Billy Beaverhausen
What's this? What's happening? What's going on?
Belleza Jake 2.0 mesh body
Belleza just dropped the long-awaited updated of their male mesh body in our inventory and with this, the body finally is out of it’s so-called beta stage. I didn’t even get a chance to really start working on this blog post before I received yet another update. The reason for this is that Belleza have been working on the forearms, hands and feet of the body, which means it no longer works with some shoes and tops that were made for the previous version, therefor they have included a version with the old hands and one with the old feet. The original version is in the box as well, so basically you’re getting four bodies for the price of one. That’s one way to look at it.
So what has changed? Luckily Belleza included a note card to tell us what’s new, so we don’t have to take any wild stabs in the dark.
- Apparently there was an issue with feet rotation which now has been solved. There are more alpha cuts on the feet, which should make it easier to wear shoes.
- Hand and forearm anatomy have been tweaked too.
- The neck sheath has been improved (you can find it in the “shape” tab), but it still doesn’t provide a perfect (invisible) neck seam in all situations. You’ll find that in some windlight the neck sheath actually makes things worse, but this a common issue with other mesh body and heads as well.
- The hud includes more alpha cuts and you can now hide your left, rigth or both hands, your fingernails and toenails.
- Hand poses have been included, so you no longer have the “jazz” hands whenever you switch off your bento AO when you go sit on furniture.
- Some other changes are mentioned but they don’t mean much to me.
Belleza includes an applier for Catwa heads with this body. The name says it’s made for the Catwa Daniel head, but I’m using it on the Stanley head and it doesn’t look too shabby, if I say so myself. A couple of shapes and an eyebrow shape are includes as well, in case you are a looking for help in that area. Personally I always make my own shape and it probably is one of my favourite things in Second Life.
I didn’t have to think long about what underwear I was going to put on to maintain some modesty while still showing off most of the body. My sponsor Thirst has a nice pair of briefs that includes different versions and poses so you can make it look like you’re teasingly pulling them down. Perfect for those photogenic shutterbugs among you. Of course an everyday version is included as well, for just hanging around the house or for going to an underwear partie. Momentarily the briefs only come in Belleza size, but an update with a Gianni size is in the stars.
Credits
- Belleza Jake body (L$ 2999), includes applier for Catwa mesh heads
- Catwa Stanley Head (L$ 5000)
- Stealthic Hysteria hair, browns pack (L$300)
- NSS Vermeer mesh eyes (L$99/single colour, L$450 for fatpack)
- Mandala Steking Ears Season 5, human, pixie and elf (L$597)
- Thirst Poser Brief , it was at Equal10 and hasn’t made it to the mainstore yet, but it’ll show up soon.
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 7
Ready for some Christmas gifts and/or bargains? OK, let’s go!
In episode three I already mentioned Love To Decorate and how a bunch of Second Life creators have contributed a gift especially for members of the LTD group. My information was somewhat flawed. I thought all gifts were released simultaneously, but instead it’s one gift per day up to December 21s and you have until January 15th to pick up these gifts. I already received the winter bench and blanket basket from my sponsor Shutter Field, but let’s take a look at some of the other gifts that are out right now.
First up is a sweat little rocking chair with a throw from Goose. The scene I put together for it really makes me wish I had a fireplace in my real life apartment. I’ve tried building a camp fire, but the neighbours really don’t like it. Oh well.
From Junk Food we get a full set containing a table, logs, a wooden Christmas tree and a plate of cookies, which dispenses cookies. Nom nom nom. Zero calories… Zero taste.
People have been taking bits of nature indoors with them round this time of year for a very long time. This habit long predates Christmas, so naturally you need some of that in SL. There’s a Christmas tree of course, but then there are also some nice winter arrangements like the one from Bygone.
No Christmas is complete without a log, so thank you What Next for catering to this particular need. This virtual version makes me want to hoover up a real life chocolate log with my face.
And after such a rich snack, I’m going to need a nap. Enter the outdoor sleigh bed (or you can put it indoors of course) by Bee Design.
If you enjoy creating a winter wonderland, you’ll like the little cuddle area by TM Creation, featuring snow covered rocks, a tree stump, winter foliage, a bunny and a decorative pillow.
