Month: May 2009

It’s not easy being green…

It’s not easy being green…

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

..No, scrap that, contrary to popular belief, it is very easy being green! I’ve really enjoyed wearing this skin which was sent out as part of Blogger Appreciation Week. It’s called ‘Half Dragon Green Avatar’ and is by IEVL. I told you I would be trying out a load of new things and this is a bit of a starter for ten, don’t ya think? If I’m honest I wasn’t anticipating that much from this at all, but thought it would be only polite to give it a whirl seeing as the skin was a gift. I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this look, in fact, I quite like it! As regular readers will no doubt be aware apart from my occasional Neko-play I don’t ever really try anything ‘alternative’ so I didn’t really know what to expect… I thought at best I’d look like the ‘Jolly Green Giant’, and at worst Zelda from Terrahawks, so imagine my delight when I saw how pretty this is! It’s a fetching shade of pale green and features a scale surface pattern (I’ve brightened it up a tad for the picture) It wears well, but I would have preferred to see smaller scales and a tad more shading on the body area. Those criticisms aside, I think that the face is especially lovely, butI didn’t rate the contacts that came as part of the package, fussy mare that I am – so I opted instead for my Miriel eyes in ‘Sunlit Tree’ and I think it all matches beautifully. The hair that I’m wearing was also a freebie, this time from Magika. It’s called ‘Curl’ and as you would expect from this brand it’s a stunning style, featuring excellent movement and shape. I love the hair-pin detailing and the shabbiness of this style..I’ve opted for black for this photo as I particularly liked the contrast with the skin.For my outfit I’m wearing a scarf that Callie Cline provided and I’m completely in love with it. It fits perfectly, the bow shape looks tidy yet fashionably loose, and I love the texture choice; I opted to wear this with a the group gift from CKSD, ‘Essential T-Shirt Dress’ in Teal. This is a great frock and the kind of inventory item that you can dress up, down and create utterly squillions of looks with. (I know some people need to dress their avs in office chic and I think this dress lends itself very well to that particular look) The dress is tidily finished with prim sleeves and skirt attachments that require minimal fiddling to fit. Finally to finish off the look are some amazing ‘Slip-on clogs -Jewels’ from Duh! Again, a brand that I had no previous experience of but are now firmly embedded in my mental ‘Kitty must shop there’ list. ( You can see those in my other green picture in my Flickr to the right of this post..see it? Good!) The shoes are utterly scrumptious and really complete the outfit. They look amazingly chunky with a fabulous texture on the heel and a lovely glossy finish to the main shoe. They’ve obviously been built with incredible care, and feature embellishment in the shape of either a gold or silver hoop that hangs loosely from the main body of the shoe and breaks up the chunkiness of the style. This takes the shoes into smart-casual territory, but that’s not to say that you can’t dress them down; obviously they work brilliantly with this dress but they would also look just as good with jeans or trousers. The final touch is this enormous chunky green ring, again a Blogger Week gift from Callie, that features a colour change fgem  so that I can match ‘The Rock’ to any outfit I choose

 I think this entire look works surprisingly well and I just love this photo..I hope you agree and are up for the challenge of giving an unusual skin a try-out. Go on, be brave..if I can do it so can you!

(Oh and if you think this is impressive..wait until you see what is up next!)

I’ve been to a marvellous party!

I’ve been to a marvellous party!

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Yesterday saw the culmination of the ‘Blogger Week’ celebrations. Callie Cline arranged a swish party that was held in a wonderful garden setting, festooned with flowers and large white blossoms containing even more gifts for us to snaffle and enjoy! I can honestly say the party was great fun. I met loads of my blogging peers and was in absolute awe at some of the names in attendance. Callie asked us all to wear a white vest and jeans, with no shoes, and minimal prims to allow as many avatars to attend as possible without causing undue lag. This was a cracking idea and it allowed for some great photo opportunities and this is pure speculation on my part but I’m sure that many new friends were made during the event. I know I had the pleasure of expanding my friends list and met some utterly lovely people. There was no drama and no hassle, just a lovely party atmosphere and a shedload of rampant bloggers sharing their love and occasionally pouncing upon the only men in attendance. I can only apologise profusely to Ben Vanguard, but he does have such a lovely bottom…. 

I’m going to be blogging about some of the designers who participated, and feature their gifts over the forthcoming days and weeks. If the aim of the event was to get bloggers writing about a wider variety of designers than usual then I think that it’s worked a treat because I’ve certainly been exposed to many new content creators that I wouldn’t normally have had the pleasure of visiting before. As you can imagine this has given me lots of food for thought and allowed me to try out some new styles, skins and looks that I would never have previously attempted.

There really aren’t enough hours in the day at the moment for me to be able to blog it all, but I’ll endeavour to try!

