Two years ago I visited Jasmine’s Hollow and the Dirty Grind for the first time (you can read about my visit here). Back then it was relatively new to Second Life, offering a community environment blending a mix of styles – rural, small town, steampunk – presenting a mix of residential accommodation, music and entertainment and photographic opportunities, all of which came together to present a rich environment, pleasing to the eye and pleasant to visit.
Since that time, Jasmine’s Hollow and the Dirty Grind have grown into an arts-centric community run by Lisa Witterdoodlesteinbeauchamp (aka (jasmine0alaya) and her partner, Ian Witterdoodlesteinbeauchamp (Ian McConach), offering a unique environment in which live music and the arts are actively encouraged and promoted.
To mark the community’s second anniversary, Jasmine’s Hollow and the Dirty Grind is hosting a special 4-day celebration between Thursday, June 18th, and Sunday, June 21st. A Carnival of the Arts will kick-off at The Dirty Grind at 16:00 SLT on Thursday, June 18th, and features live music throughout the weekend, and the work of featured artist, Sina Souza.
While there may be further changes to the schedule (so please check with the official website), at the time of writing the music line-up for the celebrations was as follows (all times SLT):
Much has changed in Jasmine’s Hollow since my original post. The rental properties are still there, including the delightful LAQ cottage sitting on a tree platform, but the little town has seen various changes over the years, and there is now a wonderful airship “tram” plying between the ground and aerial locations (The Dirty Grind itself and a quaint old wooden roller coaster). An armoured train appears to be guarding the tram station at ground level, but don’t let it intimidate you! 🙂 .
Radio Grind has a warehouse-like HQ in the region, and you can tune-in to broadcasts via Shoutcast, or pop inside and use the listening booths to catch the singers and musicians within the community singing through a variety of websites.
Jasmine’s Hollow remains a great place to visit, steeped as it is in music, and with a strong support for art. As a photogenic location, it has a lot to offer visitors, and makes for an enjoyable (and entertaining) visit. So why not find a little time over the weekend to hop over to wish Lisa, Ian and the team a happy anniversary?
The train now arriving (or is that leaving…?) platform ? …
The clock is counting down to the start of the SL12B Community Celebration. On Sunday, June 21st, the gates will be thrown wide, for a week of events and and attractions, after which they’ll remain open for a further week so people can tour and enjoy without the celebratory events and activities.
With the count ticking down the hours and minutes, the remaining schedule in the lead-up to the start of celebrations reads like this:
Wednesday June 17th (noon SLT) at noon SLT – Thursday, June 18th: Sims closed for walk-through
Friday, June 19th and Saturday, June 20th: Extra time for adjustments
Saturday, June 20th: Press day
Sunday, June 21st (noon SLT): Sims open!
And, of course, Tuesday, June 23rd marks the actual day of Second Life’s 12th anniversary!
If you’ve applied to be a part of the Press Day on Saturday, June 20th, you should hear about things soon, with an invite to join the press group. In the meantime, a final sneak peek video from me, also available on the SL12B website.
On Sunday, June 14th, T1 Radio will hold a special anniversary party to celebrate ten years of broadcasting in Second Life.
In January 2005 T1 Radio, the official broadcaster for Relay for Life of Second Life, first started broadcasting as Radio dAlliez, operating from the late Alliez Mysterio’s La Vie En Rose club.
The idea for the station came from Alliez and Tony Beckett; they approached Trader Whiplash, at that time new to DJing in Second Life, to take on the role of the station’s DJ. It proved to be a good choice; Trader learned his craft rapidly, offering sets focused on classic rock and roll which both differentiated Radio dAlliez from the more typical pop and electronic music heard in clubs at the time, and proved to be a popular with La Vie En Rose patrons.
By June 2005, with a growing private island residential business with dAlliez Estates, Alliez and Tony were considering closing down the station, but agreed that Trader to take over its running; thus T1 Radio was born, operated by Trader and his best friend, Nuala Maracas. Following the change, T1 Radio continued to operate from Rue dAlliez through until 2011, when it and the Legends Rock Club moved to is own region at Arinultra Cay.
