Le Six: A New Event For Designers, Photographers and Shoppers

By Klaus Bereznyak

"Le Six" is a new event connecting designers with photographers and shoppers on the wonderfully photogenic sim of Le Sixieme Sens. The event is a little unusual in that there is no rent or fee for designers, and there is a maximum price of 160L$ on any items offered.

Additionally, every month, there is a photo contest. Photographers are invited to create imagery using items from the current round of Le Six and shot at Le Sixieme Sens. They will need to join a group to get rezz rights. Between the 5th and 22nd of each month entrants can add their picture to the Flickr group, sit tight and hope for the best when the round is judged on the 26th.

The shopping area is on a platform high above the sim, formally laid out with stone vendors, hedges and statues, very much in keeping with the feel of  Le Sixieme Sens. In the October round I noticed a variety of offerings, all of a very high quality. Not surprisingly, clothing and accessories were in abundance, along with some seasonal decor, furniture, sculptures and art works. There was plenty here to give a photographer some ideas for a set piece.

 

From the platform, there was a teleport to the ground, so it would be possible to grab some stuff and go down straight away and shoot a roll of film.

Le Sixieme Sens boasts rustic and Tuscan themes, with lots of charming nooks to sit in, and atmospheric scenery - some rugged, some soft - carpeted with flowers and foliage. It is easy to spend a pleasant hour, just wandering and exploring.

 

Information about sponsors and participants, and instructions for the photo competition are available from the landing point at Le Six. Best of luck to all the designers and photographers - power to your pixels!

SLURL:        http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Le%20Sixieme%20Sens/81/59/1501 

Website:     https://www.le-six-event.com/

Flickr Pool:  https://www.flickr.com/groups/3131319@N22/

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Lesixevent/

 

Klaus Bereznyak

 

The Snowman Contest and the Holidays For Hope Ball

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Relay for Life Christmas Expo wasn't over until Monday. But Sunday December 13 was the high point of the festival. This was a day of events such as the conclusion of the snowman contest, and the Holidays for Hope Ball.

Those taking part in the contest paid a 500 Linden dollar fee, with cash prizes going to the winners. Voting was done by donating Lindens to the kiosk next to the entry you wanted. Some of the entries were fairly conventional, such as this one sitting down next to a Santa sack.

Would this guy be an "Ice Pirate?" Yo ho ho and a keg of rum.

This one was a tribute to the new "Star Wars" movie out.

And this one, either the builder was from the big city, or a "Calvin and Hobbes" fan.

"Welcome to Atlanta." Looks like this snowman didn't survive his trip.

That dalek isn't part of the display, but someone in an avatar. But he certainly gave a new angle to this entry.

Now this snowman looks downright creepy, something out of a Lovecraftian story. You don't want to end up "Alone in the Dark" with that.

And then there was this one. Cuddly Waffle called it, "very cute. This was a snowman who was taking a break from the cold and somehow managed not to melt!" Maybe he was on a beach in Alaska.

 I would later hear that this snowman, built by Thathy Slade, was the winner. Second place went to the green tentacled horror by Eclair Martinek. ArianaAstro Resident's snowman came in third. A total of 80,000 Linden dollars would be raised by the snowman contest.

Soon it was time for "the Grand Finale Event of the 2015 Christmas Expo," the Holidays for Hope Ball. This would be the sixth time this annual event had taken place. It would be held in a double ballroom.

The ballroom was created by Darkstone Aeon and the event was sponsored by T-1 Radio.

Dozens would show up at the event.

Formal attire was requested, though not a hard requirement.

There were two people in Santa outfits on the dance floor, one of whom was the one doing Santa duty at the Expo. Maybe one can call this scene "dueling Santas."

A fun time was had by all. Trader Whiplash would later announce the festival had raised over two million Linden dollars.

Congratulations To Nuala Maracas and the Expo Staff for a Job More than Well Done.. .. For an Expo that was not just a fund raising success but was a wonderful place to visit -AND- L$ 2,108,062 or $ 8,432.

And so, the 2015 Relay for Life Christmas Expo is now over. But the Relayers are not despairing. In a few months will be the the start of the official Relay for Life season. And once again, their fun-filled antics will resume.

