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WRITTEN BY
SNOWKITTY
Around Halloween, when
thoughts are filled with
goblins and ghouls and other scary creatures, I like to think of the
real-life events and people that frighten me most; and I'll own up to
it: when I was first introduced to Virtual Horse Ranch and Virtual
Pups, the scariest people were none other than the Ops. With their
strong teamwork and sometimes smarter-than-thou attitude, many Ops can
be intimidating at first.
But take a closer look, and
you’ll find that most Ops are friendly,
helpful people; take for example VooDoo (also known as Rising Sun) who
isn’t at all as creepy as her name implies.
Actually, the name “VooDoo”
is an affectionate one, as she said, “the
name of one of our miniature pinschers… VooDoo rides along all over the
U.S. with my husband in our semi-truck. She’s a well traveled dog.”
Perhaps it is the love of
dogs that attracted VooDoo to Virtual Pups.
“I made my first Virtual Pups kennel (on) September 13, 2005. I really
enjoy the diversity of the players on Virtual Pups and getting to know
them.” She’s an avid player of the game, continuing to say, “I (like)
working on a breed and trying to develop them into my idea of what I
would like them to be. Right now my pet project is Italian Greyhounds.
I’m trying to improve their speed to a point that they will be
competitive in racing.”
That passion for the game
evidently carries over into her passion for
people, yet another reason not to fear the friendly owner of the “Blue
Bayou” kennel.
VooDoo became an Op in August of 2005, making her a veteran of three
years, and instead of guarding against jack-o-lanterns, monsters, and
ghosts, she has very serious concerns for the people she monitors. “One
of the things I find scary (about being an Op) is seeing the lack of
parental supervision that some of the young people here have. I know
how well we monitor this site and how careful we are to try and make
sure our players have a safe place to enjoy the games, and still we
have those that try to infiltrate our games in order to prey on young
people.”
“I hate to think of the
unmonitored sites out there that are sometimes wandered into. Internet
safety is so important.”
But, on the other hand, “I
really enjoy being an Op and just want to
salute my team members for all the time and work that they put in to
help keep things going smoothly! It’s a lot of hours sometimes, and
it’s amazing how we all manage to find the time to do our part. They’re
a great group of people and a lot of fun, too.”
And of course, there’s no way this article could’ve been written
without asking a question about Halloween. When asked to describe her
favorite Halloween tradition, VooDoo said, “We love carving pumpkins
and decorating the house to welcome trick-or-treaters. After the
trick-or-treating is done, we always go to my sister’s house for some
homemade soup that she always makes and watch scary movies… and, of
course, feast on any unclaimed Halloween goodies.”
So
next time you feel intimidated by an Op, remember VooDoo and all the
other happy, friendly people who so generously volunteer their time to
help us out. After all, they’re not witches – they’re just normal
people like us.
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WRITTEN
BY STABLEHAND
The Phooka is an Irish
Goblin that was once rooted in Scandinavia but
has since been brought to Ireland and Welsh. This creature is a shape
shifter and can be found in many forms but, the Irish Phookas generally
choose a horses body with a human head. However, they sometimes choose
goats, bulls, dogs or eagles, so mind what you say when talking around
these beasts.
Like most Goblins, a
Phooka is a prankster. Many a weary traveler has
come across one disguised as a docile pony to be given the wild ride of
their lives through brier, bramble, and the wettest and most loamy
country only to end up in a ditch or tossed into the mire. They also
try such treachery in eagle form so if offered a ride from an eagle…
you have been warned.
Phookas are pack
animals but fight amongst themselves frequently and
they can be quite vicious. Thus one must be very wary when they are
about. If it should be raining while the sun shines brightly, the
Phooka will be abroad that night and one should definitely be on guard.
When not in the “tame pony trickery form” most Phooka will be
pitch-black in color and have fiery eyes. While most Phooka tend to not
enter human dwellings, the Welsh Phooka, commonly called Bukas, have
learned a trick or two from observing Santa Clause. They have evidently
taken to sneaking into homes through chimneys. This poses particular
danger since they simply adore human babies and have been known to take
them without proper permission.
Aside from baby
snatching, they are mostly harmless if a little mean…
well… there is one last thing. They also tend to wreak a little havoc
by destroying crops. You see, they tend to claim all crops not
harvested by Samhain. The poor farmer that dares to harvest after that
day often finds his herd animals dead shortly there after. The Irish
say mysteriously dead cows have been pooked, a term derived from
Phooka.
