Linden Labs Department of Public Works and Roads is
responsible for adding content to the Mainland SIMs including roads, railways,
monorails, bridges, ferryboats, sailing routes and so on for residents to
use. Along the roads are “rez” areas
where any resident may “rez” a vehicle to drive and use the roads. If you need creative inspiration or are
curious, take a drive on one of these mainland routes. I promise you will find things that interest
you. I will warn you in advance, be
prepared to be periodically kicked out of that very large castle you love. Sometimes navigating the Mainland is a
challenge due to odd shaped land parcels.
As an owner of an extremely odd shaped parcel along Route 12 [Nautilus
continent], I have trouble at times navigating at the edges. I hopped in my Porsche and backed out on to
route 12.
[IM me for a free
I took a drive alone Route 12 on the Potter
SIM recently. My adventure began by
cruising by a Diner. Many residents will
build or place RP buildings along the roads.
Looking inside this one I found some good detail. I have visited these highway Diners and other
places to eat with friends. It is a nice
place to chat, and many offer a wide selection.
I wanted something more unusual so I drove on down the road.
Shortly I found my first “unusual”
location. Nestled in a small wooded
parch of land was a wooden building that looked like a home. Upon closer inspection, I learned the “Odie
Cinema” is dedicated to silent films.
Set up and beautifully detailed by Abinoam Nørgaard,
there is a small screening room, a refreshment area and a small upstairs
lounge. It is completely adorable. I was not surprised to learn that Abinoam
is a fan of the 1920 Berlin SIM. The
Odie Cinema may be found along route 12.
Regular movie showings are at 1 pm SLT on Fridays. It is a lot of fun to watch these movies.
I drove
next to the Pod Tours kiosk. I see these
pods traveling down route 12 all the time.
For those who don’t know, until 2015 there existed a Second
Life Transit Authority. The person
who managed this process had all kinds of different cars that you could
regularly find and use along the roads [along with other vehicles]. The thought was why have roads without
travel? Now we have pods. When you see a pod traveling down the road,
click on it and you will be whisked away to the next pod station. This is another good way to navigate the
roads. If you want to stop, simply
“stand” and when you are ready to travel again wait for a pod.
Moving
along the route, I became fascinated by a fortress of a home on the
mountainside. Flying high above it were
the Pride and the BDSM flags. You may
find areas along your drive that you feel you simply *must* see. This was one of them for me. The house was chic and modern in the black
and the white décor that is not uncommon.
The owner had built a large Photo studio on the property. It is one of the nicest I have seen in
world. The owner was not available for
comment.
In our
population we have many artists that work in 2D, 3D and some both. The first gallery I came to
Michael Wright Fine Art MuseumOwned by Oldaged. Spacious and well laid out, it was easy to
cam around and see the featured artist’s work.
Currently featured is Mrags Writer.
“Call me
Ishmael” crossed my mind as a huge 822 prim Blue Whale was not breaching but
completely out of the water, hovering just above it. Checking the details and what agouties do I
find is the builder? Our own Bryn Oh who creates fascinating
interpretations of animals as only a small part of her contributions to the SL
around the world.The whale and a little girl make up a piece titled ‘Imogen and
the Whale’. I run down the hill to a
glass structure of geometric trapezoids and rhombus. This is the Peace
Gallery. There are samplings from
all the biggest names in art in SL; Bryn
Oh, Cica Ghost, Igor
Ballyhoo, and more pieces. It is owned
by long time patron of the arts Thedove.rhode.
If you want to see the best of 3D art in SL do not miss this
gallery. One side note, it is a little difficult
to navigate around and you are sent back to the landing point quickly.
Along Route 12 I came upon a group that
owns large parcels on both sides of the road.
The group is the Moon Disciples.
