Fashion Taboo

The best way to start this post is with a little story. It was a lovely sunny day and the birds were singing, when a friend of mine decided to map me. Nothing wrong with that, they're a friend who had been given the right to use it when they feel to. So they ended up very close by as I was going about my business, I spotted them (yay mystitool) and waved hello. But they tp'd away at the speed of light. Sound rude? Possibly. The thing was I was in a sim called Broceliande and my business was putting Tie, dressed as a ponygirl, through her paces.

It's not just ponygirls either. I'm fully supportive of the "Your world, your imagination" that gets bandied around from time to time. I also see SL as a (sexually) consequence free landscape to try the many multitude of things that aren't possible in RL (or at least they look more glossy and atttractive in SL). Apparently I'm in the minority though. Amongst the fashion community there're a wealth of morals and tabboos that would make the 1940's look like a scene from Caligula. I'm not convinced however, what with the wealth of alts around I'm not surprised if the kajira whose skin you admired in Le Zoo is actually a fashionista getting her secretive rocks off.

The problem is that SL is, has been and always will be a sex playground, but nowadays it seems that people on the blogging circuits and the socialites are becoming more and more prissy about it. It's as if even mentioning the 'darker underbelly' of Second Life might burst the cocoon of self-importance and remind us that SL is after all just an online game and not some sort of Milanese fashion show extravaganza. Maybe the sex is more hidden now, kept away from all the boardwalks, boulevards and high class shopping districts, and if you don't dwell too long on it you might just forget it even exists. And maybe the the leading fashion designer who never used to wear underwear with her skirts now does, or the top SL business person who used to bestow their presence on the bdsm community no longer does, but their alts probably do.

I write here today as a person who refuses to alt. If I want to spank my pony I will, if I want to crawl around Armidi on all fours carrying a dog bone. I will. However I will not hide things that I happen to find fun because a small part of our society deems it wrong. It is a part of who I am, and always will be, and I am not ashamed of myself.

Anyone want to be my pony?

Meat 'N Greet: Lawless McBride

*Favorite Color:

Black! I always bet on black.

*SL Rezzday:

8/7/2007

*Favorite animal and why?

Wolf. Bravely (or stupidly), I went into a pen with a friend's 3/4 pure Timber wolf and it placed it's paws on my shoulders with it's muzzle inches away from my face. I don't know what I remember the most, it's piercing gaze or the feeling of relief when I realized my bladder was gratefully empty at that moment.

*What factors did you take into consideration when creating your av?

I wanted a taller avatar with darker features in order to reflect who I am in RL I slimmed my torso down until I could rock a BareRose outfit without twenty minutes of modding.

*What's the most embarrassing thing you've done for a girl/guy/furry?

For a birthday party, I dressed up as a pregnant, trailer-trash woman, lap danced for a guy and simulated oral sex with him. If anything was going to embarrass me I suppose that should have....maybe I'm shameless?

*What's the last book you read?

John Grisham - The Innocent Man

*What's a movie you could watch over and over?

The Fifth Element. It's sci-fi greatness, stars Bruce Willis, and Milla Jovovich wearing an ACE bandage outfit....these three things added together are enough to make you forget Chris Tucker is also in it!

*You could never date someone who _____________ (fill in the blank)

Couldn't keep up with me, took their self too serious...and had man hands (under size 50, please ladies).

*If you could trade slives with one other avatar for a day, who would it be?

How about SL musician Digby Smalls? First of all, I sing all day anyways, but with his voice, I could get paid to do it. Second, I could play a guitar that wasn't hooked up to an xbox. Third, groupies....nuff said?

*Who would you most like to collaborate with in sl?

At the end of the war, everyone knows they round up the collaborators and shoot them, so I'm good thanks.

*Favorite thing to do in SL?

Shopping is great, the jeans always fit first try. I like the live music scene, it's very personal and chill. Mostly just flirting and taking the piss with friends and random people - and more recently, blogging!

