Not Just A Pretty Face

Guyke Lundquist, the Prince of Paradijs, is my son and heir, my pride and joy and my longest lasting friend in SecondLife. I love him to bits!

Guyke's Christmas Card this year (Photography by Danne Guardian)

The first thing everyone notices about my Guykechen is his stunning beauty, the second is his devastating charm and the third is his astute sense for fashion. The man shines brightly even in the presence of the many other luminaries on the SecondLife sky of male beauty.

What people don't know, and rarely take the time to notice (overwhelmed as they are with his dazzling presence), is that Guyke has the full package. Besides his good looks he also has a curious and an inquisitive mind which is stacked with knowledge about just about anything one needs to know and also an emotional depth and concern for his fellow man.

Almost every time I am with Guyke he teaches me something new. Just the other day he taught me something I had never even heard about. For instance, did you know that there is an easy way for those of us using the Firestorm viewer to reach a certain height in the skies above you? Well Guyke did and it is an easy trick which is extremely useful for me as I now have a lot of my landscaping stored at 1.000 meters above Southern Charm.

You use the Firestorm feature "Go To Height" by simply typing "gth 1000" in your nearby/local chat and hey presto you are at the designated height. Going down you just do the opposite, type "gth 25 (or whatever your level you prefer)" and down on the ground you are. Nifty, isn't it?

Another thing he taught me is that I can mix the sound levels for Skype, Firestorm and whatever so I get the combination of the levels that I prefer. You do that simply by clicking the loudspeaker symbol in the bottom right and then go to "Mixer" to choose the settings you want with the sliders. Hey presto! For some of you geeky guys this is probably really basic, but for me it's news.

Poll: Which Ass is Better?

Bock 'sAss 1.0

Bock's Ass 2.0

Dear readers of Bock in SecondLife (url), you now have the opportunity to affect my future. Tell me which of the asses you prefer in the pool posted at the top of the column to the right.

If you would like to motivate your answer in the poll, you are welcome to do so in the comments. You can also leave suggestions for possible changes there.

My Revamped Ass

My new and improved ass is larger, bubblier and more cushioned than before. Nice huh?

For Podophiliacs

I am terribly proud of my new (correctly tinted) mesh feet and show them off whenever I can. Actually come to think of it, I haven't worn socks once since I got them tinted.

They look absolutely lickable, wouldn't you agree?

Memories of Bygone Days

In preparation for the upcoming week long celebration of the life and times of Marcus Steeplechase, who recently passed away, old treasures have been unearthed and again see the light of day. The old Ironworks Club is being erected again at this location and friends of mine have already visited.

When I logged into my Facebook-account today I was first struck by the amount of pictures my name had been tagged in, but soon realized why. A display from 2007 has been found in Marcus' Inventory showing frequent visitors to the club or maybe it was participants in a photo contest? I cannot remember anymore. 

Among those shown in the display is the 6-8 months old me (third row from top, seventh from the left in the top picture). I still remember the hair and skin I am in very well, they were among the very first things I ever bought in SecondLife. To my left you see my then friend Drizz and fifth to my right is my brother in-law Dej. The whole display is full of familiar names, some of whom are still with us to this day.

A few months in SecondLife had finally made it clear to me that camping was not a worthwhile way to earn the money I needed. After having briefly considered the sex-trade I shrugged it off and decided to plug in my credit card instead, promising myself dearly that I would never ever spend more than  L$5,000 a month. Ah, the sweet innocence of youth...

In the beginning I did not at all want to look one bit like a Swede, but instead chose dark brown hairs and skins with California suntans (I seem to remember that this particular skin was named Hermes, but I am not sure.).

It wasn't until later, during my first year with Ars, that my appearance started to revert more to my first life looks with blond hair and lighter skin tones, because I realised I felt more comfortable that way. Of course the fact that blond hair finally stopped being a strange yellowish may have helped.

My SecondLife Ankles - The Conclusion

Following a suggestion from Drey Messmer, one of my brother in-laws, I increased my foot size to 50. As you can see it may have helped a little. However - to your relief and my own also - I can safely say that this will be the last post ever concerning my ankles.

