Credits:

Music by Roger Subirana Mata – “El secret del mar” (cc-by-nc-sa) and ТЕЛЬНЮК: Сестри – “Не женися на багатій” (cc-by-nc-sa)

V is wearing:

• Ce Cubic Effect
• [4mc]
• Fallen Gods Skins
• Redgrave Shoes

El is wearing:

• Fishy Strawberry
• Pig
• Akeruka Skins
• Fashism Eyes
• Siow’s Makeup Tattoo
• EMO-tions Hair

Animations by

• Sweet Lovely Cute

The talk mentioned is below:

Now the new explanation includes not only the level of realism of the visual elements, but also the relation to the narrative, and with all due respect, I don’t think that’s helpful either. Thing is: I wasn’t creeped out by The Polar Express, or any other animated movie ever, and I really don’t think Polar Express (or the newly featured Tintin movie) look particularly realistic either. I recently played L.A. Noire, which looks and feels much more realistic than any animated movie I’ve ever watched (or many other recent 3D titles, such as GTA 4, The Witcher 2, Skyrim, etc.) and that’s not because I’m controlling the action, but because they are more realistic. Heck, Tintin or Polar Express don’t even aim at being super-realistic, they’re fictional fantasy stories, one even based on a comic book series. If anything, they aim to be modern comic book movies.

In a talk that we recently featured here, Prof. Jeremy Bailenson discusses the uncanny valley shortly (at ca. 1 hours 7 minutes in) and describes it as a “mismatch between how realistic it looks, and how realistic it behaves”, which, in my book, is a much better explanation than “narrative” or just “magic”. As long as we don’t expect things to be realistic, there’s really nothing uncanny about them; or rather: As long as The Polar Express is a fictional story about a kid riding to the north pole in search of Santa, and acts like a kid in a fictional story riding to the north pole in search of Santa, and on top of that looks like a fictional character in a 3d animated movie, there’s really no mismatch there.

Is El Firecaster a bride…at last?  Well….yes and no…as my beloved partner, Vanish likes to tell me.  El has never been a “real” bride in SL <looks sideways at her BELOVED partner, Vanish>  I don’t think I would ever be one of those avi’s that wanted a big huge todo….not that that is a bad thing….it is just not MY thing.  But IF we ever chose to do something like that in SL, this would certainly be a good choice for a wedding dress.

I have to admit, the little girl in me fell in love with this GORGEOUS dress from Vero Modero.  To my knowledge it is not a wedding dress, but gee, if El were looking for one, this would certainly fit the bill.  It is SUPER sexy with the bodice split all the way down to the waist in the front and yet SO elegant with layer after layer of lace.  I swear, when I was taking these pics I could almost HEAR the crunching of the lace and taffeta.  I TRULY felt like a bride while wearing it.  It is part of the new evening gown collection at Vero Modero and the rest of the collection is JUST as beautiful.  So be sure and stop by there and take a look at all the new releases, including a stunning red and black mesh gown that has me itching to slink into it!

This hair is one of the newest releases from Ali & Alli Designs.  It is named Bella and while I have not seen the latest Twilight offering, I am assuming that it is a facsimile of the hair that Bella Swan sported in the movie.  All I know, is that it is a LOVELY updo and has a cute little color change clip at the top of the knot that lays at the base of the back of the neck, encircled by a braid. (whew, that was a LONG description!)  AND the clip also includes an invisible option for those of you that prefer no clip at all.

Since this is not “really” a wedding dress, it did not come with a veil, but I happened to remember that one of the latest releases from WTG jewelers had a tiara.  And what a better occasion to wear a tiara?  I must admit, this collection entitled “Pearly Shell” is just about the prettiest sets I have seen in SL.  It is truly elegant and the back of the necklace is just as beautiful as the front!  (And the set has matching nails!) Incase you are not aware of it, WTG has just opened a new branch at Sunshine Mall and has a brand new welcome gift out.  SO be sure and stop by there and snatch it up!

