Macy's Christmas Parade and The Christmas Expo

 
By Gemma  Cleanslate

So the shopping goes on. There are still many places to visit if you are looking for more trees, wreaths , scenery, or outfits. I will never get to all of them and I am pretty sure you won’t either. I still have a few recommendations though. Here are some reminders first.

Frannie DJ has put away all her Thanksgiving day parade floats and now has her Christmas Parade out. It will stay open until Christmas Day . Santa is still there at Macy’s store and there is still ice skating going on. I stopped over to see some of the floats which are as beautiful as ever. Don’t miss it! There is snow on the ground and the trees are glistening with ice formations on the limbs.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Steamy%20Shores/72/206/700

Remember to visit The Christmas Expo. This event is raising money for research for the American Cancer Society and has so much going on!

There are parties and raffles and Breedables, sales and auctions, and so many shops with goodies to continue your search for décor and outfits.

If you get there before the ninth, you can enter the snowman (and snowwoman) making contest. The regions are beautifully decorated just for exploring.  

The Expo website at https://slchristmasexpo.com/  will tell you everything you need to know. This SURL will get you there : https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Christmas%20Expo/55/128/23

Also, the Shop and Hop event opens Wednesday at 9am . Get ready for so many shops in one place on 12 regions with 240 merchants. Extreme lag in the early days, but it will be open until January 2 of the new year. I am sure there will be gifts at most shops.

Gemma Cleanslate
 

Burn2: The Temple Burn

By Bixyl Shuftan

Sunday October 23 was the final day of the activities at Burn2, Second Life's largest annual art and music festival. For over a week, this virtual reflection of the real-life Burning Man had been going on. And now it was time for the last of the events there: the Temple Burn.

The Temple Burn is different from the "Burning of The Man" in two ways. One is it's not the signature event of the festival as when "The Man" is burned on the previous day. It's also an event that usually has some solemn moments as before the burning, people put notecards with messages in the Temple censer that are read aloud as the structure is aflame, often messages of real life or Second Life friends and family whom had passed away in the past year.

 But over the course of the year, a number of people with connections with Burn2 had passed away. Among them Ladyslipper Constantine whom was a well known name whom had passed away just weeks before. So she was never far from the minds of many of the Burners as they gathered at the Temple at 12 Noon. The Temple would later be brought back and burned again at 6PM SL time.

"Now we would like all Lamplighters to stand please. Then everyone, please come into the Temple with us. We will stand together inside as it Burns." iSkye Silverweb shouted, "Come in, everyone! Join us in the Burn!"

Toady Nakamura, the builder of the Temple, was among those at the event.

The Temple censer would call out, "In memory of Ludinha Kamachi, member of Burning Life Access and Linguists, White Tiger Mentors, Mental Mentors, Mentor Lounge, Ez SL Mentor, Mentors! and Ajuda SL Brasil groups, who left us last 27 May 2010, after a terrible struggle with a cancer.."

"We will always remember Ladyslipper Constantine. Osprey Therian... Lumiere Noir... wish you were here."

Eventually, it was time to get things started. These images of burning structures in the middle of the structure briefly appeared.

"Ladyslipper - this is for you, remembering your brave, strong, loving heart and all you did for so many of us in Second life! Saffia."

Then the structures vanished. But something was still burning, hidden by the lag.

"Lady Slipper, It was my honor to have knowing you & to work with you all the years. You where a great lasdy & will be missed! RIP my friend!"

And soon the top of the structure was aflame.

"As long as there is still Music, Creativity, and Imagination there is Hope."

"Always remember - it's not who you are, but who you have become. Your decisions shape your future."

Among those watching on the outside were Avariel Falcon and Daniel Voyager, the later whom would write his own story on his Flickr page. "Loving the burn this year." he would say.

 Inside, the fire lit the area around the people where it had been dark.

"Peace and love to all who have come before and for all those who are yet to come.. may be leave it to them all."

 The fire slowly spread downward, the more detailed and decorative parts in the middle catching afire.

"Shady, my Black and Purkle buddy, this Burn is for you. Keep Spinning those tunes and enjoy the Bakkon!"