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 6
Greetings loyal followers and other Christmas freebies and bargains craving people. It’s the second advent Sunday and Christmas is rushing towards us like nobody’s business. Meanwhile I keep wandering the grid, visiting winter wonderland situations and grabbing goodies.
My first stop was Meva to pick up the 9 December gift from their advent calendar. You need to be a group member and the group joining fee is 100 L$. Each gift is available for one day only. Today the gift is layered, as you get a long shirt and a tank top which can be worn separately or together. The tank top comes with a colour hud and both items com in Signature Gianni and Belleza Jake size.
Next I opened up a few more doors of the Madpea Chrismas Calendar. You can purchase this calendar for 500 L$ and rez it at your home as a nice decoration piece or attach it as hud and open doors whenever you feel like it. I rather like that silly snowman hat.
Also in the Madpea Christmas Calendar are a wearable lantern, cookies and milk to leave out for Santa (let’s hope he hasn’t gone gluten / lactose intolerant), a Certificate of Good Behaviour (you can fill in your own name… cheaters!), a beautifully shimmering little winter wonderland dome, and a little naive painting on planks of wood.
At this point the Firestorm just shut down on me without any warning and I’m going to take this as a sign that I need to wrap this blog post up and head outside into the real world. See you soon for more goodies.
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 5
‘Tis the season to be jolly Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la and to load lots of free toys and goodies on your sleigh. We’re 7 days into December and 5 episodes into my series in which I’m exploring all what Second Life Christmas has to offer in terms of freebies, bargains and whatever else I may find worth mentioning. Hop on my sleigh and join me on my treasure trail.
7 Deadly S(k)ins has an advent calendar that runs till 24th December with a male and female gift for each day. If you’ve missed a day, you can purchase the box at a discounted price. The “bad news” is that for the month of December the group joining fee has been raised to 1000 L$, the good news is that if you like their skins, there are 18 gifts left to grab in the coming days and that comes down to +/- 55 L$ per box. Well worth it if you like the 7DS skins and don’t have many of them yet. Today’s male gift is the Roland omega face and body applier in caramel tone, shown here on the Signature Geralt body and head.
There are some boxes under the Christmas tree at Fameshed. Some are just decoration, some contain a gift. You need to join the Fameshed update group, but there is no joining fee. I had a quick look at the gifts and saw some beautiful hair and shoes for female avatars. Some usable items for me personally are a set of cookie cutters, a rustic inspirational sign and an interesting wall box with stools named “modern tête-a-tête… All what’s missing there are the smart phones.
After yesterday’s heavy duty post, I’m going to keep this one nice an light, so this is it for now. The weekend should be good for some more hunting and advent calendar collecting.
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 5
Hi there loyal Beaver Reader or if you’re new here: what took you so long? This is episode 5 of my blog series about Christmas related finds, freebies, goodies and bargains in Second Life and you better braise yourself cause it’s gonna be a big one.
We’re going to take a look at The Snowbound Hunt. This hunt runs until 12 December and has many contributors. All the hunt prizes can be found on the Snowbound sim, which is quite a lovely place for wandering around. Each contributor has specific baubles you need to look for. Very few prizes are free, some are 10 L$ and others are 25 L$. Of course if you know what the prize is and you really want it, than these are all bargains. The little cat-like creature with the sign will give you an overview of contributing stores, their specific baubles and prizes. The hunt also has a facebook page that can proof useful. There are a lot of baubles as all the participating stores have contributed several items. One way to get a better idea of what’s in a bauble is to right click it, go in edit mode and have a look in the contents tab. Once you have either bought the item or have decided you don’t want it, you may want to derender the bauble, unless you have one of those perfect recall memories, in which case I do hate you ever so slightly. There aren’t an awful lot of male items here, but if you have a female avatar you can really clean this place out. Here’s a selection of the goodies I grabbed. I’ve put the type of bauble you need to look for with each of the prizes.
First up is a pair of fluffy ear warmers with golden cat ears by Quirky.
Next you can indulge your sweet tooth with a snowman ice cream cone by SugarBun.
