Art is Protest: Staten Island, July 17th 2014, Nino Vichan
InArt is Protest, open now at Rubin Mayo’s Trésor de l’Art, we are invited to view exhibits by SL artist Nino Vichan and RL artist Basu Kshitiz.
Nino’s installation, reached via a large entryway to one side of the landing area, entitled Staten Island, July 17th 2014, is an examination of the events of July 17th, 2014, in which African American Eric Garner met his death at the hands of officers from the New York City Police Department, and the events which followed in the wake of his death.
Art is Protest: Staten Island, July 17th 2014, Nino Vichan
The installation is presented in a 3-part narrative. I Can’t Breathe (a reference to a phrase repeatedly uttered by Eric Garner), presents the events of July 17th, 2014, and the death of Mr. Garner. Black Lives Matter recalls the widespread civil unrest which occurred across the United States in late 2014 after a grand jury decided not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the officer perhaps most directly involved in Mr. Garner’s death. Finally, Violence Begets Violence causes us to reflect upon the events of December 20th, 2014, when Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley shot and killed Brooklyn police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Lui as a direct response to Mr, Garner’s death and the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting of Michael Brown on August 9th, 2014. Brinsley himself then committed suicide.
This is perhaps not the most comfortable of installations to visit – but that’s precisely the point; in marking the anniversary of an event which still has repercussions today, Nino is challenging us not only to revisit and consider the matters of Mr. Garner’s death and the events which then followed, but also to question the issue of violence as a whole.
The route through the three scenes of Staten Island, July 17th 2014 will return you to the landing area, which features a display of work by artist and political commentator Basu Kshitiz.
Nepal is a country riven not only by earthquakes, as we so recently witnessed, but also by extreme poverty (it is 145th of 187 countries on the Human Development Index) and much more besides. Since the end of the decade-long civil war in 2008, the country has also been in a state of political turmoil, with rampant corruption in both government and business.
Basu’s work, which appears in annapurapost.com, the on-line portal for the Annapura Post, a daily newspaper in Nepali language, seeks to drawn attention to political corruption and social injustices which continue to deny many in his country with the basic essentials of water, healthcare, education and energy.
Art is Protest will remain open through to September.
It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.
Sunday, July 19th
13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street
Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Corwyn Allen continue reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, originally published in 1894, and which brings together twelve (or eleven in US editions of the volume) adventures featuring Holmes and Watson, as originally published in The Strand Magazine. This week: The Adventure of the Resident Patient, first published in 1893.
The Adventure of the Resident Patient, an 1893 illustration by Sidney Paget
“In glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of Memoirs with which I have endeavored to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way answer my purpose. For in those cases in which Holmes has performed some tour de force of analytical reasoning, and has demonstrated the value of his peculiar methods of investigation, the facts themselves have often been so slight or so commonplace that I could not feel justified in laying them before the public. On the other hand, it has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some research where the facts have been of the most remarkable and dramatic character, but where the share which he has himself taken in determining their causes has been less pronounced than I, as his biographer, could wish. The small matter which I have chronicled under the heading of “A Study in Scarlet,” and that other later one connected with the loss of the Gloria Scott, may serve as examples of this Scylla and Charybdis which are forever threatening the historian. It may be that in the business of which I am now about to write the part which my friend played is not sufficiently accentuated; and yet the whole train of circumstances is so remarkable that I cannot bring myself to omit it entirely from this series. “
And so, in his inimitable style, does John Watson introduce the reader to the rather strange case of Doctor Percy Trevelyan. Having entered into a novel, if satisfactory business arrangement with a man called Blessington, Dr. Trevelyan now finds things becoming increasingly odd as Blessington’s behaviour grows increasingly erratic and a strange pair of Russians seem interested in the practice for more than just the purpose of seeking medical assistance.
