This post has been removed.

Well obviously not removed cos it’s still here. But this post isn’t what it was anymore.

I was really affected by a comment (which is still below) which pointed out how bitter word battles just end up making the blogs trashy – although  the commenter put it bit more nicely than that lol! And as much I maintain my stance on everything I have said, this is now a post that ranks in search engines (as of 31st August) within the top 5 for searches around the name of the individual it was about. I have changed this title and content and those rankings should soon disappear. I can’t deny that I carried out work to make it rank. Immediately after posting and in my anger about the things she was saying about my RL r/ship, I schedules an article with a backlink to this post under the appropriate anchor text, to distribute to a number of article sites. I don’t deny it. I deliberately made it rank. And now, with a much calmer outlook, I am deliberately making it ‘unrank’.

Granted, it’s not a massively searched keyword according to Google’s data. Not at all. But the point is that the few people who do search that are looking for information about that individual and while I maintain everything that was posted here was the truth, I have no right to force my drama down the throats of people just looking for a bio or some info about someone.

What one of the commenters below pointed out is that this blog isn’t supposed to be about drama. And I absolutely concur with that point. Posting drama really does make people who come here for lighthearted fun (which is what the blog is supposed to be about) feel uncomfortable. So I made the decision to remove the stuff that was in this post, change its meta title and change, in turn, the sour mood that’s been hanging over Pixel Scoop.

I have no interest in even a civilized friendship or acquaintance-ship (is that even a word?) with that individual but, as the commenter below said (something that really struck a chord with me) there’s dignity in silence. In my ideal world what I would get from her is silence and she the same from me.

She can continue to lie about me if she likes and that’s all fine. The only people who matter are wise enough to know that it’s a tabloid version of events!! But I feel an entire sense of a weight shifting by removing this and being done with drama and hideousness.

So I apologise to the people who read Pixel Scoop purely for light hearted entertainment, for the heavy and sour note that plagued the blog over the last few days. I also apologise to the friends who had to put up with my bitching like a teenage girl the past couple of days and I apologise to my beautiful girlfriend for having to show her every bit of correspondence/blog post etc between the said individual and myself (just to justify my actions). She didn’t particularly care to see the stuff and like she said, “Childish and really lacks perspective.”

We’re all change and moving into much more fun territory

I’m drawing inspiration from the quotes of friends, family and famous:

Gf: “In the grand scheme of things, what does this all matter? It doesn’t affect me and you, it doesn’t affect your son and it doesn’t make an iota of difference to anyone who cares about you. Let it go.”
Sister: “Grudges only ever end in tears.”
Best friend: “Fight fire with fire and you’re gonna end up accused of arson, mate. Don’t fight fire at all… run as quick as you f***ing can out the door and get away from it.”
Dr. Seuss: “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
William H. Walton: “To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee.”
Jill Niedzwiecki: The High Road can be a lonely place, but the smooth ride and the beautiful view are much more satisfying.”

A little different to what I usually post.

I don’t usually post MUSHY SCHTUFF.We all know I HATE the whole concept of murgh mush love schtuff and pixel pouting , schmooooooooooooooooches and all that.

But since I posted just today about how shit a (boat) driver my Skylar is, it seemed only fair to even up the score by confessing my own level of mush for the most wonderful woman who ever graced my existence with the blessing of life.

And if any of you ever hold this mush against me I will personally hunt you down and…umm… say mean things on my blog. LOL!

Muah ha ha ha!

SLOcto Mom hit Pixel Headlines when she gave birth to Second Life’s first SLOctuplets back in January.

8 months on and Pixel Scoop sent Skylar Smythe along to see how SLOcto Mom is getting on.

Please note that no prim babies were harmed during the production of this report. Actually, that’s a lie. Let me rephrase, only 3 prim babies were harmed during the production of this report. But they’re copiable, so really it’s no big deal.

Who and what did we use for this Second Life spoof?

Pixel Scoop Reporter – Skylar Smythe
SLOcto Mom, Breda Lott – Lisa Launay
Pixel Do-Gooder, Sandra Beamont – Bubbles Komachi
Written and mediocrely machinima-ed by Josue Habana

Vampire, gangster, SLoctuplets and robot babies created by Beasil Roundfield and available by clicking here.

Filmed largely at the Missing Mile Trailer Park in Second Life, a very cool location owned by Loch Newchurch. Click here to visit in world.

Hypatia of Alexandria opens TOMORROW!

Catch an original play by Skylar Smythe staged in Second Life™.

Full performance schedule
11th July – 7-8pm
17th July – 7-8pm
24th July – 7-8pm
25th July – 7-8pm

All times SLT. Theatre can be found here.

Cast

Hypatia – Morgana Nagorski
Narrator – Lisa Launay
Theon – Klannex Northmead
Cyril – House Ragu
Lydia – Eve Petlyakov
Orestes - Caliban Jigsaw
Archeron – Misterblue Waves
Peter the Hand – CorvusPDX Noble

Play written and directed by Skylar Smythe.

Sponsored by The TLE Educational Network, Second Life’s free university.

Isn’t it wonderful? That inventory thing? It’s like a really big suitcase on speed. You can fit everything in it and there’s still room for more (subject to Linden Lab loading it right, of course). I mean, what kind of bag in real life can you pack your entire house into… including bricks and mortar? It’s absolutely incredible.

Of course, such a big bag could easily become disorganised, as we all know. My inventory needs a good sort through every week or so to get things in the right folders. But MY inventory is actually one of the more sensible.

Sensible. Practical.

It just keeps things simple. In fact, up until a few weeks ago I never let my inventory grow beyond 5000. But things changed… Textures in texture organisers, note cards purged regularly and I still exceeded 5000. Then 6000. Then 7000. But still, it’s sensible, I think. And if anyone does question how practical MY inventory is, allow me to provide you something to compare it with.

