Happy Halloween from SLN and Skybeam

Happy Halloween

Come and join us for a spooktacular night

http://slurl.com/secondlife/SkyBeam/190/255/38

Prizes for the spookiest/funniest halloween costume
Random giveaways
Great music with DJ Qwark Allen

Find us behind our new office on skybeam

Halloween Places in SL: Serendipity Haunted House Ride and Bentham Forest

Those looking for a fun Halloween show will find one in the Serendipity sim, where a haunted house ride awaits to take people through it’s corridors.

The sign over the house reads “The Greatest Halloween Ride in the World - EVER!” This over-the-top exaggeration aside, the haunted house is a very good one. The few times I was here, the exhibit was always a bit crowded. So one will have to wait for a while for everything to rez, notably the ride seats of which once someone sits on them, they will began to slowly move down the track after a few seconds. It is recommended that visitors set their viewers to midnight, switch off music and make sure sound effects are on, stay in the seat, and for the best view go to mouselook

The “twenty rooms of terror” offer much to scare the visitors. For over fifteen minutes, one will be taken through graveyards, swamps, rickety buildings, monster habitats, hellish caverns of lava, and other scenes. As I went down the track, I could overhear (via type) couples on dates ahead “shriek” at the sights and laugh nervously. At the entry/exit area, there are a few freebies one can get, including a Halloween flag and some virtual candy.

The ride is at Serendipity (175, 100, 28) and will be up until November 5

While haunted houses are full of things that bop up as if to say “boo,” other places are more subtle in their spookiness. The Bentham Forest, also known as the Bentham Haunted Dark Forest, is among those. The sim is dark and foreboding, with dim lights making one wonder if something is out there looking upon them.

The place is highly detailed, with paths one can go down, or off them if more daring. With many places to look around in, there are some secrets to uncover. I heard there were some quests that could be found there to complete, though I have yet to find them. Still, this spooky sim is a fun and scary place to explore on Halloween.

The sim is at Wasted Night (79,117, 25).

Bixyl Shuftan

Vampire Bat Sighted in Outerland Estates

With Halloween approaching, there has been another vampire bat sighting. This time in the Outerland Archipelago, a large collection of sims in the southeast portion of the metaverse, near the Mexico sims.

Find out more in the Community Section: Click Here.

New home of SLN at Skybeam

Our new office is built and our new home at Skybeam is ready. Come and visit, sit and have a chat in the lounge area while you peruse todays news.
Skybeam have made us most welcome and I am happy to be here among friends.
Overlooking the huge sandbox is great fun as there is always something new to see each day. You never know you may even find me out there building just for the fun of it :)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/SkyBeam/164/199/38

Cartoon of the Day

Spectacle of Fire

He stood tall and proud with arms uplifted to the sky, drummers and dancers at his feet. Spectators flooded into the sims around him. In a director’s chair sat Debbie Trilling, one of the creators, ready to torch the man. There was a strong feeling of expectation in the air. Hoots and Hollers filled the air along with the constant drum beat. Some flew up, some sat on the ground, under the starlit sky as we all waited.


Finally, some bursts of orange surrounded us and then slowly the man began to burn from the bottom up. The applause began and the dancing increased as the burn made its way to the top. What a sight. Timbers flew off through the air and settled on the ground. Finally there was a heap of smoldering ashes. People began to collect the logs that had settled and added them to the fire to keep it going. Some dancers became inflamed themselves to continue the moment. Finally, the week of art and music and display was coming to an end.


But not yet! The Temple will burn Sunday. The sites will remain until November 1, in case there is anyone who could not get to the Burning Life. You must try to get there to witness all the amazing work that was done to make this past week an adventure in art. Search Burning Life on the map and choose a sim and TP in. Don’t miss it

Gemma Cleanslate

Wondrous Sights on the Playa!

