Some Exhibits And An Event At The SL22B

 

 By Bixyl Shuftan

 

 The Second Life Birthday is here! Time for the Birthday Shop and Hop. Time for the Meet the Lindens events. And time to see what exhibits the creativity of the residents came up with.

 

 I dropped by the pod station in SLB Breathtaking, and besides the pods, there were horses. 

 

 Maybe I should have tried riding one, but I wanted to run around on foot.

 

 I saw some pods that looked like miniature Viking ships

 

 

I also saw one that looked like an airplane

 

Close by was the Kiticats exhibit, by the makers of a popular breedable pet kitty.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Breathtaking/78/122/21

 

Also in SLB Breathtaking is an exhibit by Bryn Oh, a longtime SL artist. 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Breathtaking/71/216/21

 

Holocluck Henly had an amusing exhibit: The Bunny Cult.

 

"Hop on the dark side" to get a few bunny freebies, and see a few pictures of scary Easter Bunnies.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Breathtaking/97/109/21

 

In SLB Blissful, there was the Builder's Brewery exhibit, by a group aimed at helping residents be better at building.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Blissful/180/141/21 

 

There was also an exhibit by the SLB Public Land Preserve
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Delightful/19/182/21 

 

I also stopped by Loki Eliot's "Hero Man," a take on "He-Man."
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Blissful/164/92/21

 

 The exhibit of "I Pink I Can," a Relay for Life fundraiser that takes place in October. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Electrify/116/87/21 

 

While walking, I saw a few dragon eggs on the track, those are for a HUD based SLB game. 

 

While there, I stopped by "The Royal Keep" to catch the tail end of an event by Merryjest Starchild.

Unfortunately, the star performer and his crew just wouldn't rezz.

From Merryjest

But Merryjest had a few he told me I could use.

 

And that was my first day at the Second Life Birthday celebrations. Be sure to check it out yourself. What, and who, will you see?

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

The Heterocera Embassy Opening, And A Glance At The SLEA

 
By Gemma Cleanslate

My busy week getting back to business and fun was a mixture of events I could get to. Eduardo Minghuang dj and owner of Cuban Cafe has post blockade Cuba featuring “Latin tunes & dances: BALLROOM SAMBA SALSA MAMBO MERENGUE FLAMENCO LAMBADA BACHATA KIZOMBA RUMBA TANGO! Also beaches, Cuban coffeehouse & Revolution Museum.”
The venue is open on Mondays Tuesdays and Thursdays.. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Friskies/19/240/22

Romie Vella invited me to this event and I am glad I got there. The visitors were both Spanish and English and all had a great time listening and dancing to the tunes.

I went over to SLEA for the first time in a long time. I received a notice that the Art Walk had new artists exhibiting there . Most of the artists were new to me and so interesting. It is a very eclectic grouping and each installation is one that takes some meditation to explore the theme.

I was taken with Bryn Oh’s exhibit. It is so different from her usual story lines. I walked into her garden of flowers and was immediately surrounded by giggles! It was so pleasant to walk through I had to do it several times enjoying the laughs of the flowers I touched as I walked. She was the only artists I was really familiar with .

Another build that was fun to walk on was the particle show. By walking on tiny islands set in a pond I was able to activate particles nearby. The artist ,Tyrehl Byk, calls it The Ego’s Many eyes. Have some fun there.There are other installations to explore and enjoy. I will let you have the pleasure of understanding the artists and their work. Just walk along the path , barefoot if you like as Tansee suggests . It is a circle that takes you by each exhibit . In front of each you can pick up a notecard that tells you the background and experience of each artist in real life and SL. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLEA7/128/67/23

Saturday there was installation of a new Ambassador for the continent of Heterocera. Daria Raynier received her key from Suη (Dark Sunflower), a BBB official, since Abnor was was not able to attend.

Yuriko Kimura (Rydia Lacombe) Hiraya mayor greeted the audience and Dariah as the new Ambassador and wished her well in her new position. There were several other Ambassadors attending.

