A Rumple in the Weft

I do not often explore on my own, but I do try to be aware of the surroundings as I attend functions in the Steamlands. The most recent salon was at the Dragonlands Hotel, as the discussion was on the archetype of Asian Steampunk, or the local interpretation thereof.

The Baron & Annechen at the Aether Salon, image by P. J. Trenton

I generally enjoy the salons, but my inattention was apparent to the Baron. Standing behind my chair, he subtly tapped my shoulder as the visitors left. "What is it?"

"Hm?" I was still distracted by the... something in the air.

"You are usually very focused at the salons, what is wrong?" He kept his voice low enough to not be noted by the last of the guests conversing with the speakers.

I was unable to answer right away, as I did not have a clear answer. "Something odd here... meh." I shrugged it off as best I could, "Could be all the new people here. Something seems a bit off, though."

His eyebrows twitched, as he hates drawing out inquiries, but he has learned sometimes it is for a lack of proper shared vocabulary when an answer is not straightforward. "What sort of 'off'?" he asked.

I checked for listeners nearby and murmured, "The kind of 'off-balance' that Rengerin brought with her." He winced, as he hates that sort of complication. His eyebrows asked the question he did not want to voice. After tilting my head about, trying to hear the scent and see the sound that was distractingly on the edge of registering, I nodded to him. "I will come back when it is quieter, with some back-up, and see if it is local or a visitor."

The Baron led the way out of the hotel and back to the office on the civic plaza, "Have some of your family cross-check your findings. We do not have full authority here, so make sure of your investigation." He strode to his office to review the reports from the week.

In the following week, I did not have time to make a full investigation, but I was at least able to discern the anomaly was upstairs, not in the Dragonlady's "special" parlors below the lobby. It was disturbingly familiar, and at the same time, set my teeth on edge. I was going to need a professional investigator on this one. Luckily, there were several in the family, and one that had just gotten back from her self-imposed medical trip to Caledon.

"Hokay, so why does this crottle your greeps?" Amarantis said as she leaned against the file cabinets, her wings folded tightly against her back.

I blinked at her terminology, then shook my head, "That is not the issue. For me to sense it, without looking for a problem, it has to be strong enough to be extremely out of joint."

She shrugged, "Or it impacts you directly. I'll take a look. Might even bring Greenie in on it, she needs the training."

"No, I do not like that idea, she is too young for that sort of operation, yet."

"Meh, better she learns with backup than in dire straits." She shrugged again, and headed for the door, "I'll watch out for her."

Which meant the plan would go ahead whether I agreed with it or no. Sometimes working with family can be severely distressing, especially when there is not an official chain of command. Thinking of family, I was reminded of the newest addition to the staff.

I gathered up the last of the copies of the marriage certificates for the diplomatic courier run later this week, with the back up accounting reports and letters regarding the treaty lands, and entered the clerical office. The desk closest to my office was not tenanted by a Consulate staffer, but one sent by the Old Bat to be my magistrate clerk. Once she had settled in, Hâjdău had proven herself to be competent and willing to pitch in with duties outside the magistrate's office. However, her tendency to daydream could be irritating, even if it did not interfere with her work.

My eye caught a flash of silver on her right hand as I instructed her on what she needed to have ready for the courier pouch this week. While she was writing down the particulars, I took a closer look, and recognized the Chinese character for "heart" inscribed in the purple enamel.

So, my assistant is wearing a poesy ring. Were it another staffer, I might not bother, but she is my responsibility, not the Consulate's. It may seem antiquated here and now, but her family is one of the many sworn to the House of my father, the same as my House is sworn to serve the Heterodynes. Past time I started investigating who she is seeing.

Family Travels

Augustus sent a note around to me, saying he had a set of forms for me to approve. So it was that I checked into the office on my usually free day.

A simple enough request on the face of it, a request for leave of a month for Birdie... save that nothing is simple around Augustus. I checked the rota, and she is not scheduled for any specific patrols. She has actually not been on any of the hunts lately, either.

There were no travel chits to Birdsan's home district included in the packet, and a note at the bottom stating they would not be travelling anywhere in Europa. That left one place.

He is taking her home to meet the rest of the family.

Considering this with the research requisitions he sent through in the early summer, it looks as if I might have to dig out another set of leave forms before next summer.

Repeal Day Building Contest

We Celebrate the Freedom to Celebrate. On 5 December 1933, the United States repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and gave Americans the constitutional ability to consume alcohol. We thought it was a grand excuse for a pub to host a building contest.

The winner of the contest will gain bragging rights, their drink will be served in the pub, and there could be a piece of the action in it for you, if you catch my drift.

