That right there is a piece of SL nostalgia folks. Pete Fats' boot in Welsh. I managed to get Steller Sunshine's (SL's 1st resident) massive bean stalk in the background as well.
A thread in the forums go me thinking about SL nostalgia. I love old things, not just SL old things, but all kinds. I appreciate the history behind objects and places. I like to learn about how things got there, and why. In Second Life, where change is constant, old things that have been around for a while are even more scarce and therefore precious. I've been eager to learn about these "virtual antiques" and have often pestered people like Steller Sunshine, Khamon Fate, Buck Weaver and Jai Nomad about stuff on the grid that seems to have been in existence forever. More than once I have been way off base in my assumptions about these things, which makes it all the more fun to learn about them. Nothing just happens in Second Life on it's own. Someone, at some point, decided they would do something and what gets left around on the grid is evidence people's ideas and thoughts at the time they were placed there. Fascinating!
Despite my love for all things old, I enjoy the changes that happen in SL. Stagnation is never any fun, which is why I get excited about new builds, new projects, new people and I find it difficult to get overly worked up about a new policy change, or change in the system that LL implements. Second Life, in my opinion is still very much in a sort of beta stage. Linden Labs still has a lot more experimenting to do before they get everything perfect, and maybe they never will. But I'm enjoying the ride, despite the bumps.
Aaand the tree in the pic is Tweke Underhill's olde hat shoppe, another fave of mine. Heck, I lurve all of Welsh.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you posted this, Ingrid. I am incredulous sometimes at how many new Residents do not know of the rich SL culture we have, and the many pioneering achievements that led to things we take for granted today.
What's also special to me is a community like Welsh—it is a sublime example—has such an ample use of space to breathe, yet the builds themselves are flavorful and can be dense. There are both "normal" houses and "abnormal", wacky things, all living in harmony. When's the last time you heard of a greefing in town?
The things that disappoint me about in newer regions—and who lives in them, for that matter—is a feeling of xenophobia, or at least, "I just moved in but I don't give a damn about my neighbors, not will I even try to talk to them! Heck, I won't even ask questions to learn more!" It burns Residents out and adds a lot to stress. It's not even a neighborhood, just a lot of clashing, bashing, gnashing of pixelteeth, etc.
However, I'm mindful that patience wins a lot out, and some of these communities may "stabilize" yet over the longterm. Even Jessie has become a relatively sleepy town. In a way, it's like the cereal box analogy I'm fond of: gotta dig your hand in deep to get the prize, but let the contents settle afterwards!
BTW, Ingrid, if you still haven't found that statue after further searching, just let me know. :)
You know, I have never been to Welsh. It just bumped to the top of my priority list! It is funny to think of the odd flotsam and jetsam floating around SL as well, like hulks and remnants stuck in orbit. For all that land changes hands, builds rise and fall, and the Lindens follow the land management & cleanup requests, there are still so many bits and pieces that never get picked up or removed. I wonder if in 10 years someone's going to go scuba diving off the coastline and discover a UPS truck or a Cubey orca plane? :D
ReplyDeleteFor, that makes me smile... what kind of relics will be packaged then? It's funny, even, going to freebie places like YadNi's and looking inside the boxes—there are some really old things as it stands! (Speaking of Cubey, good thing he made a new DIY plane kit to replace the "Simple Airplane" script that's been in circulation for ages. About time for fresh blood!)
ReplyDeleteSomething that wows me is, really, we are making history today. It's only a matter of time... until then, let the longterm tide over.
One thing I love about cities is that they embody age without stagnation. While NYC is hardly an old city compared to european standards, it has some great history. A brand new Starbucks could be built into a Civil War Era post office, or a dance club build in a long abandoned church.
ReplyDeleteRather than perpetually wipe and restart projects in SL, I think there could be some value in integrating the new into the old.
I'm proud to say that the first building I ever created (a year and a half ago) still stands today in Chase's Manhattan in Hawthorne. It has been rented out as a residence and store to different people and has undergone occasional alterations. It's fun to imagine that someday, maybe five years from now, a renter will be proudly showing his apartment/historical landmark to visitors and exclaim "The famous Aimee Weber lived here!! (well...before she was eaten by wolves)"