VIRTUAL TIKI - take a peek at my new 3-D CG online Tiki Lounge!!

Aloha, Tiki Ohana!!

I may seem to have been out of the Tiki Loop for a while, but actually I just went underground. Or, I SHOULD say, into Cyber-Space, where a whole new Tiki Territory has begun to open up. What the heck am I talkin' about, you ask? Well, allow me to explain...

There is a hugely popular online community called Second Life which perhaps some of you may have heard of. Most simply put, SL is a user-created, fully explorable, interactive virtual world nearly as vast as the real world and with hundreds of thousands of members world-wide. And with very sophisticated graphics and many thousands of talented CG builders and scripters at work, if you can imagine it, at this point, someone has probably created it in Second Life by now.

And, yes, there IS Tiki to be found in SL. And, in some respects, it's a natural fit. And that's because the countless worlds within SL -- known as sims -- are each represented as an island surrounded by sparkling blue ocean. And what fits better with all those islands and beaches and azure seas than tropical scenery and -- wait for it -- Tiki?

Yet, though tikis and tiki iconography per se are not in short supply in SL, TRUE tiki culture (as in Polynesian Pop) is only in it's infancy. And I can only IMAGINE what can be done in SL once people like YOU folks get hold of it!

And as for Yours Truly... Well, ol' Castaway Clemens has gotten himself a homestead on a place known as Castaway Isle (actually, it was already named that). And that aforementioned domicile happens to include a bunch o tiki-related stuff surrounding it, all of which I installed myself. But the piece de resistance is Club Tiki, my own lounge/bar/night-club located in the basement grotto of my house.

And, folks, here's one of the coolest aspects of SL... In real life (referred to as RL by us SL "veterans" lol) you'd have to have a fair chunk-o-change to open your own tiki bar/club/restaurant. But in SL, the Dollar-to-Linden (Linden's are the currency of SL) exchange rate is so good that for just over 8 bucks you can buy yourself TWO THOUSAND Lindens! (Yep -- not too shabby!) And so I quickly -- and very happily -- discovered that while not exactly Bill Gates in RL, in Second Life I could at least be a minor-league Donald Trump! (Only with better HAIR!) And how better to put my new found prosperity to work that to create in SL what I could only dream of creating in RL?!

And so I soon set to work on a major project -- the creation of my dream tiki lounge, Club Tiki! And, many months later (and quite a few Lindens poorer), I am here to unveil the fruits of my labor to my OTHER favorite online community, the Tiki Central Ohana!

So, without any further ado, please join me on a personally guided tour of all the tikiness to be currently found on Castaway Isle!

And, to begin, let's take a look at my "front yard"...

Yes, folks, all that IS actually in front of my SL home, which, weirdly enough, is actually a Victorian mansion called Nevermore Manor (don't ask -- it's a long story!). And, in the basement of that aforementioned house is an honest-to-Gods grotto complete with waterfalls which I have since transformed into...

CLUB TIKI!!!

And that's not even the main entrance -- that's "only" the rear of the place. The actual entryway is right here...

Yep -- you really do enter the club THROUGH a waterfall! But the advantage of doing that in cyber-space is that you don't actually get WET! :)

And, once inside the joint, THIS is what you'll see...

Well, if you TURN AROUND, that's what you'll see -- the waterfall entrance you just came through. And then, straight ahead from there, is the requisite BAR!

And, of course, ON that bar tropical refreshments and libations await the thirsty guest!

But wait -- I forgot! -- these are only VIRTUAL libations. (Awwwww MAN!!) So I'm afraid you'll just have to BYOB while tiki bar crawling in SL! (hee hee) :wink:

Also, the lighting in Club Tiki is quite variable, as this darker-ambiance pic illustrates. (This was also pre-rattan-carpet, as you'll notice)...

But let's continue the tour and see the REST of the place (and there's LOTS to see!)...

No -- you're not seeing things -- those are real moving FISH swimming by just behind that rattan peacock chair! Only on SL! (OR in a James Bond villain's underground lair!)

And there's the matter of avi's...

Say WHAT, you ask?

Well, in Second Life you naturally enough don't have a physical body, you have an AVATAR. (And yes, there
are now SEVERAL versions of planet Pandora in SL! And you, too, can be a tall, blue, long-tailed alien!) And here is MY avatar (who goes by the SL name of Poe Weatherwax) in Club Tiki...

And, last but not least, here's a close SL friend of mine -- Phoenix Foxfire -- dancing a mean hula in Club Tiki (And NO, fellas, I will NOT give you her phone number!)...

Well, I hope this glimpse into my own lil' corner of Second Life has whetted your appetite for the rich possibilities inherent in the brave and wicki wacki wild new world of virtual tiki. And I have future tiki plans in Second Life as well, including the creation of an elaborate haunted tiki-themed dark-ride.