Every time I tour the playa I see more and more amazing sites. The builds are lovely and the interactive ones are wonderful to play with. Parties are taking place all over the region, on the stages and also in local parcels built for that purpose. I saw the sl children having a party in Loki Eliot’s  “Waiting for Pippin”. I wandered into a Man Versus Woman parcel where you may listen to quotes from men and women by standing on mats in front of their names. I listened to Zsa Zsa Gabor’s words, “: I want a man who is kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?” and Henry Kissinger, in one of his dry witty periods, “: Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There's just too much fraternizing with the enemy.” You can find many at
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life-Leadville/46/24/24.
Last night there was a magnificent dragon flying by the Man that was almost as big as the Man! I think she had four heads. She said she could only come when the playa was mostly empty because she took up so many resources in the sim. It was a wonderful sight to see! I was on the playa the other night when the Lamp Burners made their procession with drums and dancing all the way to the Temple lighting the lamps along the road as they passed. It is a marvelous experience to walk along with them as they traverse the long way to the most northern sim and watch the dancing before the ethereal Temple.
If you have not been there yet I wonder why? 

The Man burns on Saturday in many time zones for your comfort and the Temple burns on Sunday. 

There is a page on the web where you can check the Events taking place. I hope to see you at one of them. http://burninglife.secondlife.com/eventsbrowse   

Gemma Cleanslate

WHAT’S YOUR HANDICAP?

Do you fancy playing an 18 hole round of golf and giving to charity at the same time? AND risk winning L$1000?  I think I’ll have a go. I can’t even play golf in RL let alone SL, but it’s an excuse to get out in the virtual countryside and help real people at the same time.

Find out more in the Community section

Kim Trefusis

Third Party Viewer Policy

"Linden Lab supports an open platform with opportunity for all. The flexibility of the content creation tools and open viewer allow for great creativity and innovation, but that openness also carries a responsibility for those developing on our platform and those using third party tools with our platform.
In our recent blog post Our Content Management Roadmap we addressed the responsibility Residents have to respect the intellectual property rights of others inside or outside of Second Life, and we urged developers of third party copying tools to adopt standard industry practices that protect intellectual property. Similarly, developers of third party Second Life viewers must act responsibly in how they develop and distribute their viewers. We are currently working on revisions to our policies regarding the use and management of third party viewers. To support those policy revisions, we will be implementing tools and programs to help us protect our Residents and their content, and enable them to have better, more predictable Second Life experiences."

 In recent months Secondlife has seen a rash of new viewers, some with great features others with some which could be used to spoil others use of secondlife like copybot-like features and phishing. Now Linden Lab are moving to create a registry of these third party viewers with the idea being to protect the secondlife user - what do you think?
You can read the full post HERE or join the discussion HERE

The Burn Begins ! Burn!!

The big day has arrived ! At 12:00 noon sl the gates for Burning life opened. The playa blossomed with avatars fighting against the winds of lag to visit the magnificent art exhibits and interact with the playful builds. There was such a mad rush the entrances were mobbed. Dusty Linden was swamped with messages ..Watching the map fill with green dots was fantastic. Certain sims were full, some empty, but the playa became alive for the first time with  those who wanted to party, view and enjoy every aspect of Burning Life. 

The builders were there too to witness it all. The Rangers were out there enjoying it all as the visitors came. They were called into duty quickly in some places. Some avatars love to have fun as griefers and come to throw the balance and love out of sync. They are missing so much by not joining in the fun of the playa and instead trying to disrupt it. 

The parties started right away at the major sites. 

We saw the Center Stage with a wonderful live musical event. Avatars flew by seeking new sights. Porto potties were opened for fun at the sights inside.. There is no way to express the fascinating sights to you. You must come!! You still have lots of time til the burning. Ah, I have seen two tests of the burning so far. 

The team who made the burning MAN are amazing. 