Yesterday I received a gift of elven-crafted prim feet from my friend Garth Raleigh, quite possibly to effectively shut me up on this tedious and self obsessed subject. Nonetheless I am extremely grateful to him for this considerate gift and thank him from my ankles all the way up to the top of my head.

I am going to try them out first thing today and use them whenever I can. However, if you should see me in my allegedly hideous socktops in the future you now know the reason why. Who knows, perhaps socktops will be fashionable again in which case you may refer to me as "trendsetter" or "fashionista extraordinaire".

To the bore that reported my earlier picture to Facebook, "Dear Madam/Sir, please note that I am actually wearing a swimsuit and am not flaunting a hard-on."

By Popular Demand

As I said yesterday, I absolutely hate my ankles in SecondLife, which is the reason I always wear socktops to cover them whenever I am wearing short trousers.

People asked me to show pictures of my fat and weird ankles in the same pose for comparative reasons, so here it is. Please note, that my private parts are covered by a grey sock so don't report this as porn.

P.S. Today (Saturday August 31, 2013) I received a message from Facebook that my photo had been reported for "nudity" or "pornography". I did not need the hassle so I deleted the picture from Facebook. Someone must really get off on socks!

On the Terrace (Revisited)

Just me.

P.S. Yesterday, i.e. the same day I posted this picture, I learned that Guyke and Butch absolutely detest the socktops I always wear to cover up my ugly SecondLife ankles.

I am not sure I will stop wearing the socktops, but I am trying right now to see if I can get used to the ankles. It may however ultimately come down to either not wearing short pants or not wearing socktops, in which case I will definitely continue with the socktops. Just saying...

Another Pet Peeve: Tinting Skin

Let me start this post by posting a (somewhat shortened) conversation I had with my dear friend Starlight Gentil today. The conversation reminded me of how long I have had this pet peeve.

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Hey Bock ! thank you for the invite ....  I'll be there ! yay !! hugs Star

Bock McMillan: YAY! You're so welcome sweetie, so happy we will see each other  again!

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: :)))

Bock McMillan: Now begone please, I have to fit a bulge on my swimsuit and get the skin color  on the penis bit right... LOL

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: OMG !! haha ...I'm picturing that !!

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Enjoy!!

Bock McMillan: ROFL - I cannot understand why the stores don't hand out cards with the RGB of the skins: Would that be so damned difficult?

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Haha... you do make me smile :)))

Bock McMillan: It's pet peeve of mine, drat the merchants

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Can you imagine telling peeps at work on Monday what you did on Sunday >?

Bock McMillan: LOL nooooooooooooo

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Exactlyyyy .haha. But these are such important issues here

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: OK I'll be gone and let you start tinting ^^

Bock McMillan: It's a crazy world we are living in sweetie, can you believe we are here by choice?

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: We're all weirdos .. who cares ..just enjoy

Bock McMillan: Haha will do! See you soon! Ohhh by the way this conversation is going on the blog....

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Oops ! ;D

Bock McMillan: ROFL

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: grinz

No, it's not my own "attachment"

Ever since I rezzed in SecondLife some 6 + years ago I have had a problem with tinting the skin of penises, or rather six days after I rezzed. Before that I was hanging around at the arrival place trying to get myself to look half-decent.

Can you imagine what the first thing I looked for in Inventory was once I had seen myself naked? Yup, you got it - a penis. I couldn't for the life of me understand the cruelty of people letting a male avatar rez without having a penis handy, not even a flaccid one. "Damn holier-than-thou Yanks" I thought and then calmed myself with the thought that surely there must be a solution to this major malfunction.

Well, within an hour of venturing out of the arrival place, I had been handed three atrocious penises by male avatars who wanted me to service them. The penises were absolutely ugly, both in shape and especially coloring.  Is there really anything uglier in the whole world than a mismatched penile-attachment?

This problem has remained all through my SecondLife. While Ars lived he would help me with tinting, but since he passed away I am on my own with this and not doing great I am not afraid to tell you.

One of the earliest skins I bought in SecondLife was the Dante skin, I think it was sold by something called Naughty Designs. That skin came with a flaccid penis matched to the skin tone, but other than that I have only encountered  one more merchant that supplied skins with penises and that is The Fallen Gods, who supply penile-attachments free of charge in the correct tints.

