Monday, June 11, 2012

Monopoly and Move to Taber in December 2003

On December 2nd Garth rezzed our Balloon and we went to Welsh to see Nick Fairlight’s fireworks spectacular.  It wasn’t long till several  friends joined us.  It was a wonderful show, one of the first in Second Life.

Fireworks in Welsh Dec 2003 - fc size

Fireworks in Welsh 02 Dec 2003 - fc size

Valfaroth Grimm, a magnificent builder and scriptor created a Monopoly Game which he placed on Cayman Island a private Estate owned by Evie Fairchild.  In those days Linden Lab had not yet offered private regions for sale to the public but Evie won the use of the region floating off to the north of the mainland for a year. 

The Monopoly Game was amazing and the people flocked to play and to watch the game.

Monopoly on Cayman Dec 3rd (3)

One of the players.  Notice that one of the squares is Fairlight Flight, that was Garth’s first business name  he changed it to FairChang till after our marriage.

Monopoly on Cayman Dec 3rd (6)

A cute little Fairy playing Monopoly.  Walking past DaBoom Telehub and Taber Village squares on to Community Chest, Aurelie’s Castle, Schegal Estate or perhaps she will land in the Sandbox square!

Incidentally Taber Village was owned by Garth and me. I still have a 4096m2 park there dedicated to Garth’s memory.  Tport to Taber and enjoy the park.

Monopoly on Cayman Dec 3rd (9)

Monopoly on Cayman Dec 3rd 00

Garth and I standing on a transparent platform watching the game below.

Sometime in December due to Linden Lab starting to charge US$ for use of land we felt obliged to give up the 1/4 of Olive that we owned.  We already owned a good bit of Taber so FairChang Manor was moved there.  The Manor can still be seen on FairChang Island.

FairChang Hall at twilight

Taber 12-10-03 - fc size

Hanging out in Taber with Siggy Romulus and Fleabite Beach.  We are on Flea’s roof!

Those big buildings in the background?  That is in Natoma.  The Ivory Tower of Prims constructed by Lumiere Noir is there now (and has been for years).

Taber Christmas tree 2003 - fc size

Maggie Miller, who had a parcel in neighboring Welsh bought a plot of land in Taber and put up this Christmas Tree and invited fellow Second Lifers to help decorate.  Peeps came from all over to hang ornaments and garlands.  They put up the train and the snowman too.  We had lots of fun with it.

Next post,  building the Taber Church and Taber Windmill.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Welcome Area and Prelude


On or about December 9th of 2003,  the Lindens announced that Second Life tier was going to be paid for in US$.  Well that set off a large hue and cry from the populace.  We had only dealt in the ‘monopoly money’ of L$.  Fake,  fun to manipulate but in the final analysis didn’t cost us anything.  We were used to Stipends and paying taxes on our usage of prims and of course land.  But land was acquired at L$1 a 16m square.  When you wanted to move you just released it and it went “Public Land”  and the next fellow could buy for L$1 a 16m square……  I bought and abandoned all the time!  But now we were going to have to pay Linden Lab a monthly tier in US currency for the use of all lands.
There was a big protest in the Welcome Area located in Ahern.
Welcome area3 Dec 9 2003
That’s Philip Linden in the center.
Welcome area2 Dec 9 2003
Garth and I are in the front.  Off to the left is the ‘Hulk’ Bonecrusher Slate and next to him is Fleabite Beach.  Off to the right with the purple hair is Haney Linden.  Philip Linden is right in front of Garth and me.
The next day we visited Loki Pico, he was living in a cave in Oak Grove which was a region owned by the Lindens and not for public occupancy.  Loki set up there,  I don’t know how he managed but he lived there as a hobo for quite some time.
Loki's Hideout in Oak Grove
Sometime in October Garth had made an Alt to help him in testing his products.  One of the names on the list was Butler so he choose Jeeves!  Since Garth had a butler I decided I needed a housekeeper so on December 11, 2003 I acquired Prudence Greenacre.  I tried to think up an uptight Brit name and that was the best I could come up with given the choice of last names I had. 
I thought you might like to see the pictures I took of her in Prelude.  That is what it was called in those days………. Later it would be called Orientation Island.
Pru in Prelude 01 fc size
Learning to chat with the Parrot.
Pru in Prelude 02 fc size
Appearance changing area.
Pru in Prelude 03 fc size
Learning to grab and move things.
Pru in Prelude 04 fc size
Click on the green hand and get the heck out of there!  hehe
Notice the maps?  That is as big as the world was back then in December 2003.
Chat at you later!  Next time it is Monopoly and Christmas Trees.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Honeymoon and the Move to Olive. November 2003