Get yourself into the burn!!! 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life-%20Deep%20Hole/2/13/24 

By Gemma Cleanslate

Find more from Gemma about being a ranger in the COMMUNITY section

Cartoon of the Day

BNT Bankrupt 53 sims offline

A couple of days ago I got a message to say my sim was offline, ok these things happen so I didn't worry too much, next day I logged in to find 'Your location is unavailable you have been moved to a nearby area'.
OK whats going on???
I went to the office and looked at the map about 1/2 of BNTs sims were gone - including my island WTF!!!????
Scrolling through past notices I found one in the Brautigan and Tuck holdings group:

BnT Holdings started with one man and his dream. A dream of building a virtual free state where the residents could proudly call Ancapistan home. Unfortunately even the world's greatest empires have endured hard times. These times are no exception. Due to the current economic status of the world and Second Life, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain 50 sims. BNT Holdings will continue to exist, but we must take one step back in order to take two steps forward. If you wish to remain a part of our family at BNT, we will be happy to relocate you to our original estate in the Surreal BT sims. Thank you for being a loyal part of BNT. Here's to a bright future.



No warning, no notice, nothing just gone.
Next - will we lose the office? Our 1/4 sim on BNT land the answer came the next day when that too disappeared. In this time I had spoken to Duchess Shepard who helped me get the sim back online for 24 hours so I could empty it. The loss of this and all our hard work on Fairyteller was devastating.
Duchess also knew nothing about this until it happened, despite the anger being directed towards her she is doing what she can to help people for which I commend her as many in her position (and some who are) don't log in or hide behind alts.

Many notes followed which I wont repeat here. I asked Intlibber for an official statement that I received this morning, which to be honest, I am not going to publish in full simply because its an out-pouring of spite and blame on others (named) none of which actually answers the questions, the rest you can read here:

"Three years ago, I launched BNT with the dream of building a real life sustainable business that could pay a real world income for myself and staff. Those were heady days when land sold reliably for 12 L$ per square meter and one could double their holdings in a few months. I built some of the iconic buildings of the SL business community, and was featured from almost our first week in business in major SL and RL media for our projects. We grew from a half sim in October 2006 to 53 sims this summer, doing so organically from sales, and capital raised via inworld markets. We had begun the transition to becoming a major developer a few times, the first time stymied by sabotage by the largest competitor, and most recently by a smaller competitor with a big obnoxious mouth."
"At the same time, it appears that the real life economy is taking much longer to recover than we had expected earlier in the year. The disposable incomes of SL users continues to erode in RL and SL, causing some of our long standing tenants to give up their land. We have also seen a systemic failure by our shareholders to follow sage investment advice to rent BNT land rather than land in other estates, in order to support their investment in BNT.
Unlike many in SL, we do not subsidize our SL business with real life income. BNT always operated on a sustainable basis on its own organic inworld growth and cash flow and was not a 'hobby' or 'game' like we see so many in the land business who do not operate with common sense business models and who undercut the market with cost-based prices.
As a result of these pressures, this past month we fell into an unrecoverable condition. We had been expecting additional income from development projects but those have not come to fruition in time to even out our cash flow. We do not expect the real world economy to recover sufficiently in the next 6 months to improve the land business, and we have made the decision to get out of the land business almost entirely.
As a result of a sudden severe drop in income, Linden Lab seized our sims on the 16th of this month. We have negotiated with them to reopen the sims temporarily so tenants may recover their property.
We are working to raise capital to recover them so we may sell them off and to pay off existing tenants tier. Once we accomplish this, we will focus solely on the content, finance, and education businesses. Our work with Woodbury University is poised to take off with major student body involvement in SL.
Unfortunately, the 10 sims we have with Surreal are also under attack from the admins there. Despite being paid up on tier with Surreal, and despite having reached an agreement with their staff about our continued operation there, they have seized our sims and banned our staff from serving our customers. Despite public claims by Deuce Marjeta, we have kept tier paid up to date on our Surreal BT sims and his actions we consider criminal theft. Despite his claims to the contrary, we do NOT endorse our residents moving to Surreal, as he reneged on our earlier agreement."

