Category: Events

RFL 2016: are you ready for the Weekend?

Posted on by Inara Pey
The RFL Weekend: looking out over the activities regions
The RFL Weekend 2016: looking out over the activities regions

The RFL of Second Life Relay Weekend for 2016 is upon us, and will feature everything one would expect from the event – walks, celebrations, remembrances, the luminaria ceremony, interviews, music, dance, and more, all in aid of the American Cancer Society in its efforts to eradicate cancer.

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.

Activities will kick off at 10:00 SLT on Saturday, July 16th and will feature 24 hours of themed laps, activities and entertainment. The weekend will wrap up with a party at 13:00 SLT Sunday, July 17th.

The Relay Weekend Regions
The Relay Weekend Regions

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, so please refer to the event schedule for full details. Information can also be found at the 2016 RFL Welcome Centre space station. All times are, as usual, SLT.

Saturday, July 16th 2016

  • 10:00 SLT Opening Ceremony:  The fun-filled weekend begins! Note you can access the ceremonies stage via two landing points: RFL Activities 1 and RFL Activities 3 
  • 11:00 SLT Celebrate: The first lap of Relay weekend begins with the celebrate ceremony.  A Survivor/Caregiver honour walk
  • 21:00 SLT Remember – The Luminaria Ceremony:  a solemn reflection with readings and inspirational music as the regions are darkened in remembrance of those and their loved ones who have lost their battles to cancer or are still battling it; all are invited to participate.  Please walk the track in silence

Sunday, July 17th 2016:

  • 06:00 SLT Fight Back: Collect your Fight Back Kits and Fight Back Flags available at the Relay Information Stations along the track, and pledge to save a life: your own, a friends, a family member, or someone you don’t even know yet
  • 10:00 SLT Closing Ceremony:  a closing tribute to al that RFL of SL has accomplished.
The Relay Weekend Welcome Centre
The Relay Weekend Welcome Centre

Useful Landmarks

The following landmarks will also carry you directly to locations of particular interest in the RFL regions:

Mega Events

The RFL mega events are also represented along the RFL track:

Be sure to stop by there and find out more about them as well.

The Fantasy Faire location seen under night-time lighting
Part of the Fantasy Faire location seen under night-time lighting

Where To Start

If you’re new to RFL of SL weekends, probably the best place to start is the space station Welcome Area, mentioned above, or the American Cancer Society region or the RFL Information Centre. All three provide a range of information to help you get started.

So, are you ready to Relay?

Related Links

 

BURN2 Town Hall and “Burniversity” lessons

Posted on by Inara Pey

logoBURN2 have announced a Town Hall meeting for all Burners and interested parties on Sunday, July 17th, which will take place in the Burning Man Playa. The aim of the meeting is to pass on all the latest news and information on activities and events, including the upcoming Octoburn.

In addition, there’s also news on “Burniversity” courses on using textures as avatar skins like those seen at this year’s Skin Burn Fashion show.

The press release on the Town Hall meeting reads in full:

July 17, 2016 9:00am SLT, 6:00pm SLT
SLURL: http://tinyurl.com/zzd86e6

“Welcome Home!” we say to Burners, calling out across the grid, welcome Home to the Playa! You’re invited to a Town Hall meeting where we bring you news of the year just past and announcements of the upcoming Big Burn and all the good stuff that comes with it.

Catch up on what we’ve done since the last Town Hall meeting…Get the news about OCTOBURN theme, plans, preparations. Think about your camp, about getting involved! Bring your creative selves and be a part of our best and Burningest event of the year!

We will meet twice, 9am SLT and 6pm SLT, to accommodate as many time zones as possible the content will be the same both times. Then watch for the notices they will be sent out to the BurningMan 2.0 group in-world. If you’re not already in the group, join it (it’s FREE!) to make sure you don’t miss out on the latest news!

Learn to use textures as skins in Daark Gothly's fun lesson
Learn to use textures as skins in Daark Gothly’s fun lesson (image via BURN2)

Ahead of the meeting, on Saturday, July 16th, Daark Gothly will be hosting “Burniversity”, a fun and easy instructional class on making texture skins like those seen in the Skin Burn shows. No specialist texture programs are needed nor skin templates required – so anyone can join and have fun.

