Saturday, March 29, 2008

I <3 LA


Well guys, you didn’t have to wait long for Naiman Broome to fulfill your latest style wish. As promised here is the newly release LA Jacket for men!

The LA Jacket for men comes in several yummy colors but I chose the dark brown and sexah black to show you guys.


Ahem, excuse me while I become a guy to model these for you. I promise not to scratch, belch, fart or yell at the TV while wearing this, as its way to tasteful for that.

As with the previous NY Jacket for the ladies, this jacket comes with four jacket style choices and twelve sculptie pieces for you to pick and choose from to obtain the look you want to define. Closed jacket, open jacket, closed neck, open neck. And each piece is modifiable so you can fit those huge guns you guys like to sport.

I paired the jacket with a nice sweater from Armidi, some regular jeans and some low boots and I liked the look. All together this look is so hot I wanted to pick myself up.

As customary for Naima, the texture work on the LA Jacket is just to die for. Such realism overall you feel as if you could just run your fingers over the soft, supple leather of this jacket and feel the hide warm to your touch.

It’s a great jacket, and so easy to modify even I can do it and I have trouble forming a prim.

Just released last night guys so if you want to be the first to get it, head on over to Naima at: NAIMA- http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lagoon/91/24/21 and pick one up. Selling at only $480 for the quality and number of pieces it’s a real bargain.

Well alas I must exit man land and head back to my feminine side before I start to want to take something apart, crawl under the hood of a car, stare at girls chests instead of their eyes and eat anything that doesn’t eat me first.

So until next time, enjoy the new Naima LA Jacket, and remember, in LA you could be the next discovered star.

NAIMA- http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lagoon/91/24/21

LA Jacket- $480

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Chronicals of NAIMA

















You know, for a long time, I’ve been searching for a specific type of jacket here in SL and just haven’t had any luck.

But last night my luck changed. A friend of mine, Naiman Broome owner of Naima Fashions drops this package on me out of the blue simply named, “NaimaNYJAcket” and says- “hey…try this on and let me know what you think”. Very film noir I thought. ”Pssst… the blue turtle fly’s at noon.”

Anyway, I proceeded to open the package and what did I find? Eleven sculpted pieces and five jacket styles for the elusive jacket I have been hunting in SL!

That short, sexy, closed at the bottom, opened at the top bomber jacket with a high neck collar, oh yeah baby, I finally found you-ahhhh my quest is over.

Naiman has done it again. I’ve always loved Naiman’s work ever since I first discovered it. But over time he has gotten even better. Every time I pick up something new at his shop I am delighted to see just how much he has advanced and improved his technique and style.

Honestly this time I think he has outdone himself. This jacket is simply a work of art. The detail is stunning and the 3D shadowing its just amazing. Put this jacket on and you feel as if you’re really wearing a garment, a jacket not a texture.

I talked to Naiman about it and found out the NY jacket is the result of three months of hard work. Well-it shows. This jacket is not only stylish and very sexy but as versatile as any piece of clothing item as I’ve seen in SL. It can be worn with skirts, jeans, dressy pants, capris, shorts you name it.

The NY jacket comes with options of closed at the bottom link or fully open to pair with shirts and undershirts of your choice. The collar has several choices open or closed, hood up or down. It also comes with a choice of shadow or no shadow your preference, but I love the 3D shadow work. It just adds to the overall realism of this article of clothing. He’s even made a version for larger breasted women and smaller breasted, he’s thought of everything when it comes to this jacket.

It comes in ten truly brilliant color choices and sells for only $380L. All sculpted pieces can be modified to meet your particular body needs.

Take a look at the pictures and tell me this isn’t one of the hottest jackets you’ve seen in a long time. Right now I would love to stay and gush on about it but I have an plane waiting for take off on the runway and I don’t want to be late. Bomber jacket on, check, I’m ready for takeoff!
PS Guys, don't feel left out- Naiman is currently working on a male version just for you. :)

Get your copy now at NAIMA- http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lagoon/91/24/21

Friday, March 21, 2008

Reasonable Desires- Desiring Women



I love Austie Pegler and Martini Joliat of Reasonable Desires. Every time they drop something on me, I get a smile on my face. I know that whatever it is, I’m going to love it. It’s either going to provide me with a giggle, a belly roll or I’m just simply going to be in awe of their craftsmanship.

About two weeks ago Austie dropped another “care” package on me. Bless her heart. She had no idea how busy I was at the time, or how stressed. She just giggled and said “don’t worry about blogging this just have fun!” And that’s exactly what I did-have fun!

