And, lastly, as far as a sarong swimsuit; two places come to mind off the top of my head: Nicky Ree and Skin Flicks. Nicky Ree’s selection is a bit larger, but I do love the Skin Flicks suit I own!

Sincerely, Plain Jane

Sure hope this inspires you to accessorize! Don’t forget to put on a few large bangles, grab a beach bag and maybe a cute pair of sandals!

Dear Plain Jane, There are tons of great accessories out there these days, and just dozens upon dozens of shops to pick them up at. I can certainly share with you where my favorite spots are though. I think the best way to find these items is to just do a bit of wandering on a shopping sim. Stop in every store, even if you don’t think you’d like something in there. You really never know what you might find. I think for straw-type hats, I’d suggest taking a look at Elegance hats. The sculpted hats are all gorgeous, and they have a huge selection

Dear Felicity, I am always looking for great public places, to hang out with friends, or my boyfriend. I was wondering if you have any favorite public beaches to recommend? Some place beautiful with fun poses? Sincerely, Beach Bound

I think it’s great that you look for places to relax on public sims, etc. There are so many beautiful summer and beach-themed sims as summer seems to be the preferred season after all! If I did have to pick just one, I would suggest: Las Arenas Rosadas, which is an enormous island, offering tons of gorgeous scenery, beaches, and poses. There are quite a few sims connected to it as well, which are all beach themed. If you hop over a few to Las Rocas you can enjoy oceanfront shopping in a fantastic setting. Beach front shopping … is there anything better, really?

I am looking forward to a wonderful summer, full of good friends and fun in the sun. Thanks for the great questions – I can’t wait to see the questions you’ll have for me next month! You can either drop your questions to me by notecard in-world or e-mail felicity@role-magazine.com

Picture by Felicity Blumenthal

Dear Beach Bound,

Pictures by Keeley Huet

HOUSE & LIVING LIVING ON THE SEASIDE OF SECOND LIFE®

A warm breeze in the air, children playing outside, brighter evenings, it can only mean one thing. Summer! June signifies the start of warmer weather, beach time fun, less clothing and all things happy and bright. SL is no exception to those RL things. As the summer months creep in, beachfront properties become even more popular with pixels flocking to get their little bit of virtual paradise. Seaside living offers sandy beach fronts and glistening waters-and that’s all on the outside. What does seaside living mean for the inside of your perfect beachfront home? Well, I am a firm believer that you don’t need to coordinate everything perfectly to get a certain look. Let’s face it - what we don’t want is everything to look too coordinated or like a carnival ride instead of a peaceful, tranquil place for you to virtually kick your shoes off after a long hard days work in RL. I have found a few stores on the grid that will give you a kick start towards that perfect seaside look. By Keeley Huet

The first store I would like to share with you is the little store Second Spaces. I am not that familiar with how old this store is but what it offers is some of the best made furniture I have seen on the grid. The textures are yummy and the attention to those little bits and bobs that pull a room together (you know how I love my knick-knacks) are just perfect. As soon as I walked in, I was immediately was drawn to the vanity in the front window. Now, I bet you’re thinking, how does a vanity say ‘seaside?’ Well, just because we live on the seaside doesn’t mean our pixels don’t need to be primped. The light blue color of the wood texture screams ‘seaside’ to me. It has almost a shabby rustic look about it, and I think it’s a perfect edition to a bedroom. It comes with three accessories: a jewelry box, powder puff and a bunch of bottles. Another thing I thought was neat about this vanity was that the seat has built in animation so when you sit down it really looks like you are getting ready for a night out or just a trip down to your local clothing shop. If you are looking for something a tad different to put in a room then you should look no further then

the terribly cute Claire Old Wagon. I love this piece. It’s a broken old wagon that is filled with a few items including wrapping paper, old books and a cute bag stuffed with magazines. It’s a lovely wooden texture and really is the perfect addition to anyone’s rustic seaside living room. This store is definitely one to watch. It has a great selection of couches, chairs and really unusual bits and bobs. Oh and did I mention it’s incredibly affordable? This store is well worth a TP. The store Mudhoney has been on the scene for a little while now offering quality items ranging from beds, prefabs, pillows, couches, art, basically everything you would need for your home. The textures are shaded wonderfully. The Wave Side Chair grabbed my attention immediately. I love the way it’s shaped, and the blue and white lend a seaside feel. It would be perfect outside on some decking while you SL fish or would look terrific inside as part of a living room arrangement. It’s incredibly versatile. The Shell in the Sand art piece was an obvious choice for the seaside look but I felt it was very edgy and modern and it’s the per63

fect piece to just tie in a room to take the look from normal shabby chic to something a tad more nautical. The Beach Bum Bed from Mudhoney is a lovely bed with cuddle poses built in. It has big pillows that look oh, so fluffy and it has traditional summer colors blues, greens and browns. I adore how the bedspread on this bed looks and how the top of it is folded over. Another side addition for your home is the Tansu Steps. It is sort of a unit for putting things on but reminds me of old boxes on a dock stacked up in neatly. It’s not only pretty to look out but looks fab with a few items plunked down on it. Mudhoney offers so many choices and is really a shop that should be visited even if you aren’t interested in a seaside look.

ous color options which are handy for fitting in with any room. If you’re going for that seaside look, these are the perfect accessories. Atmosphere also offers an awesome set of rocking chairs which are perfect for hanging out on the porch watching the waves. This store is like scuplty perfection and is really worth a look for all of your furniture needs. Some of the little things I picked up to achieve this look came from a group of tiny stores. Coastal Seaside offers great old looking beach signs and Nautical Shop has the best little life preserver ring. Simple items like these add that little something to a room. So, take a swim over to these furniture stores and step into seaside living, SL style.

