New Orleans sadness in Blue Mars

I did this and planned this post way back at the first of November.  Bear with me now as we return to yesteryear for this previously unpublished post, already in progress.

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I'm extremely sad because I found out that the most wonderful place to stay in New Orleans EVER, the Canal Street Guest House (http://www.bestguesthouse.com), has been demolished due to the expansion of LSU and UMC.  They suspected it was coming for a long time now, but at times there seemed to be hope that the expansion would happen into a different direction.

Using Botgirl Questi's Google Maps Street View and Blue Mars Lite trick (see sidebar video), I decided to try to visit Mr. Sam and Ms. Kathey one last time at the old Guest House.

First, I downloaded Blue Mars Lite.

Then I went to Google Maps street view to find 1930 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA  70112.  This is the address of the beloved Canal Street Guesthouse where my non-pixel body slept when in NOLA.

 

I chose the link button so that it gave me the direct link to this image; I copied that.

I launched Blue Mars and created a new chat room using the link from Google Maps street view.

Voila!  I am there again, at least in spirit!

Hey buddy!  How is it going?

The water from Katrina came up almost exactly as high as my head.  :(

I run down to get chicken biscuits at the Canal Street Ideal station.  Mmmm.

Honey biscuits made fresh all day.  Do they still do this?

Stand on the outside of the tracks to ride the streetcar, so I learned in this spot!  :)

I invited my landlords, Amanda Dallin and Sandrine Vanbeeck, who run the very excellent New Orleans City sim in Second Life (more about), to run around with me in the Blue Mars one. 

Our default female avis take over New Orleans.

The dance studio.  Ms. Kathey, are you here?

A long run down to the river and to Cafe du Monde, but it's worth it.

After Amanda and Sandrine left, I decided to go check out Paris.

People seem nice as we cross the road together.  :)

yay, Blue Mars and Botgirl for helping me find a new way to love an old place.  At least until they update the street view pictures.  I sure wish there were a way to archive the area as a build.  

Kowloon

Kowloon iSL: it's easily the best long-term build I've seen that I can't support by renting there!   The sim is Chinese-language only to live or rent a shop there, and that makes it the closest thing to a RL Chinatown that I can imagine.

Based on an old PlayStation videogame that apparently had no U.S. release, Kowloon's Gate, the sim is a labyrinth of alleyways, shops, neon signs, and beautifully crafted surprises around every corner.

Visit there, shop there, RP (without weapons) there, and ideally, dress more appropriately than my created-thanks-to-Rudi surfer-girl avi is dressed.

Great shops, beautiful artistry

The feeling is like being in a mostly deserted San Fran or NY Chinatown

Where are the almond cookies?  Anyone see a bakery?

When is the dragon parade?   Yikes, I'm sucha tourist.

A less sinister feeling than Midian City to me, but that's not for lack of dark alleyways.

The gate: open due to a resident having recently arrived.

Interesting sign for a shooter-videogame-based sim.

Mmmm the sweet smells of an incense shop.  Great for my Dia de los Muertos alter in NOLA next year.

Artful builds within builds.  On the left is the original notecard; on the right is a Google translation of the text.

Links to more about Kowloon

• in the destination guide
• as blogged about by Raul Crimson
• as blogged about by Chestnut Rau
• as blogged about by Wagner James Au