"This has been a tough burn. We lost a family member, we've said and done hurtful things to each other.  It's my wish for us to listen more and show compassion and understanding to one another.  Please make amends so we can be a family again.  -Pman"

The fire further burned the decorations in the middle.

 "Ananda, I love you and deeply miss you! The angels are lucky to have you. Thank you for your unconditional."

 "Peace and love to all who have come before and for all those who are yet to come.. may be leave it to them all."

 Eventually, the flames on the top of the structure began to die down, leaving only char.

Then the top began to crumble, turning into ash and bits of charred wood.

The fire had soon reached the bottom of the structure, with every remaining part aflame.

 "Huntress, iSkye & Suz, you are the glue that holds this family together.  Often, your hard work goes unnoticed, seems unappreciated or misunderstood. But you truly are loved and appreciated by many.  Your passion truly shines. <3 -Pman"

 "To the entire Burn2 staff: All of your hard work, dedication and sacrifices are appreciated. We're not perfect.  We've had our disagreements and obstacles to overcome. It's been rough, but we made it work. Thank you for all that you do. <3 P-man"

 "Huntress ... you made Second Life deeper ... Talking with you on levels that changed my heart from broken to healing  ... your passion in all you do gave me a Hero. I love you ~Daark"

"Piano ... Thank you for your Friendship, thank you for all the smiles, the cries, the Laughter, OMG your laughter heals me ... Thank YOU ... I love you ~Daark"

 Inside, the floor now burned, along with some of the Burners themselves.

 "Xiija ... Everything you do is amazing. Your willingness to help your abilities to create and the heart you do it with is un equaled. Thank you for your friendship ... I love you ~Daark"

"iSkye ... Thank you for all your support in all I tried to do .. thank you for listening,  thank you for sharing ... I Love you ~Daark"

 Eventually, the flames began to die down as most of the structure had been consumed by the flames.

 "Thank you ALL for making this possible, I wish sometime in future i can go to the rl burn, but this is nice to have in while time :) thank you ALL."

 "Thank you to all the hard working staff that spent months planning this event & to our participants WELCOME HOME & HAPPY BURN! \o/"

Eventually, the Temple was completely gone.

 iSkye shouted, "Wait for the pile of debris, then you can fire away." Once there was, there would be occasional flare-ups.

 I continued to watch from a distance, even when across the sim border as fire and fur do not make for a good mix.

 "Now the Real peace will come one the World thanks to all peoples."

"Begin to make the world a better place! Hug your neighbor today! Seriously! DO it."

 With all the solemnity over the departed, there was some room for clowning around. One guy shouted, "My backside is on fire!!"

And one renamon decided as long as the embers were still warm, time to break out the marshmallows.

Toady was thanked for her work, "Beautiful Temple Burn!!! Thank you TOADY!, Amazing job." "Indeed. Beautifully done!"

I would later speak to Toady, whom told me she had put aside a trip in order to work on the temple. It had been a lot of work, but the results were spectacular. She wasn't sure if she would be able to build it again next year, though.

It was a great Temple Burn, and a great finale to Burn2.

Bixyl Shuftan

Woods Club Reopened

By Wesley Regenbogen

The Woods Club was created in 2008 and closed its doors in 2011. But in January 2014, the club reopened with a new owner, Leila Roddenham and a CEO, a Belgian with the name Viktor Galli (he speaks Flemish, like me), who was also the CEO in the Old Woods Club. The club recently celebrated its 6^th birthday in Second Life.

The Woods Club was created by two people, Ezio Gears and Mercedes Auer.They also have an excellent team of managers and DJ/advisors. Club notices state you can find the best quality music there and also a good many DJs. They play different genres like : Techno, House, Electro, Hip Hop, Dubstep, Breaks, Tech House, Afro/Tribal House & Soulful.

They try to separate themselves from other clubs in Second Life by not having a lot of commercial music. They prefer to use more underground sounds. But they try to keep the traditions of the Old Woods Club as well. The owner and the CEO carefully reviewed, planned and put in place each step. If a DJ wants to spin within Woods Club, they need to possess something special, something that another DJ doesn’t have.

