Indie Teepee is a region-wide celebration of music and art which has been taking place for the last few years in Second Life. for 2017, the fetival will once again be open to visitors between Friday, July 21st and Sunday, August 6th.
The introduction to the event reads in part:
Indie Teepee brings people together through their love of song and art – breaking down barriers and providing a haven for music genres like indie, alternative, rock, electronic dance music and hip-hop. In 2016, we ventured to and did include into our home, live music performances, theatre acts, machinimas, original mesh designs, photography and a creative forum.
The Indie Teepee of 2017 dares Second Life residents to dream of and thrive in worlds that are possibly to come.
This year’s programme builds on previous Indie Teepee events, and includes:
Music: live performers, independent DJs and clubs
Theatre: featuring Guerilla Burlesque at the following times (SLT) / dates:
19:00 on Friday, July 21st, as a part of the Indie Teepee opening
19:00 on Saturday, July 28th
19:00 on Sunday, August 6th, as a part of the event’s closing.
Fun activities including a fashion show and speed dating
Shopping
You can find full details of all activities via the Indie Teepee website, together with information of the musicians, DJs, clubs, artists, designers, stores, etc., participating in the event. SLurls to the event areas – stages, exhibition spaces, etc., – will also be available on the official website, once the doors are open to visitors.
It’s time to kick-off another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.
Sunday, July 16th
13:30: Tea-Time at Baker Street
Tea-time at Baker Street continues with readings from The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the final set of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories first published in the Strand Magazine between October 1921 and April 1927.
This week: The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier.
The year is 1903, and the Second Boer War has not long ended. Holmes is visited by a veteran of that campaign one James M. Dodd, who has a strange tale to tell while seeking Holmes’ assistance in locating a colleague and friend.
During the war, Dodd served in the Imperial Yeomanry, alongside one Godfrey Emsworth. Dodd lost contact with Emsworth not long after the latter was wounded. Now six months later, which trying to locate his friend, he has encountered a strange situation which has aroused his suspicions.
Upon contacting Emsworth’s family, Dodd was told Emsworth had departed on a voyage around the world. On visiting the family, he is again met with the same story, and Emsworth’s father intimates Dodd is lying about ever having known his son. Relating the rest of his story, Dodd reveals several more events that lead him to believe that all is not well with his friend and former colleague. He’s then rather surprised when having related events, Holmes considers that, but for one clue, the answer to the entire matter is elementary, and agrees to accompany Dodd to visit the Emsworth family to confirm his belief.
Find out how Holmes so quickly deduced what is going on, and what has happened to Godfrey Emsworth by joining the Seanchai Sleuths!
Join us from 3:00pm on Sunday, July 15th, for the next Sories at the Park. Caledonia Skytower, Trolley Trollop and Crap Mariner will read a selection of 100 word stories and poems inspired by the art on display at Holly Kai Park through until Sunday, July 23rd. The featured artists for the month are:
Originally published in 1961 under the title Sammy Going South, and then later Find the Boy, W.H. Canaway’s novel is often referred to a “The Huckleberry Finn of Africa.” It became the basis for a 1963 British film Sammy Going South, starring Edward G. Robinson, which was released in the United States as A Boy Ten Feet Tall – hence the revised title for the book.
Born in the Suez region of Egypt, where he is orphaned, Sammy learns he has an aunt living in Durban, South Africa, and is determined to travel south to be with her.
Already distrustful of adults – he was told immunisation shots he was given at a young age would not hurt, when of course they did – Sammy sets out on foot uncertain of how he will complete the journey, but determined that he will. Along the way his distrust of adults is reinforced thanks to encounters with those who seek to profit from him and due to his witnessing the cruelty humans can inflict upon one another.
But also along the way there are those who do seek nothing more than to help him. One of these is a poacher and diamond trader – the kind of person you’d believe only to willing to take advantage of a young boy alone in the world. But it is compassion that rules this man’s heart (played in the film by Edward G. Robinson), and he takes the boy under his wing, helping him to heal from his emotional wounds …
Join Gyro Muggins for more of the adventure.
Tuesday, July 18th 19:00: In the Words of Stephen Vincent Benet
Short stories with Corwyn Allen, Caledonia Skytower and Kayden Oconnell. This week: The Sobbin’ Women and poetry.
Wednesday, July 19th 19:00: The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Caledonia Skytower reads Kelly Barnhill’s 2017 Newbery Medal winner.
Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian.
Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.
One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own.
To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule–but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her–even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.
Also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/108/609/1528).
Thursday, July 20th 19:00: Songs of Love and Death
Shandon Loring reads Demon Dancer. Also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/108/609/1528).
Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.
The featured charity for May through July is Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, raising awareness of childhood cancer causes and funds for research into new treatments and cures.
It’s time to kick-off another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.
Sunday, July 9th
13:30: Tea-Time at Baker Street
Tea-time at Baker Street returns with the opening of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the final set of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories first published in the Strand Magazine between October 1921 and April 1927.
This week: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.
The year is 1902, and Sir James Damery visits Holmes and Watson on behalf of his mysterious and illustrious client. The latter never actually directly revealed to the reader, although it might well be the king himself.
Damery’s client is concerned about the relationship between Violet de Merville, daughter of General de Merville, and Baron Adelbert Gruner, from Austria. Gruner is viewed as a rogue and a sadist and – in Damery’s and Holmes’ opinion – a murderer.
Despite the matter of his last wife’s mysterious death and his reputation, Violet de Merville will not be dissuaded from her determination to marry Gruner. So secure is the latter in his position that he is unfazed by a visit from Holmes – indeed, he warns the latter that a French agent who once confronted him with similar accusations finished-up a cripple for life after receiving a beating from thugs shortly afterwards; a veiled threat if ever there was one.
So, lacking obvious proof, how do Holmes and Watson prevent Violet de Merville from marrying Gruner and possibly facing the same future as the Baron’s last wife?
Find out more by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.
18:00: The Wind in the Willows
Meet little Mole, wilful Ratty, Badger the perennial bachelor, and petulant Toad. Over one hundred years since their first appearance in 1908, they’ve become emblematic archetypes of eccentricity, folly, and friendship. And their misadventures – in gypsy caravans, stolen sports cars, and their Wild Wood-continue to capture readers’ imaginations and warm their hearts long after they grow up.
Begun as a series of letters from Kenneth Grahame to his son, The Wind in the Willows is a timeless tale of animal cunning and human camaraderie – although some in current times unkindly see it as a kind of allegory for the privileged ne’er-do-well upper class (in the form of Toad) with the aid of the middle class (Badger, rat and Mole) to keep the proletariat (weasels and stoats) in their place.
I suggest you join Caledonia Skytower for Magicland Storytime, and go with Mr. Grahame’s intention with the tales – as a ripping yarn for young hearts and minds.
Monday, July 10th 19:00: A Boy Ten Feet Tall
Originally published in 1961 under the title Sammy Going South, and then later Find the Boy, W.H. Canaway’s novel is often referred to a “The Huckleberry Finn of Africa.” It became the basis for a 1963 British film Sammy Going South, starring Edward G. Robinson, which was released in the United States as A Boy Ten Feet Tall – hence the revised title for the book.
Born in the Suez region of Egypt, where he is orphaned, Sammy learns he has an aunt living in Durban, South Africa, and is determined to travel south to be with her.
Already distrustful of adults – he was told immunisation shots he was given at a young age would not hurt, when of course they did – Sammy sets out on foot uncertain of how he will complete the journey, but determined that he will. Along the way his distrust of adults is reinforced thanks to encounters with those who seek to profit from him and due to his witnessing the cruelty humans can inflict upon one another.
But also along the way there are those who do seek nothing more than to help him. One of these is a poacher and diamond trader – the kind of person you’d believe only to willing to take advantage of a young boy alone in the world. But it is compassion that rules this man’s heart (played in the film by Edward G. Robinson), and he takes the boy under his wing, helping him to heal from his emotional wounds …
Tuesday, July 11th 19:00: In the Words of Stephen Vincent Benet
Short stories with Corwyn Allen.
Wednesday, July 12th 19:00: The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Caledonia Skytower reads Kelly Barnhill’s 2017 Newbery Medal winner.
Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian.
Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.
One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own.
To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule–but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her–even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.
Also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/108/609/1528).
Thursday, July 13th
19:00: Christmas In July
With Shandon Loring.
21:00: Seanchai Late Night
Caledonia continues the Christmas in July theme with several quirky Christmas tales including The Polar Express and Red Ranger Came Calling.
Both of these sessions also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/108/609/1528).
Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.
The featured charity for May through July is Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, raising awareness of childhood cancer causes and funds for research into new treatments and cures.
It’s time to kick-off another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.
[Independence Day] will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival … It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
John Adams
John Adams, lawyer, diplomat, statesman, political theorist, and a leader of the movement for American independence, served as the country’s first Vice President (two terms) and second President. Regarded as “the father of the American Navy” due to his strong views on defence, his Presidency was dogged by internal conflicts with both Republicans and Federalists alike, despite being one of the foremost influences on early American political theory.
