Thursday, February 25, 2010

Visitors to Opar

Taking in the views from the top of Wild Shore Island at Opar

I love the grand natural vistas at Opar, my personal estate. I have recently had a significant increase in the daily visitors to Opar. It's attracting couples who come to dance in the Villa and take romantic walks around the estate. I love having company at Opar, and I enjoy being a hostess showing new visitors around. But I don't advertise. The land mark is passed around among friends and to friends of friends. Readers of my blog can also get the SURL from this and other posts.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them for better viewing.



One of my favorite activites at Opar is horseback riding. I am taking Nathan Hale, my horse, out for some exercise in the early morning. Mowgli, my tiger, usually accompanies us on our rides.


On a recent ride, I ran into a most welcome visitor, Shantu Selene, one of my favorite Second Life live performers.

Shantu mounted a horse and joined me on my jaunt.

Visitors to Opar arrive at my Italianate Villa


The Villa is a garden of hanging and potted plants. There are arched arcades, verandas, and patios where one can meet and dine with friends. In the residence, you'll find a large comfortable conversation area with a sweeping view of the fiord and its towering waterfall. There is dancing in the courtyard. With its fountain and Japanese lanterns, the courtyard is very romantic especially at sunset and evening. Formal attire is recommended when dancing in the courtyard; but not required.


A highlight of the Villa is the Rose Garden

Tall grasses along a shoreline

Beyond the Villa, there is much to see on the grounds of the estate. Everyone's favorite is the Wildflower Meadow. Couples always find their way to the romantic Hidden Forest. And people are enjoying sitting by the campfire on Wild Shore Island, looking at the stars in the night sky and listening the crashing of ocean waves below and the crackling of the fire.  There are many more areas of the estate to explore.

Wildflowers of the Meadow


Romance of the Hidden Forest

Opar has been featured in some of my posts on my fashion blog, and so I have been getting many inquiries about Opar. You are most welcome to visit my estate. Opar is not a public attraction. It is a personal residence where my sister Victoria and I reside. But I have opened it to the public, and all visitors are my welcomed guests. When you enter Opar, you will be given a note with just a few rules. Please take notice of them. If you are a photographer and are planning a shoot at Opar that requires rezzing objects like pose balls, let me know. I can give you temporary rezzing privileges. I hope you drop in for a visit, and I know that you'll want to come back again.

Opar:

Related Posts:

Opar - The Beginning (January 29, 2009)

Opar - The Meadow (March 28, 2009)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

My Sister Victoria is Back

Victoria Halostar, My Second Life Sister

I had not seen my sister Victoria for almost two months. Real world has kept her busy, and, recently, she has also been exploring Blue Mars, another virtual world and would-be competitor to Second Life. I'm overjoyed to have her back inworld. Vic is well and looking fantastic. And I just had to capture her in a series of pictures.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them to their original size.

 






Related Posts:

Second Life Relationships - Sisters (February 1, 2009)

Family Portrait (March 22, 2009)


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Mariko Magic: Avatar Inspired Fashion At Boudoir

Pandora Festive Outfit by Boudoir



It is becoming commonplace to say that James Cameron's Avatar is revolutionary. But undeniably, it is movie making at its most extraordinary. And it is most memorable for its creation of the verdant immersive world of Pandora. As avatars in our own immersive virtual world, we may feel a special kinship with the firm's main character, Jack Sully, as we too use avatars to enter another world and to interact with it and its inhabitants. And, like Jack Sully, our avatars can forge a second existence in that other world and become a part of it.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them for better viewing.


Avatar's Pandora inspires us creatively in Second Life. Blue-skinned Na'vi, the denizens of Pandora, now walk among us. We can also teleport to Pandora Magic, a grouping of role playing sims where we might experience a Second Life version of life on Pandora. And, of course, Pandora has inspired Second Life fashion designers. Perhaps the most magical of all the Avatar inspired fashions is a little number called Pandora Festive Outfit. It was designed by Vitabela Dubrovna and can be found at Boudoir where it sells for $650L.