On my quest to find a seaside sofa, I found many different options but no other sofa caught my attention like the one from the store Atmosphere Works. The Sofa D*005 is stunning. There really aren’t any other words for it. It’s not only realistic looking, it’s perfectly shaded. I love how even though it’s plain it’s lovely to look at. It comes with built-in poses and ground shadows for realism. This sofa is a great addition for any room and comes in variety of colors. Now, I have always been a fan of lanterns but the lanterns from this store are just awesome. They click on and off and come in a pack with vari-

Mudhoney Fusion (29/124/24) Second Space Caribbean City (166/78/2) Atmosphere Works Primary (86/158/27)

Picture by Jura Shepherd

MUSIC SWAGGER LIKE AVS: THE HOLE IN SL WHERE HIP-HOP SHOULD BE

In a stylish Brooklyn brownstone on the Millions of Us sim, the intermittent stream of adult alternative music makes a listless attempt to break up the hush of utter inactivity. Promotional posters for Talib Kweli’s 2007 Warner Brothers CD release, “Ear Drum” adorn the walls like preserved relics of abandoned ambition that was to be Kweli’s foray into virtual worlds. The project had buzz, celebrity appeal, and a thoughtful build for showcasing live performances in-world but with a current day traffic rating of seven, it points to the greater question of why urban music has yet to capture audiences within Second Life®. By Jura Shepherd

To be fair, major label music acts have yet to utilize SL in a meaningful way and there’s also the fact that urban music isn’t the real world juggernaut that it was three years ago. Even so, at any given time roughly twenty percent of iTunes sales are songs classified as Hip-Hop /Rap. Look at ranking charts for terrestrial radio and you’ll see similar numbers so why is the genre so under-represented in SL’s live music community?

age and Kzero quotes the number of 18 to 34 year olds at roughly 60% of the whole. That number is well within the real world audience for urban music. If you consider that the Sugar Hill Gang’s, “Rapper’s Delight” was from 1979, it’s safe to assume that even SLer’s well into their 40s probably have at least some Hip-Hop on their iPods. We know at least anecdotally that there’s no glaring reason for SL audiences to not welcome live urban music. In fact, an informal survey by popular SL DJ and blogger, Doubledown Tandino suggested that live performance HipHop/Rap was among the top genres that residents considered ‘missing’ from the live music scene.

Could there be something about the demographic of SL that makes its residents less interested in live urban music? “Not at all” says Joi Price, a real world Hip-Hop insider and co-founder of SL’s gritty urban sim, New Jack City. She continues: “Hip-hop transcends races, religions, geographic lines and cultures. Second life is a just sampling of the real world”. Much is made of the Hip-Hop demographic but in truth; hard numbers are no less elusive than those supporting SL’s demographic make-up. One reasonable constant within SL is that the population’s age begins at 18 years of

At a Thursday night gig at Phemie Alcott’s Firefly Café, Kafka Dinzeo, A.K.A. MicRocka, is freestyling using words and phrases typed into open chat. The audience interaction is a hit and is the cherry on top of a great, high energy performance. The audience of 30 plus avatars is doing it’s best to head-nod and 69

seem to genuinely be having a great time. Kafka is one of a tiny handful of Hip-Hop performers’ in-world which begs the next question: If there’s an audience for urban music in SL, where are the performers? Kafka suggests that the issue may be one of perception when he says: “what holds hip hop acts back is that I think, that most people in SL think if they want to hear Hip-Hop/Rap they should just go to a club and listen to a DJ spin it”. It’s true that the genre is popular with DJs and awareness of live performance music has been a nagging problem for musicians of all genres. Joi Price offers another interesting perspective by looking at Second Life from a marketing angle: “Second life is definitely in competition from a viral marketing perspective, with social networking sites. If artists have down time from creating, recording, and performing, they try to directly connect with online audiences through sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Youtube. Problem is, there are only so many hours in a day and it doesn’t take long to create a presence on any of those sites”. Both opinions are indicative of what most of us have already come to realize; it takes time and patience to network in SL. Musicians from other genres have made the investment in SL though. It could be that these musicians have expectations that differ from those of a Hip-Hop artist but it would be hard to make a logical case that SL’s learning curve is harder for some than others.

whole. If the mainstream market imagines the “gangsta rappers” are living the lifestyles they portray in music, than in no way can those same audiences imagine them sitting in their boxers behind a PC, combating lag and switching up a virtual wardrobe. The backpackers however might have a shot.” The term “backpacker” may raise some eyebrows as it is sometimes used as a pejorative to describe the “cooler-than-thou” segment of Urban music fans but Joi makes an important point. A “gangsta” persona may be a tough sell in a virtual world but SL’s live music scene is very much about tech savvy, unsigned indie artist. Second Life is in many ways already “underground” and a natural fit for musicians and fans with indie sensibilities. So, how do we appeal to Hip-Hop’s tech savvy and cutting-edge indie performers? It is perhaps a great irony that SL’s tech savvy residents often have difficulties reaching out to other tech communities. “You log on to MySpace and find banner ads flashing for 3D networking sites like IMVU. You turn on television and see advertisements for WoW. Second Life shows up at gaming conventions.” Price makes a point that many of us already know and that is that Linden Labs seems mostly content to let the culture of their world develop on its own. That’s probably a good thing but it doesn’t preclude a scene being developed by residents. “They can’t aim for the backpackers, they have to aim for unsigned artists as a whole, and possibly target the markets that read the hip-hop blogs. The blogosphere is the future.” says Joi. Indeed, the blogosphere is essentially SL’s mainstream media so it isn’t a stretch to think that SL’s bloggers can make connections to blogs of other interest. Once they’re in-world, Price reminds us that; “the attention span of anyone who has experience with other methods of online communication, would not get instant gratification here. They would need to be guided by in-world residents they can relate to.” Most SL residents can recall stumbling awkwardly through Orientation Island, so it’s not so hard to imagine how much more welcoming that experience could be. Maybe that’s something the Lindens could help with but the rest is up to residents.

Could it be that Second Life is just too “nerdy” for urban music performers? Perception of SL and other virtual environments by those who don’t use them is an issue. External media coverage has generally skewed towards the low hanging fruit of Second Life’s more salacious side and to some extent has exploited stereotypes of virtual world enthusiast. “We’re all nerds on SL. Like it or not” muses Kafka Dinzeo and goes on to add: “...my fans, you can bet your ass they’re all nerds and proud of it.” Maybe he’s right. If we collectively embrace our inner nerd however, we’re still left with a diverse culture and SL’s extensive urban sims and Hip-Hop fashions indicate an interest in urban culture. Joi Price suggests that an Urban music niche exist but thinks SL lends itself to more progressive varieties. She says: “The backpacker crowd is a more forward-thinking group in hip-hop, and is just starting to take flight in the mainstream market. The stigma that rappers have to be ignorant murdering criminals is changing as the urban culture transforms as a

At his May 7th performance, Kafka Dinzeo’s set goes long and still leaves the enthusiastic Firefly crowd wanting more. Freestyle battles are well attended at New Jack City but the sim’s beautiful Apollo Theatre 70

goes largely unused. It’s not for a lack of audience. It’s for a lack of performers that fit the edgy urban vibe of the sim. Is it really an incongruity, or have residents overlooked the potential of developing a scene for Hip-Hop? Maybe the answer is neither.

Recommended SL Hip-Hop and Rap Performers Kafka Dinzeo www.myspace.com/microcka MC/Rapper in SL and RL with a great crowd connection. Regular performer at Phemie Alcott’s Firefly Café.

SL is a society that is finding its own way, and on its own timeline. As segments of our society, such as the music communities, media, and economy grow in sophistication they also gain influence that potentially transcends being virtual. The empty spot where live Hip-Hop should be may simply be a metaphor for much of SL’s cultural development. The spot will be filled when supporters of the genre have the vision to make it happen and spread their influence beyond Second Life.

Tomgirl Euler cdbaby.com/cd/tomgirl High energy, multi-lingual, Japanese female rapper. Performs Club Orbit every Thursday at 5:00AM SLT. Jaypee Platthy www.myspace.com/jpvdeego Sharp-witted UK rapper. Performance schedule unavailable. Timid Worthington www.timidmc.com Thought-provoking lyricist with Underground vibe. Possibly M.I.A. from SL but some in-world refer to Timid as “the first”

ART PHOTOGRAPHY IN SECOND LIFE, CREATIVITY AND CONTROVERSY

Art in Second Life® has been, sometimes, controversial. Comments in Flickr or Koinup, discussions in forums and blog posts. This controversy is related to SL-photography, possibly because photography (as a technique) has sometimes been questioned as art in history. All of these discussions have generated more questions than answers: “What is art in Second Life? Who makes art in Second Life? Is the tool that which defines the art? Who is an artist?” By Raul Crimson

is limited as an expression tool -- it doesn’t permit interactivity, it doesn’t adequately use all the possibilities of Second Life, etc. While this argument is more about the technical doubts, there are aesthetic ones, too. In Flickr and Koinup we can find thousands of images from SL, most of them are the kind of pictures you take when you are with friends on holidays -- photographs of people, places, events, they are not (and they don’t pretend to be) art. You will also find a huge group of images that are in essence the same - pictures of people and places which have been heavily edited, using filters, brushes and different tools of image editing software. Some of these images are classified as ART with viewer comments such as “ZOMG this is ART lol :-p” or, not as often, by the photographers themselves in a description of the image. Usually this last type of image has no actual difference in meaning, story, composition, etc. The distinction between these two types of photographs is that one group underwent editing work.

