Saturday 13 December 2014

Bedlam in Babbage: Christmas Special!


It's that time of the year again where usually stable people can go into a frenzy of madness: from needing to decorate your house with enough lights to be seen from space, to pretending that family grudges that have seethed for decades can be put aside for one day without anyone yelling at each other. Or maybe that's just me.

Whether your Christmas is covered under a blanket of snow, or whether you're toasting under the summer sun, join Edward Pearse for 2 hours of musical eclectism celebrating Christmas.

2:00pm - 4:00pm SLT at the Clarendon.

Sunday 9 November 2014

Bedlam in Babbage: The 1950s


Sock hops, poodle skirts, malt shops and Aliens from Ork

Join Edward Pearse in celebrating the 1950s.

2:00pm-4:00pm at The Clarendon

Friday 31 October 2014

The Seraph Club Halloween dance!


Join Edward Pearse at the Seraph Club for an evening of spooky swingin' tunes!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Old%20Time%20Prims/94/221/752

6:00pm - 8:00pm SLT

Tuesday 14 October 2014

Eight Years on the Grid

Me at about 2 weeks old.



Eight years ago today I decided to see what this "Second Life" thing was all about. I'd heard of it before but it wasn't until an email in a Yahoo group mention a "new sim" in a steampunk virtual world that I thought I should pop in and have a look. 

I arrived with the influx of 2006. Second Life boomed in media awareness with business groups setting up space in SL because they were told it was the next big thing. Gutter reporting came in looking for sleaze and found plenty of it. MySpace was still a thing, Facebook was mostly for professional contacts, and Twitter was barely hatched.

A lot of things have changed in those years. Friends have come and gone, sims have come and gone, even whole communities have come and gone. The grid has seen the arrival of sculpted prims, mesh and voice. I was musing recently about my mechanical arm from years ago. It would be far more complicated now. Since the invisiprim script no longer works, hiding an arm for a mechanical prosthesis would need an alpha layer. Since you can’t alpha just one arm, you’d need to mesh the normal hand as well. Then there’s the fun of trying to find a male mesh hand that matches your skin colour and shape.

I’ve moved from Caledon to New Babbage. While I’ve had a shop in New Babbage since it started, it’s been home for the last 5 years. I’ve become far better in my building, though Babbage’s taste for the scruffy and gritty has still not pushed out my love of polished brass. I’m hoping to practice with Blender over Christmas so there may be even more things on the horizon.

I’ve expanded my music knowledge and collection. I’ve managed to reopen the Seraph Club. It’s still early days but I’m hopeful it will land on its feet. I’m still running Breakfast in Babbage and Radio Riel Theatre.

In recent months I have rediscovered flying in SL. I’ve been genuinely surprised by the number of airports in the Blake’s Sea and on the Mainland. Though I still can’t find a decent steamship to take out. That said, there’s a huge number of aircraft makers who don’t put their planes on Marketplace. Perhaps the perfect steamship is out there I just have to find the vendor. I’m also disappointed with the current offerings of dirigibles.

I’m thankful to all the friends I’ve made in SL, especially to Christine who is still with me. There’s no telling what the future may hold for SL, but I’ve enjoyed what it’s served up so far.


Saturday 11 October 2014

Breakfast in Babbage: Spooky Edition!


October rolls around and so does the dreaded changeover for Daylight Savings Time!

This will be the last Breakfast slot for the year and next month we change to Bedlam in Babbage with our afternoon edition.

In the mean time, ghouls and ghosties and long-legged beasties will go bump in the night.

Join Edward Pearse for an assortment of appropriately themed music eclectica for Breakfast in Babbage at The Clarendon.

8am to 10am Saturday 11th of October.

And somewhere in there may be something mentioning Edward's 8th Rez Day!

Sunday 21 September 2014

Grand Reopning of the Seraph Club


Seraph City closed down, but it has not entirely gone away. The same pull that brought me back to the sim is still there and even though I can't set up a sim myself, I can nourish a little part of it to continue.