Well how can I resist blogging her items? I can’t! It’s just not possible. Those two KEEL me!

This time around they sent me some of their latest costumes which included Lovely Legal, Not So Snow White, Sailor Sweetie, Little Red Riding Hood and Violet Burlesque.

Come on, with those titles how can you NOT want to jump right in, tear off your clothes and try them on?? Once again I was not disappointed with the quality or quantity that was in each item. I swear all you have to do is supply hair and shoes and you’re set to go. Look at the photos, that’s all I added to each of them and I was ready for my next costume party, Halloween event or a little personal favorite role playing. :)

Ahem, anyway, I don’t have to tell you how I feel about Reasonable Desires, you can read it from previous posts. I love them! They have the cutest, most imaginative, detailed and highly comprehensive costumes on the grid. These outfits are no different. Great work, good details, fine texturing and just plain old fun times. So get thee over to Reasonable Desires and if you run into Austie or Martini, tell them I’m off to grandmas’ house and I don’t know when I’ll be back.

Not So Snow White: $225L
Little Red Riding Hood $199L
Violet Burlesque: $225
Sailor Sweetie: $150L
Lovely Legal: $150

You can find Reasonable Desires at : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Reasonable%20Desires/132/204/27

Monday, March 10, 2008

Prima Di Elaganza Fashion Show Review













March 9th, 2008 the first fashion show held at Bellalgio was presented by Premiere Modeling amongst a crowd of the fashion hungry who’s who went well despite SL having its way with us in many ways, on different levels of frustration. Everyone involved in the Prima Di Eleganza show worked hard to pull off a dazzling fashion extravaganza featuring the dynamic works of VictoriaV, Milady’s Fancy, Styles of Edo, Indyra Originals and shoes by Zhao.






VictoriaV McMillan is ready to show the SL fashion world she's still got style. VictoriaV makes stylish outfits that range from business boardroom to elegant evening gowns. The stunning heels showcased were of course provided by the uber creative mind of Melanie Zhao of Zhao shoes. VictoriaV has class and refined style towards the taste of simple yet elegant. Not overly textured or wild couture by any means her work has a following that seems to be growing larger day by day. Simplicity in design will always have a place in the fashion world and VictoriaV seems to have that down pat.












Fomenting fashion revolution clearly isn't the aim of Rachel Darling of Milady’s Fancy. Rather, the designer continues her quiet evolution, adding tailoring and texture to the super sequined mini dress designed to bring the eye towards the hip where its transparent texture is best utilized. Anything to write home about? Perhaps not. But there is something to be said for ably translating trends into simple, well-priced looks that make an attractive, anonymous addition to a wardrobe. And that something might be, "Put it on my credit card."
As luck would have it SL decided to chew me up and spit me out about the time the show rolled around to Styles of Edo therefore I lack pictures and information on that section. The same fate befalls the latest from Indyra Originals. I did manage to snap a couple of pics of three of the designs by Indyra before once again I was scattered to the four winds by the gods of SL, never to return.










There were several VIP’s I saw in attendance and had a chance to snap pics of including the CEO of VictoriaV, Vasgez McMillan as well as VictoriaV McMillan herself. Standing nearby you also see Alix Abruzzo owner of the Bellagio.









I will say that despite all of the issues in SL during the show, everyone from the models to the management of Bellagio worked non stop to ensure the best show possible. Well organized and held on a truly spectacular runway, all the models involved worked thru horrific lag, non attachment curses and asset server issues to still make the show appear seamless and without a hitch. Coming from the runway side myself I know what those girls went through and kudos to them for their hard work.

The Bellagio estate on the Isle of Dreams, is simply the grandest build I have seen in SL. It really IS the Bellagio, and if you’ve ever been to Vegas you know what I mean. I for one was stunned at the sheer magnitude of the complete Bellagio landscape. The buildings are magnificent as are the grounds. The shops are well laid out and easily accessible. Clearly this is a place to come if you choose to be pampered in style for a day, two or more. Nothing less than perfection would be expected from Bellagio and to my great delight I was not disappointed.

Special thanks to Pat Hartono, Bellagio Fashion Coordinator and Alix Abruzzo, BellagioOwner for inviting me to this show and I look forward to being in attendance for many more to come.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

photoLIFE Model Search

Think you've got what it takes to be photoLife Model search and win $L 5,000, a gorgeous house worth 15k, have your face be in the photoLIFE ads, and recieve a photoLIFE studio (OM-10) ?