Dariah graciously thanked her and made a short and sweet speech , “Last Saturday I celebrated my 13th rezday. Now I am pleased and have the honor to contribute to our communities. Now in a new position as ambassador I did a lot of travel things in the past. And I am happy to do new things for Heterocera and Bellisseria now.Thank you all for coming. We will no go to the music and fun part of the day …”

And the party began with music by Mandy Dorfler ,known from the grid-wide famous Harlow's Women Club. That was the end of my week. 

The embassy is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tersa/180/116/92

Gemma Cleanslate
 

Bryn Oh's "Music And Art Event For ALS"

By Bixyl Shuftan

A year and a half ago was quite a time for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) charities with the "Ice Bucket Challenge," which made it's way into Second Life. Since then, attention to ALS has cooled down some. But the quest for funds for research continues.

On Sunday February 21 at 2PM SL time, a fundraiser event began at the Sandstorm sim, with proceeds going to an Italian ALS charity,  AISLA Onlus. There were a few art items up for auction, but the one getting the most attention was an exhibit by noted Second Life artist Bryn Oh. Later that day, I would drop in to check on how things were progressing.

"I was here for the opening," spoke resident Mona Eberhardt, "There were 97 or so people in here. ... Biggest crowd I've ever seen in a single sim, Bixyl. I nearly burned my laptop just standing here."

Bryn Oh happened to be around when I was there, "Sorry I could not be here for the opening." She told me the sim's lasting theme was art, not just for events, and this event took place every year. She thought while there were about 100 people here at the same time during parts, she thought about 400 people in total attended.

Attention soon went to her exhibit, a songbird caught in a string to the point it had been immobilized in a string, which she felt symbolized what ALS does to the body. It gets more and more trapped until eventually all is taken from it.

 Sniper Siemens, the head of the group, had a few things to say, "The ALS Awareness Music Festival is a special event ... important for the spread and awareness  of ALS." She told me the event was "for our dear friend Harvey. He always had a rabbit avatar. For this reason in our logo is a rabbit. Harvey was in this way until the last day in Second Life, and always smiling. ... Harvey died in October 2014, (our) group (was) founded in November 2014, (and) February 2015 the first Memorial Festival. And now the second. This has become an annual project, fundraising continues every day in our land." Of Bryn Oh's work, "Wonderful artwork and very significant for her. "

Checking back a few days later, the kiosks collecting donations had raised a total of 286,000 Lindens. This included a top bid of 25,000 Lindens for Bryn Oh's exhibit.

While not quite generating the buzz of the Ice Bucket Challenge, Sniper and Bryn's event gets ALS research closer to a cure.

Bixyl Shuftan.

The Windlight Winter Art Show

By Gemma Cleanslate

 I was able to make it over to the Windlight Winter Art Show region on press day before the sim was crowded.  Some of my favorite artists have lovely pieces there and I was lucky to get good looks at everything. Bryn Oh’s art always make one thoughtful and Secret Rage’s piece also makes one meditate. The committee provides cute cabins for the showing or photographs and SL art for your wall. I saw some wonderful wall hangings that I would love to have. I ran into Jamie Wolf one of the artists and owner of Wolf Photography in SL.  He is happy to be involved in the event. I stopped in the cabin of Johannes 1977 who is also showing his photographs. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the SL team and has worked very hard to make the event a success.

Everything there is for the benefit  “This event will take place from December 7 to December 14 and will include seven days of live djs, performers, tribute concerts, art exhibitions, contests, shopping, a hunt, a gingerbread building contest and more!”

Besides the wonderful artists there is a lovely little square where Santa sits on his throne and is surrounded with shops full of your favorite designers of clothing and household items and more. I visited many including Park Place which I love for wonderful furniture and Moonstar where I find wonderful outfits.

It looks like the whole week is filled with activities to make your visit a pleasure. It is all for the benefit The American Diabetes Association. The hope of Team Diabetes of SL is” Our focus is to bring awareness and dispel the myths of diabetes. We will hold a variety of fundraisers in support of The American Diabetes Association and we invite you to plan your fundraising events to help fight this global epidemic.”  Be sure to get there between December 7 and 14 to support the cause and have some fun!. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Crestwood%20Acres/93/47/22

Gemma Cleanslate

Scenes of Bryn Oh's "Strange Bedfellows" Party at Immersiva

Last Saturday September 5 at Noon SL time, noted Second Life artist Bryn Oh had a party at her Immersiva sim. In her blog, she credited Johannes1977 with the idea, whom asked why there had never been events at her sim. So they came up with one, with some of Bryn's favorite music

