Derek’s SL Report (English Edition)

or SL and the “Elongated Chin Bug”

Yes, I know SL is a work in progress and as buggy a software as they come that side of the Pacific. And yes, I suffer from rezzing or arriving after TP as Ruth and the occasional skin discoloration (texture bug) making me look like a walking billboard - but this is different!

Why? There’s a fix for those other bugs like undressing and removing all Huds, getting stark naked and changing your hight, relogging after clearing your cache and bingo – you’ll look your old self again. With the Pharaoh Chin this kind of help is lacking. Nothing works! No upteenth clearing of the cache, no relogging butt naked or any other known trick makes my chinny monstrosity disappear. I remember, I had this prob once before already. At the time a friend gave me a copy of a transferable freebie shape of his with the data of my shape typed into it and – yep – regular-chinned Derek was back.

Believe me folks, I already did that. No change! Regardless of what shape I take from my external inventory (= a box in my house), from a friend or from my inventory: I always look like Pharaoh Tutanchamun reborn. On the other hand, if I pass my newly remodeled shape to a friend it looks good – on him.

So where does that leave me?? Will the curse of the Pharaoh Chin be lifted?? Will I ever be handsome Derek again?? Keep your fingers crossed folks or, better, IM me (Derek Hotger) please if you know a solution to this problem ’cause I’m really very frustrated here. Till then, I’ll reconsider my dress style.

In the meantime I will go into the other room, shut all windows and doors, and start screaming : MMMMMMMEEEEEEERRRRRRRDDDDDDDEEEEEEE!

If you’ll pardon my French!

PS: Saved by The Shadow

When nothing else helps, The Shadow strikes! It’s been a long time since I read my last comic book featuring The Shadow but I knew that, although I am no damsel in distress, fighting the „Curse of the Pharaoh Chin“ would be right up the alley of one of my favourite pulp heroes.

Dressing up as The Shadow with the avatar/outfit provided by The Free Fandom Project Store is a natural choice for any chin-challenged person in SL. The scarf comes in handy if you’re not comfortable with your nose, too. Be sure to let the vendors rez completely though before you pick up your free copy of The Shadow or you might end up looking like Frank N. Furter from the famous Rocky Horror Picture Show, lol.

I enjoyed being The Shadow in SL for a while but I’m more than glad he kept that elongated chin when I went back to my new Derek Hotger look. Don’t know why changing back and forth between those two shapes finally helped, just glad it did!

Btw: Those stern brows you will notice after changing back from The Shadow to your old self can be easily changed by wearing the standard bald option provided with any prim hair. Maybe that feature set my chin straight, too, who knows … Better write it down so I know what to do next time the „Curse of the Pharaoh Chin“ befalls me.

For her Valentine’s Day Fashion Show Seraphine Khorana built a beautiful catwalk.

The Japanese setting inspired blitzi and me to dress up for the occasion.

On our way back to the studio blitzi had the idea to tear down the old place and build a new and bigger one – Japanese style! I liked the idea and from that moment on there was no stopping her.

We went to a lot of Japanese sims …

to gather ideas for shapes and textures best suited for such an undertaking.

It was fun to study the structure of those buildings …

and make use of every photo opportunity,

some of them more related to the subject matter …

than others.

I can only recommend visiting sims like Gion …

or Hosoi Ichiba …

which coincidentally is also a nice place to shop for asian furniture …

and “objects d’art”.

After two weeks of intense building the house was finished …

and blitzi started the interior decorating process.

After an occasional “cat nap” in asian furniture stores to let the inspiration soak in,

here are some examples of her work …

including futon,

fish pond with koi and miniature zen garden.

CU in SL!

My friend Kathy told me about a dream she had.

She is working at this old 50th diner.

Some days she is just bored …

other days she is bored stiff waiting for customers to show up.

Kathy is a big sci-fi buff and reads a lot during her shift.

So, dazed by the fumes of burning meat she suddenly has this crazy idea: Mix E = MC² and too much coffee to test relativity and gravity.

And here’s the result: Yes, too much coffee makes space journey possible - at least in/to this diner!

Cheers, here’s to you, Douglas, wherever you may be!

Yesterday blitzi and I went to visit October Country. It’s a beautiful SL location, …

lost in eternal Indian Summer bliss …

and early evening fogs …

as well as never ending preparations for Halloween.

We sat down on a bench for a while to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere.

The local cemetery is a peaceful quiet place, too, …

but you better pay heed to which bridge you cross …

there might be a monster lurking underneath.

Just as unexpectedly Death passed by on a short visit to his customers but didn’t respond to my friendly greetings. Just a threating growl coming from under his cape. At least he didn’t bring his scythe along.

I must say he’s a rather testy and ugly bastard that one, even uglier than greenie. Better move out of his way.

Not really keen on seeing him back soon, like for the next 50 years at least! But don’t let that keep you from paying a visit to October Country.

CU in SL!

I did a lot of camping these past weeks to be able to pay for all those Xmas presents. Sitting on my butt all day in Hell’s Cafe, munching away on those delicious snacks they pass out and enjoying the free drinks, I must admit I got a little heavier than is good for me.

