SL10B Opening Day

On June 16, 2013, The Second Life Tenth Birthday officially began. Months of planning and weeks of building had gone into the celebration, and finally it was time to begin. The sims had been closed to the exhibitors and performers at Midnight the evening before, and they were reopened to them just in time to get ready for the influx of residents at 12 Noon.

The opening event was a party at the cake stage (the cake itself is hidden in the foliage on the top). The big crowd was divided among the four sims, with nearly 70 packed into one, and the others about as many combined.

 Those attending whooped it up with plenty of gestures and effects.

Avatars of all types showed up

And of various fashions of dress.

CharlesDe Beaumont was the DJ for the event. "I am getting dizzy in this revolving DJ booth," he called out, "make it worthwile and dance all around me....reduces your lag at the same time (laughter)." When some girl he was chatting with crashed, "Someone help her...the poor girl fainted."

At 1PM was the flag raising Ceremony. There were actually a number of separate ceremonies across the Grid. This one took place in Astonish down the street from the Newser exhibit.

After the flag rasing, T-shirts for the staff, performers, and exhibitors were then made available. Different roles had different colors, with olive being for exhibitors. Security had red shirts, which resulted in a few jokes about avatars getting killed over chat.

At 1:15 was a discussion in the Auditorium. Saffia Widdershins hosted a talk from the "masters of mesh" Cain Maven and Froukje Hoorenbeeke. The chat was held in Voice.

At 4PM SL time, Saffia hosted a talk with Flea Bussy and Toady Nakamura from Grendles, whom had built the Turtle Stage for the SL10B, as well as doing the ignoble duty as the events "janitors." Grendles is known for it's bargain avatars, such as the humanoid jellyfish Saffia sported. A number of subjects were discussed, such as inventory. Toady's other recent project, "I built the April Fool's House at Raglan Shire with Clover Dezno." Flea called it, "a wacky fun build."

There were more than just talks at the Auditorium. There were a number of musicians performing at the various stages, such as singer Maxamillian Kleene and DJ Grease Coakes.

Besides the events at the SL10B sims, there were other events that day. The Burn2 group had a SL10B celebration of their own with Debi Latte singing. Among those attending was artist Bryn Oh.

And Relay events went on that day SL10B or no. At Arinultra Beach, members of a few teams danced away. This included Gem Sunkiller, whom a few days before had been in a "Bid Me Chocolate" event.

It was a great start to the SLB, with plenty of exhibits to see, and more events to come. Check the Auditorium Schedule to see (Click Here).

Bixyl Shuftan

Arton Tripsa’s Party at Book Island

 By Grease Coakes

Arton Tripsa stepped down as manager at Book Island after 4 years. There was a party in her honor at 4pm SLT at Book Island on Saturday June 15. I left my avatar at the beach of Dance Island while I went to grab some food beforehand. Selina Greene was there herself at the owner of Book Island. Brokail the blue alien showed up along with Perri Prinz the author of Spectral Shadows who is also the owner of the Green Meadows land club. Danger Dave and Jackson Arthur showed up a little later.

 Arton Tripsa wants to leave Second Life to start work on her second book. Hence Selina Greene set up a party in her honor. Izzy Upsilion came after a while and started djing for the crowd. He played a lot of pop and popular music. Arton Tripsa who is Jane Watson in real life is the author of Hindustan Contessa as she lives in Austrailla.

Lots of avatars were dancing and having a good time being silly. Barabara Blackcinder accused Brokali of being sick due to his skin being blue. In defense I said Brokali is a blue alien who will take over the earth and paint everyone blue. For a short time Selina Green spoke on voice and announced that the winners of the laureate awards were Arton Tripsa and Alexander M Zoltai as Alex is the events manager.

 I asked Arton about her book and here’s what she had to say, " It is a novel about a couple who travel to India to see the guy’s grandmother and get kidnapped." She adds this sentence as well, "not exactly, more analysis of dual cultures and cultural differences."

Grease Coakes, "Sounds interesting, like 'Dances With Wolves,' how the American solider gets integrated into Native American culture?"

Arton Tripsa, "Yeah something like that. The girl is Anglo-Australian, the guy is Indian-Australian: - ie born in India living in Australia (grin)."

The story idea was inspired a rare photo she had in real life.Well it was a metaphor, the photo showed an Indian child seated on a dining chair balancing on a giant Amazonian lily. It was about balance.

