The gate road entry to Burning Life is thrown open today, Saturday 17th October at 12Noon SLT – there is so much to see and do there its breath taking, it’s the biggest art event in the metaverse – so I urge you to take some time out from your day and take a peak, no rush to stampede it you got a week! Reduce lag by lowering your draw distance, remove any attachments and embrace the lag! I decided to take a peek at one of the volunteers working hard to get this show on the road – so introducing to you Emcee Widget, who works in the DMV – Department of Mutant Vehicles - building art cars; he in fact leads that builders group. The DMV have a very cool hang out diner where you can also grab an art car via the rezzer – TP direct from
here and grab yourself a fun vehicle and start your adventures on the virtual playa! Art comes in many forms this being another of them .... ZZZZzzzzzzzzoooomm - Alright over to Emcee ...
Q1. Tell us in 6 words what best describes you.
Seeking better questions, rather than answers.
Q2. What brought you to the Metaverse and how did you get here?
That is so lost in the mists of time and happenstance, but I think it may have had to do with an article in Wired or in the Economist, which says a lot about me and it made reference to Neal Stephenson's Cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. Being a big Stephenson fan, I had to see this place! If you know Snow Crash, the first thing I bought in world after getting off Orientation Island was a Katana sword from Hiro Pendragon. I also experienced a resident "giving back," as Hiro Pendragon taught me how to unpack a box to get to my Katana. I thought that was amazingly cool and kind to do, and that Second Life was different. Thanks Hiro! You set me on a course of giving back to others in SL through that kindness! Rest assured I've progressed a bit since then buddy! Day two saw me in a sandbox making simple things, ironically enough the first thing I made was an Avatar accessory - a simple Halo. /me laughs. I have gotten a bit more expressive since then.
Q3. You’re involved in Burning Life again this year, working in the DMV (department of Mutant Vehicles) how did this come to pass?
Woody Allen says that 99% of success is showing up. I showed up last year for BL08 fully engaged with the principles of Burning Man and I was ready to DO something...our 2008 DMV lead's computer crashed and he couldn't get on. Well push came to shove and Gypsy Paz and I practiced radical self reliance and we started...leading and we took over as Leads for the DMV! We were caught a little short on time and we both agreed when we were done with building vehicles non-stop that we loved the experience, but we thought that Burning Life Vehicles and the DMV could really represent the Burning Man experience of Community far more than they did. Gypsy and I, friends forged from the fires of Burning Life 08 stayed close through the year. We stood up pretty early and volunteered for BL09 Lead positions again. I guess we had everyone snookered last year and so off we went with the blessings of everyone to get 'er done at the DMV and have a good time doing it. My goal was to create an atmosphere of creativity and community for DMV builders. We practiced Radical inclusion - accepting near all the volunteers that wanted to be a part of the DMV, and we saw the results - radical self expression from our DMV team. Dang they rock.
Q4. You have created a number of art cars for Burning Life - what is your personal favourite and why?
So that is like asking someone to pick their favourite child Poid! C'mon! Out of the works that I have done personally, (so I don't have to pick from somebody else's builds that are ALL better than mine!) my great labour of love was building Dusty and Danger Ranger’s 1963 Plymouth Valiant last year http://www.flickr.com/photos/10111/sets/72157619086192579/with/2878845719/ . This was literally my first ground vehicle ever and it challenged me. I mean ... I normally work in nanoprims. I now know way too much about Plymouth valiant’s...but the car came out nicely and was a lot of fun to gift over. This year I have passed the gift of this build on to someone else and the DMV is rebuilding the Red Death with Sculptys.
Q5. Other members of the DMV have also been very busy building, can you tell us a bit about the type of art cars they have been working on?
First of all I LOVE the work that our team has done. Period, hands down there are truly AMAZING Artworks that are vehicles that White Lebed (who is far more of a real artist than I) says stand up against some of the best non-moving art that she has seen in SL. We have highly participatory vehicles that are used by individuals, groups for touring, and we have bikes for just gettin' around like the yellow bike program. We also have reused all the 2008 vehicles and we have one of the first BL vehicles, the Cupcake car. A number of the vehicles are clearly evolved..Like riding snails and a giant tick (eww! *grins*). We have alternative energy vehicles that run on everything from honey to passion. Hows that for Evolution?! We have giant touring snails, Water trucks, cars that are "absurd" that will make you laugh, vehicles that will make you think, vehicles you can dance on, vehicles that you can cuddle on. If you have ever wanted to ride a spermatozoa...this is your chance at BL09! It’s amazing what the DMV has come up with in a radical participation. We have made some amazing friends during this journey prior to the burn, and we will be seeing everyone at the DMV diners for CRUISE NIGHT events. I want to give special thanks to our Diner team for creating an amazing place to hang out or pick up a Mutant Vehicle. Check out the menu at the DMV diner!
Q6. When scripting for an event such as Burning Life - what are the challenges you come up against when utilizing vehicle scripts? Do you have any recommendations or words of wisdom to give? We all know crossing a sim boarder is a tough one - any tips at all?