If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women. The world perhaps would laugh at me, and accuse me of vanity, but you I know have a mind too enlarged and liberal to disregard the Sentiment. If much depends as is allowed upon the early Education of youth and the first principals which are instill’d take the deepest root, great benefit must arise from literary accomplishments in women.
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams, his wife, confidant and advisor, is sometimes considered to have been a Founder of the United States, such was her forward thinking and the level of trust her husband placed in her. While neither term existed at the time, she is now designated as the first Second Lady and second First Lady of the United States – and in both roles is one of the most documented in history, due in part to the prolific letter writing she shared with her husband.
In support of Kultivate Magazine’s Homes for Our Troops, Caledonia Skytower and Kayden Oconnell read selections from the couple’s letters from their courtship in 1762, through to July 3rd, 1776.
19:00: A Boy Ten Feet Tall
Originally published in 1961 under the title Sammy Going South, and then later Find the Boy, W.H. Canaway’s novel is often referred to a “The Huckleberry Finn of Africa.” It became the basis for a 1963 British film Sammy Going South, starring Edward G. Robinson, which was released in the United States as A Boy Ten Feet Tall – hence the revised title for the book.
Born in the Suez region of Egypt, where he is orphaned, Sammy learns he has an aunt living in Durban, South Africa, and is determined to travel south to be with her.
Already distrustful of adults – he was told immunisation shots he was given at a young age would not hurt, when of course they did – Sammy sets out on foot uncertain of how he will complete the journey, but determined that he will. Along the way his distrust of adults is reinforced thanks to encounters with those who seek to profit from him and due to his witnessing the cruelty humans can inflict upon one another.
But also along the way there are those who do seek nothing more than to help him. One of these is a poacher and diamond trader – the kind of person you’d believe only to willing to take advantage of a young boy alone in the world. But it is compassion that rules this man’s heart (played in the film by Edward G. Robinson), and he takes the boy under his wing, helping him to heal from his emotional wounds …
Tuesday, July 4th
No events as Seanchai staff and volunteers mark July 4th with their families and loved ones.
Wednesday, July 5th 19:00: The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Caledonia Skytower reads Kelly Barnhill’s 2017 Newbery Medal winner.
Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian.
Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.
One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own.
To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule–but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her–even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.
Also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/108/609/1528).
Thursday, July 6th 19:00: Moby-Dick Part 2
“Call me Ishmael.” So begins one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history, Herman Melville’s magnificent Moby-Dick or, The Whale.
As Ishmael is drawn into Captain Ahab’s obsessive quest to slay the white whale Moby-Dick, he finds himself engaged in a metaphysical struggle between good and evil. More than just a novel of adventure, more than a paean to whaling lore and legend, this is a haunting social commentary populated by some of the most enduring characters in literature.
The crew of the Pequod, from stern, Quaker First Mate Starbuck, to the tattooed Polynesian harpooner Queequeg, are a vision of the world in microcosm, the pinnacle of Melville’s lifelong meditation on America.
Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is a profound, poetic inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception. Join Shandon Loring as he continues reading this magnificent tale.
Also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/108/609/1528).
Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.
The featured charity for May through July is Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, raising awareness of childhood cancer causes and funds for research into new treatments and cures.
Kultivate Magazine will be holding a special fund-raising event in support of Homes For Our Troops on Saturday July 2nd through Tuesday, July 4th.
The event will feature live performers, DJ parties, a special flag hunt, and an art auction with proceeds going to Homes for Our Troops (HFOT), a privately funded 501(c) (3) non-profit organisation that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post – 9/11 veterans, enabling them to rebuild their lives after military deployments and war – see more below.
The schedule for the event is as follows (all times SLT):
Saturday, July 1, 2017:
08:00: Event area opens; art auction begins; hunt begins
16:00-17:00: Live performer Melenda Mikael
Sunday, July 2, 2017:
12:00 noon – 14:00: the Red, White, and Blue Ball
16:00 – 17:00: Live performer Lark Bowen
Monday, July 3, 2017:
16:00-17;00: Live performer J Lively
Tuesday, July 4, 2017:
12:00 noon – 14:00: 4th of July Party (daytime)
16:00-18:00: 4th of July Party (evening)
18:00: Fireworks; art auction ends; hunt ends.
The Fund-raiser is taking place on Kultivate’s home region of Water Haven – but please note access may be restricted until the event opens at 08:00 SLT on Saturday, July 1st.