18:00 Magicland Storytime – Thomasina
Join Caledonia Skytower at Magicland Park as she continues reading Paul Gallico’s 1957 novel (and later a 1963 Walt Disney film starring none other that Patrick McGoohan, alongside Karen Dotrice – who also appeared in Disney’s Mary Poppins and The Gnome Mobile – and Susan Hampshire).
When Thomasina, young Mary’s cat, suffers injury, Mary’s veterinarian father and widower, is typically unsympathetic , and rather than treating the cat, has it put to sleep – earning himself the enmity of his daughter, who declares him dead to her.
Thomasina, meantime, finds herself in cat heaven, only to be returned to Earth because she has lived only one of her nine lives. Thus begins a series of adventures involving Thomasina, Mary, her father and a local woman regarded as a “witch” by the children, but who has a caring way with animals…
Monday July 20th, 19:00: The Wizard of Karres
Gyro Muggins returns to the universe created by James H. Schmitz and given form through his 1949 novel, The Witches of Karres, as he continues reading the 2004 sequel, The Wizard of Karres, penned by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. So why not join Gyro as he once more traces the adventures of Captain Pausert and his companions, Goth and the Leewit, the Witches of Karres.
Tuesday July 21st, Go set a Watchman
Following selected readings from To Kill a Mockingbird by Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Gyro Muggins, it is now the turn of Trolley Trollop to read selected passages to Harper Lee’s newly published Go set a Watchman.
While referred to as a “sequel” to Mockingbird, Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Watchman actually pre-dates it, having been completed in 1957, leading Lee herself to refer to it as Mockingbird’s “parent”.
The story focuses on Scout Finch, the narrator of Mockingbird, who is here seen as an adult and using her given name, as she returns to her father’s home in Maycomb, Alabama, where she re-lives events from her childhood (including those central to the narrative of Mockingbird) as she tries to come to terms with political and personal issues, notably her own feelings about her birthplace and upbringing, and her father’s attitude towards society.
Thus it is that Watchman re-introduces readers to many of Lee’s most famous characters, including Atticus Finch, although readers may find the Atticus of this novel somewhat removed from the “younger” man found within Mockingbird.
Wednesday July 22nd: 19:00: Holiday Times
Kayden Oconnell & Caledonia Skytower share short stories of holiday trips and seaside romances from Lucy Maud Montgomery and Stephen Leacock.
Thursday July 23rd
18:45: Prologue: Anthropomorphism
With Shandon Loring.
19:00: Pigsong by Frank Delaney
He has been described as “the most eloquent man in the world”. In a career spanning three decades, BBC host and Booker Prize Judge Frank Delaney has interviewed more the 3,500 of the world’s most important writers. He’s also an author in his own right, earning top prizes and best-seller status in a wide variety of formats.
His latest project is collectively called The Storytellers, and presents a series of short stories that follow the tradition of the seanchai: providing a crisp, concise tales of the world, and which also include his own notes on the history and craft of storytelling and the creation of myths.
Shandon Loring continues a journey through The Storytellers, this week reading from Pigsong, introduced thus:
Once upon a time and long ago, when snow tasted like cream, and timber tasted like sweet cake, and every tenth egg laid by a duck had a diamond in it, there lived up in the North of Ireland a very bad man.
Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for June / July is the The Xerces Society, at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation programmes.
There was no Main (SLS) channel deployment on Tuesday, July 14th.
On Wednesday, July 15th all three RC channels received the same server maintenance package, comprising internal simulator fixes.
SL Viewer
Following the promotion of the attachment fixes viewer to release status, all three remain active release candidate viewer in the release channel were updated as follows:
The Viewer-Managed Marketplace RC viewer updated to version 3.8.2.303583 on Thursday, July 16th
The Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 3.8.2.303563 on Friday, July 17th
The Mesh importer RC viewer updates to version 3.8.2.303565, also on Friday, July 17th.
Viewer-Managed Marketplace
On Thursday, July 16th, the Lab announced that VMM is now “released” (even through the viewer is currently still at RC status), and that automated migration of those Marketplace stores which have not already converted to VMM will commence at 21:00 SLT on Thursday, July 23rd, and will continue at the same time on weekdays for a 12-hour period (21:00 – 09:00) until complete.
