Skye Silverweb Talks About Burn2

By Bixyl Shuftan

While I was at Burn2, I had a talk with one of the communications staff, iSkye Silverweb. She was happy to speak about the festival, and we soon met. "Hello, welcome home, Bixyl!" she greeted me with the expression of welcome the Burners often gave.

"Thank you," I answered with a smile, then began the questions, "So about how long have the preparations for this year's Burn2 been going?

Skye answered, "Oh we started ... hmm, the planning table meet every week all year. We had our last event, Burnal Equinox, and after the wrap of that event we actually started thinking about BURN2's October event. That would be back in... July/August."

I nodded, "How did you come up with the name and theme?"

"We followed the RL Burning Man's theme this year," Skye answered, " which was the same, Caravansary - we saw so many possibilities that could happen in a virtual setting and let me tell you the builders did NOT disappoint!"

"Sounds like visitors can expect some great exhibitions," I commented.

Skye continued, "Caravansary is based on the old Silk Road of yore, the crossroads of trade and civilisations. ... Oh yes! We have had some great musical and dance performances. Yman made a return this year with an eye-popping performance of light and particles. That was with the Changhigh Trinity Sisters"

"Interesting. Where is this exhibition?" I asked.

"This was performed yesterday and Yman's troupe will perform again later in the week," Skye told me, "I can show you the stage if you like."

"Do you have a day and time (for the performance)?" I asked, "And certainly."

"Let me check the calendar for that information, I knew you would ask!" After a moment, she answered, "The Changhigh Trinity Sisters will perform at 2;00pm SLT Sunday the 26th. You can see the complete schedule of events here: http://www.burn2.org/calendar."

Skye went on, "One of our traditions is the Lamplighters' processions,  which are held at 11am and 7pm SLT each day, except for the last Saturday and Sunday.Those days are Burn days - we show up and drum a bit, then after the Burns we lead the people into the embers to dance."

"About how many are involved in it?" I asked.

"How many participants or Lamplighters?" Skye replied.

"I meant how many Lamplighters are involved?" I corrected.

Skye answered, "The size of the group varies depending on availability. For planning the processions, we have a Council of Elders, comprised of 4 Elders, and we do the planning for the Lamplighters events including processions. We added the 11AM time this year bcause we wanted to include our European contingent. And as it turns out we have a pretty good turnout at that time, which is pleasing.

"Sounds good," I then asked, "have there been more participants and Burners from that time zone lately?"

"This weekend, yes!" she answered, "and I am hoping that hold true during the week, since that is early to mid- evening for Europe. An easier time of day than our 7pm SLT time which is the wee hours of hte night. I have already received appreciative feedback about that 11am time and that's been exciting for us. I think that's true too of BURN2 in general. We like having more people come so we make performances and exhibits available more hours of the day. We've had a very good time and a lot of fun. (The) people here really do live those 10 Principles of Burning Man we talk about."

"Sounds good. Could you remind the readers of those?" I asked.

"Oh definitely!" Skye told me, "You can find them here: http://thelamplightersblog.wordpress.com/ten-principles/. And I have a display of those ten principles of Burning Man over in the Lamplighter Village, would you like to see them? The Village isn't far - we can walk."

"Sure, and no problem," I told her. We then walked to a place with a tall Burning Man symbol in the front. On the sides were two tents making up the length of the place with the side toward the inside open. There were signs hanging halfway down from the top, five on each side for a total of ten.

"This is the Lamplighters' Village," Skye told me, "And the Ten Principles are on the ten posters you see on either side of this courtyard. This is where the processions start and often end too. The processions go to the Temple which is two sims away. And it is always an experience to cross sims on the way but that in no way diminishes the enthusiasm of people who come along."

I nodded, "How long did 'The Man' and the Temple take to build?"

"Both took months to build," she answered."

"Whom was involved in their design?" I requested.

"The Lamplighters oversee the Temple build," Skye told me, "and I was the contact for the Lamplighers with the Temple builder, who is Midori Rotaru. We liked her Temple so much last year, that we asked her to come back and build it again this year. She has an assistant, Chyenne Devin, who works with her. For the Man, Marianne McCann is the build team lead, and Pygar Bu works with her. There is at least one other person but I would encourage you to talk with Marianne and learn more about how that build happened."