Vitabela Dubrovna is a self described explorer, photographer and fashionista. She is also a renowned real life fashion designer in Zagreb, Crotia where she and her twin sister have a popular boutique called Boudoir. Vitabela has brought Boudoir and a number of her real life creations to Second Life. The collection at Boudoir is a definite must see for the Second Life fashion aficionado as well as for us fashion divas and shopaholics. Her exquisite designs are stylish, feminine, and very romantic. And while I was shopping Boudoir for specials, I came upon Vitabela's Avatar inspired creations and her wonderful Pandora Festive Outfit.






Vitabela tells us that her Pandora Festive Outfit is made from 'Pandora's glowing flora and spirit tree seeds.' It is so much fun to believe that. I love the pale colors of the ginko leaves flowing down the dress and forming the skirt. The most charming aspect of the outfit are the spirit tree seeds floating on diaphanous parachutes of gossamer fluff that form a magical garland adorning one's head. The whole effect is of being a child of nature - a spirit at one with the planet.









I had so much fun photographing this outfit. As the pictures attest, it looks fabulous when placed in naturalistic settings, even alien ones. I would wear this outfit when exploring those wonderful scenic sims filled with gardens, forests, meadows, and mountains and be as a free spirit of nature on these wanderings. Did someone say 'nymph'? Of course, Pandora Festive Outfit could be worn on festive party occasions. And I would wear it to create an occasion to be pretty and enchanting.


I hope you enjoyed this look at Pandora Festive Outfit and will be planning to drop in at Boudoir. And I have a feeling that I will soon be encountering a number of festive nymphs from Pandora in the forests of my estate at Opar.




Vita's Boudoir
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zora/47/206/303

Pandora Magic
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pandora%20Magic/207/237/1001


Video: An Interview with Vitabela Dubrovna



Video: Pandora Magic in Second Life




Photos were taken at Pandora Magic, Bentham Forest, Opar, and at the residence of a dear friend.




Sunday, February 21, 2010

Conversations




I do so enjoy relaxing with a nice cup of tea and chatting with Jaysun at the end of a day. What is it that we talk about?  Well ... bend an ear and do alittle eavesdropping:

[14:39] Jaysun Dagger: I see Ancient Egyptians

[14:40] Mariko Nightfire: Better than seeing zombies

[14:40] Jaysun Dagger:Yes UNLESS THEY ARE

[14:40] Jaysun Dagger: I don’t think so - they are not staggering forward with arms out

[14:40] Mariko Nightfire: Are mummies zombies?

[14:42] Jaysun Dagger: I think pretty close

[14:42] Jaysun Dagger: maybe not eating human brains....

[14:43] Mariko Nightfire: I think that if mummies eat solid food, their teeth fall out

[14:43] Jaysun Dagger: haha where did you hear that?

[14:43] Mariko Nightfire: lol I made it up

[14:44] Mariko Nightfire: OK .. they suck your brains out with a straw up your nose

[14:45] Jaysun Dagger: ack!

[14:45] Mariko Nightfire: lol Thats part of the mummification process in ancient egypt

[14:45] Mariko Nightfire: For Real

[14:46] Jaysun Dagger: They probably are zombies - looking to replace lost brains

[14:46] Mariko Nightfire: I guess that would make them very picky on whose brain they suck out

[14:46] Mariko Nightfire: Joe Biden is safe

[14:55] Jaysun Dagger: Hahahha

[14:55] Jaysun Dagger: He is pre-sucked
.
.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Cheesecake Mariko: Something Sweet from Japan


What shall we serve for dessert today? I'm in a Japanese mood. So let's have some Japanese Mochi - small cakes made from sweet rice. Mochi goes so well with green tea. Please allow me to pour you a cup.  Itadakimasu.




Saturday, February 6, 2010

Shall We Dance

Puttin' On the Ritz

Syd harbors a secret dream. He wants to be Fred Astaire. Yes, our Syd dreams of being cool and debonaire in top hat and tails. I just couldn't picture it ... we're talking about Syd. But then he did an  amazing impersonation of Astaire dancing Puttin' On the Ritz. At that moment, he really was channeling Fred Astaire. And I had an inspiration. I said to Syd, "Oooo Syd! I have a great idea. Let's put on a show." Syd thought it was a great idea. So we traveled to an inn in Vermont run by retired Army Major General Thomas F. Waverly (dear old man) and built a stage in his barn big enough for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes and went to work practicing our dance routines.

