All Hallows at Moochie

 

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

 

“The veil grows thin and [All Hallows is ready to welcome you into its ghoulish embrace. May your month be filled with flickering lanterns, crisp leaves, and a touch of haunted magic. Happy October, everyone! “ Yay! One of my very favorite places to roam among the brilliant foliage and discover all the attractive hidden places for sitting and talking or for taking photos. Bring you honey or your family and wander in the forest. This is not the scariest Halloween places I will visit but one of the most enjoyable.

At the entrance pick up a map to carry with you and postcards to send to your friends . Couples will find a rezzer for walking together. Turn on the shared environment and be sure to turn on your music for eerie sounds, stories, and music to accompany you on your travels. I had to brighten the environment for photos . If you check the railway car you will see a map of the whole region with indicators of scenes you don’t want to miss. There are those who rent certain areas to celebrate the entire month. You will be warned if you wander onto those properties so you can just turn around and leave. They are mostly along the west side of the region.

From the large circle surrounded by hay bales and pumpkins and hundreds of candles and other expressions of Halloween there are paths that go in all directions making it easy to find your way to all sites. Find a dance ball(candles) above the center décor and enjoy. Before you take a path check out the “snow angel”, and the gallows. Or become part of the décor in the hearse. Walking along the paths little scenes to sit or touch will give you a chance for a great photo. I think a whole family will enjoy the areas with carousel, monkey bars , other toys to play with.

Along the water of the small harbor goulish servers, Cressida Wretched and Henrietta Hagwort and offer drinks and Halloween food to try. Henrietta has a terrible story , check her profile..sad. I did eat and survived so go ahead. Out on the water there is a cute game, Trick or Treat Trail Game. I did not try it but think I will when I return with friends. Take a swan boat ride. On the other side of the harbor is a charming restaurant to try also.

I did not stay on the paths but wandered into the woods to enjoy autumn colors At one point I did find the little outdoor theater showing an old black and white movie fit for the season. I have visited about four times so far and still have not found all there is to be found so shall plan on coming back during the month that it will be there I did not get to the church yet!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moochie/170/182/23

Gemma Cleanslate 

 

Interview With Ina Garnier, Producer at The Déjà vu Ballet Troupe

 
By:  Michael (Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia)

On Sunday, the Déjà vu ballet dance troupe performed the Tempest.  The set design, costuming, choreography, effects, and music all came together beautifully, to tell the story of Shakespeare’s last play.

After the show, I caught up with Déjà vu’s producer, Ina Garnier, for an interview, where she shared with me her process for creating ballet in Second Life, her thoughts on how ballet is best experienced, and how the Déjà vu ballet troupe is directly effected by the war in Ukraine.

Prospero summons a storm

(Note:  This interview has been edited for length, grammar, and clarity)

Michael (Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia):  Thank you, for talking to me on such short notice!  Just so our readers know, English is a second language for you.  Your profile says you are from Gdansk, in Poland?

Ina Garnier (lna carpaccio):  Poland, right.

Michael:  Oh yes, Poland is right next to Ukraine.  I love the Ukraine support at your show!  I noticed the flag giver on the stage and the t-shirts at the front doors.  One detail I noticed was that during the show, when firestorm showed me stream title notifications, every track was named Deja Vu - Glory to Ukraine!

Ina Garnier:  Yes, I announced at the opera house at the beginning of this war that Deja Vu would be playing in honor of Ukraine.  That's why I changed the titles.  One of our dancers is now in Ukraine.  She is not with us, but this is not the only reason why we support Ukraine.

Michael:  I hope she will be ok.  We are all hoping for the best in Ukraine.

Ina Garnier:  The issue is very close to me.  Ukraine is our neighbor.

Michael:  That must be difficult.  Do you meet a lot of Ukranian refugees where you are?

Ina Garnier:  Yes, there are a lot of them in Gdansk

Michael:  I hope things work out in the end.

Ina Garnier:  I hope too

Top: T-Shirt Giver at Royal Theater front Steps.  Bottom: Ukraine flag giver, front and center, on the stage.

Michael:  What is your title at Deja Vu?  Producer?

Ina Garnier:  I am a woman-orchestra, that's what we say.  That is, I deal with everything:  producer, director, choreographer.  I also do decorations and some costumes.

Michael:  That sounds like a lot of work.  How did you get involved with dance?  Were you a dancer and choreographer before you came to Second Life?

Ina Garnier:  In real life, I used to run a neighborhood theater for children.  It was called the Cheese Keyhole Theatre.  I have long been passionate about ballet, music and theater.

Michael:  Tell me a little bit about your process.  When you decide what play to put on, what is the next step?  Recruiting dancers?  Choreography?  Costuming?  Set design?

Ina Garnier: The first step is always an idea.  Then I make set design, and costumes, and I choose the music.  Then I devise a choreography.  These are not always adaptations of ballets that exist in real life, I often make up my own stories.

Michael:  That is interesting!  So, you begin with the set and costumes and then do the choreography.  That makes sense, because it's probably easier to choreograph things as they will look with full costume and set design.