"Between this and Bay City, they must be busy," I commented.

"Definitely!," Skye responded enthusiastically, "I think that's true for many of us here at BURN2. This is entirely a volunteer planned and driven event, nearly entirely resident funded,  and all of us are also involved in other projects around SL and in real-life. We do this because we love it, we believe in and practice the Ten Principles as much as we can."

"About how many here have been involved with both the Burning Man festival and Burn2?" I asked.

Skye answered, "I can't tell you a number but I can tell you this, an increasing number of people here will tell you they also were actively involved in Burning Man, every year. It's been exciting to see the number of people coming in and saying 'I'm from the real-life Burning Man,' or 'I went there and this FEELS just like home.' That's gratifying. To get numbers of who is involved in both, I think the best person to ask about that would be EmCee Widget or Ronon Carver. EmCee is the Regional Representative for BURN2 to Burning Man."

"If you would like," she suggested, "I can teleport you to the Temple and to the Man so you can get snapshots of each." I agreed, and she then told me, "Okay let's go to the Temple first, then The Man. I think it's a fitting conclusion to end at The Man because 'he' is why we do this. I will go to the Temple and teleport you there. One moment." She then ported away, and a few moments later I was sent a teleport request. I took it, and in an instant I was before the front of a black structure with a red cloth over the front opening with four tall tourches around me and pictures of previous temples to the sides.

"Let me know when everything is rezzed for you," Skye told me, "On the other side of the road behind you is a sim border, just a for-your-information." After some more moments, I told her most everything was clear and in color. "We can go inside," she then led me inside, showing me around. Inside was four large bases with white light beaming up from each, and in the middle of them a large reddish globe that was hollowed out with an opening on top, from which it glowed white, on a steel base that somewhat resembled a large steel flower, "That is the censer."

Looking back outside, I commented, "I notice there are pictures of earlier temples."

"Yes, Midori did a wonderful thing," Skye told me, "She wanted to show history of the Temple at BURN2. So she asked for some snapshots of past Temples, I thought it was a wonderful gesture." She drew my attention to the structure's appearance, "You might notice there is a lot of black in the colour here. This is a cultural thing. Asians see black as a happy colour, a colour of warmth. In Western cultures we don't see it that way. And so Midori being Japanese, she incorporated that because it fit so well with the Silk Road concept. A lot of Eastern peoples crossed those trades routes with the West.  So again, being in touch with history, We thought it was a marvelous idea."

She drew my attention to the globe in the center, "The censer here was created by Vicarious Lee, and she did this completely independently of Midori's work on the Temple. It turned out to be a perfect match in colours and build style. The censer is the SL equivalent of the RL Burning Man's tradition of people leaving notes at the Temple there. At Burning Man, The Temple is the spiritual center. It is the same here. People wrote little notes and stuck them into the walls of the Temple, and those notes got burned with the Temple

"About how many people here have left messages so far?" I asked.

"Let me check," Skye paused for a moment, then answered, "twenty so far, and the festival opened yesterday. we anticipate that number to go up very quickly over the week. At the Temple Burn next Sunday, the messages in the censer will be read aloud, shouted, so everyone within 100 meters will be able to see them in text. This is something that really is very deeply moving for a lot of people. And then once those messages are read off, the burn commences. Really special experience."

I brought up, "I recall when SL was being developed, some of the Lindens visited the Burning Man festival, and it had quite an impact on them."

Skye brightened, "Yes! so for the first six years of the festival in SL, the Lab actually supported the festival and it was called Burning Life at the time. Then in about 2010, the Lab had to withdraw its support. But then the resident Burners wanted to keep it going, and so it morphed into BURN2. Became a virtual regional of Burning Man in order to continue here."

I commented, "I've heard that lately the company policy of discouraging fraternization has been reversed. Have you seen more interest by the Lindens of the Burn?"

Skye answered that they had, "We actually saw Torley here yesterday during the Lamplighters procession. We were delighted to see that. And I believe other Lindens may have visited while I was not here. I don't know if other Lindens plan to come and visit but we would love to see them here. For all we know, they have been. I'm not here on the playa 24 hours a day so I couldn't tell you but we would welcome them as fellow Burners," she smiled.

