Having been put back from its usual May time slot due to unavoidable circumstances, the 2014 Home and Garden Expo in support of Relay for Life of Second Life and the American Cancer Society, is now accepting registrations from exhibitors and are seeking bloggers to help cover the event.
The Expo will open its doors to the public on Tuesday September 16th and run through until Sunday September 28th, 2014. The press preview days will be held on Sunday 14th and Monday 15th September 2014.
The Home and Garden Expo is the SL event where users can see homes, gardens and furnishing from creators across SL, attend talks and presentations by designers, enjoy entertainment throughout the week and – most importantly, help raise funds for RFL of SL. The 2014 event will take place between September 16th and 28th, with press days on the 14th and 16th September (image: 5th HGE, 2012)
Exhibitors
Those wishing to participate in the event as exhibitors should check out the following links:
The application form for exhibitors is available on Google Docs.
When applying, do make sure that you follow the instructions in the application form for making your payment at the HGE Office in-world, and that you supply the requested note card alongside of your payment.
Bloggers
Those wishing to register as official bloggers should note that there are new requirements on blogging this year, and the organising team are looking for two groups of bloggers:
Online Shopping Guide (OSG) Staff (12 sought), who will be instrumental in promoting the donation items raising funds for RFL of SL and the other new releases and prizes being offered by our extraordinary exhibitors and program contributors
Third-party bloggers who are willing to blog about home and garden items, as well as in promoting the Second Life Home and Garden Expo and our fundraising efforts.
Those wishing to apply as either OSG staff or third-party bloggers are requested to read the official HGE post on blogging opportunities, which includes links to the relevant application forms.
It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library.
As always, all times SLT / PDT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.
Monday August 4th, 19:00: Far From Home
Gyro Muggins continues reading stories drawn from the “Fuzzy” series, initially started by the Late H. Beam Piper in 1962 with Little Fuzzy, and which continued in 1964 with Fuzzy Sapiens, and then posthumously in 1984 with Fuzzies and Other People. Over the years, further books in the series have been written by the likes of William Tuning, Wolfgang Diehr, John Scalzi and Ardath Mayhar.
Little Fuzzy charts the discovery of small furry species on the planet Zarathustra are sentient, and the other stories in the series build on this and the evolving human / fuzzy relations.
For Golden Dreams: A Fuzzy Odyssey, Mayhar took a different approach, re-telling the incidents depicted in Little Fuzzy from the perspective of the Fuzzies – or “Gashta”, as they call themselves. And it is from this book that Gyro contniues his reading.
Tuesday August 5th, 19:00: American Fairy Tales
With Faerie Maven-Pralou
Wednesday August 6th, 19:00: Selections from Chestnut Street
Maeve Binchy, journalist, columnist, playwright and author, began her writing career by accident, thanks to her father sending the letters she wrote to him while on a kibbutz in Israel during the 1960s to a local paper in Ireland, which subsequently published them. This in turn led to her being offered a job with The Irish Times on her return home, thus starting her on the road to becoming one of Ireland’s most successful and internationally recognised writers.
Through her writings, she would often jot down short stories about an imaginary street in Dublin, where people would constantly come and go and experience the most diverse of times and situations. Once written, these stories would be put away for “the future”. That imaginary street was called Chestnut Street, located not far from the setting of her 2010 bestseller Minding Frankie.
In 2014, these tales of the folk who live along, or visit, Chestnut Street were gathered together in a single volume and published posthumously under the title Chestnut Street.
Join Caledonia Skytower as she delves into the rich diversity of stories to be found inside the covers of this book. Perhaps you’ll meet Bucket Maguire, the window cleaner, who finds himself going to extraordinary lengths to protect his son; or hear all the local gossip from Melly, and see how it helps a local fortune-teller for the good of all; or maybe you’ll find yourself sympathising with poor Nessa, whose summers are blighted every year by the arrival of her aunt from America on a vacation sure to turn Nessa’s life and home upside down. Chestnut Street is inhabited by the most colourful characters, and their stories are lovingly and humourously told; so why not join Caledonia as she pays them a visit?
