My RL Birthday, and also Strawberry Singh's Rezday.

Today is my RL birthday, I turned 51 today.  Criminy, I'm getting old you whippersnappers.  Now bring me my headache powders, I'm going to listen to Caruso on the Philco.

Not only that, but it's also Strawberry Singh's rezday.  (Thanks to it being the same day as my Birthday I tend to remember it) Her blog is pretty much the only SL fashion blog I follow these days. While I kind of miss the old days of less video and more text, her videos ARE very helpful for those knew to mesh avatar enhancements.  Happy Rezday Berry!  Thank you for helping to keep our avatar selves pretty!

I usually treat myself to SL fashion shopping on my birthday. Picked up this Cynful Maxi Summer dress from C88. I thought it was dressy enough to wear more formally.  It has versions to wear with heels, and with flats, smart idea on the designer's part. I'm wearing KC Kairi heels.

I also picked up this LaGyo jewelry set at C88, which reminded me of some of the Maxi Gossamer sets Berry wears, which is why I'm rather less pale than usual. There's a necklace, earrings and headpiece. Thought it would work well with the red version of this dress. (I also picked up the Maxi Gossamer Boho set that was also at C88)  It also comes in silver.  I'm wearing Argrace Miyako hair in brown and Lumae Ruby skin appliers on my Catwa Kathy head in T6 Tawny.  the Makeup is the Luxe sets for eyes and lips from Alaska Metropolitan. Eyes are the IKON Charm Eyes in Chocolate.

Thought this was a nice shot of the reflecting pool, and the back of the dress.

Got a reclining shot too, though my fingers are poking through.

As you can guess, pictures were taken at the Zaara region.

Deja vu 2008 era Copyright Sillyness from LL

You may have heard that LL hit Strawberry Singh with a Copyright strike for a tutorial she did on how to start an SL account and become a resident.

Yes THAT Strawberry Singh.

I noticed right away that LL's "inSL" branding was mentioned by the LL employee, one Tia Linden, and had a flashback to 2008.

The whole policy was silly and counterproductive to Residents doing their thing and promoting SL BETTER than LL ever did, which is why it was never actually enforced.

What I guess happened is that LL has some relatively new people in their IP enforcement crew who have no knowledge of the SL history around this, and got all hyped up about enforcing the already existing silly policy. I figure that in a few days word will come down from LL's senior employees who know that FIC, near-fic and oldbie residents are more important to LL for promoting SL and being the people who actually make LL money, than their IP crew and the IP crew's knuckles will get rapped and they'll get told to return to the previous status quo without actually changing the policy.

In the Mean Girls Vernacular, some of LL's employees went all Gretchen Weiner and are trying to make "inSL" happen...again. Stop trying to make inSL happen!

St. John: Hurricane Gabrielle

In the St. John regions of SL, there is a Hurricane event every August. I usually do a fiction post about it, more info on  Gabrielle Riel's Songs of the Nightingale blog.

Thank the Goddess and Powers that Be that I don't drink, not that it would affect me because of my {REDACTED BY ORDER OF MAMMA GKIKA, EUROPA WULFENBACH} nature.

But DAMN did I want to start.

First it was St. John Beach destroyed by EROSION of all things, sure the tides were high and the water warmer than usual and there was that big summer storm that I though might turn into a Hurricane but I thought the beach would survive...but it didn't.  Residents fled to other realms or the rest of St. John...it was gone in almost an instant.

Then there was...The Breakup.  I swear I am going to vet any prospective innamorata for Gabi from now on....Kitty will help, he's been working on a Questionaire for them.  It did not end well, it involved much Demon Alcohol, though strangely no Absinthe or Whisky.  Must remember to actually HAVE Absinthe and some good Single-malt Glenlivet on hand next time.  I may be a teetotaler of the St John and Steamlands Temperance in Moderation League, but if one is going to drink Demon Rum one should drink the Good Stuff.  And I had to have a "Talk" with the fellow, this would be much easier if I had remembered to have the "Talk" with him at the beginning...especially if I'd morphed into {REDACTED BY ORDER OF MAMMA GKIKA, EUROPA WULFENBACH. BAD GURLIE, HYU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ONDERCOVER, REMEMBER} form.  That ALWAYS got attention, especially with the 54 caliber revolver.

