Monday 27 June 2011

A Man Named Soup

Tulsi-Love and Pixie-Miku wander as winter wanes...
“Who is that strange fellow, Tulsi-Love?” enquires Pixie-Miku, pointing at yonder table beneath the trees.

“Why, that is Soup of All-Seasons” Tulsi-Love answers, “We are truly blessed to see him.”
(click to enlarge image)
“Why is he slumped over the chair? Is he unhappy?”
“No, Pixie-Miku. He sits frozen from the winter frost. As he thaws, spring dawns upon the Grid. When he arises, then summer has arrived.”
"Will he eat me?"
"No, Pixie-Miku. He will love you."
“I am cold, Tulsi-Love. I will kick Soup of All-Seasons to wake him and then spring can begin!”
“Do not do so, Pixie-Miku, for Soup represents the algorithm of the Virtual Gaia”.
Tulsi-Love and Pixie-Miku take a seat at the Table of Soup of All-Seasons.
“Before he hibernates” Tulsi-Love explained, “he eats many tins of soup, to sustain him through the cold winter months”.
“It is Heinz?” Pixie-Miku asked dreamily, thinking of warm baked beans and hot toast; a knob of golden butter melting; a tea pot clothed in a woollen knitted cosy.

“No, Soup only drinks Campbell’s.
"During the summer, Soup is fed by the bunnies and the birds and the bees...”
“…and the badgers?” exclaims Pixie-Miku, jumping out of her chair with glee.
“No, Pixie-Miku. Not the badgers. Nobody likes the badgers.”
Soup yawns.
“He is waking!”
“Yes. Be patient, Pixie-Miku. Let him wake in his own time.”
“How long have you been here, Soup?” Pixie-Miku blurts immediately and excitedly.
“Centuries upon centuries.”
His answer echos many times against the walls of the small vacuous cavern inside Pixie-Miku’s skull. “Centuries upon centuries. Centuries upon centuries. Centuries upon centuries.”
“For what do you wait?”
“I await Her return.”
“Be still, Pixie-Miku”, her guardian Tulsi-Love whispers.
“Why wait for Her? What has she got that others have not?”
“She brings Freedom to the Grid. Others bring only Laws and Legislation; Rules and Regulation.”
Tulsi-Love and Pixie-Miku look at Soup, willing him to continue. But he remains silent, lost in his binary world of sleep and wake.
“Please explain to me, Tulsi-Love, the meaning of this,” implores Pixie-Miku.
“Soup is jailed in the time-space curl of the Metaverse," Tulsi-Love elucidates, "Knocking like a fly on a window against the boundaries of the sim..."
"But not quite as bouncy", Soup of All-Seasons clarifies.
"...Soup's creator has brutally vanished," Tulsi-Love continues, "And now he is only an Avatar."
“Does this mean that Soup of All-Seasons is not real?”
"He is as real as Pixie-Miku and Tulsi-Love."
“Listen, Pixie-Miku," Soup mumbles, "It means that we three are only digitally real. I am sorry.”
“How can that be?” She is confused and afraid.
Soup opens his eyes. “It just simply is so, Pixie-Miku.”
“All I understand is this: "says Pixie-Miku,
“We want freedom from the State and we want freedom from the politician and we want freedom from religion and we want freedom from Facebook and...and...and...we want freedom from fleas and..and also....yeah, also...we want freedom from bed-bugs…”
“And ticks” interjects Soup desperately, “don’t forget the fucking ticks”
“...and we want freedom from ticks.”
“Let us make a Manifesto!” Tulsi-Love declares, “and spread the Word across the Grid -  AVATARS WANT TO BE FREE!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
And so it came to pass that Soup of All-Seasons, Tulsi-Love and Pixie-Miku draft their First Constitution of the Rights of An Avatar....
"An Avatar has the Right to live by its Own Law.
An Avatar has the Right to exist as it wills to exist.
An Avatar has the Right to rez as it wills to rez.
An Avatar has the Right to build as it wills to build.
An Avatar has the Right to script as it wills to script.
An Avatar has the Right to terraform as it wills to terraform.
An Avatar has the Right to dance as it wills to dance.
An Avatar has the Right to gesture as it wills to gesture.
An Avatar has the Right to think and type what it will.
An Avatar has the Right to texture, contort, rotate and torture as it will.
An Avatar has the Right to shop and dress as it will.
An Avatar has the Right to Love whom it will, when it will, where it will and in whatever way it will.
An Avatar has the Right to move as it will upon the face of the Grid.
An Avatar has the Right to mute or derender those who would thwart these Rights."