Skye continued, "Any other questions here, before we go to the Man? ... There are stages between here and there, with various musical happenings as per the schedule. Feel free to drop by those stages, such as the Temple stage, the Man Stage, and Center Camp. Then Yman's exhibit, Idle Rogue, Organica, all are also musical camp stages among others. Let's go to Center Camp so you can see what that is, that's the social hub of the Playa especially when there is a performance going on that's on the way. You can see it from here if you draw distance is up around 200 meters or more. When you cam from above, it looks almost like a whirling dervish's skirt, thus its nickname 'the dervish tent.' "

"Let's go to Center Camp, best to teleport or we will cross a couple of sim borders." She smiled, ported away, then sent a TP to me as well. After heading over, "This is Center Camp and it's quiet at the moment, here. I do see a good number of avatars around on my radar, but here, yes, at the moment. I call it quiet because it LOOKS quiet - but I'm deaf so I wouldn't hear if there is any music going on nearby *grin*"

I looked over on my own radar, "I see some to the north, at a red tent."

"Probably a performance there. We could stop over there when we finish our little tour, if you like Bixyl," she suggested.

"It's up to you. I was able to cam over to take a picture," I answered.

"Good, ok, then a hop to the Souk and then the Man," Skye told me, "I will meet you there ..."

We both teleported to the location in question. The place looked like a bazzar with booths and tables full of goods, "So what's the purpose of this building?" I asked.

Skye answered, "This is to emulate the souk, a marketplace along the Silk Road. It is the center of trade, but of course here no money changes hands. Things are admired and graciously given. And people meet, perform, play music, or do whatever they wish. One person offered 'free hugs.' "

I chuckled, "Heh, what was the reaction?"

"All sorts of them," SKye answered, "amusement, a little chagrin, shyness but once hugged invariably the huggees felt much better! I think this will be more used during the week. This weekend has been mainly focused on opening acts and getting things underway. The marketplace should come to life starting tomorrow (Sunday), espcially later in the day."

 "Then on to the Man," Skye prepared to port over, "see you there in a moment." "I think it's just over there," I commented, and began walking the distance over instead, about a quarter length of a sim. Getting there, Skye smiled, "Crossed a sim border without incident! Now, about the Man..." She pointed up at the huge wooden human-shaped structure, "In real-life, it was 100 feet tall. That works out to about 32 meters. This Man here, is the equivalent, 32 meters tall. And you'll notice he is standing directly on the Playa. This is a first. Uually he stands on a base. Its' not THE first (time) but it's a first in a long time."

"Why none this time?" I asked.

"They wanted a challenge, I guess!" Skye suggested, "It burned very well, but took a LONG time to burn, in real life. However, Marianne, The Man team lead says it will NOT take two hours. The real-life Man took well over two hours. I encourage you to talk more with Marianne McCann about the work on the Man."

I had the radio in, which wasn't broadcasting music but people speaking about something, "Oh, I noticed the radio chatter. What might this be?"

"I'm the wrong person to ask," Skye told me, "I don't hear it! sorry."

Then the chatter ended and some tunes started, "Oh, well, it ended and replaced with music."

"Probably a stream then," she looked around, "there is a stage right behind us, The Man Stage, across the road there." She changed the subject back to the tunes, "This year they tried not to allow people to have too many music events on at once," she gave two reasons, "a) lag,  b) people want to see them, and if they are on at the same time there is that competition for people's ears. So this way people can enjoy everything if they wish."

"Has that meant fewer musicians this year?" I asked.

"Actually," she answered, "We've been happily enjoying about the same number of performers this year. The performance lead for BURN2 this year is Larree Quixote. He manages all the official stages and the performers on the playa."

"Can you give a few examples of the musicians?" I asked

"Ohh, we've had DJs like Puterdoc Devinat Camp Idle Rogue," Skye answered, "and live performers like ... Guerrilla Burlesque (which) performed here last night. We have trance at one of the camps, psytrance, good old rock'n'roll, jazz, blues, all types live and DJ'd."

"Oh, and DRUM performed here today! One live performer, Bamboof Stillmorning, very popular here. There are others, but as I'm deaf, I'm not the music expert here. .. But I refer you to Larree Quixote, who can tell you a lot more."

"There are some lovely art builds, I hope you explore them. They are like little gems scattered all over the Playa, and every one of them is worth seeing. There's a little petite camp 'refuge for little Burners,' just one example."

