The Oblonski shop in Armada Breakaway or the Booty Room in 'The Black Barnacle'

By Lord Lisle

For many readers the Armada Breakaway sim is not an unknown area. No one can describe this place better than Loki Elliot in his recent You Tube machina:


In a conversation with Mr Dagger a week or so ago, he told me about the Black Barnacle, his pub and parlor in Armada Breakaway. What is more, I was informed about the existance of a Booty Room in that very pub, the hiding place of a large heap of gold coins.

Becoming interested, and knowing that Yolanda Hirvi had also opened an Oblonski shop in Armada Brealaway, I decided to inspect Yo's shop and have a look in the pub and it's gold....

The Oblonski shop in Armada Breakaway. In the background the Black Barnacle pub

The Black Barnacle pub and parlor is constructed from huge barrels and old drift wood. The Booty Room is located on the first floor

Inside the Booty Room where I discovered rare paintings, treasure chests and a heap of gold Dubloons. Looking at the gold, I felt jumping in it like uncle Scrooge McDuck...

This is a portrait of Yolanda Hirvi, taken and signed by the well known SL photographic artist Mr Skusting Dagger Esq. Do you like his work of art? Why not IM him for a portrait sitting appointment in his studio!

Steam-Punk New Babbage: the new Oblonski shop or meeting Mr Skusting Dagger Esq

By Lord Lisle

Quite recently Yolanda Hirvi reopened her Oblonski shop in New Babbage at Babbage Square(does that woman really never got enough outlets?). As I had not been in the steam punk community for a long time, I took (after inspecting the Oblonski shop) the opportunity to explore this wonderful steam punk city to see whether there might be new additions

The recently opened Oblonski shop in Babbage Square 144, 200, 105 , just opposite the Electric Theatre

Not very far off the Oblonski shop is the Churchill Industrial Plot 2 with a row of Bessemer steel converters

Further down New Babbage, the Dagon's Pleasure Pier in the Vernian Sea 75, 192, 102 with the entrance to the New Babbage undersea channels

Inside of one of the Jules Verne inspired tubes at 100 meters below sea level of the waters in Vernian Sea

The Nautilus in the Vernian Sea 145, 141, 101 In the background Doctor's Obolensky Observatory

Taking a snapshot of the city below me I noticed a person with a familiar face watching my effords in taking a good position for a picture: no less than the great Daguereteer Mr Skusting Dagger Esq, which I had not spoken in a long time

Meeting Skusting Dagger at the entrance of Serenity Steamworks in Port Babbage

Mr Dagger discovered New Babbage in the fall of '07 and felt at home right away. It was only two sims at the time, Babbage Square and Babbage Canals. He loved the brick and the urban industrial feel. The Victorian era sci-fi and horror elements kept it interesting and kept him coming back.'..... The folks that reside and build in New Babbage are indeed creative. And they love industry. There is also some remarkable role playing and story telling that goes on here. (RP is always optional). You never know what mystery you might stumble upon....'
Mr Dagger continues: - '.......... If you want to explore New Babbage and looking for interesting places, lets go sim by sim, in order of their coming into existance....'

Babbage Square.... The first thing that comes to mind is the Olde Imperial Theater. Built by Loki Eliot, it is the secret hideout of the local street urchins, and the scene of horrible crimes and mystery.The Paleozoic Museum, buit by PRofessor Nareth Nishi, and preserved by Elleon Bergamasco, is a must see. And then there is the Karhuvel Steamworks built by Salazar Jack. There are also many fine stores and shops.

Babbage Canals: The home to my own beloved Ruby's Pub, which I have preserved from its original owner Sir ArthurConan Doyle. more here:The Canal District is also home the the RF Burton Memorial library. Built by Canolli Capalini and Elihu Leominster. It houses and extensive selection of books and features rotating exhibitions. Again, more fine shopping can be found here. And you can go fishing in Shay McDowwll's Steampunk Park

Port Babbage.... New Babbage's sector of commerce and trade. Many many shops, and there is a sunken ship below.

