Happy Turkey Day

Today is revenge for them attacking me as a tiny. A happy holiday to all of my U.S. friends...I will be back inworld next Monday.

The Grand Tour

I think the organizers have done a wonderful job with this event, with the dances and events switching from location to location the entire weekend. It has highlighted so many wonderful themed communities. Here is a list of all the communities that have participated: Colonia Nova, Orcadia, New Toulouse, Victoriana, Neufriedstadt, Winterfell, Caledon, New Babbage, Steeltopia, Al Andalus, Isles of Fatima, Wunderbar, Antiquity and Steelhead. The Grand Tour's final destination will be tonight in Steelhead at 5 SLT.

Congrats to Miss Fogwoman Gray and the respective sim organizers for the tour stops. This was a fantastic idea and if you have not visited some of these destinations, go. What a great way for us all to come together in a positive manner.

Here I am at Steelhead's ball, held in the Wulfenbach airship:

Grand Tour: Under the Sea in Argylle

To end tonight's stops on the Grand Tour, I went to Caledon Argylle for Lord Edward's Underwater Ball. I danced with the gentleman himself in his watertight dome, a good thing as I know of a rather large fish named Chester who makes his home in these waters...I then had the pleasure of dancing with Mr Eclectric Breitman, a rather witty conversationalist. I do love lightning bugs... The lovely mermaid Miss Tiziana Corleone......and Miss RubyRed Xue, who was in attendance at some of the other events and intrigued us as she strolled by outside the dome in a rudimentary diving helmet...

Grand Tour: Babbage Mystery & Steeltopian Gears

Miss Capalini's missing? Something about wrenches--or was that wenches? And Prussians? My next stop on the Grand Tour found Phin and me dancing at the Autumn Mystery Ball at Piermont Landing in New Babbage, where clues were given and it was up to us to figure out the mystery!Mr Jimmy Branagh, one of Babbage's urchins, came to the Ball rather nattily attired I might say...
Afterwards, I needed to make a quick stop to the Library in Caledon Victoria City. I found an intriguing mushroom and took a nibble. I must have face-planted rather quickly, as I soon awoke to Phin's calling out "Medic!" You would think I would've learned my lesson from the last time...Phin had other matters to attend to, so I continued on to the next stop in the Tour and went to Steeltopia, where we had a great time dancing among the rotating gears...

Grand Tour: A Farewell to Coughton Court

The Grand Tour has been going on since the early morning (for me), but I wasn't able to go until Gabi's "Tulips in the Snow" Ball at her Coughton Court in Caledon Carntaigh. Here she is with Baron Wulfenbach...I wore my 1891 Isabella Stewart Gardner Worth gown, which I specially created for my exhibit at the Caledon Library and will talk about at another time. I had a chance to dance with Sir JJ...
...and reminisce with my old friend, the original jager, Jagermeister Szondi--who reminded me that I was one of the very first members of the Jagerkin...
...and my wonderful Phin was able to join me, as this place is special to us as this is where we had our first dance over a year ago... It was a bittersweet evening for Gabi, as this might be the very last ball to be held here. I have had a lot of fantastic and fun memories here and with her in this place. If anything, tonight reminded me how familiar and comforting places can be here inworld as well. A hug for you Gabi, and thank you for all of the wonderful times.

Jager Poetry Slam

For those of you who are familiar with Girl Genius, you'll know that jagers take their poetry slams quite literally. I put on my best Europan-style dress and headed over to the Huts des Jaegers in Winterfell Absinthe to join in on the fun. Let's just say that I could tell someone had just finished reading by the huge amounts of explosions I heard upon arrival...
I grabbed a mug of beer and quickly sat down at the table, not wishing to somehow end up almost two sims away like Frau Lowey...Later many of us put on our habits as befitting Steelhead's infamous Nuns with Guns, as fire, death rays, toilet paper, pies , parrots and other assorted items flew above us. You can see Miss Tanarian Davies and me below in one of her wonderful tiny habits (five versions according to religious order!) If you want a fun, silly time (with poetry mixed in!) , Jager Poetry Slam is held weekly. Contact Miss Annechen Lowey or any member of the Wulfenbach Consulate for more information!

