"A Christmas Carol" by Seanchai Library's Dickens Project

By Gemma Cleanslate

Again LEA7 has the  marvelous depiction of “A Christmas Carol”  by Dickens. This is the 8th year of the project, November30 - December 30: The Dickens Project 2018 Edition presented by Seanchai Library.. It has happy events as tours, readings, and parties are  going on during the month.

A collaboration of many built the scenes in the town and all the sights and sounds.  I remember last year Caldonia Skytower, one of the majors of the project,  saying it is like walking into a picture book. And it is.

This year they have also added the Urchin Experience. I saw some of the urchins while I was wandering the streets. If you would like to be an urchin read about it here. I looks like great fun .   http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/p/urchins-in-dickens-london.html

I took the carriage ride over the bridge and around through the town to see the marvelous build. Or take the balloon tour for an overview. Take a walk and enter the buildings to see life as it was back then. Pick up the staves (chapters) around the region that tells The Christmas Carol. It will be open until the end of December .

“A soundscape created by Dagmar Kohime will enhance the immersion of the region-exploring experience. Sounds of all kinds can be heard all over the region: a fiddler plays at Fezziwig's warehouse, the sounds of Nephew Fred's party guests wafts into the street near his home, and the Merchants Alley rings with sound of urchin laughter.”  So listen...
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/128/131/22

Sunday afternoon I spent at the premier of” Christmas Carol” ballet at the Royal Opera Garnier Auditorium . Ina Carpaccio created  the performance by the Deja Vu scenic group and was performed to classical music and Christmas Carols. I almost felt sorry for poor Mr Scrooge when the Marley’s ghost  descended upon him. He was very frightening.

The Spirit of Christmas past and present  danced by Ina  in a lovely costume was not as frightening.  Mr Scrooge followed her willingly. The party from Christmas past was held in a giant snowglobe. The visit to the Cratchit home was poignant with Tim sitting on the bed as the family danced around the room.

Christmas Future was not very optimistic for Scrooge, who is nearly frightened to death . Ina danced the Christmas Future in a costume that matched the frightening view and left Scrooge kneeling by his own grave.

However.. all is well the next morning as Scrooge is able to take care of the Cratchits and all is well as the last scene shows.

The choreography is stunning as usual as is the costuming . It is always a delight to attend any performance by Deja Vu. The audience was entranced during the entire ballet .As one audience member put it ,”beautifully dynamic and tasteful”.

You have several opportunities to see it before it closes:

 Sunday, 23 Dec 2018, 2 pm slt   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Oceanea/14/126/39
Saturday, 29 Dec 2018, 5 pm slt,  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//128/108/952
Sunday, 30 Dec 2018, 2 pm slt    http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Oceanea/14/126/39 

Gemma Cleanslate

Final Trip to the 2016 Fantasy Faire

By Grey Lupindo

I couldn’t resist one more stop at the Relay for Life’s Fantasy Faire.  Before it ended, I wanted to quickly check out a few more places. I started at Echtra, which was sponsored by the Lost Unicorn Gallery, and located at Echtra (197, 60, 75).  It was a dark, mysterious village.  A convenient kiosk offered a way to experience Echtra by relinquishing control and enjoying the freebies through a tour.  If I would have had more time, this would have been the best way to view the site. Instead, I snooped around on my own.  I scared a small flock of sheep but otherwise I avoided trouble. 

       In addition to the village, a Second Life mermaid site was located at Echtra (176,31,76).  My neighbor Celtic Infinity is a Mer and had given me a landmark to the spot at the beginning of the Faire.  When I popped in on Friday, she and Kmac Yardley were there to greet visitors and support the Relay for Life.   Information about tours and about the Safe Waters Foundation lined the walls.  There were mer tails, sea plants, and other items available. Lots of residents stopped by to say hello, pick up a few items, and help the Relay for Life while I was there. 

     “We've had a lot of very nice people stopping in and checking out what underwater in SL has to offer,” Celtic said.  As we chatted, Booster Terl Spice (terl.luckstone) came in to ask about a unique Second Life avatar.  When they began discussing sea horses, I asked about sea wolves.  To my surprise I was informed there was a whole merfur community.  Another item for my list of things to check out in SL. 

