When A Skin Isnt.

Nomine. Raw Skin.


[LAP] Caught


Some things you just HAVE to have.

And it's perfect for my response to Achariya's Posemaker Blogger Challenge.

I have a confession to make. I never remember to credit my poses. Sometimes this is because I've bought them months ago from obscure little Japanese stores that also sell robocat avatars and urinals, and I only find them in my inventory by the little running man icon. Other times it's because I've only remembered all the disparate pieces of my outfit by using the "(worn)" trick, and of course the pose I'm using doesn't show up. Probably because IT'S wearing ME. But the general truth is I'm a barely contained sack of forgetfulness, and when you combine lazy with easily distract - ooohhh...... something shiny! Where was I? Oh yes. I suck. It's true.



[LAP] Male Blogger 3

So Achariya's rather pointed stick to the gonads of the blogworld stirred me into action as well. Male poses are hard to find done really well in SL, and whenever I come cross any that don't put my "freakishly long arms and slender shoulders" - as a friend described them recently - into my hips then I buy up big. And no one does this better than Dove Swanson of Long Awkward Pose. Ok, yeah - I guess a disclaimer is necessary here. She's one of my best friends, but if I didn't respect what she was doing then I would KICK HER TO THE KERB AND STEP OVER HER FACE LAUGHING AS I LET THE RATS GNAW HER CARCASS. It's not a paean to her as a person, this post is about the technical expertise, research and humour that goes into every pose in the [LAP] portfolio.



[LAP] Boiling Over

The male avatar mesh is unforgiving, but she still manages to manipulate it into natural contours and expressive positions. And avoids the breaks in the shoulder joints even whilst reaching the arms up above the head, and that takes a buttload of skill and care to do. I have her earliest poses "Dude I" all the way up through "Dude VIII" to her brand new "Boy Bloggers" set - yes, there's over 150 male poses - and the progression is amazing. You can see how much she has learnt over a year and she's poured all that into all these static poses. When she finally moves into animations and AO's she's going to take over the world.



[LAP] Fall Away

Dove and her companion Lawless McBride spend hours researching pictures in magazines, television and the internet always trying to find something interesting and innovative that will translate into SL. This doesn't end at individual poses, her couples and group sets are also meticulously made and hours are spent testing them. And I know it's hours as I often get dragged along to donate my pixels so she can reposition and tweak. If you were one of the twenty people who were at the final adjustments for the epic "Takin' Over The World" set at Christmas time then you know what I mean. A simple fifteen minute ad shoot turned into a two visit three hour marathon until Dove got all the positions exactly right. She won't release anything that's less than perfect, and this dedication that shows in all her finished works.

[LAP] Flipped

But my favourite thing about Long Awkward Poses is that they are interesting and filled with emotion. From handstands to emo sulks to diva style to the spectacular buttshot one that Dove made just to gross people out, you won't find any other poses that allow your avatar to express itself with more playfulness and joy. Or attitude. Or despair. There are a lot of general modelling animations on the grid that display the av perfectly for runway or catalogue work, but if I want to take a picture with meaning, interest and passion then I go straight to my overstuffed [LAP] folder.

[LAP] The Winter - yes, of course this one is my favourite!

Lastly, I also need to veer just a little towards personal mush by reminding everyone how generous Dove is as a business owner. She donates her profits and her time to vital causes. She created an AO which is free to all newcomers (and legions of freshly created alts.) And she's just launched a "Blogger's Appreciation Program" with a purpose created set of poses for both men and women which she's giving away. So all this is why I'd be a fan of [LAP] even if I'd never met Ms Swanson. Okay, so I wouldn't know just how hard she works, but I'd still be all over the end product like Mike Tyson at a beauty pageant. And if you look at the feeds recently you'll see that I'm certainly not the only one that thinks this way.


So if you see me do another post without crediting the poses ever again, feel free to hit me. Odds are though, that you'll find each and every one of them at Long Awkward Pose.