(PS I took LOADS of pictures, and then Flickr borked and I lost the majority of them..which is PANTS)

PSB Fans in SL Announcement…

PSB Fans in SL Announcement…

by Lisa Millar ♥ 1 Comment

I’ve just done something a bit daft..which’ll either work or it won’t but you may want to do the same…First of all, see the below taken from the Pet Shop Boys official site:

Pet Shop Boys will be on Radio 2 on Bank Holiday Monday, May 25th, from 4pm until 6pm presenting a celebration of the finest 21st Century electro-pop music.
On the show, “Pet Shop Boys: Wired”, Neil and Chris will be looking back at their personal pop highlights of the last decade and showcasing new artists and top producers.
Neil and Chris will also be answering questions from listeners. If you have a question that you would like to ask them, email now – radio2@bbc.co.uk – with ‘PET SHOP BOYS’ in the subject header.

So, you know how you sometimes get stupid ideas on a Friday afternoon? Well, here’s mine:

Dear Neil and Chris,
 
As an ardent fan of yours through the years I’ve had the pleasure of watching you embrace new fashions, musical styles, attitudes and technologies as part of the Pet Shop Boys mythos.
Last year you ‘performed’ at ‘Second Fest’ which was a virtual festival in Second Life,and it was ok, but wasn’t a live performance which is what so many of your fans in the metaverse had hoped for.
 
I have a dedicated fan club for you in Second Life, and I wondered if you would be so inclined as to visit the metaverse again,only next time for a genuinely live performance? In fact have you ever considered visiting some of the clubs like Republik? DJ Cyberpink on a Thursday night mixes a BANGING electro set and we’ve also had a PSB themed evening in world which was blinking smashing:)
You’d be guaranteed a *fabulous* welcome! 
 
Big noms, licks and purrs,
 
Kitty O’Toole =^..^=

Now, I doubt I’ll get a mention but anything’s worth a shot isn’t it.  I heartily suggest if you’re a fan writing them a note and sending it in, they’re sure to get deluged. If you’re old enough to remember the AMAZING broadcasts the boys did on Radio One in the early 1990’s you’ll know that they have simply amazing taste in music so are sure to play some fabulous stuff…

Oh and if you think the note above is pretty embarrassing, here was my first attempt:

Dear Neil and Chris,

One question-Daddy or chips?!

I LOVE YOU

Kitty xxxxxxx

..But for once I managed to get my brain back on track and refrained from sending that one:) If you do decide to send a note in, GOOD LUCK and why not let us know via the in-world fan group, ‘Pet Shop Boys Fans in SL’?

(Oh and if you send them a note make sure you use a spell-checker, you know what Neil is (rumoured to be) like!!)

So long, and thanks for all the fish..(sob)

So long, and thanks for all the fish..(sob)

by Lisa Millar ♥ 2 Comments

So Prad Prathivi has hung up his hat and said farewell to the blogosphere. He cites over exposure, personal vendetta and old fashioned childishness as his reasons for stepping back, and to be honest with you readers I am GUTTED, because ‘Metaversally Speaking’ is quite simply one of the best Second Life blogs around. That’s because Prad is a genuine ‘Second Life Wunderkind’. He’s talented in so many ways; not just as content creator par excellence and skilled metaverse observer which he manages to achieve whilst his ego manages to remain firmly rooted to the ground. I have *never* seen that lad behave in the drama-queen fashion favoured by so many so-called ‘SLebrities’ and I am full of admiration for the way he has risen through the ranks of SL to become one of the most recognisable names on the grid. The lad works bloody hard and is entitled to that success. Prad is a talented humourist and writes with the perception and honesty that some blogs in our metaverse lack.   Fact is, he has had more than his fair share of jealous detractors recently, but I’m afraid that goes with the territory. You don’t build up an audience as vast as his readership for “Metaversally Speaking” without steppingupon a few toes along the way, but at least Prad is the kind of gentleman who would stop and apologise for that.  Regular bloggers know that via our writing we expose ourselves and our flaws for all to see, and with that comes the criticism that we have to take. It’s the nature of the beast. You don’t start a blogthat you hope will be successful without acceptingthat there are always goingto be people out there who have a different agenda to yours, and who will not relish your success as much as you do. Jealousy is a harsh mistress indeed, but as individuals we are all entitled to our opinions so you need to understand that before publishing an article not everyone will like what you have written. Often this may cause heated debate or argument, but at no point is it acceptable for commentary to degenerate into viciousness aimed at the author personally. Put simply there has to be a cut off point…and it’s obvious that Prad has now reached his.  I think that Prad should be very satisfied with his achievement and I sincerely hope that he does not view his withdrawal from the blogging arena as a failure. In fact, he should view it as a victory for being brave, confident and having enough balls to share his genuine thoughts and feelings on all matters Second Life with his readership regardless of any reprisals. Conflict gets wearing, and when you reach the stage that Pradhas, as he documents clearly in his closing text that blogging is no longer fun, then it is indeed time to take a step back from it and pursue other interests. I sincerely hope that this is a brief sojourn, rather than a permanent change, because the metaverse will be a poorer place without Prad’s wry observations and comment.  Metaversally Speaking will continue, but without the captain of the ship at it’s helm. The crew that remains behind however will keep her on course I’m sure in the meantime, but Prad please consider returning very soon!