The skin tinting problem used to be only a problem for male avatars, women did not have similar appendages - as we all knew long before we took Biology 101. That was true until mesh came along, with mesh feet and shoes that need to be matched with the skin the problem is now one that both genders struggle with.

Skin-merchants, when will you take responsibility and realize that it is a serious problem for residents because it is so difficult to properly match the skin of the body with the skin of the penis and other attachments? Why the hell can't you supply us with a card telling us the RGB of the skin  or a texture so that we can tint our penises and other attachments with some ease?

There's No Accounting For Bad Taste

Boobs the sizes of two small European countries and asses the size of a medium sized country in Africa.

I had to teleport home because I felt getting sick to my stomach. when I encountered these avatars in a store that shall not be mentioned Butch just laughed cruelly at me!

I am reminded of the time when I saw the Italian director Federico Fellini's film "Amarcord " at a cinema and threw up during the scene where this older woman juggled with her humongous boobs at a little boy (Or is it a young man, I cannot remember I have blocked it out?).

YIKES! I AM Not Proportionate

YIKES! I have just discovered that I am terribly disproportionate! Either my beautiful long legs must go or I  will have to blow my head up so that no hair will ever fit me again.

"This needs to be thought through, don't do anything in haste, Bock. You will only screw it up completely!", I keep telling myself but I am not sure it will help.

This means that those artist have been right all along, I am a pinhead! I should just delete my account and start over under another name...

UPDATE: OK, I have picked myself up from the floor and am breathing again. I have taken a look at Nigel's recommendations and his measurements (see previous post) I will start there and see what it leads to.

P.S. Don't mind the skin, it will be changed first thing when I log in today! Before I start fiddling with my measurements!

Avatar Appearances

Its important how you look, not crucial, but still important. Sometime during Pride week one of my immediate "friends" (huh?) told me very kindly that I looked old, which set me out on a hunt for a new skin. I have spent most of my time since, when I do not assist my cantankerous builder/interior decorator Butch Diavolo, with searching for a new skin that I would feel happy and content in.

I ended up buying four (4) skins in three (3) days, because I momentarily thought I liked them. After using them a short while everything about the new skin just feels "wrong" in a powerful way. It is silly really, because my avatar is not really me, but still I have to feel good and comfortable in every aspect of it.

So I have now - for the time being at least - decided to stay with the skin I have had for two years. All the new ones feel too shiny and oily. Besides they all also seem to have too much eyeliner on, wearing the skins I feel like a man of ill-repute in a Moroccan bordello. What do I care if I look old, I prefer aging gracefully than to look as if I was desperately trying to be more youthful than I am., Growing older is still better than the only other option.

Speaking of eyeliners, following a comment on my blog yesterday I came across an interesting post on Nigel Riel's blog Trials of Eyeliner (I have added it to my blogroll now) that deals with avatar shapes.

Apparently there is a rule of thumb concerning human - and hence also human avatars - proportions, saying that an adult humans height should on average ideally be around 7½ heads high, with the rest of the body parts spaced in as you see from this picture on Nigel's blog.

Image by Nigel Riel

In my life as an avatar I have of course come across the usual accusations from those in SecondLife who believe that we should all try to emulate reality in-world also and it is therefore somehow "morally wrong" to be the normal 2,20 m tall, the same rule seems to apply on overly muscular bodies. To them I say, "Bite me!"

Oh speaking of proportions, reality and heads, did I ever tell you about the two supposedly artists that at separate occasions have IM'd me to inform me that my head "is too small compared to the rest of your body". They both looked like dogshit in their perfectly proportioned bodies, by the way. Being the kind man I am, I did not tell them that but merely answered that, I liked my head fine and that the head actually doesn't grow when you pump up your body. Of course they could have meant compared to my height, in which case they would have been correct, but as I remember it they said nothing about my height.

Well, I don't care one bit about "reality" in avatar appearance, but I do strive to be proportionate. Using the guidelines that Nigel points to in his post Trials of Eyeliner: Monday Meme – 6-24, I am going to give my avatar an overhaul on proportions. Hopefully it will help me plenty in the avatar meat race!

Changing Appearances

Changing the way your avatar looks is a difficult thing for some of us, others do it with great ease and talent.