Bryn Oh called the event "Strange Bedfellows," of which 23 of her favorite songs and tunes would be played over an hour and a half, "ones which inspires me in some way. ... a fairly melancholy set of songs.  I am a big music fan.  I have always felt that I could have been a music star ...  If my voice didn't sound like two dogs fighting over a broken fire detector ...  For me there is a very satisfying type of melancholy that makes me wistful, sad and content all at once.  Many of the songs on this list are ones that draw out in me that feeling.  If you are hoping for a lively set then stay away!  It's more of a sit in the wheat and relax set."

Johannes played the music, often while dancing in the back of a rusted pickup truck at the scene of the party, in the middle of a wheatfield that reminded me a lot of artist AM Radio's signature exhibit.

There were a few other SL notables there, such as blogger Inara Pey and artist Ux Hax.

There was a variety of appearances, so perhaps the "strange" in the event's title was warranted.

Bryn Oh herself had a different look than usual. The grayish skin and hairdo were gone, replaced with a more common look, save for the short-cut hair and the masklike shadow over her eyes.

 Further away from the event were scenes of the current exhibit at Immersiva, including this rusting streetcar.

 There were a couple of random antics at the party. One was when someone rezzed a hearse and drove it around away from the crowd.

 Then there was this hot dog running around. One guy responded by drawing out a weapon. Maybe he wasn't too happy to "meat" him.

Okay, make that three random antics. With Bryn Oh's "bandit" look, I couldn't help but stand next to her in my raccoon appearance.

Eventually the party ended. But the displays around the Immersiva sim are still there. One can teleport in at any time to look around.

Not everything has been rosy for the Second Life artist lately. It seems her Facebook account has been threatened with being taken offline due to her not using her real-life name. Hopefully that doesn't some to pass.

Bixyl Shuftan

Be A Work of Art and Buy a Work of Art: Relay Wizards Plan an Event

By DrFran Babcock

The slogan of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is: Celebrate, Fight Back, Remember. Each year the residents of Second Life™ expend time, love and energy to do just those things, in an effort to conquer the many diseases that make up cancer.

 The Relay Wizards for Spunky are together again as a team for the seventh time. Their core membership is solid under the leadership of Team Captain Shawna Montgomery, and co-captains Anhayla Lycia, HALEY Salomon and SpUnKy Young (our survivor), but they are always ready to welcome new members as they did for me and Catboy Qunhua last year, and for Blue Myanamotu, Taralyn Gravois, and Explorer Dastardly this year. The team has been meeting regularly to plan their camp and the events that they hold every year, such as the Dunk the Emperor, in which Tiny Empires creator, Ultralite Soliel, valiantly goes into the drink with good spirits, and lots of laughs.

At one of our planning meetings Explorer suggested that we do an art auction, and we thought that would be a solid idea, as long as Explorer was willing to organize it, and organize it she did.

It is my fervent belief that when something is meant to happen, it happens. That is exactly how the pieces of the auction came together. Taralyn Gravois, probably one of the largest art collectors in the metaverse, offered up her Art Castle as a venue for the event. Over the last few months Explorer has assertively approached SL artists, asking for art donations, canvassed all the members of the Relay Wizards to see if they knew any artists, and continued to meet with us to give us updates. She even held mini-meetings with many of us while we enjoyed our weekly dose of comedy at Lauren’s Place on Tuesday nights.

Little by little the pieces fell together, the event got bigger and bigger, and we all got really excited, because of plans for the opening day. The opening will be a huge costume ball, and you are being asked to come as your favorite work of art, or favorite artist. Veteran Relay Wizards for SpUnKy team member Thickbrick Sleaford has constructed a super-secret dance floor and party area for the opening event.

I have my costume all ready for the big day, and I can hardly wait to see what other people will do. All of this is very, very secret…you just have to come and see. We will have works of art for auction from some of the coolest names in the SL art world including:  Alcibides Zemenis, Bobbi LaSalle (bobbilaval), Bryn Oh, Crap Mariner, Explorer Dastardly, Feathers Boa, Graye Ashbourne, my friend and creative idol: Kake Broek, Lisa Figeuroa, Littleone Arles, Sweet Susanowa, and Van Caerndow (Phil Strang).

