Christmas Locations, Part Four

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

A visit to Tayren’s Holiday.

Tayren has such a marvelous region at wintertime. Her large shop is full of wonderful period clothing for both women and men.. I own several of her outfits from years back. It is a great place to get outfits for role play in medieval settings. Once outside again check out the little sheds in which you will find wonderful holiday items she also makes.

Then head up to the top of the hill. Here a little village of shops invites you to go in. Do that! In many of the shops you are going to find boxes of freebies under the trees. Santa is watching you grab those boxes and smiling. In one shop I sat to visit with some elves who were supposed to be working but I think were having a coffee break.

Wander farther down the hill and into the woods and find yourself entranced. Fairies live here in tiny homes in the trees and rocks, each one individual in design. They are sweet and delicate and friendly. It all adds to the season in the snow. Take your horse for a ride in the snow. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Wind%20Struck/141/217/29

I get a real kick out of visiting Never You Mind. I have not met the owner, Harley (Harleywan Haggwood), but his name really makes me think he would have to be the creator of the cute creatures he makes. They are funny and endearing. One of the reasons I think I have never met him is that he is an Aussie so rarely the time zones meet. His creatures are everywhere singing and smiling as you arrive

He also makes things that fly and other things to ride on water or land. He has very unique Christmas scenes too, like the cake cart above. Take a walk all around to see the quaint buildings, trees and all Harley has to offer for your regions and your fun travels. If you join the group you will get some great little critters as gifts.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bundaberg/181/197/23

I also went shopping in Maine, Portland Maine SL that is. It is the first time I have been shopping here and I loved it. It is so quaint. I have a special fondness for Maine as I like to visit it every spring before the crowds arrive. The entrance is near a New England Church with a few homes and a post office near by. The little cabins of many styles are showplaces for so much nice décor for sale. I saw more beautiful snow globes but controlled myself. It is fun just to walk in the falling snow and peak inside each one to see what they offer. There is outside and inside décor all over . I saw some furry Santas and other characters as furries too. How about a box of 22 grinches ! An Advent calendar is at the entrance too.

Santa was there with a whole line of children waiting to tell him what they want. There are many cute comical scenes to be found here for the fun loving people to put outside their homes or on an island or in a club. Cute little buildings are for sale too at great prices. Take a tour and take a spin on the large skating pond. I also found presents in various places so look for them too.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Portland%20Maine/180/177/10

The famous Macy’s Christmas Parade is running now on tour at Unincorporated Oregon. 70 Floats, many interactive are making their way down the street. They are so sweet. It is a great place to take photos and take family and friends for fun riding along the parade route.

Also see the teleport to take you up to the lovely little ice skating pond. It is another great place for a snowball fight! There is a bill board near the beginning of the parade route where you can accept the experience. Santa is up there too. Look for the sleds for down hill racing. ]Thanks to Franny DJ and the owners and managers of Oregon for hosting the parade this year. It will be running every day with its own music. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Enchanted%20Isles/23/63/23

 

Gemma Cleanslate

 

The "Mystery Science Theater 3000" Theater

By Bixyl Shuftan

One of my favorite places that I wrote about in my first year of reporting about Second Life was the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" Theater. Over a decade later, the place is still standing. It's gone through some changes, and a change of owners, but it's still showing movies so bad, the real fun is either watching Joel, Tom, and Crow poke fun at or "riff" them, or doing some of the riffing themselves.

For those who don't know, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" was a comedy show on television in which the "plot" is of a man, sent out into space by a mad scientist and made to watch B-rated movies as part of an experiment to see just how terrible movies have to be and see in how much of a quantity before watchers go insane. But their subject keeps his sanity by poking fun at the flicks, or "riffing," alongside robots that he built, the two shown most in the movie being Tom Servo and Crow. The show ran on the Comedy Central channel from 1991 to 1997, and the Sci-Fi Channel from 1997 to 1999. After it's cancellation, the show continued in reruns for years, and eventually in Second Life. More recently, there has been interest in reviving the show for a run on Netflix.

The theater was originally at BlaksleeWorld and owned by Squeebee Wakawaka. But it was moved to This Island Earth, the sim not the movie, and has apparently been there since. When the Newser looked at the place again in 2014, it looked more like a conventional movie theater than the "Satellite of Love." But it's current look is closer to the original, only it's broken in three pieces with the action in the front section.  Besides the theater is a freebie stand with a number of items up for grabs. These include t-shirts, gestures, and a "free steaming pile of sampo." What "sampo" is, I have no idea. The back end of the ship has a store.