Then came the NEWS from the Weather Bureau, which was not good.

Luckily, I did have that newfangled orangeade, which Gabi preferred as her hangover remedy. Selena, Emma and Pru had brought her home, and Kitty was resting with them after he brought me,  they were sleeping while I made up tea, and the orangeade.  I had been planning on bringing the news when Kitty mentioned her incapacitation.

She asked for the VERY BAD NEWS first which meant the Hurricane.

Hurricane Gabrielle!

Now when I told Gabi about it, I smirked since that was one of Gabi's nicknames.  In fact when the Weather Bureau contacted me:

Weather Bureau:  Ah Miss CC of St. John?

Moi:  that's Ms.!  I'm too old to be a Miss!

Weather Bureau: Ah yes, that's right, I'm sorry, I forgot, won't happen again, just don't come into the office again... one of our Meterologists still has nightmares about what you did when one of our people called you "Girl"

Moi: Continue

Weather Bureau: Ah yes, I hate to be the bearer of bad knews but there's a Hurricane heading your way.

Moi: Gabi hasn't mentioned any vibes, that's unusual, she's a better forecaster than YOU are about Hurricanes.

Weather Bureau: Ah yes, we do try and we are improving our technology.

Moi:  My Apologies, you do your best, no offense intended.

Weather Bureau: None Taken, the name of the Hurricane this year is Gabrielle

Moi: WHAAAAT?  No {REDACTED ON ORDER OF DECENCY BUREAU} way! HY KAN'T BELIEFF IT!

Weather Bureau: Yes, it is, we believed you'd have this reaction but we didn't expect you to blow out our Eardrums with profanity.  Your voice is very...strong. And what kind of funny phonetic accent was that last sentence?

Moi: Hy don' hef an accent schmot guy!  I mean, I don't have an accent, what do you mean by that?

Weather Bureau: What ever you say Ms. CC. Be safe and be careful

Moi: Will do, and I really do thank you deeply.  I'll be sending messages out to our friends elsewhere.

I passed the info on to Gabi, surprised she didn't ask the name at first.  When she did, she laughed and obviously her hangover caused her to OW

"Well isn't that just...", she said.

"Indeed." I replied.

 At that moment Amelia came in to take over care duties, so I could send out messages, which Gabi does have to authorize first.  She brought Muffins, of which I grabbed one and stuck it in my bag.  I don't always eat Genuine Europan {REDACTED BY ORDER OF MAMMA GKIKA, EUROPA WULFENBACH.  NO MENTIONINK DE BOG EATINK!}

She made a few changes to the form and handed it back to me.

“Thank you CC,” she said. “For everything. Now let’s get that out to the Steamlands immediately.”

“Yes Your Grace,” I replied, automatically reverting to her original style of address.

I headed back home to send the messages via telegraph, wireless and telephone...while the phone lasted.  I swear the St. John Telephone service needs tech upgrades!  In times like these the Telegraph and wireless have actually been more reliable!

STEAMLANDS UNION TELEGRAM

CALLIDUS WEYDELICH MARIKESH MONDRAGO

DESMOND SHANG CALEDON

FUZZBALL ORTEGA STEELHEAD BAY

KLAUS WULFENBACH EUROPA WULFENBACH

MOSSEVENO TENK NEW BABBAGE

SELENA ANANSI ROSEHAVEN

HURRICANE GABRIELLE APPROACHING ST JOHN LANDFALL DUE FRIDAY AUGUST 18 STORM TO CONTINUE SATURDAY AUGUST 19 AND INTO SUNDAY AUGUST 20 REQUEST ASSISTANCE ADVISE HEAVY CAUTION

GABRIELLE RIEL

As I finished the messages, I had one thought on my mind and headed to the closest warehouse:

Sandbags, MORE SANDBAGS

 That sky did not look good...at all.

 There's one good thing about being a {REDACTED BY ORDER OF MAMMA GKIKA, EUROPA WULFENBACH}, I'm damn strong.  Lifting these sandbags was like picking up flowers, and I could quickly throw them into place with just one hand.

 Didn't even break a sweat.

 Did get sand on the hands and would have to redo my manicure.

 But I was satisfied at a job well done.

 Though maybe I should add another row on top?

