Tag: We’re closed

Is it greed, is it lust?

I wish I could understand the mind of privileged Mainland land-lords/ladies. Is it greed what drives  their lust for virtual land, or is there an altruistic end of some sort? Do they believe they’re doing SL and hence its residents a favor when they grab all the good land they come across and then put it up for rent? Do they realize that maybe someone else may want or need or desire the land they hoard for their private business? Can’t they see they’re depriving other individuals the same chance of owning land as they do? If on seeing someone inspecting an available parcel, couldn’t they just ask you, out of courtesy at least, if you’re considering buying that lot instead of clicking and buying, even from far away, as in a rush, robbing you the chance to even get the funds in order to complete the process? Or is it that they don’t think other people buy land, that only they do or have the right to?

Bay City

Since, in a sense, SL is no more than a game (a race for buying land in the case of business-people), are their minds powered by the same psychological (addictive) boost that “gambling” does for gamblers? Do they think SL is all about their class, them against other land barons? Or is it the action of an egotistical impulse that blocks their minds and only allow them to think of themselves? Are their social values different from the rest of us, or is it that SL twists their morals in a way that they can’t see beyond the tip of their noses? Do they believe in friendship or is it only a matter of business to them?

Bay City

Are we tenants worth anything to rental services, or are we just what we are: a disposable wallet that is easy to replace with another one if it happens that we, out of disgust, go away? Is there an escape to that? Are we hopeless? Are we doomed to live under this “business model” if we want to “own” land?

Bay City

Why does Linden Research, Inc. allow virtual land speculation to escalate to the point of having 512/1024 square meter plots selling for hundreds of real life money? Is it even right? Or is it that the Lab thinks all of us have the tools, abilities and skills to make our SL self-sustained? Or is it that they think their world is just for those that are capable of earning their living by such means? If so, why do they sell virtual currency with real life money in an uncontrolled economy base?

Bay City

Ah well… nevermind. Sorry for having such a depressing view of SL in Christmas. Blame me for trying to figure out the way things are not from a –probably– too idealized and hence distorted point of view anyway. When things like this happen they make me wonder why I invest so much time and effort in things that end up troubling me more than they please me. Is it some kind of virtually induced nonsexual masochism? I don’t know… I think it’s me doing things the wrong way for sure.

In the pics, some of the things I’ve put in a rented parcel in Bay City that may not survive the coming of the New Year.

Veggies:

Everything else:

  • bbqq – Humble Abode
  • Zigana – Ladder; Chime (neutral); Holiday spirit ornaments (Arcade Dec. 2013)
  • Lark – Winter Bunting
  • Myrrine – Christmas wall deco without planks
  • Dysfunctional Designs – Holiday Tree
  • Alouette – Toy Soldiers, Ho Ho Ho Decoration (Arcade Dec. 2013)
  • Vespertine – Nutcracker, Starbead curtain (Arcade Dec. 2013); Reading armchair (gatcha)
  • Trompe L’Oeil – Bird On A Stick (Arcade Dec. 2013)
  • Tia – Watercan Twig Deco, Winter Phrase Hanger, Let It Snow Blocks (gatcha)
  • Casa del Shai – Papaya Crate 2 (upside down)
  • we’re closed – old ladder with poses (group gift)
  • ILO – Milk Can; Garden set
  • floorplan – Three apple crates; Sleigh bed (rustic); Midsummer retreat
  • Botanical – Hanging Capiz Lamps
  • Cheeky Pea – Autumn Fly To the Sky Bench
  • lame – Woodruff Sofa (color modded)
  • What Next – Pine tree wall decal; Pallet log box (sans logs)
  • Pilot – Christmas Village – Sign [North Pole], Springfield (gatcha); Water Hose
  • Apple Fall – His Sideboard, Jute Natural Rug (gatcha)
  • TBF – Telefunken Animated Television
  • Honey Apple (aka MudHoney) – Curtains (cream)
  • Seven Emporium – Hanging bulb (triple)
  • Art Dummy! – Wintertide (chairs and sofa)
  • Warm Animations – Table with plant
  • Culprit – Victorian gazebo (Neva)

Au coin de la rue

Lionheart Kiara is getting street names, and there’s already one labeled: Route 1, Atoll Coastal Road. This is the old pavement way that connects Kiara with adjacent Vitani and Kopa, to the east. Mine has no name yet, so I’m living au coin de la rue… The first one runs parallel to the north of Route 1 and ends at the sim’s emblematic Harry Potter-like Wizard’s Tower; the second one runs perpendicular to both and ends at the sim’s northern edge.