Grease Coakes, "About balancing different cultures together?"

Arton Tripsa, "You got it!"

Arton says her second book is about literary theft. I said that would be horrible if someone plagiarized my Children’s book. She said in real life someone took the idea of her first book. And the second book is about revenge for that. Her second book does not have a title yet.

Brokali, "The door prize winner will receive Cookie Monster Avi, Zebra Avi, Lighthouse, Vases, and garden lamps!"

Grease Coakes, "You mean the prize isn't a door?" (Giggles)

Arton Tripsa, "Lawl Grease!" the guest of honor laughed at my dumb joke.

Barbara Blackcinder won the door prize and no it wasn’t a door. The next question I thought of at random.

Grease Coakes, "If you could be a furry what animal would you choose?"

Arton Tripsa, "I have a tiny avi who is a calico kitten. (Laughter)"

Before tonight I didn’t know Arton Tripsa from Eyll Tripsa. Her friends at Book Island will greatly miss her. As she leaves Second Life to write her second book but Perri Prinz had this to say, "She'll be back, Grease. They always come back."

Perri could be right there’s always the allure of Second Life. But if Perri was wrong at least Arton got a hell of a farewell party in her honor for her pixel avatar.

For more information, check out the following links:

http://www.janewatson.com.au

http://www.janewatson.com.au/Site/Welcome.htm

Grease Coakes

SL Newser Party at the Corner

Last week was the Third Anniversary of Second Life Newser. To celebrate, a few events were held in it's honor. One was a beach party at Cova's Cove on Sunday the 2nd. The next was a party on Sunday evening at Club Zero Gravity with a 2000 prize donated by Nydia Tungsten up for grabs. Finally on Saturday June 8 was the third and final of these parties. It was held over the Corner of Revolving Time in Ophelia.

 DJ Qwark spun the tunes for the event, with some scenes in the background

Qwark, who's also been hard at work on the Newser's SL10B exhibit, had a picture of it up for the party.

  There was a dinner table for those hungry

 Theonlyjohnny Resident showed up in a micro-husky avatar, just inches high.

 Oops, looks like someone's teleport didn't go quite right.

 The editor dances with his partner, sporting a unique unicorn avatar.

 There were some interesting looks, such as Treminari Huet's outfit with handles on it.

And this lady's costume was pretty colorful too.

For those who missed the party, don't worry. There will be at least one party at our SL10B exhibit during The Birthday, with more chances for staff and friends to have fun together


Bixyl Shuftan (top two pictures from Gemma Cleanslate)

SL Woodstock - 12 Hours of Peace, Love and Music

By Grey Lupindo

 The SL Yasgur’s Farm was the site of a SL Woodstock festival of peace, love and music this past Saturday.  While its RL historic counterpart was held over 3 days in August, 1969, the SL version was held for 12 hours on June 1.     Although both events were filled with music, fun, and good times, the SL version also helped raise money for the American Cancer Society.    At one point I saw that $612,570L had been raised, and the amount was still growing.  
 

       I stopped by a couple of times during the day long festival, and it was always crowded.  Late in the evening I saw there were 74 avi’s on the site, although there may have been more at other times during the day.  SL’s Jimi Hendrix (Charlz Price) was thrilling the crowd with his music and good vibes.     Many folks were dancing while others sat on the grass and listened to the tunes.      A decorated VW was being auctioned off to the highest bidder while other smaller items were available for a donation.      

       The site had been carefully constructed to pay homage to RL Max Yasgur’s farm.   A barn, an old farm truck, and some animals were located on one side of the site.   There was even a cow that could be milked, which was a nice touch since the RL site was a dairy farm.   On another part of the site was a hippie camp, complete with tents, old VW’s, and a drum circle.   There was even a mud slide for those who wanted to re-live all the memories of that rainy weekend in New York.    

     A notecard sent out earlier by the Woodstock Production team stated that they would be playing “...every artist that played at the original event. Included are several full performances including Janis Joplin, Santana, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. All music is presented in the historical order in which it was played at the 1969 festival.”   They did, of course, edit some performances for time. 

       The festival was produced by BennyTunes Woodstock.   The team included  Benny The Boozehound,  Audio;  Charlz Price,  Build;  Fiona Harworth , Scripting; and Runa McMillan, Multi Media Textures.    

