rave – Ahuva’s Blog

Do Not Disturb :) (I’m ‘disturbed’ enough as it is!)

I’m SCRIPTING!!!!! Yes I am, indeedy. 🙂 I have a DOORBELL!!! And I had a major breakthrough in understanding scripting grammar/syntax. At least, I think I did. We will find out today when I tackle the NEXT assignment.

Okay – so if you come to visit me, use the doorbell. LOL. Thanks to Chestnut who tested it for me!!! Many thanks to Dale who explained that events get their own braces. (hey – that makes sense to ME and that’s what counts.) And of course, thanks to Hell, who came up with the assignment in the first place and was so patient when I hit the wall after 9 hours of scripting on Friday. The doorbell worked, the timer worked, but they didn’t work together. I think that maybe, just maybe, 9 hours straight was overdoing it. My brain was completely fried. I know that I went inworld and did something – but I don’t remember what. I really hope that I won’t find out when I open an envelope full of photos. But in any case – I have a doorbell. Please don’t abuse it.

Ahuva: try it again and this time try to ring it repeatedly
Doorbell: Hello Chestnut Rau
Ahuva Heliosense knows you are here
Doorbell: You have a visitor: Chestnut Rau
Doorbell: Ahuva Heliosense has already been notified, be patient and stop ringing the bell!

Today – my intruder alert. 🙂

So since in RL I get to go out and party (which I did last night, some good live music with friends) I figured I could do the same inworld as well. So I stopped scripting long enough to drop by the Snowflake Rave at Shengri La. I wasn’t there very long, so I can’t tell you all the gossip. 🙂 And when I came back after my RL excursion, um, I was there, but not really up to focusing very well on details. But at least this time I do remember that I had fun last night. 🙂 The scene for the rave was beautiful. I think this is my favorite of all the raves I’ve attended there. We were supposed to dress frosty/snowy/flakey. I knew that I had the flakey part down – my brain was still quite fried after all the scripting, even though things were now working. I had a beautiful white dress, but didn’t feel like being formal. So I found a pair of white jeans and a white top. No white boots and no time to shop, so I used a pair of white sandals. Probably should have changed hair color for the event, but that kind of nuance was quite beyond me at that point. Chestnut and Shenlei looked great, as usual. Both had wonderful white outfits. Harper was extremely cool, but I couldn’t get a good picture – lots of flowing white material, and I was pressed for time. You can always find me and Rez in any picture – just look for long flowing blonde hair. (Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair, Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen!).

Since I seem to be so distracted lately (gee, what AM I doing with my time???) let me remind you now about the Ode butterfly hunt on Dec 17 at Shengri La. This really is a wonderful event. It’s like eating potato chips – you think you can resist chasing those darned little butterflies, but then one flies by and you just HAVE to touch it. Wham. You are hooked. 🙂 It’s fun. Bring the newbies – it is wonderful practice for moving and touching and using inventory and all the rest. Not to mention all the cool jewelry.

The Rave of Aquarius

Shengri La hosted another Rave this past weekend – The Aquarian Rave. You know that you are at Shengri La if there are butterflies and particles. The more of each, the better. 🙂 As always, the inimitable Qee Nishi was DJ’ing up a storm. Now I just read that “My Little Pony” is only 25 years old, which means it was part of the 80’s, not the 60’s. But apparently nobody told the ponies that important fact and there were several round, fairy-tale steeds about the dance floor.