The theater room has seating for a number of people. You can see the movies only if your media button is pressed *and* you touch the screen. Otherwise you see a picture of a cheesy black and white sci-fi movie with the caption "People of Earth, Click here." Among the people in the audience was Peril Klaxon, the new owner of MST3K.

Peril told me the theater plays movies every day, "If one isn't playing, you can pick one and start it yourself." As to how she ended up in charge, "I've more or less ended up with the place by accident.... I hung out here enough to be one of the Mads, the regular hosts....and then the original owner sort of disappeared, and didn't want to deal with updating the screen we used back then. The old screen used Quicktime, and when SL nixed Quicktime, it broke the old screen. I just happened to be the only one of the remaining hosts that new enough about scripting to build a new screen. (grin)" This was about two years ago.

Rebuilding the whole place wasn't an easy task for Peril, "...it was bits and pieces.   The screen was the most work, but I redid the whole build about a a year ago, that took about a month. Of course, it's never done, I'm still adding stuff now and then (grin). And I've rebuilt the screen at least three times, as I learned things. All because I couldn't give up the social aspects you get from watching the show with other people. (smile).

So what are her favorite movies to poke fun of? "I prefer the episodes with giant monsters or luchadors.(grin). ...We usually get 6-8 people here for event nights.  It's been growing a bit since I started putting notices int he SL event listings.  And since Archie put his stargate link next door. (grin) Oddly enough, our most popular events are Tuesdays and Thursdays.   We did weekend events for awhile, but they were usually empty."

And which movies were the most fun to poke fun at? "They love the ones that are particularly cheesy.   Bad Sci Fi movies, in particular. Everybody loves 'Space Mutiny.' And we like to talk about ;MANOS;, as it's probably the most famous MST3K episode....but that one  actually can be pretty dull. The other big ones are Hercules and Gamera movies."


"The reason I've managed to hang out here for ten years and not get sick of it, even though we have hundreds of episodes available, is because the people who hang out here are great. MST people are my people, so rather than having to find friends, they all just turn up here and introduce themselves. (smile)."

So if you want to laugh at a turkey, head to the MST3K Theater.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/This%20Island%20Earth/194/143/22

Bixyl Shuftan

Theater on the Hill

By Gemma Cleanslate

I go to shows at the Theater on the Hill (TOTH) often and enjoy them thoroughly. I usually arrive and enter the theater immediately about 15 minutes before the show begins to get a good seat for viewing and taking pictures for my articles. I rarely have looked outside but I find I should have. There is a lot more to the region than I ever knew.

The theater itself is very beautiful and built in the style of a classic domed temple that gleams in the sunlight. Beneath the Theater lobby there is a cabaret where events are also held.  The main theater overlooks two sims, Pure Luxury and Theater Stage. I saw the outdoor sunken theater and went over to check that out, then saw that the whole region was a beautiful area to walk. Along the paths I found some lovely real life  artwork by Taddeus Adagio set  on easels for sale. There are small buildings along the walkway which circles a large lake. Oliver Lake, with an island, Oliver Island with  an enclosed resting area with a small pond and fountain . As you cross the bridge to begin your walk you will find a hydrobike to take you out to the island.

I climbed a tower to get an over view of all. The foliage and trees are in late spring glory which adds to the experience of walking. Continuing along the walk way I came up a brick walled garden with another art piece fountain that is a memorial garden to some of those members of the TOTH that have passed. It is a place of serenity and meditation. 

I continued around and back to the theater sim and stopped there at a museum built in the style of the old west pueblo dating back to the original inhabitants of that area. It is named the Great Light Gallery and holds the photographic works of Immerdar Fredriksson where he reflects, “If one is patient with Grand Canyon; if one spends the time, eventually visual rewards--supreme moments for the landscape photographer--will surely present themselves. "Grand Canyon:  The Great Light" are these moments.” There are three floors of photographic images that are utterly marvelous. Walking through you will experience the feeling of being at the rim, in the canyon, and on the Colorado River. I went through three times I think just to get the feeling  over again.

In the area below the theater there is a shop with dashing clothes for gentlemen and formal gowns for women. Very lovely and I was tempted but resisted .. for now.

