Tag: Second Life

What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

For no real reason other than ‘something to do’ whilst I counted the minutes down until l I could leave my RL office and enter my SL one,  I decided to ‘google-whack’ my name.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, ‘googlewhacking’ is when you enter your name in a search engine to see what results you get.  It’s  bad enough finding your real name on-line for all to see, so I wondered what it would be like for Kitty, and what kind of results I would generate.. Before I proceed to share my results with you, I’ll let you in on what inspired my choice of Second Life name.
When you join Second Life you have to choose your surname from a selection provided by Linden Labs. There are loads to choose from, covering a variety of cultures and both real life and fictional characters, but you cannot  use your own surname unless of course it happens to be included in the current list.   (This is probably a good thing, as I don’t think this website would be half as much fun  if I’d used my real name, which for the record is Ethel Thundercrackers.  I could have called the blog ‘Thundercracking’ though I suppose…)

Anyway, the first name wasn’t under any doubt for me owing  to my love of cats and all things feline it *had* to be Kitty.  I did toy with the idea of calling myself Selina- both in reverence of the moon and also because Catwoman’s real name is Selina Kyle, but Kitty just seemed less pretentious:) The tough part was choosing a surname because there were so MANY of them!  I’d just been watching the BBC series of ‘Casanova’ on DVD (the version which starred Sir Peter O’Toole and David Tennant) and I guess  Sir Peter was lurking in my subconcious somewhere when I spied ‘O’Toole’ as an available surname.  I liked the way it sounded, and there you have it, my name was born! 

So I google-whacked ‘Kitty O’toole’ earlier…and was gobsmacked.  Most of the references were to this site and the few others that I feature on across the old t’internet, BUT I was utterly *DELIGHTED* to see that there is an old Irish folk song called ‘Kitty O’Toole”  It’s even been recorded by a chap called Jim Hancock ! So it gives me great pleasure to present you with the lyrics to the song, and they sum Kitty up quite eloquently I think…especially the last verse eh Jez?

Kitty O’Toole

A charming young creature was Kitty O’Toole,
The Lily o’ sweet Tipperary,
With a voice like a thrush and with cheeks like a rose, And a figure as neat as a fairy.
I saw her one day, oh, she looked like a queen,
In the glory of sweet one and twenty.
As she sat with McGinty’s big arm ’round her waist,
Oh, how I envied McGinty.

Six months after that on a sweet summer’s day,
The boys and the girls were invited,
By Mickey O’Toole of the cabin beyond,
To see Kate and McGinty united.
And when in the church they were made into one,
And the priest gave them blessings in plenty,
As she stood with McGinty’s big arm ’round her waist,
Oh, how I envied McGinty.

But the years have gone by, now McGinty is dead,
Shore me heart was all broke up with pity,
To see her all lonely and mornful and sad,
So I went and got married to Kitty.
And now when I pass where McGinty is laid,
With a stone o’er his head, cold and flinty,
As he lies there so quiet and peaceful and still,
Oh, how I envy McGinty!

  

Don’t need no Valentine…..

Don’t need no Valentine…..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

..well, actually it’s good to have someone to love:)

Here’s wishing a very ‘Happy Valentines Day’ to all of my readers, whether you be single or in a relationship.
If you’re single treat yourself to a bottle of wine or something equally nice, and love yourself  LOTS:) If you’re in a couple smooch..LOTS! Jez and I will be heading over to RL Amsterdam for the day, so fingers crossed it’s not too bad at sea or methinks Jez will be hanging over the side of the ship:) Have a goody!
Baiastice is pure ‘Catwalk Crack’

Baiastice is pure ‘Catwalk Crack’

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I have a confession to make. I’m sort of  sat on the fence about designer fashion. Sometimes it can be just so brutally pretentious that I find it completely off-putting, and with so many talented designers in world why bother to go the trouble and expense of seeking out SL Haute Couture?  After all,  with so many stores catering to all tastes and budgets in world what on earth is the point in being super picky? Besides, is there such a thing as haute couture in SL anyway? What is it that elevates the work of one designer above all the rest?

Yesterday I attended an event that has completely readjusted my perceptions of fashion in SL and has shown me what I have been missing out on.  Not  that I don’t love everything that I blog on these pages, oh  I do so very much..but last night I felt as though a veil was lifted and my peering through got me a taste of what I’ve been missing out on….and one taste was all it took for me to get addicted,  leaving me with a  lustful longing for more of the same deliciousness that I saw.

It’s official – I have taken ‘Catwalk Crack’ and I LOVED IT.

So what instigated this fashion frenzy that I find myself in? ‘Baiastice’ did.  I was lucky enough to attend the ‘Baiastice’ fashion event hosted by the MAD Modelling Agency last night and it was the grandest and most stunning occasion that I have ever attended in SL to date. 

Sissy Pessoa is the Rome based designer behind the label, and the show concentrated on her couture and carnival gowns, set against a sumptuous backdrop inspired by the masked ball featured in the movie, ‘Eyes Wide Shut’.  The presentation was elegantly stunning; a long white catwalk flanked by rows of white chairs against a backdrop of chandeliers and paintings of Marie Antoinette. 

 The models were some of the most professional that I have yet to see work in SL.  I have been to a few fashion shows before, but these girls seemed to know better than most about accommodating lag and not changing poses too often, BUT  just enough for you to get a feel for the movement of the clothing.  Believe me it was an event that could have been ruined by the lag as it was so crowded with all the movers and shakers of SL  in attendance. (I lost count of the amount of CEOs, Editors and Journalists that were present) The score for the event was perfect too, DJ Kromus Korobase created a sensational mix for the models to strut to.  (You can download the music here actually, which of course I have done and am still enjoying) To complete the package Nemi Mccoy delivered a commentary on the event that was poetic perfection.