Another question comes to my mind: What is it that we call art in Second Life? Mainly there are two types of art: “Prim Art” which are objects (animated, scripted, sculpted), installations, environments or sim builds. This “Prim Art” exists out of more than prims and terrain editing. It normally includes work on texturing, animations and uses a wide range of possibilities available in this virtual world as a creation tool. The other type of art is “SL-photography” which basically consists of snapshots edited with software (Photoshop, GIMP, etc). I realize these definitions are limited but that is intentional because one of the biggest arguments against classifying SL-photography as art is exactly that - its limitations as a technique. It seems almost nobody questions “Prim Art” as art technique, but SL-photography is still intensely questioned. I’ll try to list here some of the arguments outlining why SL-photography should not be considered art. The main argument is that SL-photography 72

Merely editing photographs doesn’t make them art.

ten, losing part of its meaning and value. This sideeffect may have negative consequences. It stops the impulse for learning and homogenizes the style and the topics. We all like to receive positive comments on the pictures we publish so this creates a kind of pressure (maybe a “self-pressure”) to publish images that you think the audience will like.

After reading the arguments and comments, let’s analyze them. About the technical concerns: technique never defines art so this argument is not valid in my point of view. Is painting less art than sculpture because it is not physical? Is music not art because it is not a permanent object?

All of these criticisms don’t mean I think SL-photography is not art. Next to those 70’s posters, next to all that “Render Glow”, there are some images that can certainly be considered art. Fascinating compositions, stories behind the images, beauty, darkness or joy, an expression of the deepest feelings and thoughts of the creator. Some have made me cry, smile and dream. Quality art doesn’t mean an image must be deeply edited. Some of my favorite photographs are not. Art is not about skills in Photoshop -- art is about being creative. Art is about learning to be brave enough to show your fears or your wishes, to do it right, to tell stories to make people think, or to make people wonder about what you want to say.

I agree that “Prim art” uses more of the tools of Second Life, and possibly for that reason, can be more expressive, but it remains limited to Second Life itself and only residents can arrive and experience it. Even if the artist can film it and publish a machinima of their creation, the environmental aspect of the work will be lost. At the same time SL-photography and machinima are able to be seen through the internet and can be published in physical supports. But what about the aesthetic argument? I should say I agree partially with this point. There is no discussion about SL-photography of pictures made with your friends for fun or to remember a moment. But, let’s face it, some of the “artsy” images have nothing more to them than Photoshop filters - no composition, no story, and no expression. Some can be considered good portraits of avatars, some are really nice landscape photography, but are they art? I have to express some doubts about that, or at least I can’t consider most of those pictures as actual art. The overuse of filters such as “Render Glow” or adding sparkles doesn’t transform a picture into a work of art. The themes and compositions in most of the images are not innovative, and as result, some end up looking like old posters from the 70’s -- a picture of a couple on a beach, in the sunset, with text reading “Love is ... watching a sunset together.”

Defining art remains a challenge, especially in SL where the entire virtual world is all about building and creation. And here is where the biggest issue lies: the relationship between art and creation. I presume it is something like the relationship between sex and love, they can work alone but they are wonderful when they work together. The Wikipedia entry for “art” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art) defines it as :

“The process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature.”

After more than two years in the SL community of Flickr and Koinup, I realized that critique is almost non-existent there -- possibly because Flickr and Koinup are social networks as well as photo hosting sites. This social structure causes some interesting collaborations, pushes people to learn and go further, but at the same time it distorts the sense of critique because we all try to be more positive with our “contacts.” As a result, the word “art” is used of-

And of course that includes “virtual art”… Let’s analyze that definition. Proving to be so hard to find an accurate definition of an abstract, purely human concept as art, is also what makes the definition so incredibly wide, possibly too wide. Following that we may consider almost everything as art, an RP sim 73

built to excite our senses and make us imagine we are in a fantasy, post-apocalyptic location, a Windlight setting, even a sexy virtual dress. All of these things were created to make us imagine and dream -- all of this is made under aesthetic concepts. So art needs critique to have a value. It is not about the technique, it is the ability of sharing something really deep inside of you -- a piece of what some call the soul.

art, but that doesn’t make me an artist -- it makes me someone who was lucky enough (once or twice) to touch the heart or the mind of the viewer. I don’t pretend to have the truth about this, this is purely an opinion and it is possible some consider my vision too restrictive, but I think some debate about what we consider art in Second Life is always positive.

