Will Ross here, welcome to The Traveling Avatar’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a Better Second Life. On this show we discuss tips and tricks for the game Second Life, created by Linden Labs.
Today’s Episode, Decorating for Christmas
But first...
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So December is here, that magical, wonderful time of year where a fat man in a red suit smothers himself in red felt, straps himself into some sort of time-bending rocket toboggan, and deliverers Xbox 360s and copies of Rock Band to all the good little rich children, knock off G I Joes and IOUs to the good little poor children, and Jack Spit to the good little Buddhist children.
Santa: Ho... ho... ho... you've quite the little scrooge aren't you, Will.
Will: What? I said spit.
Santa: Will, I just don't think you're full of Christmas spirit this year.
Will: No, I've still got about half my stash left.
Santa: You're about this close to getting on the naughty list, Will. I'd read this list of places to buy Christmas decorations in Second Life if you know what's good for you.
Will: Are you THREATENING me fat man?
Santa: If you knew half the things Santa did for Nixon in Cambodia back in the 70's, you'd do what I ask of you. Just look at some of these photos of bad little boys and girls who didn't listen to Santa. Ho ho ho!
Will: Oh my god, is that ...?
Santa: That's what a laser guided etch a sketch can do to an unsuspecting ...
Will: I'm.. uh... suddenly feeling the spirit of Christmas.
Santa: Yes, do a decorating show.
Will: Doing a decorating show.
Santa: And dance for Santa, while you do. That's it fat boy. Dance!
Creative Fantasy's new sim SpellBound Woods is all about winter. There you can find snow that crunches under your feet, snow covered trees, ice sculptures, Christmas trees and more decorative plants for the season. If you want, you can buy and entire house with all the landscaping you need to turn your beach hut and palm trees into anything from a snow-covered cottage to a log cabin to an ice palace. There are gazebos, bridges, candy cane lightposts, snow people and even a few woodland animals to stalk your land. Some items are sculpties others are not, so always check prim counts before buying, lest you fill your parcel up with so many prims you can't wear all that great jewelry we talked about last time.
Santa: That's good. Now do another, and look happy.
OK, OK... If you're going for more traditional, Norman Rockwellesque holiday decorations check out the Holiday Square at Ramos Designs. In this outdoor shopping area you will find Christmas trees from traditional to modern appropriate for indoors or out. Decorations to add to your home such as lights, wreathes, garland and even prim versions of those inflatable lawn decorations are available. They have skating elves and Santa for your holiday ice skating party. You can take your picture with Santa for your Christmas cards then pick up some poinsettias for hostess gifts at your next holiday party.
Santa: Yes, come see Santa. Now tell them where to buy some trees.
Will: Those aren't really decorations per say, Santa.
Santa: Santa wants trees.
Will: OK, OK... trees... trees...
When you need to relax from all this shopping, head over to Botanical on Straylight. From the TP point you follow the path to the Botanical landscaping store where you will find various winter trees with and without snow and with or without lights. The lit trees have a HUD that lets you turn the lights on or off and chose their color. The non-snow covered trees are perfect for indoors too. Trees are available individually in a no copy/modify/transfer version for a low price or in a copy/modify/no transfer version that cost about 10 times what the non-copy version cost. This makes sense if you want to cover a large area with trees. But there is more to this sim than the store. Look around and enjoy this build; it offers a nice escape from the craziness of the holidays. Check out the mountain top skating area, complete with a skate vendor, in case you left yours at home.
Santa: Very good Will, and did you learn an important lesson about Christmas?
Will: Yes. Don't invite any more fictional characters on my show.
Santa: Will, nobody likes a wise*beep*.
That’s it for this episode! Stop by the website and check out my Twitter page, if you want to see what I’m up to on any given day! Send your feedback or questions to secondlife@qdnow.com, and the comment line is 206-888-6975; that’s 206-888-mysl. The Traveling Avatar’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a Better Second Life is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips network, so be sure to check us out on the Web at www.quickanddirtytips.com. And our show is sponsored by GoToMeeting.com, so be sure to visit GoToMeeting.com/podcast and try it free for 45 days. Do more and travel less, with GoToMeeting.com!
So until next time remember, guy in a red suit at the mall, probably OK to put your kids on his lap... guy in red suit at the bus stop, probably not.
