Nonprofit Commons will be hosting a Winter Festival between the 11th and 17th December (inclusive).

Entitled Wishes Granted: Stories of Positive Impact, it is described thus:

“In a snow covered setting, visitors will discover huge books that tell real life fairy tales. Those stories are about how nonprofit organizations have had an encouraging and constructive influence on the lives of others. Inside the “fairy tale” books will be insightful stories on notecards, landmarks, and gifts from the unique nonprofits. Discover there is an opportunity, as individuals and as a community, to impact the lives of people who join us in the virtual world and those we support in the physical world every day, many of whom do not even log in to Second Life. Grab a wand and make magic happen!”

The core events as scheduled are (all times SLT):

• Sunday December 11: Opening Party (14:00-16:00): featuring music by Avantgarde Frequency, and hosted at the Non-profit Commons Area Aloft
• Tuesday December 13: Wharf Ratz Extraordinary Dance Extravaganza (19:00-21:00) at Wharf Ratz on Aloft
• Thursday December 15: Magaic Wings and Wands (17:00-19:00) with DJ DyVerse Steele at the CommonGround at the Nonprofit Community Area on Aloft 
• Saturday December 17:
  • Snowglobe Building Contest (10:00-13:00) there are a limited number of spaces so come early to secure one at the CommonGround at the Nonprofit Community Area on Aloft 
  • Dance with live music (18:00-20:00) at the CommonGround at the Nonprofit Community Area on Aloft 

As well as these main events, and throughout the week there will be additional activities such as snowball fights and dogsled races, as well as there being gifts to collect and ice skating in among the books themselves. Information on additional events will be posted via the Nonprofit Commons in-world Group (IMs and Notices) and through their Google Group.

The 4th annual Machinima Expo will be taking place over the coming weekend, 18th-20th November, in both Second Life and on the web.

Showcasing the winners of this year’s Machinima Expo competition, the event will be presenting a packed schedule of films over the weekend, which you can watch either in-world with friends, or view via the Machinima Expo website. Entries for the competition were not restricted to Second Life, but were open to “footage captured from a real-time 3D engine and includes video games and software designed to create machinima”  (including worlds such as World of Warcraft and games such as The Sims), so should make for interesting viewing (although which environments, etc., the inidividual films were made in is not always clear when reading the programme schedule).

Films will be shown at a number of venues in-world, and will be accompanied by specific in-world only activities as well. The venues are:

• UCSVille – The Expo Hub – billed as “the trade show floor” of the Expo featuring galleries, vendor booths and teleporters to the other Expo locations, and with help staff on hand, making it a good place to start your Expo explorations
• UWA Theater  – billed as “the best place to begin if you’re wanting to watch the live programming or screen the selected films in world”, sitting as it does on the corner of 4 regions

Additionally, there are two special venues for the event:

• BoSamba Ocean Paradise: which plays host to the end of day party – see the event programme for details
• Master Class in Second Life Machinima: hands-on course in techniques of creating machinima within the virtual world of Second Life to be held on Friday November 18th at  14:00 SLT.

Check the Machinima Expo website for the programme schedule and a list of films being screened.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can strike anyone at any time. While its occurrence is less frequent than acute stress response, its effects are far more enduring. Fearless Nation is US 501c3 organisation dedicated to helping and supporting those suffering from, or impacted by, PTSD.

This week, Fearless Nation is hosting a festival in Second Life aimed at raising awareness of PTSD for suffers and the families of suffers alike, and, in line with the aims of the foundation, removing the stigma associated with the illness.

The festival includes a huge range of live and music events scheduled for this week – details of which can be found on the Festival Calendar, as there really is too much going on to list here. You can also find out more about PTSD by joining-in a hunt that will continue through until the 20th November, and which features a range of gifts, or by visiting the impressive information centre, where static and video presentation boards present further information.

There are also two sims of amazing artwork to be viewed through until the 30th November, and which include works by:

 – kazuhiro aridian – Rebeca Bashly –
– Gwen Carillon – Tricia Farella –
– Glyph Graves – Claudia222 Jewell –
– Bryn Oh – Scottius Polke –
– Bonni Reid – Sabbian Paine –
Starax Statosky – Nicole Steen –
– Lina Stigsson – Starlash Sweetwater –
– Stephen Venkman – PJ Trenton –
– Eliza Wierwight – Trill Zapetero –

The art exhibits are spread across two neighbouring sims – Jones Beach and South Side. I would add a note of caution on the sim crossings; I did find them unusually rough during both my recent visits. However, the art displays more than make up for any roughness you may experience – they are magnificent.

Truth be told, the Fearless Nation installation itself is a work of art – and hugely informative about a condition that still carries far too much stigma and which is no respector of background, profession, gender or age. It can strike at any time as a result of exposure to extremely frightening or distressing events; estimates suggest that around 5% of all men and 10% of all women suffer from PTSD at some point in their lives, and up to 40% of cases are as a result of sudden bereavement*.

So, please take the opportunity to understand more about PTSD both during the coming week and the rest of November. Should you wish, you can contribute directly to the work of Fearless Nation through one of the many donation boxes placed around the sims.