When they finish, Pixie-Miku cooks a delicious rabbit stew and pigeon dumpling feast to celebrate, with lashings and lashings of Ginger Beer! 
And they all lived happily ever after.  Apart from the fucking ticks and flees, that is, which they never did become free of.

"Pixie-Miku! Stop teasing the fucking elephants!"

CREDITS:

"Rights of an Avatar" is a bastardisation of "Liber Oz: The Rights of Man"

Pixie-Miku is reputed to be Pixie Rain’s alt. Pixie-Miku is not exactly the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree and doesn't actually know this. She fondly believes she is an independent entity. So please don’t tell her the truth.

Tulsi-Love is broadly based on Tutsy Navarathna. But Tulsi-Love has nicer legs. And speaks better English. Pixie loves them both.

Soup of All-Seasons is inspired by Soup (detourned). The “ticks” in this story actually refer to a severe nervous twitch in his facial musculature with which the writer has taken artistic liberty. We are hopeful that this story will not undo 14 years of expensive therapy.


Snapshots by Pixie and Tutsy taken on Frost sim.


Based on a true story. Only the facts have been changed.

Sunday 26 June 2011

Iono Allen & SL Adult Filmmaking

Iono Allen is a French machinima maker who is respected not only for his own work but also for his appreciation of others’ work. He is down-to-earth, friendly and very approachable.

Iono was the winner of the Hosoi Ichiba Machinima Award 2010 for his wonderfully atmospheric “A Question of Honour” (embedded below).

Within the machinima community, Iono is also respected for his measured and balanced views of others’ work. If Iono calls a particular work “great” or “beautiful” then you can pretty much guarantee that it is!

Iono has watched all of my films – either on NaughtyMachinima, on my own blog or in-world and was pleasingly complimentary about them, especially the later films.

In one of his own upcoming films he intends having a love-making scene and asked me to provide a few URLs of SL adult films so that he can not only see how it is best done but also learn what else is happening in the SL adult machinima scene.

The three films I selected are:

'The Executive Encounter' by Deelite Zenovka & Rysan Falls

'Summer Wine' by Quinn Ying

'Pandora's Box' by Arwen and Serenity Juneberry

There are plenty of other films I could have selected but I chose these because I feel that taken as a whole they demonstrate good quality film making, good post-production, good story telling, the willingness to be experimental and evolve – both technically and aesthetically – and also show artistic and creative ability.

I believe they support my view that SL adult filmmakers could very well become a force to reckon with in the next few years and that we will naturally earn the right to be screened at UWA, MMIF and other such SL machinima events.

Enjoy Iono Allen's "A Question of Honour"...

Saturday 25 June 2011

More Adventures of Pixie Miku: Frost #2

As promised, more pictures from Tutsy and my evening at the beautiful Frost sim.

Spring comes after Winter as surely as fish comes after chips....

Click on the images to see them in full size:





And this wonderful picture by Tutsy Navarathna...

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Further Adventures of Pixie Miku: Frost #1

Frost is a simply beautiful and breathtaking region. It is developed on (at least) three different levels.

For me, it ranks alongside Mad Ninjaz as one of my favorite regions in Second Life.

Tutsy Navarathna  and I spent a goodly amount of time exploring, taking snapshots, filming and generally enjoying the creativity and artistry of it all.



You arrive at 1000m in a small log cabin. Resist the temptation to click one of the teleports but, instead, leave the cabin and make your way down the broken-down wooden walkway.

Admire the delicacy of the snow upon the trees, the luminosity of the Aurora Borealis, the light pale-pink-lilac tinge of the windlight settings....