Next to that is a gallery called “Kids Art”  and behind it a workshop for those who wish to create works at scheduled workshops and who take field trips for inspiration and themes . It is run by Jeppe Violet. You can find out more about this gallery by visiting. Don’t miss the Scaled Orrery featuring the sun and planets.

All this I missed by just going into the theater! It pays to look around. Be sure to visit and take a walk. Some people fly everywhere in sl. I think they don’t know what they are missing. I have learned to take a long walk or a horse ride if the sim calls forthat. This slurl will take you outside the Theater and you can make your way from there. There is a lot to see. s

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pure%20Luxury/193/101/22

Gemma Cleanslate

"Roots" by Cica Ghost

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

Sometimes, we just put all the possible destinations on the wall and put on a blindfold, spin around three times and shoot a dart. This time, I hit on one called, "Roots," by Cica Ghost. It was described as a sim art project. The illustration showed some odd looking buildings that beckoned exploration. An Artist and Architect in our own right, we decided to go see if there was anything cool to report on.

Arriving at the landing tower, as things rezzed, the music is first to make a good impression. Words like Majestic and Peacefull come to mind. We begin our tour with a spring in our step. From the tower, there are two ways to explore the sim. A balloon ride comes by and give a ride around, with a birds eye view, or you can just walk down the path and tour on foot. Flying is also allowed. Viewing the neighborhood gives us a split impression. On the one hand, the scenery looks like a child's urban creation, made in the sand lot behind his house, but long forgoten and left to nature and her seasons to take back. On the other hand, this place is anything but dead. One senses that the sim is one large, living compost pile, preparing the ground for a lush new life. This sim has an air about it....one that should be kept away from open flames and sparks.

Adding to the "look", the sim's largest resident, a giant snail, with a mud hut for a shell, slimes his way past us, probably on his way to the races. We tried thumbing a ride, but the house was small and he smelled like something that shouldn't be stepped on. We move on to higher ground, where the homes aren't mobile.

Several of the structures had animations, allowing one to gaze out an upper window, while contemplating images, stirred up by the beautiful music. We were somewhat shocked to find one house that was occupied by a little girl and a black cat. Fortunately, they were only statues, so no need to make the sign of the cross or throw salt over the shoulder. Moving on, we spot a large tower, that looks like it would give a great view of the sim, if we could get to the top. A long ladder was shy by 6 meters of the top, but a large flat rock travelled up and down, like an elevator. At the top, naturally a little contemplation came into play, imagining ourselves as a tiny mouse that made it's home here.

Before ending the tour, it was imperative that we take the balloon tour of the sim. Returning to the landing tower, we grab the next available flight and keep our seat for several go-arounds. On the second pass, a young lady popped into the adjacent seat. Always pleased to share our adventures with others, we smile and say, "This is a fun place, isn't it?" She agrees, then, red-faced, jumps out and waits for the next flight.

Overall impressions of the sim? My hat's off to Cica Ghost, for taking objects and textures of child-like simplicity and crudeness and melding them into a grand and masterful artwork, the size of a sim. It's like walking around inside a painting and you can almost smell the rich humus, ready to sprout any seed that finds it. Maybe it's just the viewer I'm using. Perhaps our readers should visit and see if their latest, greatest viewer comes with [SMELL] parameters.

I give "Roots", by Cica Ghost, a big thumbs up. I recomend you go see it and if you agree, leave a little tip in her balloon tip jar, by the landing.

Night Atoll (36/185/42)

"Sha"

Down South

By Kelly Bloodykitty

Welcome to the sim called, "Down South".  This lovely place is the new land of where I used to work which was the Horse Saloon. Even though I haven't been to this particular sim a lot of times, I find it still beautiful in a sense. This club is basically one that centers around country and is group owned by the staff of Down South. It is located in the region of Heracles and is a moderate sim. The reason why I'm doing an article on basically a revamped version of the Horse Saloon I work in is because I wanted to touch on the new land and give a lot of credit to my friend Cheene for showing me the ropes in hosting and for being apart of both teams!

Like it appears this is of course centered around country, and has a strong vibe, especially with the nature as well as the building, which of course is a barn. In front is the sign signaling as a sort of ad, and a tractor too. There's something going on with my mesh settings or whatever it's considered, so it doesn't appear until I get closer to it. The inside is very wonderful too and right now is decorated for the Christmas season but is still in the theme with the barn with some small animals and such. They have a stage for the DJ and hosts, as well as a bar to sit at. 