Everybody needs at least one pair of antlers in their wardrobe and there are lots of these in this hunt. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the hunt’s organiser, Toxxic Rhiannyer, who’s supplying these antlers. You’ll find them in beige/gold striped baubles.
If you like an industrial touch, then you will appreciate the bent nail bracelet by Nova.
Make sure your guests have something to nibble on, with the cupcakes and candy canes by The Artist shed.
Of course guests can come in tiny sizes, like this little chinchilla by Sweet Thing.
Riot has several pairs of thigh high boots hidden in this hunt and they come in a bunch of sizes, even for male avatars like Signature Gianni, Belleza Jake, Slink and Adam. Admittedly, as far as male attire goes it’s “out there”, but the texturing is great and it’s nice to see creators are thinking outside the box. Riot also contributed some tamer options, like the oversized sweater and the white and green biker pants.
Now I get back to a bit of decor with this festive red bike by THOR. It’s christmassy because of the colour and the cans of hot milky drinks. Great! Now the chinchilla has something to wash the candy canes down with.
Tiller put in a jacket, a pair of trousers and a set of differently coloured baseball caps that like a young urban look.
If you don’t like full-on Christmas decoration or simply haven’t got the time to put it all together, but like to scatter about some small seasonal items, then you may like this basket of ornaments and cup with candy canes by Moss & Mink.
After all that bauble hunting you’re going to need a rest so it’s good to know you can find a pair of PJ bottoms by [QE] in this hunt. Unfortunately there’s no Belleza size included. You get Aesthetic, Signature Gianni and classic sizes.
If you’re making some memories this Christmas, perhaps you can put them in the winter themed picture frames by Moon Tea.
Having a lazy day between the holidays? Just wrap yourself in the blanket by Lagom. If you have a female avi it gets much better, cause there are socks and a baggy sweater for you. I had to blank out my arms and hands to wear this blanket, but I think that was to be expected.
If you’re nuts about shoes, maybe you’ll wet your pants at the idea of having high-healed shoes as Christmas tree ornaments. That’s one of the things you can get from Garbaggio in this hunt. There are some stylishly fun wearable shoes for female avatars as well.
Nutmeg is sure to please plenty of people with their carefully crafted rustic ornaments.
You can get inked with Letis. Tattoos have become so mainstream!
Finally I’m finishing off with this round winter rug by [QE].
Good luck with finding all these hunt prizes in The Snowbound Hunt. Remember, you only have until 12 December, so you better get going now!
PS: In all the images with the red head I’m using the Catwa Stanley head on the Belleza Jake body and Vango Zack hair. The blond guy is the Signature Gianni body & head with Dagon hair by Tableau Vivant. In both cases I used a skin by Stray Dog in their No. 4 skin tone (buttermilk).
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 4
Welcome back to my little Christmas extravaganza. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep this up on a daily basis, as I have this thing called a day job. I’m sure I’m only uncovering a very small portion of the treasure that’s out their in this season to be jolly, but let’s dive under that tinselled tree and see what we can get, apart from a rash.
In episode two I already explained how the advent calendar at Fox City works. Every two days we have access to a new gift for two days and afterwards the gift is moved under the community Christmas tree where it can be bought for a reduced price. Head over to Fox City now and grab the wonderful oversized scarf at Boys To The Bone, which is the gift for 3 & 4 December.
Hop over to Meva for a snazzy pair of sleeves that could work with a gor outfit or wear them with a minimalist outfit if you plan on shaking your ass off at a club where a lack of clothing is rather expected. This is the gift for 3 December, get it now or you’ll miss it. The joining fee is 100 L$.
Speaking of dancing your ass off, you need to zip over to Abranimations next and get their gift for this day, cause the same rule goes here: you snooze, you loose! The box contains 4 classy dances like a charleston and some jazzy tap.
If you haven’t heard about The Epiphany yet, you either have been living under a virtual rock or perhaps you’re just a been green behind the SL ears. It’s a popular Gacha event that’s organised a couple of times a year. The current round is in full swing now and runs till 27 December. Naturally plenty of the gacha sets have a holiday theme. Apart from a ton of gacha sets to try your luck with, there’s also a bunch of gifts. Alas this event is very much focused on female avatars, and the gifts even more so. I was able to snatch a couple of Christmas decoration items.