Yes ?

So read below :

The hunt is on for the FACE of photoLife. After doing research with several photographers and photo studio owners, OomPoppaMowMow Snookums armed himself with statistics on photo studio requirements started the creation of photoLIFE.His goal was to build a photo studio unlike any other in Second Life. He would handle all the scripting and building himself leaving nothing to chance. This would allow him to make certain all scripting was done to his exacting details.photoLIFE is looking for a model for the FACE of photoLIFE.The chosen model will:

1. Recieve 5k$L
2. Receive a gorgeous house worth 15k$L
3. Be eligible for modeling school with InStyle Fashion Agency
4. Have her face be in the photoLIFE ads
5. Recieve a photoLIFE studio (OM-10).

There will be a Top 5 chosen and they will each receive a 1K cash prize and a photoLIFE studio (OM-10).To be eligible you must be female. And be willing to work with photoLIFE to set up events that you will be able to attend as a photo model and pose for pictures.Most events will happen sometime between 12pm SLT and 10pm SLT, please dont apply if you cannot make exceptions to be available during requested hours for events.

Eligibility:
1. Must be female
2. Must be available for March 30, 2008 @ 2pm for the PhotoLIFE launch event and voting
3. Be open for other events as they come up (we will work with you on planning)
4. Create the folder as requested

If you think this may be you please follow the directions below.**Any failure to follow the instructions as laid out will be cause for removal from the contest.**

1. Create a folder and name it "photoLIFE Model Search - Avatar name"
2. Put 1 face shot, no outworld effects please, named "photoLIFE model face- avatar name" into the folder
3. Put one body shot, no outworld effects please, no nudity, named "photoLIFE model body- avatar name" into the folder. (AT LEAST ONE PHOTO MUST BE TAKEN using the photoLIFE studio the OM-10, either your face shot or body shot, they are set up at photoLIFE).
4. Create a notecard named "photoLIFE Model note - avatar name", include:a. your nameb. your SL birthdayc. time you are generally available in SL (pls use SL time)
5. Drop the entire folder onto Teena Basevi's Profile no later then Sunday March 9, 2008 11:59pm SLT
6. Accept the Group Invite to photoLIFE to await further news.

Top 5 choices will be annnounced in the photoLIFE group on March 17, 2008 at 10am SLT (pending SL allowing people in and all that jazz).The winner will be chosen by vote by the event attendees on March 30th.

Any questions please IM or send a notecard to Teena Basevi.deadline is march 9th to have photo folders to Teena Basevi.

REMINDER: At least one photo must be taken on the OM-10!!Thank you and Good Luck!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Interview with a Mad Scientist



Some of you may have read the article I wrote, recently published in The Best of SL magazine; then again some of you may not. Either way what you didn’t see was the interview I had with the creator of the photo studio I was writing about. Damn editors-they always end up cutting the best stuff. ;) Anyway towards that end, I am presenting here the interview I had with OomPoppaMowMow Snookums, owner, creator and mad scientist builder of the photoLIFE photo studio. I hope the article makes more sense now.



Cherie: Why did you create the Photo Life?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: photoLIFE was created to introduce a different level of quality to Second Life than the current studios can provide.

Cherie: What inspired you to take this on?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: As a home builder in Second Life, I make great efforts to provide my customers with good support. A customer of mine called me and asked me to help them with another object they purchased. Obviously I was under no obligation to assist them, seeing it wasn't my creation, but I agreed to take a look at it. When I arrived I found a product known as the N30 modeling studio. Once I saw the studio, I remembered seeing it several months before. A friend of mine was in modeling and was visiting an agency. I was just walking around the room while I waited and noticed bad seams and poor texturing on what I understand now to be the N30. I actually wrote the creator about major flaws I saw, offering to help correct the problems. Needless to say, my offer was rejected. My customer had also contacted the owner and was having trouble with some particle scripts. They received what I believe was poor customer service.

I've never felt like reinventing the wheel was a circumstance I enjoyed being in, but when the wheel doesn’t roll right, I’m all for making one that does! It was at this point that I realized SL needed a quality photo studio that offered stability and reliability, so I decided to build one myself.