The class  will be held on the 16th, 10:00 SLT and again at 21:00 SLT, again to suit people in different physical world time zones. There is no sign-up required, people are invited to simply show-up at The Playa and join in the fun.

In addition, Daark is willing to schedule further classes if there is interest. So if you can’t make either time on Saturday, 16th, IM her  in-world.

Related Links

Sounds of the Sixties in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Sounds of the 60sWe occasionally like to mix things up at Caitinara Bar, Holly Kai Park, with special themed evenings where we invite our guests to have fun with a little dress-up as a part of our midweek Music With Anthony series.

On Wednesday, July 13th, we’ll be doing so again, with Sounds of the Sixties. For two hours from 4:00pm through 6;00pm SLT, Anthony Westburn  spinning out 2 hours of great music from the decade which gave us so much, musically – and we warmly invite you to join us, and dress for the period!

That’s the era when Motown was born, when the Merseybeat burst forth and when the British Invasion of American pop culture took place with groups like the The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Animals, Manfred Mann, together with solo artists like Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield, leading the way.

They were the years when popular music really went pop, when the likes of Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel and the Beach Boys all became musical legends; the decade which, in its later years gave birth to prog rock (and even acid rock, as the Grateful Dead had their beginning then, as The Warlocks!) – and which of course gave us Woodstock and flower power!

So why not delve into your wardrobe and find your most suitably 60s outfit – with or without flowers in your hair – and hop along to join us at Caitinara Bar from 16:00 through 18:00 SLT to celebrate the music of this most iconic decade of the 1960s? We look forward to seeing you there!

SLurl Details

 

Pulse SL event: L$5.5 million for Orlando victims and families

Posted on by Inara Pey
Pulse
Pulse event information on Flickr

I’ve just caught Strawberry  Singh’s Google+ note that the Second Life fund-raiser for the victims of the horrific shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub in June has now closed.

The in-world event, organised by Casper Warden of Caspervend, Skye Everidge, and CerberusXing, closed its doors on July 12th having raised L$5.5 million since June 28th. That’s around US $21,400 raised for  the Pulse Victims GoFundMe Page established by Equality Florida, the state’s bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation, with the aim of providing financial support for the victims of the shooting and their families.

The fund-raiser was organised by Casper Warden, Skye Everidge, and CerberusXing
The fund-raiser was organised by Casper Warden, Skye Everidge, and CerberusXing

“I’m absolutely dumbfounded and warmed by the way that the Second Life community has come together for this cause,” Casper told me when I contacted him after reading Berry’s note. “It shows the compassion and generosity of our community has no limits. It’s incredibly touching.”

The funds will be donated to the Pulse Victims GoFundMe Page following withdrawal from Second Life, with Casper also stating, “I’d also like to mention that I will be lodging the donation on behalf of ‘The Second Life Community’. I won’t be giving my own name or CasperTech’s.

While the in-world event has ended and the donation kiosks are now closed, anyone still wishing to donate to Equality Florida’s fund-raising drive can still do so via the GoFundMe page which, at the time of writing, sat at just over US $7 million of the target $10 million.

In addition, Hands, a musical tribute to the 49 victims of the shooting has been produced. Patience Carter, Tiara Parker, and Angel Anthony Santiago, survivors of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub, appear in the lyric video of the song, together with members of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles and digital creators from all walks of life.

The song is available through iTunes, and proceeds from sales in the United States will benefit Equality Florida Pulse Victims Fund, the GLBT Community Centre of Central Florida, and GLAAD. You can find out more on the Equity Florida Facebook page, and on the song’s YouTube page.

“If you just build it, They might not come: promoting events in Second Life” (5)

Posted on by caledoniaskytower
Wassilly Kandinsky - Composition viii, 1923
Wassilly Kandinsky – Composition viii, 1923

 by Caledonia Skytower

Part 5. Building a network

I was reminded recently of the importance, value, and challenges of building a network when trying to conduct any endeavour successfully.  I could drag out the platitudes, “no man is an island” and all that.  The reality is that no one achieves success on solely their own efforts and merits.  No one.  You need connections: internally to support and keep you honest to your intent; externally to extend your reach and maintain a beneficial presence.  Through the relationships you build, your endear establishes its reputation and gains strength.  It becomes a part of the greater community it inhabits, not just a landmark feature of it.

