Helping Others in Second Life XII – Save the Alamo!

Remember the Alamo!

Texas

I’m writing tonight on behalf of a friend in Second Life (SL) and one of the most impressive builds inworld.

I’m going to appeal to the residents of SL who appreciate and understand what it takes to create a great build inworld and then to maintain it financially.

I’m also appealing to all the Texans out there, both in SL and in Real Life (RL), who honor the memory of the Alamo.   

My friend is Lora Chadbourne and she is one of the most creative and realistic builders in SL.    

I’ve blogged before about her work.  From the sacred at the Tomb in the Holy Land, to the whimsical with the Simpsons’ home, the historical at Plymouth Rock, and finally to where no man (or woman for that matter) has gone before with Star Trek. 

All her works show her attention to detail and faithfulness in recreating scenes from RL whether fictional or non-fictional. 

Lora is truly one of the greats inworld!

Her piece de resistance is her reconstruction of the Alamo.

Yes, that Alamo.

The site where a group of men died for freedom.

I’ve saving this site for my story because I was so impressed by it that I wanted to be able to give it full justice. 

Then, recently, I received word that the Alamo may soon close due to loss of funding.

The tier (SL rents) for the Alamo had been sponsored by the University of Texas at Arlington.  Their financial support will come to an end on September 30^th of this year. 

If this happens then SL will lose one of its great treasures.  And, we’ve been losing too many of those as it is already! 

This isn’t going to be cheap folks.  It costs just over $1,100 per year to maintain the Alamo.

This is what I want to know…

Are there enough Texans, friends of Texas, and committed residents inworld to arrange funding to keep the Alamo open?

This is going to require more than casual donations made every month to make tier.  I know of other sims that try this funding model and it’s ugly and stressful.

The memory of the Alamo requires something more reliable.

Here are a few ideas…

Is there an individual or organization willing to take over the funding entirely?

Can a consortium of several parties be assembled to commit to funding?

Does anyone know of any other funding options that might be pursued?

If you can help in anyway then please contact Lora inworld and she’ll be happy to work with you. 

The Alamo can be found here in SL. 

I encourage everyone to drop by and see this impressive build.

If anyone from RL is not familiar with SL and would like to see it then please contact me and either myself or another will help you come inworld to see the Alamo.

It would be a shame if Lora’s masterpiece becomes another Lost Treasure of SL!

Please help in any way that you can!

Keep those cards and letters coming in!

I’d like to thank The Companion for taking the pictures used in this story. 

Additional pictures of the Alamo can be found on this flickr page. 

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

            If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life  please click here.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Television in Second Life

Bart: Dad, what’s the point of this story?

Homer: I like stories

The Simpsons

 

 

          No, I don’t mean watching TV in Second Life (SL)!

          (Although, I’m sure some do it!)

          I mean the builds created in SL based on Real Life (RL) TV shows.

          Thanks to my good friends at First UCC , I’ve met a talented and gifted builder inworld who recreates some of the world’s most memorable TV shows in SL. 

          (Significant Other says they only let me hang around so that they can have good material for their sermons.  Personally, I like to think it’s because they feel no one is beyond redemption and they enjoy a challenge.) 

          Lora Chadbourne is the builder of whom I speak. 

          I first met Lora when I interviewed her for my story about the Garden Tomb in the Holy Land now residing at First UCC. 

          Recently, I met her and her new husband, Mazz, in front of her latest build inworld for another interview. 

          (Yep, folks are still getting married in SL!)

          This latest project of Lora’s is nothing less than a faithful recreation of the Simpsons’

home from Springfield! 

          Lora has been inworld for nearly ten years and began building after about six months.  She says the learning curve was very steep so it took her a while to sort things out.

          Her work includes different creations in many genres, some historical, most fictional. 

          Lora’s first major project was an Apollo lunar module, which was on display at the International Spaceflight Museum.

She’s done builds of the Alamo, which was for the University of Texas and is still available for visiting (And has made the SL Destination Guide), and of Central Park with a Manhattan surrounding of apartment buildings and shops. 

There is a build of the Mayflower, which will be on display at a friend's sim through Thanksgiving. 