Cherie: What was your design philosophy?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: Quality in scripting and ease of use, without over-scripting and adding unnecessary complications. Second Life gives builders a wide range of abilities to create a lot of features. Its here that I believe the biggest difference is seen. I've looked for features that give the photographer a larger range of tools, and I've never introduced anything into the OM-10 without first asking myself a few questions. Does the feature enhance the photographer's ability to be creative? Can this feature be easily used? And how can the feature function so the scripting and build perform seamlessly? There are many other features that could be added to photoLIFE, but I choose to keep only those features that enhance the build and give the photographer quality tools, without introducing lag or scripting malfunctions.

This approach is quite different than many other concept designers. A concept designer might have a great idea, but to see the idea come to life, the designer might end up having to hire many different scripters. This can make the scripting schematics klutzy, which causes scripting failures and overloads the script with listen functions, which add a considerable amount of lag. As a builder-scripter, I've created every phase of the studio, from conceptual design to prim building and even scripting. No other scripter has had any part of the schematics of the OM-10. This is why I believe the OM-10 outperforms any photostudio on the market when put to a side by side comparison.

Cherie: Why did you make it the way you did?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: Admittedly I am not a photographer in SL. I've been able to photograph friends on occasion, and I'm pleased to say the results were normally better than what they were able to get from paid photographers, but my passion has always been building and scripting. When it came to designing the features, I wanted to be sure that I was able to deliver the photographers with features that they found useful in a studio. I decided to begin interviewing photographers. Each one seemed to have his or her own approach to SL photography, but almost all seemed passionate about the field, and only photographers with an established reputation for quality work were interviewed. Not all design suggestions were used, but all were taken seriously, and, without question, all agreed that Second Life could use a studio with a different level of quality and were pleased to hear about the project.

Cherie: How long has it taken you to complete it?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: The customer of mine contacted me for help with her former studio on 11/29/07. That was when I decided to take on the project of creating a higher quality product. Friends and consultants of mine would find me working 5-7 days a week at up to 9 hours a day. A great deal of work went into the OM-10, so that I can be proud to put it on the market.

Cherie: What were your biggest challenges? What would you say is your biggest accomplishment with it?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: Photographers all seemed to have similar feature requests. One of the most requested was having better lights. The OM-10-SL's are unique, in that they have 4 power settings, 9 color selections, and 4 height adjustments. This gives the photographer the ability to add lighting reinforcement anywhere at any angle, and with HUD controls, they can do it on the fly!

Another feature requested is the ability to create unique combinations of studios and components. That’s why I created the OM-10 Sync feature. This is one of my favorite features! The OM-10 can actually be synced and grouped with any combination of components or any amount of HUDs. This allows other studio combinations to be brought close by without any interference or cross commands. It's perfect for the larger photographers who desire to have different themed studios near each other.

Probably the most innovative feature in the OM-10 is the 21 scene memory. This brings the photographer the ability to create his or her own library of scenes available at the click of a button! The memory feature is designed so that there are 7 scenes in 3 groups. This allows the photographer to group similar scenes together, making their library more organized and efficient.

Cherie: What about Photo Life makes it special?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: What features or benefits does it offer not found elsewhere? In all honesty, everything I put into the OM-10 was well thought out. Even the nine lighting colors that were selected were taken from the Spectramaster color palette and converted to LSL with a calculator. This offers a more pleasing shade of color, more useful to photography than the pure colors that we see from, lets say, the red <1.00,> color vector. I believe every feature in the OM-10 was designed and implemented in a way not found in any other studio in SL.

Cherie: What current photo systems does Photo Life compete with?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: The N30 has established a reputation for being the most successful studio on the market. Then there is another studio called the photosphere.

Cherie: How do these systems compare?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: The photosphere is just that ... a sphere. While I believe the sphere design to be unique and interesting, it can cause many textures to appear distorted. As far as the N30 is concerned, it’s my belief that it has established its reputation based strongly on intimidation. While I was building the OM-10, I was informed by other studio builders that the owner of the N30 has filed many DMCA's against other studio builders in SL. Much of the advertising around the N30 states that it has been copyrighted, and that it is on file with the Library of Congress. As far as copyrights are concerned, the US Library of Congress states that "Copyright exists from the moment the work is created." That means anyone who creates an original work has copyright protection when it is created, regardless if the work has been registered or not. The Library of Congress is also very clear that "Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration" are NOT protected under copyright laws. This means the idea of a photo studio can not be copyrighted. The N30 is definitely protected, should someone come and duplicate the product and try to resell it, even under a different name; however, that does not give the owners of the N30 exclusive rights to the photo studio concept. Make no mistake. The OM-10 is nothing like the N30, and I believe this to be a good thing!