Grey Lupindo

Scenes from Burn2 "Color Outside of the Lines"

Last weekend, the Burn2 group held a spinoff springtime event of the noted major art event in the fall. At "The Playa," they held an event called, "Color Outside of the Lines."

Color Outside Of The Lines brings a May explosion of creation and celebration of mother to the Virtual Playa! In remembrance of the time of our early beginnings: Paper, empty as our abilities, was given to us along with crayons. So we created art.  As paint boxes and coloring books appeared, we still created art, now of structure and less of our first faltering attempts.  As we grew in our art, “She” (our mother figure) was always at our sides, guiding us, praising us, swift with tape and magnets to post our results upon fridges. She was always there to encourage us and to push us further to use chalk, clay, and anything that came to hand. She was our muse and sponsor, and always gave us permission to COLOR OUTSIDE OF THE LINES.

 The event took place on May 24th and 25th at Deep Hole. I dropped by on the 25th, and some examples of how people "celebrate the act of art creation" seemed to be a bit random.

The main tent.

 "The Man," with someone sitting on top.

 I was soon joined by one of the Burners, Mia Wallace (Mia Quinote). She wanted to show me around a little.

A DJ party in one corner of Deep Hole

 This bit of art, Mia wasn't sure why one childhood toy had a name change, and the other didn't, suggesting maybe it could have been called, "Playa-Doh."

Join us May 24th and 25th for a two-day event with music and collaborative creative art building. Celebrate the act of art creation and the role of Her (our mother figure). 

The Playa will OPEN to the public at NOON on FRIDAY, May 24th until MIDNIGHT May 25th at Burning Man- Deep Hole.

Drum, Play, Celebrate: Come join the Lamplighters each day to drum and perform. There are no bystanders.

Create, Share, Keep: Small creative areas are setup for participants to "color outside of the lines" by moving the different shaped objects supplied or adding their own to a group art piece that will only last four hours (take a copy! quick!). 

Join us, free your inner Burner, and once again explore art and honor the mother muse we all have.

x

SL10B Preparations: Flying over the Sims

By Gemma Cleanslate

So now I am on the sims of the SL10 Birthday Celebration, in my role of Exhibitor Assistant , not just looking, working hard! To help all the builders get settled is a great honor. I did it last year and loved it. It is a thrill to hear the thanks of the builders as we escort them to their plot and pass out their “slice of the cake.” This is their information box that will give them the building rules and badge as a builder.  

 Sunday was hectic to say the least. At Noon the sims opened and the rush was on. Before the builders came to the sim we had to verify them as an accepted applicant, then invite them into the Exhibitors group. It was great to have all the volunteer Exhibitors Assistants that were available. The crowds persisted into the evening hours and I am sure long into the night. Their anticipation just to get in there on their plot was electric.  Some of the builders already have their exhibits in their pockets and begin immediately to put it them out. Never mind we are still standing there doing paper work, LOL. This makes the sims bloom quickly. 

Some exhibitors are still planning. That is ok. There is plenty of time.Thank goodness they were patient. So far so good. Some, who are knowledgeable from past experience waited until the second day. The lines were not so long and moved much faster. 

I have had a chance to fly around now and take a look. It is amazing !! Already the fascinating builds are appearing. I also know from experience that no matter how long I am in those 20 sims I will not ever see every build. It is almost impossible. So I recommend trying very hard for you to set aside lots of time during the weeks of the birthday celebration. You are going to need it,not only to see the builds but also to attend the numerous 24/7 parties that will be on 5 stages. Performers and DJs will be there, June 16 through June 29 but the sims will remain longer for you to try to see it all. I say Try and I mean Try! 

I can’t show you any of the builds yet, but have permission to show you some plot holders. More to come.

http://slcommunitycelebration.com/blog/

Gemma Cleanslate

Bay City Celebrates Five Years

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last weekend on Sunday May 19th was the 5th Anniversary celebration of Bay City. The day was marked with a street parade down the main road of the area and a party at the Fairgrounds in the east end of the region.

Bay City was created in May 2008 "by a set of resident builders known as 'moles' with in the Linden Department of Public Works," a group dedicated to improvements on the mainland. Bay City was described as "the American urban experience between 1940 and 1965, perhaps best typified by Chicago circa 1950." The region has seen a number of improvements every year, such as it's near-doubling in size with the merger of the sims from the former Teen Grid Bay City in 2011, and the "Hairy Hippo Fun Land" amusement part with mesh objects last year around the time of last year's anniversary.