SLunchtime Poll Results - Last Week (V-Day)

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Glam sl Magazine Launch: An Offer I Couldn't Refuse

It's a rare case that I get invited to an SL event of huge interest to me that I can actually attend without rl or time zones interferring. I was lucky that today's Glam sl Magazine launch was one of those times. I could portray myself as a jet-setting, worldly fashion diva who sees these events as everyday and 'routine', but that'd be a lie. Truth be told, I was thrilled to be included and totally in a state of panic about what attire would be best... "I have nothing to wear!" And when you are requested to limit the number of prims that you wear, does that mean you go bald and wear default shoes? Ewww. Thankfully, vanity won out over conservation, because as it turns out, there was hair and shoes a'plenty.

Arriving early, I wasn't sure what to expect. The invite stated 'Launch Party and Fashion Show' and I guess I was expecting more of a press release for the new mag with events centered around that. We were given a very brief, one paragraph typed introduction to the new magazine.

Welcome everyone to the launch of GLAM sl Magazine, we would like to extend our appreciation in your interest. The team has worked for many weeks to present to Second Life a new form in publication. Under the direction of Minnu, Thora, Onyx, and Beau, this publication is focused on introducing high quality and high end fashion to Second Life. We would like to thank the designers for contributing and making the event possible. We would like to open the floor up to questions. To reduce chat spam, we ask that you please take turns and ask maximum of three questions each.

Immediately, I felt like I'd missed something. Was there homework that I'd not realized was assigned? I hadn't even had the opportunity to flip open the cover of the magazine yet. Unfortunately, though I'm sure there were hours and hours dedicated to the creation and launch of this new publication, it seemed at first that this launch was less about christening the new collaborative effort and more about creating hype for the fashion show that was to come. Questions requiring more details about the purpose of the magazine and what would make it stand out next to other publications were answered with a mysterious 'you'll have to wait and read it to find out' at first, before the team assembled before us warmed more to the idea and began to illustrate some of their passion for the magazine. Striving to mirror rl fashion magazines, Glam sl aims to publish a monthly magazine that will:

• Educate and challenge the fashion groups within SL
• Focus more on style than on the current fashion trends
• Bring great designers together to raise the bar
  
• Illustrate the difference between designers and GREAT designers
• Encourage the efforts of great up and coming designers
• Not try keep up with the fashion trends, but to set them

Following the press conference was the fantastic, absolutely beautifully-executed fashion show featuring Ghost, Artilleri, Muism, Lookr, Maitreya, Serene Sensations, MM skins, Nicky Ree, le Cubic Effect, LeeZu Baxter, Veschi, and the debut of Paper Couture's spring line. And I know it was beauuuuutiful, not because I could rezz and take pictures of it myself (puter sucks as it turns out), but because I can look at other people's Flickr sites... haha. Clearly well-produced and pulled off by true professionals, the fashion show exceeded all my expectations. From the set itself... the stark white of the stairs and mystical sheer backdrop where you could see the silhouettes of the models coming and going... to the timing and grace of the models (despite the lag of 80+ people in the sim). In addition to the the musical ambiance provided by dj duckyfresh Watanabe. Striking... bold... utterly mouth-watering. For me, it was an honor to have been able to be there.


It was after all the glitz and gawking (omg I sat next to Ava Lu!) that I was able to pull the magazine out and take a long look at it. I'm a sucker for a good picture and sleek ads and Glam has those... similar in style to Homme Magazine. Noteworthy articles and interviews piqued my interest and kept me turning the page. Glam sl Magazine has set some lofty goals for themselves. It will be interesting to see how they measure up to their ideals and how diverse the publication will be when it comes to design and fashion in SL.

See more pictures from the show at:

• Gillian's Flickr
• The Diva Rockin's Flickr
• Phoenix Chapman's Flickr
  
• My Flickr (warning these are sub par!!)
  

Group Limits: A Mean Girls' Perspective

Remember when the Group Limit was 10?