Overall I have to say I love this sim despite me only being at it once or twice for a visit. I suggest you go down to the location and come and dance and chat with anyone who may be there! When you are there be sure to give props to Cheene for being quite awesome and for being apart of the Down South staff. Besides that I hope to see you too if you come along because I may be working there as a host, especially if I don't have to resubmit an application, so make sure to say hi to me too!

Heracles (30,45,22)

Kelly

The Kawaii Project

By BloodyKitty Resident

This cute shopping strip mall is called Kawaii Project. It is located in the region of Ploom and group owned by a group called, "The Kawaii Project - Staff." I have to give kudos to the creators of this sim because even though it's small it is still cute and pretty, which I believe they were going for, hence they 'Kawaii' in the name. While I haven't purchased anything here myself, yet; I plan to look again when I have some more lindens and maybe get one or two items. Speaking of the clothes, objects, and hairs, they seem to be very pretty and high quality. I suggest you check this place out and maybe you'll walk away with some lovely goodies.

There's nothing really negative from this sim in my eyes but I'd love if there were more shops to be honest. On the other hand I think it's perfectly fine with how it is and there's still pretty architecture as well as the things they have for sale in front of each building. One thing besides liking the whole, 'cute' vibe rather then sexy is that for me there's hardly and lag when walking around, but at the same time there hasn't been a lot of traffic for the two times I have come here. While that is said I don't believe the amount of people make up how good a sim is whether or not it's a shop or simply a place to see the sights and hear the sounds. 

Overall you should take a peek in this sim because I feel like it's well worth a few minutes due to the small area of the location. While people I believe tend to go for big shops that are like the size of shopping malls, some of us lazy folk want something that's quick, fast, and small really; or at least that's me. I hope you guys get some cool things and that it ends up being well worth your visit!

Ploom (65, 58, 2501)

BloodyKitty

The Waterfalls Club

By Wesley Regenbogen

The Waterfalls Club was opened about a month ago by cяıƨтıαпσ (djcristianoo) and his Second Life girlfriend Fiuona (spiritofluv). Both of them also decorated the club.

What makes this club unique is the waterfalls that you can find at the four ends of the club. Like many clubs, the interior is nicely decorated and modern. The DJ booth is located a bit in the back of the club, aside the two large logos with the waterfalls pillars below them. The falls are quite cool and nicely made. This makes this club unique of it’s kind. Behind the club there are waterfalls as well. To truly view the waterfalls,  you must actually fly around the club and see it for yourself. It’s amazing how they made it!

 Facing the DJ booth, there’s a bar in the club at your right. It’s a wave form thing and it’s cool. There are two rotating platforms made for dancers to dance on, located in the air. Let’s hope those dancers don’t have fear of heights!

The Waterfalls Club is a friendly club with a good atmosphere. They have awesome music and the best DJs. They play all kinds of trance music and also electro house in the club. What’s more, this club is only the beginning of a bigger project that they will launch soon.They will build shops and a business network and everything around it. This is an ongoing project that just started a month ago. Let’s hope this big project will succeed ! I wish them the best of luck with it !

Since this club is relatively new in Second Life, their ways of getting the word out are limited, such as events groups. They do have a group called “Waterfalls Club V.I.P.” When there is a party there and you're in the group, you will get notified. Because this is a new club, there are no major events planned yet.

Personally, this is the most unique club I encountered so far. Another club to add to my club list ( I don’t have a list, though ). The nice scenery in the background and the waterfall pillars are quite unique. Let us hope that this club expands it’s boundaries and will have bright future ahead of them. For being a new club, they have done a nice job creating it all.

You can find this club at the following location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Waterfall%20Club/75/112/37 

Wesley Regenbogen

A Visit to Linden Endowment for the Arts 17

The Greatest Story Ever Told—The History of Second Life™ 1999-2015

By DrFran Babock

Perception is Everything

Over the years there have been numerous displays that covered the history of Second Life. It’s hard to deny that SL was and is something new and different and completely different. A lot of the past has been destroyed and built over, but the facts remain, and they chronology of this virtual can be laid out. What differs in each presentation that has been created is perspective and viewpoint. Different displays have focused on different aspects of the evolution. This is perfectly understandable. At the risk of getting too philosophical, it has to be said: The way in which a person sees things is clearly their truth and their reality.