First of all our Scripting Gods in the form of Gypsy Paz and Waya Sion have crafted some amazing vehicle scripts. Me, I do a good job adjusting Jopsy's particle scripts. hehe. Our vehicles rez out of our gas pumps at DMV DINER camps and around SL at DMV kiosks. There are somewhere around 30 different DMV vehicles! You just walk up to one and DRIVE. We have some good default views setup, but you may want use camera controls to change the view. When you are done driving stand up and the vehicle won’t eject you like most do thanks to Waya's script wizardry. The vehicle sits for a few minutes waiting for a new driver and then if nobody takes it...*poof* it’s gone! Most of the large vehicles accommodate a driver and passenger. Very large ones will accommodate up to six avatars and our tour vehicles accommodate 8 avatars.
As far as tips go - Ride any physical vehicle in Second life with a light hand and a sense of humour. Consider others experience when you drive out onto the playa. Clearly you can't hurt yourself or anyone like at Burning Man, but you can impact their experience. Be Civil! Drive slowly as the Sims may be laggy despite our best efforts. Plan your route and drive with the minimap open. Stay away from sim borders and turn on land borders in your client. Some roads straddle sim borders. CUIDADO CHICA! Cross slow and with care if you do have to cross a sim border. Weird stuff will graphically happen, and it will go on and maybe on longer than you expect. Be patient and give it all a chance to settle out. Some parcels of land around stages will cause the vehicle to stop working. They are set to a different group. You may find that out soon enough if you drive into them. Let a Ranger know that you have abandoned ship and they will get the vehicle off the playa. Stay on roads as much as possible, and stop if a Ranger, staff, or Linden hails you (just like Burning Man). Heck, it might be me with a gift for ya!
Q7. What aspect of creating art cars do you enjoy the most?
The very very first time you drop the scripts in and do a sit. There is absolutely nothing like that first movement forward EVER for your creation. It’s very cool. Now, most people laugh at what I make, so I usually look forward to that too...at least I think I do! *Grins*
Q8. Where does the inspiration come when building these art cars? Or is it all from the depths of your imagination?
So setting me aside, our group did a lot of thinking about the theme of Evolution and they also scoured the Burning Man
site and
Danger Rangers site: for inspiration. Then..They got together and started building. Some built their own cars and others formed groups. There was a lot of interaction and cross fertilization of ideas and general hubbub. Some had been waiting all year to put forward their designs. Some started out with moderate skills and as a result of the experience they learned a lot. Others gave the gift of mentoring and didn't build much at all, or simply helped in a small way here or there. Some were inspiration themselves for the vehicle. There is a certain BlackWolf Brand matchbox out there made into a vehicle!
Q9. Other residents working outside the DMV also have traditionally created art cars. What have you seen? What caught your eye at Burning Life?
One of the things we chose to limit ourselves to, and it was just a choice to keep things simple, was to not do flying vehicles in the DMV. Now with that said I have seen some amazing touring blimps with fantastic textures that would be right at home in Black Rock City. I have also seen a BRC water truck that people who go to Burning Man IRL will recognize as where they take their showers...Camp Builders have come into the DMV looking for scripts and help with their vehicles, and like the borg they have been assimilated into the DMV without much fuss..So a lot of the vehicles you may see in DMV rezzers started out from the Camps.
Q10. What would you personally recommend to a first time visitor to go see at Burning Life 2009?
I've been waiting for this trick question....! Go see? Go SEE? What?? No! NO NO! Participate! Go PARTICIPATE. You don't see Burning Life. You DO Burning Life! Wade in! Get Messy! (Didn't Miss Frizzle say that?) And participate with whoever is there with whatever is there in an honest unmediated straightforward exchange. Bring gifts! Accept them too! Talk, laugh, Dance with fire! Become part of the community! I really don't give a hoot if you never get out of one sim. Just do THAT, and you will be a Burner.
OK Emcee you now have the opportunity to ask yourself 3 questions - it can be on any topic that you like - so please knock yourself out!
Q1. So, you've been living the Burn for over a month now with the DMV. Are you burned out yet? Going to do it again in 2010?
You know, I sit here writing this on the eve of opening of BL09 so ready, so in the groove of the 10 principles of Burning Man that I want to just get out on the playa and GO! Hehe. I will be Rangering (look me up! I have goodies!) And leading some of our Cruise Nights and sock hops. You will probably see me around next year too, as this is my favourite event in SL. Who knows what I'll do next year!
Q2. So what do you realllly do..No not in Real Life,(who cares about that!?) but in SL?
*Grins* It’s really funny because people do ask me if I do vehicles, can I do a custom vehicle, etc. I typically do jewellery, and I have taught jewellery making and founded the Master Jeweller’s Guild of Second Life. This is a community self-managed group that sets standards for excellence and training as well as business ethics. Sounds kinda Burning Man like, eh? I am also a Browncoat if you know what that is. Browncoats are Burners, they just don't know it.
My Links to
Koinup and
flickrQ3. Give us your best parting shot and then shut up. This has run waaaayyy too long!:
Danger Ranger drew a line in the sand and told us all that everything would be different...I would be different...and we held hands and stepped across that line together, as one. The wind whipped up and I looked back to see that bare etching in the Playa blown away, erased from earth and memory. I could never find that line again to cross back. And I didn't care. Hand in hand we walked forward into the best Burn ever - Burning Life 09!
Until Next Time on metanopsis
Poid
Poid Mahovlich on Koinup
Poid Mahovlich - blog spot