I never considered myself an artist. I’m not an artist professionally and I don’t have the ability and the intention to create works full of meaning or works that try to “appeal to the senses or emotions.” Some may consider one or two of my images as a work of

THE TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

In the past few months, consumers and potential advertisers have responded to the economic down-turn by expecting a high-level of credibility and transparency in advertising. With this thought in mind, ROLE Magazine has decided to publish our true, verifiable readership numbers to allow potential advertisers the opportunity to clearly see the value in advertising with ROLE. It is important for business owners to maximize their advertising budget and we understand that everyone is best served when substance is offered in place of hype. ROLE Magazine is a monthly publication available both in-world and online. Our online format uses the Issuu â&#x20AC;&#x201C; You Publish platform which provides detailed data on the number of times a single publication was read. Issuu plans to upgrade their service allowing site visitors to see the number of times a specific page has been viewed. In the meantime, we have begun posting our readership data on the ROLE Magazine website and we commit to updating our data regularly. ROLE Magazine advertisers are able to receive detailed statistics outlining how many times their purchased ad was viewed, and they can request specific information, such as which ad placement positions tend to receive the most attention. Business owners have expressed their frustrations in accessing verifiable readership information from in-world publications. Online readership numbers are easy to prove but the in-world readership numbers are nearly impossible to substantiate. How can an advertiser be sure that an in-world magazine, featuring their double-page ad, and delivered through an automated system (such as Subscribe-O-Matic) will be read or even opened? The same question is raised every time a magazine kiosk is clicked and that click is counted as a reader. There is no way to know that a magazine delivered in-world was actually read. Furthermore, it is far too easy to artificially inflate in-world readership statistics by clicking multiple times on a magazine kiosk. ROLE Magazine is choosing to ignore our in-world readership numbers and will stick to those we can verify online. Click here to learn how to verify the published data on your own. We hope youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find our approach to truth in advertising refreshing! ROLE Magazine webpage: www.role-magazine.com

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Picture by Bobby Yoshikawa

NEKO’S OBSESSION EXPLAINED

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was incredibly honored to be asked to join the ROLE Magazine team. I was even more excited when they seemed equally enthusiastic about my odd little Neko obsession. My assigned genre? Neko game-play. By Stacia Villota

: gasp :

But how to actually BE a Neko? What IS a Neko? How did this strange Neko phenomenon begin in Second Life? Finding these answers, my friends, became my mission -- my passion. Some may call it my obsession. Curiosity is a cat’s middle name, after all!

Waitaminute! Game-play? As in “Neko is a game?” The good people at ROLE Magazine see my ears and a tail and think I’m some sort of hard core, WoW-weary, intensely long-winded, adjective-laden-paragraphtyping role-player who, casually brushing her long, auburn hair back from a furry ear, runs amok wearing spikes, guns and piercings through lag-filled, postapocalyptic sims? (How long was this paragraph? Enough adjectives? Oh wait, I forgot an emote!)

When it comes right down to it, I’m a relative newcomer to the Neko scene, having only been Neko for the better part of a year. It’s just that I have this little, mmmm … shall we politely call it a “list” problem. When I decide I wanna learn about something, it’s all or nothing which inspires me to make lists. Please don’t ask me to explain.

Say it ain’t so! Tell me there’s more to Nekos, please. Okay, I’ll tell you.

To be honest, my little list problem actually began as a right-click-inspect problem.

There’s way more. I have no data to support my guess on the percentage of Nekos who are Neko strictly for RP gaming, but the majority of the ones I’ve met are in Second Life® strictly to be Neko. No game-play required. In fact for Neko’s, the look is less about style, and more about who they are.

Yeah, if you were dancing at a live music venue one night, minding your own Neko business, and suddenly you noticed I was staring at you rather intently, it wasn’t because I was in SLove. No, I was trying desperately to click on that cool accessory belt you were wearing, in spite of your chimera and funky dancing gyrations. I was trying to get information on the creator of your excellently-designed accessory, or incredibly well-textured set of boots, not to mention that tail with the perfect swish and creative prim attachments at the top. Yes, that was me inspecting you.

Fourteen months ago, when I wanted to try out being Neko for a while, I was lost. Google searches turned up almost nothing (outside of a band in Arizona and a bunch of Hello Kitty fans in Japan). SL search tab queries weren’t much better. I’d wind up in crackhouse den sims with little poseball clusters named “scratch” and “rawr” and “pounce,” surrounded by stores selling everything from furry parts, to what looked like the Seattle grunge clothing movement freakishly resurrected.

When I saw designs that I liked I would write the information down. Pretty soon the list grew so long that it migrated from a pile of messy post-it notes to an alphabetized Microsoft Word document. Once I found 77

time to visit the stores, I would add my own notes: “cool tail, great barbed wire legwarmers, a few Neko AOs.”

Perhaps my favorite response to the question of “Why Neko?” is from Bryce Tully on the Second Life Nekos forum: “Because I like ears and tails? So I didn’t look like a fool RAWRing at people? Cause deep down I R Kitty? Hell if I know.” Yeah, that’s a good enough excuse for a Neko. Besides, since when did a cat ever really have to explain itself?

Pretty soon that list grew so long that I had to divide it up into categories which then grew into separate lists. See, I told you I had a problem! What inspired me to become a Neko? Two words: Someone special. The first time he showed up wearing ears and a tail, I figured it was just another one of his adorable flirtations with avatar incarnations. In the time I’d known him, I’d seen everything from robots to tinies, but these strangely mesmerizing – and did I mention lovely? – ears and tail moving slowly back and forth, were somehow utterly and peculiarly fascinating.