Come to the opening for fun, dancing, costumes, famous names in art. Come to gape in wonder at the amazing build for the dance floor. Come to look around Taralyn’s Art Castle to see one of the most varied and inclusive collections of avatar art in the virtual world. Most of all come to support the Relay for Life in combatting the scourge of cancer.

Here are the details for the Relay Wizards for SpUnKy Art Auction:

                                                                        Date- June 21, 2014

                                                                        Time- @ 1:00 – 3:00 PM SLT

                                                                        Place- The Art Castle

                                                                        Theme- Dress as Art or as an Artist

                                                                        Slurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cor%20unum/199/181/3764

Bidding will run for a week and then close on June 28, 2014

(names for pic of team meeting LtoR): Thickbrick Sleaford, Catboy Qunhua, DrFran Babcock, Explorer Dastardly, Anhayla Lycoia, and HALEY Sal 

DrFran Babcock

The LEA Avatar Games

Recently, I decided to take a look at an event I heard about through some group chatter, as well as the Destination Guide: The LEA Avatar Games, also known as the “Art Games.”

Join the fun as the LEA Avatar Games (a.k.a. Art Games), held each Monday at 4:00 p.m. (Pacific). Watch as participants run through the obstacle course and the audience tries to to slow them down! Check out the sign-up sheet on Thursdays for contestants and audience participants. More info at: http://bit.ly/l30NvC.

LEA standing for “Linden Endowment for the Arts, I was expecting something conventional. Getting there, however, it was soon obvious the event was anything but conventional.Right away, I heard a familiar voice. It was Crap Mariner. He was moderating the games, along with Honour McMillian, describing what was going on from his slightly twisted point of view. Indeed the whole place could be called a bit twisted. The obstacle course that made up the maze looked like a surreal piece of art. There was something familiar about it. Then I recognized how the audience seating looked like that from a broken-down building, plus the metallic sculptures in a couple places, and then the “Daughter of Gears” and the “Rabbicorn.” Bryn Oh had made the obstacle course, whom stood on a platform over it as the “Platform Bastard.” No wonder these were sometimes called the “Art Games.”

Contestants were in a small skybox until called to materialize at the start of the course, which was littered with giant bones and the first half having a checkered surface. Then when the timer started, they would have to run a gauntlet of fire from the audience from guns provided by a dispenser, known as “The Grand Walloper.” While doing so, they had to get over a ditch of water, “The Cesspool. Then they had to get past a couple sets of whirling posts on sticks, “The Pefrackembacker.” And that’s just the first quarter of the course.

Turning the corner to get up the hill, they were now out of effective range of the whalloper guns, but had to dodge an avalanche of huge marbles that rolled down. Getting past those, the checkered surface turned rocky, and was half over. Then came another obstacle - a large wall of which the only way over was to wait for a set of blocks to arrange themselves into a staircase. Around the next bend was the final quarter of the course, which had cages of barcodes dropping onto the runners. Hopping over a couple bones, the last thing to do was to run under the lamp, and the course was over. The runners got two chances to run the course by themselves, then at the end all of them would race at once, free to use walloper guns on one another.

The course was a bit difficult to run, most of the contestants needing about four minutes to do so. Two runners just barely did a run in less than two. Crap Mariner changed to his Grim Reaper outfit early on, and yours truly didn’t escape his notice, commenting as press I was a non-combatant, and not shooting at the runners. Of the obstacles, the wall on the third quarter was the most difficult, a few runners kept stumbling as they tried to jump from a halfway completed brick ramp. A couple tried to climb up the cliff, which would get them both around it and skip the barcode cage obstacle. Only one made it through that way.

The fastest run on the day I was there was done by Theblackcloud Oh, who took one minute, 55 seconds. Afterwards, Crap Mariner and Bryn Oh were available for anyone who wanted to ask them anything about the race. At the end of the season, the best runners will appear in that show and compete for a prize.

Whether you like sports or art, this is an event worth seeing at least once.

The LEA games are every Monday at 4PM SL time at LEA3 (224, 127, 30)


Bixyl Shuftan