SurfWatch recently caught up with Sally LaSalle, former owner of T'ai, to talk about the recent transition of ownership of surfing sim, T'ai, part of the T'ai, Chi, Bluff and Bundy cluster, and share memories of T'ai.
SurfWatch (SW): So what was the genesis of T'ai? You had the very successful Chi. Did you feel the need to add additional space?
Sally LaSalle (SL): Let's see if I can remember that far back. Yes and no, and that's an odd answer but let me explain. Actually, how it all happened was, the very first surf comps were run with the spectators on the surf sim. So we all actually sat on the same sim as the surfers in the case of the first surf comp that was on Chi. But I made cushions and everyone had to sit on the cushions and try to be still (smiles).
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| Sally LaSalle |
SL: Mm hmmm. That was even before the SLSA (Second Life Surfing Association) was formed. But when the SLSA was formed, there was a decision that I don't think was ever actually written down anywhere ever that we should have separate spectator sims to help reduce the lag on the competition surfers. The first ever SLSA comp was at Imagi but there was a comp on Chi planned for November which was Chi's first birthday. So I was thinking, where the hell can I put the spectators? And found out that you could hire a sim for events from the Linden Labs for 3 days. Tightline Kidd was the winner of that first event at Imagi (smiles). Heats were timed back then so you weren't guaranteed your 3 waves.
SW: Oh, get out!
SL: It's true. And people would deliberately wait longer than they had to so their competitors wouldn't get an extra wave.
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| T'ai |
SW: (Laughs) Evil genius!
SL: So anyway, Tai came in to being as the spectator sim for that first season comp on Chi. I hired it for 3 days and it rezzed literally on the Friday before the comp. But then a funny thing happened. It was supposed to vanish again after 3 days but it never did! Linden Labs forgot it was there! (laughs)
SW: No way!!! (laughs)
SL: Yep, but I was worried that it could vanish any moment so I never did anything with it. But some squatters decided to camp out there and make it their home and lived there for free for about six months. Eventually, I got a message from a Linden that said something like, erm, "What's the deal with this sim?" I said, "I don't know, I only hired it for three days." Then they graciously told me that, well, "We won't charge you for the last six months!" (laughs). I was like, that is good, because I didn't order it for six months. And just like that, Tai poofled.
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| T'ai |
SL: But then a year went by and I thought it would be cool to hold more comps on Chi and also to have a large(r) surf break than the little Chi bay. So decided to bite the bullet and make Tai a permanent thing. A friend of Desirae's (Beaumont) was selling their full sim. Buggered if I can remember what it was called now, but I bought it off them for free just the transfer fee and had it moved next to Chi and renamed as Tai. That must have been '09. Yeah, I would say November 2009 cause held another Chi comp about then. And the first comp on Tai itself was May 2010. Anyway, that was the main reason for it, to be a spectator sim for Chi. And to be a second venue with a much bigger break to run bigger waves. At the time, it was the only two full-class surf sims that were rezzed next to each other. So we could run comps on either. Most of the other surf estates had one full sim and one or more homesteads around that so were less flexible about the comp venue.
SW: This is just precious history and background to have on record. So throughout the 8 years of T'ai, what are some of the highlights and challenges?
SL: Well, I think some of the highlights were that we were the first sim to get the SSi Cortes wave, much to the utter disgust of other sim owners at the time (laughs). But that was partly because Desi ran her surfboard shop called 'Perfect Waves' up in the sky above Tai and had about 1000 surfboard shapes and designs (All SSi!!) permanently rezzed there.
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| SSi board showroom on Tai - photo courtesy Kantbe Thursday |
SW: I remember that shop!
SL: So it was like a permanent showroom for SSi and hence how we twisted their arm to get the Cortes. But although the Cortes was a big step forward in wave design, it was a bastard of a wave to surf (laughs).
SW: Why was that?
SL: It moves really fast, and has a very tight curl so its hard to do maneuvers inside. And also because of the fast movement especially on SSi shortboards. You often got thrown forward off the wave and bellied. You had to make a conscious effort to turn back into the wave a lot. It's not so bad with the LSD boards. But I always loved giving surfers something to challenge them, so I enjoyed it (smiles). Another highlight was we held the 50th ever SLSA surf comp there which was an amazing milestone only to be matched by holding the 100th comp there years later (smiles). I like milestones (laughs).
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| 2008 Tauri Tigerpaw performance at Chi with T'ai backdrop |
SL: Yes, that is true, although because it's a surf sim, we attracted a fair number of comp surfers there over the years so we had that special venue status. But trying to balance rentals and and surfing is tough. One of the other challenges as a result of that is that to this date, there has never ever been a comp on Tai where someone didn't complain in my IM box that, "It's soo laggy here" (laughs). Which was actually not true, the sim was always running well for all the comps there and we cleared out any laggy scripts before each comp. But it's just a feeling people get if they are surfing past houses.
SW: So had you been struggling with the decision to make changes with T'ai for awhile?
SL: In terms of change, not so much. I had one bad patch where I was out of work for a while, and it was getting really close to having to let it go but the surf community ralled behind me with a fundraiser, and it really made the difference to me being able to keep it. That was actually a big highlight for me, too, and so grateful to everyone in the surf community that helped out with that, and for all the support I have received over the years from everyone. That was about 2015. So it hasn't been any particular event, really. I just realized that my priorities have shifted a bit and I spend a lot less time in SL than I used to and as a result, I couldn't justify the ongoing out of pocket expense. Tai was $295a month as a full sim and often I was paying half or more of that out of pocket.
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| 2015 Tai Chi Fundraiser |
SL: So yes, I will continue with Chi, and I effectively pay half of Bundy (by paying the tier on Bluf if that makes sense. The other thing is that when I was approached by Teddy ((Bear), I could see just how excited and motivated she is about it, and I remember feeling like that. So that was the thing that really pushed me to do it, to give it a new lease of life
SW: So what are your hopes for T'ai going forward?
SL: I hope it lives on, and I really do look forward to seeing it change and evolve. I think that's exciting. And I can't say enough about the help I have received from Kantbe (Thursday) over the years. It's safe to say that Tai would have gone long ago if it wasn't for her management efforts.
SW: That's beautiful, Sally - yes, Kantbe is the solid rock of so many things people don't realize in the SL surfing community, including SurfWatch as our managing editor. Teddy refers to you as "the Queen of Surf". If you could send Teddy a message for T'ai when she reads this piece, what would you like to say to her?
SL: "Big snuggles to you" (laughs). No, I would say, I know you're going to be great, and you will have such a fun time. Make it your own! (smiles).
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| Sally LaSalle and Teddy Bear at T'ai |
SW: Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with SurfWatch and our readers, Sally. It's always a pleasure to spend time with you.
[See SurfWatch http://surfwatch.blogspot.com/2010/04/tai-chi.html and search "Tai" for more SurfWatch write-ups on T'ai].
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