Marianne McCann’s Second Life Tenth Anniversary (SL10B) build (http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2013/06/sl10b-interview-marianne-mccann.html ) focused a lot on the early days. There is hardly anyone around who has a bigger collection of SL memorabilia than Marianne, nor anyone who can speak to it with as much eloquence.

That said, there is yet another display now that focuses on the history of Second Life™, and it opened February 8^th on the LEA 17 sim. It is the work of Sniper Siemens, who had attempted this challenging task once before on very short notice in LEA6 last year and was determined to try again.

I ran into Sniper, perched on an interesting armchair at the entrance to the installation, and she told me that she was very pleased with how this year’s version had turned out.

What about perception? Well, I found that a lot of the time, as I walked through this amazing installation, that I thought I might not have covered things the same way. Everyone loved the Greenies, but Sniper spent a lot of space covering them. It could have been that she had a lot of content from that time, but I can’t really know.

From 1995 to 2015

I loved the intelligent design of this exhibition. There is a definite path (a beautiful stone walkway that has outstanding specularity, created by Kriss Lehman of Botanical) that meanders from 1995 to 2015. The specularity is important, because it adds to the overall look of the build. As I wandered from year to year, the gleam on the ground and the trees that surrounded the paths created a sense of unity that was artistic at the same time that it decreased some of the confusion that often occurs when trying to get the sense of a large installation.

I won’t spend a lot of time covering the individual exhibits, because I just noticed that genius writer and blogger Canary Beck has discovered this gem of a build, and will focus on the history details and the quiz contained on the sim. (http://canarybeck.com/2015/02/08/take-the-second-life-history-quiz/ )

What I Noted

The installation is a knockout for those of us who love and appreciate the history of this virtual world. One thing of note: If you don’t like to read a lot when visiting, you will miss a lot. There are many signs with a lot of writing on them. I don’t know how to get around this, when there is a detailed story to tell, but I am not sure many will stop to read unless they want to complete the History Quiz.

The only other comment I have is that Sniper is a good builder. Her mesh seemed to add a lot to the build, especially when there is not a lot of 3D content about the early days. 

For anyone who has ever built a history build (as I did for SL10B and SLL11B) the big problem is always how to represent residents, because the human/furry, etc. form has a high land impact. Sniper’s solution was to use these bean type cartoon characters along the paths to represent the human aspect of SL. They added color, and another level of uniformity to the build, but they didn’t really seem to be part of SL history, so they struck an incongruent note to me.

What I Loved

It is clear that this build is a labor of love, and that Sniper poured her soul, and her time into its creation. I especially loved the Linden Lab San Francisco build, and the silliness around the Zindra build.

This build is a must for anyone who wants to learn about the history of Second Life™. Sniper had a vision for creating this history, and it is accessible and understandable.

The build focuses a lot on the financial aspects of the history, and for me, it provided a revelation. I never knew that the “haptics” equipment that is now becoming so popular with the current virtual reality craze, was actually the catalyst for Phillip Rosedale to create Second Life™. The Rig, as its called, supposedly still sits in boxes in Linden Lab.

There is a great display for those of you who don’t remember a time when Burning Life was very much a part of the culture. I have always thought, along with many others, that Phillip Rosedale was trying to create a virtual Burning Man when he first envisioned Second Life™.

The Greatest Story Ever Told—the History of Second Life™ 1999-2015 will run through the end of May of this year on LEA 17, allowing you plenty of time to learn about what came before, and what might come in the future.

LEA 17: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA17/26/237/22

DrFran Babcock

Interview With Lestat Zalivstok, Owner of the Winter Ice Rock Fest and Rebel Yells Concerts Sims

By Wesley Regenbogen

Wesley Regenbogen: Hello there Lestat

Lestat Zalivstok: Hello Wesley

Wesley Regenbogen: Who created the Winter Ice Rock Fest sim, more precisely the Rebel Yells Concerts sim?

Lestat Zalivstok: The sim has been created and decorated by myself and GuiltyAngel Rhapsody another owner, we are also owner of the Tribute band Rebel Yell Concerts, the N.1 Tribute band in SL with over 3000 members in group, and that's why the name of the sim is Rebel Yell Concerts.

Wesley Regenbogen: When was the sim created ?

Lestat Zalivstok: Me and GuiltyAngel are owners since a year and a half together with Monia63 Dirval.