I use the term “build” deliberately.  I know that the term “grow” is more in vogue, and it works to illustrate more organic developments.  Relationships, however, are hard work – constant work – “one bolt at a time” work.  Each one of them is different, and must be handled based on its individual merits. Some are consumers, some are collegial, some are resources.  The list of possibilities continues.

Human Networks - public domain
Human Networks – public domain

Social media and networking gurus like to use neat images of connected concentric circles, or human-like figurines in one-size-fits-all uniformity with orderly straight lines to illustrate networks.  I believe that human networks look less like a circuitry plot, and more like the work of Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky.

In Kandinsky’s abstract work, slashes, circles and other geometric shapes overlay and intersect in what seems like a chaotic clamour.  What really exists is a delicate balance of  colour and geometry – the like with the unlike – the complementary with the contrasting.  Each intersection is totally unique.  I think that’s what a network of relationships really looks like.

A successful network is a wild mixture of all the connections you need to thrive viably, and/or sustainably – whichever you desire.  You need:

  • Black – relationships that are solid and the foundation of your work within, and your presence without.  These are the true believers who “get” what you do, and support you absolutely.
  • Blue – relationships that connect you with valuable resources and people of influence in your area of endeavour.  These are people you can learn from, and go to when you need insight and advice.
  • Yellow – relationships with people who you just like.  They do great things, and you can’t help but want to be around them, or associated with them because you admire their spirit, creativity, energy, whatever.  They make you feel good.
  • Red – relationships that challenge you.  These can be some of the hardest relationships to make and maintain.  None of us does our best unless we are stretched a little.  Establishing a good, respectful working relationships with people whose ideas push us to be more than we might be otherwise are invaluable.

These relationships all look different.  Some will be inscribed boldly, and others will be faint washes across your canvas.  All of these have value, and play a different role in the overall composition of your network.

Wassilly Kandinsky - Circles in a Circle, 1923
Wassilly Kandinsky – Circles in a Circle, 1923

To move from the esoteric to the concrete we need an example, so I’ll use Seanchai Library. When the library was just a kernel of an idea, nine years ago, founder Derry McMahon did not just jump into terraforming a parcel and designing a logo (which we all tend to do when we get excited about an idea – guilty!).  She took time to visit different libraries around the grid, and get to know the people involved with them.  Her connections in her professional life helped this – the person who introduced her to virtual worlds was a friend and colleague.

She also took the time to observe.  She asked herself key questions about what she observed. She specifically asked herself what would serve residents in a manner that was not already being provided for. A library of the spoken word was a gamble, and some days it still is.  It involved all sorts of different relationships inside the library community, and outside of it.

Today, Shandon Loring and I maintain relationships for Seanchai with a wide variety of people and organizations.  Some are ongoing relationships that are engaged all the time, and some come and go as opportunity and mutual needs dictate.  They vary widely from connections in the literary community, the arts, bloggers and media, land developers, educators.  We need each and every one of them to stay dynamic and viable.

These key questions will help you assess a potential relationship:

    1. What do you have in common?
    2. What do you have to offer?
    3. What would benefit you?
    4. What is the risk, if any?

One absolute requirement of these connections, or any relationship for that matter, is that they be 100% genuine and based on mutual respect and benefit. You must have something to offer each other – something to exchange as equals.  Anything less and the connection is one-sided, and ultimately will collapse.

Wassilly Kandinsky - Deepened Impulse (detail), 1928
Wassilly Kandinsky – Deepened Impulse (detail), 1928

Continue reading ““If you just build it, They might not come: promoting events in Second Life” (5)” →

A cardboard box, an Empress and growing up on a lake

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off a week of 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 10th 13:30: Tea Time at Baker Street

Tea-time at Baker Street returns for the summer, featuring a new location – 221B Baker Street at the University of Washington in Second Life, and a return to His Last Bow.