"So what are your plans after the Burn?" I asked Skye.

"After the Burn, I myself will be looking ahead to Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education, VWBPE, and also I'm active in Virtual Ability so I will be helping Gentle Heron plan the Mental Health Symposium. Both of these touch very important values for me, education and the disability community. VWBPE will be March 18-21, 2015; the Mental Health Symposium hasn't be set with a date yet."

"Was there anything else that you wanted to mention?" I asked.

"No tha'ts it," she answered, "but I hope you will explore some of these art builds. Such clever and inventive creations here."

It was about then that Skye and I parted ways, leaving me to see the rest of the Burn2 grounds.

Burn2 would continue for another week, culminating in the Burning of the Man, and then the Temple Burn. For those who missed the festival, the Burners hold a few smaller events across the year. And of course Burn2 will be back next year.

Bixyl Shuftan

Springtime in Bronytown

By Bixyl Shuftan

A few years ago, the 80s girls' cartoon "My Little Pony" was brought back in to production with a new style and storyline, and soon developed a cult following. It wasn't long before the "Pony" fandom was reflected in Second Life with the creation of an avatar based on the cartoon equines. Called a "Brony" after the slang term for "My Little Pony" or "MLP" fans, the avatars quickly became a hit, helped by the fact they were given away for free. And it wasn't long before a community of ponies came about, soon followed by a couple sims. Despite a setback that would have demolished some communities, the Ponies bounced back with a new sim, BronyTown. Within months, the community had expanded to several thriving sims with no real sign of trouble.

Since Xymber's articles on the recovery, I hadn't heard much about the sims, and an Internet search didn't reveal much. My partner Jasmine had been to the Pony sims a few times, and recently invited me over to take a look to see things for myself. So we both headed over. With "My Little Pony" being aimed at girls, although it's 21st Century versions have appealed more to teenagers and young women, I had never seen a single episode. So Jasmine had to explain a few things to me.

The place itself was built and textured in a style that looked light-hearted and cartoony. But the colors tended to be bright, with some pastel shades, making the place resemble the setting of the cartoon. It resembled a fantasy village somewhat, with the yellow roofs having the shape of thatched straw ones. The streets were not grey or black, but had a light blue color.

The pony sims were about to have an event, the "Winter Wrap-Up," somewhat based on a "My Little Pony" episode where the characters have a spring festival. And Jasmine had been working on one of the prizes to give out: a pair of sunglasses, "Winter's done, Spring's springing. Sun's com'in out, Sun's in your eyes. What'ya do? Reach for your sunshades." The event was partially to bring the locals "together to recreate an episode of My Little Pony," but it was also a chance for visitors to drop by, "you get to meet everyone, make friends, see the town in it's entirety."

Showing me around in her own pony avatar, she was wearing a brown jacket over the front. It was for one of the event's teams, "The brown outfit is for the Critter team, green is the Planter team, and the blue is the Weather team." She also showed me a shovel and hoe, "the shovel is for anyone, used to remove snowpiles. The hoe is for anyone to 'garden.' No additional thing for the weather team. Using the hoe or the shovel to do a 'thing' gives you one sunshine. You gather those for these here prizes."

Going up to one group at the town center, most everyone was in a pony avatar, except for one whom was a vaguely human-shaped figure all black except for a shiny yellow circle for a face. He was called Lamp. He explained they were still setting things up for the festival, "we're trying to make this a 'moneyless' event. … People can earn prizes using points, so they can get some really cool stuff without spending a cent." Linden donations were perfectly fine, "but it's not about profit, it's more about bringing the community closer and having fun." Nearby were collections of shovels and hoes, which anyone could take one from.

One of the ponies commented, "I had fun last night busting clouds (chuckles)." I asked about that, and the local answered, "Yup to clear the shies and let the sun shine in and melt the white snow." Jasmine told me, "Well up here there is clouds that rezz. All you do is fly into them to pop them. It gives you 1 sunshine." Someone suggested some clouds might be worth more. She and one of the others briefly went up in the sky to demonstrate. For the hoes, there were dirt mounds around the place, "supposedly you 'plant' something, and you get sunshine points."

At the town center, here was a sunshine counter which when touched told locals how many points they had, "Your sunshine burns brightly at 578." This point system was around long enough for others to joke at. One pony lying down had a fake tag over her head, "10,000 Sunshine." The occasional chuckle from others was a sign no one was buying it.