But of course it was the clothes that made it. Everything I saw on the catwalk last night could best be described as ‘results wear’-the kind of clothing that you wear and get the exact result that you wanted. The collection I saw made me feel a complete fashion beginner.  Perfect isn’t a word that should be used lightly, but there wasn’t any outfit shown last night that couldn’t be described as such.  This was fashion on a *GRAND* scale.  The fabrics were gauzy and flowed beautifully (well they would have done were it not for the lag!) and were skilfully put together with imagination and flair. The colours were beautiful (I even liked a pink outfit which is unheard of for me) and the textures looked luxurious.  You could see that a lot of love and damned hard work had gone into producing this collection.

If I am honest Sissy Pessoa is the kind of designer that once you discover her work, you don’t want to share. No one had ever shared her with me until last night, and I can see why you would want to keep this one all to yourself.  The clothes and the hats and the bags and the whole caboodle are just too special to share with just anyone.  You want to keep ‘Baiastice’ all to yourself..but that would be such an injustice.  EVERYONE in SL needs to see this kind of work because it’s the epitome of virtual fashion design and pisses on some of the absolutely horrific stuff that is out there in our metaverse.  When you see work this good it just shows what truly can be created when you put your mind to it.

After the show finished (it was an hour but I would have been happy for it to go on much, much longer) I stuck around at the after party for a while before I was booted out of SL.  I guess the lag monster was too much for my laptop to handle in the end.  I was all ready for logging back in but then decided to leave it so that I could savour what I had just witnessed for a little while, and made a promise to myself to visit the store today.  I’ve just been and yes, all the catwalk beauty from last night is there for you to enjoy. I need a second virtual mortgage to be able to buy all the outfits that I fell in love with, but they aren’t as highly priced as you would think.  The store is brimful with lovely wares, but the only problem is the images are static so you don’t get to enjoy how the clothing flows and moves as you glide around. 

Chance it..I insist that today you check out ‘Baiastice’ and invest, because if you know quality and originality then you will NOT be disappointed.  And to prove my point, take a look at the slideshow of images I took last night.  Apologies for the quality, as I said the lag was terrible, BUT it gives you a tantalising flavour of what was on offer from one of SL’s most exciting designers:)

Oh, and fellas if you fancy taking your beloved somewhere special for Valentines Day, may I suggest you treat her to an ensemble from ‘Baiastice’ to wear at the event?  (You’ll also find some scrumptious undies in store which are perfect for peeling off your beloved after you’ve wined and dined)

Thoughts and jottings on big business in SL…

Thoughts and jottings on big business in SL…

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I really wanted a snazzy title for this pretence at intelligence on my part, but alas, not a witty thought or suitably rude word has popped into my bonce.  So you’ll just have to have it vanilla…

The huge multi-national company that I work for is currently exploring ‘Second Life’, and virtual worlds.  You kind of take it for granted that companies in the IT industry  will want to exploit new technology and virtual happenings as soon as they become viable (and fashionable) but in reality it isn’t as easy as it sounds.  You would think that SL would be a perfect virtual environment to exploit by big business, and in theory it is, but it’s actually a problematic one. There are so many things to consider for a start.  Security is of paramount importance for a start.  If you have a big business then you’ll have a big network, with an equally big firewall to boot,  and they are a huge problem to get around and a costly one at that.  Additionally, what is a business presence in SL suited for? Well, it has a great publicity value and there’s the novelty of being in a virtual world ( how cool is it to drop by an office in world and deposit your CV into a virtual mailbox?)..BUT..once that novelty wears thin, is there any practical benefit? I’ll be honest- I don’t think there is YET  and I think RL businesses may be getting wise to this too.  After all, we’ve recently  seen  Pontiac leave SL behind.
You could argue that SL can enable people to attend meetings from wherever they are in world.  Ok, that’s a good idea, and in principal of course it’s entirely possible but can it  genuinely meet business needs such as  facilitating powerpoint presentations?  No, not really, what if the lag monster got you stuck on a slide or your meeting was  suddenly interrupted by thousands of bouncing Mario’s courtesy of your friendly neighbourhood griefers.   (There is a virtual answer better suited to business-Qwaq, but it has none of the bells and whistles that makes Second Life so visually attractive)So let’s look at it from the green perspective- obviously you can see that it would have it’s advantages there.  No daily commute so therefore no petrol emissions for a start, but hang on a minute, don’t forget that  your avatar has a carbon footprint as well! (Oh yes it does,  you run your PC on electricity, and think of all those servers running Second life) That doesn’t even include the operator behind the av, who needs heat and light and boils the kettle and flushes the loo on a regular basis as well. Is this virtual life a greener alternative?   You can offset your avatar, as I’ve previously blogged, but is it really correct to  that virtual worlds will revolutionise business in the real world in the very near future?  My honest opinion is that I don’t think it will straight away…BUT  we’re well on the way to getting there so it IS important for global brands to at least take tentative steps to get their feet through the virtual door.  With that in mind I think that 2008 is going to see even more big names in our world getting ready for when virtual living can revolutionise the way we work. Until then, I’m going to enjoy it as a way to rest and play.  Besides it’s a much less calorific alternative to Mars bars….