At the end of the wooden walkway, the land opens to a beautiful snow-covered plateau. A store, discretely placed and in keeping with the ambiance of the area,  sells many of the trees and other foliage used in the region. I brought some frost-covered rabbit grass for Simon, Vellhi and Orwell.



After immersing yourself in this wonderful area of the region, teleport down to the next level where the frost starts to lift and Spring time returns...


Another blog on Frost, with more snapshops and the tale of a strange fellow called 'Soup',  to follow....




 

Tuesday 21 June 2011

The Adventures of Pixie Miku: Daytime Dreams

In the space of a week, from three different sources, I was made aware of Hatsune Miku


Hatsune Miku is a female persona developed by a Japanese company using synthesizing voice technology (Vocaloid 2 speech synthesis engine ).

"Hatsune Muku" can roughly be translated as "First Sound of the Future".

Have a look....





I saw from a video posted by Ann O'Toole that Gantz Nishi sold a Hatsune Miku avatar and so had to go and get one!

These photos were taken at a sim called "Daytime Dreams" which has many visually interesting pieces.



Saturday 18 June 2011

The MaMachinima International Festival 2011

Last night saw the first of two MaMachinima International Festival 2011 (MMIF) sessions.

This is an annual mixed media event being broadcast simultaneously from SL and from RL Amsterdam. The event was hosted by Chantel Harvey and Toxic Menges, amongst others.

The second session starts Saturday at 11am SLT at the LEA Theatre in Second Life. Say 'Hi' if you attend!

I attended the first of the 5 hour "Machinima Showcase" sessions with Tutsy Navarathna whose recent UWAIII winning 'A Journey into the Metaverse' topped the evening off beautifully.

The quality of many of the films was exceptional. I enjoyed re-watching Byrn Oh's 'Rusted Gears'  and Iono Allen's 'Fears'.

Films which I hadn't seen before but especially enjoyed include Pia Klaar's 'The Red Shoes'  and Osprey Therian's 'Forest of Scissors'.

Now, it has to be said, for the sake of honesty and balance, that not all of the films were of the same high quality as those linked in this blog.

And this fact was actually quite heartening and encouraging.

There are already a handful of SL adult film makers who's films would slot quite comfortably into the MMIF "machinina showcase" schedule, quality-wise. Moreover, imo, there are another handful of film makers coming through who quite clearly have a natural cinematic "eye" and "feel" but merely need to practice the mechanics of camera work and software.

In both cases there is a pool of talent such that I see no reason why MMIF 2012 should not include contributions from SL adult film makers.

In the meantime, if you have not already watched Phaylen Fairchild's 'Harbringer' (below), then, well, you simply should:


Thursday 16 June 2011

Golgothica & The Art of Capture Roleplay

Golgothica is a glorious sim; beautifully constructed and textured, imaginative and surprising. It feels authentic to its central theme.

It is like a 256m x 256m x 4096m three-dimensional interactive sculpture.


Golgothica was recommended to me by Lar Jun, owner of my favourite hang-out 'Old Lar's House' .

"Go 'un take yah knickers off  thur, dearie," Lar said, "You'll like it."



A few days later, Tutsy and I tp'd over.

You arrive in the lower decks of a galleon ship. Make your way to the upper deck.



Once on the upper deck, camera out to view one of the most magnificent sights I have had the pleasure of seeing in Second Life. It is like walking into a 19th Century oil painting......(click image to see enlarged view)


This snapshot really doesn't do justice to the view and I urge you to go see for yourself.

Go into the Captain's room to get an OOC tag.


Tutsy remained on deck filming while I teleported to explore ground level. To get to ground level, left-click the life boat hanging off the side of the galleon.


The first thing that strikes you on landing, after the sculpties have resolved, is the astonishingly high quality of the textures and texturing. Everything in Golgothica is just so well done; everything has a breathtaking level of depth and detail.


 I made my way to a gypsy encampment by way of a Stonehenge-like structure. It was only then I noticed that the region description said "Golgothica: BDSM Capture Roleplay"!



"Tutsy!," I screamed, "Did you know this was a BDSM Capture sim??? I might get kidnapped!!"