Related Links

• Fearless Nation website
• Festival calendar – updated periodically
• Fearless Nation main teleport point
• Fearless Nation Hunt
• Talking2Minds – UK PTSD charity
• Wikipedia page on PTSD

*figures from the UK PTSD charity Talking2Minds.

Duché de Coeur enters a very busy phase in their  calendar today, with the first day-long series of events that will be held almost every weekend through November.

These promise to be a fabulous round of concerts and events held within equally fabulous venues in the Duchy’s regions. If you’ve not yet taken time to visit Duché de Coeur, I suggest you take a good look at the activities here and consider popping along; you might also like to read-up on the Duchy itself and join in with the period feel of the regions by wearing suitable attire (not a strict requirement, but a good reason for costumes or formal wear!).

Here’s a brief run-down on the concerts; as always, all times SLT:

Sunday 6th November

• 11:00-12:00: Soprano Elvera Lerner performs a Julie Andrews Tribute Concert at the Languedoc Coeur-Opera House (SLurl). Further details here
• 13:00-14:00: SaraMarie Philly performs at Provence Coeur Est-Queen’s Hamlet as part of the Tunes Around Town series
• 15:00-16:00: As a part of the Sacred Sunday series, Adevina Citron will be performing at the Languedoc Coeur-Chapel
• 17:00-18:00: Continuing the Sacred Sunday series, WaltKeys Faith will be performing Jazz/Blues Piano also at the Languedoc Coeur-Chapel.

Friday 11th November

• 17:00-18:00: Adevina Citron returns to perform once more as part of the Enchanted Evening series. The venue has yet to be confirmed
• 19:00-20:00: Chris Fredrikkson will be performing at Languedoc Coeur-Beach as part of the Tunes Around Town series

Saturday 12th November

• 15:00-16:00 and 16:00-17:00: Continuing the Tunes Around Town series, Lauren Ilo and The Balladeer perform at Aquitaine Coeur-Pavillion of the Heart
• 20:00-21:00: Tukso Okey appears at Languedoc Coeur-Beach as a part of the Enchanted Evening series.

Sunday 13th November

• 14:00-15:00: Benski Korhonen will perform at the Languedoc Coeur-Chapel as part of the Sacred Sunday series.

Sunday 20th November

• 13:00-14:00: Lauren Ilo will perform at the Languedoc Coeur-Chapel as part of the Sacred Sunday series.

Saturday 26th November

• 14:00-15:00 SaraMarie Philly performs at Aquitaine Coeur-Pavillion of the Heart as part of the Enchanted Evenings series.

All of these events are staged by the The Académie Royal de Musique and organised by the Académie’s Director, Baharat Atlas.

Tomorrow, Sunday 6th November, the legendary Mankind Tracer – in real life one very talented Seth Regan will be hosting his annual “Peace Love and Belief” (PLB) concert across Second Life.

Marking its fifth year, PLB will be broadcast across a total of 60 sims (eight more than last year), with Seth performing for two hours between 12:00 and 14:00 SLT.

This year, 50% of all proceeds will be given to research into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, which affects some 350,000 people worldwide, and leads to some 50% of victims dying within three years of diagnosis.

The show will comprise live video and audio streams to the 60 sims involved in the event, and Seth himself will be appearing in-world at one of the locations to take requests.

Regions participating in the event comprise:

Solace Beach, Black Sand Beach, The Majestic, JSP Lounge, Chompers, The Mad Hatter, Club Graffiti Mary Jane Shoes, The Bay, Best of SL (BOSL), Monaco Yachts, Brews & Blues, The Hourglass, Gizza Creations, Miss Darcy!, Champion Horses, Cranberry Cove, MJ’s Blues and Dance, Big Bad Wolf Road House, NY HealthScape Expo Center, Hobo Juke Joint, Mojo Haven Blues and Rock Club, The Rose Theatre, Club NaggnRoth, Bakari’s Island Paradise, Two Moon Paradise, Club Blue Twilight, Neon Moon Lounge, Palazzo Celestiale, Club Myst, Cerridwen’s Cauldron, Nouvel Eden, White Tigers Island, Cafe Andromeda, Villa Lobos, The Crazy Parrot, Crossroads Bar, Yehonatan, Palm Springs, Phoenatopia, Club Kasra, Key west, Fire n Ice, Paris Metro, Plaza Luna, Frank’s Elite Jazz, The Labyrinth Theater, Warung Beats, The SL Enquirer, Sanctuary Beach, Mahalo Kai, PRAKA, Kickin Club, Dream Isle of Love, Giant Snail Races, Blue Bloods Mall, Twisted Thorne Textures, Global Online Hockey Association, The New Colour Factory, Absolut Model District.

Sadly, I can’t include LMs for each venue – I’d be hopping all over the Grid with no time for anything else :). However, each venue will have a Landmark board with a clickable list of venues, which will ease getting to one if you find the first you choose is too crowded. You may, however, wish to start your journey from the board at Good Day Sunshine, or see the Destination Guide.