I want to thank Phan for allowing me to take over as admin on the blog and carry on without him.  He’s missed everyday by me and several others.  I wish him well and if the addiction ever takes him again we’re here with the doors open to welcome him back.

The more things change the more they stay the same.  Harper has agreed to write this with me as I really do want to keep it open to all the good things in SLife….and I’m no fashionista…ask anyone.     So Harper is taking the fashion beat and doing her thing.

Additionally, we are lacking a male blogger.  Please feel free to drop me a notecard or an email if you are interested.  I will ask for writing and photo samples so be prepared for that.

Well I’m not all that prolific on administrivia…..so over and out.  -Fi

I have yet had a chance to publicly thank those who were a part of Phantom’s Republic team while I was online, but before I do that, I am pleased to announce that Fiona Haworth, owner of PrimPads furniture and our Home and Gardens coorespondent will be continuing this blog as owner and blogger.  Her posts on prefabs, unique furniture, and just fun items you could find around SL were a breath of fresh air … considering that most SL blogs have to do with clothing and fashion.  The bulk of her contributions made her one of our top producers, and among all of the latest posts on the blog, hers generally outperformed everyone else’s … including mine.

So, for those of you who relied on Phantom’s Republic for the latest and best in House and Home … Phantom’s Republic blog will still meet that need, and I’m more than proud to hand over the reins to a person I trust, admire, and respect … Fiona Haworth.

Before I go, I want to thank all who have been involved with Phantom’s Republic over the last year.  About this time last year, Fiona agreed to jump on board, and she’s contributed consistently since then.  Not too much later, Aristoteles Allen – manager of Cheerno (formerly a.C Store) joined our team, and became our lead men’s stylist – giving our presence in men’s fashion a much needed lift.  Since then, several have joined the team — some have stayed or gone their own way:  Italiyia, Coldfusion, Xavier, Laya, Autumn, and Jenniferr.

I would also like to thank Giancarlo Takacs for our time as part of his team at Costa Rica Sims.  I really enjoyed my time there, and wish him – and all of the residents of CRS – more years of fun and sun in SL!

Thanks to all of you for our wonderful time together!  It was a great ride

I don’t believe in destiny.  I don’t believe in a lot of things, actually … and that’s always made me a little different than a lot of people around me.  I believe in things I can hold, see, hear, smell, grab, taste, hold on to …

I don’t know what it was about Second Life that drew me in so deeply.  The fantasy aspect?  A premature mid-life crisis?  I’m amused by those snobs in SL that say they’re nothing like the losers who become so immersed that they don’t know reality from a blip on a screen, yet – like these so-called losers – they can be found logged on and intertwined like the rest of us … for hours, days, weeks, months … logged on and obsessed like the rest of us, mesmerized not only by the seemingly flawless recreation of the physical world, but also in the beauty that this world brings out in the rest of us … a world where our noses, our handicaps, our weight problems, our ages, our skin blemishes, our speech impediments, our social hang-ups, and our pasts no longer hold us back.  In Second Life, we’re all beautiful – in and out – just like we want to be in the Real.

Although blind faith has never been anything I subscribed to, hope has always been a friend of mine:  hope for a life different than the one I had; for a different future; for a resurrecting, transforming love … something different than the shut doors, the “not-good-enoughs”, and the superficiality of today’s consumer culture.  How I ever thought I would find something different in a world where superficiality is the base component of its very existence will always allude me – but, hope was what I had in this world not seen before, the world that made us all more alive than we are in our Real.

But, even though emotions seemed stronger, love seemed more real, and where things seemed more possible than they ever could otherwise … it never amounted to more than grasping at empty pixels.  For those that claim this is the new economy, fortunes have been won (and lost) by the stroke of a pen at a computer lab somewhere in Silicon Valley when economy or real estate has been adjusted for the benefit of the many, or for the corporate image.  It is all elusive, all unreal, all grasping at phantoms who seem so real … so beautiful at first.