The Vernian Sea... underwater residences. Home to Reitsuki Kojima's Nautilus, the Lotus of the Sea underwater house (built by Kandace Commons and preserved by Breezy Carver), the evil Doctor Obolensky's Observatory and laboratory, and Dagon's Island Pleasure Pier buit by Elfod Nemoth.When the Vernian Sea and Port Babbage came online, the sea level for these two sims as well as Babbage Square and Babbage Canals were raised 100 meters, making the Vernian Sea the deepest sea sim in all of Second Life.

Babbage Palisade.... An extension of Babbage Square, leading to the city wall, beyond which is rural country side. The Wall is a must see. Home to Augustus Dayafter's Gangplank, Bela Lubezki's Her Darl Materials Factory, Viv Trafalgar's Aether Salon, and Beq Janu's recreation of the famous Horta House.

Wheatstone Waterways... Created as an extension of the Canal District. Home to Breezy Carver's Piermont Landing and my own recreation of the Mark Twain Study. Many shops here as well. Kiergarten Manufacturing, parks and cafes and tea rooms.Then there is the newly arrived sim of New Babbage (aka#7) there is an extensive underground sewer network built by Trilobite Zanzibar, and houses the New Babbage locale for Radio Riel, Finely Twine's Iron Bay and Greg Merryman's shipworks

In spite of the heavy industrial activities, with the ever apparent steam and coal fumes, this is a beautiful little park in Babbage Canals, just opposite Rubi's Pub



If you are still not convinced about the fascination of New Babbage, JUST watch this wonderful YouTube machinima created by Loki Elliot or visit:
http://newbabbage.ning.com/forum/topics/january-8th-founders-day

Next time I should like to take you to Armada Breakaway where we try to find the heap of gold, hidden in Mr Dagger's Black Barnacle Pub.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory or a factory in a hat

by Lord Lisle

Possibly you may have read Roald Dahl's novel 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' or more likely seen the classic 1971 film 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' starring Gene Wilder.

Our own Second Life star PatriciaAnne Daviau (yes, she was featured in this Blog not so long ago...) build part of the Wonka Factory in Second Life. What is so special about this you may ask? She build the 230 prims factory in a Willy Wonka hat!

The hat with the highly detailed miniature factory can be admired in the Metaversal Arts sim, close to the Metaveral Arts Office and Theatre or in the IBM6 sim

Ohh, before I forget: click on the hat and listen what will happen! Enjoy!

Talented creators of SL (8): Equine McMillan or an engineer at work

By Lord Lisle

In my previous entry in the Metaversal Arts Blog I revealed that the new premises of the Metaversal Arts Shop were created by Equine McMillan. The new building is not only tasteful, but offers a much more practical arrangement for visitors, customers and shopkeepers. I strongly advice readers to visit the new Metaversal Arts shop, and also to have a look at the range of new items on display.

Aerial view of the new Metaversal Arts Shop, another fine creation by Equine McMillan

Not very long after the opening of the new Metaversal Arts Shop, I noticed an interesting puffing, smoking and spinning object in the North-East side of the building. Getting closer, I saw a beautifully engineered AND most realistic/detailed three cylinder steam engine, build by Equine McMillen.

The steam engine with fireplace, boiler and alternator can be admired in the North-East side of Cherish (187, 228, 60)

I became interested to see whether Equine had created more similar objects and was not disappointed -after I had viewed the picks in his profile ;-) Here a snapshot of the Botanical House greenhouse heating system, Caledon On Sea (243, 204, 22). Again a mechanical and logical correct design

Halfway my quest to investigate his creations, I contacted Equine via IM and asked him to answer a few of my questions, which he willingly did:

LL: Can you recall your original motive to take an account on SL?
Well, this one is rather ironic actually. A friend of mine told me about SL about 2 years ago, and asked me to try it. I was extremely sceptical, thinking that this is a total waste of time. Since then I came to think of metaverses quite differently. I started enjoying my stay, interacting with various people, exploring, being creative, etc.