And that, my friends, is probably the common denominator in how most of us Nekos came to be. Being Neko is more than a game, more than an addiction for fluffy, moving body parts, more than the ability to “pounce” your friends or “purr” over something yummeh. Kinda like the old question in real life, “Are you a dog person or a cat person?” I’d venture to say that Being Neko is first and foremost about attitude. Somehow, when I least expected it, this attitude became mine. And thanks to the lovely folks at ROLE Magazine, I look forward to sharing it with you in the months ahead. I promise to keep my litter outta sight and deliver only the very freshest mousies to your doorstep.

Some Nekos explain they simply enjoy how a pair of ears and a tail lend a bit of an edge to their overall style, even if only for a day, like the countless fashion bloggers who have donned furry parts to customize an outfit for a photo shoot.

Pictures by Paypabak Writer

TRAVEL GUIDE OMEGA POINT

“SUCH AN IMAGINATION OVERFLOWS IN MY HEAD” The grounds below the Lost World Gallery, described in last month’s article by Looker Lumet, made me think of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Tomb Raider movies and games. Kiya McMahon invited me to visit Lost World in early April and took me around the various water falls, grottos, ruins, as well as the castle that was the original first structure built by her partner Iolmac Shan. By Paypabak Writer

I thought this undeveloped lake area could be a great backdrop for a temporary “lost world” build, again for purposes of photography/machinima. The textures are first rate and you could easily work your way through the jungle, to the ruins, to the castle and then to underground labs in following a Lara Croft-like adventure. Or you could pull off some RP adventures as long as you aren’t expecting support from a combat system like DCS or WARPs or such. However, Kiya will hunt you down if you bother their neighbors!

of power. The escapee from CE3K is an impressively small 31 prims of cleverness, half the size of your avatar, with rotating parts and flashing lights! You can see other examples of her costume-making skills, given away for next to nothing, in accompanying pictures of me posing in 5ifth Order gun poses at various spots on the sim. The Shop has many offerings on very tall walls. You walk across a transparent blue floor and below are these giant white arms rising from the floor … very strange!

And the same holds true for Omega Point (OP) in terms of not supporting combat systems, but you do have the whole glorious sim to explore! (and a lot of RPers prefer to just role-play rather than shoot or slash.) I visited OP twice before writing up a list of questions for the owner/designer Sweetlemon Jewell. Unfortunately, she doesn’t speak English very well so I’m left without answers, for instance, as to why a PG-rated sim is subtitled “Dark Fantasy Cyber World,” which in SL terms generally implies Mature Themes. (See her complete response to my questions in a sidebar with this article.) But the imagination overflowing in her head is truly amazing, as much for her sim as for the many costumes, accessories and outfits she has created and sells in the store at the first raised level of this sim.

Exploring OP is rewarded by visions of rich, imaginative textures, a definite H. R. Giger-ish influence of organic architecture, and extravagant sense of proportions. Arches rise and twine through open spaces, eventually enclosed by stalagtites stabbing down from the ceiling obscured by brownish clouds. While the sim is not parceled into named zones, you get a definite sense of them as you move upward as well as from one side to another. Teleporters take you to nine different areas:

I put on her latest creation, Troi Armour, that sports a giant “mothership” straight out of that old Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie, tethered to your choice of amazing helmets and armor that is dazzling. You can also wear an aura of whirling strands

Energy Padvflashing blue streams of energy, blue hoops and tubes

Eternity World: the top of the build Omega Club: where examination tables can be used or you can sit around low tables and discuss plots for taking over the world

Ballroom: walk through the Demon Gate, created by Chris Maelstrom, and onto a clear dance floor presid83

ed over by a large skull that serves as the dance ball

dance floor. The skull dance ball doesn’t have many dances, so you either bring your own or use couple dance balls sprinkled sparsely about the beautiful translucent floor. Click on “Dream” above a circular platform marked by a pentagram and you do a familiar “dream dance,” rising slowly and spinning above the platform. While it looks cool, the dance embedded in three colorful rings suspended above the floor just didn’t work for me. But I like the risk-taking here and everywhere in this sim, it means she’s trying and the successes outnumber the failures by a goodly margin!

Castle: set off in an upper corner of the overall structure, this ornate building has two floors of paintings and statues, as well as cushions and couches for gathering fellow explorers Cave Shrine: a room full of bones and a stairway up to bloody altar Departure: the lowest level of the sim where arcane formulas float on a square pool from which sinuous cables rise

Dead poses can be found at various places in the sim, at the bottom of a long stairway and in a small chapel! The poses can be toggled with Up/Down keys and the bloody textures can be clicked through for changes as well. Again, some head-scratching here about the PG rating for the sim, but then you find Tai Chi poses lined up along one of the many catwalks to provide an atmospheric backdrop to your physical meditations. Along with the teleporters located all over the sim, weird floating bubbles can be accessed and maneuvered about the huge interior spaces of the sim. You are able to fly as well, which is not usually the case in RP sims where it’s OOC to fly.