Thursday August 7th
16:00 More Stories from Ozland Gallery
With Llola Lane.
19:00 Basque Legends
Join Shandon Loring in scaling the majestic heights of the western Pyrenees in search of some of the ancient myths and legends of the region.
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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 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.
Just a quick reminder to all who are interested. As I blogged on July 24th, there will be a special presentation by Agenda Faromet on the July 2014 Terms of Service updates.
The presentation will take place on Saturday August 2nd, commencing at 10:00 SLT at the he SLBA courtroom.
Agenda is a real life attorney specialising in privacy and internet law operating out of San Francisco, and is a member of the SL Bar Association. She will be talking about both the changes made to Section 2.3 of the Terms of Service (the section relating to IP rights assigned to Linden Lab) and also on the changes to the Lab’s Skill Gaming Policy, which will be coming into effect as of September 1st, 2014 (having been previously scheduled for August 1st, 2014).
I hope to be able to record the meeting and provide a transcript through this blog for those who cannot attend.
The SLBA courtroom
About the SL Bar Association
The SL Bar Association (SLBA) is a group for legal professionals and others interested in legal issues in Second Life. It is registered as a 501(c)(6) organisation in the United States, and operates in Second Life from the Justitia Virtual Legal Resource Village, which serves as a resource for both attorneys and the general public, and has law offices available to rent on the square, along with general legal information on a variety of topics. Rental units are also available at sea level.
Details of SLBA talks and presentations can be found on the SLBA website, together with further information on the association and its members.
On Friday August 1st, 2014, commencing at 17:00 SLT, you are invited to join the audience at the Avatar Repertory Theatre (ART) for a special evening of entertainment, when the ART cast will be handling some cold scenes.
No, I don’t mean they’ll be enacting scenes from Anna Karenina or will be wandering around the stage in balacavas and great coats. Doing a scene or audition “cold” means doing it without a prior rehearsal or reading.
The outcome of performing this way can sometimes be unpredictable (and can land actors in a little bit of hot water when it comes to keeping up with things and the occasional need to ad-lib should things go a trifle awry!); however, it also exercises the eye, mind and body when it comes to stagecraft. So it takes a hot group of actors to cast their fortune to the wind; and these we have in the form of Rowan Shamroy, Corwyn Allen, Ada Radius, Kayden Oconnell and Caledonia Skytower.
So why not join them at the ART at 17:00 on Friday August 1st for what is surely going to be an excellent evening for all!
About to celebrate its 8th year in Second Life, Jamm for Genes is set to take place over the weekend of the Friday August 1st through Sunday August 3rd inclusive.
Jamm For Genes is a part of the Jeans for Genes annual event organised by the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) of Australia, in which people are encouraged to wear jeans on August the 1st each year and help raise money for research into birth defects and diseases such as cancer, epilepsy, and a range of genetic disorders. Al funds raised goes directly to research undertaken by the CMRI to discover treatments and cures, to give every child the opportunity to live a long and healthy life.
Jamm For Genes will see a weekend of music and entertainment taking place at The Pocket in Second Life, commencing at midnight SLT on Friday August 1st, and continuing on through until the final set commencing ay 09:00 on Sunday August 3rd.
Subject to last-minutes hitches or problems, the event schedule is as follows (all times SLT):
Friday August 1st
00:00 (midnight) – OhMy Kidd
01:00 – Tommy Scorpio
02:00 – blueboi
03:00 – Wread Writer
04:00 – A surprise live from Canberra!
