Hello dear ones! I managed to do a lil bit of virtual exploring the other day. I have two lovely places to show you. Enjoy the pics!
Frisland~ I love the vintage charm here.
Winter Boomland ~Sleigh rides, several photo ops, and even a ride in a mug of hot cocoa!
Now back home…Merry Christmas everyone! God bless & remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover
In this post: I show my favorite holiday sims in the virtual world of Second Life.
Hello dear ones! I hope you are well. I know my December posts have been scattered. We will get back to normal in January, Lord willing. Meanwhile, I am still chugging along. I’ve had time to check out some neat holiday sims. I’ll start with the top:
Lastly, I encourage you to check out the virtual ballet “The Nut”. It’s based on The Nutcracker and is a joy to see, granted you’ve got a good graphics card. It’s playing live on Wednesdays and Sundays. There’s more info at the link below. Also I’ll include a link to my blog coverage from last year.
https://secondlife.com/my/community/events/event.php?id=5779916&lang=en-US
Last year’s Virtual winter post:
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/virtual-friday-christmas-ballets-and-such/
Well, that’s it for now. I have a bunch of posts to get to you and I’m sure I will before the new year.
God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
PS: If you can’t see the play in Second Life then go to Youtube and search “The Nut Ballet Pixelle”.
Hello friends and Merry Christmas! I pray you are having a lovely week. I finally got to to see ballet pixelle perform in Second Life. I was a couple of minutes late and my graphics card doesn’t do so well but I made it. I was able to see their rendition of The Nutcracker, “The Nut”. It wasn’t the same as real life of course but it was pretty good for virtual ballet. I think it would’ve been better if I had a better graphics card. Here are some lovely pics :).
If you’re new to my site, this is the day I show you the virtual world of Second Life. What is SL? Find out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life
“The Nut” was performed live at the Rose Theatre at the Angel Manor sim.
Visit Angel Manor (160, 4, 31)
There was a large audience for an SL event. I almost couldn’t get in because there were too many people. If you know anything about virtual worlds then you know that sims can only handle a certain amount of people (avatars). Too many people equals a ton of lag.
My graphics aren’t the greatest but I got a few good pics of the ballerinas.
Clara and the Nutcracker
Afterwards there was a gala with a live musician! Am Quar (his SecondLife name, Andre Massicotte is his real name) was fantastic. He’s from Canada and sang Jazz, Latin, and Christmas songs. At first I thought he was just the dj and that the music was prerecorded. But I tipped him and he thanked me by name. So he was performing live…..meaning in his home studio through Second Life. It didn’t sound karaoke at all. I looked on his info and the theatre was paying him 5,000 lindens an hour ($20 USD) which is a pretty penny for a virtual event.
I’m glad I wore my best dress because this was a ritzy event. I was the only kid avatar there so that was a bit awkward. I found one dance that was appropriate for a kid avatar. I danced around like a ballerina. It would seem that virtual dancing would be boring but you’d be amazed how easy it is to get immersed in a virtual experience. It really feels like you’re there to a point. That’s why I like SL in the winter….sometimes it feels like there really is snow. SL is great for sick people. If you’re bedridden then you can travel by computer :).
It’s interesting to watch all the people who show up to these things. Surprisingly there are several couples. Virtual dating is popular. It has been years since I got the hubby to come on SL with me. Now that I’m a kid avatar I don’t have to worry about some stranger asking me to dance. I have loaded up Chris’ avatar for an SL wedding I attended so it’d look like I had a date. Sad I know but who wants to go to a wedding alone?…even if my date was controlled by me lol.
So I was in such a good mood that I searched for other Christmas events. I teleported over to a “Tiny” Carol party. Tinies are small animal avatars. I think usually bunnies. Anywho, they didn’t really sing….just typed silly Carols. I was bored and found this place to skate while listening to a live concert.
The musician is an Elvis impersonator. He did alright I guess. He wasn’t as good as Am Quar. I didn’t stay very long…
I do have a couple of picturesque places for you to visit :).