A little before my time but it changed not shortly before I joined Second Life. It’s been 25 for a while, but since the Group Limit was raised, there’s been thousands and thousands of new Groups created for everything from establishments (stores, clubs etc) to fan clubs/friends lists for various individuals.

I doubt Linden Labs realized just how much Groups were going to explode when they raised the limit, but now it’s elevated to the point that most people (myself included) have no room left to add any more Groups without sacrificing others.

There’s been a few Notecard petitions going around asking LL to raise the Group limit, two most notably from Kiana Writer and Sirhc Martinek. So far they’ve both gain a few hundred signatures as well as many other folks passing the notecards around. I’ve personally gotten a copy of Kiana’s and it’s actually very well written. Mano Nevadan started the issue on JIRA and it continues to harvest votes from various residents.

But why all the hype?

Well I can speak from personal experience as a DJ on Second Life that MOST venues need at least 2 groups (1 for patrons and 1 for staff) to run efficiently. Sanctuary Rock, by itself, has 7 just to handle all the different aspects of the Sim. Retail stores that do any sort of satellite mall locations often have to join a Vendor Group in order to have certain permissions on the land. On top of that, many have a Group to send out updates on. That knocks out a lot of Group slots right there. I know that there’s the relatively new Subscribe-o-Matic system used by a lot of businesses now, but it can cost as much as L$5990 a month to maintain as opposed to Groups which are still free.

On top of that, most Residential Sims ask that you create (or join) a Group so that more than one person who lives on the land can access/change things on the property. Others often use Groups to keep in touch with friends or promote contests and other special events.

Linden Labs insists that the reason why they haven’t raised Group Limits already is due to the fact that, “...the current infrastructure barely supports the 25 limit (group chat lag, issues with notices, server load)...” Translation: Group Chats and Notices already drive the SL bandwidth almost to capacity even with the 25 group limit. This is why with the introduction of 1.19.0.1 (already out on the Release Candidate Viewer) you’ll have the option to turn off Group Chat (though I think it turns off ALL Chat instead of individual Groups). Will this solve the bandwidth problem? That remains to be seen.

I personally think that even raising the Group Limit to 50 or 100 still won’t be enough. Hundreds of new Groups are started every day, and the L$100 fee doesn’t seem to deter anyone from creating them. There has to be some sort of compromise made so that residents are happy and Linden Labs can cut down on server problems.

Only time will tell...

Meat 'N Greet: Ajay Giano

*Favorite Color:

Black

*SL Rezzday:

- 12/13/2007
- I had an older avatar but i had 10 baby mamas and i had to get away, i hate paying
childsupport for prim babies..

*Favorite animal and why?

Dogs, They are always willing to play and support you when you feel down.

*What factors did you take into consideration when creating your av?

- I didn't want to create a muscle freak and i tried to stay away from the
"broad" shoulders every guy in SL has..

*What's the most embarrassing thing you've done for a girl/guy/furry?

- Nothing special, but i did have an argument with a lesbian woman about penis in SL
which was kinda disturbing.

*What's the last book you read?

It was a photoshop book, i forgot the name.

*What's a movie you could watch over and over?

Halloween (love all of them, never gets boring).

*You could never date someone who...

Ignores me and think they are better then everyone else.
Respect cannot be learned, purchased or acquired - it can only be earned.

*If you could trade slives with one other avatar for a day, who would it be?

Anshe Chung, Duh.

*Who would you most like to collaborate with in sl?

Anyone who is creative and have the desire to improve and do better, gotta have that drive to succeed.

*Favorite thing to do in SL?

- I really enjoy listening to live music in SL, my favorite SL musician is NOMA FALTA! please check her out if you like Rock/blues.
- I also like exploring SL :)

*Whats your music style?

Rock, dance, r&b, some pop, some rap (very few)

* Status?

S-I-N-G-L-E

*Dislikes?

- Dr.Pepper, Lag, seafood, Oprah, Dr.Phil

**Ajay gets extra points for adding his own Q&As at the end! <3>

SLunchtime Poll Results - Last Week (Partners?)

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