On June 7th, I wrote a piece about the A’stra main stage at SL10BCC. At the risk of repeating myself, this is a truly stunning build by Today Nakamura and Flea Bussy. As a part of the article, I post-processed some of the images I captured of the stage and turned them into drawings / paintings of the build to create a little illustrative narrative to go with the post.
I subsequently uploaded a couple of the images to my Flickr stream and then to the SL10BCC Flickr Group, where I think Toady may have seen them and found inspiration, as Flea IM’d me while I was off-line, and left me a message with a clue:
Shhhh! When you have a moment, maybe peek at the front of A’stra, near the angle you took the photo from…well, or we could say, painted! Toady saw your painting and well…you’ll see!
Intrigued, I pulled on my exploring boots, spent a few minutes burning incense at the Alter of the GPU asking that my Ge9800 GT hold itself together for an in-world visit (It’s been struggling badly the last 48 hours, and not only on the SL10BCC regions, which are already quite densely packed with textures), and jumped in-world.
What I found was lovely, and – I have to say – deeply flattering. There’s a new little promontory leading from the “mainland” paths bordering the stage, and on it … well, see for yourselves…
“The artist”
I actually think he’s doing a much better job than I did…
“The artist”
So, thank you, Toady and Flea!
The artist adds a wonderful additional touch to the build – and I’m not saying that because the inspiration for him may have come from my pictures. There is a wealth of detail and many incredible touches from both Flea and Toady which bring this stage to life as you wander through it, and the artist adds another gem to that detail. Keep your eyes out for him once the regions open!
P.S. if you’re curious, the first image above may appear to have had a degree of post-processing. It hasn’t. It was produced purely through tweaking windlight via William Weaver’s Phototools, allow me to draw more attention to the figure of the artist.
There’s no SL10BCC banner heading this post, as I’m writing as “me” rather than in any official or semi-official capacity.
With just 10 days to go, things are really shaping-up on the SL10BCC regions, and there are some really stunning builds coming together. For the last few days I’ve been peeking-in on the main stage sets, and have to say that if you found the stages from SL9B to be pretty special – then prepared to have your socks blown off )and possibly out the nearest window) this year.
The stages are amazing.
“We approached A’stra from seaward. I could scarce believe my eyes – the legends were true! An entire islands carved into the likeness of a giant turtle, beautiful waterfalls tumbling from its back which was itself a verdant green land. As the Captain dropped anchor, I took pen to paper, anxious to capture this wonderful land we were about to explore…”
I actually wanted to bring you images of the main stage yesterday, but Whiskey Monday got some incredible shots, one of which was taken from a similar angle as one of mine, so I wanted to avoid seeming like I was trying to steal her thunder.
To appreciate the main stage, you really have to see it; covering two regions, it is simply awesome and offers so much to see an explore in its own right. I’ve post-processed the images here not so much to show off that I can, but because I want you to have some element of the same wonder and awe I experienced in exploring the stage, and so didn’t want to give too much away with colour snaps :).
“We took to the long boats on the morning tide and made our way inshore. A path led towards a bridge and a route up onto the island, and the others were quick to set of in exploration. I waited a while, content to draw the great head of the ‘beast’…”
The entire build resonates strongly for me. For a start, the name of the stage is A’stra, taken from the motto Ad Astra Per Aspera, through hardship to the stars, which is very close to the motto of the Royal Air Force in which my father served, Per Ardua Ad Astra (meaning roughly the same thing). Then there are the unmistakable primary motifs for the stage: a giant turtle with four elephants upon its back…
OK, so the discworld isn’t sitting upon the backs of the elephants, who are all busy with other tasks (two providing support for the main bridge leading to the stage, for example), but if you are in any way familiar with the works of Sir Terence David John “Terry” Pratchett, then it’s hard not to feel a smile crossing your lips on seeing A’stra.
“Later in the day, my oils and canvas were brought ashore and while camp was established, I took myself away to give colour to this wonderful sight, so beautifully created by artisans of such great skill….”
Nor is it entirely inappropriate. This year does, after all, mark five years since Sir Terry visited Second Life in October 2008…
The echoes for me running still deeper, tho. The “back” part of the stage is fabulously landscaped with a wealth of detail – gardens, statues, pools of water with steps leading into them and fountains with cascades of ree-flowing water that – as I have elsewhere in SL – I was immediately put in mind of Sri Lanka, and specifically, the great palaces of Sigiriya. Not that the stage set in any way resembles Sigiriya – far from it in terms of physical appearance – but rather tha the combination of jungle paths, ancient ruins, pools and so on tended to cast my mind back to the times I spent visited the Lion Rock citadel.