So how does one keep
the Phooka happy? Other than giving them babies
and letting them run amuck in one’s fields that is. The Phookas love
potatoes and that is probably the best way to keep them happy. They
also tend to hibernate between Midsummer and Samhain, so keep quiet and
let them rest. A tired Phooka is particularly troublesome. And of
course help them celebrate Phooka Day, the one day when they all behave
civilly. A good Phooka Day party may keep them civil for quite sometime
after.
So remember if you see
a strange sleek black horse with a flowing mane
and glowing yellow eyes, drop the potatoes and hide the babies.
STORY
BY CHOCOLATEGAL
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The unsurpassed part of SandBoxFarms is its players, in particular, the
small collection of people that first played SBF. But unfortunately,
that group is dieing away rapidly. So I interviewed one of the last
‘veteran’ players.
Vitani, who is very polite and pleasant,
has some great animals and lots of imaginative creations. Popular and
rather well known, Vitani can often be found posting on the boards. She
is also a very thoughtful and inquisitive person who is not afraid to
ask ‘why’.
Since she’s been here since the
beginning, SBF has grown and as Tani said, “SOOO many things have
changed...Some good, some not so good, some shrug-worthy changes that
don't really affect me either way. I don't think I could possibly list
them all.”
Some of the ones that were for the
better in her opinion? The extra goodies. “Oh how I love those
goodies,” she says, “Some new ones might be nice right about now
though, *cough* C’mon John *cough*.” But she also did suggest some of
the worst choices that SBF made, “This sickly yellow font... And I KNOW
I'm not alone on that one.” Only being able to enter animals in one
event before having to take an exam wasn’t the best choice for a change
in her opinion. The fact that there are no warning messages before
animals poof to Florida, when animals reach the retirement age. These
ages are different for every species of animal on SBF and with possibly
hundreds
of different species and animals on one account, it‘s difficult to keep
track of each one‘s retirement age. “I keep my fingers crossed that
eventually that'll change,” she adds.
Tani is a VHR transfer, “I was playing
VHR and curiosity got the better
of me after viewing an advert for Beta SBF. Been here ever since...”
well, I suppose that’s how other SBF players started; I know I
certainly started out that way!
“I guess I don't actually really think
of myself as being
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a
"type" of
player,” Vitani says, “I like making friends, I like making my farm the
best I can, so much better if I can combine the two. There are players
I trust with my most special creations (they know who they are) and
players I wouldn't even sell a sterilized animal to. It’s all part of
the process. You don't get anywhere if you don't try, and you'll never
know if you don't ask, right? If that makes me come across as a
confident player...Well, that’s alright with me...”
Vitani’s been playing SandBoxFarms for
almost two years and the things
she enjoys about the game and keeps her coming back? “Everything,
really, even the things I moan about. It just wouldn't be SBF if
everything was exactly to everyone’s liking. It’s working around the
little hiccups that make it an interesting, challenging game. Nef and
John must've got something right, eh?” |
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STORY BY ORIYANA
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Bara is well known in the VHR community, she is
even fairly well known to those who do not frequent the VHR game and
chat. Hearing that she had already chased off three potential
interviewers, I began to suspect that perhaps Alabama was punishing me
for some sort of faux pas when she gave me this assignment. So I took a
deep breath and entered the lion’s den.
My assignment is to interview
Bara about the Block Party and Art
Contest. Block Party? What? As I am more involved in the VP community
than that of VHR this was all new to me, so I asked Bara to explain
this block party fiasco to someone who knew nothing about it. Her
answer was “The Block Party is a VHR organized holiday party that
starts on December 25th and runs through the 31st. Every day there will
be events on the forum and in chat where people can win a number of
prizes, any where from VHR cash, to a new sponsor upgrade. Nef has even
thrown in some bonus prizes of being able to choose the next public VHR
horse breed.” Some of the events include raffles, quizzes, trivia,
train-offs, coloring contests, and even a scavenger hunt. Sounds
interesting, so I began to wonder how this all started. Her reply not
only answered my question, but also inspired me to question her sanity.
“Well every year, I hold the Battle of the Artist contest for VHR.
However, that’s just an art contest and generally only fun for artists.
I thought that since we had such a great community, after five years of
weeding out the drama-llamas, we all
deserved a cookie.”
Never fear artists, the
inception of the Block Party will not replace
the annual Battle of the Artists which has its own prize pool and has
already started. So, for all of VHR’s
talented artists, and even I know
there are many, get your digital or traditional pieces ready and
WRITTEN BY EVLON
Werewolves, we all have some basic knowledge of them. Most likely your
first thought was of the bipedal Hollywood Wolf-man. This article is
not about him. More this is written in an attempt to perhaps educate
you about the original werewolf, and subsequent variations thereof.