So, what does that make all of us … those who have been spending the better part of our lives day in and day out, hours and weeks … pretending in a world of make believe?  Is SL really the next economy, the future of social networking, or has the whole holodeck nature of it turned it into something more tragic?  What do we gain in the world – in life – spending hour after hour in front of a wide plasma screen emoting in a chat box?  Even when we fall in love – as so many say they do here – how does it benefit our lives when that life “together” can only be imagined … never shared, or enjoyed with another sitting beside you?  Is it really the same sitting in a fake hot-air balloon and floating over virtual Venezia … or to hold the one of a very real lover while traveling down the canals of the very real one?  Can it replace seeing the smile of surprise when giving a gift to your husband or wife, feeling their lips against your ear as they whisper sweet-nothings?  And, for those who are here because they have had the real and lost … does it really replace what you had before?  Or does it just keep you from ever having it again?

I came to Second Life on New Year’s Eve one year (the first time) … looking for something.  And, although the ensuing months brought plenty of laughter, smiles, tears, and joy … one thing it never brought me was anything real.  It felt real – absolutely – and in many of my virtual relationships, things still feel very real.

But, it isn’t … and it can’t be … not as long as it keeps us from reaching out and making things real; not as long as it prevents us from enjoying our own real lives; not as long as it robs us of the courage to make those real lives better.  In that sense, SL isn’t an adventure … it is emotional heroine.

And, today … I’m pulling the needle out of my arm.

Those who know and love me know how to contact me … and I hope they will continue to do so.  But, I can’t live in Pleasantville anymore.  It isn’t real.  I’m not throwing anything away … I’m casting my bread on the water … and what comes back (as the book of fables says) … was real all along.

Here’s to Real Life!

Unplugging …

Atmosphere Works has recently moved out to a new location in order to expand their ever growing line of fabulous furniture.  If you are unfamiliar with their work, you are in for a real treat.  It’s beautifully sculpted and textured complete with nice shadowing and a good bit of realism.  Not only that, the prim usage is phenomenal.  A full living room group for the same prim cost as a sofa anywhere else.   They have a really wide variety of styles that will fit in most homes.  Complete with tons of sit options you really can’t choose not to put this place on your shopping list.

This first piece is a Deck Chair set.  Comes with two loungers, the umbrella, the table and the shadows so basically all shown except for the daiquiris I made.  The loungers and umbrella are color changing with the choice of 5 vibrant colors.  Ready for the real steal on this….17 animations per lounger.  Oh and prims for the entire set are 25 plus 4 for shadows if you wish.

This next pic is of a few Rattan Chair Sets they have.  The chairs have 15 animations each and are only 4 prims each.  The table is 3 prims.  Each set includes two chairs and a table.  The textures on these are just amazing and the animations are really nice.

OK….I’m gonna apologize for the lousy picture.  I shot this 10 ways til Sunday and they all didn’t capture this kitchen set as good as it looks in person.  For 14 prims, you get a lovely sculpted kitchen set complete with working sink, burners, and fridge.  The burner light up like a gas stove with tiny blueish flames.  The fridge door opens and closes and has both a fridge and a freezer.  As an added effect that frosty particles waft out to give the illusion of a really cold fridge.  Totally fab!  Lastly this is copy and mod….so you can tailor it to look right in your kitchen spaces.

This pic is made up of a ton of separates that would be perfect for a bar or a den.  The armchair is color changing, has 7 prims plus 1 for the shadow, and 18 animations.  The table is 4 prims and it’s copiable.  The also sell the side boards and accessories.

Ok…last pic.  It’s also composed of separates for a fun living room group.  The sofa is 8 prims and seats 3 each with 5 animations to choose from.  The chair is 6 prims and has 5 animations.  The tables are a grouping of 3 each being 5 prims.

Anyway….go check this place out there are a lot more style and color choices…but everything is really lovely. -Fi

Your taxi—– Atmosphere Works

Orchids proliferate in Costa Rica. Warm-weather-loving, humidity-seeking, exotic, colorful and graceful, orchids are the perfect flower to represent the beauty of the Costa Rican sims.