Many are angry at tier paid in advance and lost, from what I have heard Mr Brautigan is trying to arrange the sale of the now defunct sims in order to pay the debts owed - we shall just have to wait and see if anything comes of this.
Despite what people have said about this newspapers' support of Intlibber we have always tried to give an even picture with all sides being able to comment rather than making judgements or leading 'witch hunts' as many other publications do. Not through a desire to keep a sponsor, as accused, but through what we believe to be fair reporting allowing a forum for people to post their own opinions and arguments.
My personal opinion doesn't matter here even if I think someone has acted very badly I will always try to make sure the reporting here is unbiased.
I would like to say that I truly understand the anger of residents who have not only lost money but also content and much much more BUT please direct that anger at the right people not the ones who have tried to help throughout, I am truly dismayed at the outpouring of hatred directed at those who have not tried to hide.

Dana Vanmoer

SLN has a new headquarters http://slurl.com/secondlife/SkyBeam/161/231/38

Burning Life Opens

On Saturday October 17th at noon SL time, the Burning Life sims were opened to the general public of Second Life. From then until October 25th, there will be over 400 exhibits to view, with over a thousand residents involved in this major metaverse event. This massive nine day art show took almost two months to set up, and takes up three dozen sims. Burning Life 2009 is the seventh annual “virtual burn” in Second Life.

For those new to Burning Life, it is recommended you go to the Welcome Gate in the southeastern corner of the Hualapai sim and the southwestern corner of Deep Hole where a couple greeters will give you a notecard with some recommended places and answer any questions. There is also a Gate 2, and a Gate 3 available should the first be too crowded. Veteran “Burners” can simply drop in somewhere and once everything rezzes (which can take a while in the most detailed areas on older computers) start looking at the sites.

And this year, there is no shortage of things to see, and even interact with. One noteworthy exhibit I came across was the “History of Flight” by Windyy Lane. Stepping inside the “geode,” one is surrounded by a mesmerizing rainbow of colors, with creatures of some kind lazily flying in the air. One could get on them and dance, as well as port up to fly next to the huge silver bird flying over the geode.

Burning Life is inspired by the real life Burning Man art festival in the Black Rock Desert in California. Tens of thousands attend, and once it is over the exhibits are burned and everything cleaned up, “leave no trace.” Some of the Lindens had gone there before the making of Second Life, and have called it a partial inspiration for the making of it. Read more here.

For a list of exhibits, check out the Camp Directory. For special events, check the Events Listings.

“So what should you do and see? Well, ... that's entirely up to you.”

Bixyl Shuftan

"Next Chapter" for Philip Linden

I'm starting a new company, and wanted to let you know. It's a big idea - something that actually depends on Second Life existing to get started, and that I have been thinking about almost as long as I've been thinking about Second Life. I don't want to try to explain the idea here, because it is a decision I've just made and honestly I don't think I can do a good job describing it yet. But I did want to tell the whole SL community, because I don't want you to worry that anything is wrong:

I will still be chairman, as I have been since leaving the job as CEO. The change is that I'm not going to be working full-time at Linden Lab anymore (some of you might have thought I wasn't still there, but actually I have been!). I'll still be doing the same outbound and media type things as before - talking about Second Life, etc.

For the last year and a half since M started as CEO, we've been working very closely together. Much of my actual Linden work has been time spent with M. We have literally sat at the same pod, 5 feet away from each other, and have met multiple times a week. We're now at a place where I feel really comfortable that Second Life and Linden Lab are OK without me being here day to day anymore. M (and others) have also managed to hire a bunch of diverse, smart, passionate people who I feel can very capably lead the company. Do I always agree with everything they are doing? Of course not! What founder would? It's like when your teenagers leave home - of course you still worry and wish they would listen to you more! But at some point you believe that they are safe enough to live on their own. I believe that the mission of building the digital world is safe in the hands of the Lindens, which means that I can start working again at full intensity on this new project. It's very exciting.