Bixyl Shuftan

Relay for Life: "Stand Up Against Cancer" And Harmony For Hope's Egg Decorating Contest

The weekend of Saturday April 11 and Sunday April 12 had a number of Relay events, from music and dance parties to swimming parties, and more. Yours truly had time to check out only a couple. One that got my attention was a stand-up comedy act by Lauren Weyland, one of Second Life's most noted comedians. The event was for the Hoot For a Cure Team, captained by Catz Jewell, and was at 3PM SL time.

Hoot for a Cure proudly Presents, Stand Up Against Cancer Comedy Review, Featuring: Lauren Live, Doc Grun, wyvern Blazewood, jwheels, Catboy, April 11, 2015, 3pm SLT. Please keep scripts and huds to a minimum. This show is in voice. Turn sound on.

The event was in voice, so the chat was almost all responses to the comedians, which was mostly chuckles and the occasional counter-joke. Among the things Lauren herself joked about was the Avi Choice Awards, suggesting perhaps there should be awards given out for whom had the most alts, who had the most convincing gender-bender, and other categories that drew chuckles.

Besides laughing at Second Life's shortcomings, Lauren and other comedians also poked fun at Hillary Clinton announcing her run for her party's nomination for the Presidency.

Lauren was followed by Catboy, whose colorful pink outfit was a contrast to her usual dark garb.

 Wyvern's act was the most provocative, skirting the event's PG limit, and the comedienne herself apologizing on occasion for crossing the line.

 Doc Grunn's act involved a prop, a tablet with a freebie Siri clone he called "Siriously." But the ap in action had him going, "Seriously, Siriously?" much to the chuckles of the audience.

After the event,  JerryDon Lane told the Relay group, "Thank you so much.....over 10 grand was raised for a great cause."

Lauren Weyland performs regularly every Tuesday evening at 5PM in her venue in the Cookie sim.

The weekend was also the occasion for Team Harmony of Hope's Egg Decorating Contest.

 The contest was open to entries all day Saturday and Sunday up to Noon, the builders paying a 200L fee apeice. Voting began at 5PM SL time.

 There were a number of entries, each involving an egg in some form, some more than one.

 People voted by donating money to a kiosk next to the exhibit.

 Builds had a 35 prim limit, and could only be about 10 in height at most.

The winner was Cuddly Waffle, whose "Minion" egg got $7000 in donations for her team, and the most of all the entries.

Cuddly was "so excited" to have won, twirling around and jumping around and got lots of cheers from Relay chat.

These were just two of the many events that weekend, of which the next one promised more Relay fun.

Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Hot Nights at Bay City

By Gemma Cleanslate

”Welcome to Hot Bay City Nights on the Fairgrounds here in beautiful North Channel. I'm your Master of Ceremonies.” Pygar Bu shouted to the crowd that had gathered for the Miss Bay City bikini contest.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay City group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

This is the second year of their Hot Bay City Nights featuring vintage and retro cars on the fairgrounds from  24th through the 31st of August. Go see terrific cars  from several motor companies. There will be events all week long including  two more car washes, one on Wednesday 6-8pm SL time and next Saturday at 2-4.  The proceeds go to Child's Play charity. http://childsplaycharity.org/  

Saturday,  I was able to attend the beauty contest which was great fun. There were five entries including one male competing to be Miss Bay City. They all sauntered down the runway one by one.  Pygar asked each a few questions while the audience applauded and chatted while the judges looked on and made notes . There were some tense moments as we all awaited the results.  

Miss Bay City will represent Bay City at as many events held there as possible and ride in the annual parade. Her  prize is  an elegant lavender pink convertible donated by  ADudeNamed Anthony. The 2012 Miss Bay City, Angela Seale-Poultry (angela.seale) took to the runway for the last time as an appreciative crowd applauded her service for the past year. Finally Sylvia Tamalyn was announced to be the Miss Bay City 2013.

The closing party will take place September 1 , 3-7 SL time. Take a trip over to view the cars and pick up some freebies along the way. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/North%20Channel/105/128/29

Gemma Cleanslate 

Editor's Note:  Check out an interview of Angela Seale at the Poultry Report (Click Here).

Bomber Contest in New Bastogne

By Bixyl Shuftan

On November the 10th, the New Bastogne combat sim held it's second bomber contest. The first had been held on October 28th, but lag at the sim that say led to some unusually poor performances by some skilled pilots. So another was planned for a couple weeks later.