The day before at a table with a Bay City Welcome Basket and tour guide, I ran into Uccello Poultry, the writer of the Poultry Report as well as the partner of the winner of the Miss Bay City Pagent Angela Seale-Poultry. She made a few jokes about the "mer-moles" in the canal getting upset if someone didn't find the key to the porto-potties on the big day, "There are quite a few swimming around the waters off the Hairy HIppo Funland, and one in the aquarium in Oak Bluff." She added a lucky 7Seas fisher might catch one around "Hippo." Marianne McCann, one of Bay City's prominent residents,  joined us soon afterwards. Marianne shared a picture of a number of the city residents gathering for a picture, which had appeared on the Second Life Viewer.

Marianne then talked a little about Bay City's first days, "I still remember when the Lab started to promote Bay City, pre-opening. Shots of the city 'in progress' an' stuff. and I was soooooo disappointed when I didn't get the parcel I wanted. ... I got one a couple days later. Uccello commented, "I remember meeting the Governor when she was at the train depot trying to setup the freebies. (giggles) Had to toss a script to her and explain 'Buy for L$0.' " Marianne went on, "I remember first coming into Bay City when it first was gridded. (It was so new, you could not TP into it. (The) map did not recognize it yet. I had to fly in from Cape Haven. My first in-person view was of Farpoint Park. A friend of hers invited everyone on his friend list over, which was the precursor of their weekly meetings.


The following day at Noon, people began gathering at the Hawich sim in the southwestern part of Bay City. Some would walk. Others were in cars and floats. Daniel Voyager would write that over 30 were at the gathering point.  Miss Bay City Angela Seale-Poultry was also there. And so was Marianne in her marching band director outfit, trying to organize this chaotic gathering. It didn't help when someone began showering the place with particles. Some wondered if this was a grieving attack at first, then someone noticed it was confetti. Unfortunetly, it was enough to send a number of residents crashing, including yours truly.

By the time I got back on, the parade had already started. I ported ahead to get some pictures. While enough razzed for me to see what was going on, sorry to say the lag meant most pictures were of fair quality at best. Fortunetly Daniel Voyager had taken a number, and gave his okay for the Newser to use some (like the one above).

Daniel was also in the parade as a flying dragon.

Other things in the parade included a huge "Stay Puft Marshmallow Man" avatar. Behind it was a "flaming noob" balloon.

And there was this float full of faux noob avatars.

Draxtor Despres of "The Drax Files" was also there at the parade (second image Daniel's).

 Bay City residents are always there to lend a hand, in this case a giant hand for a float.

And at the finish line, one car with Rosie the Robot doing chauffeur duty can be better seen with lag less of a problem.

Miss Bay City at the finish line of the parade.

Another car at the parade.

The parade went down "Route 66," the main road of Bay City. It went on to the Fairgrounds in the North Channel sim, which is several sims west of Ahern and Luskwood.

There, the paraders and onlookers whom had been watching from the streets joined up with the small party, which had already started at the stage and dance floor. DJ GoSpeed Racer was starting things up with her selection of tunes. The number of avatars there was close to 40 at times.

Among the dancers, a "Primitar" from "Linden World," the unpublished alpha version of Second Life.

Marianne dances with Loki Eliot of "The Goonies," and a few other child avatars. Daniel for whatever reason put on a carrot top. Holocluck Henley was also there.

Following DJ GoSpeed, there was a performance by live singer Christov Kohnke.

Overhead, there was a blimp getting a view from above.

The party went on for a few more hours and two more live musicians. There was also a display of fireworks. Marianne sent this message after the end:

Thank you to everyone who made out anniversary such a success! Our performers, our parade block captains, Ever for work above and beyond. Those who tossed into the hat to provide some great performers, and all our marchers, viewers,and partiers. Thanks for making Bay City’s fifth so great!

For more pictures, you can find more in Daniel Voyager's and Marianne McCann's Flickr.

Happy Birthday Bay City.

Bixyl Shuftan

Sources and Links: Second Life Wikia, Daniel Voyager's Blog, Daniel Voyager Flickr,