What the heck, I thought, it’s winter, it’s cookie time, let’s have another sip of that good-tasting brew. It was the time of denial.

When my friends started talking about my new grandeur, I switched to striped clothing, renounced the free goodies at Hell’s Cafe and started camping elsewhere, …

where I had to turn from lying on my back to lying on my belly at least once per minute, it being not really that comfortable on those wooden deck chairs. It was the time of acceptance.

Eating less and overcoming almost total inertia helped a little but my friend blitzi thought the time of action had come. She offered to act as my personal trainer. And before I knew it, she dragged me to some huge, glitzy gym …

and shoved me on one of the treadmills.

She went on one herself, but at the other end of the line, as if she didn’t want to be associated with me. That hurt a little but then again, maybe it was just a coincidence. In any case, it motivated me to show blitzi what I was still capable of - even if I couldn’t yet keep up with her speed.

The array of modern torture instruments in this place is impressive. Next we hopped on the spinning bikes, …

then we both did some abcrunches – ok, I did about half as many as
blitzi -, …

after that we tried weightlifting. I don’t know what you think, but I had the impression blitzi was being a bit competitive.

Too bad the back bench was occupied that day, …

but it gave me an idea on how I could use my roof top railing to emulate that device:

Okay, I admit it, climbing into this position was kind of crazy and almost made me fall down the first time …

and wearing a suit and tie was more than unpractical (but nice for the picture effect, hehe).

But after a few weeks of training in the gym and doing some homework abcrunches on the roof, …

Derek now looks his former self again, don’t you agree?

Btw: Wanna know why blitzi went to the trouble of getting me fit again? A picture says more than a 1000 words. Look for yourself:

CU at the avatar workout! If I’m not there, I probably have bought myself a new shape instead, lol!

and a Happy New Year!

CU next year in SL!

Seraphine Khorana’s last Sunday’s Xmas-Fashion-Show presented the latest in must-haves for the cold season.

Wearing everything from cuddly warm pyjamas (EmmZ Tzara) to flimsy lingerie (Nyll Bergbahn), …

from elegant dresses (Missy Wishbringer) to esoteric gowns (Mercy McNally), …

and from Kung Fu Style (Mango Splash) to Goth Punk Retro Chic (Kryptonia Paperdoll) - all models did a great job.

Their interpretation of how Santa’s little helpers would look like if we
could only see them …

ranged from colourful to cute to quite sexy.

Here’s to another year of great fashion shows by Seraphine Model Management!

Designers in this show:

Bubblefish - Soda Domela

Gothic Dreams - Xulltana Lowell

Insolence - Camilla Yosuke

Nicky Ree - Nicky Ree

Omen - Lilibeth Andree

Seide Tripp Designs - Seide Tripp

Self Expressions - Andie Ramona

Wild Thing - Nickie LeMay

‘k, so you heard Santa found himself a new girlfriend. So what? She’s a nice young lady from where they still make them blond and blue-eyed. Likes to hang out at the park.

That’s okay as long as the sun is still high in the sky. Gets kinda cold in the afternoon, though. ‘k, you got me there. Mrs. Claus-to-be didn’t like my tattoos. Asked me to change my attire. “You got no style,” she said, pffffffffffft.

But then, I’m here to please the customer, no problem. If the ol’ guy wants me to guard his fiancée, me and my quiet friend on the other side of the bench will do just that – no questions asked.

Gets kinda boring though, not much happening here at the park. Mind you, we’re always prepared, come what may.

So, run along and watch where you’re looking, mate. No presents for you this year if you don’t take your eyes of them two cuties, know what I mean?

‘k, just a friendly warning, the ol’ guy can get rather vindictive, trust my words!

PS: Thanks to Hailie Alcott for playing Mrs. Claus-to-be and Derrick Chaffe for playing the quiet co-worker!

Another nice place to buy men’s footwear is Jeepers Creepers. They sell different labels like Trashville, Rigger, …

ugh, JCS, Clog, Quixote, …

Oslo, or Hawkes and Healey among others.

But my favourite at the moment are their black Carl Perkins’.

For 400 L $ you get a pair of really well-designed and good-looking shoes!

Btw: They sell women’s shoes, too!

Not to forget: I also love to do some window shopping at Savvy Avvy’s from time to time since they have some shoes I always admire, especially the dark burgandy version.

They are 300 L $ a pair. Maybe someone will give them to me for Xmas. Here’s hoping!

see also:

A Buyer’s Guide to Men’s Shoes

Shoe Report – Addendum

A week ago I went to take a look at Kanja Sands’ new piece of land. A beautiful spot in the mountains.

She has built her new house in a skybox high above the ground.

It’s designed to look like a typical loft apartment with a beautiful view of the New York skyline.

Kanja is not only an interior decorator in SL but in RL, too, …

and has painstakingly recreated the atmosphere of living in an old converted industrial building …

as in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.

Kanja has her own helicopter shuttle service for her guests …

who then teleport upstairs to her roof terrace to enjoy a beautiful starfilled night.

Maybe she’ll decorate your home sometime.

CU in SL!