There were three separate categories of bombing in the contest. One was level bombing, in which the plane had to stay a hundred meters in the air with no loops or dives, with five passes at the target. Second was dive bombing, also with five passes. The third category was "anything goes" with the option of cannons, rockets, and guns in addition to bombs. Three passes were allowed at a moving tank. An administrator rode with the pilots in the contest. All planes had to be Second World War design.

About a dozen pilots took part in the contest: Florence Brendel, Kato Fall, Killingowl Resident, Klaus Himmler (titan.wardark), Laura Demina, Louise Francoise de Dampierre (felizitas.barbosa), Nikolai Suvorov (nickk.seetan), Nydia Tungsten, Rina Apfelbaum, Takashi Tsukune Naki (wanetta01), and Vickster Khun. JessicaBelle Dayafter helped referee the contest.

Eight pilots were in each category. The winners for level bombing were Louise with 86 points, Nydia with 64 points, and Takashiwith 30. In the divebombing competition, Nydia had the most with 53 points followed by Karo with 45 points and Vickster with 30. In the "anything goes," two pilots blew up the tank and damaged it again, Laura and Vickster with 170 and 167 points respectively, with Nydia scoring 56 points for third.

The winners of each of the three contests received 1000 Lindens, with 500 going to second place and 250 for third. There was also a raffle for each event. The competition was sponsored by Skunkette Aviation (also known as JessicaBelle Aeronautic Projects), Shana Enterprises, Buzzworx, and New Bastogne's German JG-52 group.

Bixyl Shuftan

Art Deco Clock Build-Off

The Virtual Museum of Architecture is having another great Art Deco building contest. Clocks are the featured item this time. The twenty-two entries are on display at Virtual Museums’ Main Campus at Virtual Museums (229, 146, 25).

Djinn Dasmijn, who organized the Build-Off, gave me a sneak preview a few nights ago while he was waiting for the final entries to be delivered. The clocks range in size from a tall grandfather to petite mantle ones. Triangles, circles, arches, and other art deco shapes are featured. Water falls, cats, statutes and more are incorporated into other designs.

Zardoz Morane’s Rockefeller Atlas clock was inspired by real world New York Rockefeller Center, while Thoth Bellic’s clock has an Egyptian flare to it. Undine Collison’s sparkling marble clock is like jewelry for your mantle.

The clocks are not only lovely to look at, they sound wonderful, too. Every 15 minutes a few clocks chime. At the top of the hour there is a symphony of sound.

The smaller building contests are very popular. While some contestants have entered other contests in the past, many of the entrants are new. “Little builds bring in an entirely new set of builders,” Dijinn Dasmijn said. “Opens up the door for more people to try new things.”

The winner of the clock competition will be awarded a $2000L prize. Half of the money is from the entry fees, and Builder’s Brewery donated a match amount. Voting on the best clock is limited to members of the VMA.

The Builders are: Mellisina Parkin, Icarion Artful, Ringenki, Tommie Cobalt, Windrider Taiyang, Sandi Glas, Silania Pastorelli, Todd Socke, Joesf Fitzpatrick, Dierdre Maven, Lissianna Silverweb, Rune Draegonne, Current, Thoth Bellic, Simi Emerald, Zardoz Morane, Atrebor Zenovka, Lea Supermarine, Raphaeli1978, Logan Weder, Gawwain Inglewood, and Undine Collison.

A large yellow arrow that points the way to the “Art Deco Buildoff Display”. Walk on the sidewalk, then up the hill to a circle of buildings. The clocks are in the second building from the left. Inside is an exhibit of Art Deco posters, too.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Addition* - The winners have now been announced. They are:

First Place - Sandi Glas

Second Place - Gawwain Inglewood

Third Place - Undine Collinson

The exhibit will be on display through March, 2012.

Grey Lupindo

The Luskwood Skunk Update Party

Until a few weeks ago, it had been some time since yours truly had gone to where he had gotten his real start in Second Life: Luskwood. Well, I came back in time to find out about an event worth going to.

For those unfamiliar, Luskwood is the oldest furred area in Second Life. It also ranks as one of the oldest social spots of any kind on the Grid. The main area of the place is the Big Tree, or more specifically the social platform where people gather. It’s almost always occupied by some people. It’s near a newcomer entry place, so it gets some most every day. Luskwood also has a highly strict PG policy, so it’s a squeaky-clean place for residents to drop by and not worry about the friskier elements in other sims in the Metaverse. Many of the regulars are techies, so on a popular night, one may find help for some electronic problem.