Other builds have included locations from Tron, Star Trek, Lost in Space, Doctor Who, and other science fiction properties.  (BTW there will be several more stories coming along in this blog about Lora’s work.  The Mayflower and Central Park will happen this year.  Next year will start with the Alamo and watch out for a special story on the works of Irwin Allen in SL!)

Lora likes to create, it's an outlet for her and she usually build things that strike her fancy.

(Hey, isn’t this what SL is all about?)

She researches her subjects then starts in and makes a lot of changes along the way! 

Now, for a tour of the house itself!

Standing outside, I’m impressed immediately but the cartoonish and colorful effects that Lora has achieved.

This is not one of those simple polygon piles (I may have invented a new term here!) that one comes across so frequently inworld. 

Homer and Marge are almost expected to appear in the doorway at any moment. 

Entering the residence, I’m in the foyer with the living room to my left and the dining

room to my right. 

In front of me are the stairs to the second floor.  (Or the first floor for the benefit of my European friends!)

At the back of the house is the kitchen, the playroom, and the family room.

(They seem to have a lot of leisure time in Springfield!)

There is also a half bath on the ground floor.

A side door opens into the garage. 

Upstairs are Homer’s and Marge’s master bedroom with its own bath room; Bart’s and Lisa’s bedrooms, Maggie’s nursery, and another bathroom.

All the rooms are fully furnished and there is also plenty of closet space! 

The outside grounds are well maintained and in line with what’s seen on the show.

The backyard has plenty of room for Santa’s Little Helper and Snowball to run around in. 

Overall, the effect is very realistic and Lora gives visitors the sense of actually being in the show and no in SL. 

I ask Lora about her subject choice and how she built it.

She replies that she loves the Simpsons and just wanted to see if she could do it. 

The house was tricky because, since the show is animated, the writers take a lot of liberties, she explains.  Different episodes have its rooms in different places inside the house, and they add rooms that were never there.

(Does anyone remember the world’s longest living room from The Flintstones?)

So Lora had to pick and choose how to present it, she used a lot of detail to add realism.

 She was also careful to include shadows and to texture things properly and realistically which contributed to the RL effect of the build. 

Lora believes she has a good eye for composition builds almost exclusively from pictures of the subject matter.

The results certainly speak for themselves!

Lora took about a month to complete this build.

In RL, Lora is a writer and graphic artist for print media and I believe she is definitely leveraging her skills! 

 Lora used mostly standard prims with a few sculpts here and there to build the Simpsons’ home, and those are made inworld using the tools that can be found on Marketplace. She did use mesh in this one and says she has only included mesh on one build so far and that to a limited extent.

At this point, wanting to be mindful of Lora’s and Mazz’s time, I ended the interview, thanking her for her candor and time, and letting them get back to their honeymoon! 

The Simpsons’ home created by Lora is a fabulous build and demonstrates what a talented builder can do in SL. 

The build will be taken down by Lora at the end of this month, October, to free up the prims for others. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have a LZ that is usable so you’re probably going to have to settle for this story!

If you’re interested in more of Lora’s work then keep an eye on this blog because I’ll be writing about all her new, and some old projects, as we go into the winter!

I’d like to thank Lora and Mazz again for meeting with me and wish them all the happiness inworld in their future lives together! 

All pictures used in this story were taken by Lora and are used with her permission.

More pictures by Lora from my visit to the build can be located on this flickr page.

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

 

Discovering the Holy Land in Second Life

 

Both Jewish and Roman sources and traditions admit an empty tomb.

Josh McDowell

  

          Recently, while wandering around the grounds of First UCC, my friend and senior pastor there, Bec Kellstrom, directed me to check out a recent addition to the campus.

          Always willing to investigate a new build in Second Life (SL), I headed over.  (I really think Bec genuinely wanted me to see this and wasn’t just politely telling me to get lost as Significant Other suggests.)

          The new build is a replica of the Garden Tomb from the Holy Land.

          The Garden Tomb is one of the sites purported to be where Christ was buried and arose from after His crucifixion.  (I heed Significant Other’s caution to tread carefully here as Upstairs purportedly takes a dim view on anything considered blasphemous.  Duly noted.  As Significant Other occupies the same dwelling as me there are legitimate concerns about lightning bolts from on high.)

