Organised by members of Supporto Italiano, the Harvey Memorial week is dedicated to the memory of ALS victim and Second Life resident Harvey22 Albatros, and focuses on music, fun and raising funds, with all donations during the week going to AISLA, the Associazone Italiana Sclerosi Laterale Amiotrofica for research into, and treatment of, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Sometimes also referred to as motor neurone disease (MND) or by the synonyms Lou Gehrig’s disease and Charcot disease, ALS is a specific disorder that involves the death of neurons that control voluntary muscles. For about 90-95% of all diagnosed cases, the precise cause of the disease is unknown; for the remaining 5-10% of diagnosed cases, it is inherited from the sufferer’s parents. There is no known cure, and symptoms generally first become apparent around the age of 60 (or 50 in inherited cases). The average survival from onset to death is three to four years. In Europe and the United States, the disease affects about 2 people per 100,000 per year.
Harvey Memorial ALS Awareness Week, 2021
The Harvey Memorial Ensemble in Second Life features a daily schedule of music running from 07:00 SLT through to 18:00 SLT through the week up until Saturday, February 27th.
On Sunday, February 28th, the schedule of music runs from 07:00 SLT through to 17:00 SLT, after which there will be an After the Memorial event that will go on as long as people want. All of the music events are a mix of live performers and DJs, and a schedule board (seen above) is available at the event location.
Donations to AISLA can be made in three ways when at the event:
By clicking the donations kiosks in front of the event stage.
By purchasing one or more items of clothing from the vendors located to one side of the dance area.
By clicking on the boards at the AISLA information tents in the event space -these will take you directly to AISLA’s donations web page where you can use credit / debit cards or a PayPal account to make a direct donation.
100% of L$ donations made to the in-world kiosks and vendors will be forwarded to AISLA a the conclusion of the event.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Aoife Lorefield, Dubhna Rhiadra, Gloriana Maertens, and Caledonia Skytower share an hour of short prose and poetry to celebrate and honour women.
Monday, February 15th, 19:00: Into the Green
The harp was a gift from Jacky Lanter’s fey kin, as was the music Angharad pulled from its strings. She used it in her journeys through the kingdoms of Green Isles, to wake the magic of the Summerblood where it lay sleeping in folk who had never known they had it.
Harping, she knew, was on third of a bard’s spells. Harping, and poetry, and the road that led – to….?
Charles de Lint takes us into lands infused and transformed by magic. Magic that grows in the roots of old oaks and dances by moonlight among standing stones. Magic that sleeps in an old soldier’s eyes and glows in the gaze of a phantom stag. Magic that pumps through the heart and the veins of those born to the Summerblood-to be stolen at knife point, burned, destroyed, in danger of fading back into the green and disappearing forever from the world.
Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability—with a glance, a gesture, a word—to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness.
The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill.
In this beautifully crafted story, Ursula K. Le Guin writes of the proud cruelty of power, of how hard it is to grow up, and of how much harder still it is to find, in the world’s darkness, gifts of light.
With Willow Moonfire.
Wednesday, February 17th, 19:00: The Guns of Avalon
Across the worlds of Shadow, Corwin, prince of blood royal, heir to the throne of Amber, gathers his forces for an assault that will yield up to him the crown that is rightfully his. But, a growing darkness of his own doing threatens his plans, an evil that stretches to the heart of the perfect kingdom itself where the demonic forces of Chaos mass to annihilate Amber and all who would rule there.
One of the most revered names in sf and fantasy, the incomparable Roger Zelazny was honoured with numerous prizes—including six Hugo and three Nebula Awards—over the course of his legendary career. Among his more than fifty books, arguably Zelazny’s most popular literary creations were his extraordinary Amber novels. The Guns of Avalon is the second book of The Chronicles of Amber.
With Corwyn Allen.
Thursday, February 18th, 19:00: Star Wars a New Hope
The story that started a saga with the immortal words:
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away…
Join Sandon Loring and Caledonia Skytower as they bring us the story of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and two certain ‘droids as they fight for the Rebellion against the tyranny of the Galactic Empire.
Also in Kitely! Find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI.
One Billion Rising in Second Life will once again be taking place in Second Life on Sunday, February 14th, 2021. As with previous years, the event opens at midnight SLT on Saturday, February 13th with entertainment and activities then running all the way through to midnight SLT on Sunday, February 14th.
When launched in the physical world on Valentine’s Day 2012, One Billion Rising (OBR) was the biggest mass action in human history; a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls who are at risk. OBR aims to bring people together, raise greater awareness of the plight of those at risk the world over, and bring about a fundamental change in how vulnerable and defenceless women and girls are treated.