Disappointed

RL had me arrive inworld 10 minutes late to hear Dame Ordinal Malaprop speak in Babbage. This is an earlier time for me to be in here than normal, but I so wanted to be there. First, the region was full. Then, I would not have been able to travel there anyway as teleports were not working for me. I gave up and comforted myself with some wine at the gazebo in Mayfair...
[UPDATE: For those of you who may have been disappointed like me, you may read the transcript from the Salon HERE.]

An Even More Steampunk-Style Tail

I have upgraded my steampunk kitty tail. It now has moving cogs and steam and I do love it so...

Bond Night in Steelhead

I had a tremendously good time in Steelhead at the themed Friday night dance in honor of a certain intelligence agent in the employ of Her Majesty's secret service...Oh yes, a few armed sharks made their appearance as well...

Positively Caledon

To me, the Guvnah's Mansion in Victoria City is like visiting the true heart of this nation. For anyone who has never visited it, you can find models and maps of the nation's regions and other Caledon-related things there. I stood in the middle of a large map of the southern sims, complete with its terrain and thought about Caledon itself...
In light of the recent announcements, there has been much anxiety. How will Caledon's landscape and its culture be affected? The simple answer is that it will change. The harder answer is trying to predict what exactly those changes will truly be in the long run. But as citizens, we must rest assured...a community is made of its people--and we are what helps to make a nation in the end. I dare say this in light of so many folks' disappointments and feelings of anger and do believe me when I say I am truly sorry that this has all happened...but we were once smaller as a nation and were fine. If our nation becomes smaller once more, then so be it. It has all been done, and unless the powers-that-be change their mind (which I sincerely doubt) then we must let go and move forward as a nation. Keep your chin up Caledonians!

Dancing Cows and an Intriguing Gent

The Primgraph took some extra shot of us Steelheaders...
And afterwards we celebrated Steelhead-style...with lot of dancing cows......and an intriguing gent named Mr Trealor Parx arrived, looking for his former associate--Mr Jobias Barthelmess--and wishing to recover missing scientific apparatus. It seems he might be setting up a lab in town...oh my.

Still Not Too Late

It was announced tonight that there are still plots left in Steelhead Port Harbor, Steelhead's upcoming industrial steampunk sim. Not many left--as you can see, but you would definitely have a lot of fun living there! The new residents there consist of adventurers and heroes, mad scientists and those who are willing to see what happens when they all have to be neighbors! I think that it'll definitely be interesting there--to say the least. If you are interested in a lot there, please contact TotalLunar Eclipse inworld. Tonight's town meeting was held in Miss Hilra's ruined monastery as Town Hall is still awaiting a lag fix from the powers that be. I still attend and like the concept of Steelhead's community being so well-informed as to the goings-on in our town...

Re-Visiting Babbage Canals

I have loved New Babbage since it was just one sim with almost nothing at all there yet. I still enjoy visiting it, with Babbage Canals still being one of my favorite places...I wanted to see this marvelous bladed contraption up close...

Steelhead Group Photo

Steelhead is being featured in the Primgraph Magazine, so many of us in the community got together for a shoot. I suppose this is what herding cats must feel like...Afterwards, I took a photograph for my ad in it. I love the arcade canopy in Steelhead Boomtown...

Grape Stomping and a Diplomat's Ball

I walked down the way from Laval Point in Steelhead Harborside to Miss Riven Homewood's new winery, where she was having a harvest festival dance...
I could not help but to stomp a few grapes myself...Miss Homewood's lovely spread...Afterwards, I managed to get the wine stains off of me and looked presentable for the formal Diplomat's Ball in Caledon Penzance, to celebrate not only Penzance's 1st anniversary, but the embassies of Steelhead andAdam ondi Ahman... Afterwards, I walked down the way, untied my bustle and relaxed at my Penzance home. What a fun, busy evening! I could really use a cup of tea right now...

