Gamesmanship In Second Life

A photographic competition is being held in the Knightsbridge sim, as reported by Janey Bracken for Virtually London (lite). The first prize is a generous L$5000, equivalent to $20 US at current SL rates of exchange. It is also about six months wages or one months rent for Ed ??? That's why he has to sell his body, err... I mean he has to enter the themed competitions in the UGC, lol. Naturally Ed took a nice snapshot and posted his entry with the others in the Knightsbridge Gallery.

Ed dropped by the gallery on a couple of occasions to see how many votes he had received, the current totals are displayed on the boards next to the pictures. Each time there was a crowd of avatars milling around the boards but not voting or in any apparent hurry to leave. Ed decided to hang around and see what was occurring. A discussion was going on and one of the avs, who was also the photographer with the highest number of votes, was explaining that he had sent a note-card to his whole friends list offering to TP them there in order to vote for him. Not strictly against the rules, the major political parties do a similar thing in elections when desperate for votes. However Ed feels this is very unsporting and not at all British, but then why should he expect it to be? An example of gamesmanship in SL, Ed thinks that everyone reading this should protest. And they can do so simply by dropping into the Knightsbridge Gallery and clicking on a picture, preferably the one above the name Ed Follet, ha ha .

Wot! No UGC?

Ed met with major disappointment to-night, for the first time that he could remember the UGC was closed all night. Occasionally in the past DJ's have not been able to get in for their individual 2-hour stints, but Ed can't recall the last time when none of the scheduled DJs have turned up.

Ed has been sorting his photos and came across this image, which has helped cheer him up. It was taken towards the end of one of DJ Gens sets, when as often happens, an amusing object or gesture is pulled from someone’s inventory and shared around. The object in this case was a Kangaroo, which was 'worn' and gave the appearance of being ridden. Added to this was a bouncing dance gesture with UGC beanie hats and the result - an hilarious antipodean scene, the only thing missing being the corks swinging from the hats, rotfl!!!

Love Songs and Bad Hair

DJ Janis's set on Wednesday nights at the UGC is known as 'Love Songs', an excuse for everyone to dress up and look 'glam'. Lovely Nahiram was hosting this week and wearing the most gorgeous dress (in Eds humble opinion).

Ed has a nice tux and wishes he could wear it more often. He danced the evening away with Sarah and Isobel and other regular visitors at the Underground club.

The previous evening a competition for 'Best Demo Hair' was run during DJ Genevieve's set. Gen had a swan nesting in her bouffant style hair.

Ed was pleased he had kept hold of some demo beards but couldn't match them with the ginger centre parted style he chose as the 'best' worst hair in his inventory.

Bee Gees and Under the Sea

Recreations

Pillow Fight with Am at UGC Pyjama Party

In Isobel's Rickshaw

Meditating at Tempura Island Sim

Ambrose Island

Ed's home is on the beautiful island sim called Ambrose. The land he rents covers about a quarter of the eastern shore (about 1/16th of the sim overall) and he has lived there for about 4 months now. The sim owner is a lovely female avatar called Vbinnia Radek, Ed has become good friends with 'Vb' and her close companion Melody who both also have homes on Ambrose.

One of Ed's joys is riding around the the Ambrose fore-shore, either on a motorcycle or his faithful old steed Dobbin. There is amazingly variety of terrain, vegetation and buildings on different parts of the island, reflecting the diversity of the tenants and their ideas of the perfect home or retreat. A network of paths and waterways intersect the various parcels of land ensuring free movement and preventing adjacent builds from encroaching on each other.

Although Ambrose has no specific theme, Vb herself follows the SL style of ‘Victorian Steampunk’. This is a sub-culture best described as a meeting of technology and romance, and is set in a world where steam power is still widely used. It is full of fantastic inventions like those found in the books of HG Wells and Jules Verne, Vb is also an aviatrix and shares Ed's fondness for flying. Having declared Ambrose an aviator friendly sim, her home in 'the Quarry' resembles an airship hangar. Vb's own Ambrose information pages can be viewed here.

Melody's mansion covers a large area in the south western corner of the island and seems to be continually evolving. The most recent additions being an archaeological dig in a newly discovered amphitheatre and the Victorian glasshouse complex. Read about Melody's home in her own words here.

Next to the quarry is Ambrose Mountain, an area provided by Vb for the enjoyment of everyone including visitors. The stiff climb to the top is well worth the effort for the stunning panoramas at the viewing points of all parts of the sim. It's Ed's favourite place in SL when he is looking for a little solitude, especially at sunrise or sunset. Ed considers that he was very fortunate to have been invited to make his home on Ambrose, because it is probably the best residential sim on the grid.

Swimming with Seals (and a Mermaid!)

Ed was taking it easy to-day after the frolics of the previous night. His friend Amourette is building a new house and Ed paid a visit to see how she was getting on. They arranged to meet later for a swim at the Haven of Rogues sim, which is actually one of an estate of four aquatically themed regions.

Ed dusted off his Scuba gear which until now has n't seen a lot of use, and Am donned her Mermaids tail. There were a few wrecks to explore and the usual shoals of fish, but by using pose-balls you are able to swim with a family of seals. There is lots more to see and plenty of fun to be had, so Ed will probably be returning before long.

After a break Ed called up his friend Hibiscus and invited himself over to her place in the Victoriana sim. In the picturesque harbour area, Hibs has opened a gallery selling art with an office and rooms above. Ed admired the delightful period furniture and other lovely objects which Hibs has acquired. Ed could n't resist bashing out Chopsticks on the old Joanna, lol.

Returning to the Underground Club, Ed socialised awhile with his friends until it closed. Just as his thoughts were turning towards bed, he received a note saying a Metallica concert was about to start. Ed reluctantly (oh yeh!) TP'd over to the Extasia (adult) sim. So what Ed thought was going to be dull time, turned out to be an enjoyable and fun packed day. Thanks to all of his Second Life friends.