Also, I've got a new island in-world - it's called 'P Squared'. I'm thinking it can become a sort of extended space for my new work life. Please come and visit, and don't be surprised if I give you something to do. :-) And as for all of you - the people all over the world who have built Second Life - you all feel very near and dear to me, and I want you to be a part of this next adventure. I can't say enough, or say thank you enough, about the experience that has been watching Second Life come to life. On a personal level, it has deeply changed me. I am a different and better person, in part through the experience of being in Second Life with all of you. So anyway... I'll keep you posted, as I get things more sorted out.

Philip Linden

Source: The Second Life Blog

Haunted House at Haunted Halloween Island

In the Six Sisters sim, I found a haunted house that offers not just tricks but a treat, Haunted Halloween Island.

Porting over, it’s a small walk from the small island to the larger one in which you enter the big spooky house. It’s asked that you set your viewer light to Midnight for the darkness to give a scarier feel. And the result is some scary fun, with ghosts floating through the air, goulies popping out at you, and pictures suddenly changing looks. And if you’re not careful where you click, you might end up in something’s clutches. And in the background, a fun soundtrack to add to the element of the place.

But not everything about the house is scary. There is a “treat” in the form of a “Haunted House Hunt.” Until October 30th, visitors will be given a notecard with 30 questions. The one whom answers the most correctly will win a top prize of 500 Lindens, with tiebreakers resolved with a new set of questions.

The haunted house is at Haunted Halloween Island @ Journey of Souls, Six Sisters (52, 40, 24).

“Cross the bridge, walk the path, and enter the house, if you dare! Once you get past the front door, you can not turn back! Good luck getting out - MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! “


Bixyl Shuftan

Get your pink on for a 15-hour Pink-A-Thon for breast cancer awareness

SkyBeam Estates in cooperation with the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is helping to spread the word about breast cancer awareness during breast cancer awareness month with a 15-hour Pink-A-Thon. The event, on October 17, is being organized and hosted by Nevar Lobo, Amethyst Starostin, Neill McCullough, Charlene Trudeau, and all the community at SkyBeam Estates. It will take place on two sims, starting at 6am SLT and finishing at 9pm SLT.

At TwoKats KoffeeHouse there will be live music throughout the day, with a special performance by singer-songwriter Kim Seifert at 6pm: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SkyBeam%20Estates/179/58/24 (there will be a detailed live music schedule posted at TwoKats nearer the time).

Meanwhile there will be dancing and fun at Ormsary Arts Centre, where Dakota Christensen (6am to 1pm), Bcreative Wilde (1pm to 6pm) and Cataplexia Numbers (6pm to 9pm) will be taking turns to spin their favourite tunes: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Scepterd%20Isle/147/99/33

ALL donations will go to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, the premier breast cancer event of the American Cancer Society, raising both dollars and awareness to fight the disease.

_________________________________________________________________________

For more information about the Pink-A-Thon please contact Nevar Lobo. For more information about Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Second Life please contact MSABC coordinator Synergy Devonshire

Vampire Bat Spotted at M&M Creations

M&M Creations is known to host a number of critters, from small birds to cats to sheep. But recently something new has been seen there, a six-foot vampire bat.

It’s unclear exactly when the winged hunter showed up. It was early October when it was first spotted. Since then, it’s been seen at both night and day, soaring through the air, or touching down to rest a bit. It has been seen resting in the trees, though it has not been spotted sleeping in them, so it’s thought to be taking shelter in the buildings.

Occasionally, a bite mark has been found on one of the larger animals, suggesting the vampire bat has been feeding off of their blood. But there’s no report of the bat acting aggressive to people, with a few claims that it has been winking at women as it flies by.

Why has the bat been hanging around the M&M sim? Perhaps it is the extra attention to detail 10 and Marcthur Goosson, the owners of the place, have given the animals, trees, and the other things in the sim, most of which are available for sale, “In retrospect, considering their realistic appearance, it’s no real surprise it chose these trees to rest in and these animals to feed on.”

For now, nothing is being done to discourage the duskwing from M&M Creations. Since it arrived in October, perhaps after Halloween and the Day of the Dead, the bat will return to more familiar hangouts such as caverns and gothic-themed clubs. Until then, visitors are free to wear scarves or garlic necklaces.