    I made a brief stop at Sapphire Mirror Lake (66, 203, 50) where I heard the end of a musical performance. This location was the Arts and Entertainment spot for the Faire.  Judging from the reaction of the crowd, I had missed a great show.

     My final stop was at Twilight Illusion, which was sponsored by Merchants of Dreams, and located at Twilight Illusion (81, 124, 88).  This site was a beautifully eerie place filled with mist and fog.  One of the stone buildings, Silent Sanctuary, was lit by candlelight and filled with tapestries.  Along the walls were beautiful items available for sale for your own castle, with the proceeds supporting the RFL. 

      Bam Pu Legacies were located in another building. These items were created by Bambi Chicque (bambichicque) and included statues, art, builds and more.  

      I left the Faire knowing there was so much more that I was going to miss.  This year’s Faire had magical fairylands, great entertainment events, extraordinary shopping, and a role-play quest.  Best of all, it raised millions of Lindens to help in the quest to find a cure for cancer. 

Grey Lupindo

Fantasy Faire 2016: Bright Haven

By Grey Lupindo

      The Fairylands are ablaze with shops, art, music and even a Quest, all in support of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.  With 13 Fairylands and a wide variety of activities available, there’s a way for everyone to support and participate in this event. I had a difficult choice to make in deciding where to begin.  Finally I chose to start in Bright Haven (194/127/49).   

      Bright Haven is sponsored by Callie Cline’s KittyCatS!  I’ve been a longtime fan of these little cuties, and I love to shop.  There are 18 stores in Bright Haven-- perfect for me.

 

      I arrived in front of the signature KittyCatS! shop and went inside for a quick look at the kittens.  There’s a huge variety inside ranging from tiny kittens to a large, friendly tiger. There’s accessories and food, too.   I was greeted by Cinnamon Tortie, one of the customer support staff who was working that day.   She was friendly and helpful as we chatted about the Faire.   She told me that Callie Cline created some new items for the Faire, including the fairy cat statue, a multi-color flower scratching post, and a shoulder size kitty for the Quest.  Exclusive items, like the statue, will only be available during the Faire.

        After getting a couple of scratching post flowers, I hurried off to the other shops in the village.  I noticed a lot of visitors that morning, including Ąķį (aki.kira), Zane (julienbrimstone), Nacho (nacholibra), Mystik Blackhawk, and Piccione Verino.  One of them, daviid815, spoke to me as we walked along the cobbled street. “Any cool place you recommend me to go?” he asked, explaining that he was new to this exciting, huge world.  It was great to meet a new, friendly resident.  I gave him a few suggestions and watched as he hurried off to explore Bright Haven. 

           I made a quick stop in the KittyCats’ Creations, a tavern where I found some fun Gotcha’s and tasty treats.  The Seamstress Shop, found at Bright Haven (142,41,50), was one of my favorites.  Owned by Geryn Sloane, it featured lots of special items for the ladies.  The shop is charming and filled with bolts of cloth, a spinning wheel, looms, and even a sleeping kitty.  

             Even more lovely gowns could be found at Les Encantades, located across the street.  Many of them were only 250L, a great bargain for a great cause.   If you need furniture, there are stores selling it, too.  I saw dressers, tables, and even a chiminea for only $175L.   Mystic Sky, owned by Skyler John, has great outfits for both men and women.  Gifties, too!  At "Designs by Isaura” there were fairie dolls and Galactic Princess outfits.  Very stylish.

               The proceeds from Fantasy Faire are going to support the fight against cancer.  I spotted a notice that showed L$ 2,406,899 ($ 9,628 U.S. dollars) has already been raised as of April 23. It’s great to see the SL community coming together in such a creative way for such a great cause.  Fantasy Faire runs until May 1.  