That the announcement has been made prior to the viewer being promoted, and that it was made apparently without any notification to TPVs (who had been trying to work closely with the Lab in getting people ready for VMM) has caused no small amount of upset on the Commerce forum thread opened when the announcement was made, some of which is understandable, particularly given the way TPVs have tried to work with the Lab in support of VMM, and this announcement have left those still in the process of trying integrate the code into their viewers with little time to actually do so and support their users with a VMM-enabled version of their viewer.
Experience Tools
In my week #28 report, I referred to a comment made by Simon Linden relating to Experience Keys / Tools concerning some work he’s been carrying out on the KVP database:
I’ve been working on updating the KVP code that runs on our server and had the most frustrating time integrating the newest version into our code … The code we have is dated and we should have better performance and stability with their latest.
The use of “their” and “our” code led to some questions at the meeting (unanswered at the time) as to what it might indicate. During the Server Beta User Group (SBUG) meeting on Thursday, July 16th, some clarification was given.
The “their” referred to by Simon is MongoDB, which is the database being used to manage the KVP store and key value pairs. The version the Lab had been / is using can only apparently search around 1,000 values per minute. The new version that Simon has been working on should apparently improve on this, hence his reference to performance and stability improvements (not to mention scalability).
My three pianos over the years: rear right – the all prim Musical Alchemy; left – the sculpted PrimPossible concert grand; right foreground – the LISP Bazaar mesh concert grand
I love to play the piano, something I’ve mentioned in these pages before. In the physical world, I’m fortunate enough to have a hybrid piano – but Second Life allows me to indulge my little fantasy of having a full concert grand, and I’ve had one in almost every home I’ve had. It’s fair to say I don’t feel at home in SL without one.
Over the years, I’ve upgraded a couple of times – the most recent being to a marvellous mesh creation by Pandora Popstar (aka Lainy Voom) owner of LISP Bazaar I learned about via a Tweet from Skate Foss, and which prompted this article.
Musical Alchemy concert grand by Persephone Milk: still a stunning piano some 8 years since it first appeared. Offering a rezzable set of ivory keys plus separate harp and strings inside the cabinet, relegating the texture version of both to the role of soundboard, it is still capable of presenting eye-popping detail
My first SL concert grand was the all-prim Musical Alchemy grand by Persephone Milk (L$999). At the time I first brought it, this was the Rolls-Royce of pianos (and in many respects, it still is). It is beautifully crafted and comes with a host of rezzable extras as well as multiple playing and sitting poses, depending on whether the top is up or down.
What made this piano particularly attractive to me was (and is) the selection of music, which includes a piece composed by Persephone herself, together with the option of rezzing a set of ivory keys and the also the harp and strings, both of which fit the cabinet perfectly. These all enhance the piano beautifully, the only downside being that as the piano has a base LI of 85, rezzing these parts balloons that to 163 LI. As I gradually downsized my landholdings over the years, this eventually became too big an overhead, driving me into finding a replacement.
The PrimPossible Concert grand (now available in a newer model) is a 1-prim wonder
In 2011 I purchased the PrimPossible concert grand from Ample Clarity (which has since been replaced by a newer model priced from L$950). A sculpted build, it appeared just as the mesh revolution was about to hit the grid, and offered a very nicely styled concert grand with a good selection of music at just 1 LI. A further advantage with it lay in the fact that because the design was unconstrained by prim cutting, it could be better scaled for the “average” avatar than could be easily achieved with the prim build, meaning I no longer felt I needed the arms of an orang-utan to reach the full stretch of the keyboard 🙂 .
My only niggle with this piano has always been that as a sculpt, it stresses the rendering system with the attendant wait for it to “pop-out” from the initial spheroid shape. Hence, as the mesh market has steadily expanded, I’ve been seeking a replacement.