05:00 – Alienspeaking
19:00 – Bronze8020
20:00 – Joaquin Gustav
21:00 – Rara Destiny
22:00 – Senjita Witt
23:00 – Freestar and Quai
Some of the artists participating in Jamm for Genes in SL (from top left): Joaquin Gustav, Angelica Svenska, Blindboy Gumbo, Beth Odetts, Readymad Morpork and KatRose Serendipity
Since its inaugural event in 2007, Jamm for Genes in SL has raised $10,000 for the CMRI, and it is hoped that 2014 will see the event raise around L$500,000, which equates to about AU $2,000. The event is also officially sanctioned to raise money for the CMRI through Jeans for Genes.
All those attending are invited to grab their free Jamm for Genes gear from the Marketplace.
It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life and Kitely by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library.
As always, all times SLT / PDT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.
Sunday July 27th, 16:00 Noon: CVL FUNdraiser with Gina Gracemount!
Gina Gracemount
A special event to benefit the Community Virtual Library, and where the emphasis is very definitely on the fun as much as the fundraising!
Things kick-off with Seanchai’s founder, Derry McMahon, at 16:00, as she DJs and gets the festive mood going. At around 17:10, Caledonia Skytower will be presenting A wave in search of a perfect surfer. Then, at 17:30, jazz and blues singer Gina Gracemount will be taking to the stage to keep you tapping those feet and dancing.
Gyro Muggins commences reading a new series for Mondays, with stories drawn from the “Fuzzy” series, initially started by the Late H. Beam Piper in 1962 with Little Fuzzy, and which continued in 1964 with Fuzzy Sapiens, and then posthumously in 1984 with Fuzzies and Other People. Over the years, further books in the series have been written by the likes of William Tuning, Wolfgang Diehr, John Scalzi and Ardath Mayhar.
Little Fuzzy charts the discovery of small furry species on the planet Zarathustra are sentient, and the other stories in the series build on this and the evolving human / fuzzy relations.
For Golden Dreams: A Fuzzy Odyssey, Mayhar took a different approach, re-telling the incidents depicted in Little Fuzzy from the perspective of the Fuzzies – or “Gashta”, as they call themselves. And it is from this book they Gyro commences his reading.
Tuesday July 29th, 19:00: Throw Back the Rocket Man
From Dreams and Snippets, a 2013 collection of short stories by Iain McCracken (perhaps better known in Second Life as Avatar Repertory Theatre co-founder, Sodovan Torok) comes Throw Back the Rocket Man, a special presentation by Caledonia Skytower and Kayden Oconnell.
In the far future, a world remarkably similar to our own, but which appears to be in the throes of de-evolution, an investigator is sent to check a religious group known as “The Cult of the Friends”, who have been gathered in the one spot for four years, in expectation of the Rapture. Instead, they received something else entirely: a rocket carrying a man from the past.
Once hailed as a hero, and harbinger of the Rapture, the rocket man not finds himself reviled, the cult wanting him and his ship gone Unfortunately, he has nowhere to go, his ship no longer being capable of flight, and he is stranded on a hostile world he should know, but does not. What he brings from the stars is humbling, and thought-provoking.
Wednesday July 30th, 19:00: Douglas Adams’ Shorts
Exploring the considerable wit and wisdom of the late Douglas Adams
No, not his underpants. His short stories, some penned solo, some shared with others like the late Python, Graham Chapman.
Join Shandon Loring to discover why it is that “everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal, anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it; anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be all right really”. Or if you prefer, learn how Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged caused Genghis Khan to go on a bit of a rampage; why it is that war needs to be declared on Dongly Things, and much, much more.
Thursday July 31st
19:00 Smoke and Mirrors Selection
“In this, Gaiman’s first book of short stories, his imagination and supreme artistry transform a mundane world into a place of terrible wonders — a place where an old woman can purchase the Holy Grail at a thrift store, where assassins advertise their services in the Yellow Pages under “Pest Control,” and where a frightened young boy must barter for his life with a mean-spirited troll living beneath a bridge by the railroad tracks.” – Goodreads.com
Join Shandon Loring for a trip through Gaiman’s inventive imagination.
21:00: Seanchai Late Night
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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 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.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 