  




Syd was an absolutley smooth and elegant dancer. Opening night was just 2 days away, and we needed one more routine. I put on my Rita Hayworth hair, and we danced what would be a rousing closing number. On opening night, all the rich swells from the city drove up to the General's Vermont inn in roadsters and chauffeured limousines and filled the barn. The show was a stupendous success. They loved us. And we raised enough money to save the inn from foreclosure. But then the county evoked eminent domain to condemn the property and gave it to a private developer to build a casino. I guess tax revenues trump property rights. The poor General ... it was just terrible. But they say that every cloud has a silver lining.  This abuse of government power opened Syd's eyes. He renouced his leftist ways, joined the Tea Party Movement and became a Republican. A happy ending, afterall.





Brilliant New Dance Team of Syd and Mariko
Coming Soon to a Theater Near You


Is it Fred or Syd?
 




Wasn't that Fantastic!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Pellucidar - The World Within

Pellucidar

There is a giant crystalline sphere suspended 1000 meters above Opar, my sim and country estate. Its awesome diameter is the size of Opar itself. Within it is another world that I have named Pellucidar. The name comes from the works of the masterful science fiction writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. In a series of books, Burroughs' Pellucidar was a world lying within the sphere that is our planet - a world within a world. So Pellucidar is an apt name for the newest addition to Opar. Incidently, the fantastic worlds created by Edgar Rice Burroughs are the inspiration for James Cameron's film, Avatar.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them for better viewing.


A Glimpse of The World Inside

Pellucidar is a DrLife World, a creation of my dear friend Leena Ying, owner of DrLife. DrLife World is a 360 degree projection of a gorgeous scene on the inside of a sphere. The effect is spectacular as seen in the picture above. It truly has the feel of a world within. Three scenes are included in the product: a coastal scene (seen above), a snow scene, and a night scene with city lights in the distance. The scenes can be changed using a control panel or a HUD. DrLife World is available at the DrLife mainstore and sells for $1000L. You get three size worlds with your purchase. Amazingly, the worlds are only 7 prims.  So you will have plenty of prims left over to enhance your world with perhaps some buildings, trees, rocks, and other objects to create a wonderful private space. Why would anyone settle for a traditional skybox or platform when you can have an entire world.



Leena Ying, owner of DrLife

DrLife Main Store:

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Mariko Magic: New England Autumn

New England Autumn by Lemania Indigo Designs

My first fashion post of the new year is another lovely creation from Lemania Indigo Designs called New England Autumn. This bewitching dress was designed by Lemania Indigo, owner of Lemania Indigo Designs, and sells for $395L. Lemania Indigo Designs has long been one of my favorite places to shop for fashions. I love classic Hollywood and much of Lemania's collection is inspired by the stars and films of Hollywood's golden age. Her fashions span that magical range from the novel to the iconic. I always come away from Lemania Indigo Designs with an outfit that delights.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them for better viewing.





New England Autumn is one of my favorite formals. I am always delighted to have an occasion to slip into it because I know that I'll be absolutely glam. The one shoulder design creates a look that is classic and sophisticated. And the finely embroidered pattern on the dress displays the wonderful oranges and browns of autumn. You will certainly make a graceful and stunning entrance in New England Autumn. And you'll love how this dress shows off your curves. After all, without sex appeal, there is no fashion.












I used various locations at Opar, my country estate, for New England Autumn's photo shoot. I was so pleased with the result that I placed the pictures on display in Lemania Indigo Design's group on Flickr. I didn't realize that I was entering Lemania's weekly photo contest. So I was taken by surprise and thrilled when told that one of the pictures had won the contest. The winning picture is below. The picture is windlight free.

 
My Contest Winning Photograph

Posing with my picture at Lemania Indigo Designs


 
 
It has been a real pleasure bringing this exquisite dress to your attention, My Dear Readers. I have found quite a bit more fashion magic that I will be bringing to this blog and its syndicated posts in the coming weeks and months. It should be an exciting and entertaining sojourn in the world of Second Life fashion.
 
Mariko Nightfire






Lemania Indigo Designs Main Store:

Previous posts for Lemania Indigo Designs:
Russian Snow Princess

Photos were taken at Opar, my personal estate.