M&M Creations is located at the DoubleMM sim. To get there, click HERE.

Bixyl Shuftan

Evolving Builds

You are watching my articles about Burning Life aren’t you? I wish I could share with you the wonders I am seeing on the Playa. They will amaze and delight your senses. I would love to show you some photos but, not yet. I have been talking to some of the builders and they are so thrilled with their progress. Some of the new builders are still sorting out what they are doing and why. Many have put some wonderful gifts in the green tent for you and at other places around the sims.

 Nish Mip has an exciting wonderful build that you will want to see and experience for sure. It knocked me dead. I spent some time there yesterday meditating on what she has shown about evolution and its consequences.  She says she is finished but I wonder. I think she may tinker a little more.
I will be working as a Ranger .. A mediator, a helper,  as soon as I get training. I hope I pass lol. I met some rangers last year, some of whom have been to Burning Man in real life and carry their expertise to sl. I see many calls “May I have a Ranger here please..” So far I have not answered because I cannot help them. I am so thrilled to be able to visit the Playa and fly around to see the spectacular art that is there .. I hope I am enticing you to keep watching for the opening on the 17th of October. It will be here sooner than some builders want and much later than visitors want. And then you will have only one week to see it all! You have no idea how long it will take. Put it on your calendar 

Gemma Cleanslate reporting

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Click for full size image

Second Life Zombiefest

Eating brains sounds like an odd way to help the Red Cross. But that’s exactly what’s happening, thanks to some residents in the Exodus sim. This weekend, Zombiefest is being held, with all Lindens raised going to charity.

Looking around, the place was like the setting of a horror movie, with people in undead avatars stumbling about, with tags like “Zombyonce,” “Will **** For Brains,” and other examples of “dead-pan” humor. There was a pale girl behind a kissing booth, “Kisses, $100L! Get your kisses here, by the help booth! A hundred Lindens to lick my rotten lips.” One lady gave out tarrot card readings from a gypsy wagon. There were also some vendors selling zombie AOs, and other goulish goods, as well as a few freebies available. At a funky-looking dance floor, complete with a danceball that looked like a round brain, a Rob Zombie band played to a packed audience of dancing corpses.

The idea for the event “originally started off as a zombie themed fashion show,” Putrid Gloom told me. He talked with Gattina Dumpling, “One of us, I don't remember who, found out that the 9th (of October) was International World Zombie Day. And so we formulated the idea to do something for charity that celebrated that.” Horrid Twine and Stein Shilova also helped to organize the event, “but we also have a group called Hot For Zombies, a zombie RP group. A lot of people came on board from that group and helped us. ... Also to be mentioned is that the good folk of NoR have donated this sim for the duration.”

Asked about the sim being filled to capacity, “We have had a fantastic response, bigger than we ever expected. It's been full from the get-go. When we talked Friday night, they had already raised a lot of cash, “So far we have just hit the 100,000L$ mark. We expect to make around 3 to 4 thousand (US dollars). Fingers crossed.” They were already making plans for the future, “Zombiefest 2010 is already being planned. ... We will probably do something around Christmas, but we haven't got any details for you I'm afraid.”

Saturday events had among them a Zombie Auction. Events Sunday include a Zombie dance party, complete with DJs, and a Burlesque show.

So for some Halloweenish fun a little early in the month, and giving to the Red Cross in the process, head over to the Exodus sim before the party comes to a close Sunday night.

“It’s to die for.”

Bixyl Shuftan

“The Life and Times of Uncle D” Machinima Premiers in Second Life

By Nazz Lane

I attended the premier of “The Life and Times of Uncle D” in second life on Thursday, October 1^st. The event and machinima were produced by The Virtual Worlds Story Project (TVWSP). TVWSP is a second life company, founded by Jena Ball (aka Jenaia Moran) and Martin Keltz (aka Marty Snowpaw), who have developed an approach to storytelling using second life as a “media”. Known as story quests, they are designed, “to engage, educate, and create community”. With the launch of “The Life and Times of Uncle D”, TVWSP tackles HIV/AIDS, where “participants will explore the life of an HIV-positive person known simply as Uncle D.” The machinima had been actively promoted and eagerly anticipated since first being introduced at the Second Life Community Convention in August of this year.

