If you’re in Bay City this October, you might like to head over to the Bay City Fairgrounds in North Channel, where the city is hosting its fifth annual Hallowe’en Hay Maze, offering residents from across Second Life a little seasonal and light-hearted fun.
As the name suggests, the maze is made up of hay bales, reflecting the time of year, and the route through can bring you into contact with critters, ghosts and more.
The maze has been designed by Marianne McCann, with landscaping by Pygar Bu assisted by Kriss Lehmann of Botanical and the LDPW.Do do have local sounds on when visiting to make sure you enjoy the suitably spooky music provided by a delightful mechanical orchestrion designed by Walton F. Steamwright.
To experience it fully, make sure you set your viewer to at least midnight (or use a suitably dark windlight pre-set), and then step inside to make your way to the far side, where you’ll find teleport links to two of Bay City’s long-standing haunted locations: the Falmouth Hotel and the Channel Island Asylum.
About Bay City
Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.
Second Life International Folkboat Fleet (SLIFF) races start from the SLIFF HQ in Skagway, Blake Passage most Sundays
While I enjoy sailing in Second Life, having my own Loonetta 31, I’ve admittedly never really taken a close look at sail racing. So, when MarkTwain White recently invited me to observe the weekly Folkboat races which take place around the islands of Blake Passage on most Sundays, I was curious to learn more.
First up, a little bit of background. Folkboats – also called Nordic Folkboats – are a class of sloop-rigged sailing boats some 7.68 metres (25 feet) in length. They came about as a result of a 1942 competition organised by the Scandinavian Yacht Racing Union for a low-cost, easy to sail boat. While there was no outright winner, the competition organisers took the best features of several of the submissions and commissioned Tord Sundén to design a boat incorporating the ideas whilst meeting the goals of the competition. In the 70 years since the design first took to the water, the Folkboat has gained global popularity as both a racing boat and cruising yacht.
In Second Life, the Folkboat has been beautifully reproduced by Analyse Dean in the form of the Bandit IF, which is available through her in-world store and via the Marketplace. Sine its introduction, the Bandit IF has become extremely popular in Second Life, and in recognition of this, the free-to-join SL Folkboat Fleet (SLIFF) group has been created to keep owners advised of Folkboat events and activities, and the Second Life International Flokboat Fleet headquarters has been established in-world at Skagway in Blake Passage, where the Alaskan setting of the regions is in keeping with the Nordic origins of the boat.
It is from the SLIFF HQ at Skagway that the weekly races are run. These are open to anyone owning the Bandit IF, and information on the races is posted through the SLIFF sub-forum available on Virtual World Sailing, together with information on other activities and on the boats themselves. The first race starts at around 07:00 SLT on race days, but participants are asked to turn up about 15 minutes ahead of this, so a count of racers can be taken and heats arranged. A nearby boathouse roof offers a spectator’s stand, providing a good view over the start / finish line.
Folkboats head out to position themselves for the start of a race
There are a number of race courses used during events, and map of these are available at the SLIFF headquarters. A typical race session will see heats take place around one of the courses, with the winners going forward to a final race against one another, possibly around a different course.
Each race lasts around 20 minutes, and starts with contestants putting to water as the clock counts up towards zero, and the start of the race proper. During this time, the boats can be seen manoeuvring for position in order to get across the start line as quickly as possible as zero is reached, and the clock starts counting the race elapsed time. This actually requires some skill, and a couple of people in the races I watched handicapped themselves somewhat by sailing a considerable distance from the start line before looping back, the clock already running and their competitors well ahead of them.
And the race gets underway.
Following a race can be difficult given the distances involved and the capabilities of your computer. I did attempt to follow the boats for part of the course using flycam mode and my Space Navigator, but the best way to enjoy things is to watch the boats head out over the start line and sail away into the distance, then wait to see which is the first to reappear around the islands and race for the line.
As the Bandit IF can be actively crewed by 2 people, the races can made for a fun shared activity, and the races I witnessed had several couples taking part. Conversation around the spectator areas is lively as well, with those awaiting their heat adding to the general chatter and greeting visitors.