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Aftermath

So the Date For Down Under got off to an extremely rocky start. Catero Revolution had decorated Seven Ultra Lounge beautifully for us, and Malkavyn Eldritch retextured our auction podium so it looked as if it grew right there in the club like a neon violet toadstool. People started filing in an hour early, and at 20 minutes before the auction was due to start it became clear that we were in trouble. God bless SL, it was one of those days that makes you want to start up a chainsaw and pay a visit to a certain office in San Francisco. The server just wasn't able to cope with that much fabulous all gathered in one spot and went down in a screaming heap twice - just like a certain vampire you may be acquainted with. The delicious Ryker Beck offered her home sim but it soon became clear that no, that wasn't going to happen either as it was a homestead with a cap of 20 avatars. It was around this time that some people started IM'ing me and telling me to cancel.

NOT. AN. OPTION.

Then the sun shone through the clowds when the wonderful Jackson Vantelli earned his future spot as an archangel when he offered us his sim that was set up for a wedding, so we packed up the whole kit and kaboodle and 100 people descended upon it en masse. Hooray, says I - the sim can take us all, and the auction machine was working! It's .... it's working...? Damn, it's working, right? It's NOT??? AGGGHHHHHH WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING YOU PURPLE PIECE OF SHIT!

At this point it was 40 minutes past the estimated start time. And as wonderful as the crowd had been - right down to the awesome Seven staff who came along and did their thing on a strange sim anyway - it was clear that they were becoming restless. So. Yeah. Um.

[19:42] Winter Jefferson shouts: SCREW THE BOX. We are going to do this the hard way. This auction is going live!

And after that... it was a thing of sheer beauty. Everyone called out their bids and I did my best to follow them in the madness of an extremely pumped up crowd. Okay, so we were bidding on grey blobs, but that didn't dampen the spirit of the event at all. And personally I think it worked out better the anti-technological way. It was definately more intense and involving, and the psychological warfare was like grand slam tennis.

Some of the highlights were:

- The heated battle between Antonia Marat and Callie Cline for the startlingly naked Truth Hawks, sporting the most miscoloured peen in SL history.

- The dizzying heights that the bidding on Payton Heron climbed to - which finally ended after a full twenty minutes at sixty five thousand. And then Jonny Tobias strutted up to the stage and broke precedent all over again.

- The fact that I'd thought Grady Echegaray was on the sim when I opened up the bidding on her... and she and her friends were stuck elsewhere. So she appeared just in time for her respectable closing bid of six thousand... but then her friends clubbed together and sent a donation of another twenty thou.

- And Achariya stepping up to the podium, the bids starting at one... two... three... then the voice of Katat0nik Pigeon cut through the crowd with "twenty thousand!" - and a half a dozen Ach fans almost went for her throat.

With the unbridled generosity of the bidders and the patience of everyone over the epic four hours.... the amount at the end of the day was $643,477l. I have the results of who owns who's ass here, as I know everyone wants to know. The numbers below don't add up to the total because we had a few people just dropping off donations and not bidding, and there is also a sum of 30k that will be arriving soon as someone crashed immediately after their winning bid.