House in Kiara

The house is a modest structure that only has room for the basics. It’s the Little Getaway from Designer Prims. The only modifications I made were resizing and adding a second door to the back of the house, so I could access the backyard easily. Though it looks simple (and it is), it comes with several floor and wall texture options, door locks, and shutters that you can show or hide from view. I also added a car for the first time because I heard that LL worked on sim crossings recently, and that now it’s a little bit easier to travel from sim to sim without being sent to Mars on the try. I hope that’s true, and it seems so because I’ve seen several neighbors enjoying a ride lately.

{ Other items} Nature: 3D Trees: Banyan tree. Botanical: Mesh Mediterranean Cypress. Buddhabeats: Birch (2012). Frog’s Garden: Ivy. Heart’s Garden Center: Harmony grass (short). Organica: Bristlecone Pine (3). Yoneya: Poplar.  ||  Etc: Barnesworth Anubis: Garden fence (white). Haru Motors: HM VW BT M (Black). lame: Mia’s Pergola. PILOT: Larkin Set – Hanging Chair. we’re CLOSED: Awning white (painted red). Zacca: IshiDatami (Shadow).

Au coin de la rue 1Au coin de la rue 2

There’s not much about originality inside the house. I’ve used most of the items before –maybe with some rearrangement– except for Breno’s colorful Cardiff Petal chairs and Second Spaces‘ Eure Drafting Stool (in red) turned into a table, with Dutchie Glass vase with yellow flowers on top of it. Special mention goes to Trompe Loeil‘s Hanging Tri-Planter (yellow one, below), available at Collabor88 event. It looks nice with XED Designs Green phormium (significantly resized for a proportionate look), but I think any other hanging or small size plant will do; actually, adding any other items that may fit in will be more than ok, or even keeping the pots empty, as most people do.

Trompe Loiel hanging

{ Other items} Nature: Dutchie: Aloe vera. #NuLL: Koke bonsai. Tatty Soup: Tall lily vase (white). Xed Design: Potted dracaena (terracotta); Rubber plant (terracotta).  ||  Etc: Aria: Nina pendant light. [*Art Dummy!: For winter contemplation (silence in black); Idle (pompom flowers and vase). Bazar: Arizona – Black board. bitter vanilla:  Stepladder (red). Cheeky Pea: Hutton table (worn, resized and darkened; this item is from The Men’s Dept‘s May event). Culprit: Zen stone candles (from FaMESHed‘s first birthday event). floorplan: Pallet couch (burnt). lame, Kyle’s rug (Sunsplash). ililo (renamed +ilo+): Ind lamp (red). MMGraffiti’s: Wall decoration – Picture frames (blue). PILOT: Miller positive words A to C. POST: Afterburner occasional table (large). SFW Industries: Texture changing rug (Currents). Trompe Loeil: Bamboo ring lamp (from The Arcade gatcha Spring 2013 event); Pallet Lounger. what next: Flyaway wall art (dandelion, black). Zigana: Rug (Mahavra).

Au coin de la rue backyard

Hell, that was a lot of items! And I thought I had kept things homely. The backyard, fortunately, is definitely more simple. There’s only a couple of lame’s Angel’s Hanging Chairs (in white) “attached” to Botanical’s Wooden arbor with ivy. That’s the way they have them on display at the store, and I loved how they looked, so I’m just repeating the same concept at home. The wooden arbor were originally available at The Garden event, but now that it is over you can find them at Botanical inworld store, as well as in the marketplace.