          In Real Life (RL), the Garden Tomb is held sacred by many Christian faiths and is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year.  The head pastor of First UCC, Jer Newstart, being one of them. 

          I was also fortunate in that Bec introduced me to the architect and builder behind the Garden Tomb, (That’s the SL one not the RL one!) Lora Chadbourne. 

          Lora was kind enough to agree to meet with me and to give me a tour of her build which is the basis for this story. 

          At the appointed time, Lora and I meet in front of the Garden Tomb and she guides me through her handiwork.

          Standing outside the Garden Tomb, one faces a walled structure of stone reminiscent of ancient times.  In RL terms, the wall’s height is about forty feet.  (Significant Other warns all to be wary of any eyeball estimates that I make.) 

         

A small entrance in the wall permits entry through a passage leading to the tomb’s courtyard.

          Standing in the interior courtyard, the tomb itself stands against the far wall with the great stone rolled back.

          Surrounding the courtyard, access paths lead to a walkway which runs around three walls forming a U-shaped structure centered on the tomb and overlooks it. 

          Gardens and sitting areas surround the courtyard giving a very calming effect.  Period pottery houses additional flowers. 

          Entering the tomb, one is taken in (at least I am) by its starkness and simplicity. 

          Even in a virtual world like SL, one (OK, again, it’s me!) is impressed by the solemnity of the location. 

          I recognize that not all share my faith, or may not even have one, but as I’ve wandered around the world in RL, I’ve always been in awe of the sites held holy by other faiths.  There is always a sense of otherworldly presence in these places.  They all seem to share the same stark stillness of the Garden Tomb too.

          (I’ve always felt that the Big Guy is a lot more open to the various forms of worship of Her followers than we give Her credit for.  This is probably one of the reasons that I’m on the Inquisition’s watch list.)    

          While walking through the site, Lora gives me a little background about her motivations and approach. 

          For Lora, she’s wanted to build this site for a long time.  It has been a labor of love for her and she’s grateful to Jer and First UCC for agreeing to host it.

          The build is based on pictures Jer took on his visit to the Holy Land as well as Lora’s own research. 

          Lora explains that the sim is a mix of standard prims and sculpts with the exception of some of the plants, there is no mesh in it. 

          When I ask why so little mesh, Lora replies that she’s a bit of an old school builder.  (Sadly, a dying species inworld these days.) 

          Lora adds that her layout is a reduced version of the actual site, which is much larger.  She had to modify things a bit to keep the size reasonable. 

          I ask how long did it take to build and Lora answers with three days.

          This was a deliberate choice on her part because of the significance of the three days leading to Easter. 

          Lora’s attention to detail is evident in the construction of the Garden Tomb. 

          The stonework in the walls in particular caught my attention.

          The lighting in the tomb proper adds considerably to the effect of being there. 

          Lora has also located plaques strategically throughout the site to help visitors understand what they’re looking at. 

          A little about Lora before we go any further.

          Lora came into Second Life about nine years ago.  She says that it took her a while to get the hang of building things.  It was a steep learning curve for her.  most of her builds are labors of love.  Subjects that mean something to her on an emotional level. 

          (I’d heard of another one of Lora’s builds, the Alamo, located here, which Lora was kind enough to show me at the conclusion of our Garden Tomb tour.  It’s an equally impressive build which must be seen.  In future stories, I will be highlighting Lora and work.  Fans of Irwin Allen and Doctor Who be on the lookout for some incredible work!)    

          Not wanting to overstay my welcome (Significant Other wonders why I appear to be only concerned about this inworld.) I thank Lora for her time and take my leave. 

         

The Garden Tomb (located here) is an exquisite example of the work that can be done in SL to recreate RL by someone who is drawn to the subject matter and has the skills to make it happen. 

          The solitude of the site lends itself to quiet contemplation for visitors.

          I strongly recommend the Garden Tomb to all visitors to SL who wish to see what is possible and who not have the opportunity to visit the RL site. 

          I’d like to thank Lora for time in showing me her work as well as for her commitment to building some of the finest sites in SL.

          I’d also like to thank Bec for telling me about the Garden Tomb and introducing me to Lora.  (Hopefully, Bec hasn't damaged her friendship with Lora by doing so!) 

          Additional photos from my tour can be found on this flickr page.    

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!