LL: Did it take long before you felt comfortable and confident to build here?
I quickly got in the hang of building, it was quite intuitive, and I really enjoyed creating things. At first I was just fooling around with prims, and textures. Actually among my first ideas was a skeleton clock (which I did build after about two months of stay in SL), and a steam engine. The latter took considerably longer to get right :).

LL: I noticed that you take commissions, would you reject a project which is against your personal taste and what are projects you particularly like?
To be honest, from experience, I'd say I can find "my taste" in almost any style I do. My real criteria is "doing it right". Whatever the task may be. If your aim is a flowing consistent style, you can pretty much make anything look good. My personal taste is less of an issue.
I've built minimalist type homes, also steampunk builds (more of the latter evidently), and some other looks and feels. I think a lot depends on how much you can sort of see things the way the customer does. To feel what his/her goal is. Sometimes that's quite a challenge of course.
About personal preferences...I'm not really sure! It's a bit like musical taste. I like the variety, there are songs I listen to more often, but depending on my mood I might be listening to something completely different.

LL: The Epona’s Gate suspension Bridge and Greystoke railway station in Caledon must have been a major undertakings, how many hours did you spend in creating these?
Hmm, honestly I have no idea! I never keep track of time while building :). That was a lengthy project for sure though. Throughout the build process I had to coordinate with various people to make sure they like what I'm doing, and putting on their land :). And here I want to thank Desmond Shang for the opportunity of course! He was very supportive, as were all the people I was in contact with there.
Overall that was a rather satisfying accomplishment, I enjoyed building it.

LL: From what I have seen so far, most of your creations are located in Caledon South (except the Metaversal Arts Shop of course). Are you keen to take commissions to build at other places, providing the surrounding premises are not ugly?
Yes most of them are in the southern region of Caledon, but actually I take commissions from any part of SL, and even if the surroundings are not really aesthetically pleasing, making it a bit better is something I'm quite willing to do :).
The reason for most of my builds being in Caledon, is that I lived there for quite a while, from my early days. And here again I would like to thank Viderian Vollmar, and Kamilah Hauptmann, Samantha Glume and all of Caledon for their support. My build talents were developed and nourished there.
Oh and by the way, I also built a couple of things on the mainland, but as rapidly changing those areas are, they weren’t there for long.

LL: As an electrical and radio engineer I am particularly interested in your steam engines and alternators and looking forward to see anything more in this field (yes I would love to see one of those white marble switchboards with fuses, meters, control lamps and switches, hint, hint..). Have you got any building plans of more steam and early electrical machines for the future?
By all means! I am a big fan of "fancy electrics". Until now I mostly took commissions, but I've decided to create a line of products to sell. Of course I don't want to "confine" myself into only one style. One thing is for sure: Engineering has, and will have a very strong influence on what I do in here. I prefer stuff that is, within the confines of SL, "logically correct", though I like to mix that logic with a healthy amount of fantasy. Sort of..."best of both (more more) worlds". My own home in SL though is strongly fantasy oriented. It's more of a sanctuary actually.

LL: When you tell your colleagues and friends about your activities in SL, are their reactions on the positive side?
It depends! Some of my closest friends have second lifes. Those who aren't familiar with it usually have a negative first reaction. After some explaining some of them change that opinion, some don't. It seems when I mention the possibility of earning real money, their ears perk ;). Some even get curious!

Raffles, home to Munro Imaginary Motors, makers of aircraft and airships both practical and fanciful. Her new airborne base in the Duchy of Loch Avie, Caledon Loch Avie (131, 163, 130) was build by Equine.

A long (150 meters) and majestic, low prim suspension bridge (called "Epona's Gate") connecting two duchies in Caledon and part of the new railroad extention was one of Equine's major builds. Conspirators of Caer Firnas, Steampunk Duchy of Caer Firnas Caledon Caer Firnas (85, 164, 44)

Duchy of Greystoke, Caledon Greystoke (138, 165, 43) Greystoke Station along the railroad extension built for Caledon. Most of the tracks are in air partly on the suspension bridge. Caledon Oxbridge University can be seen in the background.

