Saturday, June 6th – the Chippensails take to the stage for RFL of SL
On Saturday, June 6th from 14:00 SLT eight members of the Second Life sailing fraternity will take to the stage at the Three Pines Sailing School and Resource Centre, in a special sail4Life RFL of SL fund-raiser that promises to be a lot of fun.
Akiiki, August, Barry, Chaos, David, Dutch, Jake, and Stone will be donning black trousers, bow ties, formal shirt cuffs, dancing and baring their torsos as The Chippensails. Each of them will be auctioning a special prize to the highest bidder, with all proceeds from bids going diectly to RFL of SL.
Past prizes offered by the Chippensails have included long distance cruises around the Blake Sea, sailing lessons, a sailing yacht, French language lessons, an evening of dancing and conversation at the club of the winner’s choice, and the opportunity to be part of a yacht racing crew. Bidding will be open from 14:00 through 15:00 SLT, after which all those attending will be invited to party to the music of and enjoy the music of DJ Kota through until 16:00 SLT.
As well as the auction boards for the Chippensails, people will be able to donate to RFL of SL through the Sail4Life kiosks at the venue.
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, May 31st
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 Cardboard Box.
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
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 begins Dr, John Watson in re-telling one of Holmes’ more grisly cases, which was first published in The Stand Magazine in 1892, before forming a part of the Memoirs anthology in the UK, and His Last Bow in the United States.
The affair begins when Miss Susan Cushing of Croydon receives a grisly 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…
18:00 Magicland Storytime – Thomasina Part 1
Join Caledonia Skytower at Magicland Park as she commences 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 1st, 19:00: Science Fiction with Gyro Muggins
This evening Gyro reads from two short stories. In Isaac Asimov’s 1956 story, Pâté de Foie Gras a goose is discovered which actually lays golden eggs. Meanwhile, in If at Faust You Don’t Succeedby Roger Zelazny, Robert Sheckley, the contest between the forces of Good and Evil for control of the universe resumes, but Mephistopheles has mistakenly signs up a medieval cutpurse named Mack the Club, thinking him the learned Dr. Faust. And that’s just the start of Mephisto’s problems…
Tuesday June 2nd, The Great Gatsby, Part 2
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 3rd
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 Night Fairy
With Faerie Maven-Pralou.
Thursday June 4th, 19:00: The Night’s Ocean
Shandon Loring reads from the 1936 short story by H.P. Lovecraft and R.H. Barlow.
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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 April / May is Habitat for Humanity, with a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live – a safe and clean place to call home.
We’re approaching the start of June, and with the run-up to this year’s Second Life Birthday Community Celebrations. As noted in the banner above, the event will take place between June 21st and 28th, and will feature fifteen regions packed with builds, performance areas, stages, works of art and more, all celebrating the rich creative diversity within Second Life. On Monday, June 1st, eager exhibitors will gain access to the regions, ready to start construction!
As a part of the build-up to the main event, there will once again be a special Press Day – Saturday, June 20th, 2015 – when the fifteen regions will be open for bloggers, photographers, machinima makers, and so on to tour them and preview all that awaits residents in this year’s celebrations.
If you would like to participate in the Press Day for SL12BCC, please make sure you complete and submit the SL12B press application form.
The SL12B Time Capsule
The Time Capsule is a traditional part of the SL Birthday celebrations. It is used to contain items donated by SL residents, which are placed on display at future SLB celebrations. This year is no exception, and the SL12BCC organisers have issued an invitation to residents to submit designs for a time capsule that represents a significant technical enhancement for the year, or which is inspired by the year’s celebratory theme, which this year is “what dreams may come?”.
To give some examples of past time capsules, the SL4B capsule had flexible prims which that of SL5B featured glow – which were technical developments in SL in their respective years, while the SL6B time capsule was a meteorite chunk, in keeping with that year’s space theme.
I have the honour to be invited by the SL12B CC coordinator, Doc Gascoigne, to produce a series of short “preview” videos marking how things are developing on the celebration regions as building commences – and obviously without giving too much away!
As work starts in earnest for most exhibitors on Monday, June 1st, 2015, we thought we’d start the previews with… a preview! Enjoy!
Currently underway over the region of cursed in the 2015 Second Life World Goth Fair (WGF). The event started on May 15th, and will run through until midnight, SLT on Monday, June 1st.
Some 40 merchants from across Second Life are participating in the fair, which, in difference to previous years, is restricted to the one region this year – Cursed -, but which is still officially sanctioned by the organisers of World Goth Day, which this year was marked on Friday May 22nd.
A further change to this year’s event is that it is not charity-oriented, and it currently appears as if future WGF events will go the same way. The reasons why the fair is both reduced to a single region and is no longer associated with a charity are explained in a blog post by co-organiser Bronxelf. However, and in short, the reasons can be summarised as a) the loss of one of the supporting regions for the event, and that trying to organise the fair in a very active second region has always been problematic; b) problems in dealing with the UK-based Sophie Lancaster Foundation have regretfully forced the WGF organisers to withdraw their support for the charity with this event. At this point in time, they are uncertain if ties with an alternative charity would not result in similar issues.