Crossing the line
In addition to hosting the races, the SLIFF also hosts sailing classes for those new to the Folkboat or who have one but don’t feel confident enough in their skills with it to enter a race. Details of classes are again posted through the SLIFF sub-forum at Virtual World Sailing.
In the meantime, if you are a Bandit IF owner, and haven’t tried your hand at the races, why not hop over the SLIFF HQ one Sunday and take a peek at activities for yourself?
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, October 11th
13:30: Tea time at Baker Street
The Valley of Fear, The Strand Magazine, 1915. Illustration by Frank Wiles
It was the fourth of February in the year 1875. It had been a severe winter, and the snow lay deep in the gorges of the Gilmerton Mountains. The steam ploughs had, however, kept the railroad open, and the evening train which connects the long line of coal-mining and iron-working settlements was slowly groaning its way up the steep gradients which lead from Stagville on the plain to Vermissa, the central township which lies at the head of Vermissa Valley. From this point the track sweeps downward to Bartons Crossing, Helmdale, and the purely agricultural county of Merton. It was a single-track railroad; but at every siding—and they were numerous—long lines of trucks piled with coal and iron ore told of the hidden wealth which had brought a rude population and a bustling life to this most desolate corner of the United States of America.
For desolate it was! Little could the first pioneer who had traversed it have ever imagined that the fairest prairies and the most lush water pastures were valueless compared to this gloomy land of black crag and tangled forest. Above the dark and often scarcely penetrable woods upon their flanks, the high, bare crowns of the mountains, white snow, and jagged rock towered upon each flank, leaving a long, winding, tortuous valley in the centre. Up this the little train was slowly crawling.
The oil lamps had just been lit in the leading passenger car, a long, bare carriage in which some twenty or thirty people were seated. The greater number of these were workmen returning from their day’s toil in the lower part of the valley. At least a dozen, by their grimed faces and the safety lanterns which they carried, proclaimed themselves miners. These sat smoking in a group and conversed in low voices, glancing occasionally at two men on the opposite side of the car, whose uniforms and badges showed them to be policemen.
Several women of the labouring class and one or two travellers who might have been small local storekeepers made up the rest of the company, with the exception of one young man in a corner by himself. It is with this man that we are concerned. Take a good look at him, for he is worth it.
Thus opens the second part of The Valley of Fear, and with it we are transported to the United States in the year 1875, and introduced to a man by the name of Jack McMurdo. But where, in all of this, might sit the hand of Moriarty?
Join Caledonia Skytower, Kayden Oconnell and John Morland as they continue to read the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel.
18:00: Serafina and the Black Cloak – Encore
Join Caledonia Skytower as she presents an encore of the beginning of Serafina, at Magicland’s Golden Horseshoe (see below for more on the story).
Monday October 12th, 19:00: A Night in the Lonesome October
The Seanchai staff are marking the arrival and passage of the Halloween month with readings of Roger Zelazy’s A Night in the Lonesome October. The latter is the last of Zelazy’s published works, and 31 of its 32 chapters (the first being an introductory chapter) each take place on a night in October.
The book is satirical in nature, and is written in the first person – the narrator being Snuff the dog, the companion to none other than Jack the Ripper.
Once every few decades, when the moon is full on the night of Halloween, the fabric of reality thins, and doors may be opened between this world and the realm of the Great Old Ones.
At this time, men and women with occult knowledge gather at a certain location to engage in The Game – an attempt by some to open the doors, and others to hold them closed. Should the Openers ever win the game, the Great Old Ones will come to Earth, remake it in their own images and enslave or slaughter the human race in the process.
Thus, through the month of October, the Players in The Game – all archetypal characters from Victorian Era Gothic fiction – form alliances, make deals, oppose one another, and even resort to murder in their attempts to make sure the doors are ready to be opened or can be held fast when, on the night of October 31st, the final ritual takes place and the fate of the world is decided.
Tuesday October 13th,19:00 The Ghost of William S. Burroughs
… Makes an appearance at Seanchai… seriously!