Ina Garnier:  Exactly.

Michael:  What tools do you use to choreograph?  Do you make your own animations?

Ina Garnier:  I am using the animations available in Second Life.

Michael:  Do you use any in world tools to put the animations together?

Ina Garnier:  I also use Spot On Choreography tools, so that I can set precise paths, on which the dancers can move, and match time the animations.

The full cast takes a final bow

Michael:  Are your dancers all actual people, or bots, or mannequins?

Ina Garnier:  Sometimes I use alts, if I need more people than there are in the troupe.  There are 14 people in the troupe.  Alts are also a reserve in case someone breaks down, so I don't have to cancel the show.

Michael:  Most of your dancers are actual people, then.  I'm surprised all the dance and theater companies use so many real people.  It seems to me like alts, or mannequins, would be easier.

Ina Garnier:  For sure, the alts do not argue, and are extremely disciplined.  They always obey my will.  It is different with people.

Michael:  Tell me, when you block the scenes out, as a choreographer, do you block them out with the idea that the audience will see the stage the same way we would see it in real life?  I mean, in Second Life we can violate the proscenium arch.  In other words, we can move our camera to extreme angles and zoom in on dancers and things like that.  Do you think your audiences would get more from your performances by keeping a straight angle, looking directly at the stage?  Or maybe you would prefer we move our cameras around during the show?

Ina Garnier:  It would be best if the people watched my performances as they would in real life, but one of the special qualities of Second Life is that you can see from everywhere, without any problems.  It is up to the people where to look, and what to see.  If someone is curious, they can watch us stand behind the scenes, between acts.  I often see photos taken from the back of the stage, that kind of spoil the fun a bit.

Michael:  I can understand how that would be annoying, if you choreograph as you would in real life, and then the audience does unexpected things that can't be done in the real world.

Ina Garnier:  Yes, but I understand people.  They want to know what it looks like from the back when I'm in a real theater, as well, so that curiosity is not that much different than in the real world.  I'm also interested in how it really works, when I see a performance.

Michael violated the proscenium arch to get a more dramatic angle, and get closer to the performers.  You can’t get angles like this in real life.

Michael:  How far in advance do you usually announce your next show?  Do you usually put it on the google calendar a week before the show, or a month?

Ina Garnier:  Sometimes, I manage to plan for a month in advance, but sometimes at the last minute.  There are different situations, and it is not always possible to plan far in advance.  Sometimes, I just don't have time to do something, and then I have to change my plans.

Trailer, from when the Polish National Ballet’s 2017 performance of Chopiniana & Bolero

Michael:  Tell me a little bit about your show next week:  Chopiniana & Bolero.

Ina Garnier:  This double ballet is an unusual performance.  The first part to the music of Fryderyk Chopin, the second is Bolero by Ravel.  The first part is calm, romantic, and the second part is growing, and dynamic.

Michael: That sounds wonderful!  I’m looking forward to seeing it.  Also, I noticed on your Facebook group that you repeat shows now and then.  That's really nice, because if I miss a show, I can wait for it to come back around.  How often do shows rotate?  I mean, if I missed the Tempest yesterday, how long do you think I might have to wait, before you perform it again?

Ina Garnier: I don't repeat them systematically.  I just sit down and think about what to repeat. I have a total of 24 ready-made performances, so there is a lot that can be repeated throughout the year. But I also do new ones.  It only takes a bit longer than a week to put a new show together.  Sometimes it can take several months to put together one new performance.

Michael:  Oh yeah, I can imagine it would probably be impossible to do a new play every week.  I hope you do Prometheus again some time, though.  That's my favorite play.

Ina Garnier:  Prometheus is difficult, because there are as many as 30 avatars in it, so I don't repeat it too often.

Display found in the Royal Theater’s basement, displaying fliers from previous performances.

Michael:  Let’s talk about dance groups in Second Life.  Your Deja Vu group is wonderful, and I think everybody should join it, but if somebody is new to ballet in Second Life, are there any other groups they should look for, to connect with the theater and dance communities in Second Life, to learn about new shows?

Ina Garnier:  There are a lot of dance groups and theaters in SL.  If you are interested in this topic, there are a few places you can look for more information.  One group is called Keep Performance Alive, and another is called Dance Queens.  Both of them advertise a lot of shows.  Dance Queens also has an online calendar of dance shows.

Michael:  One last question:  If somebody wants to become a Deja Vu ballerina, is there an application process for that?  How would somebody get involved with joining Deja Vu?

Ina Garnier:  Just write to me, I will talk to any one candidate

Michael:  Thank you so much for a wonderful interview!  Is there anything else you would like our readers to know before we finish?

Ina Garnier:  I cordially invite everyone to our shows!

Michael
 

Feral Furry Theater Returns to Sunweaver Space

By Bixyl Shuftan

In the past, one of the weekly events in the Sunweaver community was the showing of movies by Shockwave Yareach at the Feral Furry Theater. Originally a screen on a skybox with a few chairs, it was later made into a place that resembled a real-life movie theater, thanks to Felina Fermi. But over a year ago, a viewer update "broke" this and presumably other movie screens. So the theater was closed.

