SL10B – Ego-Tripping with DrFran

By DrFran Babcock

You know how when you see a group picture, the only thing you really look at is yourself? If you are being honest with yourself, you know this is so. That’s why I did a double take as I walked by one of the builds at The Second Life™ Tenth Birthday (SL10B) and ran right into a very old picture of me! In fact, there are three times I show up at the event, and I will tell you about them

Giant Snail Racing Throughout History

I imagine that most readers don’t know that I was an announcer for the Snail Races long ago. I was probably the grid’s worst snail racer, but I found a niche adding color commentary to the races. My favorite memory of that time was when I shared about the true fact that snails had both male and female reproductive organs, and could make their own babies without any help. It was the first time that Treet TV lost the focus on the race. I still smile whenever I think about it.

RacerX Gullwing is the founding rabbit of the Snail Races. He has been running these races continuously almost since he was rezzed in 2004. I know of no other Second Life™ event that has run as long as the Snail Races. They have been on various sims. When I first starting to attend, they were on the old sim of Montmartre. They are now housed on Devon Dreams, where RacerX lives with his darling bride, Safra Nitely. With Safra and Tindallia Soothsayer, Racer pretty much creates a new theme for the races, and holds the races every week. At the build here at SL10B you can learn a lot about the history of the races, and get many freebie snail avatars. I recommend trying to race if you have a pretty fast computer, and you have never tried it before.

By the way, while at the build, be sure you check out my Snail Race Trading Card, displayed prominently on the wall surrounding the display.

Visit Giant Snail Racing Through History: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL10B%20Enchant/33/239/22

SL Newser Building at SL10B

This tall and majestic building, created by Qwark Allen, is the home of SL Newser for the duration of the celebration. You can take an elevator up to the observatory on top, where you will get a 360 degree view of SL10B. You can also see a recreation of the table around which we meet monthly to plan out story ideas and leads. It should not surprise you that this month we focused a lot of energy on SL10B.

SL Newser is one of the few remaining Second Life™ tabloids on the grid, and the reporters, my pals, are committed to bringing always the most recent, interesting, and informative news about ten-year-old SL.

While you are in the lobby, be sure to find the picture of me. That’s number two out of three.

SL Newser Building at SL10B: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL10B%20Astonish/186/73/23

Now & Then – Avatar Portrait Project by Kristine Kristan

The final place you will find DrFran is at the photography build of Kristine Kristan—a display worth visiting for the build alone—not just to see the photos there. Kristine had the genius idea of doing photo-montages of residents with their old avatars and their current avatars. This was a stunning use of the theme: Looking Forward, Looking Back.

I caught up with Kristine and asked her how she got led to this project:

Kristine: It just seemed like the obvious choice. I’ve been having fun with SL photography and digital editing for a few months, and I did a series of staged portraits of myself for a project.  I never had others pose for me. Once I knew I was accepted I started planning the build and the sets, and getting  the word out that I needed willing models. I was lucky to have both very good friends and some artists themselves pose for me. I was shooting portraits right up until the morning of opening day. I’m really happy with how it has all turned out. I think people are having fun with the “Do-it-Yourself” section, digging out those old avatars. It was just for SL10B though, so once its over I think I will put all the portraits in The Time Capsule and find something else to do!

What you will see at the Now & Then exhibit is a series of creative photographs of avatars that shows what they looked like when they were newbies, and what they look like now. Kristane’s photography skills really shine, because each individual photo is a gem. There are pictures of residents that might be well-known such as Crap Mariner (who looked like Toulouse Lautrec when he was new), Marianne McCann, and many others. If you look at these and think that you wish you had one, too, despair not. Just go upstairs and make your own.

Avatar Portrait Project Then & Now: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL10B%20Astonish/186/73/23

Oh, and before I go, please go see my exhibit. You will find dozens of free souvenirs from the history of this great virtual world.

Second Life™ Classy Souvenirs: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL10B%20Stupendous/24/100/62

Happy Birthday, Second Life™

DrFran Babcock