Thanks again to all of those who participated in Saturdays dance. It was hilarious as usual and a huge thankyou to Scube for making the new ‘bar’. I missed Jan and Carson and Nikitta loads, who couldn’t login sadly due to technical problems, hopefully we will see u soon at one of the other parties.
love
KFH
Hello there,
I just wanted to announce that i’ve just finished off a new Intallation. I was inspired by a ‘phase I am going through’ to create something that relates to the past and the present. What makes us who we are, how we define ourselves by past experiences etc… I used the song Orange taken from the album On Ultimate Things ‘O>U>T’ and you can find it in search by typing in ‘kirsty hawkshaw’. It’s a very personal installation, and reveals some of the people in my life who know me very well. I wrote the music when I was in my mid 20’s after the loss of a friend suddenly during one of the most difficult periods of my life. For some reason I have been reflecting on those times recently, and miss the days when I had the luxury of time and freedom to go for a 4 mile walk and just let my mind wander.. BUT I look at life now, and think ‘wow’!!
I survived!!
feels good 
Indeed, Pooraka and I now have lovely horses. I named mine Argo, which was the name of Xena’s horse. You remember: Xena. Warrior Princess!
Here we are mounted on our fine steeds.
I am now the proud owner of a white horse who I have proudly named ’shnackle’. I bought him at the AKK horse ranch island. He whinneys, and trots and doesnt shit.. Jan and I had a little roam on her island, I love the way Jan and I make it ‘real’… it’s a damned site cheaper and more convenient too – no cleaning out! No stable rental etc… I have been inspired by the horse theme, and think we should have a ‘line dance’ to Trance music at club ‘connected’ this weekend.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/access20/2007/04/second_hand_look_at_second_lif.shtml
interesting!
When you visit a new city or country for the first time, it helps to have a guidebook. It’s no different in Second Life, except that things change so quickly that something you read about in a book may have moved or even gone by the time you get there.
However, it’s worth checking out a couple of books (currently available from Amazon, for example) because not only do they point you at places that you might otherwise miss (and will allow you to impress your friends by taking them there, because they missed them too), but in addition you’ll get a feel for the history of the place and how to learn the ropes of living in a metaverse as stunning and diverse as ours.
First is Second Life: The Official Guide (several authors): a comprehensive though already slightly outdated reference with a great deal of insight and information – the vast majority of which is still completely relevant and useful. Some things may have changed or gone, but you’ll find plenty of detail here and it’s profusely illustrated and in colour throughout. Critics may find the book a little self-serving and stuffy: ignore them. It includes a useful CD of free stuff – some, but by no means all, of which can be found on the Second Life web site, like templates for designing your own clothes (a very good idea in my view).
More irreverent, smaller (it fits nicely in a jacket pocket), cheaper and with less, but more-up-to-date information is The Unofficial Tourists’ Guide to Second Life by Paul Carr and Graham Pond. This neat little work inevitably overlaps the larger work quite a bit, but it also includes information you won’t find in the official guide. If you want to buy only one of these two books, this is it.
In addition I would recommend new residents to check the forums at the Second Life website. In particular, check out the advice for “newbies” and see how to give yourself a look that is entirely your own and not a Linden Labs cookie-cutter avi (though they are apparently a lot better than they used to be) that screams “noob” to all the attractive avatars out there who therefore ignore your romantic advances.
My own list of top tips would include the following:
0. Be nice to people. Do as you would be done by. Can’t emphasise that enough. In addition, if you are man, you will find that a sense of romance and chivalry will take you far in building relationships (just as in real life).
1. Look in the Library in your Inventory. You will find all kinds of amazing things there. Spend a while going through them, at your local sandbox if necessary (you may need to rezz some things on the ground to look inside them so you need a sandbox, your own land, or somewhere else where it’s allowed).
2. Get your hair fixed. The Appearance system allows you to make quite a good hairdo but it’s nothing compared to flexible prim-based hair that drifts as you move and has colour and texture beyond the dreams of Appearance sliders. You can buy cool hair at many, many locations in-world – I particularly recommend Pazazz. There are some vendors who sell prim hair to new residents at very low prices – I bought some early on and I personally didn’t like it, but you may.
3. Get an AO. That’s an Animation Override and overlays some of the things your avi does naturally with smoother, more expressive animations for walking, sitting, jumping, flying and landing instead of the often jerky ones you arrived with. Get one with a HUD (Head Up Display) so you can simply click to turn it off if necessary: some dance, sitting and, er, other animations (for example in poseballs) don’t work as well if you have an AO on (because they are essentially one themselves).
4. Get a shape and a skin. These often go together and professionally designed can be quite expensive. I believe that spending money on your appearance is worth your while in any world, and again there are loads of vendors. The shape is the shape of your avatar (which may not be human incidentally, though you probably want to have one that is: a friend of mine is a good-looking woman most of the time, but when she’s dancing she has been known to appear as a flashy and expressive flying robot), and the skin gives you colour and shading and possibly body and/or facial hair if that’s your style.
5. Take your time. This actually should be #1. Think about everything you do. I didn’t in some areas, and I made at least one serious and dramatic mistake (plus I probably spent rather more L$ than I needed to). Think about it before you buy expensive things. Pace yourself in relationships and don’t rush into commitments emotional or otherwise – that’s really important as it all happens so fast – and you can break something in a moment too, as well as making a commitment you later regret.
6. Have fun.
And I hope you find these suggestions useful.
Last night at the ‘london trance club’ we celebrated Carson and robbies birthday party. Much fun was had by all, and it was nice and full. Thanks to all who came. Nektarios popped in with the new ‘accuface’ mix of ‘invisible walls’ we played it in the London Trance Club for the ‘first’ time. It was amazing to be able to do that.
Thanks to all who came as usual
KFH
A couple days ago, my friend Starcadius Delacroix gave me a copy of the Medieval Bridge he had been working on. Coincidentally, I had been working on my own bridge between the two islands. An amazing coincidence. But his bridge is so much better, it’s completely gorgeous. I’m so honored and thrilled to have it linking my islands.
WOW last night was so much fun guys! Thankyou once again for coming to the club and for making the effort. I thought DJ Vapour did fab set, and the MC was ‘hot’
Lets to it again soon.. ‘oh it’s Saturday night’ in two days YEY
KFH
Hi friends,
here is the Chauffeur party finally. Since this video, you will be pleased to know that I have finally figured out how to drive the MH Phantom and I would like to apologise to those who I ‘mowed’ down in the club!. Also I discovered at Janfords yesterday that the car ‘flies’!!
I also wanted to ’share’ that I met up with Carson and Nikkita in ‘real life’ the other day which was wondeful ‘we skyped’ each other. They are a beautiful couple and I was very excited to see them and to put a real face to the ‘avatars’.
LOVE
KFH
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