Wesley Regenbogen: The place is Christmas themed. Who came up with the idea to create a Christmas themed sim anyway ?

 Lestat Zalivstok: This sim is a multi-event sim and (we will) change this environment following the major festivities. On Christmas is Christmas and winter themed, yes. The idea came to all of us owners so me Guilty and Monia.

Wesley Regenbogen: Did you also do all of the decorative things in the sim ?

Lestat Zalivstok: Yes myself and GG (Guilty) personally decorated the whole sim. Our goal was to have a photorealistic sim so we spent a lot to have the best trees the best looking ice textures the best houses and chalets etc. etc.

Wesley Regenbogen: Is the sim available all the time, or are there times when it's not available for Second Life Residents?

Lestat Zalivstok: All the time available and it appears on the SL Destination Guide

Wesley Regenbogen: Are there any other events taking place in the near future or what concerts are taking place in the upcoming weeks?

Lestat Zalivstok: We have concerts on monthly bases here brought by our company Rebel Yell Concerts, the latest ones was last Sunday Bonjovi and Iron Maiden tributes... We will have more shows on January, including one for the 3rd Rebel Yell birthday in the weekend 9/10/11, probably a Depeche Mode tribut, and more during that month not yet scheduled

Wesley Regenbogen: What makes your place special, what features does it have that no other places have?

Lestat Zalivstok: A very unique photorealistic look. It looks a real village, no fake textures or fake trees. The nature is 100% realistic and so is the rest of the landscape and buildings... Moreover it has basically almost all the winter sports available here, skating, sledding, etc. (We have) a real mountain built, or better say terraformed, by Guiltyangel Rhapsody, where you ski just like in real-life. And we are the one and only sim featuring a very good looking and realistic ski rail which brings you to the ski mountain.

The skating is very realistic too. You can skate using your own hud, or you can use one of the 4-tour on skates that makes you go around the huge skating rink in couple or single.

Wesley Regenbogen: Thank you for this short interview. I wish you the best of luck with the concerts and the sim in whole.

Lestat Zalivstok: Thanx a lot.

Wesley Regenbogen

Club Bed

By Wesley Regenbogen

Club Bed calls itself a “Dutch Hangout” and the club is placed on what looks like a large bed. That explains the unusual name of this club.

The club was created in September 2014 by Deborah8 Cortes and Magdalena1 Kira. Magdalena also has the job of decorating the club, doing a very nice job of it. The setting of actually a large bed, is quite unusual, but that makes it different from other clubs I have wrote about in the past..

The club warmly welcomes anyone that enters. They have a friendly staff and is a great “Dutch Hangout.” And they have great DJs that play in their club seven days a week. They also have a romantic garden and a wedding place too. Avatars can give their rezzday party and other events for free.

The club has theme evenings sometimes as well. I was there at one of those theme evenings, the subject was “Indian evening.” There were a lot of avatars, ( 10 or 11) at the evening and they had good fun at this event.

Future themes include: movie, adventure, pirate, Indian, Halloween, Christmas, Eastern, summer, winter, all Dutch themes, and more. Too many to list here, in fact.

In my personal this is one of the best clubs I've encountered so far. The fact that the club is set on a large bed, makes it an amazing gem that I found in Second Life. I haven’t found anything like it elsewhere.

Readers can find more information about this club in Second Life Search, and in the club itself. They communicate their events and other information through their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/307719049414186/?fref=ts ) , their group ( and group chat ) and SL Nederland. On their Facebook page,  you can find videos taken from within the Second Life environment.

The team of Club Bed consists of following members :

Owners : Deborah8 Cortes and Magdalena1 Kira

Builder : Bjoet Wonder

Managers : Rosita Balan  and Scilla Capra

Dutch DJ’s that play in the club: DJ Brenda Bates, DJ Black, DJ Silver, DJ Han Fallen, DJ Diablo, and DJ Threes.

CLUB BED can be found at Olympus Island.

*Addition* The Newser was later informed one party had a total of 32 avatars present. Plus of the staff, Bjoet Wonder does the bed decoration "and cleans the bed too." 

*Addition* the location of the club has changed, now at Stormy End (75/119/1001 )

Wesley Regenbogen  

Prehistorica: The Dawn Kingdoms

By Xymbers Slade

While wandering about the other day, I managed to spot someone in a tiny velociraptor avatar that looked incredibly well done. I got a landmark from them and immediately headed over to a place known as "Prehistorica, The Dawn Kingdoms."