Evie Fairchild owned her own region named Cayman Island,  she graciously gave us 24 hour use of it for our honeymoon.  We had a great time exploring Elysian, that was built by a wonderful team of builders she had put together.  I wish I remembered all their names,  I only recall Chip Midnight, Valfaroth Grimm, Mickey Roark and of course Evie.
Boating on Elysian - fc size
Boating on Elysian 02 - fc size
2003-11-22 At the wreck - fb size
There was a shipwreck to explore and sharks to dodge.
2003-11-22 Remains of Bonecrusher - fc size
Avast me hearty!  We imagined that this is what is left of Bonecrusher Slade!
We received some wonderful wedding presents,  among them (beside the gift of using a private island for our honeymoon) were a party ship from Ananda Sandgrain and a lovely statue of Garth and me dancing at our wedding made by Lordfly Didgeridoo.  You can still see the statue in our Lighthouse Store.
Wedding gift from Lordfly Digeridoo - fc size
Ananda Sandgrain & her Party Ship - fc size
Unfortunately I never used the party ship as I never was any good at controlling vehicles!
Then the Lindens converted the old sandbox of Olive into a regular region and instead of the usual way of buying land, which was to fly in an grab a chunk for L$1 a 16 meter square, they carved the parcels and auctioned them off.  One of the parcels that went begging was a quarter of Olive.  Garth decided he wanted to move there.  I resisted as I didn’t want to move to an M region and I loved my island on Clyde.  And Olive was a high plateau and had an ugly rocky texture.  He insisted that he could terraform it to my liking. 
The saturday following our wedding I spent time with my RL family and he dedicated himself to carving out a wonderful valley!  He was a true master terraformer.  Our home nestled in quite nicely.  He made a prim waterfall that cascaded down the the level of the region below it.  Above the house we placed the runway.
FairChang Valley in Olive 02 - fc size
The following in a picture of when Fleabite Beach came to visit.
031 Pitu & Flea 11-25-03 - fc size
I am wearing the official Fairlight Flight tee shirt.  After our wedding we combined our names into FairChang (Fairlight + Chang).  Garth then made new Tees that are black with red logo. From then on the FairChang name was used on all of his creations.  Of course there was no way to change the official SL name as yet but we created groups for that.
It wasn’t until a little over two years later that the Lindens officially were able to change our name to FairChang.  It was quite an endeavor as our rez dates remained the same but the name had to be changed on all our objects and all the calling cards we had out in world.  And the land we owned!  It was quite a database change they did and to this day I still appreciate that gift they gave us on the occasion of our RL wedding in 2006.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Married on the Runway!

After waiting almost an hour for the crashed Lime region to be fixed and brought back up,  we gave up and our wonderful friends marshaled and they went to our home and did a fabulous job of decorating our runway.  Valfalroth Grimm make an arbor in the wink of an eye,  Baccara set out the flowers,  and someone rolled out a red carpet.  Fey Brightwillow and Evie Fairchild were involved too, but I was too excited to really know who did what!

Wedding on the Runway - fc size 

2003-11-22 Wedding guests 01 - fc size

The guests perched all over,  one on the roof, one on top of the arbor, one on top of the Vote Machine!  They sat on the runway wall.  Clyde was full and some had to hang on the edge of Hawthorn looking in.

2003-11-22 Walking to the altar 01 - fc size

I am rushing down the aisle!  Garth can’t keep up.  His and his Best Man’s kilt were made by Fey Brightwillow. My gown was made by Frankie Beach.  You may notice that my bouquet is just attached to the front of me.  It was very difficult in those days to control one’s hands. My engagement and wedding ring was made by Torrid Midnight (I am still wearing it).

2003-11-22 Garth & Pit 03 - fc size

In front of the Altar

2003-11-22  Garth & Pituca, Husband & Wife - fc size 

And now we are wed!  With us from left to right is fleabite Beach, Hikaru Yamamoto, Athos Murphy and Crowcatcher Valen.

Then came the news that Lime was back up,  and over we went for the reception that Baccara Rhodes had prepared for us.

2003 11-22 Rezzing St Isidores - fc sized

2003-11-22  the Reception - fc size

That is all for the moment,  I will continue our saga soon.

Love to you all from Pituca.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Getting Ready for Our Wedding

Garth and I picked Thursday, November 22nd to get married in Second Life, we asked Athos Murphy to do the honors of officiating at our wedding.  He not only said yes, he immediately set to work building a fantastic church for us.  He modeled it on the National Cathedral of Washington DC.
2003-11-17  Athos building the church - fc size 
2003-11-17 St Isidore's - fc size
St. Isidores nearing completion.
We rented the Lime region.  That was the first time the Lindens rented out one of their regions.  We felt quite honored.
We hired the inimitable Baccara Rhodes to be our wedding planner and she and her minions did a wonderful job.  There was a lot of excitement in the Second Life community about our impending nuptials.  Garth asked old buddy CrowCatcher Valen to be his best man.  My dear friend fleabite Beach was my maid of honor and long time friend Hikaru Yamamoto was to be my flower girl.
sidenote: Crow and flea served in the same roles in 2006 in our real life wedding!
2003-11-22 Setting up for wedding - fc size
Setting the church up for the wedding,  Colin Linden with the white hair, Baccara Rhodes and Fey Brightwillow.  I don’t who the fellow is in the top hat.
2003-11-22 Church 02 - fc size 2003-11-22 Church - fc size 2003-11-22 St Isadores 05 - fc size
Remember this magnificent church was built long before megaprims and sculpties.  Built bit by bit with a normal prim.
Skrull (I don’t remember his last name) had a wonderful organ he had built and he donated it for our use that day.
Skrulls Church organ 
Garth and I practicing walking down the aisle.  Not easy to walk side by side back then before animations!
Garth & Pit practicing with Haney before wedding - fc size
Here we are grouping before the ceremony,  I am in the halter top,  Hikaru (my flower girl) is next to me.  Haney Linden is the fellow with the blue hair. Garth and Crow are standing at the back. 
We proceeded to get dressed for the ceremony,  I arrived at Lime with my entourage in a Limo Garth made for us.  I had no sooner landed that the dreaded happened!  A grefier attacked and brought the region to it’s knees and we were all knocked off line.
Here we are in our wedding finery waiting for Lime to rise.  But no such luck :-(
2003-11-22 After the Lime crash - fc size
The rescue coming in the next post.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Coney and Luna