I went in search of some prizes of the Peace On Earth Hunt and found a well at Drakes and an easy chair at Park Place. You can find better, but you definitely also can find worse. I’m going to be kind and say that both items aren’t entirely without charm.
I went back to The Epihany to blow my proverbial wad on Noche’s Santa’s Helper gacha. There was no messing about with the gacha to try and get the rares out of it for me, I went straight for the jugular and bought the fatpack. Oh yes, my virtual wallet was bleeding for a bit, but I have a weakness for this kind of silly sexy over the top outfits. It’s a pair of striped stockigns, a thong, a very christmassy top with bells, a hat, a choker and various accessories like candy canes and cookies… I even got milk. Of course, as I got the fatpack, I’ll be having lots of fun mixing and matching the colours. Wheeeeeee! Something tells me my ass will be hanging out a lot the coming days. And why the hell not? You can bounce a quarter of that and I accept Visa too.
This concludes today’s Christmas wonderland craziness. Have fun, wherever you are and whatever you’re celebrating. If someone wishes you a good time with the wrong holiday, just translate that to whatever you need it to be. In the end they were wishing you well, weren’t they? On the other hand, perhaps Santa should tone down the “ho ho ho” when he flies over a red light district. It sounds so judgemental.
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 3
My Christmas scavenger hunt for gifts and bargains continues, after a couple of hour of real life work, shopping and Netflix. You’ve gotta keep on top of things In SL if you want to get the most out of Christmas from a materialistic point of view.
I was hoping that Meva wasn’t just going to be a bunch of accessories and I’m happy to see that two days into their advent calendar they’ve thrown in this simple tank top for Signature Gianni and Belleza Jake. Group joining fee is 100 L$ and gifts must be picked up on the day.
Love To Decorate (LTD) has been around in Second Life for a long time and want to celebrate the holidays with us. A bunch of stores have created a lovely gift for the LTD group. Visit the LTD website for more detailed information. Joining the group is free and the gifts can be picked up any time between 1 and 21 December. The LTD group gift at Shutter Field is a bench and basket cosy blankets.
7 Deadly S(k)ins gift for 2 December is the Gav skin in lots of skin tones. The box includes Omega facy & body appliers, Slink hand & feet appliers, TMP face appliers (no TMP body applier) and even the system skins. The gift has to be picked up on the day. Gifts from previous days can be purchased at reduced prices. For example, I checked the gift form 1 December and it was priced 50 L$. The joining fee for the group is a temporary hefty 1000 L$.
Now I have to go regenerate in my alcove… hmmm, I’ve been watching too much Star Trek Voyager.
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 2
Those of you that have been around for a bit in Second Life, know that Christmas is a time that brings out the generosity in many creators and there are plenty of gifts to be found if you get off your glutenous ass and do some searching . One pretty easy peasy way to fill your treasure box is to make regular visits to Fox City…
Above you see the Noel Express Advent Calendar at Fox City. Follow this calendar to collect all the gifts. You’ll find a free gift every two days at the participating stores. Each store has been allocated two days between 1 and 24 of December. Their gift will be available for free only during these two calendar days. After that, the participating store puts their gift under the shared region Christmas tree and there it will remain available at a discounted price until Christmas.
The first gift from the calendar at Fox City can be found at Bleich and it’s a rather wonderful pair of converse style sneakers in a Christmassy green with a candy cane striped trim and the typical Bleich tag.
Stay poised and makes sure you visit advent calendar sims daily and remember, Christmas isn’t about gifts… It’s about getting lots of free stuff!
Ho ho ho!
Partridge in a Pear Tree – Episode 1
Christmas in Second Life is a fabulous time for bargains and freebies. The holiday season often brings out the best in our creators and I imagine that most of the SL residents make an effort to join in with the festivities by ways of their outfit and/or decor. Rather than putting up a real Christmas tree, I wish I could just project Second Life onto white walls of a sparsely furnished room. It’s all just so colourful! I’ll be sharing some of the joy in the coming couple of weeks in pretty random blog posts, covering group gifts, advent calendars, hunts, Christmas shopping and whatever else I deem worth mentioning.