Wednesday October 14th 19:00: Serafina and the Black Cloak
Caledonia Skytower continues reading of Robert Beatty’s spooky mystery thriller.
Serafina lives a life of total secrecy. While her father may be the maintenance man for the great house of the Biltmore Estate, the wealthy owners of the estate have no idea that he lives in the basement of the house – and much less that his daughter lives there with him.
Not that this is a problem for Serafina; she is quite at home exploring the great house and its grounds whilst avoiding being seen. There’s certainly no need for her to venture into the great forest beyond the estate, and with which, he father has said, lie many dangers.
But when the children on the estate start vanishing, Serafina is forced to join forces with the young nephew of the Biltmore’s owners, and discover the identity of the one they believe to be behind the disappearances: the Man in the Black Cloak. But in order to do so, Serafina must enter the forest her father has warned her against; and within that forest lies a deeper secret Serafina must confront – that of her own identity.
Thursday, October 15th
19:00: Ghost Stories
With Shandon Loring.
21:00 Seanchai Late Night
With Shandon Loring.
Saturday, October 17th, 12:00 Noon PDT at Seanchai InWorldz
The Fetch, a ghost story, with Shandon Loring.
A fetch is a supernatural double or an apparition of a living person in Irish folklore. Akin to the doppelgänger it is regarded as an omen, possibly of impending death. So what does it have in store for us? Join Shandon and find out!
Seanchai Library is participating in the Good Reads Hunt. To get started, visit the Good Reads starting point at Literature Alive!/Desi’s Gifts and Prints
Don’t forget to visit the Five Irish Haunts panels at Seanchai Library to discover something about ghosts and hauntings!
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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 October – December is Reach Out and Read, one of the most highly rated literacy charities in the USA which reaches 4.4 million children annually and distributes 1.6 million books.
MadPea Games will be launching their latest adventure on Friday, October 9th, when the gates open on the Peatonville Asylum in Second Life (Gold key holders get early access from Thursday, October 8th).
A HUD hud-based, grid-wide adventure game featuring a layered storyline with puzzles, horror and intrigue, Peatonville Asylum includes two core regions to explore, created by the MadPea team.
The first of these regions, Peatonville Bay, is now open for visitors to explore, and is the focus of a special photography competition – of which, more below.
But what is Peatonville Asylum? I’ll simply quote from the introduction:
The Peatonville Asylum is rumoured to be haunted since November 1943, when all 22 residents – both patients and staff all vanished without a trace. Peatonville Asylum was never re-opened again.. Until now, when mysterious shards have been found from the asylum grounds. The researchers believe the shards belong to what were called Soulstones, special stones used by shamans to heal souls and restore eternal youth.
The Research Laboratory is offering rewards for any shards of the Soulstone.
Do you dare to enter the asylum to look for the shards and solve the mystery of the missing people?
HUDs for the game follow the lead set with MadPea’s recent game, The Collection (which I previewed here), with three HUD packages on offer: the Bronze (L$100), Silver (L$500) and Gold (L$1000).all three packages provide the HUD and game play; however, the Silver offers a special goodie bag of items and 25 special Silver prizes, while the Gold offers everything from both Bronze and Silver packages, a special game play outfit, and additional ghost hunt (and ghost camera) plus a further 25 special Gold prizes. You can catch a sneak peek at some of the prizes on the MadPea blog.
Peatonville Bay is the point at which the adventure begins. Here players, armed with their HUDs, can board the Peatonville Island ferry, Queen of Denial, for the trip to the island and the Asylum. It is also, as mentioned, the focus for a photography competition. On offer is a single prize: L$3000 and a Gold HUD for the game.
To be in with a chance of winning, entrants can submit up to 5 photographs taken within Peatonville Bay to the MadPea Flickr group. Photos may be edited, but must be titled “Peatonville Bay Photo Contest – [your name]”. The closing date for entries is Thursday, October 8th.
The region has been beautifully put together, as I hope the images here show, with great opportunities for photographs, exploring and shopping (you might even catch me featured in one of the stores – not that this is particularly relevant, but it surprised me! 🙂 ).