Incendia was pretty. Visit Wishing Well (128, 187, 21)
The Garden of Whimsy
Learn about the different Christmas traditions around the world at: Visit Irish Tropical Escapes (56, 206, 23)
Timeless photography has several neat places for pics. Just make sure to stay in the family areas. They also have a great emoticater or something like that. I was able to make my avatar do expressions. I had too much fun with this tool!
Well, I hope you check out these great places while they’re still up. If you have any suggestions for family friendly sims for winter/Christmas then please let me know in the comments :).
BTW, Dec 11th made 4 years that I’ve been in Second Life. I joined in 2008. It’s wild that it’s been that long. I do remember that I went to several prayer meetings in world and people prayed for my Dad. He died in 2009. So yeah, it’s been that long.
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
PS: bonus pic, this is of my mom and I, when I had an adult avatar. Mom doesn’t come on SL anymore but we used to hang out there a lot especially when she lived in Texas. So we could only hang out virtually lol. Mom’s avatar is in blue.
And two more…..my first apartment in SL. It was near an art gallery and very cozy. I had an ugly avatar and you can tell I was a noob (beginner).
This was a pretty Christmas pic when I was an adult avatar.
Hey gang, this will be a quick post. I mean’t to do this last night but it didn’t happen. It’s a combo of Virtual Friday and Media Saturday. I don’t have a media review today but maybe by next week. I do however have a picture of winter in the new Sims 3 Seasons expansion pack. I’ll get into that more next Saturday ;).
Winter is my favorite time in the virtual world of SecondLife. I first stumbled upon this unique place several years ago at this time. I was sick for a week and wasn’t able to clog at a Christmas event (I used to dance). I was bored and didn’t have the Sims so I searched for something similar and free. I found SecondLife which is very different from the Sims games because you meet real people and the virtual places are always there. It’s like going to a “real” world because anybody can visit at anytime. You run into strangers and that’s just neat. I’ve met interesting folks and have been in unique groups in SL. Mainly, I love the scenery and music. Most sims (not the game, rather areas in SL) play Christmas music all December and sometimes you can catch live music at a nifty Jazz club.
So first……here are some great Winter pics from Second Life.
At home: you can see the neighbors lights thru the window.
My neighbors are really festive. I like the tea cup house.
Neighbor’s gingerbread house
You can see my tree inside my house thru the door.
Frosty Night was a beautiful place for pictures.
You can visit it here:
By the way, this Wednesday at 2 pm SL time the Rose Theatre will show “The Nut”, a rendition of the Nutcracker by Ballet Pixel. I have always wanted to see the virtual ballerinas but haven’t…so maybe I can catch them. SL time is behind me. So if you go by Eastern Standard time it will actually be 5pm.
I took a few pictures of the Rose Theatre with my new avatar. Also, I was able to upload the new SL viewer so I have better graphics. I really like the look. The Rose Theatre is such a lovely place. I did a post on it months back.
Here is a link to the post I did on the Rose Theatre. The link to visit is at the end of that post.
Lastly, Sims 3 finally got a Seasons expansion pack. More on that next week. For now, enjoy some of the winter pictures with my sims. Btw, Sims is a game where you create sim people and you basically control their lives. It’s great for making up stories. You can even make videos. You have full control over the whole sim family you make and also their house and the world they live in. You can use mods to customize most anything in the world. It is NOT a virtual world like Second Life. In Second Life you can only control one avatar and you can visit places other people have created. Sims 3 is just a game not a social network. I enjoy creating stories and building/ decorating houses. Now that we have seasons my sim family finally has snow. Sometimes I like to make fairy tale sims….other times art imitates life & I have replicas of my real life family.
Below me and my hubby are fairies. Yeah, in real life Chris would kill me if I tried to put wings on him. We are also teens…yeah…moving on. I’m really excited that Sims 3 now has slow dancing. It makes romantic stories better. My sims are all dressed up for the gift giving party that happens during winter.