I arrived fifteen minutes ahead of the scheduled noon start time and took a seat in the rustic looking amphitheater where the film was to be shown. Several people had preceded me and I exchanged pleasantries with a few friends. While we waited, Cylindrian Rutabaga entertained us with a live piano performance. At the stroke of noon, Jenaia and Marty took their positions in front of microphones on the stage and began the event with an opening statement which was read into the chat log. The other members of the production team were seated on stage and included; Pathfinder Linden, Ariella Languish, Sawyer Quixote, and Emmy Emerald. Ms Morane spoke first, followed by Mr. Keltz.

“Welcome and thank you all for coming. My name is Jenaia Morane, and I am the co-founder and head Story Sleuth at The Virtual Worlds Story Project. Stories and storytelling – that remarkable ability we all share to suspend disbelief and step into a world of our own or another’s creation is what TVWSP is all about. We dream them, write them, collect them, preserve them, and for the first time here in Second Life, have had the chance to build and invite others into them to see, hear, touch, feel, and co-create them with us. We call these experiences “Story Quests.” Our latest Story Quest is entitled “The Life and Times of Uncle D.” It was imagined and created as a way to de-stigmatize and personalize the subject of HIV/AIDS by celebrating the life of someone known simply as Uncle D. But before we do, I’d like to introduce you to my partner on this journey of self -discovery through storytelling – Marty Keltz.”

When Jenaia Morane and I first met at the 2009 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, we immediately saw that we shared the same vision for the potential that Second Life offered as a purely creative medium. With Jenaia coming from a writing and journalism background, and me from film and television, our deeply held belief was that content trumps technology.”

Before the video began we were treated to the lovely voice of Ms Rutabaga who performed a rendition of a song by Missy Higgins, chosen by Jenaia for the event, “The Sound of White”.  As Cyl said later when I spoke to her, “it really fit the theme”.  After the song, Jen instructed the audience to click on our media players and launch The Life and Times of Uncle D.

I’d written an article that had appeared in this newspaper as the company prepared for the SLCC presentation. Jenaia had taken me on a tour of the set and we’d discussed the approach for the quest.   I’d also seen and been wowed by the trailer produced so I knew that I was in for a treat as the machinima began playing. The opening scene began with a letter to Marty Snowpaw , the Reluctant Quester, who is accompanied by his therapy dog Cice.  The quest adventure starts and they take us into and through the place where we’re introduced to Uncle D. It is through the imagery, their dialog and interaction with quest props that we’re drawn in as participants to explore the life this man.

I was completely captivated by the eight minute video and at the end, I typed out the following chat line; “Nazz Lane wipes a tear from his cheek and leaps to his feet and with hands clapping he joins the audience in a round of thunderous applause”.

After the applause died down, Ms Morane again spoke to the audience, thanking them and asking them to participate in the story.  She said, “Now that you’ve all experienced Uncle D for yourselves, I’d like to invite you to write a letter or poem or phone message to him. Imagine that you are a friend, relative, student, or colleague from school. What would you like to say to him? Take 15 minutes to write your message now.”

Many in the audience did respond to her request and the submissions were read aloud by members of the production team. Afterward the audience was invited to the Café Ristretto, located on Karuna Island for an evening of dancing and live music provided by Inchino Melson.

During the event I had to the opportunity to speak with filmmaker Ariella Languish (aka Ariella Furman), who had this to say about the video and the event. “This event was incredible! It's amazing how there was a moment during the reading of everyone's letters that there seemed to be this interconnectedness of time and space, where everyone was just one. I know how I felt, free, inspired, a little solemn and in realization of how delicate life is. I can't help but feel others felt the same way. It was a little surreal to see my work on a screen that large!”