As well as broadcasting a wide range of programmes throughout the week, T1 Radio has, over the years, become synonymous with Relay for Life. The relationship started with the very first RFL of SL season in 2005, when Trader and (himself a leukemia survivor) and Nuala formed the Relay Rockers to assist in fund-raising.
In 2006, a grid-wide issue led to a loss of audio with the scheduled stream, T1 Radio were able to fill the void. the following year, Fayandria Foley invited T1 Radio to be the 2007 RFL of SL broadcaster; the station has continued in that role through until the present day. Such has been the relationship that, in 2014, the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life recognised T1Radio for its dedication and contributions to what has become one of the largest Relay For Life fund-raisers in the world by inducting them in the RFL of SL Hall of Honour.
Legend Rock club: home of T1 Radio
Other highlights from T1 Radio’s history include:
2006: 1st Relay For Life weekend broadcast
2007: Provides voice to Opening, Closing and Luminaria Ceremonies
2008: 1st Broadcast of Kick Off, Halfway There and Wrap Up
2010: Sponsors 1st Holiday of Hope Ball
2011: Moves To Arinultra Cay
2012: Introduces Relay Rap – the Talk Show For and About the Relay For Life of Second Life
2012: Becomes AviChoice audio producer
2015: Trader and T1Radio are AviChoice finalists and T1Radio and staff garner 5 nominations overall.
Over the years, T1 Radio has involved a number of well-known names in the world of SL entertainment, including Anthony Wesburn, Java Mama, Sassyblonde Hebert and Rex Tardis, and Radio Riel’s Gabby Riel. Today, Diana ‘Dee’ Wolfe and Madelyn Majestic continue to broadcast weekly shows.
To find out more about T1 Radio, you can tune-in to their shows via Shoutcast or the TuneIn App, and can follow T1 Radio events and activites through the T1 Radio Listeners Group.
T1 Radio’s 10th Anniversary celebrations will take place at Relay dAlliez
Join the Party
The party marking T1 Radio’s 10th anniversary will take place at Relay dAlliez, starting at 15:00 SLT and running through until 19:00, it will feature feature T1Radio’s current air-staff, alumni and special surprise guests. Team Relay rockers RFL of Sl kisoks will be available throughout the celebrations, and all donations made will go directly to RFL of SL.
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 all events in Second Life are held at the Seanchai Library’s home at Bradley University. Locations for events in InWorldz and Kitely are given within the write-ups for those events.
Sunday, June 14th
13:00 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 Stockbroker’s Clerk, first published in March 1893.
“Pycroft shook his clenched hands in the air” – Sidney Paget, 1893
For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely at work and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon professional business. I was surprised, therefore, when, one morning in June, as I sat reading the British Medical Journal after breakfast, I heard a ring at the bell, followed by the high, somewhat strident tones of my old companion’s voice.
“Ah, my dear Watson,” said he, striding into the room, “I am very delighted to see you! I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the Sign of Four.”
“Thank you, we are both very well,” said I, shaking him warmly by the hand.
Holmes’ visit to the home of Dr and Mrs J. Watson is more than just casual; he wishes his friend to accompany him and one Hall Pycroft, a stockbroker, on a trip to Birmingham. It seems that said company had offered Mr. Pycroft a management position, albeit in France, and had sweetened the offer with a rather handsome £100 advance.
While his suspicions that all was not as it seemed had not prevented Mr. Pycroft from accepting the position, further events had drawn him to the conclusion that something rather odd was indeed going on. Thus, he had sought the assistance of Sherlock Holmes, who had decided a further visit to the firm’s Birmingham offices to be in order. He had also deduced that the case would be sufficiently engaging to warrant the involvement of his chronicler and friend, John Watson.
18:00 Magicland Storytime – Thomasina Part 2
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 June 15th, 19:00: Science-Fiction Shorts
Gyro Muggins reads Isaac Asimov’s 1955 science-fiction crime story The Singing Bell, which involves murder, Moon rocks and justice. He turn turns to the Zelazny / Sheckley short, Star Light.