Keep an eye on the MadPea blog for the latest news and updates on Peatonville Asylum.
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, October 4th, 13:30: Tea time at Baker Street
The Valley of Fear, The Strand Magazine, 1915. Illustration by Frank Wiles
He sat with his mouth full of toast and his eyes sparkling with mischief, watching my intellectual entanglement. The mere sight of his excellent appetite was an assurance of success; for I had very clear recollections of days and nights without a thought of food, when his baffled mind had chafed before some problem while his thin, eager features became more attenuated with the asceticism of complete mental concentration. Finally he lit his pipe, and sitting in the inglenook of the old village inn he talked slowly and at random about his case, rather as one who thinks aloud than as one who makes a considered statement.
“A lie, Watson—a great, big, thumping, obtrusive, uncompromising lie—that’s what meets us on the threshold! There is our starting point. The whole story told by Barker is a lie. But Barker’s story is corroborated by Mrs. Douglas. Therefore she is lying also. They are both lying, and in a conspiracy. So now we have the clear problem. Why are they lying, and what is the truth which they are trying so hard to conceal? Let us try, Watson, you and I, if we can get behind the lie and reconstruct the truth.
“How do I know that they are lying? Because it is a clumsy fabrication which simply could not be true. Consider! According to the story given to us, the assassin had less than a minute after the murder had been committed to take that ring, which was under another ring, from the dead man’s finger, to replace the other ring—a thing which he would surely never have done—and to put that singular card beside his victim. I say that this was obviously impossible.
“You may argue—but I have too much respect for your judgement, Watson, to think that you will do so—that the ring may have been taken before the man was killed. The fact that the candle had been lit only a short time shows that there had been no lengthy interview. Was Douglas, from what we hear of his fearless character, a man who would be likely to give up his wedding ring at such short notice, or could we conceive of his giving it up at all? No, no, Watson, the assassin was alone with the dead man for some time with the lamp lit. Of that I have no doubt at all.
So it is that Sherlock Holmes has concluded that there is far more to the murder of John Douglas than meets the eye. Forewarned by Porlock, an agent ostensibly in the employ of criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty but given to supplying Holmes with information on the latter, that Douglas was in mortal danger, Holmes and Watson had travelled to Birlstone village in Sussex. Only they arrive too late to save the unfortunate man.
But what has his death to do with Moriarty? And why should Barker and Mrs Douglas lie about events? The mystery deepens as Caledonia Skytower, Kayden Oconnell and John Morland as they continue to read The Valley of Fear, the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel.
Monday October 5th, 19:00: A Night in the Lonesome October
The Seanchai staff are marking the arrival and passage of the Halloween month with readings of Roger Zelazy’s A Night in the Lonesome October. The latter is the last of Zelazy’s published works, and 31 of its 32 chapters (the first being an introductory chapter) each take place on a night in October.
The book is satirical in nature, and is written in the first person – the narrator being Snuff the dog, the companion of none other than Jack the Ripper.
Once every few decades, when the moon is full on the night of Halloween, the fabric of reality thins, and doors may be opened between this world and the realm of the Great Old Ones.
At this time, men and women with occult knowledge gather at a certain location to engage in The Game – an attempt by some to open the doors, and others to hold them closed. Should the Openers ever win the game, the Great Old Ones will come to Earth, remake it in their own images and enslave or slaughter the human race in the process.
Thus, through the month of October, the Players in The Game – all archetypal characters from Victorian Era Gothic fiction – form alliances, make deals, oppose one another, and even resort to murder in their attempts to make sure the doors are ready to be opened or can be held fast when, on the night of October 31st, the final ritual takes place and the fate of the world is decided.
Tuesday October 6th,19:00 The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid
Kayden Oconnell reads from Bill Bryson’s memoirs of his childhood, growing up in Iowa in the 1950s. However, given this is Bill Bryson, these are no ordinary memoirs.
Born into an era when “automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you”, the young Bryson held a daydream typical of so many American youngsters of the time: to be a superhero.