Truth Hawks went to Antonia Marat for 21,500l

Ryker Beck went to Candy Cerveau for 30,000l

Hibiscus Flossberg went to Truth Hawks for 8,055l

Sylar Boyd went to Callie Cline for 31,000l

Grady Echegaray went to Bianca Darling for 6,000l

Faery Sola went to Truth Hawks for 5,000l

Callie Cline went to Shai Delacroix for 20,000l

Cherelle Capra went to Truth Hawks for 5,002l

Newdoll Nikolaidis went to Leah Pleides for 50,000l

Achariya Maktoum went to Katat0nik Pigeon for 20,000l

Bianca Darling went to Johnathan Sprawl for 39,000l

Ashia Tomsen went to Bianca Darling for 15,000l

Vasean Talamasca went to Ryker Beck for 20,000l

Glamouramama Boa went to Aaren Reyes for 30,000l

Payton Heron went to Ashoka Eales for 65,000l

Tesa Jewell went to Kira Paderborn for 20,000l

Catero Revolution went to Leah Pleides for 28,000l

Dakota Buck went to Stein Shilova for 21,173l

Dove Swanson went to Brandy Rasmuson for 22,000l

Jonny Tobias went to Ryker Beck for 60,000l

Ruina Kessell went to Bianca Darling for 3,000l

Lazaro Nakamichi went to Newdoll Nikolaidis for 5,000l

Felicity Blumenthal went to Sands Leavitt for 30,000l

Seikatsu Koba went to Newdoll Nikolaidis for 5,000l

Autumn Hykova went to Newdoll Nikolaidis for 17,000l

Lawless McBride went to Dove Swanson for 15,000l

Winter Jefferson went to Milli Santos for 15,000l

I was lucky enough to be bought by my good friend Milli. I have heard frightening ideas from our friends of what to do with me, though - including forcing me to watch Home Shopping Network for hours on end. *shudder* But wait, there's more! I'm not offering steak knives... but I do want to send a very deep, undead heartfelt thank you to everyone who was a part of this in any way. That's the biddees who volunteered not only their time on the day, but the two hours they are spending with the bidders who bought them. And some of those gorgeous people are amongst the busiest on the grid. I also want to thank the buyers, who opened their hearts and wallets for this most urgent of causes, resulting in thousands of real dollars being donated to the bushfire victims who lost everything. I also had great support from people like Voshie Paine and Milli Santos who helped co-ordinate the event, and I have massive appreciation for our DJanes Sierra Sugar and Summer Deadlight. My gratitude to the management and staff of Seven Ultra Lounge for allowing us to attempt to hold the event at their club, and lastly the 99% of people who were there just having a good time supporting the cause and keeping it drama free. All the proceeds went directly to the Victoria Farshore account that Dakota Buck has registered with the Australian Red Cross, and I will be sending the full transaction history along too.

And lastly I need one more thing from everyone. I need you all to forget about this and let me go back to being mean. It's taken me a year to build up this reputation as a badass, FFS.

I don't really like any of you, you know...


***Late Edit.***

As a final update, the 30k was delivered as soon as that bidder was next online, and one of Callie Cline's friends who was unable to make it on the day sent along a further 20k. So the auction's final total was $693, 477l. I'll let Autumn or Kota announce the current Appeal total.

HOLLER!!!


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L$643,477

1 1412450303
Date: 02/15/2009 23:23:10
Object Pays
Region: Quartz Isle
Destination: Victoria Farshore
L$643,477


2 1412450280
Date: 02/15/2009 23:23:08
Payment
Description: Victoria Bushfire Relief Fund Kiosk
Region: Quartz Isle
Source: Winter Jefferson
L$643,477



More details to follow .... when I can see straight again...


<3

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Bushfire Appeal Date Auction And Party

Remember how I mentioned in my last blogpost how helpless and frustrated I felt as I was "spectacularly unskilled" and had nothing tangible to offer the Bushfire Victims Relief Appeal? (Apart from buying everything that was being made for the cause - and as lovely as the Truth "Victoria" hair is it just don't look right on me.) Well it turns out that there is something that I'm very good at. And that's walking up to complete strangers and telling them that I want to pimp them out. And so I present to you....

Being held at Seven Ultra Lounge on Sunday the 15th of February - this weekend - at 7pm SLT. A selection of some of the most awesome and generous people have volunteered to have their flesh peddled for this most necessary and urgent of causes. It's going to be clean, classy and a metric buttload of fun as we parade the best slabs of pixelmeat for your bidding pleasure. The winner gets a platonic two hour date at a mutually agreeable day and time with their chosen companion. For those that don't know that word, it means that you aren't buying pink and blue poseball time, but an interesting couple of hours with fascinating conversation, dinner, dancing , maybe setting the world to sunset together as you have a picnic on a purple sculpty seashore... that kind of thing. Some of the biddees are also offering extras such as custom clothes or hair, created exclusively for you.