The following artists are participating in the event: Booyakashaka Resident, captainofmysoul, Catalina Staheli, Eleseren Brianna, Eucalyptus Carroll, Ilyra Chardin, Isis Desmoulins, iSkye Silverweb, IthilwenRose Resident, Jamee Sandalwood, John Brianna, Karma Weymann, KodyMeyers, LailaKnight84, Meishagirl Resident, Miele Tarantal, mmorganwhitfield, Myra Wildmist, retroye resident, Sandi Benelli, Sheba Blitz, Solana Python, Syphera Inaka, talligurl resident, Veruca Tammas, Vivienne Darcy, wild Alchemi, and WrenNoir Cerise.
About Homes For Our Troops
HFOT builds homes as a departure point for Veterans to rebuild their lives, and once again become highly productive members of society. Despite their life-altering injuries, many Veterans have embarked on new careers, completed their college degrees, or started families.
Empowered by the freedom a mortgage-free and specially adapted home brings, these Veterans can now focus on their recovery and return to their life’s work of serving others. Many have embraced their roles as motivational speakers, sharing their messages of persevering through tragedy with groups and classrooms around the country; others take to a national platform to promote awareness of veteran suicide, homelessness and PTSD. Their incredible stories are the driving force for the work for HFOT.
For inquiries about Homes For Our Troops in Second Life, please contact Frets Nirvana
The excitement and the entertainment of SL14B has come and gone – but the regions still there for a while, and there’s still a fair amount to see, if you haven’t taken the time to do so before now. What’s more the regions are all now a lot quieter, offering more chances to see things, enjoy the rides and take photos. This being the case, I thought I would, as with previous years, share a handful of the exhibits I enjoyed just in case they appeal to you as well.
I’ve already covered some of the art exhibits I particularly enjoyed in the regions in The Art of SL14B, so consider this a companion article to that piece 🙂 .
Cassini’s Grand Finale – Diamond Marchant / Leeward Cruising Club
Regular readers of this blog can perhaps guess one of the reasons I’m selecting this exhibit – my love of space exploration (and a tenuous “personal” connection to the Cassini mission). But there are other reasons as well.
One is the use of connections between the Cassini mission, the SL14B theme and the sailing. NASA’s Cassini probe has been revealing the secrets of Saturn and his moons to us for the last thirteen years, in a mission which goes back two decades to its launch – and then a further 15 years prior to that. So now, as the mission draws towards its final conclusion in September 2017, is the time to celebrate all that it has revealed to us. At the same time, Cassini ventured forth into the great ocean of space just as mariners her on Earth have put to sea under sail, navigating its way via Venus, Earth and Jupiter to reach its eventual destination.
With links to NASA’s video and website on the Cassini mission’s Grand Finale, as well as to information on Leeward Cruising Club, this is a clean, elegant display – and one where you can catch a ride on Cassini itself. And that’s another reason to visit – Diamond’s recreation of the Cassini spacecraft is simply stunning in its level of detail.
You can also learn more about the Cassini mission in my Space Sunday series, which features regular updates on the mission, including an overview of the Grand Finale, and the first pass between the planet and its rings.
Second Life offers many means to travel – teleport, walking, running, driving, boating flying. One of the most fascinating ways to travel the Mainland is via the network of railway lines which cross-cross the lands. The Virtual Railway Consortium do much to promote and support this infrastructure, and Qie’s display at SL14B is a celebration of their work, presenting visitors with and opportunity to visit VRC locations across the mainland continents, visit their website and discover more about rail travel in SL.
Bay City is one of the most active Mainland communities in Second Life, with Bay City itself a vibrant place to visit, with lots to see and do. Marianne McCann is one of the leading lights of the community and works tirelessly to promote it, and in bringing people together to host events from the Bay City anniversary parties through the Christmas and New Year events to the annual Mole Day – a festival focused on the Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW).
At SL14B, the Bay City exhibition invariably offers a rich insight into the community, its events and its members, and this year is no exception. Located in a design that encapsulates the community’s 1940s through 1960s theme, it’s a definite stop on any tour of SL14B. Step inside to discover more!
Occupying an original build by Shayla, the Venetian Masks Gallery is not alone at SL14B in celebrating the use of the mask at festivals and celebrations, but it is an informative look at the role of masks in Venetian carnivals. Inside, it encapsulates the importance of the mask, and offers some intricate examples used at carnivals and festivities, from harlequin style half masks through to intricate, full-face items. It’s another simple, elegant display set within a gorgeous design of the building which draws inspiration from the architecture of Venice.
The exhibit is doubly fitting for SL14B: not only does it celebrate the use of masks in carnivals, it also reminds us that within Second Life, we have the mask of our avatar to offer us the freedom to express ourselves and our desires and creativity free from the demands of the physical world, allowing our imaginations to take flight as they will; unfettered and – often times – in full career!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 