Ninja Edit

"Summer Breeze

Makes Me Feel Fine

Blowing Through the Jazzmin in my mind"

- Isley Brothers, 1972

For the last ten days, I have been working on a new blog-post concerning HP Lovecraft and the fictional town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts.

I have created 30-odd pictures that I am happy with and think work well to help illustrate the story I want to tell.

And I know precisely what it is I want to say.

However, I am struggling to get the words from my out of my brain and onto the written page.

I am not sure why.

I mentally compose the paragraph in my mind, sit to type it and…it just don’t happen.

Or more precisely, it feels contrived and unnatural – and anything I try to write isn’t truly representing my thoughts.

I don’t know why.

When subject to these episodes of writer’s block, I am grateful for any distraction – any distraction at all.

It was with relief then when someone asked me to make a new hi-resolution self-portrait for a blog-post they want to publish on their blog end-Jan/early-Feb.

I find taking pictures and working with visuals and colours far less taxing on the brain than working with words and text. And I now had a valid excuse to leave off writing the Innsmouth article for yet another night!

Yay for valid excuses!

I knew immediately where I wanted to go to take the portrait – one of my favourite regions ever – Mad Ninjaz!

I have already blogged this beautiful, colourful and relaxing region before. Additionally we filmed the ‘musical instrument’ sequence of ‘Showdown’ there.

I was more than happy to return and spend some time there.

I found a nice position on the region, a good animation and moved my camera to different positions, keyboarding shortcut <Ctrl-‘> a total of eight times to take these high-res snapshots. Same animation and same position for each snapshot - only the camera angle was changed.

I am pretty pleased with them, overall. But none of them are suitable for the portrait I was requested to do!

Oh well, I suppose I have saved my valid excuse to avoid doing the Innsmouth article for yet another night!

Pixie xx

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....

 

Mad Ninjaz - Beautiful and Unusual

I am attracted to things, people and places that are both beautiful and unusual.

Kate Bush is my favorite artist and Mad Ninjaz is my favorite SL sim.

'Showdown' was partly filmed at Mad Ninjaz.

These snapshots do not do justice to Mad Ninjaz and so I encourage you to go visit!