High above the Old Time Prims sim along the shopping district, the Seraph Club now has a new home!

Saturday the 20th of September marks our Grand Reopening. Beginning with a live performance from Phi Mayo, followed by a selection of dance tunes, this night should not be missed.

Make sure your tux is pressed and your dress has had all its beads secured.

Swing into Style at the Seraph Club.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Old%20Time%20Prims/94/221/752

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Innsmouth sim for Sale!


News this week that the long running H.P. Lovecraft themed sim Innsmouth, may have to close.

Darmin Darkes has sent out a note saying the sim will close in three weeks if a buyer cannot be found. And that's assuming the buyer wants to keep the sim as a Lovecraft sim.

Arriving in Innsmouth

You can stay overnight, but it's not recommended

It's mostly deserted

There are things on the short that may or may not be a little different

The streets are in ruin

Cars left were they were abandoned
A desolate playground

Mansions are in ruin

Even the railway line is down

Cthulhu has risen!


The Churches have odd statues

And even stranger temples

Some temples just shouldn't be ventured into

 
Two of the locals meet for a chat.

To be honest, the builds could use a little updating. Some deprimming and mesh. Change is a constant part of SL and many sims that I would have loved to see stay have disappeared over the years. I will be sad to see Innsmouth added to the list.

Saturday 13 September 2014

Breakfast in Babbage: Back to School!





It's the time of year when parents rejoice, and children dread. You get to bore the pants of people with your tales of summer vacation, or possibly you have finally recovered from the injuries you sustained at summer camp.

Either way, join Edward Pearse for two hours of musical eclectism (is that a word?) covering the highs and lows of school.

Join us at The Clarendon for or tune in via http://steampunk.radioriel.org

Saturday 9 August 2014

Breakfast in Babbage: Villains!


The Bad Guys. They have the cool outfits. If it's a musical, they have the cool song. And they have the cool moustaches. They also know who to devise a far fetch plan of revenge or world domination.

Join Edward Pearse at The Clarendon for two hours celebrating why it's good to be bad.

Or tune in via http://steampunk.radioriel.org

Saturday 12 July 2014

Breakfast in Babbage: Summer Camp!


Come to camp and experience the great outdoors as nature intended! Poison ivy, bears, swarms of mosquitos, spiders, snakes and all manner of wildlife! And then there's the fun you can have out on the lake!

Join Edward Pearse at the Clarendon for two house of musical camp. Er.. music about camp? Just pack your bags and come along.

Monday 30 June 2014

A new sim for Babbage!

This evening witnesses a most unusual spectacle in Babbage, the rising of the old Town Hall from the waters east of Palisades.


Yes folks, Babbage has a new sim - Quarry Hill.

Sandbox week is in effect, so there will be a variety of weird shapes appearing out my back door over the next few days.

Friday 13 June 2014

Breakfast in Babbage: Gambling!


Whether you're down on your luck, or whether you're in full flush, join Edward Pearse on Saturday morning for two hours of music related to games of chance.

Get bitten by the bug at The Clarendon, or tune in via http://steampunk.radioriel.org

Monday 5 May 2014

Breakfast in Babbage: Singing Actors!


There are some actors who can sing really well: Hugh Jackman, Amy Adams, Neil Patrick Harris, Ewan McGregor and Julie Andrews. They're all known for being talented enough to both sing and act. There are actors who sing but are just not known for it: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Russell Crowe or Kristen Bell. There are actors who used to be singers and traded it for acting, like Will Smith, Billie Piper or Mandy Moore.

Then there are actors who really shouldn't have but did anyway. Leonard Nimoy I'm looking at you.

Join Edward Pearse at The Clarendon as we explore the highs, the lows, and the oh-no-please-stops of actors who can sing, and actors who try.

Tune in via http://steampunk.radioriel.org

Thursday 10 April 2014

Breakfast in Babbage: Fashion!