2003-09-26 Coney & Luna - fc size
In September 2003 the Lindens created a two region area for an amusement park.  People were allowed their own square of land to recreate a fun ride for all of the Second Life residents to enjoy.
Garth was asked to script a Volcano Ride.
2003-09-11 Volcano Ride 12 - fc size
One would hop into a dragon when it came into the landing and it would take you around and through a volcano on a roller coaster ride.
2003-09-11 Volcano Ride 11 - fc size
Garth put a lot of work into that ride,  I wish I could remember who built it and commissioned him to script it. 
Slate water ride - fc size
Linkin and Nyna Slate built this refreshing water ride.
2003-10-15 Luna 01 - fc size 
2003-10-15 Luna 02 - fc size
2003-10-15 Luna 03 - fc size
In front of Sinatra Cartier’s Spook House (which is still around some place in SL) with some of our old Americana Group friends.  Garth is in the camo and to my right is Ironchef Cook and the green Hulk is Bonecrusher Slate.
I wish I could find the rest of my pictures.  There were lots of fun things to do,  bumper cars, roller coasters etc etc.  I don’t remember how long Coney and Luna were up,  but early on in 2004 Coney disappeared and Luna was made into a Linden sponsored shopping gallery.

More soon!  My next post will be about our Second Life Wedding on November 22. 2003

Love to you all from Pituca…………….

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Of Revolutions, Cats and House Warmings

During this time also there was a revolution mounting in Americana led by fleabite Beach.  You can read about it in Hamet Au’s New Word News . He was known as Hamlet Linden then,  SL’s own embedded journalist.
Americana Revolution Flea and Pituca - fc size 
Picture of fleabite and me is our revolutionary garb.
Garth in the Revolution 002
Garth (the Cheeky Brit) was stunning in his American Flag Tee shirt!
Last of Americana  001 Oct 20 2003 - fc size
Unfortunately Americana closed in mid October of 2003, we just couldn’t afford the weekly taxes on a whole region anymore.  Remember this was before US$ were used and we all lived off stipends and what money we were able to earn selling things. This is Garth and me in front of the Memorial Spire that Ramon Kothari put up.  It is still there in the Blue region.
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An ad Garth made for his stunt helicopter.  This is before we combined our names after we were SL married.  That is my lighthouse on our Clyde property.
image
During that time Garth and our good friend CrowCatcher Valen hired Baccara Rhodes to help them throw a big inauguration of Fairlight Flight and Crow’s Music Store. 
012 Fairlight Flight Premiere Party-fc size 
It was held next to the Chrysler Building (which Crow built) in Americana (Blue region).  A large number of Avatars attended and oohed and aahed at the stunts Garth’s planes could perform.
Fairlight Flight 007 - fc size 
Fairlight Flight 008 - fc size
Chrysler Building Oct 2003 - fc size
You can still pick up this stunt plane at our Lighthouse Store in FairChang Calypso.  All free now!
We then hired Baccara to organize us a house warming for our new island home in Clyde.  We named the island “Las Brisas”.  Fey Brightwillow designed and made my dress as well as a a gift of a halter top for the ladies and a matching shirt for the men.
013 Las Brisas Fiesta 10-7-03_002 - fc size
What a wonderful island it was and Bacca did a bang up job decorating it.  As you can see we had a marina and a sea water swimming pool on the lower level then the second level was our home.  Then stairs up to the runway and hangar.  The party was up on the runway.

Las Brisas Fiesta 10-7-03 - 002 - fc size
That is CrowCatcher Valen to the left and Baccara Rhodes, but I don’t know who she is chatting with.  We had a wonderful time.
Hallowe'en moon in Taber - 2003 - fc land
Remember when Linden Lab changed the sun and the moon for special days?  This is the moon over Taber on Hallowe`en.  Garth and I are hovering over the Apartment House he built.  We got some nice rents on them for a while.  The building was never full tho………….
Then someone built a cemetary in Clyde for Hallowe`en celebrations and put up these headstones!  hehehe
Graveyard 01 - fc size
Well it has been a long time since I have blogged here, but time to get the few tidbits I remember down before I forget them all.  I am afraid that a lot is out of order but I am sure you will enjoy looking back with me.
Chat at you later!  Love from Pituca.