A 1917 anthology of previously published Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the volume originally comprised seven stories published by The Strand Magazine between 1908 and 1917. However, later editions of the book saw an eighth story included, The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, originally published in 1892 – and it is this tale which forms the focus of this week’s presentation.

In choosing a few typical cases which illustrate the remarkable mental qualities of my friend, Sherlock Holmes, I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to select those which presented the minimum of sensationalism, while offering a fair field for his talents. It is, however, unfortunately impossible entirely to separate the sensational from the criminal, and a chronicler is left in the dilemma that he must either sacrifice details which are essential to his statement and so give a false impression of the problem, or he must use matter which chance, and not choice, has provided him with. With this short preface I shall turn to my notes of what proved to be a strange, though a peculiarly terrible, chain of events.

So Dr, John Watson opens his re-telling of this grisly case. A case which begins when Miss Susan Cushing of Croydon receives a parcel of two severed human ears, packed in salt. Inspector Lestrade is convinced that the parcel is a prank on the part of three medical students Miss Cushing was forced to evict from her lodgings due to their unruly behaviour. Lestrade points to the parcel as coming from Belfast – the home of one of the former lodgers – as reason for his suspicions.

On examining the parcel, however, Holmes is certain that they are dealing with a far more serious crime, involving tormented minds and extra-marital relationships…

Monday July 11th. Sisi: Empress on Her Own

Caledonia Skytower reads selections from Allison Pataki’s 2016 novel of historical fiction set in the heyday of the Habsburg court in the late 19th Century,

SisiEmpress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary is the Princess Diana of her time. Fondly known as “Sisi”, her life from the outside appears to be a fairy tale of waltzes, glamour, champagne and the privileges of the aristocracy. But the reality is that Sisi is locked in an unfulfilling marriage and confined by the requirements of protocol which chafe at her free spirit. 

Escaping Vienna she withdraws to a place of comfort: her estate outside of Budapest. There she falls in love with Count Andrássy, and wants only for a life of her own. But the realities of royal life force her to return to Vienna, where a world of sorrow, intrigue, envy  – and even danger – await her.

So it is that Sisi is caught in a personal world of conflict, trying on the one hand to keep her family together whilst on the other, wishing to be free of her suffocating marriage. And as she fights to assert herself and her right to sit  on the throne alongside her husband, so to must she face the approaching Great War and the threat it presents to Europe as a whole.

Tuesday July 12th, 19:00: Blueberry Summers: Growing Up at the Lake

Kayden Oconnell reads from Curtiss Anderson’s classic coming of age memoirs.

BlueberryBorn in 1928 in Minneapolis, Curtiss Anderson grew up in an extended family of Norwegian-Americans, among whom the highlight of the year was time spent among the lakes of northern Minnesota.

For young Curtiss, growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, these were especially idyllic years. Time spent in the farmhouse among this extended family presented an opportunity for him to escape the strained and troubled relationship he had with his parents and enjoy the company of others, aunts and uncles, the loving care offered by family friends Leigh and Clara, the companionship of the family dogs – and the chances to experience young love of his own.

Through the tales he relates of these summers, so Anderson also explores the notes and letters he wrote as a boy, carefully produced on a hand-me-down typewriter. Missives and notes which, although he never realised it at the time, were in fact his first forays into what would blossom in his adult life into a distinguished career as a writer, editor and publisher.

Wednesday July 13th 19:00: Ollie’s Odyssey

OllieCaledonia Skytower reads William Joyce’s children’s tale about Oswald (or Ollie, or Oz), a stuffed rabbit and favourite of young Billy. Oz goes everywhere with Billy, until one day, he is accidentally left under a table during a wedding, and is kidnapped by the wicked Zozo.

An unwanted amusement park prize, Zozo hates all toys that are favourites; so much so that he doesn’t just want them lost – he wants them forgotten by everyone – and he has gathered other embittered toys to his cause.

Now Oz must work to not only rescue himself and get back to Billy, he must ensure all the other “lost” toys reach safety.

Thursday, July 14th

19:00: She Sells Sea Shells

With Shandon Loring

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore.

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 July-August is WildAid: seeking to end the illegal wildlife trade in our lifetimes by reducing demand through public awareness campaigns and providing comprehensive marine protection.

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