Explore the stage regions careful – there is a lot to see above and – in places – below ground, and there is a story to tell in various sculptures which line one of the paths leading up to the stage.
The main stage is just one of the core elements of the forthcoming SL10BCC celebrations – the water and cake stages are both equally as amazing. Together with the builds and exhibits which are rising out of the ground right across the celebration regions, the promise to make the community-lead celebration of SL’s 10th anniversary truly magnificent.
One of the many sculptures to be found lining a path leading up to the main stage and which together tell a story of their own.
SL10BCC Key Dates
June 16 – Grand Opening
June 23 – Official Birthday day and final day of performances
June 29 – Sims close to the public
July 1 – All builds to be dismantled – sims go offline
My apologies for the relative low resolution of the above images (1440×900-ish). Sadly, and as with the Fantasy Faire regions in April, the SL10BCC regions are already more than my Ge900GT can comfortably handle when taking snapshots with bells and whistles switched on in any of my preferred viewers.
Today has not been a great day in House Pey where real life is concerned From a morning filled with opportunities and plans to an evening with not a little frustration and general “Grrrrr-iness”.
I shan’t bore you with the details. Suffice it to say the oven completely dying yesterday (after being decidedly wobbly for the last few days) didn’t help, and I’m not even going to mention the toilet seat in the en suite bathroom. No, really. I’m not.
Instead, I’ll bore you with some minor SL trivia, given it is June and the 10th anniversary celebrations are looming closer.
We all know that the very first beta resident on record was Stellar Sunshine. Her name is recorded, along with all those of the beta participants at the Beta Participants wall in Plum. Her account is still active, and she still logs-in from time-to-time.
But do you know the very first “officially recorded” SL account?
The belonged to Phoenix Linden who, Andrew Linden told me (and by “me”, I mean “everyone attending the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday June 4th” :)), was implementing the databases at the time, and so his was the first account to be recorded. Prior to the work Phoenix carried out, SL didn’t have persistent authentication or records.
So there you go! 🙂
Anyone else have snippets of trivia they’d like to share which may be rare or new to others? Feel free to post a comment.
Building work continues apace on the SL10B Community Celebration (SL10BCC) regions. To mark progress, we’ve kicked-off the SL10BCC Pictures of the Day. Each day, selected pictures will be posted on the website of the celebration regions and exhibits and people.
All you need to do is join the SL Community Celebration Flickr Group and post your pictures there. Note that by doing so, you give consent for the organisers of the event to use them in publicity and for pictures of the day.
Those who have access to the regions can start posting now – but worry not if you don’t – the group will remain open through the celebrations for everyone to share their pictures!
Photo Contest
There are now just two days remaining in the first of our official SL10BCC Photo Contests. So if you haven’t entered, now’s the time! Honour and glory are the prizes, in addition to having your photo posted on the Community Celebration official blog, and social media (e.g. Facebook, Flickr, Twitter).
We want you to submit a photo which encapsulates all or part of this year’s celebratory theme: Looking Forward, Looking Back. The subject matter is entirely your choice – as long as it’s not of any part of the celebration regions themselves; we hope to have a further competition for that later! Instead, we want you to explore the grid (or your inventories!) and find the perfect picture which fits our theme.
Orientation Station circa 2003: a pat of SL’s history. Perhaps a part of out Photo Contest?
Up to two entries can be submitted per avatar name, and there are two categories for entries:
Category A is for photos taken using only the tools available within the viewer (the snapshot floater, windlight settings, the debug and preferences options for images, etc.)
Category B is for photos which have been processed outside of the viewer using tools such as PhotoShop, GIMP, PaintShop Pro and so on.
Entries must not show the SL10B Community Celebration regions
Photos must be PG – make it family friendly keep it clean and FUN or risk disqualification!
Competitors must indicate whether the photograph is Category A (using only the tools available within the viewer) or Category B (using tools outside the viewer, such as photo editing software)
Descriptive text may accompany entries
The Community Celebration Team reserve the right to use photograph submissions for event advertising
All entires must be uploaded by midnight SLT on Thursday, June 6th, 2013.
A distinguished panel will select the top twenty photos, which will be displayed at the entry point at the celebrations, where visitors will get the opportunity to vote for the one they like best.
Can You Help?
Two Second Life residents, Dizzy Banjo and Arciamay Resident are looking for people to help with their SL10BCC exhibits.
Dizzy Banjo’s Message in a Bottle Take 2
“5 Years ago, along with Lillie Yifu,” Dizzy Banjo says, “I made the Message in a Bottle exhibit at Second Life’s 5th Birthday event. It featured voice contributions from hundreds of Second Life users. Check out this video of it:”
“It was a treasured project – featured on the Linden Lab home page for some time after the event. Some residents and Lindens even told me it made them cry!”