The instructions for this rave were as vague and open-ended as possible: “Dress is your best interpretation of the theme of Hope. If you need some help, cast your mind back to 1969 (or google it!) for the Summer of Love”. I refuse to tell you whether I googled or recalled, but I did manage to find a pair of tie-dyed pants, headband and flowered top in my inventory, plus dangling bead earrings. The most difficult part of the costume? Parting with my boots! But to keep in the spirit of things, I kicked them off and went barefoot. As usual, a goody bag came with the invitation. I had my choice of wings: green, blue, lavendar, pink, lime, yellow. The wings came with controls: flap fast, flap slow, don’t flap. 🙂 Shenlei never misses a detail. And of course, the all-important sparkler!! You can’t party without a sparkler. 🙂

I had another stop to make before I could get to the rave, so by the time I arrived it was in full swing and everyone was fairly giddy. 🙂 Rez and Shenlei, warm and generous hosts, were greeting incoming guests and keeping us all laughing. I danced about, my green wings crashing into many people, listening to the chat and banter. Being a kind soul, Shen reminded us all that we were dancing high in the sky at 400 meters. Which means it is a loooonnnng way down should you choose to dance off the edge. 🙂 As most of us had fashion-wings as opposed to functional-wings, the warning was most welcome.

Definitely one of the fun performances were Dale and Michele twirling their rave sticks. As it was also Michele’s rez day, it was most appropriate to have her surrounded by sparkls and color!

These raves do pull in the most eclectic collection of avatars and outfits. Obviously we all have very different ideas about how “Hope” is best represented. 🙂 I love people watching and reading profiles.

Unfortunately, as seems to be the case all too frequently in SL lately, there was one guest who was being inconsiderate. He had an open mike and refused to turn it off. This was causing a LOT of reverberation. So Shen killed voice, which handled THAT. But to ensure harmony the rest of the evening, Shenlei called in her private security forces for control. 🙂

Once peace had been restored, we popped the champagne and toasted yet another successful Shengri La rave!

Public Service Announcements

I’ve been neglecting my self-appointed task as gossip columnist and Upcoming Events Announcer. 🙂

Tonight – PARTY!!!!! yep, Shengri La is hosting another rave! This one is the Aquarian Rave. *I* will be there. 6pm-9pm SLT, Saturday, Nov. 15.

And the 17th of the month is approaching. That means another Ode butterfly hunt in Shengri La. These are a lot of fun. But you should also tell all the newbies that you know to attend. Besides the fun of getting pretty jewelry and accessories for nothing, these hunts are excellent practice for moving about in SL. You are flying and touching and zooming and turning. All at the same time. It’s a beautiful location and it shows new folks many positive wonderful things about SL. So spread the word. Take a moment and bring a “new” friend over and help them hunt. And drop by the Vintage Marketplace as well. There are some fantastic designers there with wonderful clothes and jewelry. (Check out the gorgeous necklace in my pic below.)

If you like reading, this is National Novel Writing Month. Michelle Hyacinth has her story, Iconoclast Rising, up on her blog. Check it out and transport yourself into another world. But I warn you – this is a double-edged sword. I love reading the story!!! But it’s not done! So part of me wants to race to the end and find out all the answers and I can’t. But part of me loves having the enjoyment spread over the entire month, logging on each day to see if the next treat has been posted. Anyone else out there who is writing and wants their blog mentioned – let me know.

More news for the fashion conscious…. Shenlei has launched her Debutante line of clothes, elegant upscale clothes for dancing. Yes, Chestnut – I stole that from you. 🙂 Actually for a great description of the clothes and for the slurl, read Ches’ blog: Delicious Gowns at Debutante. I confess – I already have several. I LOVE them. I feel wonderfully romantic and beautiful and special when I wear them. As you move the skirts float and swirl about you. And I always receive compliments on them as well. So check it out and treat yourself. You deserve it.

Here’s my own cliff-hanger…. my next post – Sex in SL. Yep, I’m finally going to bow to pressure and write about sex. 🙂 I’m even going to risk all the porn searches and use the word ‘sex’ in the title. LOL. So watch this spot!!!

Now? Party!!

I may not be planting virtual flowers anymore but I’m certainly not sleeping, either. 🙂 I DO miss sleeping, I have to admit. But I really like partying even more. This is the Halloween season. That means one fantastic party after another. I’m very lucky to have such creative and generous friends. They throw the best parties. And what an excuse to stimulate the SL economy! LOL. I know *I* went shopping for an outfit and accessories. I was helping other friends find pieces for their costumes and admiring others’ new purchases as well. What fun! So, hey, I’m doing MY part!