Judging will start 5 December 2009 at 5:00 SLT, and the drinks need to be given to Annechen Lowey before 5:00 pm SLT on 4 December 2009.

There are some rules:

1) The serving mechanism (keg, pitcher, tap, chicken, what-have-you) should be less than 10 prims. Single digits, no more than nine.

2) The name of the drink and serving mechanism, the look of the drink and serving mechanism, and the chat of drink and serving mechanism need to comply with TOS.

3) Just in case you do not read the TOS: Do not use obscene or offensive language in the description, chat or name of the drink and serving mechanism. Be clever, not tacky.

4) A Transfer-only copy of the build should be sent to Annechen Lowey at least 24 hours before judging begins on 5 December. The winner will be asked to provide a copy/mod version for the bar installation.

Cavorite Cup 2009 in pictures

A fundraiser for the Cavorite Mines in Caledon, noon saw the first heat of the 2009 Cavorite Cup. Entrants donated L$500 to the mines, and courted mayhem in the skies above Middlesea. My vision not being the best, Baron Wulfenbach handed me a stack of snapshots and bid me post them.

If you look carefully, there is a speeder at the end of this trail of fire.



The fuel tanks were a common site of explosions.



Here is a rather spectacular conflagration.



Part of the observers would track their favorite racers by their fireballs.



Fraulein Searra Weatherwax and her speeder before the races.



A shot of the third race in the first heat.

Congradulations to Rachire Andel for winning the First Heat of the Cavorite Cup 2009. He will be racing again in the Finals tomorrow. Second Heat starts tonight at 7pm SLT. It's not too late to register for the second race!

Spectators are welcome and encouraged. We'll even provide comfy wingback seating with a stadium-style view! All we ask is that you limit use of scripted attachments also, and arrive at either one of these two arrival points:

StadiumShip One: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/32/69/420

StadiumShip Two: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Speirling/132/128/420

Once there, you'll see instructions in front of you on where to go. Simply Cam around to the other end of the ship and touch the seat you want. Do not try to fly or walk to your seat. You will fall through and land on the track. By sitting on the StadiumShip you will remain rooted outside the race sim, yet appear to be right above the track. You will also be completely phantom to the speeders and explosions, and thus out of danger.

Turn on your parcel music (Play button down at the bottom of your screen next to the music note, for the new residents that may be joining us), and you will hear the live broadcast from Magdalena Kamenev in the Iron Cloud's Air Traffic Control tower as she simulcasts the play-by-play!

A new project

In rebuilding the pub in Port Absinthe, I noticed the pub directory (Pubs and bars in The Realm of the Roses as collected by Mr R. Smashcan, with addtions by Frau A. S. Lowey) was sorely out of date.

I have taken it down for the time being, but hope to rebuild the note-card giver with a new directory. I have travelled a bit, but not as extensively as some. Si I would ask for advice from others.

Below is a list of the drinking establishments that have come to my attention. If your favorite is not listed here, please let me know. If you know who is the Unknown proprietor of any of the bars, please let me know as well, so I may give them a directory.

In Caledon:
Loch Avie Public House Duchy of Loch Avie , Caledon Loch Avie (213, 118, 23) - prop. Her Grace Loch Avie

the Falling Anvil, Licensed Publ, Caledon Tamrannoch (228, 108, 22) - prop. Aldo Stern

The Green Fairy Tavern, Caledon SteamSkyCity (116, 74, 76) - prop. Fogwoman Gray

Prop Spinners Pub, Caledon Steam SkyCity (66, 200, 75) - prop. Thadicus Caligari (RCAF)

Salty Mermaid Tavern, Salty Mermaid Tavern, Caledon Penzance (36, 231, 23) - prop. Dr. Oolon Sputnik

Tun Tavern Caledon Kittiwickshire Dowd Estate, Cdn Kittiwickshire (72, 184, 24) - prop. Oldsarge Dowd

Tiny Town Tavern Caledon Library -- Tinyville., Caledon Tanglewood (24, 205, 22) - prop. unknown

Eyre Carriage House--Cheval Veri, Caledon Eyre (51, 184, 23) - prop. Virrginia Tombola

THE BASHFUL PEACOCK, Caledon Wellsian (218, 201, 23) - prop. Rudolfo Woodget

The Pirate King, Maertens Estate, Caledon Penzance (195, 221, 23) - prop. Gloriana Maertens

The Norseman, Caledon Cape Wrath (122, 150, 22) - prop. Roy Smashcan

The Blue Mermaid, Caledon On Sea (215, 144, 29) - prop. Hypatia Callisto

the Pub Dodo Redux~in beautiful , Caledon Oxbridge Village (183, 180, 22) - prop. Martini Discovolante