Cherie: What can Photo Life do that N30 can't?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: Well, Cherie, its hard to even begin discussing the differences, there are so many. But to begin with, the texture installation and management are easier. Photographers explained to me that the N30 was difficult to add their own textures to. The OM-10 can just drop textures in the appropriate texture display. I've even added a texture installer, should someone prefer it. It also has 3 texture displays, allowing the user to put different textures on the background, the floor and the alpha effects layer. This enables the creativity of the photographer to be expressed in creative scenes using up to 3 different textures. The Alpha Layer allows the users to actually add effects over their own backdrops. No other studio has this.

The 21 scene memory allows the photographer the ability to create a unique library of scenes. The slave lights have 4 heights, 4 power settings, and 9 colors, while the 1 piece pose stand has 16 rotational positions for each pose. Poses can be added easily in the singles mode. With the push of a button, the pose stand enters "couples" mode, where it becomes a menu-driven stand with 16 different poses, while still being able to access the 1 touch 16 rotational positions. Again these features are only offered by the OM-10.

The camera, probably the most humorous component, allows the user to learn the art of "Alt+Left Click" and "Ctrl+Alt+Left Click" camera controls. These camera controls are available to anyone in SL at any time. It's insulting to me that someone would try to sell an object that moves one's camera around while the "Alt+Click" client features exist. However, I did program a nice photographer animation and, for the laziest photographers, a camera push towards the subject area!

Some other features that are exclusive to the OM-10 would be Hide All Components, Single Plane Effects, and Ambient Lighting. Hide All Components hides all the components that could be an obstruction between the subject and the photographer. Single Plane Effects rezzes all effect particles on a single plain behind the subject. This eliminates the possibility of particles falling in front of the subject’s face, while Ambient Lighting creates a gentle overall lighting effect without over-saturating the subject.

The photoLIFE HUD would be the icing on the cake. This HUD actually shows the texture images for each display, while allowing the HUD wearer access to nearly every feature of the OM-10, including full control over the pose stand, controlling both slave lights independently, and access to the full 21 scene memory!

But as impressive as these features are ... they are worthless if the photographer has a constant struggle keeping the unit functioning. This is why I believe the most important difference with the OM-10 is reliability. This was the reason I began building this project. While the studio is just finishing the beta testing, I’m proud to say I've had no reports of feature failures due to script functions! The OM-10 is proving to be a solid machine and something for the SL photographer to be proud of owning.

Cherie: How much will Photo Life retail for?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: While we are generating a lot of buzz, the first version of the studio with all components will be offered for the initial price of $7000L. This will include upgrades as they come out. Wildflowers, the parent company, has a logo on the base of the studio that allows owners to check for future updates. As progress continues, I'll begin offering individual components and HUD packs.

Cherie: Working on any enhancements? What might those be?

OomPoppaMowMow Snookums: Wildflowers, my parent company, has a strong program in rezzing technology. I'm looking forward to bringing an advanced prop rezzer to the photoLIFE system. This will be updateable also with new props as they are developed. One of the things I’m very excited about is texture packs. The OM-10's, as they are now, are equipped to be able to install texture packs. This means we can offer different packs of textures for themed memory groups or even themed studios. All the owner will have to do is buy a texture pack then install it on the OM-10. Simple as that!

Thank you Snookums!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Vanity Universe 2008 Skin Fair
















Have you heard? The circus is in town, and by that I mean the Vanity Universe Skin Fair!

We just wrapped up the FACES skin show on the sim despite some unforeseen sim problems, serious restarts and a couple of unexpected crashes. We still succeeded marvelously through the hard work and total professionalism of everyone involved.

The presentation showcased thirty-seven skinners, some new, some old and every one of them fabulous creations. I was blessed to be one of the models involved in the show and enjoyed every single minute.

Working with twenty-three models on one show is always so much fun. The different personalities, the humor that’s shared and the overall professionalism of each of them just thrills me. So much passion and excitement towards making a show shine makes everyone come alive.

I have to hand out the kudos to the FACES organization and team as they seriously worked their virtual butts off to pull off a show of this magnitude. Aradia Dielli, Gillian Waldman and Phoenix Chapman are the pioneering minds behind FACES and I am truly honored to work with each one of these magnificent, talented and hard working ladies.

If you missed the show and we know a lot of you did, you can still see the skins in all their glory by visiting the sim at: S k i n F a i r 2 0 0 8, VANITY UNIVERSE (116, 107, 601)

Until then here are a few snapshots I took from backstage before the lions and tigers got loose. Enjoy!