Here’s my “sister” enjoying a hot chocolate. The expansion pack has several new holiday food and drink choices. She’s at the festival grounds and the concessions are behind her.
The snow is just awesome. It’s cool because when it came time for “spring” the snow slowly melted. There are alot of fun things to do with the snow in Sims 3…like snow angels and igloos. I’ll try to get some good pics…maybe a video. Below Kristoph (my Chris sim) is snow boarding. They’re in a Western town that I found on the exchange. It’s great because there are no roads in that world so everyone has to walk or ride horses (if you have the Pets expansion).
Link to Western Town:
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=5592310
I also used the “traveler” mod by NRAAS so I can travel between worlds with the same family. Best mod ever and so far no issues.
http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Traveler
I do not recommend the Sims for children. Sims can be very good or it can be bad. You pretty much set the morals for your characters and that fact is why Michael isn’t allowed to play. It’s like playing dolls except more graphic. There are also supernatural aspects with the game. Sims can die and when they do the grim reaper shows up. There’s a cemetery and everything. There are mods that push the game even farther. I have a mod where my sim kids can homeschool or the mom can be a home maker. Other mods though can be bad. I saw one that adds weapons to the game. Yeah, I won’t be adding that. I feel bad enough when my sims catch the house on fire while cooking. I’m glad they have fire extinguishers and fire men lol. Usually my sims die of old age!
Note: mods aren’t made by EA and some can really mess up your game or contain viruses. I only use mods that come from reputable sites like modthesims or nraas. Anywho, in my opinion it’s an adult game. On a positive note it’s great for creative folk like me. You can flesh out your book characters…make movies. Most people make music videos. It’s like you have control over your own little actors.
Kissing in the Rain pic (yes, they have rain now too!)
Well, so much for this not being a review. Maybe I’ll just show you pics next week or attempt to make my own machinima. It would be awesome to do a Sim nativity….hmmmm.
I hope you enjoyed the pics and info :). If you’re not the gaming sort I hope you can appreciate the photography (I’m lookin’ at you mom).
God bless & remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover
Hello friends :). I hope you are well. Little man is feeling better. I’ve got a sore throat but let’s pray it goes away quickly. Please keep my father in law in your prayers. He’s in the hospital with pneumonia. Thank you :).
Well, we are back to the Virtual world of Second Life. Last time, I had to decorate for fall. This time I got home to see snow everywhere. Second Life is the prettiest in the winter. I just love it. So to keep up with my neighbors I put up Christmas decorations. Why does everyone skip Thanksgiving? Remember you can click on the pictures to enlarge them. I really hope you do because I have some beautiful pics from Cadenza.
Then I visited Cadenza. This sim has no purpose but an artistic one. It’s great for pictures and if you need cheering up!
It’s basically a huge winter tree that you explore. Isn’t it pretty?
Inside there are bunnies
Then you enter the magical door and you’re taken to a Christmas room.
The room is all a swirl with snowflakes, presents, and Christmas tables.
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello hello friends and welcome. If you look to the right of my blog you will see I have some new categories. Each day of the week has a different theme that I will blog about. Today is Virtual Friday 🙂
Here’s my description of Virtual Friday:
Join me for an adventure in the virtual world. Where will I go next in Second Life? I’ll make sure to bring back pictures and maybe a story about my journey. I’ll discover beautiful sites that can only be found in the virtual realm and I’ll tell you about my experiences with the diverse people who stay in them. (PS: click on the pictures to see a larger image)
What is Second Life? Here’s a little video that says it all:
I found SecondLife about 3 or 4 years ago. I was sick and in the bed and I needed a remedy for my boredom. It was Christmas time and I believe the loveliest time of all in SecondLife. There is snow everywhere and some nifty Jazz clubs that play Christmas music. I have joined many groups and have met many interesting people from around the world while in this Virtual land. Once I even attended a virtual “wedding”.