As is usual for WGF and events at Cursed in general, the fair is an extremely atmospheric event, with the fair this year taking place n an extended churchyard, with the crypts standing as stores, and the Church the main events centre, with mist floating over the ground, statues wreathed in shadows, bats winging overhead, and a pale moon hanging in the sky. There are even local zombies citizens. ready to gnaw on your leg or arm provide assistance, should you need it! 😉 .
The range of items on offer in the (literally) cryptic shops is obviously focused on the Goth lifestyle, with clothing, jewellery, accessories and furnishing all on offer as one follows the cobbled paths, with many of the crypts decorated by store owners to further enhance the atmosphere and theme of the event. A full list of participating stores and region map can be found on the WGF blog, which also provides updates on events and activities.
So, if you fancy getting your Goth on – hop on over to WGF at Cursed!
Stand is the title of a portrait exhibition currently open in a purpose-built gallery above the Relay Rocker’s Relay d’Alliez region and a part of Rocker’s Relay for Life campaign.
The portraits, all of which have been taken by Catalina Staheli, feature some of those who have been faced with cancer in one of its many forms and have either survived, or are living within its ever-present shadow – and in one case, someone who lost their life to the disease.
Each of the pictures features several images of the subject, which change every 30 seconds to show them in different poses (and even different forms, if they use more than one avatar in SL), with one image of each of them offering a quote.
Each of the framed portraits is displayed in its own space or alcove, allowing visitors to focus solely on each in turn without distraction. In addition, those featured in the portraits have each written a brief personal story, which offer moving reading, and can be obtained through the information givers found within the gallery space along with RFL kiosks for those wishing to make donations to RFL of SL and the American Cancer Society.
Taken together, the portraits and the gallery space – also, I believe, designed by Catalina – present a moving and inspirational exhibition, and full kudos should go to her for developing the idea for the exhibit and for producing such remarkable pictures. Thanks, as well, should go to the Relay Rockers for agreeing to host such an exhibition; even though there were some misgivings at first, as Trader Whiplash, the Rocker’s Co-Founder, freely admits.
“As always I asked the same question I have asked of the Relay Rockers for 11 years,” he said. “How much work it involved and how much will it raise? The answer was unclear. We weren’t even sure it would raise any money at all! We talked for a few days. We met resistance in several directions from the team, including myself.”
“I was however wrong,” he added with a laugh. “I totally underestimated the importance of this event. This exhibition not only captures the essence of survivorship, it celebrates our diverse community here in Second Life and does much to explain how a virtual world can become the seventeenth largest Relay For Life in the world!”
Also on display in the gallery are some of Catalina’s Why I Relay challenge, which was also featured at this year’s Fantasy Faire. The challenge offered anyone supporting RFL of SL with the opportunity to have their photo taken by Catalina, together with a short message on why they participate in RFL.
This is a remarkable, inspirational and poignant exhibit; inspirational in the stories that are to be found here, and poignant through the presence of the portrait set of Riko Kamachi, one of the early participants in the exhibit, but who sadly lost her life to cancer before she could provide her story. Instead, she is remembered here in pictures and in the words of those who knew her.
Stand, will be open through until the end of the RFL Weekend on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July 2015, and I urge you to find the time to pay a visit; it beautifully encapsulates and spirit and meaning of Relay for Life of Second Life.
The BURN2 team have announced the latest in the series of BURN2 events for 2015. with it, come invitations to artists, builders, DJs, musicians, blogger and the Second Life populace as a whole to join with them for three days of art, music and events that will take place between Friday, July 10th and Sunday July 12th, 2015.
Find a way to look back at how our beloved Playa may once have been, so a window was opened to one fanciful possibility of the past.
A primeval jungle surrounds the Playa as it was long long ago, a great lake. On the edges here and there are hot springs and geysers, some of which remain even until today. Steam drifts from them out across the water in the same way the dust we know so well does today. Thick mats of vegetation float upon the surface, some large and strong enough to hold sizeable structures. Other mats are less substantial. You must pick your path across the maze of them; one wrong step and you drop below into briny water. Who knows what else has slipped below? What rests or lives there awaiting its genesis, ready to emerge in the next stage of our growth?
Parcels for artists, builders and creators on the Playa are being provided free of charge, and are available for builds on land, in / on the water or floating over the water. Those interested in applying for a parcel should:
Be familiar with the 10 Principles of Burning Man (those who have not performed at BURN2 before will be asked to complete a short orientation, as per the sign-up guidelines)
No closing dates for applications appear to be given, but as BURN2 events are very popular, parcels and stage slots are liable to fill-up fast – so the sooner those intending to apply do so, the better their chances!
About BURN2
BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man regional event, and the only virtual world event out of more than 100 real world Regional groups and the only regional event allowed to burn the man.
The BURN2 Team operates events year around, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall – a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 