Looking further, there were a number of stores and some market areas with stalls. Due to the nature of the place, everything had a G-rated limit. Of the goods, Jasmine commented, "Some these things I look and scratch my head. Other things are pretty good stuffs." There was also a place where movies were shown, the "Trot-in Theater."

The ponies certainly had a whimsical nature. It didn't take much to get them joking around, and it was often spontaneous, "Oh my God! MUFFINS!!" "Sugary Goodness!" Looking around the place, other groups of locals also broke out in spontaneous whimsy, running around and doing some "flip" gesture or something, or cracking jokes. There was also a "Doctor Hooves" going about in a "Tardis." Jasmine commented of those making themselves part of the community, "You get to play. This whole place I've noticed brings out the kids in everyone."

There was one thing about the community that Jasmine didn't like, one that all groups in Second Life shared. Although she was wearing the avatar to help get in the spirit of the festival, there were a few locals whom wouldn't talk to her unless she was wearing it. While everyone important here would happily talk to visitors, she felt that was a reminder that no matter where you go, there are always some reluctant to speak with others unlike them.

But still, there was no shortage of friendly folk here, in this whimsical, happy place. If you're looking for a place to explore that's different, by all means give BronyTown a look. There are also several other pony sims. East Trotsdale, West Trotsdale, Trotsdale Heights, Everfree Forest, and the castle sim of Canterlot.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Art of Mikati Slade in Second Life

By Grease Coakes

 

Gemma, one of my co-workers for the SL Newser, told me about an amazing artist in Second Life at its version of the Burning Man festival, also known as Burn 2. Her name is Mikati Slade

As a digital artist from Japan Mikati studied classical sculpture and drawing at an art university. Looking at the stage she created, which is the largest in the Burn2 festival, it stands tall at 144 meters by 144 and it floats 25 meters off the ground. Mikati said the stage had to be off the ground for the Burn 2 festival. So what she did was build propellers like an airship from a studio ghibli movie. She also reduced the weight of all parts so it floated easily. Studio Ghibli is the animation studio headed by Hayao Miyazaki who made such flims as Spirited Away and Princess Monoke. Mitaki knew about those films. The DJ Obi Galli played lots of electronic tunes old and new for the party people at the Guru Guru stage. So long as I was dancing and talking to Mikati, there was always a lot of avatars like myself enjoying the great music and the graphical eye candy which Mitaki made.

 

Mitaki’s main influence is the Nintendo era of the 80’s with games like Super Mario and Megaman. When I warped to her Guru Guru stage, I was surrounded with bright colors and 8-bit graphical icons floating in a circle. The stage was packed with characters like what looked to me power rangers and sonic the hedgehog. There was even was even some mega man characters and me and her talked over video games. 

She mentioned that Capcom made the Mega Man series and also Street Fighter 2 games. In her words, the video game movement created a generation hooked on these types of games on the old Nintendo Entertainment System and the arcade revival from Capcom’s Street Fighter 2. That’s a certainly a valid point. Even someone who barely played video games was influenced by those video games one way or the other. I told Mitaki that I make shirts in Second Life based upon an old game I used to play on the Game Boy color.

 

But her Guru Guru stage wasn’t her first creation in Second Life. Mikati also created Kuru Kuru World for the Museums of Rome Capital. Using a LEA or Linden Endowment Arts grant she created Pico Pico Life from a full-sim land grant. Another of her achievements was The Cake at SL9B that took up four sims! I wonder how long and how many digital avatars it would take to eat such a massive cake.

 

Her artwork was also featured on her flicker page among other photos. One picture which really stood out was a pink 8-bit explosion which symbolized the nuclear bomb from the 1940’s that was dropped on Japan near the end of World War 2. It was used for the Burn 2 in 2010 called the pop atomic. In Mitaki’s words, it changed the Japanese culture forever and the 8-bit console were powerful symbols of 20^th century civilization. Or at least what’s viewed by Japanese culture.

 

Mitaki Slade was also jovial and fun to talk with. When I started talking with her she mentioned that she was in the SL Newser before about SL8B before. I told her it would be an honor to write about her and she seemed to appreciate that.