Tuesday June 16th, The Great Gatsby, Part 4
Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kaydan Oconnell continue reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnificent 1925 novel.
In 1922, Nick Carraway arrives in New York to learn about the bond business. He rents a small cottage in West Egg, home of the newly-rich, only to discover the owner of the huge Gothic mansion next door, the deeply mysterious Jay Gatsby, is prone to throwing lavish parties every weekend, to which in seems everyone comes. Everyone it seems, except Nick’s cousin Daisy, who is married to Tom Buchanan. Together they live across the bay in the more fashion East Egg, where the “old money” resides.
Following a visit with them, Nick is slowly drawn into their world, both discovering Tom Buchanan has a mistress who lives in the Valley of Ashes, an industrial area lying between the Eggs and New York city, and finding himself increasingly attracted to the Buchanan’s friend, the beautiful, if cynically minded, Jordan Baker.
Then, one Saturday, Nick finds himself invited to one of Jay Gatsby’s great parties, and is thus drawn into an increasingly deep well of infatuation, lust, and tragedy, witnessing first hand a darker side of the so-called American Dream.
Wednesday June 17th
06:00: Forever Erma
Erma Bombeck achieved great popularity for her newspaper column that described suburban home life from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s. She also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers. From 1965 to 1996, Erma Bombeck wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humour, chronicling the ordinary life of a mid-western suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read twice-weekly by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada
Join Freda Frostbite and Trolly Trollop as the delve into Erma’s wit and wisdom of everyday life, joined by Caledonia Skytower.
19:00: The Tail of Emily Windsnap Part 2
Faerie Maven-Pralou reads from the first volume in Liz Kesseler’s series about a young girl who, having always lived on a boat but having been kept away from the water by her mother, finally gets to have swimming lessons. With them comes a remarkable discovery that leads her into another world…
Thursday June 18th 19:00: Edgar Allan
Shandon Loring enters the world of the Master of the Macabre.
Saturday June 20th 12:00 noon Seanchai Kitely: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker
So, where were you in 1977? Do you remember the first time you saw the first film? The first 25 times you saw the first film? Maybe you have never seen it at all. Join Caledonia on Seanchai Library’s Spaceworld to enjoy for the first time (or re-live the joy) of those first adventures from an edition penned by Director George Lucas himself! – grid.kitely.com:8002/Inis Eirc.
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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 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.
Thursday, June 11th saw the latest get together between Linden Lab staff and residents. Perhaps learning from the lessons of the last event, this one was focused on a 2-region venue in order to help spread the load. Given that when I checked at one point, there were over 110 people in attendance with more arriving, then just as well.
Coming ahead of the 12 anniversary celebrations scheduled for June, the event was marked for Premium members only. On offer for those attending was a chance to pick-up the 12th anniversary avatar ahead of it being made more generally available (and for those who missed the event itself, the kiosk offering the avatar will be available at the meet-up island until midnight SLT on Friday, June 12th).
Dino-ing out to celebrate SL12B? The hat and shades may not win the approval of palentologists (or Steven Spielberg) – but they help give velociprators less of a bad rep …
The idea of providing a celebratory avatar for SL’s anniversary is not new; in the past we’ve had the likes of bears and robots. This year the rumour mill was that a dinosaur would be on offer. And by “rumour mill”, I mean the original e-mail and blog post put out by the Lab which accidentally gave the game away. Oops 🙂 .
The choice of velociraptor is interesting. On the one hand, dino avatars have been popular in SL for a while now – I’ve visited a number of regions over the past few months only to find various dinos also taking in the view. On the other hand, the choice of velociraptor and the release of Jurassic World in cinemas around the world did have the words “oh, bandwagon!” echoing faintly.
The island for the get-together itself provided plenty of space, with a couple of bars, a dance floor and a crocodile wrestling ring, with a bridge crossing the water to a beach on one side, and a boat offering crossings to the jungle over the water on the other. As it was, most people gathered at the main bar and showed little willingness to risk moving around too far, although as things got ever more crowded, some opted to chillax on the beach.