For Bryson, this meant spending time wearing a football jersey emblazoned with a lightning bolt together with a towel for a cape whilst spending time righting imaginary wrongs, overcoming evil-doers, travelling faster than a speeding bullet and leaping tall buildings in a single bound and being known as The Thunderbolt Kid.
And it is through the eyes of this childhood alter ego that Bryson allows us to witness his home and family life as he grew up in 1950s Des Moines.
Wednesday October 7th 19:00: Serafina and the Black Cloak
Caledonia Skytower continues reading of Robert Beatty’s spooky mystery thriller.
Serafina lives a life of total secrecy. While her father may be the maintenance man for the great house of the Biltmore Estate, the wealthy owners of the estate have no idea that he lives in the basement of the house – and much less that his daughter lives there with him.
Not that this is a problem for Serafina; she is quite at home exploring the great house and its grounds whilst avoiding being seen. There’s certainly no need for her to venture into the great forest beyond the estate, and with which, he father has said, lie many dangers.
But when the children on the estate start vanishing, Serafina is forced to join forces with the young nephew of the Biltmore’s owners, and discover the identity of the one they believe to be behind the disappearances: the Man in the Black Cloak. But in order to do so, Serafina must enter the forest her father has warned her against; and within that forest lies a deeper secret Serafina must confront – that of her own identity.
Thursday, October 8th 19:00: Quietly Creeping
With Shandon Loring.
Also This Week
Seanchai Library is participating in the Good Reads Hunt. To get started, visit the Good Reads starting point at Literature Alive!/Desi’s Gifts and Prints
Don’t forget to visit the Five Irish Haunts panels at Seanchai Library to discover something about ghosts and hauntings!
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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 August / September is Water for People, “When one person or one family has clean, accessible water, their lives are changed. But when entire regions and countries have water, the world is changed.”
From September 12th through September 27th 2015, live performers, DJs, entertainers and venues from across Second Life came together for two weeks of music and entertainment to raise money for Stand Up 2 Cancer’s world-wide activities in funding practical cancer research and treatment.
Organised by the incredible Still Braveheart, Stand Up 2 Cancer in Second Life 2015 brought together over 150 entertainers across more than forty venues during the two weeks of the event, and the total amount raised in-world has now been tabulated – and it is impressive:
L$3,040,393
That’s around US $11,784.47. As per SU2C in Second Life’s stated aim, the money raised will be divided equally between SU2C’s work in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“I watched so many of you put aside everything to come together and make this so successful,” Still states in her blog.
“We did something this year that no one else has done before (at least to my knowledge)….we said global and we did global As Stand Up To Cancer grows so will we. Many that have refused to do other things came out and worked with us on this. Commenting on the two weeks to me, she added, “thank you to each and everyone that came out to an event, for together we truly made a difference.”
In addition to being able to make donations in-world, those in the USA and UK also had the option to donate directly to SU2C’s work in those countries to the SU2C in SL Team Pages – and these amounts have yet to be included in the above total. Doubtless, Still will announce those figures as soon as they are available.
In the meantime, the full transaction report for in-world receipts of donations received through the kiosks and boards placed at the participating venues is available, although as Still notes, it may be liable to additional revision and tidying-up.
Congratulations to Still and all who were involved in SU2C 2015, whether assisting in the organisation, or as venue owners, performers or supporters. And here’s to 2016!
About SU2C
Stand Up 2 Cancer provides an innovative approach to ending cancer, which puts funds directly where they are needed: into leading-edge cancer research and treatment, and undertaking aggressive research programmes through what is called Translational Research. 100% of all donations made through SU2C goes directly into funding this work, none is lost to “administrative costs” or put aside for CEO or executive salaries, etc.
Such is the success of this approach that as of 2014, and in the USA alone, SU2C has raised over $261 million in seven years. This money has all be used in directly supporting 141 clinical trials of possible cancer treatments, involving 750 scientists and 5,000 cancer patients, and which have spanned 112 US institutions.
Related Links
Still’s blog (for the most up-to-date SL SU2C event news and updates)
As the name suggests, the maze is made up of hay bales, reflecting the time of year, and the route through can bring you into contact with critters, ghosts and more.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 