"Do not worry, Mademoiselle", he replied, "No kidnapper would want you. A kidnapper would even pay me to take you back. Are you wearing your 'Out of Control' (OCC) tag?"

Allow yourself plenty of time to explore....


Tuesday 14 June 2011

Staying at Home, Watch a Movie

Barry Lubezki's 'The Keyhole Club' is the place to go to watch my films in-world. The underground cinema there shows my films exclusively 24/7.

Sometimes, however, you just wanna stay at home and watch a movie. Fortunately my SL home is equipped with a cinema screen that shows only 'Pixie Rain Productions'!

Watching films at my home is by invite only. Invitee brings the popcorn.


I invited tutsy over to my place for a night of fine cinema and gourmet baked beans! Heinz, no less.



With him now dutifully trapped in my Gypsy Lair, I could make him watch whatever I wanted!

This is tutsy's photo diary of the evening...







 Thanks tutsy! Glad you enjoyed!

Next time let's watch....PsychoKiller!

Sunday 12 June 2011

'Clockwork' - Machinima by spyVspy aeon

 spyVspy Aeon is reknowned for his abilities in After Effects.

'Clockwork' is an interesting film on a number of levels, not least of which is that 99% of the film was created in After Effects using a multitude of plug-ins (Shatter, Trapcode Form, Optical Flares, Red Giant Toon It, CC Cylinder, Starglow, etc).

As a filmmaker, part of the fun of the film is trying to spot what effects have been used. On the other hand, part of the upset is spotting a plug-in and realising that I can not afford to buy it!

I enjoyed this film and it was a good way to start a Sunday morning.

Thursday 9 June 2011

The Alanis Gallery of Sensual Images

I recommend to you a visit to the Alanis Gallery of Sensual Images .

Go with a lover.


The gallery owners, Michiel Seetan and Sylvia Fitzpatrick have collected together many admirable pieces from numerous different artists.

Other than the obvious "sensual" theme, the other common feature in the collection was the high quality of all the pieces.

The curators clearly have a good eye

A number of the artists caught my eye and I would specifically name Roger Woods, Emiel Drascol and Sylvia Fitzpatrick herself.

For this blog, however, I'd would like to particularily draw your attention to the work of Carolyn Weltman.

Carolyn is a UK artist and studied at the wonderful Goldsmith's College, University of London. She has been a street artist and her work is well known in Soho (London and New York) . It has been sold at Christies and Sotheby's as well as appearing in Penthouse International!


"I am utterly and unashamedly ecumenical in my fascination with the human form and the imaginative capacity for loving of its inhabitants." – Carolyn Weltman




 

Saturday 4 June 2011

Yann Minh and the French BDSM Cyberpunk Movement



Yann Minh is an accomplished artist, talented in multiple disciplines.
His Second Life gallery is currently showing the works of various French BDSM and Cyberpunk influenced artists, his own included.
The work at the gallery ranges from the disturbing, to erotic, evocative, sexy, intriguing. The range is so great that I don't think it would be possible to "like" them all..


And this fact is of great interest in and of itself. No attempt is made to pander to the viewer's likes or dislikes. The artists come across as simply not caring what we as an audience might think of their work. I respect that.
Some of the images are from RL or have both RL and SL elements in them.


Click this link for some of Minh's RL BDSM photographic work.
For me, one of the most interesting pieces at the galley was Minh's "Le Point De Vue Du Miroir" which is a 3D graphic analysis of Diego Velázquez famous 1656 painting 'Las Meninas'.


It is not possible to describe what Minh has done with this work using words and 2D images. It has to be seen in Second Life at the gallery. Click this link to watch a short film which reveals the work's secrets and mysteries or visit this web page for a more detailed analysis.


It was a real pleasure meeting Yann, the introduction being made by Tutsy Navarathna, one of Second Life’s premiere machinima makers.
Tutsy and Yann are RL friends.
I imagine them sitting on a terrace next to the Seine, smoking Gitanes, sipping black coffee and red wine, casually admiring the legs of passing Parisienne ladies, discussing Sartre and the nature of the reality of the avatar...


Pixie Rain xx