Tuning in to AM Radio (again)

I am aware of at least 4 blog posts that I have been meaning to write. I am also aware that they are unlikely to get written in the next few days. So "sorry" to places like virtual Birmingham and Czech Republic, and a couple of interesting health sims I've recently toured in Second Life - I will put some ill-formed words together about you in the very near future. But right now, it is late at night, I am off for a few days' away from computers and all-things-virtual tomorrow, and I wanted to put up a mindless post that needed no research or, indeed, much in the way of wordage - just pictures.

I have raved about AM Radio's builds before - and the cognoscenti of Second Life should already be familiar with his many marvellous creations. However, for those of you who don't know his work, or who don't stay close enough to these things (and that includes me), it is worth noting that Mr Radio's latest creations are available for inspection. Spread across 3 sims (Welsh Lakes is a good starting point) you will find many things to marvel at. The multiple, inter-connected Klein bottles have given way to... well... go and find out. And The Refuge and Expansion seems to have expanded too, with the addition of a fine flying machine. Here's the piccies - take a look - and then go visit. If you've not seen AM's work before, I hope you like - I'd be amazed if you don't...

Welsh Klein Bottles, Refuge and Expansion

This is the first of two related posts, and concerns a trip to a trio of Welsh sims: Welsh Lakes, Welsh Springs and Welsh Cove. Most seasoned travellers have probably already been through here - but it was my first visit.

My first port of call was Welsh Lakes, home to a huge floating sculpture consisting of a series of interconnected Klein bottles - a bizarre mathematical oddity that seemingly points up its own fundament. The sculpture is the work of Miki Gymnast, and appears to be floating over recently ploughed farmland. The skyline is one of those seemingly endless prairie scenes beloved of AM Radio: a few farmhouses, dwarfed by a towering, sickly green sky. The bottles are cleverly constructed, but I have to confess, left me a bit cold as they felt more an exercise in mathematics than design. I know this is unfair - but that's what I took from the construction.

A floating pink block, reminding me of an eraser from childhood, provides a link to the 2 other Welsh sims, which prove to be The Refuge and Expansion - a classic tour-de-force by the aforementioned AM Radio. Again, we have the rather bleak greeenish sky and distant farmhouses, but this time we have a cluster of Mr Radio's builds to entertain us. The point of arrival is a country crossroads, somewhere in the boondocks, way beyond the Back of Beyond. There's an old Texaco gas station (I believe that is the term they use over there) with a hotrod sat outside it. Is the owner now inside, paying his bill? No - the place is deserted. Why not sit a while, and wait to see who turns up?

In fields opposite the gas station you will find a rusting locomotive (sound familiar? I did say it had a cluster of AM's builds). Back along the road aways you will find a neat and proper little house. Go in, why don't you... You will find Mr Radio's trademark hat. Where can he be? And why are there so many chairs piled randomly by the window? Maybe there's a clue upstairs.

Hmmmm... the plot thickens. There's an amateur science laboratory - a microscope, a telescope and a few specimens. But it's hard to reach because of the veritable mountain of chairs and books piled throughout the room! I tbrought to my mind the scene in The Prestige, when the magician wanders around the back of Tesla's laboratory and finds a mound of hats and cats (watch the movie to find out why).

And that's about it... as with all AM Radio builds you marvel at the detail, and at the ambiance he creates. Beautifully constructed items, set in a lonely, alienating landscape.

I have a stack of pictures - please flick thru them - and go and view them fullsize at Flickr:

The Wheatfield (The Far Away)

I first noticed this amazing site when IBM's Ian Hughes (better known in SL as epredator potato) blogged about it a couple of weeks back. But it wasn't until I found the Flickr group that I thought, "I must track this place down." Despite appearances, it is not an entire sim - in fact The Wheatfield covers barely a 1/10th of a sim, yet it seems to stretch into the far distance, under huge prairie skies.

It was created by AM Radio, in real life another IBMer (or so I am told), and has been at the centre of an ever-widening ripple of interest in recent weeks. Indeed the level of interest has already reached such a point that AM Radio has decided to sell versions of The Wheatfield, with proceeds going to heifer.org - a charitable organisation that exists to help farmers in the developing world help each other.

The correct name for this build is "The Far Away" - but whatever its name, you really should go along. Here are the pictures I made while I was there:








I plan to go back and explore further, too. Here is a link to an excellent blog, Not Possible IRL, that carries more information and an interview with AM Radio.