When you enter the club a voice says “ No Woods, No Life.” That slogan can be true if you are into dancing in Second Life.

The traffic of visitors varies anywhere between 25,000 to 36,000. They are open Tuesdays through Sundays between 10am and 10 pm. But soon they are going to change the opening hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 8 am to 8 pm. Soon there will be more information will follow shorthy.

Woods Club fans have their own group called “Element the 8^th” which is also owned by Woods Club. They communicate via Facebook and other groups within Second Life. Our readers can find more information about Woods Club on these 3 pages :

https://www.facebook.com/Woodsclub?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/WoodsHouseMusic

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1468714730012420/

I would like everyone to visit this club and enjoy your stay in the New Woods Club and hopefully you can dance with your friends and other people you have met and have lots of fun !

Checkout this nice new club at this location : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/WOODS/107/127/22/

Wesley Regenbogen 

Art Gallery HUD

By Gemma Cleanslate

Since I had a day off in real life  and did not have time to visit the Louvre, I took out my Gallery Hud and decided to see what was going on in the art exhibit world. The Gallery hud is a great way to find and visit lovely art places without much difficulty searching for them. You have a choice of large extensive exhibits , like the Rose Theater and Art Gallery. You can spend a long time at this venue , massive in build and absolutely gorgeous in itself. There are rooms and rooms of art exhibits by various sl artists to enjoy. Or you can arrive at a the Palais Orleans , a three gallery site that I visit often because Morgana Nagorski has two of the galleries exhibiting artists that change every few months and she always has grand opening parties. 

Right now there is an exhibit called ‘After Dark’ in Gallery1 that is worth a visit. The University of West Australia is another huge exhibit area where there are always challenge exhibits to be found. They are all amazing to see, so much creativity in these pieces. Every time I go there I am floored by the diversity. Space for Art is another wonderful place to visit. You will find a number of lovely builds scattered about the whole area. I took a tram ride and stopped off at a whimsical installation by Haveit Neox . Well worth a tour at this region. One gallery that I visited for the first time was in Elven Realm  called Kaleidoscope,where the whimsical art of many artists , best viewed at midnight ,  is displayed in wooded groves . It was a pleasant visit.  I made a stop at the virtual Chelsea Hotel at Gallery 23 to check out the art pieces there . I took a quick look at some of the smaller galleries in the hud. My last visit was to Serendipity to the Art of Judilynn . It is a lovely little gallery filled with her own art. She is a real life and SL artist. I have seen her art at several places in Second Life. 

The art hud is a creation of Sasun Steinbeck. It is a random selection hud that
“will take you on self-guided tours of locations in SL. Simply click on the left and right hands to go to the previous/next location. Click the little map icon in the middle to see the currently selected location again. Click the stars below the navigation controls to rate the gallery you are at.” It gives you a choice of types of galleries to visit also. If you are into paintings and sculpture , chose Gallery , or you may choose Photography , or Erotic, depending on your fancy. Sasun has extensive hud systems at her SasTech HQ but you can go there to pick up a hud and information about the Galleries of SL at her office ( http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vertigo/244/147/48 ) or, you can send an IM to me and I will pass you a hud. 

This is a great way to do something different in Second Life when you need some quiet time , or with a friend, to visit the art galleries of sl and see the amazing creations that exist here . There is another possibility with the hud. You can take a bus tour if you like. Wear the hud and click  bus tour on the menu and you will receive an invitation to teleport to some gallery somewhere on the grid . Other bus riders may join you as you travel.There is another choice , events, that will tell you about a party going on at one of the galleries . It is great fun to use.   Consider it a staycation in Second Life. Often people say to me “I need to do something else for a change”. Well, here you are. All free. 

Gemma Cleanslate

The Sunbeamer's RFL Exhibit

By Bixyl Shuftan

When I first came across the Sunweavers, I soon found out many of them belonged to a Relay for Life team, the "Passionate Redheads." The Redheads relayed for six years, raising over thirty thousand US dollars worth of Lindens for the American Cancer society. They had also come up with some truly great builds, such as the Wild West build in 2009. Sadly, the Redheads came to an end, and the team dissolved. It its place came two much smaller teams. One, was led by Sunweaver leader Rita Mariner, the "Sunbeamers."