Not so sensible. Not so practical.

This is Skylar Smythe’s inventory. 29473 items. And that comes after she cleared out almost 10000 items in a 24 hour mega purge. I have a question. HOW MANY SHOES DOES ONE AVATAR NEED? Are you centipedes?

Such inventory chaos, in my experience, comes from poor mathematics. Let me clarify.

SKYLAR: I don’t have anything to wear.
JOSUE: You have 30000 items in your inventory. You are telling me that not one of them is a dress?
SKYLAR: But not the type of dress I can wear to go to that party.

Ok, let’s be incredibly kind to Skylar and assume that half of her inventory is made up of note cards, textures and objects…essentially non clothing items. And believe me, that is being generous. That leaves 15000 items of clothing. Let’s say that half of those are casuals and accessories that might not be suitable for a formal event. That leaves 7500. Let’s say that each outfit has ten separate items inclusive of footwear…again generous. That’s 750 suitable outfits. There are 52 weeks in a year. If one attends even 3 formal events in a week (once again, optimistic), you will need 156 formal outfits each year. That means that there are sufficient formal outfits with 750 to ensure that the same one need not be worn twice in a period of 4 years, 9 months, 2 weeks. Can I also add that Skylar has not even been in Second Life for 2 years yet. And I think that it is fair to assume that after a period of almost 5 years, people will have forgotten what the dress you wore that night looked like and thus it is safe to wear it again. So how is that anyone can justify needing another dress under these circumstances? Of course, Skylar has an answer for that too.

“Well I don’t like the ones I have.”

First up, why buy them then? Secondly, then why not sell them or trash them, since you’ll never ever wear them because they are so unlikeable? But of course this is a ludicrous suggestion, one that will never be accepted it and I am the ridiculous one for even making such a suggestion. It’s true… I am ludicrous. I mean, how completely hideous of me to suggest deleting something that will never be used. It’s a far more practical option to leave it sitting in an inventory doing nothing but clogging loading times for all eternity. How cruel of me to even suggest otherwise.

I can understand shopping habits in Second Life™. I shop in Second Life too, believe it or not. But when I have decided I won’t wear something again or I don’t need something, I either pass it off to someone else (if transfer) or I delete it. Apparently this is offensive to the chronic inventory hoarders. Because, of course, you never know when you might one day need that dodgy yellow dress with the green spots, neon pink shoes and funky headband thingie that you only bought because you logged in drunk one night and it seemed like a good idea when under the influence of two thirds of a bottle of tequila. And you couldn’t possibly delete those shoes that you really, really hate because one day in the future you might just think to yourself, “God I wish I had some footwear I hated right now,” right?

I have come to accept that I will never understand Skylar’s inventory issues. There are no help groups as yet for inventory problems and so Skylar will continue to battle it alone.

In the meantime, I have decided that I should never rely on her being able to find anything in that inventory.

“Babe…. do you have that note card I needed?”
“Sure, I’ll start looking now and I should have it for you next March.”

Hypatia of Alexandria is the first play by Canadian writer, Skylar Smythe. Inspired by her research into the life of this renowned mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, Skylar brings to the stage a biographical insight into a woman who remains, to this day, one of history’s most eminent scholars.

Daughter of Theon, Hypatia came under scrutiny both for her decision to renounce sex and marriage in favour of academics and for her paganism in a time when Christians sought to eliminate pagan society from Alexandria. Hypatia was to meet a tragic and brutal end at the hands of a mob of Christian monks and her works disappeared in something of a futile attempt to erase her from history.

So moved and inspired by this historical scholar, Skylar embarked upon the writing of her first play, tackling the challenge of bringing Hypatia’s character to life for a remarkably wide and varying audience.

Just entering the early stages of production, Hypatia of Alexandria has, what you might call, ambitious plans. It will play to inhabitants of upwards of forty countries around the world. The lead role is in Australia, the writer and director in Canada and the cast from the USA and other countries! Oh, and it will play in a huge purpose built Greek theatre in the sky. Not exactly what you would call a typical play, I suppose.

This is because Hypatia of Alexandria is being produced and staged in the virtual world of Second Life™. Most of you, I am sure, will know of and use Second Life. But for those of you who stumbled upon this post off the back of an entirely unrelated Google search, Second Life is a virtual world in which all content is created by its users. Visit www.secondlife.com to find out more.

Second Life is becoming an increasingly respected platform for educating, for fostering the literary arts and as a means of access to the arts for those who might ordinarily have had no such access. After all, not everybody can afford frequent trips to the theatre in real life. And it isn’t just the audience who gain. It is incredibly difficult for previously unproduced stage writers to have work taken into production. Using this virtual world, Skylar is able to showcase her own original stage play to an international audience at absolutely minimal cost.

The play is an entirely original work, written largely in sonnet form and is a profound account of the life of a fascinating icon. Skylar does a remarkable job of personifying Hypatia on a feminine level and enabling the audience to relate to her.

I won’t offer too many spoilers. Instead I suggest that you make a date and go along to one of the showings. The play is sponsored by TLE Educational Network and as soon as dates are confirmed, you will find them right here! In the meantime, if you have any questions in regard to the play, feel free to drop an IM on Skylar Smythe in world.

Skylar Smythe, Second Life resident and poet extraordinaire, wows us with her words on a regular basis!

But is there more to Miss Smythe than meets the eye?

Sorry, Sky. Couldn’t resist!!

Once upon a time in a virtual world, an avatar named Skylar Smythe decided that she could outdrink a youthful seasoned British binge drinker.

Unfortunately, Skylar (poor Skylar) could not quite keep up.

Sleep well, Sky