My sweet little tanned skin is from the Art Body Store, but I feel fairly certain I picked it up from The Tropicalia Bazaar.  And I’m glad I did.  I had noticed some SWEET poses from ABS that were featured at TTB and so I was glad to see this skin from them as well.  This is the tanned version and has 4 makeups with cleavage options.

So there you have it!  I am a bride!  Well….kinda <tries not to pout as she whispers> Let me know if you wanna be put on the guest list, ok?!?!

STYLING NOTES

*Gown: VERO MODERO – Cafferelli Saf Gown Top,Pant, Gloves, Skirt, Shoulder pieces
*Jewelry:  +:+WTG+:+ – **Pearly Shell** ear-pierces I, necklace-with back, Tiara
*Hair:  A&A Bella Hair Black
Eyelashes: *REDGRAVE* -37- Extended
*Skin: ABS Skin  - Michelle sunkissed2 cleavage
*Eyes: FASHISM (currently rebranding) – ‘Sunrise’ Eyes – Deep Rising Sun (L)
*Poses: Purpleposes

“Pashima” has been sitting on my desktop AND my inventory for over a month now. I’m sorry. I HATE that it takes me so long to blog sometimes…but anyway, I guess it is better late than never! SO….if Pashima looks a little too “Christmas-y” in her green and red…GOOOOOOOD NEWS! Vero Modero has the same look in blue tones and in gold tones…and they are LOVELY!  Not only does the look come with the cute little top and skirt, it includes the scarf and ADORABLE BOOTS!  So no worry about what shoes to wear with Pashima!  If that is not good enough news, Vero Modero just debuted their brand, spanking new gown collection! And the gowns ARE gorgeous. There is even some mesh goodness thrown in there, so, if you missed their fashion show last Saturday, take a look here.  You will not be disappointed!

This sweet little skin comes from Siss Boom.  It reminds me of the look we get when we stay out in the cold too long and our cheeks get that “slapped” red look!  It is a perfect skin for the winter season.  Siss Boom has a limited collection of skins, but each one of them has the quality feel for which Lestat Reuven is known.

One last thing about this look…hair.  Not many hair designers have this color of hair.  Of course, they ALL have some shade of red…and some have MANY shades of red, but this carrot-red color is one of the reasons I love D!va hair.  All of her styles have a young, fun wispiness to them and this particular color is one of my favorites.

When I finished this look and started taking pics, Vanish asked me if that was El!  He thought it didn’t even look like her.  And when I looked closer, I could see how young she looked and that it did look a little less like El than what I am used to.  All I can say, is that I am currently working on a look that is much more “mature”.  So stay tuned for a much older look coming from El in the not too distant future. Until then….

STYLING NOTES 

*Outfit (including scarf and boots): VERO MODERO / Pashmina – Skirt, Top, Pash Boot Brown, Scarf
Hair: “”D!va“” Hair  - “Masami” (Carrot)(Forelock)
Lashes: Ema’s Secret – Eyelash Snuggle
Earrings: :: PurpleMoon :: -  Kenya Earring in Dyed Red Wood (L)
Bracelets:  AIDORU  - “earth” beads girl
*Nails: Finesmith Nails – L 20 SOlid Red
*Skin: siss boom – wind chill skin (body freckles)
*Eyes: FASHISM(No link currently available.  Store is rebranding) -  ‘Sunrise’ Eyes – Celtic Green (L)

And while I was at it, I finally played a little more with Viewer 3 and took a look at what all that fuzz with Mesh is about, and fell down a rabbit hole and haven’t found my way back yet. I knew before that mesh would be a game changer. That is, I knew it conceptually, like you know that a federated network of interconnected grids (the hypergrid) will be a game changer. But after I uploaded my first mesh, it already changed the game for me:

Not only are meshes much more detailed and diverse than anything you could do with sculpts and prims, they are also much more ubiquitous, since we can start drawing from the non-SL 3D-community as well. There’s tons of resources of free 3D meshes on the web, which can easily converted to collada for use in OpenSim, and in addition to that, meshes can also be created more easily once you get the hang of some basic 3D software. So really, the metaverse of the coming years will look very different from the metaverse we know today.

