Daily Archives: December 11, 2014

MetaverseX

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metaversex front cover

 

I just want to give you a heads up on another Issuu publication being released through the SLNMPG (Second Life New Media Publishing Group) imprint.

As many will be aware, cybersex plays a big role in Second Life. It’s certainly not for me, but it’s an important part of many avatars’ Second Life. When I first met Ella, she was writing for a blog run by an avatar called Emmanuelle, who tackled the subject of the manifestations of Second Life sexuality head-on. Ella was an occasional writer on points of naturist interest, which is where the idea for a blog, a magazine, this blog, this magazine, arose. It would be part of a stable of blogs that covered a wide range of Second Life users’ interest. Gor, or the wider fantasy role-playing element of Second Life, was another thing we looked at.

The rest, as they usually say, is history: over three years of it now, and Ella & Pookes continue to do a marvellous job. At the beginning, the plan was for a series of blogs on various topics. Lifestyle, such as naturism, as well as how the Arts were represented within Second Life. As regards the Arts, I got as close as setting up a sister blog, SLAP (Second Life Arts Production), which sits in ghost form on the internet. Those ideas never achieved fruition, being fraught with too many people who liked the idea of blogging, but couldn’t deliver. I got exceptionally lucky in finding someone as dedicated and professional as Ella. As such SLNMPG’s role has been confined to being ‘the publisher’ of SLN.

That’s about to change in 2015. MetaverseX will be an Issuu book on the topic of cybersex and its role in the game. It won’t have anything ‘naturist’ within it. Edited by Apricot, who has written for Ella, it will be out….whenever it’s ready! Yes, we’ll be promoting it here on SLN (I may have to pay for advertising space! 😉 ) but is otherwise not associated with SLN other than the publications will share the same publisher.

For me, there are opportunities to publish on a variety of topics, and Issuu is currently the ideal format. I’ll be utilising that to the full in 2015, so you may occasionally see me pop up on SLN to tell you we’ve a new book coming out. We may even get around to doing on one fantasy role-play, as envisaged a few years back. Fashion, we’ll leave well enough alone. There are other publications out there doing a brilliant job covering that topic.

I’ll let you know more about MetaverseX, or other SLNMPG publications, when the time comes.

As I generally don’t speak much on these pages, and am photographed rarely in SLN, I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Howie Lamilton (SLN Publisher)

Mr. Keng’s makeover, with some help from 7 Deadly Skins

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I’m not sure how long it is since I set up an account for Mr. Keng. Two, three years? For most of that time he’s been a reluctant, irregular player. Grumbled incessantly whenever I dragged him away from news/music/football websites to come online and pose with me.

Lately, though, he’s got more into the game. It’s not exactly a daily thing, but he does occasionally pop up online whenever I’m online too. And…surprise, surprise, he’s decided to stick around now to the point where a ‘makeover’, taking himself away from a basement look hair-d0 and nuclear accident coloured skin to spruce himself up. 🙂

howard keng_001b

Before: kind of like himself, a bit, but the hair’s dreadful and he’s Scottish, he could never be that colour!

howard keng nude2_001b howard keng nude5_001b

After: Rawwwrrrr!!!! 🙂 Yep, much better hair, better skin, a good capture of his generally unshaven state, although the ear-ring isn’t him, and it never will be you, sweetie! xx 🙂

The point being, fellas, that he picked the skin up at 7 Deadly Skins, joined the group for L$5 and claimed this, the current December group gift. 7 Deadly Skins are also running an advent calendar, so you can check in every day and pick up a new skin between now and the 25th! Thanks, 7 Deadly Skins, you’ve worked a miracle on my fella!

Ella

Up before daylight, dressed and out through the door/The Frozen Fair

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I was up well before daylight again this morning for what was an elongated SL in world day. Dressed and out through the door to the Frozen Fair  which is on until the 15th, with lots of L$1 and L$0 items on sale.