The Good Craic Pub, Kinvara Vill, Magellan Kinvara (111, 85, 30) - prop. Elspeth Woolley

Winterfell:

Green Fairy Absinthe Club, Port Absinthe - Dark Victorian S, Winterfell Absinthe (27, 128, 22) - prop. Serra Anansi

der Hut des Jaeger, Winterfell Absinthe (72, 143, 22) - prop. Annechen Lowey

Steelhead:

Club Gearz, Steelhead Boomtown (60, 205, 27) - prop. Fuzzball Ortega

Dragon's Leap Saloon, Dragon Falls, Steelhead Boomtown (143, 64, 35) - prop. Elegia Underwood

New Babbage:

Ruby's Pub and Gallery at The Ho, Babbage Canals (177, 52, 105) - prop. Skusting Dagger

I.K. Brunel Hall & Hotel, Academy of Industry (82, 99, 107) - prop. Victor1st Mornington

Red's Revenge Pub of New Babbage, Wheatstone Waterways (220, 117, 110) - prop. Redgrrl Llewellyn

The Gangplank (Seraph Holdings of New Babbage, Clockhaven (81, 192, 105) - prop. Finley Twine

New Tolouse:

Le Vieux Canal Jazz Club, New Toulouse Algiers (137, 53, 29) - prop. Amber Palowakski

CDS:

Die Betrunkene Eule - a local, Alpine Meadow (178, 201, 54) - prop. Jamie Palisades

Neufreistaedter Biergarten, Neufreistadt (200, 205, 178) - prop. Unknown

Antiquity:

The Winter Fox Tavern, Antiquity Finlanda (101, 183, 25) - prop. unknown

Across the seas:

The Library Pub, Galilee (57, 205, 32) - Prop. Unknown

A question of aestheitcs.

I have been looking into a new base skin. Not that there is anything wrong with my current default, but there are times when I would like a different look. A recent addition to the skin market has been the "better hairline".

The demo I picked up at League for the Misty is wonderful, save for one thing.


Why are these lashes so prevalent? There is not a single skin in the demo pack that does not have these mascara streaks. Why do people *want* this sort of thing? I have heard someone actually asking for skins with this addition, so someone does want it. A great pity, because that is the one thing I did not care for in this line.

After all, look at this hairline:

This is lovely, as are the eyebrows. but the mascara still looks smeared and too heavy. The sad thing is, this is the "Pale Natural Dark Hair". Mascara is not natural, and I have given up on having Pale mean the same thing to more than one person.

An example of my usual skin:

Note that I keep my system lashes at zero, and do not wear prim lashes on a regular basis. The skin is also paler than many "pale" skins, but not wraith-white. This image was originally collected to document the earrings, but it also shows the eye details of the (CS) Vogue Skin - Pure (Summer - 1).

It brings up a point in many skin designs. Not everyone needs or wants to look made-up all the time. I do have different makeups in my skin folder, but I keep returning to the Pure skin. Yes, it is pale, but I am not one to seek the sun. No, it does not have heavy makeup, because that is not who I am most of the time.

I suppose I should count myself lucky to have found this skin when I did.

Concerning Fashion

No, I have not decided to turn this into a fashion journal. I have taken some time to document my clothing, but not to the degree that the serious fashionista bloggers do. For instance, this outfit was purchased over a year ago.


I am just now preserving an image of it, because I wore it to the Orient Express Ball this month. It also documents how much I have learned concerning in-world photography.

This image pre-dates the 18 May 2008 creation of the album of fashion plates. Any skill in this shot is entirely serendipitous.


I had just discovered the Tesla facelight, a welcome change to the blinding lights I had seen before. No, I do not wear it all the time, only when actively taking pictures. I find it distracting when others wear lights capable of washing out the features of everyone around them. Digging further, you could track my abilities by icon images, and no, I am not going to dig those up for you. They are there, I know they are, but I choose to ignore them.

Sometimes, I will reshoot, as in the case with the Lady Flora. The velvet textures are quite nice, but did not show properly in the washed-out midday did-not-stop-to-check-the-graphics-settings picture I deleted. This one is much better, I think.


As I do not have Photoshop of PSP, or even GIMP (despite Miss Davies's wailing and gnashing of teeth that it is free and easy to use, but I simply do not have the disc space) these have not been touched or even cropped. You might notice that unless I am assisted by someone else (usually Miss Tanarian), I try to not use water as a backdrop. That is my most noticeable failing. I do not have the best of graphics cards, but try to work around them. Most of the time that means risking crashes while I pump the graphics as high as they will go and hope the backgrounds rez in less than a day.

Then there are times when I have wanted to document an ensemble because it was assembled for a specific occasion, such as the Midsummer Grand Tour for RFL,

or the Relay for Life itself.