Shop: wonderful store with cyber-gothic themed costumes and accessories Entrance: the front of the sim with symmetrically placed towers and statues framing the the blue glow of the energy pad The ballroom is a very interesting mixture of things that don’t quite work, along with things that do. The demon gate entrance to the ballroom bathes you in a red light then explodes in geysers of blood as you exit through to the transparent blue curtain to the main

The Departure area is a mysterious name for a the pool whose surface is covered in these weird formulas. You take an enclosed spiral staircase down into it and then emerge, underwater. You can walk over to what is called a “Dimension Trip system” (ver. 1.2), which looks like a Stargate and teleport to the Shop. There isn’t much else to do or see in the pool but let your imagination work on it.

window portraying a naked woman. Ghost skeletons flit about this area. Above the chapel area was a large red skull facing away and veiled by some kind of forcefield that can be seen from one of the many catwalks. This area is reached using the Cave Shrine teleporter but it’s not really a cave! On one of my visits, my Stormrider sister, Sassycat was taking pictures with her Filter Cam and I’m hoping we can include some of them with this article because she catches and illustrates the spirit of Omega Point perfectly. It’s a testament to the size and architectural density of the build that we didn’t run into each other while going about our business!

Club Omega was quite fascinating: I didn’t really see a place to dance, but there were these examination tables and displays, video monitors that again rubbed against the PG-rating with Giger-esque nudes flashing and dissolving into each other, and odd chambers with hoses affixing themselves to various inexplicable places on your avatar. A spinning column of colors and squares as you enter through very cool doors is puzzling as to its purpose.

OP reminds me of INSILICO in terms of its density and richness of textures, and yet it’s much brighter and open. It’s not as heavily populated; there are no living spaces; so I have not experienced any lag problems on my visits. There’s so much to explore, I’m sure I haven’t seen all of its secrets yet!

In at least two locations, I came across a spinning pentagram of arcane symbols and meditation poses. One was in a small chapel-like area with stone pews, two bloody spots with poseballs for playing dead, and some kind of male and female poses in front of the altar for some kind of ritual (not sex per se). Above the altar was a stained glass

Omega Point Omega Point (5/85/24)

GADGETS & “KNOW HOW” WORK IT! WORK IT!

Growing up, I loved photography. I played with cameras all the time. Unfortunately, the cost to develop pictures was more than my allowance could bear, so I was limited in how many photos I could take. Also, I got a bit tired of always carrying a camera around, because they were NOT small back then. Always having to be careful with it, making sure I didn’t lose it, was more of a pain then a joy. That was when I stopped doing a lot of photography. By Aldwyn Zanzibar

Even with the digital cameras out now, I still find myself not wanting to carry a good camera around all the time. Granted, I have a 3 megapixel camera in my phone, and it takes pretty damned good pictures, it’s not quite the same as having a high-quality digital camera at your disposal all the time.

take pictures because the amazing talents of people in Second Life can make one feel very intimidated with regards to your own photos. For a long time I feared that anything I might do would pale in comparison so why even try? I am so impressed with what other people were doing that I was content to just be a “patron of the art” instead of contributing to it.

I used to dream about having a camera in my eye. If I saw something I wanted a picture of, I could just blink and PRESTO! The moment I wanted to capture is caught! My dream has finally been realized, and wouldn’t you know it, my dream came true in Second Life®?

Then one day, I was talking to one of my great friends, and was commenting on a picture she had done. I decided to ask what she had done to create it. She told me, then showed me a few tricks that she had learned, and I began to realize something. Creating a good picture was not as hard as I led myself to believe. It just took a little patience, maybe some help from a friend or two, and a vision.

Photography is VERY popular in Second Life. One reason is that it is pretty darned easy to take photos in here. You can bring up the “Snapshot” HUD or even save a high-resolution photo directly to your hard drive with a Hot-Key…no fuss, no muss! This makes taking your favorite photos very easy!

I started to play around with more pictures. I happen to have a copy of Photoshop, which is by far the most popular photo editing software on the market. I also happen to have Gimp, which is what I started using to edit my photos. While Photoshop is absolutely an amazing program, Gimp can do just about everything Photoshop can, for absolutely free. I wanted to see

After you play with photography in Second Life for a while you find yourself joining “Flickr” to share your photographs with your friends and start to see some of the absolutely amazing work other people are creating. It is almost enough to make you NOT want to 86

how much I could do with Gimp, so I really put some effort into it. I know it’s fairly easy to find tutorials for Photoshop on the web, but I have also found that Gimp tutorials are becoming more plentiful by the day.

ing work. I personally have come to a point where I do a little of both, setting things up in-world for the perfect shot, and then just a bit of post processing. As with RL photography, each photographer finds something unique that they focus on. I have found that my particular focus when doing photography is angles. Working with camera angles has been a very love/hate relationship for me. I love the control I have over the Second Life camera, but at the same time it frustrates the hell out of me. I cannot tell you how many times I have had the perfect angle/shot, and while waiting for my subjects eyes to move to where I want them, I accidentally click on something, and my camera snaps back to standard position, and I have for all intend and purposes, lost the shot.