In the photo my loved one is kissing me on my return from it, having parted with what amounted to a measly L$11. As you can see, he’d had a lazy morning in bed (in SL, at least; in RL he was slaving away over a hot laptop from home, as his work is exceptionally busy at this time of year).

Anyway, the dress I’m wearing (yes, I do occasionally get dressed in SL), the scarf and the kiss pose all came from the Frozen Fair. You know what to do over the weekend!

ella kiss him after shopping

 

When I say ‘slaving’, I mean that it was a mixture of preparing some papers, booking airline tickets, and hopping onto SL to help me with the pose. Yes, he’s off to Berlin for a couple of days next week for work purposes, stuck in an anonymous hotel, probably on the outskirts of town, with nothing to do in the evenings.

I’ve suggested SL as a way to pass the time. 🙂

We’ve kind of reached our ‘low ebb’ of RL naturism right now. The memories of several jaunts to Spain are fading memories, the promise of further naturist holidays months away. As a result it’s the virtual version that keeps me going right now. While never a replacement for the real life type, it does at least keep me in touch and in tune with the lifestyle.

The grid is kind of at a low ebb, naturism-wise, right now. That’s not to say that our wonderful naturist sim owners aren’t doing things out there, it’s just that it’s not really a time for great development of naturist facilities (watch! someone is probably planning to launch a massive naturist sim over Christmas, just to prove me wrong!)

That said, we’ve never actually done full reports on two of the better sims, 7 Hills and Turtle Beach, so I plan to right that wrong in the coming weeks.

Remember, too, that if you have any ideas for stories you’d like to see covered, sims you’d like to see us investigate, or anything naturist related, drop me a notecard in world.

I’m busy for the next couple of days with RL Christmas stuff, so not much posting from me until Saturday or Sunday, but I’ve all of next week free, all the pressies bought, the tree up, the house looking festive and nothing to do but play SL all of next week.

Currently, I’m thinking of making Tuesday pretty much an in-world all day affair, based at the SLN office at Eden Naturopolis, and hoping to meet up with some of you at that. I’ll confirm times over the weekend.

Ella.

 

Burqini

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Clearly, I’m not someone well-disposed to the idea of a bikini, never mind a burqini, as my mindset would see the invention and wearing of the latter as not being oppressive of women. But, not being Muslim, and of that mindset, I’m in no position to criticise anyone for their beliefs -and equally I don’t expect them to be criticising my lifestyle choices.

I have a Muslim friend in SL, one who might fit into the ‘lapsed’ category, as she freely admits to being bikini-clad on the beach on holiday, away from the family’s disapproving gaze.

She has pointed me in the direction of a burqini that’s available on the Marketplace. No matter what my views are, it’s delightful that the designer has seen fit to price it -a mesh outfit- at the princely sum of L$2 -yes, two Linden dollars- thus ensuring that it’s within the price range of all who may wish to wear it.

I do know that we’ve got many readers in places like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and I presume that most are Muslim and that some may be women. So if there’s any Muslim women out there who play SL, it seems that there is an outfit that will allow them to readily maintain the tenets of their religion affordably. There’s no ‘oppression’ at that price.

burqini
And it looks pretty good, fulfilling the role intended for it. Compare it with a couple of real life examples of the outfit.

SB116-Women-Burqini&Swimwear-store SB117EE-Women-Burqini&Swimwear-store

Now, clearly, this doesn’t really fit, in any stretch of the imagination, within the boundaries of SLN, but nonetheless I did think that it was an important SL clothing item that added to the debate on the freedom/oppression of women, and the feminist debate in general.

I would imagine that any Arabic/Muslim sims around the grid are, like many other sims, bordering the sea, so I assume it will be possible for women there, should they wish, to experience SL swimming while remaining true to their beliefs. My friend has been an important contributor to part of SLN No.12, in relation to the Arabic/Muslim world, and you’ll be able to read more of her views when I publish that next week.

Ella