 Still enough light to cast a shadow...but the clouds would be coming tonight.

 Sandbagged up the other entrance as well.  My Poor Calla Lilies will be ruined.

 The Wireless set was fully operational and working perfectly at full transmit power.

 The telegraph was also adjusted and working within parameters

Poor Gabi the KittyCat, the Hurricane Gabrielle is going to scare her tremendously.  I'll have to pen her upstairs with her food and litterbox, or up in the attic.


(look over at the tags for outfit details)

Edwardian Fishtail skirt dress from Zantyago Mannonen, and discussion of devkits.

Zantyago Mannonen's CSR, Miss Charlotte Montmorency here, brought me to his new store in Steelhead to check things out  Had a nice discussion with Zan and I picked up this Edwardian day dress for Steamlands use.  Zan can't get a Maitreya dev kit so he has to guess.  He had a Slink one, but as he has found out, the Maitreya body has become more popular leaving him in a fix.  Here's the thing, some of his things work fine with the Maitreya body...just try them out.  Demos are on marketplace.  If you have a Maitreya body, head upstairs....those tend to work better.  The fit isn't perfect, but it is close and well without a devkit it's all guesses. This is original mesh NOT templates. Well worth taking a look if you're a steampunk who wants something besides the usual corsets and cleavage gear...even I don't always want cleavage 

 I'm wearing Truth Felicity hair, Tesla Ziggy 2 booties, and Lumae Eirta skin in T3

Charlotte is wearing Zan's Stroller dress. Her hair is Slink Constance, which I should pick up.  Her head is a Catwa Amy.  Her eyes are from Inkheart, Winter fantasy eyes in Snow.

I'm going to say this right up front, the Maitreya body developer needs to be more forthcoming with the devkit and more free with it's release.  Even with small niche creators like Zan. Getting it into as many hands as possible makes higher quality items for the body available and INCREASES the desirability of said body even more than it is already, ESPECIALLY in niche communities like the Steamlands.



Zan's Clothing in Steelhead Bay

Zan's Clothing on Marketplace

Not so fast there on that profile, Ms. CC, try a bit of Miss Rose DeWitt-Bukater cosplay

So, after I had taken those pictures and blogged, I was sitting there zoomed in on my rather kate Winslet as Rose-y self and remembered I had a Rose-ish dress from Entice.  So I found it and put it on and remembered there was a Titanic build  in SL.  I found that easy enough and discovered the ballroom was basically a mall, but I headed to the bow, turned on shadows, Depth of Field, messed with some windlight and ...  Near.....far...wherever you are....

JACK!

 I showed that to Ava and she said I should make THIS the profile pic, so I did.

JACK!

Ava Rage makes me the Queen of Shopping, and inspires my new profile shot.

While I haven't been blogging about SL, I have been doing my usual bit of shopping, socializing, talking about shopping while socializing, thinking about shopping, and perhaps doing some shopping.

One of the ways I do that in SL is groups, the Fashion Emergency, and the Maitreya Lara group in particular.  In these groups I talk with other fashionistas like LaDonna Upshaw, Vivienne Graves, and the maker of posestands, and other photoprops, Ava Rage.

These people have been among my fashion enablers over the past years.  Now recently we were talking skins and Ava mentioned she uses the Lumae Eirtae.  I told her that while I had the Eirtae it wasn't quite me and I mentioned it was the Melusine that I'd picked up at some fantasy event...and then she said something like "CC, that's a special edition version, theres a regular version!."  Then I have my Don Draper moment and say "What?"  Then, relatively quickly, meaning the next day, I go visit Lumae.

Now my readers and flickr followers have seen Lumae's fantasy skins here before, the Dark Elf-ish Hecate, the Devilish Naamah and the Wicked Green Orismer.  I liked them quite a bit and liked them after I picked up my Catwa Tumble head.

Now the important thing about skins and appliers for me is "Does it come in a pale enough shade?  Does it suit a redhead?  Is it fairly priced and of goodly quality?"  Yes, yes they do.  I eventually picked up the Eirtae and Ruby sets in T3/Shell and T4/Fawnshades. The T4's because I discovered the T3's weren't quite perfect for some modern looks.  When I mentioned picking up the T4's to Ava she said something like:  "You tanned Freak!"  Which made me laugh because the T4's are STILL pale.  They come with appliers for various bodies, and heads and also for Lumae's ears!  So yes, you can use these skins if you're an Elf like The Blogging Elf.  I would describe the main difference as the Eirtae's being more romantic and softer and the Ruby being more aristocratic and modern, with cheekbones sharp enough to slice bread!