Au coin de la rue pond

The parcel’s east side holds the main garden area. Again, it’s pretty simple: Studio Skye‘s Enchanted pond (available from the marketplace) surrounded by some vegetation. There’s also Cheeky Pea‘s Alice Pergola (another item from The Garden event).

Au coin de la rue side yard

{ Other items} Nature: 19 Motorcycle (EDO Japan): Willow tree. 3D Trees: Triple Beech. Botanical: Cattails; Pond style dragonflies. Culprit: Lotus plants. Garden World: Hosta Corfu Lily. Organica: Lotus leaves. Tiki Tattoo: Papaya tree.  ||  Etc: +ilo+: Garden set. Studio Skye: Wooden Bridge (old mossy).

Suddenly, I feel tired, lol. Furnishing a house isn’t easy for sure. Next time, I’ll rezz a canopy and a toilet, and that will be it. Or hire someone to do it for me, hehe.

Cabin on the rocks, and why the Tembo-dai gazebo stole the show

Well, this post’s title has nothing to do with some alcoholic beverage or anything in particular. As it will become obvious shortly, it’s plainly about a cabin set next to some rocky cliffs at the edge of Nowhere –that’s the name of my plot, as regular readers already know. The main character in this installment is POST’s Gunflint Cabin. This little wood cottage resembles the Gnesen Farm Shed released last summer and shown hundreds of times everywhere (including this blog), but while the shed, by design, is limited in interior space (it’s not  a house, though it looks like one), the cabin has extra room to spare if you’re OK with a 10′ x 8′ one-room, rectangular structure, with the only luxury of a stone fireplace to warm your bones on those chilling nights, and several sash windows that you can actually open or close at will during fair weather. In its original state, it’s only 42 LI, but if you resize it (as I did to fit my self) that number will change accordingly (mine is at 37, right now after a minor shrinking).

cabin02

There are six versions of the house in the package: one all natural color, another one with red door+frame and windows+frame, and a third one with red door and windows, each of which has a copy switching the back window position, either closer or away from the fireplace. Though there’s no other modification you can do to the structure, there’s still the option of “painting” the walls, floor or even roof to any color you wish. So, for that I say go with the plain one. That’s what I did to change the color of both door and window frames only. That’s pretty cool, you won’t mess anything else.

cabin04

And now with this other picture… There’s a little “story” to this one. As it looks right now, this Tembo-dai Japanese garden gazebo from Virtual Nature is literally stealing the place that was originally reserved for one of two similar style items at The Garden event. I opted for this one for several reasons. I really wanted to use Vespertine’s Garden Gazebo because it fits perfectly on that spot (because of its design and color). I was a little bit worried of its 50 land impact value (too high for a relatively simple gazebo, imho), but I bought it anyway. After rezzing it in the woodsy area, though, it turned out be quite small even for me, a below-average-height male avie. My neighbor won’t fit in, I bet (he’s a minotaur sometimes). The most discouraging thing is it isn’t modifiable, so you can’t stretch it to larger proportions. I love Vespertine, don’t get me wrong, but making this particular product no-mod is not helping the review.

Then I went for RageWorks’ Rustic Gazebo. This one is larger than Vespertine’s at only half its LI. That one is lovely, I tell you, but it didn’t pair too well with a rustic dwelling such as POST’s Gunflint Cabin. I promise I’ll use it for something else for sure.

So that’s the story of why the Tembo-dai gazebo stole the show.

cabin06

{ Items } Nature: 3D Trees, Magnolia; Wild Spring Tree (group gift from February); Elderberry (green); Triple Beech. XED Design, Garden Crocus (various colors). Studio Skye, Rocky cliffs; Gnarled cherry.  ||  Other items: Studio Skye, parts from the following building sets: Rocky outcrop, Rustic fence, River bank (rocks), Enchanted path, Board walk. We’re closed,  Pond deck (slightly modified). fri.home, Garden lantern (at The Garden).