 

Grease Coakes: Oh really? Cool Well I’ll be glad to honor you again and publish an article about you for the Newser again.

 

Mikati Slade: Yayyy! I am really glad!

 

If you get the chance check out her artwork available on the internet or in second life. I had a fun time talking with her and seeing her art live at the Guru Guru stage.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikati/ 

Grease Coakes

Medora Chevalier and Trill Zapatero's Dance Queens Festival

 Late last week I caught up with a few dancers from the Dance Queens dance festival, currently underway here in SL. There are several acts over two weekends, showcasing various acts and dances, that (while not my thing in particular) should be quite the spectacle to visit, given the sheer amount of effort put into putting on such a thing. I caught up with Medora Chevalier and Trill Zapatero, and sat down for a little interview when they had some free time in their schedules.


Medora Chevalier: "Hi Xymbers"
Xymbers Slade waits for things to rez in...
Medora Chevalier: "This is the staging made by Trill Zapatero, based on her split screen and SL9B build - the Apocalypse will not be televised."
Xymbers Slade: "Not bad (smile)."
Medora Chevalier: "It's beautiful (smile)."
Xymbers Slade: "So this is where the dancing's going to be then? (smile)"
Medora Chevalier: "Call this a staging! No - it is over on the sim for the Dance Queens Festival... different acts are at different places over this weekend and next."
Xymbers Slade: "Well, that answers my next question then, I was going to ask when it was being held. Is it all interpretative dance, or just a simple social gathering?"
Medora Chevalier: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AohZI4XRY-bwdDRldi1sMkhTVl9wOTJfQlQ3NEZIdHc&pli=1#gid=0 , "Interpretive."
Xymbers Slade leafs through the schedule ... "Neat stuff, for sure. How long have you been doing this sort of thing?"
Medora Chevalier: "Well as dancers this is sheer luxury working with an artist of Trill's stature, and the wonderful collaborative music of Jana Kyomoon & Junivers Stockholm. I've been doing dance choreography for shows since the Rings with Carp in 2008."
Trill Zapatero: "And the WALL, and Alien Bolero 2 years ago, that was a major big time extravanganza!" ( blushes) , "we've been friends since forever!"
Medora Chevalier: "Trill is a huge inspiration!"
Trill Zapatero: "Medora is a huge inspiration!"
Xymbers Slade: "Dance was always lost on me, I'll admit, I take it Trill's far more well known then, or is a big name in this? Color me ignorant."
Trill Zapatero: "I brag about her to everyone."
Medora Chevalier: "Well, Trill has been a well known artist for ever in SL."
Trill Zapatero: "Trill spends too much time online."
Xymbers Slade: "I think we all spend too much time online. (grin)"
Medora Chevalier: "Well I didn't really choreograph it, but I did perform... and Follow the Light - big live music and particle show with dancing with Junivers again."
Trill Zapatero: "That was probably one of the most amazing happenings ever in SL."
Medora Chevalier: "We like extravaganzas (smile)."
Trill Zapatero: "Yesss, with all kinds of spectacle and particles."