Here we have the Eirtae in T4 with some Pink Fuel Glossy Pout lips and Smokey Boudoir eyeshadow.  Gives me a Gogo from Juicybomb meets Megan Fox sort of thing especially with the Catwa head's slightly parted lips option. Hair is Exile Bewitched.

Here's the Ruby in T4 with some lippie from the Catwa extras lippie hud.  This is about as low femme as I get.  Rather Mariska Hargitay (short hair version) here.  Rowr.  Truth Gaea hair.

Here I'm wearing some the Ruby in T4 with eyeshadow and metallic lipstick from Alaska Metropolitan, from the Anybody Event.

And here is the one I'm going to use for my profile, a very traditional pale "Celtic Rose CC-ish" look with red lips.  And I think I look Kate Winslet's "Rose" from Titanic!

Thanks to Ava, I'm the Shopping Queen.  This is her Chalkboard set.  There are several phrases (coffee, vodka, family, love, etc) , backgrounds, floors, poses you can use.  I find it fun and mentioned wanting MOAR phrases.  We'll see.  Get it at SecondSnaps.  And yes, with Shopping Queen I had to pull out a Tiara.  Don't look at me that way, I have a Tiara and I know how to use it!  Though in all honest I don't really shop all that much compared to most in SL.

SLURLS:

Lumae at Belita

Pink Fuel at Illusory

Exile at Covet

Catwa 

IKON 

TRUTH 

AnyBody 

Second Snaps

No Man's Sky, First Moments

I pre-ordered No Man's Sky, the disc version, in March Why the disc version? Because thanks to Amazon Prime I could get the Limited Edition for 63.99 which is only $4 more than the digital version. Which gets you a steelbook case, comic, art book, dynamic theme, Bonus In-game DLC - Photonix Core advanced ship boost, Trader Charisma bonus set of valuable resources, and Boltcaster SM weapon blueprint, AND the Alpha Vector ship with upgraded lasers and built in hyperdrive.

Quite frankly, that stuff is worth the $4 and the slight inconvenience of having to put the disc in to play. It arrived about 2pm. I was playing, took some screenshots and a video so I could mention it on a few forums and the blog.

As everyone knows, No Man's Sky is a procedurally generated space survival/exploration/trading game with 18 quintillion planets to explore. Literally!  In scientific notation there are 1.8 x 10^19 planets. Every player starts on their own planet and it is unlikely anyone will see another player.

I started off on a cold foresty planet. Just so you know, you can't change the  units from Metric to Imperial.  While I can deal with meters/kilometers, I still think in Fahrenheit.

I haven't upgraded the ship or my multitool to the LE ones yet, I'll wait till I get a hyperdrive for the starter ship, because if you switch to the LE ship it still bugs you to make a hyperdrive even though the LE ship is equipped with one. There are no pictures of my in-game character because you simply never see yourself and there is no 3rd person mode.

Quick video, 10 minutes:

I did start streaming to YouTube my first moments, up till I had to take a bathroom break, but that isn't available in the archive yet.

Overall, I'm having a positive experience so far.  It's minecrafty, but space-y, with that whole 70's sci-fi novel cover aesthetic.  Quick tip, you can use all the scan beacon options if you make multiple bypass chips and I recommend doing so since it adds points of interest to your "Radar".

Neverwinter PS4

I'm trying Neverwinter on the PS4 out, since it is free to play.  My first impressions are that it is not quite as pretty or as complex as The Elder Scrolls Online, but more player friendly.  Here is my first character, a Paladin.:

I'm actually Lvl 12 now. And yes, I'm a green-eyed redhead.  Why do you ask?

 Here's a pretty shot of a glowing tree

And you'll never guess who is standing near the Glowing Tree....MINSC!  I've never even played the Bioware Baldur's Gate games and even I know who he is.  I had a fangirl moment and looked for Boo, his hamster, but it looks like he doesn't have it.  What kind of travesty is that?

Go for the eyes Boo!