We are featuring a broad range of boys and girls from all walks of Second Life, so there is someone that is bound to appeal to you. Some of the participants include

Dove Swanson Lawless McBride Autumn Hykova Dakota Buck Glamoramama Boa JohnJoseph Shippe Jonny Tobias Ashia Tomsen Truth Hawks Achariya Maktoum Sylar Boyd Grady Echegaray Ryker Beck Stephberry Delling Hibiscus Flossberg Cherelle Capra Malkavyn Eldritch Newdoll Nikolaidis Vasean Talamasca Faery Sola Lazaro Nakamichi Tesa Jewell Ruina Kessell Seikatsu Koba Felicity Blumenthal Catero Revolution Payton Heron Bianca Darling Callie Cline

And... ummm... me.

I can guarantee that 100% of all funds raised are going straight to the Red Cross to be distributed in rehousing and feeding the 4000 people left homeless by the bushfires that erased whole towns in Victoria this weekend. Autumn Hykova and Dakota Buck have been working tirelessly to ensure that these devastated people get the shelter and medical help they need. And please show your appreciation to the biddees giving their valuable time, the designers and creators of Second Life who are donating goods and profits to the Appeal, and the brilliant staff and management of Seven Ultra Lounge who have generously allowed us the free use of their amazing club. And they have even offered to break their club rules and let us use gestures - HOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Even the DJane Sierra Sugar and the photog Elusyve Jewell are working this event gratis. There will also be donation kiosks set up at the venue if you would like to ogle the biddees but your girlfriend would kill you if you walked in with a model.

So come join us and buy yourself some fun. The club has waived all entry fees for this event as well, so don't let that hold you back. Just make sure you get in early as we predict this sim will be hopping.

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We know how serious this situation is, and we aren't making light of any of the suffering these people are going through. This is just a way to get everyone participating in fundraising and feeling good doing it. If you have any questions about the auction message myself, Winter Jefferson first - and if it's about the fundraising aspects Autumn Hykova and Dakota Buck are your best contacts. Special thanks to Catero Revolution for making the poster.


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No Pretty Fashion Pictures Today Sorry...

...but this is important.

I'm sending out an appeal of behalf of all those affected by the devastating Victoria Bushfires.
It may suck that your textures won't load. And it's frustrating when TP's are down. But these people are experiencing their world being borked on a level never seen before. At the time of writing this post, the death toll is 108 and climbing. Australia was shattered by the 2002 Bali Bombs, and we lost 88 lives in that. This is going to resonate for in my beloved country for a very long time.

But there are survivors, and they need help. Entire towns were wiped off the map this weekend. Not only did people lose their entire homes - but they have nowhere else to go because their neighbours, friends, families all lost theirs too. And there are no cars left to leave in. Our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has pledged an immediate relief fund of AU$10m but it's going to take a lot more.

There are two ways you can help.

The Red Cross has set up an appeal online. They are the most reputable relief agency in the world, and you know that 100% of anything you can spare will go straight back to rehousing and feeding these poor bastards.

Or you can join in inworld. Autumn Hykova and Dakota Buck are organising a fundraiser, and are asking for participants. If you are a designer, a pose maker, an artist, a builder - anything, please get in touch with these ladies and let them know what you can do to help. Even if you are spectacularly unskilled like me I'm sure there is something you can offer. I know we are suffering from charity fatigue, but these events don't ever slot in to a time when they are acceptable and easily dealt with. This is a plea to all, but especially any Australians involved in our safe version of the world.


Picture Source - Torsten Blackwood AFP, taken from the ABC News website.


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My Procrastinated Tribute

Hey bishes - I'm back. BleedingEyesBleedRed CrawlingDeathBlade doesn't just make the blackest jeans ever..... but he has one of the coolest names too!!! So even though they are crap I'll buy everything he makes. Did I mention they were black? They cling to my cawk and show up my third testicle George perfectly when I'm looking for comics/movies/song lyric quotes to butcher as my blog titles. So reap it.

And reap these shitekickers I found in the most obscure japanese sim that I'm not handing out the landmark to, hors. I thought I'd try something new..... and I didn't get the black!! I bought them in midnight, onyx, jet, coal, pitch, charcoal, sable and ebony instead. Oh, Daddy - were those all for me? Just look at the detail up close, but no hurry because I'm not peeling these off my feet all winter. Unless something cooler gets released tomorrow. Heh.