Grey Lupindo

Kushi Vyper's Fundraiser For The Tibetan Education Fund

By Deaflegacy Darkbloom

It happened last year. Kushi Vyper hired Andy to develop a website for Kushi Textures. Once completed she set her sights on something more ambitious.  A Network HUD to support the creators in her group.  A Virtual Shopping HUD to link shoppers to stores that registered within the network. But days before the HUD was to be released and most of it was paid for, Andy disappeared, taking the website and HUD with him. Andy said he was in the accident in real-life and would return.  Kushi waited, but Andy never came back.

A newly designed kushitextures.com is soon to be released, created by a new independent contractor. After paying for seventy percent of the cost by Kushi herself, a fundraisier is being held to meet the last thirty percent cost of the Kushi Texture Network HUD, the last missing piece Andy took with him. But there's something more going on here. Kushi Textures doesn't want to make profits from generousity. In her real life, Kushi is the former Secretary for a non-profit charity for Tibetan children.  It is only natural to give the money over and above their needed target of 65K to that charity.Though the fund raiser didn't start for charity, they hope that the Tibetan children will benefit from their success.You can access the website at:http://www.tibetaneducationfund.org/.

Kushi Textures fundraising will climax in a Creator's Festival on March 5th through the 12th.  Mitch Silverfang, Kushi's Partner, believes they will reach their fund raising goal before the opening of the festival, so all proceeds from the Festival will go to the Tibetan Education Fund itself. The events will include auctions, vendors, DJ events, and live music.

Right now, they are trying to cover as many time zones they can for the live events and are hoping to find enough designers to have fashion shows twice on 5 of the days.  More DJ's and live singers would always be welcomed. After all, they have the land, why not use it to the full potential?

Not only would the texture creators be coming to the events, the furniture builders will be as well.  It's an event for everything and everyone.

DeafLegacy

Peter Pan on Stage Tonight

By Gemma Cleanslate

I was invited to  "a Magical night that through music and dance will show you Neverland and tell you the story of a boy who never grew up...... " The premiere was held on Thursday at the Roseland Theater and I loved every minute of it! Peter Pan is a favorite of most people. The story of Peter and his friends, and enemies has been recreated in a wonderful setting as you can see from the pictures . The group that put it on is The Roseland Theater Cast, “Roseland Theatre SL is an all-inclusive Group promoting Performing Arts in Second Life, bringing to you innovative performances created by it's cast and producers.” 

I have been to several other shows there and really enjoyed them all and this one was so lovely . The members are Producer: Semina Llorien , Cast: Angelus Llorien, Dae Llorien, Jamie Cheeky, Jessilyn Brandi, Daniel Corbeaux. Semina told me ,”Every song is carefully picked by the producer to tell the story about Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up and all of his friends through music and dance leaving no one in the audience untouched.“ The scenery on the stage changed to fit the story with the bedroom for the kid cute and fun, and Captain Hook’s ship looking ominous. Mermaids danced underwater in their habitat . 

So much work went into the whole performance with changes of scenery coming fast and no crashes!  If you get a chance to go see it don’t miss it. The show lasts less than one hour and there was a full audience. The next performance is November  12 at 1:00 pm slt.  The show coming up following this one sounds equally interesting. It will be Alice Dreams, November 19 at 1:00 pm slt. I hope I can make that too. Here is the theater  entrance :
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Romanum%20V/96/113/3205

Gemma Cleanslate

Final Day of the Fantasy Faire

By Bixyl Shuftan

Sunday May 3 was the last day of the 2015 Fantasy Faire, the yearly week-long fantasy-themed event that's both a fundraiser for the Relay for Life and a chance for builders to show off what they can do. And there were a few more events at the grounds before the event was technically over. This included an interactive roleplay in the Poppetsborough sim.

Apparently in the roleplay, a "Wizard of Knowledge" was responsible for chronicling wisdom and facts down, and some dark forces were after him to quite literally steal the knowledge from the people in the area. So they appealed for help. Avariel Falcon, who was there as I TPed in, told, "It's the dark claw of possible doom that is mostly dangerous and needs to be dealt with through charity and dance magic!"

Loki Eliot shouted, "COME TO THE CENTRE OF POPPETBOROUGH AND HELP US RELEASE THE WIZARD FROM THE GRASP OF DARKNESS! PAY THE KIOSK BY THE POND, WE SHALL WEAKEN IT WITH GOOD WILL!"