I was also recently told about a program called Paint. NET, another free photo editing program. The friend that told me about it is quite a prolific photographer, and I have seen her do some very amazing things with this program. It just goes to show once again, that if you invest some time into anything, you can master it with some amazing results. When I first really started to play around with Second Life photography, I really did NOT want to do post processing work. I really wanted to be able to take amazing shots in Second Life and be happy with them. I started playing around with the Windlight Settings -- altering the skies and colors. After a bit of practice, I was able to create some amazing shots without any post processing at all.

Some of the photo studios available, especially the very high end ones, have some features that allow you to move the camera around differently than the standard controls, but I have always found the free form ability of the alt-left click focus gives me the most flexibility. I had resigned myself to live with the reality of losing shots now and then, till now.

At first glace, the Windlight settings in Second Life can be very overwhelming. One thing that really helped me move forward on that part is the generosity of some amazing photographers who have made public their custom Windlight settings (presets) for anyone to use.

I actually stumbled onto this amazing little tool by accident. I wish I could even remember what led me too it, but I think it was on a search on XStreetSL, and it appeared in my results list. The tool is called “ClubCamera HUD Mk III Maxi” created by Bitman Voom.

I have found the best way to locate presets is to do a Google search on “Windlight presets.” You will find many links to groups of Windlight settings that are available for download, and instructions on how to install them into the Second Life Viewer.

What this HUD does is save camera positions for later retrieval. It allows you to very easily set up several preloaded camera positions, and move between them, just by clicking on the saved position number on the HUD. It also has built in camera movement controls, similar to the “Camera Controls” in the “View” menu on your viewer.

After getting more familiar with Windlight, I really started to look at photography studios that were available in Second Life. There are a ton that are out there, some that are very inexpensive giving you a few options, and some that are very high end, and give you a tons of options, and variety of ways to take photographs.

This tool is deceptively simple. The more I played, the more things I began to realize I could do with it. Because this HUD has copy permissions, I began to create “sets” of positions that I wanted to save. I saved a set for my little studio and a pose stand I use. This meant I no longer had to try and “recreate” a shot I liked before by luck and chance!

I have played with many of the photography studios in-world and let me say this…a few of them are absolutely amazing in what they do. I have seen the most amazing photographs that were done completely in-world, as well as with some minor post process-

Each HUD can save up to 20 camera positions. The HUD also allows me to lock my camera in place, so I 87

don’t accidently swing back to default because my cat jumps on my desk and moves my mouse. I can focus on other things, like Windlight settings, while secure that my camera will not move.

There are a few limitations to using this HUD that I should mention. First of all, the HUD will not work in no-script areas. If your favorite picture SIM does not allow scripts to run, then you are stuck doing your photographs the old fashion way. Also, as the HUD is a scripted object, standard LAG issues do apply, especially when using the camera movement feature. I did try using the HUD in some very busy SIMS, and I personally did not see much of a delay in the function of it at all.

I did have to get a little creative with this tool because the HUD itself is no modify. As I began to save my “sets” of positions, I quickly discovered that I would have lots of copies, all with the same name, unable to identify which HUD would have which set. The solution to this came easy, as I created a new folder for each saved “set”, naming the folder something to help me remember what is stored in it. .

Speaking of the camera movement feature, this HUD has two modes, normal, and fast. The normal is what I would consider slow, but allows you to fine tune your camera angles and location with much greater resolution. If you are not comfortable with the alt-left click camera control, using the HUD camera position controls is a useful alternative

The camera positions saved in this HUD are based on SIM location. If you try and use a HUD with positions saved from SIM A in SIM B, you will get an error. This is not really a problem, because you can just save your SIM position HUD in its own folder as described above, giving you the ability to save position “sets” for an unlimited number of SIMS.

Now are you ready for the absolute best thing about this tool? You will be as surprised as I was to discover that this tool is only $179 lindens.

Using this HUD and the Save To Disk Hot-key, I have been able to capture some great shots that I would not have been able to catch without it. I even played with it at a fashion show, and was able to set several positions down the runway, and capture several shots of the models as they strutted their stuff. It was so easy to do!

Now get out there and take your photography to the next level!

Here is another thing that I discovered when using this fantastic tool. I have been playing with layers in post processing. There have been times when I have wanted to superimpose two elements together in one photograph. The hardest part of that process is, again, keeping the same camera angles so that the items are of the same perspective, and will mesh well. By using this tool, I can save my camera position and move people or objects in and out of my camera view, which allows me to crop/copy and paste all sorts of things together very easily. For example, if I wanted to get several Avatars into one shot, I could set up my shot, even using a group pose, and take individual shots of each Avatar, and easily put them together in post processing. Given the time zone differences of so many of our friends and clients, this alone makes this an invaluable tool for the professional photographer in Second Life. The possibilities are amazing!

Gimp www.gimp.org Paint.net www.getpaint.net ClubCamera HUD Mk III Maxi Click here to visit ClubCamera HUD on XStreetSL In-World Neptune (93/212/27)

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