December Costa Party

While it appears that the Costa staff parties night and day, they don't. We all actually work long hours, its not easy running a virtual resort. What a better way to blow off some steam than to kick back with friends and jam for a while. DJBlaze spun digital records for us, he will be invited back!

Beauty Pageant held at Costa del Sol

An early December round of the Miss SL Beauty Pageant was held at the Costa del Sol Event center this week. The tropical setting was the perfect backdrop for this event. The Miss SL grand finale will be held again here in late January. See a link to the Miss SL website on the right column.

How to build a resort in six weeks

Its incredible to think that the Costa del Sol resort was nothing sand lots at the end of September. Since then, the parcels have been designed with custom built retail shops, rental homes and the event center.



















We must be doing something right, we are 100% full with a waiting list. We also have some of the highest quality vendors in all of Second Life. Stop on by!

Shops SLurl: slurl.com/secondlife/montserrat/173/159/22

Costa del Sol Event Center is open!

Getting married to your sweetheart and want to impress your guests? Want to host a business meeting in Second Life? Are you a DJ looking for that totally unique location in SL? Or maybe you and your friends just want to blow off steam for the weekend on a private beach with no hassles. The Event Center at Costa del Sol is the perfect place for all of these. Located at the base of Mt. Noh you will experience breathtaking sunsets, crashing waves and warm virtual breezes.

The center features:
- a richly designed island theme
- a one-of-a-kind pool (shown above)
- a large event building complete with bar and stage
- an open-air stage for live music and shows
- winding lagoons with a private, secluded beach
- a private marina for your yacht or jetskis
- additional event options are available

Contact Hope Tesio in-world to reserve this private parcel for your big event.

Slurl: /Montserrat/49/108/22

GlassX Expands

GlassX Sunglasses headquarters tripled in size this weekend. The previous building was housed on a tiny 512 Sq M parcel and was quickly running out of room. Stop by and see the new digs and the latest scripted and unscripted models. For those that don't know, Serenity of Serenity Labs writes the code that makes these puppies hum (she is pictured above).

Located at: Songnisan 24, 121, 92

Hope's Metaver.se Interview

Hope was interviewed by Beyond Gray of the German Metaver.se blog today. See the entire interview here:

http://metaver.se/2006/11/23/hope-tesio-costa-del-sol-ask-questions

First, Second Life Build

All of you Second Life builders out there have a first-build. Sometimes they are inventive and sometimes disasterous. My first was this Songnisan gallery sheathed in glass blades. While it was nearly impossible to navigate to different floors, it certainly caught the eye of folks flying by. I really need to build myself a house for me one day. My GlassX Sunglasses shop now sits in this location.

Serenity's party kicked butt last night in Citrago. I'm sure you will hear all about it (Newsweek, CNN, Drudge Report).

GlassX Slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Songnisan/21/116/92

Swimming with the fish

This huge custom fish tank was built by Maggie Morgan whose store is called Something's Fishy. The incredible aquarium is featured in our nearly complete event center located at the base of Mt. Noh in Montserrat. Since the adjacent swimming pool is not quite complete, Hope and I decided to test the tank water. Who knew that cycling through gestures and poses in a fish tank could be so much fun!

SLurls:
Somethings Fishy - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kishijoten/80/78/22
Costa del Sol Event Center - http://slurl.com/secondlife/montserrat/100/86/22

SLangovers, continued...

Hi, all! I'm Hope, the Marketing Director for Costa del Sol, I love the beach, to dance, to play SLingo, talk to new people, and I love to play pranks on my friends (& partners at Costa), Dave and Korvel :) Some day we'll tell stories about that, but for now Dave has asked for more SLangovers so:

True Story: I was at SLarbucks, (I mean Starbucks) last week on a crowded afternoon, people watching while waiting for my caffeine, when my eyes blurred and I swear the customers looked more like avi's than real people...

You've know you've been in Second Life too long when you are shopping and decide NOT to buy something because you already "have that object in inventory..."

...when your real life friends respond with silence when you make plans to meet and you tell them to "tp" you when they get there...

...when you scan the weekend section for local SLingo games.

You've been in Second Life too long when...

..you can no longer differentiate between real life and Second Life. I am officially introducing a new term to the world:

SLangover: When a person is in-world so often they confuse real life with Second Life.

Examples:
- Say, I wonder if that strip mall is for sale?
- Did I see her at Sanctuary Rocks last night?
- Having the need to change clothes in public.
- Constantly figuring out the Linden conversion rate while at the mall.
- Wanting to type when communication with real people.

Got more? Let's hear 'em.

Train to everywhere

This weekend build lies in the underbelly of Cityscapes on Lake Citrago. In the fast paced world of Second Life, residents can teleport anywhere in seconds. These tracks offer memories of old world transportation. Life above ground is often clean and sterile, devoid of the "dirt" of life. This subway offers relief from all that and is complete with dirty walls, garbage and graffiti. The perfect escape from an otherwise spotless virtual world.

Costa Beachside Houses

Our beachside rentals at Costa del Sol are quiet places where avatars can chill in peace. They are popular houses that aren't empty for long. With warm virtual breezes, the sound of waves and a welcoming community there is no better place in Second Life to park your prims. A celebrity of sorts recently stayed in the house on the right.

Virtual Party

To kick off the grand opening of Costa del Sol, we threw a party complete with a DJ, amazing lights, prizes plus a great crowd. Second Life is the perfect place to host a crazy event like this. We are eager to throw another at the event center. However, I need to finish building it first. Pictures to come....

Greets first lifers! My Costa del Sol crew and I were interviewed by a reporter with the UK newspaper, the Observer. He leased one of our beach houses in Montserrat where the interviews took place next. Nothing like the setting sun and crashing waves to set the mood for a frank discussion about virtual space. The article was published on October 29, 2006. Link:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1933933,00.html

Between all the craziness of building a resort, this was a cool break from the Second Life action.