archangel969 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 (edited) 1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said: So, I've decided it's time, finally, to lose my apartment in Voroznia. Which saddens me a little: I am really very fond of it, and it's cool and a bit different, because the regions in which it's located are set up as a Soviet Bloc style residential development from the 70s, complete with Brutalist architecture, Soviet propaganda, and crumbling apartment blocks. It's been my "residence" for a couple of years now. Why would anyone want to live in such a place? Well, as I say, it's different. And I set up my apartment as the residence of late 70s / early 80s Ukrainian graduate student, a kind of homage to part of my heritage. Happenstance doesn't work this way, of course, but I have a sort of fantasy that this might have been me, and had my grandparents not emigrated to Canada (and had I been born 15 years earlier -- I was only 16 when the Berlin Wall fell). Anyway, as fond as I am of it, I can't really justify the cost: I just don't use it very much anymore. But I'm going to keep it at least another week so I can get some pics of it, just as keepsakes. Here's a pic of me (wearing a vishyvanka, a traditional Ukrainian peasant blouse) in front of my favourite part of the flat, my "office" area. On the wall is a small shrine to 19th and early 20th century Ukrainian writers, feminists, and intellectuals, including most prominently (bottom left) Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's "national poet." I'm actually not terribly keen on Shevchenko, but you're not really allowed to be Ukrainian unless you pay homage to him; my Baba, who I doubt ever read a line of poetry in her life, had a small bronze statue of him I remember well as a child. I love those places on SL with themes where they have put a lot of energy and time into atmosphere. I didn't know Voroznia, but there are many special places on SL that I don't know yet. Too bad you are going to leave the appartment and I can imagine it makes you wistful, such a decision to leave. I once had the same thing with a sim I once rented from, but it was disbanded because the owner quit due to health reasons. I have now bought land but I also rent at Hotel Chelsea. In SL, the old bohemian hotel can still be visited in its former glory. In RL, it has become an expensive hotel. The bohemians of yesteryear who made Chelsea famous could never have afforded the rent of today. So I still stay there as a tribute and support to the creators of Chelsea in SL though I rarely visit there anymore. I will still come there if I want to buy art, as there are dozens of art galleries nearby. And sometimes a poetry meeting, but although I love poetry I find poetry readings in SL fatally boring, unfortunately, so have fallen asleep a few times during such a meeting, yes really! 🙂 Edited April 12 by archangel969 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 (edited) Canal city interiors De kazerij (The cheesery) Edited April 12 by archangel969 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagnu Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 6 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said: So, I've decided it's time, finally, to lose my apartment in Voroznia. Which saddens me a little: I am really very fond of it, and it's cool and a bit different, because the regions in which it's located are set up as a Soviet Bloc style residential development from the 70s, complete with Brutalist architecture, Soviet propaganda, and crumbling apartment blocks. It's been my "residence" for a couple of years now. Why would anyone want to live in such a place? Well, as I say, it's different. And I set up my apartment as the residence of late 70s / early 80s Ukrainian graduate student, a kind of homage to part of my heritage. Happenstance doesn't work this way, of course, but I have a sort of fantasy that this might have been me, and had my grandparents not emigrated to Canada (and had I been born 15 years earlier -- I was only 16 when the Berlin Wall fell). Anyway, as fond as I am of it, I can't really justify the cost: I just don't use it very much anymore. But I'm going to keep it at least another week so I can get some pics of it, just as keepsakes. Here's a pic of me (wearing a vishyvanka, a traditional Ukrainian peasant blouse) in front of my favourite part of the flat, my "office" area. On the wall is a small shrine to 19th and early 20th century Ukrainian writers, feminists, and intellectuals, including most prominently (bottom left) Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's "national poet." I'm actually not terribly keen on Shevchenko, but you're not really allowed to be Ukrainian unless you pay homage to him; my Baba, who I doubt ever read a line of poetry in her life, had a small bronze statue of him I remember well as a child. OMG Scyll !!! I AM older than you!!! I totally understand why you would have wanted to live in Voroznia. I have, on occasion, wondered what my life would have been like if my parents hadn't have left Hungary during the 1956 revolution, and I had been born there. Your post also struck a note with me, since I have some Ukrainian heritage as well, on one side of the family. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrina Nebula Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 I think I got the LAST houseboat lol, tried it 4 times and always got the same address. So what, I'll make this my home, bad spot or not 🙂 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Zhaoying Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Just now, Sabrina Nebula said: I think I got the LAST houseboat lol, tried it 4 times and always got the same address. So what, I'll make this my home, bad spot or not 🙂 Nice foliage! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Rhiadra Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 8 hours ago, archangel969 said: I love those places on SL with themes where they have put a lot of energy and time into atmosphere. I didn't know Voroznia, but there are many special places on SL that I don't know yet. Too bad you are going to leave the appartment and I can imagine it makes you wistful, such a decision to leave. I once had the same thing with a sim I once rented from, but it was disbanded because the owner quit due to health reasons. I have now bought land but I also rent at Hotel Chelsea. In SL, the old bohemian hotel can still be visited in its former glory. In RL, it has become an expensive hotel. The bohemians of yesteryear who made Chelsea famous could never have afforded the rent of today. So I still stay there as a tribute and support to the creators of Chelsea in SL though I rarely visit there anymore. I will still come there if I want to buy art, as there are dozens of art galleries nearby. And sometimes a poetry meeting, but although I love poetry I find poetry readings in SL fatally boring, unfortunately, so have fallen asleep a few times during such a meeting, yes really! 🙂 Yeah, agreed. There's a great deal of "bland" in SL, but also some wonderful places that capture a particular and identifiable ambiance. And sometimes they build a community around it, as the Chelsea has. I used to go to the Chelsea relatively regularly. It's not the best build in the world (in fact, it looks and feels pretty dated these days), but it definitely does generate an atmosphere and evokes a distinctive place in an equally distinctive era. Actually, I was there again a few days ago to catch a very good live performer. It felt a bit like visiting an old friend. As to the Voroznia apartment -- well, maybe I'll chicken out and extend my stay there. I am reluctant to leave, certainly. But no, I'll probably go. I can always visit. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Rhiadra Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 2 hours ago, Bagnu said: OMG Scyll !!! I AM older than you!!! I totally understand why you would have wanted to live in Voroznia. I have, on occasion, wondered what my life would have been like if my parents hadn't have left Hungary during the 1956 revolution, and I had been born there. Your post also struck a note with me, since I have some Ukrainian heritage as well, on one side of the family. Dahling, you're only as young as your attachments and BOM add-ons! I am, to be clear, extraordinarily grateful I was born when and where I was. Certainly, living in Ukraine these days isn't a lot of fun, and I have no misty-eyed illusions about what it must have been like to grow up under Soviet communism, especially as a member of an oppressed minority -- a sentiment I'm sure that any Hungarian would share. And actually, one of the things I like about Voroznia is that it doesn't glamorize the era or its culture. My wallpaper is faded and peeling, and the region pretty bleak in some ways. In that sense, though, it "feels" relatively authentic. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagnu Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 (edited) This should have been a quote reply. OOPS!!! Edited April 12 by Bagnu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagnu Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 34 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said: Dahling, you're only as young as your attachments and BOM add-ons! I am, to be clear, extraordinarily grateful I was born when and where I was. Certainly, living in Ukraine these days isn't a lot of fun, and I have no misty-eyed illusions about what it must have been like to grow up under Soviet communism, especially as a member of an oppressed minority -- a sentiment I'm sure that any Hungarian would share. And actually, one of the things I like about Voroznia is that it doesn't glamorize the era or its culture. My wallpaper is faded and peeling, and the region pretty bleak in some ways. In that sense, though, it "feels" relatively authentic. Yes Zsa Zsa, (or would you prefer Eva?) but that would make me only about four LOL. Oh, I am certain you have no illusions about what life under Soviet rule was like. We are very lucky indeed never to have experienced that. The horrors my parents told me of are mind boggling. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Rhiadra Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 (edited) If you step out onto my back balcony, and lean over one side to peer into my kitchen, this is what you might see. Yes, yes, the windows are filthy, but I'm damned if I'm going to dangle precariously out into space (I'm on the fifth floor) to clean them. I assure you, I've registered a complaint with the Comrade Antonova, who runs the residents committee, and I've been promised it will be taken care of sometime . . . next year. Probably. Edited April 12 by Scylla Rhiadra 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Zhaoying Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 7 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said: If you step out onto my back balcony, and lean over one side to peer into my kitchen, this is what you might see. Yes, yes, the windows are filthy, but I'm damned if I'm going to dangle precariously out into space (I'm on the fifth floor) to clean them. I assure you, I've registered a complaint with the Comrade Antonova, who runs the residents committee, and I've been promised it will be taken care of sometime . . . next year. Probably. Hooray, you remembered! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Rhiadra Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Found this old pic of me on my balcony in a shoebox under the bed as I was packing. Such a scenic view! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiera Kealoha Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 (edited) Edited April 13 by Shiera Kealoha 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 (edited) Canal city interiors: The tattoo shop. On the wall two pictures. One of Amsterdam's famous and legendary tattoo king Henk Schiffmacher and his wife and of renowned tattoo artist Claudia Fedorovici. Edited April 13 by archangel969 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 49 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said: Found this old pic of me on my balcony in a shoebox under the bed as I was packing. Such a scenic view! Geat pic, like you are in a movie! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 5 hours ago, archangel969 said: Canal city interiors: The tattoo shop. On the wall two pictures. One of Amsterdam's famous and legendary tattoo king Henk Schiffmacher and his wife and of renowned tattoo artist Claudia Fedorovici. The tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher (left picture) is now retired but he is legendary! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 While I was decorating Canal city, I did research and read stories about Amsterdam canal houses. There is one story that surpassed others in obscurity. On the Amstel at number 216 stands a beautiful city palace with a dark past: the House with the Bloodstains. So called because the outer walls of the house show the centuries-old graffiti that former mayor Coenraad van Beuningen chalked on the walls there with his own blood. He also draws a boat and Hebrew and Kabbalistic symbols. He eventually collapses unconscious and wakes up the next day in his own house, chained by his servants. The former mayor, once rich and powerful has gone mad after he lost his fortune through speculation and his marriage broke down. He spent the rest of his life like a wild animal tied to chains, locked in a blinded room and regularly beaten by his guard. He died in 1693: insane, abused, destitute and forgotten. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 20 minutes ago, archangel969 said: While I was decorating Canal city, I did research and read stories about Amsterdam canal houses. There is one story that surpassed others in obscurity. On the Amstel at number 216 stands a beautiful city palace with a dark past: the House with the Bloodstains. So called because the outer walls of the house show the centuries-old graffiti that former mayor Coenraad van Beuningen chalked on the walls there with his own blood. He also draws a boat and Hebrew and Kabbalistic symbols. He eventually collapses unconscious and wakes up the next day in his own house, chained by his servants. The former mayor, once rich and powerful has gone mad after he lost his fortune through speculation and his marriage broke down. He spent the rest of his life like a wild animal tied to chains, locked in a blinded room and regularly beaten by his guard. He died in 1693: insane, abused, destitute and forgotten. And this American guy is so lucky to have this appartement in a real four centuries old Amsterdam canal house. I could not afford it but a friend of mine does, a French singer, who has a whole Amsterdam canal house so I can visit such a house from time to time. Want to know how that looks like? Like this: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Psaltery Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 I think I might have company at the beach. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiffy Voxel Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 17 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said: I think I might have company at the beach. It wasn't me! 😆 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 (edited) Sitting on the famous Rietveld chair (designed in 1918) from Dutch furniture designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld (1888 – 1964). Edited April 13 by archangel969 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagnu Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 2 hours ago, archangel969 said: While I was decorating Canal city, I did research and read stories about Amsterdam canal houses. There is one story that surpassed others in obscurity. On the Amstel at number 216 stands a beautiful city palace with a dark past: the House with the Bloodstains. So called because the outer walls of the house show the centuries-old graffiti that former mayor Coenraad van Beuningen chalked on the walls there with his own blood. He also draws a boat and Hebrew and Kabbalistic symbols. He eventually collapses unconscious and wakes up the next day in his own house, chained by his servants. The former mayor, once rich and powerful has gone mad after he lost his fortune through speculation and his marriage broke down. He spent the rest of his life like a wild animal tied to chains, locked in a blinded room and regularly beaten by his guard. He died in 1693: insane, abused, destitute and forgotten. Ouch. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagnu Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 4 hours ago, archangel969 said: The tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher (left picture) is now retired but he is legendary! I totally understand what he means by having to be confident. The ink is not erasable. Just like pen and ink drawing, but on a much more permanent scale. A botched up piece of art can be thrown away. A tattoo can't be. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel969 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 11 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said: Found this old pic of me on my balcony in a shoebox under the bed as I was packing. Such a scenic view! It's a movie with a totally different background, but the lighting, the colours and your looks remind me of Faye Dunaway in Bonny and Clyde. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Rhiadra Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 (edited) 24 minutes ago, archangel969 said: It's a movie with a totally different background, but the lighting, the colours and your looks remind me of Faye Dunaway in Bonny and Clyde. Hah, thanks! And yes, I played with the hues and tones to get a 70s vibe for the pic. I'm really good at aging things! Photos . . . cheese . . . partners. You name it! PS. And I'm not at all averse to be compared to Faye Dunaway! Edited April 13 by Scylla Rhiadra 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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