Now Dizzy is looking for volunteers willing to record up to 10 seconds of them answering the question “What does Second Life mean to you in 2013?” The recordings won’t be going into a bottle this year, however. Instead, Dizzy says, “it’s going to use an exciting new trick which I’m sure you will like!”
If you’re willing to do so, send your recording via e-mail to dizzysbottle@gmail.com, together with your avatar name or send Dizzy a link to a downloadable version of the file if you’ve uploaded it to Soundcloud or similar. See Dizzy’s blog for more information and suggestions on suitable recording software.
Be A Part of Gallery Celebrating Second Life’s History
Arciamay Resident says of her exhibit: “I am looking for old photos or art work depicting the history of Second Life. I’ve also have read some of the poetry that people have written describing their feelings and inturrpretations of SL.
“I’m creating a gallery so people can share their art, poetry and photos. There will also be an area where people can relax and hopefully share their experiences in Second Life.”
To find out more and participate, please contact Arciamay in-world.
It’s no secret that Second Life marks ten years of being open to the world on June 23rd, and to celebrate, the global community of Second Life users is coming together in a week-long celebration across the twenty-two regions of the Second Life 10th Birthday Community Celebration.
The SL10BCC Auditorim
The sims have already been laid out, and across all of them, people are busily putting together their exhibits, while across the rest of Second Life, entertainers are readying themselves to participate in a 24/7 round of entertainment which will run across the regions of the celebration for the entire week of festivities.
The gates to the celebration will open to the public on June 16th, when the celebrations will commence which will culminate on June 23rd in a spectacular fashion.
What mysteries await the intrepid reporters who sign-up….?
However, if you are a member of the virtual worlds’ press or are a virtual worlds blogger, then we’re extending an invitation for you to come see the regions, photograph the builds and enjoy preview access to the celebrations on our special Press Day ahead of the regions opening to all.
To apply to be an official SL10B Community Celebration press contact or blogger, simply fill-out and submit our Press Pass application form.
Sunday May 26th saw the SL10BCC regions open to exhibitors and their helpers to start building / dropping in their exhibits. Since that time, the lonely patchworks of grass and water, neatly cut by sidewalks and piers I described in my last update have begun to vanish.
Like flowers bursting into bloom at the first touch of spring sunshine, so new builds have burst forth across the SL10BCC regions. Awesome builds, multi-hued builds, towering builds, quaint builds, charming builds, scary builds.
SL10BCC – building underway
Everywhere is a hive of activity, as everyone works towards the deadline of June 13th, when the regions will all be closed ready for final testing and to allow the press and blogging community to preview all of the builds and the festivities to mark SL’s 10 birthday.
Well, almost everywhere.
Sitting between the builds are unattended parcels. Sad, forlorn parcels without even a prim to proclaim that they are loved and wanted. Even after a week of frantic building, they remain unclaimed.
Given the volume of applications received for exhibitor space, this cannot be allowed to continue. So the warning is going out far and wide:
If you have received an offer of a plot at SL10BCC and have not yet claimed it, you now have less than 24 hours in which to do so! Plots which remain unclaimed after Sunday June 2nd will be re-allocated!
Unclaimed and unloved. If you have received an offer of a plot at SL10BCC and have not claimed it, you now have less than 24 hours to do so – or risk losing it!
If you have NOT claimed your parcel, then make sure you do so ASAP, by following these steps (as detailed in the Event Policies):
Asking for an EA (Exhibitor Assistant) in the Second Life Birthday Community group chat (there may be a delay in getting a reply, as the EAs are working as quickly as possible but are busy, so please be patient).
When an EA is available, they will tell you in the group chat to check your IMs.
The EA will IM you. Let them know that you’re ready to proceed.
Accept the group invite to Second Life Birthday Exhibitors group.
Accept the teleport offer.
The EA will give you a slice of birthday cake that contains helpful notecards and other goodies.
The EA will ask for the following: Parcel Name, Parcel Description, Parcel Texture (full-permissions texture), Build Assistants (Maximum of 4), Music Stream URL, Media Stream URL, Deed any objects (A land radio or media player), and Landing Point
NOTE: You can request these at a later time.
The EA will tell you who your Sim Coordinator is.
Set your group tag to Second Life Birthday Exhibitors group.
Rez a prim on your parcel to claim it.
Have fun.
Please, please, please note (10.). If you have gone through the above steps, but have not placed a prim on your parcel, then make sure you do at the earliest opportunity!
Again, parcels which remain unclaimed on Sunday June 2nd may well be allocated to others!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 