They have filled their parcels with gothic and modern architecture. The Moon Disciples Horde is described in
Monarch Seren Mcgillivary’s profile at a close-knit family of souls ready to
embrace the dark as their solace. A
Bloodlines horde, their motto is “Under the shadow of the moon, our enemy meets
their doom.
My final
stop along Route 12 for the day was at Cartage& Storage a factory and a
service building that moves items around the continents of SL. I was initially draw to the outside attention
to detail. This location processes and
serves the GTFO community. I walked
inside and found a trove of information.
The parcel owner, Cosmo Kawabata,
arrived while I was there and offered to answer some questions as well as give
me a tour. I noticed right away that the
reception area and factory are fully staffed with realistic bots. Cosmo advised me to click on the large map of
the SL continents on the wall. When I
did the map, I could see GTFO areas by continent.
I asked Cosmo what GTFO stood for and he
laughed. I suspect many readers already
know what it means…Get The Freight Out [comes from Get The Fu$$ Out]. GTFO represents a large group of people who
are playing a game within SL. Cosmo
chose the continent of Nautilus for his terminal location noticing there are
fewer players in this area. The game is
very detailed and involves using SL transportation and your own terminal [as
small as a store front to play]. They
have game money players earn along with an entire website full of game
information. SL Enquirer will be running
a more complete article on GTFO soon [I will be in contact with Cinn Bourchard].
Cosmo is an active player of GTFO, a DJ
and happily with a wonderful
lady. He takes me to his office
within the former courthouse [turned GTFO factory]. Amid the factory is this oasis and tastefully
decorated office. He takes a seat at his
desk and I join him in a chair. He
patiently answers all my questions about GTFO, his factory and his clubs where
he DJs. He has a club on the second
floor of the factory called appropriately “The Factory’. His busier club is called The
Civilization Lounge. He plays what
he feels telling me he doesn’t play to the audience. I asked him about the genre of music he
plays. He told me music by black artists
alone with some rap and jazz.
When we
left his office to tour the facility, he pointed out a couple of the people
working as we walked across the rooms.
One woman had been making copies for a long time, he wondered what she
was copying. We walked up the stairs of
the main building into a comfortable space much like a large living room. The employee lockers were on one wall and sofas
lined the other walls. This is the area
called “The Factory” club. At the back
there is a bar and the bar tender waits patiently as we walk over to her. Cosmo reminds me ‘safety first’ and no
drinking until employees are off duty.
Next, we
walk back downstairs through the reception area to the terminal. This is a bustling busy place. Tall stacks of GTFO boxes are sitting and
waiting for shipping. In the back there
is an employee who seems to have been working forever to set up a machine. Cosmo confides that this man has been at the
task a long time. I see people in all
stages of the packing and the transport process. On one side Cosmo has built a break area for
the employees. Vending machines, table,
sink and even small Dixie cups are available for the employees. Cosmo does not miss a detail. The textures he has used are beautiful. I asked him how many days since their last
accident. He said quietly ‘ummm er 6’. Cosmo told me he was going to watch his
hometown [Cavaliers/NBA]. I told him I
liked watching sports as much as I like getting a leg wax. We laughed.
I looked for the results today from the playoffs of the game from the
previous night. Sorry Cosmo!
I have
heard residents complain about boredom in SL.
I hope I have provided an idea of interest. Try driving or walking down one of the many
routes in SL. Look, click and listen
everything you see. You may be amazed at
what you find as you explore this virtual world.
Links to information and/or SURLs for stops along route
12:
Odie Cinema : http://maps.secondlife://ODIE/69/240/52
Pod Station [Nautilus Route 12] http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cecil/3/117/59
Michael Wright Gallery: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Scamp/21/235/57
Moon Disciples: http://maps.secondlife://QUIRICOSTA/191/166/45
Cartage & Storage: http://maps.secondlife://GAVELLO/74/192/79
Peace Gallery http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jaxipun/79/241/22
Seersha Heart [saoirseheart resident]
Photos
by KarmaghnaUlrik
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