The original speech can be found here:

I love Thirza’s blogs. Not because I’ve been featured on them at times, but because I really enjoy reading them. You don’t subscribe to someone’s RSS feed just because you’re curious if you’ll get featured, after all. Well, I don’t; maybe you do. Have a video.

Hi there!!!  This is my first “Official” post of 2012…although I DID have one Q&D (Quick & Dirty), but this will be the first one where I just yak for a while!  I must say, overall, 2012 has gotten off to a pretty good start. As it was with 2011, I have spent a great deal of time wishing I could get around to blogging more.  Of course, the fact that I play Borderlands for HOURS with my wonderful husband, Vanish…kind of keeps that from happening as much as I would like,  But I just have such great fun playing with him that I cannot help myself!  However, I DID manage to take a nice little set of pics to share with you guys!

These pics feature one of my all time favorite designers in SL, AnneJoy Paine of aDiva Couture.  When I tried this gown on, I found it just SIMPLY stunning and HAD to share it with you guys.  It is all white with just a touch of pale blue lace trimming the bottom and elegant light blue stitching along the torso of the gown, trimmed with light blue buttons, a fur trimmed “collar” and matching gloves. The back of the corset laces up with pale blue laces, while the skirt splits ALL the way up to the left hip…and if you look CLOSELY….you will see a very thin, baby blue bow coming from the string thong that comes with the gown.  That’s right…once you have gotten your lover back to a secluded area, you can take off that collar, and skirt to reveal a SEXY lingerie set!  Don’t you just LOVE two for one sets??

When I saw the name of this gown and tried on this skin from Akeruka, I knew I had a match.  This was a skin that they featured at the Winter Fair and I just LOVE it.  Vanish has alway loved monochrome skins and we often like to put them on and match each other for a night out on the town.  So when I saw this one, I had a feeling he might like it too.  The lips are just the palest shade of pink…and oh so luscious!  Akeruka does NICE lips!

Once I finished this look off with one of the latest group gifts from Finesmith Designs and GORGEOUS silver shoes from P-10 I needed a nice place to shoot pics.  And when I saw the December Group Gift from Piddler’s Perch, I knew I had found it.  It is a LOVELY little gazebo trimmed in winter shrubbery and emits falling stars….SO LOVELY.(The poses seen are NOT included in the Gazebo.  They are from Purple Poses.)   Piddlers porch is a new find for me…and I am so glad I ran into them.  They have some of the CUTEST outdoor stuff I have seem in a while…including an ADORABLE “refurbished” toilet that now serves as a flower pot!  TOO CUTE!

That’s it….and so…we are off and running for 2012!  Hope you enjoyed it! (And the “sexy” pic was just for you, my precious V!)

Until next we meet….

STYLING NOTES 

Gown: aDiva Couture – Solange SnowQueen – Lace Stockings, Corset, Gloves, Lace Panty, Fur Collar, Skirt
Eyelashes:  – DAMNED -
 *Hair: A&A – Tekesha  White
Jewelry: FINESMITH- GRACE COLLAR, EARRINGS
Shoes: P10 – Gemini Ice Queen Heels
 *Skin:  AKERUKA – skin Eris – Winter Fair 2011 Exclusive GIFT
 *Eyes:  FASHISM – ‘Sunrise’ Eyes – Pale Cool Silver (L)
 *Poses: Purple Poses
Gazebo: Piddler’s Perch

Check out my Flickr stream!

STYLE NOTES

*Dress: ::VMC:: -  Sibelle – Blue
Shoes: [ glow ] studio -  Nite Nite Pumps silver
*Nails:  +:+WTG+:+  - **French** nail
*Hair: A&A - Melrosa Hair Blackberry
*Jewelry: Addiction – Rejoice Diamond Bracelet, Earrings, Necklace
Eyelashes: *REDGRAVE* -31- ExtraLong
Skin: Style by Kira - Emma Skin 01J
*Eyes: FASHISM -  ‘Sunrise’ Eyes – Azure (L)
*Poses: Purple Poses