TVWSP

An Adventure in Vision Starts Again

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:31:31 -0700

Some of you may remember the Vision Quest from last year. It was launched in conjunction with Helen Keller Day and the arrival of Max the virtual guide dog. Max is a tool designed to help the blind and visually impaired get around and function in Second Life. Creating and giving presentations about that first Vision Quest taught us a lot about what works and doesn't work in virtual space. It also gave us a renewed appreciation for the power of story to touch the heart and change attitudes. And of course the Reluctant Quester made his debut as he...

Ignorance Abounds

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:23:15 -0800

It's hard to believe that an article like the one written by Jeff Young for The Chronicle of Higher Education can get published, but published it was. The piece is especially annoying because the author was on the Uncle D Story Quest with a group of 12 students from Northwestern University. Not only couldn't he walk, sit, fly, or teleport, but Mr. Young was oblivious to the excitement, enthusiasm and praise being expressed by the students. Clearly they were learning and having a great time doing it. Why didn't Mr. Young notice? Anyway, we, like so many other educators tried...

The Root Prim

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:42:39 -0800

When asked about Second Life, a friend of mine likes to reply, “Someone turned my computer off while I was in Second Life, and I’ve been here ever since.” I like to say that on October 29, 2007 I stepped into and through Jenaia, infusing her pixels with joie de vivre and the breath of my dreams. Though movement was a challenge, and the default helmet hair made me laugh, there was something very familiar about the whole thing – about stepping into an avatar. The rules were new, the tools a little different, and my abilities both curtailed and...

It's A Wrap

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:25:13 -0800

As I sat down to review and make some sense of 2009 the image of my friend trying to stuff her cat Poncho into his cardboard cat carrier kept coming to mind. The box, while sturdy, was no match for Poncho’s 16+lbs of feline outrage. He spread his legs in all four directions, unsheathed his claws, and yowled piteously. Some ten minutes and multiple scratches later, all of Poncho was finally in the carrier and my friend went to find her purse and keys. “Watch him for me will you?” she said as she left the room. “Don’t let him...

Animation Domination

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:11:27 -0800

Hoping to slip into Canada unnoticed, John E. Lester (aka Pathfinder Linden), flew from Boston via Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile through Santiago, stopping at JFK then on to Toronto's Pearson Airport. Hiding his bright yellow eyes with dark sunglasses and with a large Matrix-style coat covering his wings, he slipped surreptitiously into the Reluctant Quester's (aka Marty Keltz's) Subaru Forester. RQ and Path were on a mission. Long known for its global domination of animation, and coincidentally Ms. Frizzle's birthplace...they were there to foment revolution...and make machinima, easily produced in Second Life, the animation tool of choice. Down with...

Hanging With Jenaia

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:30:17 -0800

By now I'm sure many of you have put two and two - errrr voice and paw - together and come to the conclusion that Cice is more than a therapy dog and Jenaia is fond of slightly off-color canine jokes made at the expense of her fellow homo sapiens. The thing is - and this is where it all gets intriguing and fun - taking on and embodying the persona of Cice has let me do three very important things: 1) Step outside the assumptions we make about who and what matters in life. I mean let's face it....

The Main Course

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:53:51 -0800

This Tuesday will be a watershed moment for the Reluctant Quester. In January Marty Snowpaw (aka Marty Keltz, aka The Reluctant Quester), will be all of one year old. However, since one year in Second Life (SL) is roughly equivalent to 12 years in physical reality, I am confident I will not need a booster seat in order to sit at the grown up table, i.e. the Second Life Education Roundtable at the CHSS Amphitheater for their SPECIAL 1st of the Month Meeting. There my business partner Jenaia Morane (aka Jena Ball) and I will the "Special Guests" discussing "The...

Me, Myself, and I

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:54:41 -0700

Both Jenaia and I have had several arguments with folks who were insisting that Uncle D was/had to be a real person. It's an argument I often have with myself, though not about Uncle D. I know that Jenaia made him up. My question is, am I the physical person, the Reluctant Quester, Marty Snowpaw, or one or two of the other anonymous avatars I have created?Will the real Marty Keltz please stand up....? It leaves me in awe of just how powerful storytelling is... how awesome Second Life is. To read my thoughts on this, see the post entitled,...

A Medical Miracle!

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:58:21 -0700

There she is, Ms. Frizzle. She was born just about the time I had my first heart attack. This is the actual frame that the animation team sent me in the hospital. I was 50 years old so it was a shock, especially to me since I believed I was indestructible. You may wonder how illiteracy is connected to heart disease. Even then I noticed that many of the obsessive over achievers I knew had had similar public school experiences and failures. We struggled with the same boogey-men, the same self-doubts and fears of being exposed. It was Mrs. Himber...

Scarred

jenaia@tvwsp.com (Jenaia Morane and Marty Snowpaw) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:57:48 -0700

I have been doing so much questing that I lost enough weight to be able to wear my leather sleeved baseball jacket from the Charles in Charge series we produced while I was at Scholastic Productions. Scott Baio wore a similar jacket in practically every episode of the series. It ran for four years then was rerun to death. Scott was ageless, and while already in his late twenties, could still play TV’s first male babysitter. RQ is not ageless, and while the jacket fits again, I feel as out of place in it now as I did back then....