and you won't bring me down

News of the Kin project dying the death of all outdated gear is somewhat confusing to me, personally; it may be dead and unmourned in Europe, but in the US, we're just starting to see ads for the product. Maybe they've decided only to market it over here? Why?

Miss Ruina Kessel has put up a survey for House of Ruin products--she sent it out just to her group members, but she wants a wide, diverse range of replies, so I'm tossing it out to my readers--take the survey, please? She's right, it's fairly painless, and it will help her figure out skintones and eye ranges to keep.

Some while back, Roger Ebert did a column on video games. He said there was no way they could be art--or, to be more blunt, Art, with the noted capital. And he received a great deal of grief for this column. Many people now, at the other end of the debate, see his latest address on the topic as a retraction.

I do not. I see it as him stating--logically--that he doesn't have a good working definition of Art, in his mind, that applies to the topic--namely, that video games cannot be Art. So he withdraws from the argument.

I'm now wondering, what definition of Art would include video games? Can video games be uplifting to the soul, engaging on all levels, profound and meaningful? I think about the art exhibits on SL that have touched me, and I have no problem including digital art in a debate about art in general--but does that mean the art has touched me (and it would touch me no less were I looking at it in an actual lath and plaster building), or that Second Life is the art?

I think Ebert is correct, in this: we don't have a good working definition--at least, not yet.

Though while we're on the topic of the digital realm, vis-à-vis art, how about this? Crosses into cyberpunk, political commentary, and stretches into art-as-protest as well. Keen!

Finally, Hulu was doing so well--good agreements with the networks, an acceptable layer of ads for the most part, really inventive ads on their own--but now they have a pay service. And while the pay service does let subscribers see shows that may have dropped off the free service, or complete seasons of shows that Hulu only carries the latest episodes of for free...they show ads. $9.95 per month to subscribe, and THEY SHOW ADS.

Hulu! The whole point of a subscription service is to BYPASS THE DAMN ADS! If you don't catch on, your subscription service will fail. Not might; WILL.

Miss Sanura Snowpaw--I've worked with her before, on the Wear Grey for a Day project--is also part of Operation Squeegee. Her blog is here, and she's done a lovely set of casual wear for the event.


(The Dolphin tee; the Dragonfly tee.)

It's odd; in SL I'm not much for casual wear; in RL, it's most of everything I own. (Well. Still only own the one pair of jeans, RL. But that's not the point.)


(The Whale Tee, the Praying Mantis tee.)

The point is, there's a reason that cleavage matters in SL for tees, and this series shows exactly why. But even with that, these are fresh and lovely, and while yes, the graphic is high on the chest, and tends to fold and disappear if I'm in any pose where my breasts are pressed together, I think the shading and the overall clean lines of solid color make up for it.



They do all have larger designs on the back of the tees. This is the back of the Praying Mantis tee. (The reddening of the design is my fault, I'm snapping the shot in front of a red-lit table.)

And she made a lacy black-and-white pinstripe option she calls the "Lacey Beater":



This is a very streamlined option. Plain, simple, elegant as casual wear gets--nicely done.



Lovely bit of shading along the sides, both top and bottom, too. Though because there's a jacket bottom and a shirt top, there is one small flaw:



It's little, and bypassable; I think I only noticed it because I zoomed in when checking the angle. It happens, it's difficult to pattern-match at times.

Elsewise, these are lovely pieces that would slide easily into virtually any closet on the grid. They could even be unisex if the man is confident enough (well, maybe not the lacy monochrome set). I think she's offering them up for L$50 each at the event site. They're well worth a trip out.

I won't be covering all of the fashions--there are fifty vendors, perhaps more! But what I can, when I can, I will.