I'm glad I did. I haven't been impressed by what goes on in SL in a long long long time, which is why I haven't written much for the Newser. However, here at The Dawn Kingdoms, I can honestly say I'm impressed by what I have found. You begin in front of the store, where there are tons of avatars to choose from, both sculpt and mesh. All of the classic favorites, from the triceratops, tyrannosaurus rex, stegosaurus, Pteranadon, and the ankylosaurus (my personal favorite) are available at about $2000L each. I did not look at the sculpts, but I only assume they're cheaper and are earlier versions of the meshes.

Behind you there's a portal to a few prehistoric-themed areas (jungle, beach, pond and some petrasaur cliffs, which I did not go exploring to on account of heavy lag). It might be slower on older machines because there's a LOT of stuff to load (it was very laggy for me, but it can't be avoided with the amount of detail that's down there, plus I have my settings on high, which adds to the problem). Deciding to splurge on myself I picked up an Ankylosaur and a Tyrannosaur.

Both avs I picked up come with three separate folders, and you -have- to put the folders on in order or there will be errors (according to the notecard)... you can't just throw everything into one folder and put it on all at once. The AO that comes with the avatar is very detailed and colorful, and best of all it seems to be -intuitive-, meaning that for those of us who never bother reading the notecard (such as myself) it's easy to figure out. There are about 16 different default skins, with room for four more custom, and 20 eye colors/four claw/four tooth skins. There are about 24 different gestures (six sounds, six combat, six poses, six "life" gestures, such as eating and drinking).

The "Extras" folder they come with adds some decorations (like a watering hole or some eggs) though I don't know why the folder would include some "gift vendors" scripted to ask you for permission to your $L account. That's my only bone to pick with the whole thing.

I'm giving the place five Dragon Hoards out of five without hesitation (even in the face of the "gift vendors", even though the T-Rex sounds make me think of the old movie "Jurassic Park" (what would I know, we don't know what they sounded like, after all). The avatars are well done for the price, the animation is great and they're cheaper than some of the other meshes I have seen. Having an intuitive HUD really helps.

The Dawn Kingdoms can be found at Fort Nowhere (130,127,1101).

Xymbers Slade

(For Becky Shamen's article on Prehistoria, Click Here) 

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 

Maps of Second Life

By Gemma Cleanslate

A visit to New Kadath Lighthouse Art Gallery was a pleasure. The walls are covered with maps from all times in Second LIfe, some going way back to the beginning. I love maps, since I was a kid in school, I have always wanted to read maps. One summer for a part time job I worked at an automobile Association preparing trip maps for travelers . This was before global positioning systems . So to see all the maps of SL in one place and the progression of land and sea is so interesting. The maps of the railroads are there, as well as map of aviation routes  with airports pinpointed. The Blake Seas are there along with map of pirate areas. Bay City Maps were on one wall. There is a section showing the early holdings of the millionaire Anshe Chung. 

Next to the maps is a very interesting description of the origin of the areas in most cases.  In an alcove there is Aley’s globe of the SL universe. In the same alcove is a very ancient map done by Jack Linden tells his history in sl, serving as a land management “aspects” and a fond liaison with residents until 2010 and another by Dyne Talemesca who first named the Sansera continent. 


On one wall in another room is the history of Magellan Linden, the intrepid explorer who discovered many pre linden locations of Nova Albion. I asked Professor Juliana Lethdetter about the maps and how long they would be there and her answer was “The entire 'Maps of Second Life' exhibit is permanent.  When I first opened it in 2012, I thought it was going to be temporary, which is why the Destination Guide says it's 'limited time.'  But so many people liked it so much, that I decided to expand it instead of taking it down.  Currently everything on the First Floor and everything on the Mezzanine is part of that collection (plus a little bit of spill-over on the Second Floor, too.)  I move the pieces around as necessary due to limited space, and I do sometimes make changes or swap out old pieces for new, if I feel it improves the exhibit.  But generally what's up on the walls stays up." 


There will be some art exhibits on the second floor from time to time. Right now there is one set of ink sketches by Juliana. There are so many fascinating bits of history in these walls at New Kadath . I recommend you make a visit especially if you love maps and history. You will find so much there.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Kadath/34/31/23

Gemma Cleanslate