As always, Shenlei and Rez outdid themselves with the Gypsy Rave. Lots of fun costumes, beautiful people, tons of imagination and creativity, billions of particles and lots of laughter and teasing. I think that some very scary ideas surfaced at that party. I’m hoping that perhaps I’m mis-remembering plans for a future event. 🙂 As always, you need to understand that the live event was WAY better than I am capable of capturing in photos. Pounding music, conversation, animation, particles exploding. One day I will learn how to take videos of these events. 🙂 Gotta get there early if you want a shot of the staging! Otherwise all you see are people and particles and little bits of the stupendous scenery. This one is click-able.

First up, our host and hostess! Rez was streaming light, Shen was prancing and floating (thank GOODNESS she managed to complete her costume to handle the floating 🙂 ). I snuck into that pic too. You know – SL is the only time I actually get pictures of myself. In RL, I take all the photos so that I am never in any. Tends to make me doubt my existence….. 🙂 I have no idea who that is in the back, but she has cool hair! Click on this one to see it larger.

Okay – the rest all speak for themselves. As always, I don’t post names – you know who you are, you know who everyone else is. Or not. LOL. I IM’d Shen to compliment another guest’s costume and asked who she was. Shen said “Have no idea!” 🙂 Some of these are click-able, some are not. /me shrugs. 🙂

You really have to like particles if you go to a Shengri La rave. 🙂

Rave Report

Shenlei did it again! Another fantastic party! If I thought I was overwhelmed by fun, music, lights and friends at the Universal Rave, I had no clue. LOL. I spent hours being bombarded by burning skull & crossbones, sparkles, canons, diving orcas, music and friends. Fantastic! In the picture above you can see our lovely hostess, lower left. You can see one of the TWO pirate galleys. You can see the dance ball – black w/ pink skull & cross bones. You can see the blue Dance! sign. You can see wenches and PIRATES!!! I think everyone had a Pirate hat. There were swords and pistols and boots and eye patches. Bottles of rum and yo ho ho! The chat was filled with Yarrrr! and Ahoy! and Avast! and Matey! Everyone partied so no one was forced to walk the plank. 🙂 You can see we are all having a wonderful wonderful time! Thanks Shen!!! Can’t wait for the next one!! (Oh yes everyone – Shenlei has promised another Rave coming soon!)

It's dark, but see if you can see the ship and the canons and the handsome pirate.

Oops! Apologies Z! you are right - my sword WAS stabbing you!

Talk and Party Like a Pirate Day!

Arrrrrr! This IS an international holiday! Talk Like a Pirate Day! You can find it in Wikipedia! You can find it in the news!

But best of all – party with your friends!! I know where I’m going tonight!!! Shengri La’s Piratical Rave! Darcey and I went shopping last night and we are all set!!! Swords and Pistols! Pirate hats! We are sailing the high seas and looking for plunder! But we’ll settle for dancing and having a great time with friends!

Hope to see you all! Or ye’ll be walking the plank! 🙂

Important Announcements

While many people who read my blog will already know these important things, there are a few who may not. So here you go:

From Shenlei Flasheart: “… my company, the Fashion Research Institute, Inc., has developed the Shengri La Vintage Marketplace on Shengri La . We will provide vendor space for 20 emerging avatar apparel designers on our Second Life Shengri La sim for six months free of charge. The designers are encouraged to build their brands, to sell their products through both their vendor prims and through the use of our catwalk system, and to grow their business. We are pleased to announce Michele Hyacinth as Curator of the Shengri La Vintage Marketplace for emerging avatar apparel designers in Second Life. Michele is responsible for managing the design selection process and overseeing the marketplace. For more information and details about the program, please contact Michele.