Little do most know that the alternate name of a werewolf – Lycaon
which comes from Greek mythology. The oldest written story comes from
the Greeks; however older drawings and paintings of werewolves may
argue the legend to be older. The Greek lore starts at the time when
the Titans had just been defeated by the Olympian gods. Many still
worshiped the titans even after their fall from glory, the worst of
these was a man named Lycaon. He not only refused to worship the new
gods, but challenged them. Zeus attempts to punish the mortal by
changing him into a wolf. However, this plan has a major flaw: Lycaon
likes his new form more than being a man. He terrorizes many villages
until he is slain by the villagers in Tatarus. From this Greek myth we
find that he was a wolf, sometimes said to be larger than normal. Most
importantly though he only changes shape once!
So
where did the nightly, then late monthly wolf come into play? Well
first off it was believed that people, who became werewolves in the
medieval era, worshiped the devil and met out evil deeds to test the
righteous of their faith. Due to the many stories and folk lore, the
European Lycans’ history is rather muddled. Most hold that a witch had
cursed a fellow satan worshiper to grant him immeasurable strength as a
wolf, or wolf-like creature. As time progressed the night came to be a
symbol of evil, thus the nightly change. Interestingly enough there
were tales of people being a werewolf, around the same time as the
infamous witch trials. These involved real people, a few who were found
to be cannibals. During the age of alchemy scientists dissected many
supposed Lycans and reported hair under the human skin and ‘features
more akin to a beast than man’. It may also be that this is the time
when the change being directed by the moon was made.
Werewolves mostly disappeared from the European areas as places became
more settled and woodlands cleared out. When the move to America was
made, the wolf was back in full force. Immigration helped to bring back
the old fire-side tales into a relatively stable description of humans
turning into wolf-creatures to satisfy unholy desires. The legend of
silver bullets is thought to have come about in this time frame, due,
in no small part, to the fact that guns were a major part of the
American frontier. As within Europe as small towns became cities the
fear of Lycans became less and less.
What
about the werewolf’s bite you say? Well sorry to tell you, but as far
as the folk lore of Lycans the contagious bite is rather new. It was
developed by the modern fiction and horror writers. In the mythology
there were three ways to have been a werewolf; you were either cursed,
made a pact with evil, or were just plain born a werewolf. The bite
most likely comes from the vampire’s mythology crossing with the
werewolf lore. Now then, next time someone brings up a conversation
including werewolves just chew their ear off with information.
Want To Make A Pumpkin Pony?
Want to
learn how to make your very own pumpkin pony? Follow these easy steps
and you’ll have one in no time! If you are drawing this on paper, you
will need a piece of paper, eraser, pencil, black felt tip marker and
an assortment of colors. To draw this in a digital program, create a
new layer for every step. This was drawn in Open Canvas, so your final
product may appear different than what is shown, based on the tools you
use.
Pumpkins are just circles, draw three for the body,
and one for the head. The pumpkins for the body should over lap.
However, you can choose to do this with one pumpkin for the body as
well.
This is the outline of your pumpkin. Start with
drawing an elongated oval in the center, and then using your pen or
pencil, make C-shaped strokes to form the rest. Do this for every
pumpkin outline, keeping in mind the body overlaps.
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entered before Tuesday,
December 23rd, 2008. For those of you not
familiar with the Battle of the Artists there are two divisions.
Digital refers to work created on the computer such as drawing or
painting with a program, photo-manipulation, or layout making.
Traditional refers to work created with media such as graphite &
charcoal, colored pencil & marker, painting with oil, acrylic or
watercolor paints, or photography. There is also an ‘other’ category in
the traditional art which could encompass work such as sculptures and
jewelery. Be sure to visit the forum links to familiarize yourself with
the rules.
Both events require a
great amount of work and dedication, which caused
me to ponder, is Bara an incredibly dedicated member of the VHR
community or has she simply gone insane? Bara says “I'd say.. that it's
painfully apparent that I have no life, and I spend all my free time
doing other things, like working on the newsletter, hosting contests
and making art work for the
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coloring book. I do, however, make time for
my Monday night Heroes dinner get together with friends. ...That sounded so lame. Keep
in mind, I have school and work as well. Some
would say I was good at multi tasking, even though I stress easily.
However Immortal put it best.” Immortalkaos
says that Bara
has always
been insane and that “you can’t lose what ya never had lol.”