Dee, Alexa, Oz (with the wonderful Chantal Harvey behind him) and Michael were all at the bar, as were Torley, Shaman and Xiola and Guy, while Patch and Vitae took to the beach, quite possibly with other Lindens I missed…
Michael Linden was the first to arrive, in full mole guise, and served briefly as boat pilot and then as bartender. The Watermelon punch ensured Torley’s participation, and Xiola, Guy, Patch, Vitae, Alexa and Shaman were all noticeably on-hand, while Dee’s diminutive presence (she always has the most wonderful petite avatars) perhaps went unnoticed by many in the crowd.
Conversation was, as usual loud and hard to follow in open chat. An unintentional error at the bridge meant a few people needed rescuing after finding themselves stuck under rocks – I sent Xiola a teleport offer at one point after Kerena nudged me, but she managed to extricate herself without needing the help.
Some of my favourite people: Brock McMillan and Tomais Ashdene, Ziki Q catching the sunshine, and Rocky Constantine looking cool in the shade and shades 🙂
There was a good ebb and flow of visitors and a far few velociraptors within the crowd, with Vitae leading a small group to go sun themselves on the beach. Ziki and I opted for swimwear, but while there were a few bare-chested males on the islands, most people opted for lightweight summer wear. I managed to catch-up with a number of friends, mostly through IMs, although at one point I forgot to turn shout off. My apologies for anyone sitting / standing near me at the bar I may have deafened with my bellowing; which I think may have actually sent Michael scampering for cover, as he was absent the bar shortly afterwards.
Maxwell Graf and I chat at the bar …
It was particularly good to catch-up with Karsten Rutledge, although I failed miserably in capturing him on camera. Chantal Harvey and I made the most of the bar barrel seats… and he availability of the bar itself while chatting, but I think the crowd may have prevented Torley from actually getting to the watermelon punch as it sat between the Chantal and I.
Looking across to the beach, I had hoped to see the velociraptors there perhaps engaged in sunbathing on the hammocks or playing a game of beach volleyball. But sadly no; they seemed content to stand or lie on the sand chatting.
As I mentioned last time around, it’s easy to dismiss events like this on the basis of the numbers or question their value. However, to do so is to really miss the point.
Not everything that goes on in SL need serve a specific purpose beyond bringing people together and allowing them to share time in one another’s company. That they may be doing so in a crowd of 100+ doesn’t matter; the act of being there and just enjoying the moment brings its own satisfaction. It also lets Lab staff to mingle and relax among residents without worrying about being bonked with this or that question or one problem or another, allowing them to get to know people and make friends / acquaintances.
Raptors on the beach…
As noted earlier, the use of the two regions did help considerably in terms of people coping with issues such as rendering, “lag”, and so on. People were encouraged to spread between the two as some of the Lindens moved between them, encouraging the crowd to spread naturally and thin itself. Hopefully this approach will continue at future meet-ups.
The demands of the physical world (in particular those of the kitchen) meant I had to depart the party before things started winding down, but was very clear that folk were having a good time, and many were seeing the event as a early kick-off for the upcoming anniversary celebrations.
It’ll be interesting to see how many raptors are roaming the roads of SL12BCC in a little over a week’s time. Or, indeed, if we get any performing on stage during the SL12B music festival…
Preparations for the 12th Second Life Birthday Community Celebration are continuing. With just over a week left until the regions close for walk-through and stress testing, exhibitors and stage creators are hard at work building wonders to woo and wow visitors when the gates are thrown wide to the public on Sunday, June 21st.
I’ve been fortunate enough to get the opportunity to slip into the regions and see what is going on; and I have to say that there is a lot of fantastic effort going into things, with people really focusing on the idea of dreams and what may come, and where they might lead.
SL12BCC: the stages take shape…
The main reason for my early access is to put together sneak peek videos of the regions on behalf of the SL12BCC organising team. This is an interesting exercise for me, as trying to piece together very short video and without giving too much away this early-on is taking me into new territory with my video making!
Nevertheless, it’s proving fun, so, with that said, here’s another video peek at the regions, which can also be found on the official SL12BCC website. Enjoy!
Jasmine’s Hollow (Flickr) – click an image for full size 
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 