And check out Chestnut’s blog for more fun happenings at ShengriLa this week:

Wednesday, September 17th, the butterfly hunt for butterflies containing Ode jewelry
Friday, September 19th, the Pirate Rave (the universe rave was a blast! don’t miss this one!)

Rave!

Saturday night was my first-ever SL rave! “Rave” probably needs to be defined. 🙂 I want to make sure my readers and I are thinking the same thing. According to Wikipedia: A rave (or rave party), is a term, in use since the 1980s, to describe dance parties (often all-night events). At these parties DJs and other performers play electronic dance music (sometimes referred to as “rave music”), with the accompaniment of laser light shows, projected images, and artificial fog. LOL. We have attended numerous “coming of age parties” for young teens. Nearly all of those parties would fit the definition of a rave. But Wikipedia goes on to say that raves are often associated with the use of ‘”club drugs”. Hmmm. I confess that is NOT within my experience (/me waves “Hi Mom!!”) 🙂 The good news for me was that Shenlei’s Universal Rave fit the first part of the definition! I WAS sipping some white wine while attending, but I figure that qualifies as the “artificial fog” part, no?? 🙂

Oh Shen!!! You are the best! Back in my early days you and Calli helped me clean up my avatar act both technically and visually. You gave me horses to ride and fly. You helped me put together a fun outfit for partying. And now- my first full-blown wild rave party in SL!!!! What a blast! I wish I had a movie of it. I wish I had thought to take pictures right from the beginning. I wish I were a better photographer! I want to show everyone who reads this what fun we all had.

How can I communicate the total sensory overload of the Universal Rave???
The music – loud, pounding, fun, non-stop, great for dancing
The lights – LOVED the light show. Folks – all the planets were circling about us. Lights were flashing and exploding everywhere.
Amusements – anti-gravity bubbles and more
Guests – what a fun crowd and such creative outfits!!! I also forgot to save any chat to show readers how “explosions” can happen in chat boxes as well

I hope someone out there took really great photos and posts them so that everyone can see what an incredible, wonderful, fun, stimulating, transporting, wild time we all had. Until I find that link, understand these photos to be my best attempt, deficient as it is, to communicate part of the experience

The setting - planets, stars, bubbles, lights, rainbows

the Outfits - wherever did you find that great costume for Rez Tone? — Outfits - wherever did you find that great costume for Rez Tone?

The Outfits - WHY didn't I get a better picture of the 2 of you?

Party favors - glow sticks, sparkles, hula-hoop glowing rings and more, sparkler in hand, star burst on leg, dancing up a meteor storm!

Shopping Expedition

I realize there has been a looonnnng delay since my last post. Can I claim that I was resting on my laurels? 🙂 The truth is that sometimes, no matter how strong the siren call of SL, FL is first. And that’s what this week of silence means. So I want applause for my sense of responsibility, keeping my priorities straight and all those other things some of you think I need to remember. 🙂 And when I tell you I went on a mega-shopping spree on Saturday to get ready for Shenlei’s Rave Saturday night, I don’t want to hear about it! I spent mega-hours and mega-L$. I had a blast!!!!

So Shen’s invitation says “Theme is universal (interpret as you wish – science fiction, space odyssey, steam punk)”. This is simply too embarrassing. I know what science fiction and space odyssey are. Steam punk??? Clueless. Whatever did we all do before Google??? According to Wikipedia “Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. ” Okay. So what is steam punk fashion??? Googled that as well. According to the NY Times Steam punk fashion is “an adventurous pastiche of neo-Victorian, Edwardian and military style accented with sometimes crudely mechanized accouterments like brass goggles and wings made from pulleys, harnesses and clockwork pendants, to say nothing of the odd ray gun dangling at the hip”. Hmmm. I started searching inworld on Steam punk. I really wasn’t having much success. I found one possibility, but it didn’t really thrill me. I tp’d from place to place, store to store. Met hardly a soul and found almost nothing worth marking. I was beginning to think I’d have to go back and settle for the red outfit that didn’t thrill me.