It’s entirely appropriate, then, for me to point you to the wonderful work of Miko Omegamu, sold on the Laguna Arenal sim. Miko has perfected the fine art of making orchids in SL and she has used them to embellish this gorgeous dress. But a Miko creation is never a quick prim assemblage. Miko has considered the dress from top to bottom, from the beautifully textured prim orchids to the excellently rendered stem running across the elegantly shaped dress to the prim drape with bow on the other side.

I chose an updo from KateForester Akina to accompany this beautiful dress. KateForster has a huge collection of hair—from the every day to the truly fantastic. The color change flower adorning the hair matched the dress perfectly. A beautiful skin that Monicuzza Babenco made specially for this year’s Vanity Skin fair to benefit Care suits the elegance of the ensemble. Finally, I donned beautiful orchid earrings from Caliah Lyon and stylish pumps from Onyx LeShelle, and I am a flower in bloom.

The beauty of an orchid’s perfume:

Hair: Tukinowaguma Deborah ebony by KateForster Akina for Tukinowaguma

Skin: *YS & YS* Kelly “Care” Eb Dark by Monicuzza Babenco for YS & YS

Dress: *ICING* Orchid Delight by Miko Omegamu for *ICING* at the Costa Rica Sims

Earrings: ~Muse~ Elle Orchid Earring by Caliah Lyon for ~Muse~

Shoes: Maitreya Verve Pumps – Black by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

After last month’s fashion show, I took my guy to shop at Nardcotix … he likes plaid shirts, and designer Nardya Rousselot has a truck full … not to mention a nice assortment and variety of other items in her new but growing men’s line.  Needless to say, we had to leave quickly … we were tempted to buy everything in her store!

Last week, she asked me to look at some new items … and let me tell you … like her women’s line, Nardya is becoming a force to be reckoned with in SL fashion.  Her clothes are more than just paint on prims or sculpties … they’re dynamic, they show personality — they capture the wind!  Didn’t take long to take these shots in my crib … these clothes are awesome for events or just posing!

Stop by her store in either the Costa Rica Sims or her homestore in Einstein … and if you see something you can’t live without, grab what you like, and tell her Phantom sent ya!

TOP – Coat – NX Fielding Wool Coat Khaki| Vest – NX Gordon Leather Vest Brown| Denims – -WMD-”Ronin”Pepper Jeans | Boots – Black Leather Sculpties *REDGRAVE*| Sunglasses – KR Sunglasses M6 Gold| Necklace – *Cobrahive* Kousa Necklace | MIDDLE – Shirt – NX Devon Striped Shirt Blue| BOTTOM – Suit – NX Pierson Formal Suit Brown|

Allure Fashions / Obry Fashions has opened a shop here in the Costa Rica Sims Shopping District!  Filled with women’s casuals and intimates, Allure/Obry is one store to add to your next virtual shopping trip!  Amara is wearing their “Sweet Kitty” outfit.

你好

This week I’m featuring an outfit made from a range of old and new designers (including a few treasures which I have decided to include to share with you).

Starting with the jacket from the new-ish store ‘Kunglers’; I LOVE the quality of their clothes and I picked out this jacket because of its amazing detail (it comes with its own shadow underneath the belt!). Their gowns and mix-and-match sections particularly stood out for me, have a look for yourself!

Complimenting the red tones of the jacket is one of my favourite skins from Tres Blah by Julliete Westerburg, who is releasing a (fantastic) new skin range sometime in December so keep your eyes peeled (more news on this to come); check out her flickr here.

Here’s where to get the outfit:
Skin – Tres Blah; Girly Chic Light – La Vie En Rose <3

Hair – fri. – Quinn – Moody Brown

Jacket – (Kunglers) Cristiana jacket – Scarlet

Leggings – .:MALT:. Fashions – SLINKY Leggings – Black

Shoes – Maitreya SoHo Boots Group gift (bottom part only)

Necklace – p.c.; Black Orchid Necklace

Hat – Ingrid Elegance Hat in grey (tinted black)

After note:

Music; Ghosts – Laura Marling

Aradhana Voight  of Mashooka came into the SL fashion scene like a breath of fresh air. With her elaborate textures and Indian-inspired style, she supplied SL shoppers with clothing from both the East and the West.