One Billion Rising, 2021
This year, the global movement takes as its theme Rising Gardens, which the organisers describe thus:
Over the years, One Billion Rising campaigns have brought deeper into focus the intersectional issues of poverty, the environment, economic violence and other factors that cause and sustain the continuing violence towards women and girls (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender based violence). One Billion Rising: Solidarity initiatives in 2018 continued to see other movements coming together to address the issue of how climate change and environmental plunder aggravate the situation of women, especially in developing countries and in poor communities around the world. People all over the world joined the Risings to demand and end to violence against women and girls, by looking at policies that pillage, devastate and destroy the environment in the name of “development”.
Within Second Life, the event follows this theme, presenting the usual four event regions as a series of gardens centred on the main event stage as it straddles the centres of all four regions, offering a place where up to 200 people can come together any any time during the event to join in with the music and dance. In the surrounding gardens, and linked to the central stage and one another by trails and paths, are the landing points (with information givers), art exhibits, gardens, and additional activity areas, such as the Poetry and Prose area and the #Me Too forest.
One Billion Rising, 2021
Artists participating in this year’s event include: 2Lei, Darkstone Aeon, Krystali Rabeni, Ilyra Chardin, Johannes Huntsman and Tempest Rosca, Jessamine2108, Fifi Oh, FionaFei, Lampithaler, Herbie Haven, Jennifer Steele, Daark Gothly, Patrick Ireland and Angela Thespian, and iSkye Silverweb. Their installations can be found around the outside edge of the four regions, with information available on each display available touching the sign board in front of each of them.
For the second year running OBR in Second Life also presents the I Rise Campaign. Earlier in the year, Second Life artists and photographers were invited to produce original images for display at OBR in SL 2021 (with the images also available on the Campaign’s Flickr group) in support the message of One Billion Rising: educating people about the plight of women, and which can include references to personal experiences. As such, some of them may be uncomfortable for those who have themselves been victims of violence – if this is the case, they are asked to reach out to event organisers if they feel they need support.
In addition, the four corners of the OBR estate offer elevated park areas providing elevated views across the regions, while the #MeToo Forest forms a place of retreat and meditation / contemplation, whilst the Heroes’ Pavilion features inspirational stories about women from many different cultures and communities.
One Billion Rising, 2021
Also, this year’s event continues with the themes of poetry and the spoken word as seen in past events in Second Life. The poetry sessions will take place between 14:00 and 15:00 SLT and 16:00 and 17:00 SLT, with recitals by selected readers. Between them, at 15:00 through 16:00 SLT, Seanchai Library will read poems and short prose to celebrate and honour women, while between 17:00 and 18:00 the microphone will be open to anyone to offer a reading in keeping with the themes of the event.
And if this weren’t enough, also on-hand during the 24 hours will be three of Second Life’s top dance and performance groups:
10:00-11:00 SLT – The ChangHigh Trinity Sisters present Fireshow of Light, Life, & Love.
17:30 – Misfit Dance & Performance Art.
19:00 – Guerilla Burlesque.
At 13:00, the Second Life Cheerleaders will provide a display, while at 14:00, there will be an interactive dance session with Cordie.
One Billion Rising, 2021The full schedule of events is now available, covering all live performers, DJs, dance performances and poetry, and further information on the music entertainment acts can be found here and here, and information on those presenting the spoken word can be found here.
Why Dance?
A critique sometimes levelled at OBR / OBR in SL is that the issues it raises cannot be solved by dance. Well, that’s absolutely true, just as marching through the streets carrying placards and banners is unlikely to have a lasting impact on whatever it is people might be marching about.
But – like marches and protests – dance and music does serve to draw attention to matters. It provides a means by which people are encouraged to stop and think, while also providing a focal point of attention that allows information and ideas to be disseminated. What’s also important is that it’s a lot harder to see dancing as a threat than might be the case with an organised march or protest – something to take into consideration given there are countries where the right to march or protest freely does not exist. Hence why, as well, OBR in Second Life is marked each year with a dance video to the OBR theme song.
While the last remaining UWA region remains present in SL (it has been anticipated it would depart the grid in early January 2021), the exhibition closed at the end of the 2020. However, such was the response to it that Chuck, together with co-organiser Mariposa Upshaw, has decided to continue the flame lit by Jayjay Zifanwe and the UWA by presenting and hosting occasional open invitation Art Challenges on a given theme.
The first of these will open at Chuck’s art-focused regions of Sinful Retreat and Angels Rest in July 2021, with the opening currently subject to confirmation. The theme will be that of Sinners and Saints, and submissions are now open.
Sinful Retreat and Angels Rest are mirrors for each other, highlighting the dichotomy of light and dark in art and humanity as a whole. We thought it appropriate that our first show should reflect that. Despite the terminology, you need not think in terms of Christianity. Sure, you could pick one of the seven deadly sins (Pride, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, or Sloth) or virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Courage, Faith, Hope, or Charity) but we are not locking you into that in any way. We welcome all here, so if you are Buddist, Muslim, Jewish, Taoist, a Reiki Master, a member of the Church of Satan, whatever your belief system, or lack there of; submit two pieces, one for each side of the saintly / sinful coin.