I'm also setting off fechin airport alarms with these piercings that go from my nose to my lip and connect with a chain to my chest clits. I tried to get it in black, but the vile hor wouldn't retexture it. So I spent the next 7 hours standing in her store trying on everything dove had bought me that week and modding my hair to stuff under this toque, eh. This was while I was telling autumn that I'd rather be dead then red.... ate a samosa out of berry's sexy arse crack.... called winter a girl and elusyve a hairy biker man. Those bishes love me.

So that's my blog for this month. And probably the next one. Time to get my scrubby blackheaded arse off to watch the fechin Broncos break my heart all over again, while dove goes shopping for cucumbers. And to remind someone of the bond of the Band of Brothers... and you thought Monty Burns bided his time???

I'm just sayin'.

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This is a tribute to someone that dragged me into the fashion world when I kept posting comments on his blog. He and Dove Swanson adopted a noob vampire with NO ideas how to develop his style. All I knew is that I didn't want to look like anyone else. And he helped me do that. It would have been too damn easy to do a gushy wind beneath my wings type appreciation... plus I owe him quite a few burns.

If I need to mention his name, then I haven't done it right.




Alphamale Wintercoat

Gutterblood Vincent Boots

Belleza POE Hunt Skin

Armidi Limited A001 Black Classic Jeans

Dirty Lynx Impact T Shirt

Panache ZF and Kari - New School Hair

Electro Kitty Face Piercings Lip Rings

D.o.D Dead Ringer Piercings

eXcess Shaded eyes in blue

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Get Away From Her You BITCH!

As Shangreloo alerted everyone on Fabulously Free In SL



1l Alien avatar available here - but be nice and give the man a tip for his trouble.


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Australia's Proudest Tribe

Ah, Australia.

An ancient land, filled with unique fauna, extraordinary flora of all types - at least around the coasts - and filled with history and a vast tribal heritage. None of these tribes more beautiful and culturally rich than the Bogans.





A Bogan can be easily recognised by the strange way they fashion their hair. Named after a small tough fish, we can only surmise that the hair gained it's name as it contains the same amount of oil one of these real mullets do.





The Bogan also wears a similar garb of flannellete and torn denim no matter where in Australia you may find him - and he is almost always called Bazza. (On rare occasions you may also find a Davo.) The female of the species usually goes by Shazza. A type of protective camouflage, perhaps? The Bogan has only a few natural enemies - the police, the tax department, the employment office and if they drive Holdens they need to beware of Ford owners. And vice versa.





Their main protection from the searing summer suns in this brown land are the rubber coatings on their feet. One of the favourite methods of play by a Bogan is to confuse all interlopers by referring to them as "thongs." This male specimen stayed still eating his pie long enough for us to also show you his main method of attracting females - the tantalising hint of pubic hair showing just above the waistband.





The language of these mystical people is also haunting and lovely to the ear. If you listen in the evenings, the streets peal with the mating call of "Where's me farkin beer woman?" which is accompanied by a megadecibel rendition of their tribal anthem, Khe Sanh.





All in all, these amazing people deserve to be listed as a unique culture and cherished. And we need to be tolerant and respectful of their worship for their tribal gods, The Legendary Brocky King Of The Mountain and The One Named Baaaaaaarnsey. And keep them well supplied with their beloved Veebees and Winnie Blues. This can be best achieved by establishing more dole offices in regional centres where the Bogan population is thickest. If you plan on entering Bogan territory, however - we recommend you take your own water. Not that it's considered unpotable in these lands, but rather due to the hygiene levels of these people we aren't entirely sure if they have any. It's also a good idea to equip yourself with cassettes by Accadacca as an peace offering should you run into trouble. It's no longer legal to hunt the Bogans.. but occasionally they may decide to come after you. You should be safe in their lands as long as you don't enter in a Nissan Skyline. And steer clear of servos, bottlos, and blue light discos.


It's time we disproved what they say, Nobody likes a Bogan.




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Basically I was seized by Sasy Scarborough and given a forceable make over for Australia Day.