My new LISP grand piano – with thanks to Skate Foss!
As mentioned towards the top of this piece, I finally found a suitable replacement in the form of the new LISP Bazaar concert grand thanks to Skate Foss. Currently only available through the Collabor88 event, Pandora’s piano is, in a word, beautiful. It weighs-in at just 6 LI, with and additional 2 for the padded bench, it is being offered in a choice of two finishes: traditional black lacquer and teak, all for an amazing L$288.
More to the point, it is exquisitely modelled along ornate grand piano lines, has an interesting selection of music and includes all the little details that attract me: adjustment wheels on the bench, top board prop cups, the soft and sustaining pedals offering a nice outward presentation and so on. In particular, Pandora has foregone the textured harp / strings / soundboard found in so many mesh offerings costing far more, in favour of a mesh harp and strings.
A closer look at the keyboard and sheet music…
To be honest, there are a couple of little niggles around these from a purist point-of-view (I modified my piano to double the number of visible strings, for example, as I’m fussy that way), but these are certainly not enough to negate what is a super piano currently available through Collabor88 at a superb price. As it is, I have copies of the black lacquer sitting on the garden terrace of my “main” home, and in the lounge of my Linden Home (for those rare occasions I feel the need to go hide there).
I’m still partial to my Musical Alchemy piano, simply because it was the first piano I purchased in SL; it has stood the test of time exceptionally well, and is still worth considering if you have the land capacity to see it at its fullest advantage. But that said, if you are looking to replace your existing piano because it is a prim or sculpt build, or simply because you fancy a change, you really cannot go wrong with the new LISP Bazaar concert grand, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
The LISP grand piano’s mesh plate and strings add a nice level of detail to the instrument – I later modified this piano to double the number of visible strings (mainly because I’m a fuss pot)
RFL of SL Relay Weekend 2015: looking across the Activities Regions
The RFL of Second Life Relay Weekend for 2015 is upon us, and will feature everything one would expect from the event – walks, celebrations, remembrances, the luminaria ceremony, interviews, music, dance, and more. Over the years, RFL events in Second Life have raised over US $2 million to assist the American Cancer Society in its efforts to eradicate cancer, and the hope is that this year will push the total past the US $2.5 million mark.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a couple of sneak peeks around the regions that make up this year’s walk, together with the activities regions, and they really are quite extraordinary this year, featuring some stunning builds and themes which are truly eye-catching.
RFL of SL Relay Weekend 2015: this year’s event features some truly stunning builds
Event Highlights
Listed below are some of the main events scheduled for the weekend – but remember that there are relay laps, entertainment and more going on across the entire weekend. All times are, as usual, SLT.
Saturday, July 18th
10:00-13:00
The Final Push with DJ Black Velvet
11:00
Celebrate! – The traditional A Survivor/Caregiver honour walk
12:30
Team Spirit – the Relay Teams lap
14:00
Crazy hats and hat
15:00
Movies and musicals
16:00
Holiday Road
17:00
Hawaiian Beach Party
18:00
Space Cadets Fight Cancer
19:00
Health Matters
20:00
Purple Power
21:00
The Luminaria Ceremony – REMEMBER
22:00
CCR Tribute Concert
23:00
Your Relay Heritage
RFL of SL Relay Weekend 2015
Sunday, July 19th
Midnight
The Random Outfit Hour
01:00
Get Active! – Sports
02:00
The 60s
03:00
Hoppy Ball Bounce
04:00
Relay Around The World
05:00
Heroes and Superheroes
06:00
The Fight Back Ceremony
07:00
Space Cadets Fight Cancer
08:00
Coffee, Tea or Relay
09:00
The Formal Hour
10:00
Closing Ceremony
11:00
Victory Lap
17:00
Drive-in Movie Night
RFL of SL Relay Weekend 2015
The Luminaria Ceremony and Fight Back
At 21:00 SLT on Saturday July 18th, the Luminaria Ceremony will talk place. The track regions will all be set to midnight and thousands of luminaria will be lit, each one representing a survivor or someone who has passed away from cancer. People are invited to walk the track in silence for one hour as dedications are read over the broadcasting stream.