Located on Laguna Arenel in the Costa Rican sims, Mashooka provides an alternative to the standard avatar clothing choices. I chose this cute dress for this write up because pushes past the ordinary with its cleverly fashioned sculpty puffy sleeves and bow. It pushes past a girly dress to something more sophisticated with its rich textures and deep color.

I styled the dress with a sassy auburn hair from Autumn Hykova, who is cranking out cute hairstyles with an alternative twist. Lorac Farella’s skin from her new “Life” series is a dramatic choice, upping the ante on this ensemble from sweet to sophisticated.

Curry cutie:

Hair: .:[ Tiny Bird ]:. Kissy Kissy – Ginger by Autumn Hykova for Tiny Bird

Skin: Pulse Skin-Life/Tone3 m7 by Lorac Farella for Pulse Skins*

Dress: :MD: Taylor glimmers {red} by Aradhana Voight for Mashooka Designs at Costa Rica

Shoes: SKGShoes – Alina Slingback Pumps – Pecan by Saki Galiazzo for SKGShoes (no longer available )

I won’t follow this up with the end of that because quite frankly there is very little that you can lose an eye doing here in SL unless of course you’d like to lose and eye and then I’m sure there is some place you can get an dangling eye from.  So this post is more about the fun stuff you can get in SL.  I’m all about laughs here…so today I want to blog about some of the things that bring a huge smile to my face every time I whip them out.

I loved Back to the Future in a million ways….but one of the best things from the movie was the flying skateboard right?  Shown above is Vetox Simboard.  I love it!  It flies about and you can do tricks by jamming on the up and down arrows while you press left and right keys.  It’s also got the standard skateboard ground bound fun.  Vetox has some great half pipes all over the grid and from what I understand there might be competitions.  However, I just  fly mine around the neighborhood.  It does require rez rights as it’s a vehicle.

Next up are these 2 wearable freebies.  On the left we have kirisolemoso.  It’s a fun little bottle you wear and when you say lemoso you dance around while a fun little song goes on.  The most fab part is it listens to everyone so you can choreograph a dance with your pals.  Check out this vid on youtube to see what I mean and hear the tune:  Second Life Lemoso from Greg3457.

On the right are Maracas; these have changed a bit from the ones I have pictured but are still available and mod.  You put them on and say Manbo! (yes it’s spelled wrong it’s the word though).   Then you start a fun little dance with music that goes on until you say stop or take them off.  Both are wildly hilarious and great for those fun wait times at lucky chairs.  Warning the tune will stick in your head, but I don’t think that is a bad thing. 

This fun little red wagon is from REEK!   The wagon shown above is a wearable with a built in AO meaning great for no rez zones.  It’s full of firefires, a blanky, tincan phone, Hobbes, and a baseball bat (some of which is available separately as wearables from the shop as well).   I love the innocence of it.  In addition to the wearble wagon, you get a vehicle wagon that you and two friends can ride in.  Custom animations for all 3 sits.  It’s good clean fun.

After the break there is much much more……so click on through.

Here is a lovely pillow fighter from lfox textures.  It’s a fab freebie that you wear and press and hold the left mouse button and press an arrow.  It animates you including great facial expressions and particle of feathers spit out everywhere and float softly to the ground.  It’s great for slumber parties. 

With all the flying going on, how about something for the falling.  TerraSport III PRO parachute is fab fun.  Make sure you get the PRO as it’s got the altimeter with all the well animated falling tricks.  The only challenge with this great chute is to get good photos.     Pull the cord by pressing Shift C and drift from your skybox to the ground in style.  Oh…almost forgot the chute comes with tons of customization options.  I just love the skullies.  OH…and if you want to wait a few weeks on this the Starburst model is coming out on Nov 21….sounds sweet!!!  /me cannot wait!!

Lastly, every one needs toesy socks for a laugh.  These are new from SLink and inspired my silly post.  I just love them! Lots of colors available but the rainbows are the ones I had as a kid.

Always laughing and sometimes at you (yes you),
Fi