But on Sunday January 6, Shockwave had an announcement in Sunweaver chat, "As it is now a new year, it's time for the return of an old tradition.... We *now have movies again!*" The Feral Theater was now open again. Dropping over, I asked him if the theater was truly back in business. "Yes indeed!" he answered, "New servers, new streaming solution, took a while to solve."

"What's the max number that can see?" Shockwave went on, "I have NO idea. 100M to the backbone.  Dual 3Ghz server. I can probably host a *lot.* So now we have movies again! And Spry.com can kiss my left one!" The wolf growled, "They cancelled me when they saw I had videos on board. Didn't bother to see they were 1/4 size, etc. So I have a new host. It's deliberate.  Can't pump the raw data here -- nobody would have the bandwidth.  So it's transcoded to 300kbps video, 96kbps audio. Fine for SL ... of course, everyone still has to have their media turned on in the viewers."

"I should update the movie posters out there," commented Felina Fermi, who was there. Someone else asked, "So Life Of Brian for Easter again?" "Yep!" Shockwave grinned, "Gotta get those traditions going again!" It was observed Rita Mariner wasn't there yet. Shockwave responded, "I've messaged Rita's phone to tell her." Of the theater entrance, someone had rezzed a number of chairs in front of the concession stand. Shockwave joked that was just one of the problems, " I know the popcorn is stale.  The theater's been closed over a year."

The movie shown was a recent release that was not a particularly big box-office draw. Shockwave commented he originally thought it would be mediocre, but he liked it.

The videogames in the front lobby no longer work, at least for my viewer. But the theater does have points of interest besides the main event. The projection room is accessible, and has a good amount of detail. The bathrooms however were always occupied. Of the seating in the theater, people have the choice of sitting in theater seats to watch the movie, or mats for couples.

The Feral Furry Theater will have events every Sunday at 6 PM SL time, baring complications. Upon hearing of the theater's opening, the Sunweaver venue that had been doing Sunday evening events, the Happy Vixen, rescheduled to 3 to 6 PM SL time.

Sunweaver Space (243,192,451)

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

Felina’s Movie Theater

By Grease Coakes

Last year I reported on Shock’s movie night which is now a staple of the Sunweavers. Every evening at 6pm SL time, Shock plays a movie or two at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Space/253/175/451 one of the hangouts of the Sunweavers. Recently, I heard of something new. There's a new movie theater for the Sunweavers by Feilna Fermi.

By grabbing a random LM sent by Rita Mariner through the Sunweavers group, I found Feilna’s theater. Shockwave Yareach and Rita Mariner were there when I warped in. Once in, I saw the front of a movie theater you might see in real life. When I walked in, I saw multiple theaters showing movie posters like in real life for example "Thor" and a "Lord of the Rings" movie.

Many other furry hangouts like the Ark and Anthroxtacy also have their own movie night but Felina's Theater http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Isle/213/115/23 is another movie theater showing the same movie at the same time. Felina Fermi has been a Sunweaver living on Rita’s sim for a couple years before she added her own movie theater.


Shock’s movie hangout is just a grass square in midair with some furniture. Felina’s land on the other hand is a small theater with multiple movies. Using million media, Felina’s VCR was showing a large assortment of movies that you can choose from. First ask Felina Fermi to allow you access to the XL and Millions media video devices. It only takes a moment for her to add your name. Then using a text-driven menu you can pick out for hundreds of movies ranging from the "X-Men" movies to John Hughes’ "Breakfast Club," and more. Felina’s friend Earthy creates the stream for her XL movies. If you look through the movie list and you don’t see the movie you’re looking for click the store option and you may be able to find it.

On the night I wrote this article, Shock played "Hardware Wars," a spoof of "Star Wars" which had cheesy effects, and then "Kung Fu Panda" 1 and 2.

Another neat feature of Felina’s land is that her home is right there. I checked out her house and it was amazing. A lot of décor like pictures and kitchen assortments along a reproduction of her real-life home. Among the things I happened to see was her music keyboard along with her posters of video games art. Another thing I noticed there was 4 or 5 cats meowing like crazy in her back room with the video game art and her keyboard. It was interesting to hear random meows while I wrote this article. Good thing about the SL cats is they don’t knock over your coffee to mess up your computer.


So for her it’s like having a movie theater at home. Felina isn’t just a one trick cat though. In real-life she has a music keyboard and she also composes musical remixes of video game music tracks. I got her Skype information she gave me a lot of her music files. Later on I’ll try them out and see how they fit with my live DJ mixes. She mentioned a couple times that she heard a song in her dreams in real life and she was able to create the song like that on her music keyboard. She recommended I try her final fantasy remixes that she created I might just do that.

Felina’s movie theater was certainly a welcome addition to the sunweavers group and family. Just
in case Shock’s movie land was filled up or maybe you wanted the movie theater feel Felina’s movie
theater might do the trick. Also ask her about access to her movie library if you want to check out a movie by yourself or with a friend. Just don’t mind the cats next door.

Grease Coakes