Some Sunweaver Houses

By Bixyl Shuftan

Yours truly has written about many places in Second Life. But for many residents, probably most, one place counts more than others: their home. In the community the Newser office makes it's home in, there are a lot. Some are large, some are small. Here are some examples.

One of the larger houses on ground level belongs to Nydia Tungsten and Brandi Streusel, Mouse Hole Manor in Pacific Waters.

The large house has been the scene of a few of her music videos, as well as some parties.

Kiyomi Xekri is one of the more recent Sunweaver residents. Her home is on a skybox high above the sim it's in.

She asked that I take a few pictures. So I did. Looks like this pup is having fun in the laundry room.

There was some good detail in places. This dining room scene has food that certainly looks edible.

Kiyomi's place  had a memorial for someone close to her whom died last June.

Felina Fermi is someone we've written about before in regards to her home and designing. Her home is in a semi-private area, though she was happy for me to take pictures, within reason.

Her rooms have a lot of detail, such as this kitchen.

These hens don't see too nervous about a fox near the henhouse.

Felina has two memorials for longtime friends of hers, Rhypanthian Abilene and Tigerclaw Apps.

Just outside Felina's house but on her grounds was a place that looked less like a home and more like a club and hangout with a few rooms for people wanting to stay overnight.

Near Felina's house was that of the Sunweaver chief herself, Rita Mariner's.

The place was large, with a dance party area and pool at the top, along with a helicopter pad.

And a big room for she and guests to relax in.

Perri Prinz and ReCoyote Mindes "Magic Garden" area in HV Community. On the left is the "Cuddle Cave" which they left open for couples to use.

Their own house is a two story brick building, with a teleporter to the Xanadu classic rock club.

Becky Shamen's tower in Sunweaver Bay.

The place has an airship that flies, a pirate ship, and other details.

Liska Fuchs' house, resembling a small castle.

The place has a lighthouse in the corner, lighting the way at sea.

Penny's (Deaflegacy) house. She keeps a number of horses.

The house of the late Artistic Fimicloud, which has been left standing as a memorial to her.

The "little pink fox" is still well-remembered.

The Sunnies always have room for one more resident. There are houses ready for someone to move in.

And there are empty plots for those whom prefer to get their own homes.

And finally, there's where yours truly lives. For years, I've had my house in a treehouse in the style of a previous place I lived: Woodlin (not to be confused with Woodland). I guess that spoke something about how I missed the fun times there.

But after ten years, I figured it was time to see what else was available. I came across this treehouse with a set of stairs. Nice to be able to get up without needing to press the "fly" button.

And so, my new humble home in Second Life. It's not very big, but it's a place to hang my virtual hat.

So there's a glance at the places where my virtual neighbors call their happy homes, all in the corner of Second Life that's our neighborhood and home.

Bixyl Shuftan

The First Sims: Minna

by DrFran Babcock

I couldn’t wait to visit Minna, because if you look at it on the map, it is the most colorful of the original sims. I was not disappointed. Minna is one of the first sims that has an active population, and lots to see and enjoy.

History of Minna

Minna began as a mostly commercial sim back in 2002. It was dominated by Divivity, a store that sold gifts, food, and nursery items. Divivity still has a presence on the sim, but it is dotted throughout the sim. What I loved about Minna is that is seems to be populated by old members and new members who have a love for and appreciation of the rich history of Second Life™.

Who Lives Here?

Paula Dix owns the land that has all the colorful trees on it. I knew immediately that they were the work of Second Life™ artist and queen of wild trees: soror Nishi. Paula’s land—she calls her parcel Paula’s Ploting (sic) Plan—is covered with the trees and particles, and is just a delight to visit. From Paula’s profile comes this statement with which I have always agreed: “There is no Second Life as opposed to First Life. SL is as real as FL We may be just pixels, but we  are  as real as anything. So live fully and be sure to assure that all can also live.” Nice.

Kennylex Luckless is someone I know, because he seems to be always around the Ivory Tower of Primitives on Natoma, building and giving away freebies, or at Linden Office Hours. He has a darling castle on Minna, that he told me he wanted to remove, but ANSI Soderstrom told him he could not. I was able to ask him a very, very few questions before his Natoma fan club distracted him:

SL Newser: Kenny, how did you find out about Second Life™?

KennyLex: Oh, newspaper, it was a article about Second House of Sweden. (Kenny is from Sweden) The sim closed because there were complaints. 

When I did log in, I found Natoma and the Ivory tower, and fell in love with building things. So, I stayed. I am mostly here (Ivory Tower), Luskwood, Bay City and at Torley’s Place. Although, Torley’s old place here was much funnier.

Kennylex gave me a vehicle made out of old barrels that he made, we rode around Natoma for a while. I returned to my explorations.

ANSI Soderstrom has a lot of land on Minna, and a sense of humor. Her cel-shaded ANSI-wood build, a play on the Hollywood Hills, is like an anime hobbit village. However, she is also the creator of Port Ansi, a complex-looking brick building that holds tons of freebies built by Kennylex Luckless. Kennylex’s freebies are fun, and often he includes the textures he used in them so that you can mod what you take.

Blogging acquaintance and SL Universe forum member Elysium Hynes owns 736 square meters of land, and purple trunked trees. It hugs a water edge, and is filled with pretty chairs and tables for hanging out. I wonder if she ever spends time there?

These three residents hail from 2007 or later, but there are also members who are much older with parcels on Minna. Dave Zeeman has a not very pretty build, of which he seems very proud:  “This is Dave Zeeman's original home!  He's had it ever since Beta v0.3.2!  Check out the classic "Matrix Box" and world renowned Plinko game!  Also the site of any "Match Game SL" shows!” So, Dave is one of the original members, but from the look of his parcel he has not been around for some time.

Emmaly Baxton (2008) has the Minna Sky Complex, a poured concrete series of elevated lookouts that provide a place to view the original sims. Her land seems to be part of Dave Zeeman’s, and is a somewhat modern and grungy structure. Although I didn’t speak with her, I did see her on the sim during one of my research visits.

Another oldbie is Div Epoch, a Charter Member, who will become 10 years old around the time that Second Life™ does. Has an old-school house, very minimally furnished on northwest corner of Minna.

And, then there’s Vivianne OFlynn, who is almost ten years old, and owns Divivity’s food and celebrations supplies. I suppose she is still around, because there were prims from 2013 with Mother’s day items. According to the Second Life™ Wiki, Divivity was most of the sim of Minna at one time. Now, there was only the celebration shop, and another parcel with garden items.

Of interest to me, from a historical standpoint was the Sacred Ground Druid Circle that Simon Metalhead, a Beta Member established in  September 2003 I imagine it was meant to hold larger crowds as it spans the corners of Minna, Ritch, Zoe, and Natoma. Again, I have to wonder if people still use it. I hope it remains, because it is from the earliest days of Second Life™.

A very new addition to the sim is from four year old Carol Pixelmaid. Virtually Gorgeous is a tiny shop with some pretty old-school lingerie and dresses for ladies. It has a nice grass covered lookout on the property with free binoculars and pose balls for viewing the beauty of Minna.

For Sale
Would you like to live on Minna? There is one tiny landlocked plot, L-shaped and narrow that is for sale for 35,998 Lindens. Sounds a bit steep for me, but you may be a lover of history.

Visit Minna: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minna/127/127/79

DrFran Babcock