MadPea are back with their Christmas Calendar. For 500 L$ you get 25 items, which is bound to be good value for money. If you don’t like taking a risk, you can always wait till you’ve had a chance to see some more of the items before you make the purchase. The first item is a funny snowman Christmas countdown calendar with a carrot nose that moves along the dial as we get closer to D-day… or is it J-day.
Meva has an advent calendar for their group members. The group joining fee is 100 L$ and you need to show up each day to pick up the gift of the day or you’ll be losing out. I remember a lot of nice bracelets and a sexy tank top from last year’s Meva advent calendar. It’s worth the 100 L$ fee, if you’re in need of accessories and like their style.
If you want some silliness, you should check out the advent calendar at Abranimations. I’m not talking about the height of design here. You should expect things that are so wrong, they’re right. Take for example the Santa Rudolph Rider Avatar. If poor Rudy had anything to say about it, Santa would be on a diet.
7 Deadly S[k]ins always crank up their group joining fee to a whopping 1000 L$ just before they start off their advent calendar. If you like their skins but aren’t a group member, it possibly is worth the money to join, as you can expect a wide range of omega appliers and even system skins for both male and female avatars. I’m wearing the gift from the first box, the Tag skin on the Signature Gianni head. You will need to get the matching body applier, but chances are it will be in one of the other boxes. Make sure you go to the store every day to get the most out of it.
The Peace On Earth hunt has been a yearly event for quite some years now and counts over 100 contributors. I went over to Roawenwood to find their price.
That’s it for now. It’s time for me to roll myself in a duvet and go dream of snowy landscapes.
Akeruka’s male Deluxe heads are back
I’m happy to say that the Akeruka male Deluxe heads are back among the (second) living after having spent some time in limbo, due to what now looks like an unfounded copyright complaint. Rather than go on a rant about the perpetrators of this false accusation, I prefer to spend my time on playing with the Akeruka Leon head and sharing my results with you.
For this look I went with a skin from Akool, a creator I hadnever used before, and I’m having zero regrets. The Chris skin is a good fit for the Akeruka Leon head. I previously used this skin on the Exmachina Davide full avatar and it couldn’t really handle the fierce eyebrows. Leon is much better behaved with this skin, though of course the brow on this skin is quite strong. You can apply it without brows if you wish and a scattering of freckles is in included option too. For 899 L$ you get the Omega face applier as well as Omega, Belleza and Signature body appiers. I’m using the Signature Gianni body and everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be.
Credits
Taking David to Men Only Monthly November/December 2018
The November / December round of the Men Only Monthly event started on 20th November and will run till 15th December. As so often before, I have made good use of the event for yet another one of my styling exercises with the NX-Nardcotix David mesh body. Let’s take a look at what I brought home.
Etham has a nice cardigan in their usual easy-going clean-cut style. If you want to find trousers and shoes to wear with it, the NX-Nardcotix Finlay cargos and Jude ankle boots are very suitable options. I recommend wearing the cardigan in TMP size and if you find it seems a bit tent-like in the back, you may want to decrease your butt size. Basically, I am telling you to suck. it. in.
Next I’m forgetting all about my real life climate (#climatechangedinial #alternativefacts) and I’m heading to Hades Love Island in new jogger jeans by Invictus. I have tried the Signature, TMP and Aesthetic size and all can be made to work by altering your shape in different ways. With the TMP size you need a big bum and a bit of a belly, with the Aesthetic size your legs needs to be muscular so the cuffs don’t cut into your ankles and with the Signature size it looks like you need to be overall a bit slimmer. It’s not a struggle free item as you can tell from this lengthy description, but I like the wrapped bandanna and drawstring details a lot.
Legal Insanity has a fabulous pair of overalls out at MOM this month. If you are wearing these overalls with the Jake, Gianni, Geralt, or Slink body you can go nipples-to-the-wind topless. Alas to make it work with David, you really do need the shirt. You will also need to lower your torso muscles if you don’t want your clavicles to cut into the shirt whenever you turn your head. Perhaps that makes this item more suitable for those that prefer a slimmer shape to begin with. The well crafted details on these overalls make up for its shortcomings. The accompanying hud with several colour options for the t-shirt, let’s you match it up with your shoes, like I did here with the Not So Bad Tom sneakers.