"It's a new beginning," Shockwave Yareach, one of the Sunbeamers, told me, "we are a very small team."

I met with Shockwave and Rita at the location of the Sunbeamer build in RFL Research. The exhibit was on the top left former of the sim, just north of Team Lag, and across the road from the Breedables exhibit. Half of the build was of a garden area, which was next to the road. The other half was a building in the back with pink tubes sticking out. The building's purpose was soon revealed by a sign next to the road, "Ride The Mad Wolf 'New Brain Cancer Cure' Ride."

"Basically, this time four of us did the work," Rita told me, Shockwave, herself, Dusk Griswold, and a newcomer to the Relay, Felina Fermi. Felina made the Newser earlier this year when she made a movie theater for her Sunweaver neighbors. "I … put her in charge of landscaping," Rita told me. "She's a very detailed builder," Shockwave commented. "We play all this by ear," Rita added, "and see what works."

Attention went to one bag of coffee beans near one kiosk, "Who wants coffee?" Shockwave asked. Rita commented, "Once Shocky put down the ride, we knew what space we had left for the rest of the build." Shockwave pointed to the coffee, "I transplanted my coffee machine from the bay. Even added a table to sit and relax." Rita felt needed more was needed, and added more bags of coffee.

When asked what the theme of the build was, Rita answered, "Remembrance, remember those we have lost and hope for the future, that we will beat cancer." There wasn't much time left in the Relay season for another event, but they did have some fun times, "We did have the one event at Cutlass … where they tried to bid me human. … I got enough donations to stay a bunny. There were two kiosks, one for human, one for bunny. whichever one had the most donations by the end of the dance, I had to do. The bunny kiosk had the most, but not by much. I think we raised like 30,000L."

She also mentioned the event that was a cooperation with the New Bastogne WW2 RP, "The Bastogne event was fun, everyone was paying 100L to shoot the 88mm guns at the Dunk Tank and drop the victim. Dusk was the best shot, she got a hit with one round. I came in second with two rounds. Either way, folks were having a 'Blast.' … Have to repeat that next year."

Rita showed me around the exhibit a little. The place was bordered by a hedge fence with the front half a garden area with numerous trees and flowering plants, with walkways of stepping stones and a few waterfalls. There were also a number of pony statuettes around, "look atop the flagpole, Rainbow Dash," plus one larger pony statue in the middle of the grounds. There was also the pink fox statuette representing Artistic Fimicloud, the beloved vixen of the Passionate Redheads who passed away several years ago.

The back half of the exhibit was Shockwave's ride. It was a variation of the inner tube water slide ride, but instead of riding inner tubes, one would ride a red blood cell. Residents going in touch the stone to rez one, sit on it, then enjoy the ride. The narration is a bit quiet, and I had to turn up the volume. As the player goes down the tube, it talks about how the blood/brain barrier has historically been a barrier drugs couldn't get through, then the player emerges from the tube to the main room, "Behold, the brain." It then talks about recent developments in brain cancer treatments, and after circling around, the player leaves out the other tube. Upon exiting, the player can get up any time, and the blood cell soon vanishes.

"Still pretty good for a first time team," Rita commented. She then noted there were a few minor details to take care of, notably getting a "Sunbeamer" flag for the exhibition, which at the time was flying the Sunweaver Estates one. Shockwave would later comment on Facebook, "You never know how much it takes to fill a half acre, until it's your job to fill it. Or mow it. Fortunately, I don't have to mow the thing. Constructing a 40 m by 40 m brain mock-up, things you never think you'll get the chance to do, and then one day you do them."

Rita concluded, "Even though the Sunbeamers are a very small team and we can't be involved with RFL 24/7 like most of the others, we will do what we can, as much as we can. Anyone that reads this, stop by our campsite, ride the ride and grab a cup of coffee."

The exhibit is at RFL Research (122, 224, 22), but will not be accessible to the general public until Saturday.

Bixyl Shuftan