Not very far off the Greystoke Station is Oxbridge University. The majestic clock in the tower was build by Equine, and look at the details! It contains a chime script which appropriately hits quarters, halfs, three quarters and the hour of course. Please do visit it a few minutes before the hour to hear it in action :-). Caledon Oxbridge Village, Caledon Oxbridge Village (13, 136, 21)

Whilst sitting on that clock in Caledon Oxbridge University, I was too busy taking snapshots and I did not notice two nasty flying creatures. Apparently kept by a nasty Dean to keep students IN the buildings and not, as I did, hanging around on the roofs and towers.... Before I knew what happened the most ugly and biggest of the creatures grabbed me in the crutch.

Having the camara still at hand, I managed to take these two snapshots before I was slammed to the ground, not very far off the Oxbridge University Building.....

After rezzing and still a bit dizzy from the wild ride, I looked around. By strange coincidence (was it really?...) I was dropped near Equine McMillan's L'Engle Tesseract Generator in Caledon Steam SkyCity (204, 26, 23) Although I had read in another BLog that the machine was considered as '..dangerous, deadly and evil..', I could not resist in taking a closer look at it.

The prime mover of the Tesseract Generator was at first sight a version of the ubiquitous McMillan two cylinder steam engine coupled to two huge alternators, hmm, interesting so far... A more closer view revealed that this machine is more detailed then the other ones I saw so far.

..... sit on the seat and pull the handle on the switchboard to generate a Tesseract...., said a note. .....(Do this at your own risk, of course :)....I jumped on the chair and pulled the handle. Actually, I should have been more careful after reading the second note, because the engine started running, the sliding door closed and I was pushed upwards in the tower ...

Arriving at the top of the tower, without being able to move, four arms came from the ceiling, forming a cage....

A split second later after the four arms had touched each other, the alternator down in the building made a loud high pitched sound and the inside of the cage bursted out in flames..

What happened next, you ask me? I'd rather not tell, but I want YOU to find out yourself, if you dare!

Thank you, Equine, for this experience!
Keep on with the good work ;-)

The shape of things to come or the renovation of Cherish

By Lord Lisle

Although the Metaversal Arts Shop staff knew that Yolanda Hirvi was up to something, (well, isn't she always, hehe...) it still came as a shock to me when I arrived in Cherish today and found that the usual landing place had been changed and that there were no visitors and customers around...
It soon transpired that Yolanda took the opportunity of a quiet day to renovate the main shop buildings. As these works are a bit awkward for customers (let alone the dreadful sight of Yolanda hopping around in overalls, pfffff) it was decided to close the sim for the duration.

Yolanda (tagged as Bad Boss) shaping one of the cornerstones of the renovated Metaversal Arts Shop, a dreadful sight, is it not?

A sneak preview of the renovated Metaversal Arts Shop buildings, as seen from the Metaversal Arts Theatre. I am looking forward to the opening shortly! YOU too? I am not allowed to tell you that this magnificient piece of SL architecture is another creation by Equine McMillan...(don't tell that you got it from me, or else...)

Tango Pasión by Maar Auer

by Yolanda Hirvi

As most of you already know Maar Auer's work is always stunning. Metaversal Arts and Maar Auer are proud to present Tango Pasión; the steamiest dance animation for a couple ever seen in SL. This machinima made by Maar is pretty hot too. *Grins*



Animation and Machinima : Maar Auer
Dancers: Yolanda Hirvi and Lord Lisle
Location : Armada Breakaway
Music : Gotan Project

Prepare to be ashtonished : The Grand Opening of Armada Breakout

by Yolanda Hirvi


While searching for a location to shoot machinima for Maar's new tango-animation, I happened to land on the very special place. It didnt take me long to realize that Armada Breakaway is a perfect place; for not only to shoot a machinima but for a new Oblonski branch store too. Armada is "Victorian-steampunk-merfolk-pirate" - role play region that seems to have many secrets. Citizens of Armada welcome everyone to join the grand opening festivities March 1, 12.30 pm - 8 pm.

Read more about Armada (and find the schedule for grand opening) http://www.onthebonesofboats.com/