Next we’re plunging into deep winter with a warm down jacket by Hypnotik. There don’t seem to be any particular fitting issues with this one. The Gianni size works nicely and there’s a hud for the t-shirt colour. I’m combining this jacket with a pair of jeans by FE Style, adorned with straps and a pocket. This is one of the brands that include a Nardcotix size, so of course these jeans are a perfect fit. I’m wearing the NX-Nardcotix Gideon boots with this outfit, partly because it’s fun to wear bright red shoes in the snow, but also because these boots include a cut version that fits perfectly under the jeans.
You can also find the playful two-tone Zack hairstyle by Vango at MOM and if you’re partial to neatly kept facial hair, you should check out the Trimmed beard by Birth at the event. The skin I’m wearing is Benjamin by Birth and you can find it at their main store. It has it’s own optional hair base, which happens to work well with the Vango hair. The head I’ve used for this look is the Catwa Stanley bento mesh head.
This concludes the styling exercise of David @ MOM for this round, for now. Have fun shopping and making it all work.
Castor Cottage – Episode 2
In the previous episode we took a look at the outside of the Chillmark House by Brook Hill Living and went inside to snoop around for a bit, to see what kind of furnishings I used in one corner of the large entrance hall. This is the central hall of the house, flanked by a spacious kitchen on the right and an ample living room on the left. It isn’t so much an entrance hall as an extra reception room.
Moving on to another corner of the hall, you can see I used the Fancy Decor Striped Storage Bench and a large painting to almost mirror the first corner of the room. I tinted the cushions on the bench to match the room’s colour scheme, cause I’m fastidious that way. The frame is by Fancy Decor, but I replaced the artwork with “Summer Faun” by Carlos Barahona. Between the two windows you see an elegant frame By Apple Fall that originally had a botanical study in it, but now is showing “Merab’s Beauty” by Mel Odom. Underneath that frame I placed a wooden trunk by Apple Fall. This originally has a simple somewhat tatty white cloth on it, which I re-textured with a rich fabric . The trunk offers a good spot for a plant, like the button fern by Vespertine.
In the centre of the room I have placed a large round table, which comes with a round rug. It is by N4RS and has lots of naughty animations in it, cause the days that such things are limited to the bedroom are long behind us… Actually, I don’t think those days ever existed. Don’t get me started on the Victorians! They were well raunchy! Such a table of course needs a nice big centre piece such as the pink medinilla plant by Dust Bunny. The central light in this room comes from the Apple Fall Kingsbury Pendant Lamp.
Against the stair wall we see a chest of drawers by Anhelo, that almost could function as a desk and is a very typical piece for this kind of room. The books are part of this item and I’ve used a vase with beautifully romantic roses by Apple Fall and a table lamp by Thistle to fill the empty space.
An elegant grandfather clock flanked by a pair of beautifully crafted lyre chairs by Fancy Decor was just the kind of thing that wall needed.
One corner has been decorated as a comfortable space for reading the newspaper or a book. Just imagine sinking into that old Apple Fall Oxford Wingback Chair with plenty of light to read by, either from the large window during the day or the Tromp Loeil Antique Floor Lamp when it gets dark. You’ve got the small Apple Fall Occasional Table for putting your cup of tea on and you’re nice an close to a little radiator by Floorplan & Brocante in case it’s getting a bit chilly outside. That wall would have looked empty without some artwork, so I used the frame from the Apple Fall botanical study again and found another painting by Mel Odom to fill it with. The large Ficus Rubber Plant by Vespertine ads a green touch to this corner.
Now we bring the tour of this hall to a close with the final corner. Here you find a small bench by Shutter Field, which leaves enough room so you can open the cupboard door under the staircase, cause you’ve gotta stash Harry Potter somewhere, right? I’ve got a stack of books by Nutmeg and I’m gonna read them all! (yeah, right). There’s a rug by Artisan Fantasy to keep my feet warm and a little shelf with old pictures by Apple Fall to add some character. Finally the last much needed green touch is provided by a large ponytail palm by Soy.
That’s it for now. The tour will continue in the next episode. Don’t forget to tip your tour guide.