Loki and a number of others had on looks that made them look like human-sized versions of "The Littles," a cartoon from some years ago. "Look, I'm a Little!" one girl exclamed. But as they weren't a few inches high, they looked more like nezumi or the neko equivalent of mousefolk: human with mouse ears and tail. Another commented, "Maybe I should be my Mouseh fae self."

But eventually, they met their fundraising goals and declared victory, "MOUSE GUARDIANS RULE!"

The Mouse Guardians gathered their allies today at Poppetsborough and confronted the evil that had captured the Wizard of Knowledge. Though tiny demons circled about the hand wickedly and darkness fell over the skies of Poppetsborough they had found that charity, sharing, and love weakened and eventually banished the wicked hand that clutched the Wizard of Knowledge. The tears in Poppetsborough have closed and the skies are bright and clear. The Weasels, the Poppets, and everyone extend their thanks to everyone who attended their events and helped raise over 301,000 linden over the ten days to save Poppetsborough and to fund Relay for Life.

Read more on the event on the Fantasy Faire website (link).

Later on, there was another party at Poseidon's Abyss.

Among the dancers were two giant avatars, or Collossus, by Ceri Quixote. Ceri was the big girl on the right. While they might have a problem in any "Attack on Titan" areas, no one at the party minded them as they were just two more exotic avatars in the mix.

Trader Whiplash of T1 Radio was there in a Star Wars Jedi outfit. No telling if his dance partner asked, "Is that a lightsaber in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

A third Collossus also joined the party.

As the party went on, an announcment was made by Random Parr:

NON STOP WOW  Fantasy Fair just hit 30 THOUSAND US Dollars and 7.5 MILLION Lindens in less than 11 days!    A heartfelt Thank You to Zander Greene and Elizabeth Tinsley for all their hard work, To all exhibitors and designers Congratulations and THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE in our fight against Cancer!

Shortly afterward came another:

To those of you involved with Fantasy Faire 2015, a very heartfelt thank you and congratulations from the bottom of my heart and soul. You showed the world how we can kick cancer out of the universe!

Vickie Maidstone, Captain Friends Fighting Cancer RFL Team 2015

And so, the Fantasy Faire began to wind down, with people continuing to check out the builds across the thirteen sims. Second Life Newser will have some pictures on them later.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From the 2014 Christmas Expo

Tomorrow, December 4, marks the start of the Christmas Expo, also known as the 2014 Christmas Expo and Breedables Fair. From then to September 15, the event will raise funds for the American Cancer Society through sales at shops and stores at temporary areas around the ACS sim.

Yesterday, Second Life Newser got a sneek peak at the Expo grounds, and so took a look around. The area was well designed, the scene looking like a snowy winter day, with the sun barely showing through gray skies.

The shops are required to have at least two new and exclusive products in which 100% of the cash paid for them goes to the Relay for Life in Second Life. 100% of the cash donated to the purplish Relay for Life kiosks goes for cancer research.

Each seller is also taking part in at least one of the following: Hunt for the Bells Hunt, Silent Auction, Raffle, Christmas Tree Lot Donation, or Ornament Silent Auction.

There was a trolley one could get on for more rapid transit to other sims in the Expo grounds.

Breedable ranches were in their own sims seperate from the more conventional looking shops selling non-pet items

A couple of pet wolf cubs on display.

Taking a snooze in the cold.

 Chop chop!

 Not every single ranch was covered in snow. This one for critters in the tropics and savana stood out.

Not all pets appealed to ones sense of cute. For these wolves, they didn't have prepared meat. The pig was the dinner.

Oldesoul Eldemar, in a tiny av, was one of the staff present.

Breedable dragons, which Xymbers Slade wrote about some time ago, "Mind if I smoke?"

These are just a few scenes around the Expo grounds.

For the list of sponsors of the Expo: http://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/expo-sponsors/

For a list of the merchants and exhibitors: http://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/exhibitors-a-to-z/


For more information about the Relay for Life:  http://www.cancer.org/involved/participate/relayforlife/second-life

See you at the Expo

Bixyl Shuftan