Lights! Models! Guestlist!

Fa fa fa FASHION! Clothes make the man, but sometimes the man is still hideously dressed. What are considered must haves one year are consigned to the fright pile within a few, only to be revived by their children as "retro chic".

Join Edward Pearse as he explores the music of fashion: blue suede shoes, sunglasses at night, Chantilly lace, and boots that are made for walking (I wonder if Chris Walken has ever covered that song?).

And we're back to Breakfast settings! Saturday MORNING 8am - 10am SLT 12th of April at The Clarendon in New Babbage.

Will you wear your best to Breakfast or will it be a fashion disaster? Maybe even still in rollers and facemask?

BYO champers dahling!


Monday 7 April 2014

Farewell Dirk Talamasca

It had been some years since Dirk and I had spoken, but I remember him as a very helpful member of Caledon in my early years there.





It was with a sad nostalgia that I saw the blog posts about his passing. I was even more impressed at some of the more widely recognised names who attended Dirk's memorial this past weekend.

I was glad to hear the anecdotes from people who knew him far better than I, and happy that his typist was with family at the end.

Valé Dirk.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Bedlam in Babbage: Food Glorious Food!


Waffles, Hot Dogs, Pie and cake! Of course there are some who would have you believe the cake is a lie.

Lettuce all join in for music that can't be beet. Assuming there is no leek, it will be a plum show. Music from some Swedes too possibly.

Join me at The Clarendon in New Babbage

**This will be the last Breakfast in Babbage before Daylight Savings throws things into a spin yet again**

Friday 28 February 2014

Farewell Seraph City

This week Bromo Ivory, the owner of the Seraph City sim announced he had decided to close down the sim on the 21st of March.


Seraph was the brainchild of Pumpkin Tripsa, Tesla Tripsa and Kaylee Faulkner. It was a lovely build in that quasi science fiction setting of Dieselpunk.

There were some great builds and people would always comment on the look of the sim. But other than the odd event, there were rarely any people about.

Pumpkin's SL business Chakra Nova was very successful and made up for any vacancies in the sim but then RL took hold and he spent less and less time in SL. Wanting to see the sim grow, I offered to take on management of the sim to try and update some of the infrastructure. Pumpkin eventually sold the sim to Bromo Ivory in 2013. Bromo also being very busy in RL, I again stayed on as sim Admin.

Starting a new sim is a hard task. Trying to blow the cobwebs off a sim that's been around for 3 years but never seemed to find its mark was no easy job either. I think initially Seraph had too many people renting in it who made their homes in Babbage. They'd come to Seraph for the odd event and then go back to Babbage for their socialising. It's also possible Dieselpunk is too niche a genre - even for SL. There are numerous sims who claim to be Steampunk. Each has their own take on it and each seems to be doing OK. When Seraph first opened, there was another dieselpunk sim also underway called Sapphire City (ironically enough being headed by New Babbage's former owner Shaunathan Sprocket). Sapphire was quietly pulled before it ever got completed. There are various historical sims set in the 1920s: 1920s Berlin, just added two homesteads to the group, Chicago 1920s seems to be doing well (though it's hard to tell with all the bots there). Swing Times came, expanded to a second sim, then folded.

I am a firm believer that if you get a solid community on the ground, residency number will usually look after themselves. Babbage and Berlin would be the two examples I'd cite. But for whatever reason, Seraph never seemed to be able to get that happening.





I decorated one of the Hawksmoor apartments to give people and idea of what could be done with a tight budget of 100 prims.



 




With the exception of the Scientific American issue, all the other magazine covers were real. The newspapers though, I took some liberties with.



 










The foyer of the Radio Riel HQ abounded with subtle out of place bits and pieces. Like the capstone off the Stargate.
 
Or some of the more interesting hieroglyphs. Can you spot the Back to the Future reference?

What about the Fifth Element? Or Star Wars?




 
 



 


 

 

Farewell Seraph City. I tried my best but it was not meant to be.