– Chuck Clip, on the Saints and Sinners challenge
The challenge is open to 2D and 3D artists and to poets and writers, with those entering the challenge asked to submit two pieces, one depicting the side of light (or goodness, or saintliness or The Force, or whatever you might like to call it) and the other the side of “darkness” (or The Dark Side, or sinfulness or wickedness – again, whatever you prefer to call it).
There are a few guidelines that those wishing to enter should observe:
Those participating must subject two pieces of art: one good/light and one evil/dark.
If you only wish to submit is single piece, please contact Chuck Clip or Mariposa Upshaw beforehand.
Submissions can take the form of 2D or 3D or poetry on a prim, and individual pieces may not exceed a Land Impact of 200.
All pieces should be able to be interpreted by the casual viewer as being representative of the theme. Where the link to the theme is difficult to ascertain, this should be referenced in a note card accompanying the work.
The exhibition will remain open for a period of three months, after which pieces may be cycled in and out as part of the overall environment of the regions.
Submission Guidelines:
Completed items should be dropped into the Sinners & Saints Submissions drop box located at the Sinful Retreat landing point.
Submitted pieces should be accompanied by a note card with the following information:
Your user name (Not a Display Name, as these can change).
Titles of the submitted pieces.
Any required explanatory notes per the guidelines above.
Biographical notes on yourself.
A landmark to a location where more of your work might be seen and / or Flickr link.
If you are unable to submit you pieces and note card via the drop box, please place them all into a single folder entitled “Sinful Retreat Challenge” and pass the folder to either Chuck Clip or Mariposa Upshaw.
All submissions must be received no later than Saturday, June 26th, 2021.
Questions concerning the challenge should be directed to Mariposa Upshaw or FallenAurora Jewell.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Monday, February 8th, 19:00: Into the Green
The harp was a gift from Jacky Lanter’s fey kin, as was the music Angharad pulled from its strings. She used it in her journeys through the kingdoms of Green Isles, to wake the magic of the Summerblood where it lay sleeping in folk who had never known they had it.
Harping, she knew, was on third of a bard’s spells. Harping, and poetry, and the road that led – to….?
Charles de Lint takes us into lands infused and transformed by magic. Magic that grows in the roots of old oaks and dances by moonlight among standing stones. Magic that sleeps in an old soldier’s eyes and glows in the gaze of a phantom stag. Magic that pumps through the heart and the veins of those born to the Summerblood-to be stolen at knife point, burned, destroyed, in danger of fading back into the green and disappearing forever from the world.
Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability—with a glance, a gesture, a word—to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness.
The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill.
In this beautifully crafted story, Ursula K. Le Guin writes of the proud cruelty of power, of how hard it is to grow up, and of how much harder still it is to find, in the world’s darkness, gifts of light.
With Willow Moonfire.
Wednesday, February 10th, 19:00: In Walt We Trust
More from Craig Johnson’s Sheriff Longmire Series with Kayden Oconnell and Caledonia Skytower.
Thursday, February 11th:
19:00 Squashed Romances
With Sandon Loring. Also in Kitely! Find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI.
21:00; Seanchai Late Night
Contemporary sci-fi and fantasy from such on-line sources as Escape Pod, Light Speed, and Clarkesworld ‘zines, with Finn Zeddmore.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Monday, February 1st, 19:00: Into the Green
The harp was a gift from Jacky Lanter’s fey kin, as was the music Angharad pulled from its strings. She used it in her journeys through the kingdoms of Green Isles, to wake the magic of the Summerblood where it lay sleeping in folk who had never known they had it.
Harping, she knew, was on third of a bard’s spells. Harping, and poetry, and the road that led – to….?
Charles de Lint takes us into lands infused and transformed by magic. Magic that grows in the roots of old oaks and dances by moonlight among standing stones. Magic that sleeps in an old soldier’s eyes and glows in the gaze of a phantom stag. Magic that pumps through the heart and the veins of those born to the Summerblood-to be stolen at knife point, burned, destroyed, in danger of fading back into the green and disappearing forever from the world.
Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability—with a glance, a gesture, a word—to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness.
The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill.
In this beautifully crafted story, Ursula K. Le Guin writes of the proud cruelty of power, of how hard it is to grow up, and of how much harder still it is to find, in the world’s darkness, gifts of light.
With Willow Moonfire.
Wednesday, February 3rd, 19:00: In Walt We Trust
More from Craig Johnson’s Sheriff Longmire Series with Kayden Oconnell and Caledonia Skytower.
Thursday, February 4th: 19:00 Squashed Romances
With Sandon Loring. Also in Kitely! Find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 