06;00 SLT on Sunday July 19th will mark Fight Back. Join your fellow residents in making fight back pledges to save a life this year; your own, a friends, a family member, or someone you don’t even know yet.
RFL of SL 2015: a part of Julia Zhangsun’s beautiful Survivor region
Where to Start
There is no central welcome area this year, so probably the best place to start is at the American Cancer Society region. Here you can find out about the Luminaria lanterns, details of this year’s theme hours and grab a box of freebies. Information Stations are located in each of the relay regions, where you can grab your track tools to record the distance you walk around the track and allow you to chat with friends and those around you and walk at the same time.
Manatou (Ursus Broono), who along with Mz Marville, has been a driving force behind the Matoluta Sanctuary has announced the two regions on which it is located (Hudhufushi and Sartre) are to close on or around Monday, July 20th and Tuesday July 21st, 2015.
Having opened in July 2014, Matoluta Sanctuary was established with a unique aim in mind: to offer people the opportunity to engage in equine role-play (i.e. actually taking on a horse avatar), and to learn about the plight of the Colonial Spanish Horse on the North American continent – and in doing so, donate to the ongoing conservation of these horses.
The Colonial Spanish Horse, perhaps more familiarly known as the Spanish Mustang, is descended from the original Iberian horse stock brought to America from Spain, and are one of only a very few genetically unique horse breeds worldwide. Following their arrival in North America, some of the breed escaped into the wild. In time, due to their nature and abilities, they became the preferred mount of the Great Plains tribes of native Americans. Unfortunately, in more recent times their numbers have greatly reduced, and the breed’s extinction status is regarded as critical.
To assist in the preservation of the breed, donations made when visiting Matoluta Sanctuary go to Return to Freedom, an organisation dedicated to “preserving the freedom, diversity, and habitat of America’s wild horses through sanctuary, education, and conservation, while enriching the human spirit through direct experience with the natural world”. Return to Freedom is fully aware of the activities at Matoluta, and representatives from the organisation have been into Second Life to witness activities in the regions first-hand.
Manatou (Ursus Broono) at Matoluta Sanctuary, July 2015
Since opening, Matoluta has evolved, both in terms of its expansion to a second region in September 2014, and in terms of activities offered: equine care, conservation awareness, special events aimed at raising donations for Return to Freedom, and so on. However, while both Manatou and Mz Marville have met the cost of the regions directly in order to ensure donations go to Return to Freedom, the situation has been gradually changing, prompting the decision to close the regions.
“We’ve had good traffic since we opened,” Manatou informed me as we discussed the decision, “but to be honest, it has slackened off to the point where we’re better off donating the money we spend on tier directly to the charity, rather than relying just on donations.”
Matoluta Sanctuary, July 2015
Not that he is in any way blaming the situation on a lack of traffic. “It has been helpful in encouraging people become aware of the need to preserve wild horses,” he said. “It has led to others to join in with giving aid, so it has surely been of worth.”
Nor does it mean the end of in-world activities related to equine preservation, as Manatou informed me. “We will still do activities to raise money to help wild horses; we’ll open up a special region a few times a year for this, most likely once a quarter. That way we can continue involving people in raising money to benefit these efforts of preservation, and keep awareness of the need to preserve wild horses in people’s minds. Return to Freedom is very conscientious about how they allocate funds, most of every cent they receive go towards rescue efforts, very little goes towards administration.”
In the meantime, Matoluta Sanctuary is still open to visitors, with the regions due to close, as noted, on Monday, July 20th (Hudhufushi) and Tuesday July 21st (Sartre) and might be around a little bit beyond that. So if you want to visit them before they go and enjoy their natural beauty, do make the time over the weekend. And, if you’re so minded, feel free to make a donation towards Return to Freedom’s work.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 