Finally, you should all know up front that it costs absolutely NOTHING to join Second Life! Yep -- just go to http://www.secondlife.com and get yourself a free avatar, take a few SL tutorials in how to use the various movement controls, etc. and you'll be ready to start exploring and virtual partying! And take a tip from me and download the (also free) Phoenix Viewer with which to explore SL, as it's a much more user-friendly and intuitively designed viwer than the current SL equivalent.

And for all you musicans and artists out there, you should also know that SL is a HUGE venue for live music performance and the sale of artwork, etc.

Yes, there is REAL money to be made out there in cyberspace, and Second Life is crawling with entrepeneurs and artisans of every kind.

Basically, if you can imagine it, you can find it, create it, and LIVE it in SL. To quote Rocky Horror, "Don't dream it -- BE it"!

And please feel free to contact me personally if you have SL-related questions. I'll be happy to help if I can.

Cheers and Mahalos! :tiki: :drink:

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2011-06-19 04:01 ]

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2011-06-19 04:03 ]

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2011-06-22 09:32 ]

Very creative Kreepy! Did you have to make any of the items or were they all available to you? (tikis, peacock chair, plants, fruits, etc) Nice shorts on Poe :D

Kreepy, what's the latest on "Horribly Slow Death"?

Thanks, Mike! And the float-lights were custom made -- not a single one to be found in ANY of the myriad stores in SL. But everything else was actually purchased ready-made in Second Life. Not that all of it was always easy to FIND, but the hunt was half the fun! (Oh -- and those swimming trunks are the ones worn by Daniel Craig in 'Casino Royale'! lol Amazing what you can buy in Second Life!)

And as for the 'Horribly Slow Murderer' spoon-saga, it continues on YouTube as a web-series, and is more popular than ever, with a new episode to be added within the next month or so. In fact, the original 10 minute film is currently Number 7 on YouTube's list of the Top 100 All Time Most Popular Videos in the history of YouTube in the Film & Animation category. Which is a pretty nifty thing when you consider just how many videos have been posted on YouTube over the years.

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2011-06-19 13:08 ]

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2011-06-22 08:53 ]

I just realized that the original title of this post was a little obscure and never really said what "Virtual Tiki" actually referred to. So I've changed it and now, hopefully, more of you folks will stop by for a look! (lol)

So Kreepy, can we log into Second Life and crash your lounge? Drink up all your virtual rum, flirt with Phoenix, piss in the waterfall? :lol: :wink:

Well, Mike -- you can TRY!! (lol)

But it'll be difficult to crash as it's not actually open -- as yet -- to the general SL public. So you wouldn't even be able to FIND the place! I'd have to send you a "teleport", which is how folks get from sim to sim over there!

I see a Doug Horny in there. And the neon you can buy off Ebay

That is nice.
I love the bright colors; the volcano; and the omnipresent Tiki and the Hula dancer.
It might get me to visit Second Life.

I'll be on SL tonight! Looks great.

What's your involvement with the Horribly Slow Murder? I just watched it, and it's brilliant.

Thanks for the fun tour and the virtual drink...looking forward to expansion of your compound!!!

Very,very cool!

Thanks everybody!

Glad u like it!!

And, as to the nature of my involvement in 'The Horribly Slow Murderer With The Extremely Inefficient Weapon', Kon -- I'm one of the two leading actors in it, specifically Jack, the Ginosaji's target/victim. (Ginosaji = the Spoon Killer) And so glad you liked it so much. (Apparently, at over 14 million views, you're not alone! lol)

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2011-06-27 03:09 ]

Very cool Paul! How vivid! Thanks for the tiki virtual tour!!

Well, it's been QUITE a while since I've posted anything on TC, but now that a lot of personal business and business-business I've had to deal with in the last few years has now been dealt with, I've had some time to get creative again and I've been BUSY! And the forum for my creativity has, once again, been the virtual world of Second Life.

And in that world I have created a floating tropical paradise in what is called a "Skybox" and, down below, have created lots of stuff for The Enchanted Isle of Bali Hai, part of which doubles as a virtual real estate office housed inside a replica of the late great Kahiki, complete with monkey god fountain and towering iconic fireplace. The is also an enchanted grotto and mountain-top temple, as well a saucer-shaped nightclub on stilts over the water inspired by San Diego's Bali Hai.

So, with that explanation as preface to what I've been up to, here's a photo-tour of my latest online tiki mischief...

Cheers and Mahalo :drink:

WOW!!!!! :o

Those virtual Kahiki images are freaking AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On 2015-03-24 07:00, Jeff Central wrote:
WOW!!!!! :o

Those virtual Kahiki images are freaking AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Jeff! Praise from Caesar! And, btw, your BOOK on the Kahiki is freaking awesome TOO!

Thanks Paul!!

Hope to see you at Tiki Oasis this year! I'm conducting a seminar on the Kahiki!! :)

Now find that Les Baxter picture!!!

[ Edited by: Jeff Central 2015-03-25 09:16 ]

And here's a new pic from the interior of my virtual Kahiki -- the entry hut, complete with a fully animated 3D Monkey God Fountain!

Enjoy!

bump

Thanks for bumping. Just took another virtual tour. So fun!!!