Thursday, July 22, 2010

July Road Trip: Dharma Bum

What a Puny Plan
Location: Circuit La Corse: Corsican Continent
Soundtrack: T.Rex, "The Slider"

All we can do in Second Life now, that King Philip has returned, is hope for the best.

That's means it's time to saddle up fake the motorcycle and see which way the endless road leads. I pulled out the map and found the northern continent of Corcisa, with a lot of straight road that meant I could ride fast and make myself and the SL client crash.

Actually, though vehicle physics were as dodgy as ever, the simulation did not crash once. Here's what I found:
  • A giant statue of a behatted mole (a fez in the creator's profile) at this spot. It commemorates Michael Linden, the big digger for Linden Lab. From his profile: "I'm the In-World Content Manager, aka head mole of the Linden Department of Public Works. Roads, cities, seas, etc. -- all sorts of Mainland content."
Mole Man
  • A bunny breeders. Well, I'll pass, but it shows the sort of mawkish content that does sell in SL. It puts the lie to the idea that all SLers are twisted teenage boys or horny old men who pretend to be supermodels. I doubt either of those demographics would know what to do with a bunny except set it on fire.
Just What I Friggin Need
  • Crazy Video Phones: talking heads on the screen of this nonfunctional bit of whimsy. My favorite: the cardboard robot avatar, once a part of the LL default library every avatar got.
    Video Phone
  • Good Road. Thanks, Michael. The ride on the cobblestone portion on the Circuit was very pleasant. I'll keep riding as long as SL endures. And who knows how long that will be?
    Cobble Stones
I just roared along, singing with Marc Bolan's "Telegram Sam":

"Automatic shoes, automatic shoes
Give me 3D-vision and the California Blues
And me I funk but I don't care
I ain't no square with my corkscrew hair."

Best Glam line ever, that. And to evoke Bolan (who died as a passenger in his wife's Mini Cooper!) when I'm sad? I slide!

See you next month, but meanwhile, listen to some Glam. You know you need it.

3 comments:

Rhys Ackmann said...

mawk·ish/ˈmôkiSH/Adjective
1. Sentimental in a feeble or sickly way: "a mawkish poem".
2. Having a faint sickly flavor: "the mawkish smell of warm beer".

Well, I wouldn't call it sickly... it on par with a virtual pet or a pet rock even... it's fun and dumb at the same time. It's only the residents that think they're going to get rich from the bunny, chicken or corn farming that may have problem.

Iggy O said...

Rhys, I would call a foo-foo pink bunny-poo "mawkish" under def. #1.

While many of the fake bunnies look more or less real, I hope they bunnies don't go the Sion Chikkin route. I have seen enough purple chikkins to last me 1000 years.

Sorry if I was mean to bunny raisers! Get them bunnies makin' more!

Iggy O said...

"I hope they bunnies don't go the Sion Chikkin route."

I need to watch my grammar that should be "them-there bunnies."

But Rhys is correct--them-there bunnies are fun and dumb at the same time. I'm still waiting for a really good hound dog in SL, however.