Due to my problems with rez, it is unlikely these shots were taken at the event. so it either will be shot in the studio, or the event site itself if I am able to access the site when it is deserted.

Do not worry, this will not be a regular occurrence, only perhaps when I wish to share a designer's works, or in the unlikely event I have nothing else to do in the office.

New Neighbors

Steelhead is growing.

The area to the east of the civic plaza had been largely ignored, until recently. It seems a somewhat... unsavory element has move into the area of Steelhead. The view from the pier in Port Harbor has changed rapidly.


The cliffs behind the Kokopelli, deemed too unsafe for building in years before, have sprouted new buildings, eastern architecture said to be able to rest lightly upon the earth...

Though this Unfortunate View from Miss Katt's garden does not seem to rest that lightly. I am glad there is a deep channel and steep cliffs between her and whatever lairs in these shacks.

Surprise!

I had thought yesterday would be a repeat of years past, and at first, it was. Unsuitable gifts from my brother and notes of well-wishes on my birthday were normal. Then in the evening, the Baron took the time to go sailing about Blake's Seas and invited me along. If you have the time to sail, do go. I noticed a few race course buoys, and we explored an island that seemed to be a smuggler's point.

He then had things to attend on the other side of the keyboard, and suggested I go dancing at Club Gearz, and he would be along later to go dancing. I had considered turning in early, but he made sure I would stay another half-hour.

Then, a few minutes to 2000 SLT, Tanarian left a note on plurk about the party.

Duchess Gabrielle Riel had organized an event in New Toulouse with the help of the Baron to get the invitations out without my knowledge. It was rather shocking that this many people could show up on a late weeknight. I danced with four heads of state while the fifth played my favorite music. People said embarrassingly nice things about my work and sent gifts. It was a lovely evening.

Thank you to everyone who made the night possible - Miss Genie, who made everyone aware of the date, even though she could not attend due to her typist's schedule; Duchess Gabi, who is capable of putting together a fantastic party with little notice; Caladon Rae, who made the IM rounds to invite everyone without using the groups, so it would be a surprise; Tanarian, who apparently rifled my files for Caladon; Kara and Miss Harbinger, who brought the cakes; Miss Anna Darwinian, who made party favors for everyone; the Baron, who made sure I would not miss my own party, and everyone who attended made it a very special night.

Shirtless Against Breast Cancer 2010 Calendar

October is Recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in America, and back in July 2008, the staff of the Consulate was knocking about fund raising/awareness ideas, and the idea for a calendar came up. During the discussion, a Shirtless O'clock reference was made, and one thing led to another... and this is the reason why you do not want to miss a General Staff Call - they are almost as interesting as Steelhead Town Meetings.

The shots not selected for the calendars will be included in the 2010 book, and your inclusion in either depends on the submission fitting the technical requirements:
1) Submissions should be 2048 x 2048 SQUARE PNGs.
2) Submissions are to be e-mailed to consulate.lackey@gmail.com not sent in-world.
3) Please keep the composition TASTEFUL - Art, not smut, please.
4) No Minors. Diminutive adults, fine - but we wish to stay legal with this. Legal-age avatars only for values of the American legal system (18 years old or older), no exceptions, not even for time travellers.
5) Submissions are to be sent to Annechen Lowey BEFORE 1800 SLT on 1 September 2009. Late Submissions will not be considered.

A Last Look at Drottningholm Old Town

Too late to tour the Palace once more, I wandered in Old Town, and chanced upon a resident. Mikk Graves, who carried the title of "Drottningholm | EO", and had the description of his character "Keefman" in Swedish in his picks, spoke at length of his view of the end. He reported Sanders had left all of the groups and sold the Drottningholm Palace sim. This move was apparently swift and unexpected for many of the residents, with their first notion that the sim was sold being the return of their objects.

The nicely detailed builds show the time and energy the builders put into the sim. This was the site of one of the grand courts, and one hopes the heritage can be kept alive by those who remain. While it is not the end of the Enlightenment Age sims, it is a loss. One hopes that another might raise the banner of the Swedish court another time.

Architecturally, both sims were excellent examples of Northern European 18th century building styles, and Miss Tanarian Davies and I spent the evening touring Old Town. This was her first visit to the sim, and it was unfortunate that we could not see it earlier. The images here are her work, as my vision does not permit me to capture the beauty of the sim.

Midsummer Grand Tour for Relay for Life of Second Life

Soon, I promise - Once I have my wits about me again, I shall post about the Tour - all 32 hours of it.

Yet again, I neglected to take snapshots, as in the last hours I was busy trying to keep the dratted out-world agent awake.