Steelhead's Post-Election Party

Tonight was Steelhead's Friday dance with a "Elephants & Donkeys Post-Election" theme. We came out and celebrated, and there was much wearing of blue and red, and yes...donkey and elephants were partying on the dance floor...
...and on magic flying flags too...Earlier, I met with Sir JJ to discuss the library exhibit more. I am very excited about it as it is shaping up to be an interesting one...

Cause and Effects

The Lindens have made their latest openspace announcement, but you almost must read the knowledge base article as well, as it has more detail. In a nutshell, they are creating a pricing tier system that splits OS sims into "openspace" and "Homesteads". OS sims are to be light-use, 750 prims, with a cap of 10 AVs. Owners can put in for their OS sims to be Homesteads for light commercial and residential use, 3750 prims and a 20 AV cap. For both, script usage restrictions are as of yet TBD. Thing is with Homesteads is that the pricing goes from $75USD to $95 as of Jan 5, but as of July 9, it'll go up to $125--the price originally proposed in the last posting that set off the furor. Owners also have the option of exchanging openspaces for full regions as well, an option being entertained by some communities.

What does this mean for communities like the sailing community and themed ones like Caledon? To me, the sailing community--for whom the open water sims have been touted--wouldn't be able to have races or regattas due to AV caps after taking into account passengers, crew and spectators. In Caledon, community events like balls and dances would be affected as well. For instance, a formal ball with only 20 avatars is the equivalent of only 10 couples dancing. Our balls tend to average 40 attendees.

I missed the latest town meeting the Guvnah held tonight, but had a chance to read a transcript and he is pondering solutions such as combining voids into full regions. Even the train that runs through most of Caledon would be affected due to its scripts, depending upon how LL decides to handle script restrictions. The landscape of Caledon as we know it will probably change. Also, even the new resident community that comes to Nova Civis Caledon for classes, resources, and events would be affected as well by this due to the avatar cap. Are we to be happy with this? Is this really okay? I don't know, it still just doesn't feel right somehow and I still wonder what the longer-term effect of this will be across the Grid.

RCAF Anniversary

On a lighter note, I went to Connolly Aerodrome in Penzance and celebrated the first anniversary of both the Aerodrome and the Royal Caledon Air Force with its founder Zoe Connolly and other pilots and well-wishers. I do believe a good time was had by all...

Caledon is Burning

I saw that the Duke of Caledon Murdann set his lovely Firth void sim afire, and heard that--as Jarl of Orcadia--he did the same to his sims in Wyre. I had someone comment to me recently that they thought this, as well as the Primverness and Carntaigh fires, to be a pointless display. I could not disagree more as I believe the Duchesses and Duke have voted and made their displeasure over the policy known. This "display" I believe, serves a more cathartic purpose for them. In a word: "venting."

To me personally, it represents one's dreams going up in smoke. If that isn't worth flames, then I do not know what else is...

Vista del Mar Vineyard in Steelhead

My off-19th c. home is named Vista del Mar. I have had a vineyard there for over a year now, and when I moved to an openspace sim, the vines were transplanted. With the new policy I am taking precautions. I love my vines and months ago Mr Writer had helped me with bottling as I decided to create my own wine label. I decided to go ahead and transplant my vines once more...to Laval Point in Steelhead. I had to halve them to fit the prims there, but they are beautiful and I am very happy. Here is the official label... While in Spain three years ago in RL, I fell in love with Rioja wine (and jamon iberico! Delicious!) and decided to grow tempranillo grapes here inworld (as technically, rioja is like champagne, only wine created in that region may use the name). Vista del Mar "Rioja" is considered a red tinto wine, similar to Cabernet Savignon. Steelhead is thinking of holding a Harvest Wine Festival, which I think is a fabulous idea. If you are in Steelhead Harborside, please feel free to stop through the Point and enjoy the scenery and a glass.