The next Second Arts show is set!

 

Maria Maria by Phinn Boffin, from her Flickr photostream

With a scheduled opening for February 7 at noon SL time, we’re going to have a show by SL photographer Phinn Boffin!

 

Check out her Flickr photostream here.

Can’t wait to see what she has in store for the gallery…

OpenSim Morris in his new OpenSimGrid pad

A couple sick days gave me time to play in OpenSim with my new homestead (at the Teravus Plaza sim, in case you care).  It was fun to build a little bayou shack from scratch…and making the details, like this lamp, reminded me that I really CAN build in SL.  (It’s been a while.)  So here’s the photo, in midnight mode…

Carlotta Ceawlin’s Second Arts show – A tour de force

Perhaps the greatest unanticipated benefit of the Second Arts “Bay City Visions” photo contest was the incredible talent that just came out of nowhere and amazed judges and visitors alike.  Chief among them is someone I did not know (and still barely know), German avatar Carlotta Ceawlin.  Her contest-winning photo is on the cover of the “Bay City Visions” book, of which she received a courtesy copy from yours truly.  She also had a one-month show at Second Arts, one that is closing tomorrow.

In retrospect, I did Carlotta a disservice by going on a (badly needed) vacation in the middle of January.  I hope everyone had a chance to see Carlotta works.  If you didn’t, I took photos of the displays and present them as a 31-slide display for posterity, and to inspire inworld photographers to push the boundaries…because, as Carlotta shows time after time, you can make incredible artwork with images from the grid.

Enjoy…and thank you, Carlotta!

Jonah Zenovka appointed new COO of Cetus Gallery District

Terrific news for a good guy and one of SL’s most important art communities…

 

27 Jan 09

 

TO: All Cetus Community Members

FROM: Xander Ruttan

RE: Appointment of Chief Operating Officer

 

As many of you know, Jonah Zenovka, Cetus Ruttan Association Vice President, has demonstrated a longstanding concern for and leadership within the Cetus community.  His example of community service has been evident here since joining the community in 2007.  What many of you may not see is that his exemplary spirit of service is manifested in his RL activities as well, as he effectively serves in leadership roles for many community service organizations that benefit from his mix of creative vision and hands-on effort.

Because my own RL professional commitments have increased greatly, particularly in recent months, I must be away from SL.  So effective today, I am expanding Jonah’s role to become Chief Operating Officer of Cetus Gallery District.  Please join me in congratulating him on his promotion as we begin a new chapter in the growth of Cetus, and expect the announcement of additional changes in coming weeks.

While I must be away by necessity, Jonah and I are in near-daily communication. So please know that any business or community life concerns will be addressed promptly.  Please direct your ideas, comments and concerns to him.  

Thank you for being an important part of Cetus Gallery District.

Best,

Xander [Ruttan]

In honor of the new President’s inauguration…

Obama brings “HOPE,” but Vig is “VIRTUAL”…

Here’s to the new administration – one that’s already planning to close Gitmo!

Back in a couple of weeks!

It’s RL vacation time for Morris’ RL avatar…and he’s taking his laptop but won’t make any promises about his Twitter, Plurk, blog or inworld activity.  This has been one crazy year, and he needs to decompress.  Trust me, he REALLY needs to decompress.

You should stop by Second Arts while I’m out, though, as Carlotta Ceawlin has her month-long photo show up.  As great as her Bay City Visions-winning piece was, the rest of her portfolio is even better.  Definitely worth a visit.

And I’ll see you on the flip side…don’t let the grid burn down while I’m gone!

Vig does OpenSim

The OSGrid, to be precise.  It took all day, but the day was lazy and perfectly set for a series of explorations.  (Note I said series, as my Twitter and Plurk feeds tell you, my voyage was anything but crash-free…)  At the end of the day, here’s my first self-portrait:

 

Morris Vig's first self-portrait in OpenSim

Note that I’ve still got “Linden” hair and no prim shoes, but I was able to work out my shape and get skin and some clothes to avoid the “Ruth” look.  

I think I can see why some people are getting excited about OpenSim.  It really is the brave new world.  At the same time, it’s VERY sparsely populated, lacks content and makes sim crossings even more curious than the Second Life grid circa 2006.  Gwyn suggests that OpenSim is the platform of 2010; I’m not inclined to disagree.

Happy New Year!

(Better late than never, eh?)

What makes Chouchou more special than any other creative mind?

Hamlet Au notes that the inworld musical duo known as Chouchou has announced that they feel that they need direct financial donations to justify staying inworld.  This is downright silly.

Let’s be honest with ourselves as artists (or in my case, quasi-artists who like to support the art-creating class): You get support if you actually DO something.  It’s even easier to get support if you are talented, which Chouchou is.

Photo posted on Flickr by Abigale Heron

Problem is, Chouchou has been largely absent from inworld performing for the past 6 months or so.  I can’t recall the last time a group announcement promoted a show (but their group notice archive, I can only look back 2 weeks and only see a notice of a new song release).  Looking at Chouchou’s blog, I note that either they are not keeping their performance schedule up to date or have not performed inworld since July 6.  In fact, the only activity on their blog since July was the announcement of a new song right after Christmas.   Their MySpace activity is a little harder to gauge, but it appears that they may have uploaded a couple songs recently by comparing playcounts.  That, and their note of poverty…

I am a fan of Chouchou.  I have purchased their music online.  I have gone to their shows and tipped them generously.  I likely would continue to do so if they DID SOMETHING worth contributing to.  But even U2 has to put out new music and goes on tour to maintain relevance in the music and cultural worlds. 

Photo posted on Snapzilla by Seagel Neville

Also, this concept of extorting the inworld populace in exchange for the presence of Those Who Are So Much Better Than Thou is crap.  The only way to get anything close to welfare inworld (barring a sugar daddy, and I’ll acknowledge that some talented artisans have such arrangements) is to get a premium Second Life account from Linden Lab and get – what – L$300/week?  Otherwise, I’ll echo Hathead Rickenbacker, who commented on Hamlet’s blog:

Everyone needs a bail-out these days. Where I do get in line?