Gettin' Down in Burning Life

Attending Burning Life was a virtual blast! I've never had so much fun staring at a computer screen. Technical difficulties installing the latest version of SL almost prevented me from attending my schedule events. Although I missed the Chang High Trinity Sisters Fireshow of Light, Life and Love I made it to the "DJ Iknow Party." I was thankful to finally see SL residents who looked much more mature and accustomed to SL than myself. The avatar dancing was very impressive. There were multiple floating balls which offered a wide variation of dance styles for the avatar to wear. I picked "random" just to see what Fierce would do naturally; she really had some moves! I also learned how to partner dance in SL with my friend Jozi. The DJ took requests which was surprising. After playing a series of rock tunes I requested a hip hop song called "Stanky Leg" just to see if he would play it. He gave Jozi and Fierce a shout out for making the request and played the song. The other avatars at the party danced along unchanged by the drastic genre change of the music.



Maybe it's just me, but it seems as though avatars in SL have a scandalous quality about them. Pictured above are Fierce and Jozi dancing to "Stanky Leg". When we selected the "random" style of partner dancing and the avatars automatically began grinding on each other. I observed a similar sexual undertone in many of the other avatars mannerisms and dancing. Nevertheless, I fulfilled my dance curiosity by watching the avatars break it down at the dance party.

Once I had enough of the Fierce's erotic dance technique, I explored other areas of the desert. Many of the structures were random and didn't appear to have any other purpose than to be visually appealing. Like this for instance..


I also ran into Taiko drums. This was ironic because I recently studied Taiko drumming and had the chance to play one in First Life. Fierce was awarded the same opportunity in Second Life, courtesy of the Burning Life festivities.





Pictured below, Fierce boldly sits at the base of a volcano. With each new adventure her actions continue to be manifestations of her name!

Sorry to Decline but I have Plans.. in Second Life!

A big concern and question by myself and many of my other English 103 classmates in regards to Second Life is where are all the people? Luckily, the next assignment offers the chance to encounter and socialize with the residents of Second Life. After browsing through a variety of activities scheduled for Oct. 17 in SL I decided to attend two events hosted through the Burning Life festival . In the process of making this decision I learned a fun and useful fact: Second Life operates on SLT- Second Life Time which is equivalent to Pacific time in First Life.

I plan to attend the Chang High Trinity Sisters Fireshow of Light, Life, and Love event as well as the "Pop/Soft Rock DJ Iknow Tomorrow" party in the desert of SL. I'm curious to see what virtual fireworks will look and sound like. The firework show is also the "welcome" event of the festival so I predict Fierce Soulstar will get much needed resident social experience there. The party in the desert is being hosted by Miss Bridget's Dance School. As a true lover of the art of dance this caught my eye because I wasn't aware dance schools existed in SL. I'm excited to get information about it; Fierce Soulstar would look great in virtual point shoes! Plus, I would love to see how "partying" appears virtually and determine if the virtual fun my avatar experience actually is enjoyable to me too.

Jozi Oakleaf will be accompanying me at these events; he's fierce enough to role with a soulstar. For the first time ever, I will have to decline any First Life social invitations on Oct. 7 between 3-5 pm because I have virtual engagements to attend instead!

Fierce in the Sistine Chapel

The adventures of Fierce Soulstar continued in Second Life when a fellow classmate explained his entrance into the "Uncanny Valley" after a trip to Vassar Island's re-creation of the Sistine Chapel. He really encouraged visiting the Sistine Chapel to see just how "real" virtual reality can become. Once Fierce Soulstar entered the chapel, I understood why my fellow classmate entered the "Uncanny Valley" of SL so quickly. I remember reading about how Michelangelo slaved at perfecting the images that grace the walls of the chapel, painting the ceiling with paint dripping into his eyes, while I was in high school. I never imagined I'd have the chance to visit it, even if it was enabled through a virtual world. The paintings were truly stunning. Soulstar's ability to fly helped enhance the visit, allowing for a view one ordinarily couldn't get unless the real Sistine Chapel provides courtesy manlifts for curious visitors.


The virtual chapel also gave information about each section of images; by clicking on an area of images, an information bubble appeared giving the title of the area or name of a particular saint.
Below, Fierce Soulstar stands in between Anacletus and St. Alexander I.




The benefits of flying came in handy when I wanted to get the "up close and personal" view of Michelangelo's work.



The above image features God Giving Life to Adam. I googled the actual image and compared that to my saved pictures from SL. I was shocked at the vivid resemblance between the two. This experience was yet again proof of the enriched learning opportunity presented through Second Life.

A Lonely and Jobless Soulstar

As a resident of Second Life for the last few weeks, I’ve found a few things questionable. Throughout the scavenger hunt, I noticed a serious lack of people. Even at a location like the International Air and Space museum, there was an extreme sense of vacancy. Second Life is too much of a populated world to appear so deserted. My question- where are the people?

The next issue I have with SL is my poor financial status. I have a low supply of linden dollars, virtual money, because I don’t have a job. I don’t work in real life but I would love to know what kind of virtual jobs exist. Surely every avatar in second life isn’t a corporate worker, SL developer, or blogger being paid to be in second life. So what do the “normal” avatars do to up the linden dollar bank accounts? I’ve visited freebie stores which don’t require cashiers but for the other areas of Second Life does the need of “manual” labor even exist? Hopefully my explorations will lead to answers. If Fierce Soulstar makes friends and finds a job I would really feel like I have a “mature” avatar.Perhaps in finding a job she would also find a group of friendly working avatars to hang with!