New World Notes

Cajsa's Choices: Stunning Second Life Photos of Somber Men by Spek

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Spek posted this picture “Runner” today. He’s alone on a beach that seems set up for massive crowds with cabins for vacationers. This pictures feels very lonely. I think he may have deliberately created that loneliness by dressing his avatar in dress pants with a belt and a white oxford shirt. He is apart from the scene, not dressed for it and all alone. On one level, it’s capturing alienation. It reminds me of a Robert Frost poem about snow, of all things.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces

Between stars - on stars where no human race is.

I have it in me so much nearer home

To scare myself with my own desert places. 

For more from Spek, click here:

 

Cajsa's Choices: Sari Makes the Second Landscape Look Like Paintings -- And Provides Teleport Links to See These Places Yourself!

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Sari takes amazing landscapes as well as personal pictures of her avatar out and about enjoying herself in Second Life. “Path to Beauty” is a gorgeous picture with a sky worthy of an oil painting in the Louvre. It looks like she road a bike to explore along the coast and just had to stop and take a snapshot with the glorious sunrise making the sky almost as lavender as the flowers. 

For more of Sari’s fabulous landscapes, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Completely Charming Second Life Photos by Azaria

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Azaria posted this adorable picture of a cat cleaning its paws right next to a burger that ready to serve while other burgers continue cooking on the grill. It’s called “Chef’s Kiss” which may imply the cat cooked the burger or the burgers are just that good. It’s a cute picture, one that makes a person say “awww” unless they’re from Minnesota where they say “Ohfercu-ute.” The fun thing about Azaria is that she is a photographer in her first and second lives and, sure enough, she has a cat picture from real life, too. Awww. 

For more of Azaria’s gorgeous pics, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Pensively Posed Avatar Photos by Mollie

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Mollie posted “I Never Learned to Read Your Mind,” a fitting title for a picture of a woman sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean while she thinks. The way she holds her head in her hands doesn’t seem sorrowful so much as puzzled, even a bit irked. There’s a bit of “What were they thinking?” about her pose that is so much more interesting than simply looking sad. As to reading minds, let’s all be glad we can’t. Seriously, do you want your every stray thought to be known by someone else? 

For more from Mollie, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Joyous Pride Photos From Across Second Life's Massive LGBTQIA Communities

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

K4RIIM gives us “Happy Pride Month” in this joyful picture with his friend or partner. I love the joy of Pride but I know it’s a hard-won joy. It’s easy to forget how much it means 55 years after the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, the first Pride event. I’ve worked the booth at non-profit organizations at a dozen or more IRL Pride events and the joy is infectious. But LGBTQIA people are always reminded that their rights remain contingent, subject to the whims of a Supreme Court that is flirting with rescinding the right to marry and who knows what else. 

But while many cowardly corporations are showing their true colors and backing away from Pride rainbows, Second Life owner Linden Lab steps forward and not just with user-organized events like Pride at Home but also focusing their monthly Spotlight feature on Tinker Hax (pictured at right) who, with his partner Coral Lacey, founded Pride at Home to compensate for the loss of Pride events during COVID. 

SL embraces the LGBTIQA community and is so important to many people around the world for whom it is their only safe space. (Read my post on Second Life's large trans community here.) I decided to take a look at the first few days of pictures of folks enjoying Pride and created a gallery I will post at the end of this article.

Don’t worry, I will come back to Pride through the month so if you want to join my gallery, take a picture and tag me on Flickr!

For more from SL Pride, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Rileigh Reed Shows Off in Shadowy Fashion Shots

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Rileigh Reed’s most recent picture “Watching in the Shadows” epitomizes her aesthetic perfectly. She likes the dark and, as you can see, the dark likes her. 

I have mentioned before how a person who has since left SL long ago inspired my original “What I Like” posts on my own blog that eventually led to this column. She once dinged me for a fashion post, saying “Never wear clothes the same color as the background.” 

Well, they were wrong then and are wrong to this day and you can see how wrong they are in Rileigh’s picture. She seems to be stepping out of the background, emerging if you will. And the details of her clothing are not lost. It’s a wonderful fashion pic. 

For more of Rileigh’s power pics , click here:

Amazing Aperture Photos: Look at These Raw Screenshots Taken in Second Life's Hot New Third Party Viewer

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Silivren Atheria shot this amazing picture using the new Aperture viewer recently added to the approved third-party viewers for Second Life. (Read Hamlet’s write-up and interview with lead developer William Weaver here.) It is a viewer created for photography and folks are having great fun with it. Sillivren wrote “I actually love the post processing / photoshop when doing any pics, RL or SL. But having a viewer that can start that process when actually taking the pic? My inspiration may have found it's way back again.”

I did a scan for some of the best Aperture pics on Flickr, check them out here:

Cajsa's Choices: Lovely SL Travel & Romance Photos by Alorra Bloodrose

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Alorra Bloodrose’s “Sundog” is a beautiful shot of brilliant sundog. It’s gorgeous, though it seems unseasonal. Sundogs, or parhelia, happen when sunlight refracts off ice crystals in the air so it’s rare they are seen in Summer, but it’s not impossible. However, the thing about Second Life is you can have sundogs in any kind of weather, even without clouds to hold ice crystals in the air. I like that in addition to providing a link to visit the site in her description, she also tells us what sky setting she used. 

For more from Alorra, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Movie Tributes & Politically Provocative Imagery by SL Artist Damien "Tag" Taggart

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Damien "Tag" Taggart has a fascinating photostream. When I saw this pic, “One Tin Soldier” I was thrilled that someone remembered the song of the same name. It’s not like it gets played on Golden Oldies stations. I have it on my “Favorites” playlist and sing along whenever it plays. That military truck driving away with a “Peace on Earth” sign reminds me of George Carlin’s quip “Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity.” 

For more of his interesting work , click here:

Cajsa Choices: Stunning Photos from Aquilonia, a Second Life Roleplay Community Set in Ancient Rome During the Rule of Marcus Aurelius

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Uri Jefferson is “Pondering on Fate” in this well-named picture. I love how beautifully he captures the light sources and the naturalistic way light works in this picture. I guess we all should be getting used to beautiful lighting in Second Life, but sometimes when there are multiple sources like this I am still amazed. 

Uri cosplays Ancient Rome in SL and I first discovered him when I was looking for Easter pictures and featured his singular picture that captured the story of Easter without a bunny in sight. Since January this year, all his pics have taken place in Ancient Rome and they are wonderful.

For more Ancient Rome cosplay, click here: