Dave Vellhi - Gentle Man & Friend

Lar, Marcy, Debbie & I are sad to announce that our very good friend Dave Vellhi passed away on Monday 6 February 2012 after a period of illness.

He died quietly in his sleep with his family at his bedside.

DaveV, or ‘Big Dave’ as many knew him by, was a regular at Old Lar’s House from its very earliest days. He was also a very popular DJ specialising in rock and a love of Elvis Presley.

He will be dearly missed.

Our sincere thoughts are with his RL family and with his SL friends. We share their hurt and sadness.

'Tis Sometimes Better to Receive Than Give

Dream Worm Shoulder Pet by Madcow Cosmos

I was brought up in a secular family.

Hitchens and Dawkins were, and still are, discussed far more than, for example, Mohammed and Christ. It is not that anyone in the family is particularly disrespectful of religious figures, not at all – it’s simply that they are not considered important enough to warrant any serious discussion outside of mythological or other academic studies. In our house, Mohammed and Christ are considered in similar vain as, say, Osiris or Mithras. 

As such, I am rarely motivated by religious festivals.

Dali clock & baked beans by Dave Vellhi
Hand drawn sketch  & Xmas tree by Tutsy Navaratha

Yesterday and today I watched a 20min film shot by a close personal friend of his meeting with the Dalai Lama, (or to use the official title ‘His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama of Tibet’).

I found the film to be deeply moving in a strange and quite unexpected way.

'The Creature' by Markus Inkpen
Asphalt & Shovel by Dave Vellhi
'The Watcher' from Tutsy Navarathna 

It seemed to me that the Dalai Lama radiated humanity and warmth, a natural love and empathy for his fellow man which is often spoken about in religious circles, but sadly rarely ever seen in my, admittedly limited, experience.

Today, for possibly the first time, I seriously wondered if there may actually be “Holy Men” on this crazy planet that orbits a rather ordinary and nondescript G-type star.

Stilts by Heb Dexler

My only other exposure to such ideas as “Holy Men” was an in-depth documentary about the Hindu Kumbh Mela pilgrimage held every 12 years on the banks of the Ganges. Although fascinating for many reasons, proof of the authenticity of “Holy Men” was certainly not one of them.

Ground mist/fog from Bazz Soulstar

So did my friend’s film of his meeting with the Dalia Lama cause me a personal epiphany of sorts? No, I don’t think so. But it was nevertheless emotionally beautiful - causing bodily streamings from the crown of my head to the base of my spine, as mentioned in traditional yogic texts describing the ‘Chakras’.

Violin from Lar Jun

I am at home from University for Christmas, staying with my parents. The best thing about being home for Christmas? Central heating. Oh, and on-demand hot water. Seriously.

We have a Xmas Tree in the corner of the living room. It is really pretty with delicate blue lights playing against the silver tinsel. But there is neither star nor an angel or any other symbolism remotely religious on it.

Latrine by Dave Vellhi
Shopping Trolley by Bryn Oh

I am sitting here wondering if that is a deliberate policy of my parents. If so, how much influence has it had on my professed atheism, if any?

On Christmas Day, while my mum and I cook dinner, dad and my brother will go to the local pub for a few pints.

Ciggy by Squonk Levenque

We exchange gifts on Christmas morning and that is the subject of this blog-post. Or rather, *receiving* gifts is the subject matter.

This last year I have been blessed to have been given some extraordinary special gifts in Second Life from some extraordinarily talented people.

Comic book speech bubbles by BobE Schism

Some of these gifts, like Madcow Cosmo’s ‘Dream Worm’ shoulder pet or Lucia Genesis’s beautiful outfits are free to anyone who visits their sims.

Others, like Byrn Oh’s shopping trolley or BobE Schism’s comic-book speech bubbles are props they have used their in installations or films and have generously given me a copy of.

TV slideshow by Lollie Razor
Portrait by Jinx Jiersen

Other gifts have been made especially for me - like the pile of asphalt, baked bin tin, latrine, Dali clock and lots of other things by Dave Vellhi. Or the hand drawn RL sketch from Tutsy Navarathna.

Shopping trolley by Bryn Oh

Squonk Levenque and Miuccia Klarr of Kamikaze generously gifted me items from their store; Lisa, owner of Warm Animations, overwhelmed me by giving me a copy of her whole store’s stock after noticing one of her animations being used in ‘Rapture’.

Cello from Lar Jun
'The Watcher' from Tutsy Navarathna
Ciggy by Squonk Levenque

Other gifts have been purchased for me – Lar Jun brought me my violin and cello, for example; Tutsy ‘The Watcher’.

I have been extraordinarily lucky.

Not only to have received the gifts themselves, although that as well of course, but to have found myself in the right place at the right time.

2012 Machinima calendar by Glasz Decuir

In almost all cases, I could not make these gifts as well as the Creators have. And, even if I could, they would not have the same meaning to me or be as special as they are.

These gifts make my Second Life special and meaningful to me.

I am incredibly grateful.

Rocking chair by Dave Vellhi

The biggest single gift is that Debbie Trilling and Adec Alexandra so generously let me live on and share their beautiful island. It is such a privilege that I hardly know where to start. As I student, I could never afford to live on a sim like this with no prim policing forced upon me.