"Style" details are
Overtorn Denim Shirts and Muscle Shirt by Jungle Wear
Flip Flops - or THONGS as we call them here by Detour
Autumn Hair by Philotic Energy (Thank you Aems!)
Tattoos by Addixion
Cigarette by Nait Smith
Pictures of myself being molested by a koala by Sasy Scarborough on Flickr

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!


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D Cypher

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This unit boarded the salvaged ship Nostrano as commanded, and scanned for signs of life. The last broken, static ridden communiques The Directive had received had ended in a choked off scream.





Analysis - atmosphere unable to sustain human life. Human organic matter strewn upon walls, floors and ceilings. Findings include similar situation even on the exterior of the hull windows. This unit can not calculate what could have caused this.





Control room similarly deserted. Last entered co-ordinates appear to have the trajectory of Nostrano directed towards the dark star X-1211 at Andromeda's outer rim. This unit interrupted this telemetry to place the carrier in orbit around closest planetfall.





Audio recorded by this unit has unidentifiable characteristics. Submitting files for technical analysis. Unexplained grinding noises emanating from the cargo hold. Dark liquids seeping under the doorframe - posssible biowaste. Self preservation programming prevents further investigation.





Doubleplus strong recommendation to The Directive is to destroy the Nostrano from a secure distance and contact insurance agency for amends. Abort, incinerate, reduce this ship to atoms. Sub-atoms.


This unit is not programmed for human characteristics. Question - is this fear?

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Silver skin by Chip Midnight.
Cyber Mohawk, Mask and Shoes by +DV8+
Jacket by +*Cipher*+
Pinstripe Latex Pants and Rubber Biker Gloves by Elixir
Fishnet Shirt from "Red Right Hand" by SN@TCH
Shot aboard the Doomed Ship Nostrano
If you visit, respect their roleplay please.

P.S. - these cyber pieces come with an awesome glow, but due to the new glitch I couldn't do them justice. They still look damn good when you aren't trying to take pictures of them.

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Yarrrr...

Avid was one of my favourite design houses in SL, mainly because of the super realistic, butter soft leather that Darwin Mizser creates. She knows how to dress me when I'm in one of my "Okay, maybe I'd better have a day where I don't look like the problem child of the Vampire clan" moods. I'll be completely honest though, the last few male releases have been fairly disappointing, Black Snake especially. So just last week I was swearing to Dove and Lawless that I would never be buying another Avid ensemble again.

You people just love proving me wrong, don't you?





"Love's Mutineer" had me racing to the store and buying blindly before the texture had even rezzed, thank goodness I landed at the men's section or who knows what I would have ended up with? A minute, intensely critical review of every tiny prim and leather fold still had me cackling happily. Plus it comes with a rapier. (I've never been a cutlass man, too bulky to accessorise properly.) There's several configurations of the top, you can have it with or without the vest - but the vest looks so damn good there's no real reason to wear it like that. Unless it's to show off the delicate detail in this lace shirt.





When it comes down to man's most important decision - which are cooler, pirates or ninjas? - there has never been any hesitation for me. As pirates get wenches. And "International Talk Like a Ninja Day" would just be an epic fail. So I was happily swinging around the lines of the Black Sparrow and telling several ladyfriends in IM that I was now Captain Winter of the Blood Seas, scurvy vampire buccaneer. Funnily enough they were all still on my friend's list when I logged in just now. I needed to complete the ensemble, as every Jack Sparrow fan knows a pirate is nothing without his hat. So I turned to the Bard's Hat from Illusions, and whilst I was there I replaced the boots that came with this ensemble with the Cavalier Boots. Which was a damn good thing in the end, whilst taking these photos I accidentally let off one of the cannons which are just out of shot. I heard a boom, and I don't know if it really had any effect on any of the other ships in port... but all of a sudden all the surrounding green dots on my minimap starting converging on me. So these boots helped me with the tactic that all the best sea skirmishes are won by. I hauled up my anchor and I ran like fuck.

Grid co-ordinates 145, 158, 23. I think I sunk their battleship.


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