Between the enviromnent’s detail and the other avatars, especially on a big gathering, the lag can be heavy. And occasionally the conversation can be a little flat. So Luskwood isn’t popular among everyone.

Luskwood is also the name of one of the oldest furred avatar companies in Second Life, based at the Big Tree, the vendors nearby. But in more recent times, there haven’t been as many new avies offered as earlier, and more people have been passing them by. When there’s a new avatar, or an update to one, the Luskies celebrate with a party. And on Saturday August 6, they updated one of their more popular avatars: the Skunk. Luskwood Founder Michi Lumin wears a Lusk skunkgirl for her look.

For those whom already had one, we got the new version of the avatar sent to us. It had the same features as before, notably the spray animation (which I seldom see used). But it also had some slightly different shading. Someone told me the males looked slightly more muscular on the chest. It had a tongue that could be stuck out (real fun when giving a bronx cheer). And it had a hinged jaw, so it was able to move it’s mouth while one talked. One slight problem, on my viewer, from a distance it looked like it was baring it's teeth a little.

After getting mine and adjusting the new avie to the height, eye color, and hair color I was used to, I ported to Luskwood to join the fun. As expected, the lag was heavy, and checking the map, I could see why. there were 49 people in the sim. Eventually, most everyone rezzed, and the clear majority had on skunk avatars. Striped, spotted, white, black with strawberry, brown, there were all kinds of Lusk skunks.

Never before had I seen so much black and white in one place.

We all partied on the dance floor, which someone lay a lit floor over, colored lights shining in a black field, which sometimes made the skunk dancers hard to see. As so often at the bigger Lusk parties, the DJ got a little tipsy, and would occasionally play some quirky tunes just to be funny, such as the old late 90's Internet tune "All Your Base." “Put Your Tail in the Air” or “I Like Big Butts” were not among those played while I was there, even though some jokingly requested them. He also offered trivia contests, with winners getting 500L for answering a question. Also offered, a free Luskwood avatar of any kind.

We joked, we laughed, we had a great time.

So just what is it about skunks? Real skunks certainly stand out with their black & white pattern and of course their weapon. In Second Life, skunkfolk lack such a potent musk of course, but still end up drawing attention. On those occasions I’ve worn it, it’s gotten complements from furred folk and normal human alike. Maybe with the smell jokes and their solitary nature, computer geeks relate to them easily.

In any event, whether people wore them every day, occasionally, or rarely, it was a chance for the “stinkers” of Luskwood to shine.

Bixyl Shuftan

Creative Challenges and Innovative Ideas at the UWA

The University of Western Australia (UWA), founded by Sir John Winthrop Hackett, is a leading Australian research university and has an international reputation for excellence, innovation and enterprise. A member of the Australian 'Group of Eight' research universities, it is also among Australia's leading research universities. Sitting on the banks of the Swan River, the UWA Crawley campus is the oldest in Western Australia and among the most picturesque in the nation with its grand sandstone and terracotta buildings sitting among elegant heritage-listed gardens. The UWA in SL consists of three sims, including UWA, University of Western Australia and WASP Land.


Two competitions are running simultaneously through August 2010, the Imagine Challenge and the Flagship Challenge. The Imagine Challenge focuses on Arts and Design, while the Flagship Challenge focuses on Architecture. The competitions are taking place monthly with prizes awarded each month.

I recently visited the 3D Art & Design Challenge for the Imagine Challenge segment of the competitions. Even the landing point is unique in it's design with a swirling circle of color and an image resembling an eye. The Imagine Challenge focuses on limitless imagination. The challenge is to create a work of art using any form, shape, influence or medium. Awards are given in multiple categories. All non-winners will receive a share of the monthly pool beginning with $L6000 and increasing with donations to the tip jar at the Imagine Gallery.

The artwork is absolutely incredible! The designs range from ethereal to surreal to abstract. Skillful use of color and sculpties applies to these magnificent creations. There are sculptures both real and abstract, 3D pictures, a solar system complete with rotation and sound, and a piece which at first looks like colored pole lamps but is really shapes connected to five the effect of flowers in glass--at least that was my interpretation, perhaps not the intention of the artist. There is even a cosmic egg with what looks like an circular embryo in the center. All are very ingenious and creative pieces of art and a must see for all.

Shellie Sands