Debbie & Adec

I love my corner of the Metaverse; I love my existence in the Metaverse.

I am so, so thankful to all the people who have helped me. I wish I could return more than just my thanks and my love. But I, being poor, have only my dreams…and you are helping me realise them.

The gifts that people have given me are special. They help me feel good about myself, my work and my life.

And, because of that, ‘tis sometimes better to receive than give.

Happy Christmas to you all, regardless of your beliefs, religion, timezone, skin colour, mental health records or any of the rest!

Pixie xx

Addicted to Lars

Regular readers will know that one of my first friends in Second Life was Lar Jun - owner of one of SL's most popular adult-themed venues, Old Lar's House (which, incidentally, is now listed by Linden Lab in their "Destinations" guide!).


As a noob to SL, Lar kindly took me under his wing - actually, he first took me under a bus shelter, but that's a slightly different story - and taught me many things.


If it wasn't for Lar, ZooZoo Mayne, Debbie Trilling, Dave Vellhi, Marcy Palmer-Baxton, Ferdy and a handful of others - all of whom I met at Lar's - then Pixie Rain Productions may well have never been. 


So now you know who to blame!


Last weekend I was asked by Lar, ZooZoo and Marcy to join along with the DJs in a Robert Palmer tribute night.


Lar's tribute nights are always a big laff!


I pressed <F9>, inserted a few default cross-transitions and released this footage under my "Not For The CV" production company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pixie Rain Productions but with plausible deniability!


Smile, enjoy. We did.

A Quiet Sunday Night In

"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you"

                                       - Christian Morganster

 (click to enlarge images)

The Secret Life of Leaves

It was my RL birthday last Friday and to celebrate I spent the weekend in the Big Bad City spending money I didn't have on alcoholic drinks I didn't want.

Crying Over A Spilt Milk Crate

Had a fabulous time.

The Joy of Leaves

But come Sunday night, I was too knackered to do any editing on 'Rapture'.

At Home, Far Away

Now, normally when I am too tired to edit, I will go exploring, usually to a place someone has sent me an LM for.


Recently, however, I have taken to simply opening the map on the mainland and double-clicking at random to teleport to a unknown destination. I then just walk and explore.

My Home Region

The problem with walking on the mainland is - no matter how careful you are, no matter how respectful you are, no matter how polite - at some point you'll end up getting tp'd home by some security device or another.

My Parcel & Region

So, with that in mind, tonight I decided to cut out the middleman and simply stay at home and write about that.

Chillin' On The Fridge

 My home region is owned by Debbie Trilling and Adec Alexandria.


Debbie and Adec generously allow me to squat rent-free on their beautiful sim. I really can not thank them enough.

Front Porch of My Caravan

 Both Debbie and Adec are accomplished artists and SL Content Creators in their own right.

Bath, Washing Line & Ancient Roman Pillar

Debbie is a scripter, particle artist and Creative Director responsible for some of the biggest performance shows to hit SL, including 'The Wall' and 'Metropolis'. She has also created the climax of SL's "Burning Life" festival - the actual burning of The Man - in 2009, 2010 and will again in October 2011.

My Parcel 

Amongst her other accomplishments, Debbie also originally invented that gadget which asks to display your profile picture. She released the script code open-source. All those gadgets you see for sale are based on the core of this free code.

Old Fridge, Film Award, Bin Bags & Milk Crate

 Adec is an imaginative architectural builder and SL artistic photographer.


Many of his flickr compositions show an emotional depth that one can not help feeling is very personal indeed. In fact, some (which sadly I can not seem to locate right now to link to) made me feel I was intruding into something intensely private.

Latrine, Fridge, Film Award (fabulous Igor Ballyhoo sculpture in background)

I felt honoured and humbled when Debbie and Adec asked me if I would like to come live on their region with them.

Simon, Pixie & Dave

My oldest friend in Second Life is Dave Vellhi.

Dave has his own rocking chair on my parcel that no one else is allowed to use. He made it himself. We sit and chat, looking out to the sea. I pot; Dave rocks.

Simon The Rabbit

I met Dave in my first week of Second Life.

He has always been so supportive and kind. He even brought me my first rabbit, Simon.

My Latrine

And he got me this lovely latrine for my birthday.

Pile of Asphalt & The Creature's Box

Dave also made me this pile of asphalt and shovel. A "must have" item for any self-respecting gypsy.

But best of all, Dave built me my own production studio where I can film set pieces and I also have my blue and green screen studios.

The studio is housed on Dave's own sim - a simple teleport away from my home.

Dave & Pixie's Roles in the Hay

Apart from Simon, I also have a rabbit called Vellhi, named in honour of Dave.

Vellhi The Rabbit

My third rabbit is called Orwell, after Orson Welles and George Orwell.

Orwell The Rabbit

Apart from the rabbits, I also share my parcel with a lump of mold, The Creature and The Watcher. All three are low maintenance and hate being cuddled.

The Creature, however, does seem to enjoy being tickled.

Mold, The Creature and The Watcher

I love the region I live on and my parcel on it. I love my rabbits and my creatures. I love my flowers and leaves, my caravan, my asphalt and my junk-rubbish.

But most of all, I love my friends for letting me be me, and for loving me for being me.

Pixie

xxx