I also spoke with Marty Snowpaw who told me, “Absolutely the highlight of the day and clear proof of what we are attempting was the writing submissions done by the audience.”

“Was the video everything you expected it to be?” I asked.

“It was more than I could have hoped for. Ariella is a film maker that is what makes all the difference. Machinima is just the technique, like any other form of animation. Then you have to make a film … tell a story.” He replied and then added, “The payoff is the quest … that's the 21st Century piece … that is where the revolution is and will happen … just like it did today listening to everyone's contribution.”

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IMAGINE FESTIVAL SPANNING VIRTUAL CONTINENTS AND IGNITING CREATIVITY

The Imagine Network works for a better world, with a focus on human rights, as well as social and environmental justice for all.  Our work in Second Life seeks to connect people to people, group to group, and network to network.  We aim to identify the root causes of the larger toxic global problems facing us in order to help find solutions, and to help people act together in cooperation toward that goal.

Our mission is dedicated to awareness and imagination, not profit.

THE SECOND LIFE IMAGINE FESTIVAL

The Imagine Festival is about creating a dream though art, music, poetry, drama, and interactive experience.

The festival launches at Four Bridges - a wonderful new Imagine build by AuraKyo Insoo.  It moves over amazing spaces across the grid, spanning virtual continents over 10 sims.

The Imagine Festival takes us to the opening of the Imagine Peace Tower commissioned by Yoko Ono.  The Tower will be unveiled and officially opened on Imagine Peace Island at 3:30pm SLT, Friday 9 October.

Also featured in this year's festival is a major build offered by UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio).  The UTSA's newly developed Art Space consists of a full-sim exploration of the seasons that has come to life through the artistic impressions of a diverse group representing some of SL's most prominent artists.  Each of these artists have made contributions to one or more of the seasons that speak to the future of weather in a unique way.

Other creative journeys to be found in the Festival are; Africa Live, Tales and Legends of Africa, CHAMBER of our HEART, Undersea Mermaid Poetry,  Pentagon of Peace by Netroots Nation, CARP (Cybernetic Arts Research Project), and truly...so much more.

IMAGINE is weaving a tapestry of the collective consciousness. This festival is a collaborative effort between various individuals and groups sharing their time, talent, and vision of a better world. Come share this vision and explore who we are and what we can become.

Catch the Dream
Just Imagine!

Tygeria Mirabeau’s Surprise Rezday Party

On Wednesday October 7, Mystery’s manager Amythe Moonlight secretly IMed a number of people to ask them to drop over to the Heart of Mystery riverboat club at 4 PM SL time. The reason: a surprise rezday party for sim owner Tygeria Mirabeau. Tygeria had first appeared on Second Life four years ago, and a month after she held a birthday party for Amythe, it was time for the manager to return the favor. There was already a live event on schedule, and Amy was going to turn it into a birthday bash.

From Tygeria’s point of view, things went normally at first, people porting in, and singer Ichie Kamachi starting her live performance. Then all of a sudden, everyone went “Happy Rezday Tygeria!” to a stunned sim owner. After she got her composure back, she thanked everyone for the pleasant surprise.

The party and music went smoothly for a while, then the sim crashed, with people ending up elsewhere when they logged. Some of the people ended up in Zindra, leading to a few jokes the Lindens were trying to get the party a little wilder. The party was temporarily moved to a store, but eventually the sim was brought back online and people headed back. Tygeria joked that this was the work of the “masked lover” frequenting her sim in an attempt to be alone with Amy, though Amy swore no one came by to see her.

The “masked lover” Tygeria has been looking for was never caught, though a picture was taken showing an unidentified masked man dancing with Amy. No one seemed to recognize the avatar. Might this be the mystery Don Juan Tygeria has been after? So far, no one knows, and the 2000 Linden reward for the identity of the “Seducer” still stands.

Bixyl Shuftan