The Battle of the
Artists is a great way to for the talented artists of
VHR to show off their work, and get some well earned recognition and
appreciation, not to mention a good amount of VHR money! The Block
Party is organized to be able to include a much more diverse group of
players, there is something for everyone! It provides a great
opportunity to meet people, show off your talent or knowledge and earn
some great prizes. So whether it is dedication or insanity that
inspired Bara to create these events, there is no doubt that both have
greatly added fun and sense of community to VHR. Since this article is
about Bara, I thought it only fitting to give her the final say, so I
asked her if she had any parting words about the Block Party or Battle
of the Artists for the players of Orbis games.
"I’ve been with this
community going on 5 years now, I’ve had my ups
and downs, and made some great friends along the way. However, had I
not been myself, I would have never had the honor of meeting said
friends. So my parting advice for all you future bloomers out there is,
please for the love of god, be yourself. Love yourself for who you are,
and don’t bat an eyelash at what other people think. One day they will
learn to love themselves as well. >_> think that sounded to after
school special? Or...simply summed up...Keep on trucking, and never
drop your pencil." |
WRITTEN BY ALABAMA
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Though some may not like them, for others, the
movies “The Lord of the Rings” , the videography, location, actors and
adaptation of the books. are awe inspiring and thrilling. For Rain of
VHR, they are inspirational. “The attention to detail, there isn't a
single bloody HAIR out of place, stylistically. The creativity is
pretty darn impressive, too. I adore all the costumes for the Rohirrim
and the elves, especially those that come to aid Helm's Deep.” She uses
the movies as a tool to help clear painter’s block when her college
courses get her stressed to the point of not being able to focus on her
artwork. ”I do a lot of character designs when I watch LOTR, both
horses and humans. They usually remain as ridiculously messy sketches
though, haha,” she explains.
Drawing was something
she’s always liked to
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do and
with the
encouragement of her grandmother, the desire grew until now she is
studying to become a graphic art major after trying her hand in
majoring in music education. “But the thought of teaching scares me to
death,” she explains. A friend of hers is pretty good at doing web
coding,
so Rain would like to go into business with her, but admits it probably
won’t pay the bills, but “I'd rather be happy and living in a box as
opposed to miserable and hating my job every day,” she states.
Her favorite traditional mediums include; colored pencil and sometimes
marker, but paint isn’t quite her forte, she says she and paint just
equal a mess, “I'm wickedly clumsy. You should see me after my art
classes. At least if I drop a colored pencil, I don't get paint on
everything.” She also uses computer programs a lot more often now. The
price of replacing sometimes expensive traditional art tools makes
computer art more feasible for a poor college student. And it’s easier
to keep track of her artwork besides.
Dragon often hires Rain
to do drawings for her horses, keeping her from
drawing pictures for her own horses as she used to. She owns mostly
walkers which she shows in gaited with some newer Shires and her own
line of Gypsy Drums for Driving and Jousting events. But, she doesn’t
mind not having time to do her own art because, “Draggy has WAY too
many interesting colors for me to draw,” she says. The piece she is
most proud of is related to VHR, one of Dragon’s colors, a Valkyrie
colored horse.
“I hit VHR a fuzzball
after beta testing,” she says, so she‘s been with
VHR for over 5 years. At first, it was a friend’s idea of a distraction
after Rain’s Saddlebred gelding was stolen. But now, it’s the stress
relief and the challenge that keeps her, “There's always new things to
learn about the game, and the people are so great!”
For Rain, art comes
before wages and she says of those who ask for an
artist to do work that politeness is the biggest asset, “If someone is
pushy with me, I'm far less likely to want to spend 4-5 hours on
something for them, regardless of pay.”
And for budding artists, she has this to
say, “References are your BEST
FRIENDS for both drawing and coloring. Flickr and Deviant Art are
really great resources for those.” |
STORY
BY JNFERRIGNO
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You can angle the pumpkins at any angle you
want, depending on how your horse is moving. In pumpkin ponies, anatomy
doesn’t really matter.
Using various orange
and yellow colors, fill your pumpkins in!
Select a nice green
color, and start making
curlicue vines for the ears, neck, legs and hair. My pumpkin pony is
jumping, what will yours be doing?
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Using a lighter green,
retrace your green vines,
twirling them around to make it look like pumpkin vines. Also using a
brown color, draw the stems of the pumpkins.
Using a simple leaf
patter, draw multiple leaves
to fill in the mane and tail, I also added leaves for the feet to show
feathering.
Fill the leaves in now
with a leaf green, add a jack o' lantern face, and tada~! You have your
very own pumpkin pony! |
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