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

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

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