Bona Fortuna smiled on me. Shenlei logged in. I IM’d her and told her I was looking forward to her party but had NOTHING to wear! She sent me some LMs and told me about SLexchange. SLexchange.com is a site where you can search for SL items without being inworld. I followed her LM to Steam Forge inworld, to the store Legacy. Check out the landscaping – gets you into that Steam Punk mood, does it not? I immediately found an outfit I liked (I had help from my significant other picking out the outfit – thanks Hon!). But it was only a top and a skirt. I still needed boots and accessories. I was searching away on SLexchange for Steam Punk. I found belts and boots and wings and all sorts of fascinating things, many of which were on sale in Steam Powered Nuts, a store in Steam Forge. So I wandered over to SPN and browsed about. What cool stuff!!!! I did see an intriguing ray gun or two. 🙂 But I really didn’t see boots that fit my mood.

So I tried to buy boots through SLex. Do you remember one of my very first posts when I began this adventure? My coworkers who had done SL kept telling me “it’s easy”. NOTHING about SL is easy. Have I made that clear?? LOL. Perhaps it’s me, but nothing nothing nothing in SL is easy. 🙂 And nothing related to SL is easy. I had to register and enroll and activate an SLex account in order to be allowed to contact the boot vendor. This meant that I had to give email information and get an activation code and go inworld and find an SLex terminal. What a colossal nuisance!!!!! So I did all of that and located a terminal and tp’d there to activate my account. 🙂 And who should be sitting outside the building with the SLex terminal but Shen!!!! LOL. I explained my problems with trying to buy boots and yet again Shen rode to my rescue!!! So thanks to Shenlei I have the coolest boots!!! I got confirmation later that day that these boots were indeed cool. C, one of the NCI team, always has fantastic boots and jackets and accessories. I love how she looks. So when C complimented my boots and asked for the LM, I was quite pleased to share it with her.

I had my outfit, I had my boots, I knew where I was heading for a choker. I decided that I needed new hair as well. Checked the bank balance – yep, still had something left to buy hair. 🙂 Now here is where I broke from the steam punk genre. My every-day hair was probably better suited to steampunk than what I bought. But I couldn’t help myself. LOL. Have you noticed I have very little self-control when it comes to indulging myself in SL??? Following more of Shenlei’s tips I headed to Analog Dog. Guess what – it WASN’T easy!!!!! 🙂 I’d gone skin shopping a few weeks ago with I so I knew about demo’s. I’d totally forgotten how one buys an object that also has a demo for sale. The demo is hilarious. I bought the demo hair, wore it just as you would anything. But there is this big huge wavy box above your head shrieking DEMO to the world! With the skins – the word “demo” is plastered all over. No shoplifting allowed in SL! 🙂 I IM’d 2 women standing in the store and asked for help. One of them kept asking to bite me (yes, sigh, another vampire) but helped me inbetween bite requests. The other helped without asking to bite me. 🙂 I finally figured out from their comments and my memory that I needed to click on the color palette for the hair, not the picture of the hair. The hair comes in 3 different palettes. So I selected one, handed over mega L$ and now I have really fun hair for special occasions!

Boots, clothes, hair. Accessories!!!!! I fell in love with a treasure hunter’s belt. 🙂 How could I not?? A sextant, a periscope, a flintlock pistol and a little mouse in a red pouch! Who could resist that purchase? Certainly not I. Fell in love with a collar that had lots of gadgets attached also. Interestingly enough, neither was at Steam Powered Nuts or Steam Forge. They were both in a fun store, an old junk factory, on Le Petit Prince (/LPP/223/69/31 for anyone who may be interested).

Now I had it all! TP’d back to NCI where my friends were all having a fishing contest and showed off the outfit. They gave the NCI seal of approval. 🙂 I was all set to party! And that, my friends, will be it’s very own blog. Because I have NEVER been to such a wild and stimulating party!! I never knew I could dance like THAT!!!