I’ve lived in many role play communities and have rented several places. The best for me was the mermaid community. I love all the under water scenery. I also loved Tombstone, AZ. I lived in a Native American village and also in the Western town. There are many interesting places to explore and your avatar can be whatever it wants to be. SecondLife is great for people with physical disabilities who can’t travel in real life (or for people like me who can’t afford fancy vacations lol).
*Warning~ I do not recommend SecondLife for children (including Teens) because it IS a social world and there are many different types of people in it. Some people get on SecondLife to do bad things and often you may run into a pervert. So you do have to be careful where you go and who you talk to in any virtual world.
But if you know the right places to explore and you find the G-rated clubs you will meet some great people. I really enjoy Club Eternal & The Fire Escape. These are Christian clubs where you can enjoy Christian music, live worship, prayer groups, and Bible study. There are also book clubs and real businesses in Second Life.
Moving on…..today I want to share with you a few interesting places I explored recently. As you will see, my avatar is now a little girl avatar. I find the child avatar to be easier to dress modestly and also less pervs talk to you when you’re a kid. For my safety and privacy I will not reveal my SecondLife name.
#1 Narnia (Aslan’s How)~ Here is the description from the creator: “Aslan’s How is a sim with a Narnia theme that incorporates Christian ministries such as Apologetics,Theology, and Bible study. Come for the Narnian or Christian themes, just like you do when you read the books of C.S. Lewis”
(Visit Aslan’s How: Visit Commitments (30, 139, 13))
I found Aslan’s How to be a very enchanting Sim. The scenery was gorgeous as far as the landscape. I do think some of the houses (like Mr. Tumnus’ house) could have been decorated more. But overall I enjoyed the sim. The background music was peaceful and there were several little nooks to enjoy some alone time. Here are my pictures starting from the wardrobe and ending in the forest.
I’m not done exploring Aslan’s How (Narnia) because SecondLife crashed before I could finish. If I find other interesting spots I’ll make sure to post them.
#2 Rainbows (Visit Rainbows (4, 233, 23))
This Sim has a lovely castle based on a real Welsh castle. I really enjoyed all the secret doors and hiding places. There was a large room with a nice fire place. It was very comfy. You could also go on the balcony and look out to the sea and watch a lightening storm.
#3 Butterfly Kisses (Visit Butterfly Kisses (114, 75, 21))
This is a completely girly sim. There is a movie theater that plays Disney films, a 50’s diner, a bowling alley, and a cute fair ground. Best of all this is a G-rated sim. If you are in the mood for ice cream and pink happiness then Butterfly Kisses is perfect for you.
#4 Pravatch (Visit Pravatch (238, 225, 3)) A lovely ocean sim. This is a great place just to swim.
Here are some beautiful winter sims. These were great for photography.
Visit Languedoc Coeur (233, 205, 23)
Visit Hutchinson Parish (146, 99, 24)
But there’s no place like home…kickin’ back and watching SL television. I won’t tell you where I’m renting though. I’ll just say it’s nice being able to change the scenery and props in my rental.
If you plan on spending much time in SecondLife I highly suggest that you find a cheap rental. You never know when you’ll run into an awkward person that you need to teleport away from. Also it’s good to have a private place where you can change your wardrobe and gather your thoughts.
Note* I do not have a premium account anymore & I believe they are unnecessary. It is much cheaper just to rent land or even just an apartment. I enjoy being a free spirit and living in different sims. And if money is tight your avatar can always go homeless. There are lots of free changing rooms and hotels available if you search for them.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this Virtual Friday. If you get a chance to, jump on SL and check out these nifty places. Then leave me a comment with your opinions 😉
God bless and remember The High King Lives!
~Amber Dover
Welcome! My name is Amber Dover. I am a homeschooling mom, happy wife, and a devout follower of Jesus Christ. I am also a writer. I am currently working on "The Truth Seeker's Chronicles" (an inspirational fantasy/allegory). You will find everything from craft ideas to writing tips on my blog. So please pull up a chair and hang out :)
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