My own avatar has developed very slowly to the point where I am today. Sure I may do radical changes to fit a theme party or just for the hell of it, but when the party is over or my mood shifts I slip back into my comfort zone and revert back to "my look".

I do make changes, but only small ones that are difficult for others to detect and often go back again to try something else. Over time the changes are significant though.

My mentor in blogging, Eddi Haskell, has recently performed an extreme makeover and the result is truly amazing and stunning as you can see in this post on his blog. Eddi Haskell´s Second Life: Eddi Haskell´s New Look. However I will give you a sneak preview here.

Eddi Haskell´s New Look
Le derriere, douze points!

It Ain't Cheap To Look Good

Bock as a noob dancing at Badboy Plaza

My buddy Eddi Haskell has a new poll running on his blog Eddi Haskell´s Second Life, asking How Much Do You Spend To Look Good in SecondLife?

Take the poll, please, I am so looking forward to see the final results.

I will not share with you how much I spend, but if you look at the picture above I am sure you can guess it took some hard work, many cosmetic surgeries (with shape and skin changes), AO´s to get rid of the "duckwalk" and a more than a few Lindens on a decent wardrobe and accessories to make that hideous noob look as halfway good as I do today.

The picture above shows me in my third or fourth month in SecondLife. I had just managed to buy the Pride Flag after about 25 hours of "camping". Soon afterwards I plugged in my credit card to SecondLife and the ugly duckling turned into the swan you see today, or close.

This is the only snapshot from my early days that I have found in my Inventory yet, I know there should be some more but I haven't taken the time to go through my 2,000+ snapshots and textures yet. Unfortunately I also remember how I at one point started deleting things from my early days (I will never do that again), but I am hoping there may still be some I overlooked

On Appearances

Photo coutesy Blanche Argus

When I was out looking at a new male skin at Laqroki last week, I got an unexpected IM from another shopper.

"You are too tall." was the first thing he told me, this 90 days old guy, followed quickly by "Your shoulders are too broad and your head is too small. And your torso is too long also. Believe me I know what I am talking about, I am an artist and I often sketch the human body! Your proportions are all wrong."

This wasn't the first time that has happened to me, and usually I get this kind of well-meaning but unsolicited advice in IMs.

Photo by Kent Hutchinson

"A blond guy like you cannot have dark eyebrows like that!" I have been told a couple of times. None of these people can have met me, two of my nieces and a couple of other Swedes I know who have exactly that, blond hair and dark eyebrows.

"You should get other eyes" someone else told me "because the ones you have now look dead. Go to this place they have great eyes!" I was horrified to learn that my eyes looked dead, so I went to the store I was recommended and bought five sets of new pale green eyes. I hated them all and soon switched back to the ones I have had for a long time now.

When I first came to SecondLife and realized that I could look exactly the way I wanted to look in my dreams, as most Swedes, I went for a California suntan, dark brown hair and beautiful dark blue eyes. I changed appearances once every six to eight weeks, ever "improving" on myself - well, my avatar, but you all know what I mean.

Photo by Kent Hutchinson

After I met Ars I started slowly meandering towards my real life colors, first with the eyes, then the hair and finally the skin. Ars was always supportive and loved all my changes, well he loved me however I made myself look, so I am not sure if his views count.

Of course I do not look this stunning in real life, but the colors are mine. I am not 244 cm though or as musclebound , instead I am shorter than the average Swedish male with my measly 175 cm. The legs are mine though, I can proudly tell you, I love my legs in real life and SecondLife! Oh and not to disappoint some of my fans, my d**k is of course as huge in real life as it is in SecondLife...

I have looked much the same in SecondLife for the last two and a half years, except for wearing different hair-dos, and I really do feel very comfortable in my present look.

Photo by Kent Hutchinson

That is after all the most important thing, in my mind, to feel comfortable in your own avatar whatever anyone else tells you. Hell, I will even go so far as to say it is the most important thing in real life also!

In SecondLife you can be whatever suits you best be it a frog, a wolf, a demon, a vampire, a fairy, an archangel, a neko, a troll, a snow leopard or even an over-sized man with blond hair and dark eyebrows.

So what I told the well-meaning artist before teleporting away was "Thanks for telling me your views, but I am quite comfortable with my shape and everything else about my appearances. Have a great day!"