Xymbers Slade: "How much work goes in to putting on one of these productions?"
Medora Chevalier: "Well, Trill has been building for a long time for split screen - how long did it take you Trill?"
Trill Zapatero: "This is a modified part of that build, that took me about 2 months and some."
Medora Chevalier: "Jana and Juni have been building up their collection of collaborative music over the last year."
Trill Zapatero: "But modifying this didn't take that long."
Medora Chevalier: "And I choreographed over about 3 weeks."
Xymbers Slade nods, "Always nice to 'build on the shoulders of giants'... or at least stuff already established... (smile)."
Medora Chevalier: "But Bolero - Ravel arranged Stockholm - that took me about 3 weeks to choreograph originally."
Trill Zapatero: "Well the theme really fit what Medora had in mind."
Xymbers Slade: "So what are you currently up to? I did hear something about this Dance Queens thing. And what's next after this? Do you have something in mind?"
Medora Chevalier: "Well it's a dance festival."
Medora Chevalier: "But all of us like work that has a message."
Xymbers Slade: "Aha, so something with morals then? (smile)"
Medora Chevalier: "And the message for this is, that when civilization collapses under the weight of the banking and ecological and injustice crises, there will still be beauty, humanity and love."
Xymbers Slade: "There's an 'Occupy' joke in there somewhere but I'm not going to be the one to make it."
Medora Chevalier: "The important things are not those we buy but those we give."
Trill Zapatero: "And make!"
Medora Chevalier: "It goes beyond any single campaign and to the heart of what it is to be human."
Xymbers Slade: "Are you expecting large turnout for this?"
Medora Chevalier: "Well I guess we would like to have a full audience."
Trill Zapatero: "A show for friends."
Medora Chevalier: "Though the time is quite early for our usual fans."
Trill Zapatero: "40 is our capacity."
Xymbers Slade nods...
Medora Chevalier: "They know that we always dance and create for change. The show is called Dance for Change. We believe that the connections between people of different nations, ages, races, languages in this space is how we build positive connections... a web of light."
Xymbers Slade: "What's the toughest part of doing it all? The one necessary part that needs to be done but makes you go 'we could do without this if we cut corners' ?" ... Although I get the sense you don't cut corners at all, with the amount of work I'm seeing here in the background."
Medora Chevalier: "Well - I guess getting everything blended together in harmony."
Trill Zapatero: "Are we any where near 'minimalists' ?"
Medora Chevalier: Choosing the dances well - there are over 100 for 45 minutes... and making sure the dancers place themselves where they complement the build."
Trill Zapatero: "Minimalism is so last week."
Xymbers Slade: "Do you program your own dances in or do you hire other help to work with that?"
Xymbers Slade: Xymbers Slade doesn't know the first thing about dances/animations.
Medora Chevalier: "We use dances from the mocap studios in SL, but I choreograph them all and I always include some sky dancing and particles... part of the magic of special SL art - not just a copy of real life."
Xymbers Slade nods
Medora Chevalier: "Of course there's always some fingers crossed that the tech gremlins leave us in peace!"
Xymbers Slade: "Are you planning on doing anything bigger, like going more than one sim and broadcasting from sim to sim? Maybe for the future?"
Medora Chevalier: "Well yes I'd like to..."
Trill Zapatero: "How many sims did you guys use for the WALL?"
Medora Chevalier: "In the past for the Wall and the Rings we were loaned 4 sims as the audience was big enough. But that was when the education institutes had more in-world sims. 40 is small."
Xymbers Slade: "Oh wow, that was what, 2008, 2009?"
Medora Chevalier: "Yes, 2008, but then it was revived and we have a new rock opera that will launch in September, so this is like a nice refresher before that."
Xymbers Slade: "A rock opera? Can't say I've heard of a blending of rock and opera as a genre. Maybe I'll slip by and take a look, then."
Medora Chevalier: "Well like Tommy, it tells a story using songs as a narrative."
Xymbers Slade: "Ok, last question on my little list, what do you hope people bring home from all these dances? (smile)"
Medora Chevalier: "Hope. Hope that even in the depths of the worst crisis our planet and people have ever faced we can use our creativity and our love across the world to pull through and live a better life in harmony."
Xymbers Slade: "In these times, hope is something in short supply, I've noticed. Given the time and amount of energy expended into building this, I bet you'll be more than successful (smile)."
Medora Chevalier: "We hope so - Trill, Jana, Juni - and all the dancers, We all believe in that and we represent an internationalism: Trill from Canada, Szavanna from South Africa, Sofia from Portugal, me in the UK, Dove and Angelique in the USA, Juni in Sweden. But all in all its our gift to those who come along, given with love and hope. So many countries, and we have to plan around time zones, languages, chat lag and typos, etc."
Xymbers Slade: "Rare that I see that kind of co-op anymore, in SL or real life, honestly. It's a nice little 'global effort' you have here (smile)."

The schedule can be found at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AohZI4XRY-bwdDRldi1sMkhTVl9wOTJfQlQ3NEZIdHc&pli=1#gid=0. If you wish to see what kind of dances and things are being put on. Go show them your support and tell 'em I sent you (smile). Dancing isn't my thing personally, so I'm not going to give it a dragon hoard rating, it'd just go right over my head.

Xymbers Slade

Burn2: The Burning of the Man

On Saturday at the Burning Man festival, it was part one of the closing ceremonies. It was time for "The Burning of The Man."

The real-life Man at the Burning Man festival in California could only be burned once, of course. In Second Life, it was brought back twice in order to accommodate the world-wide audience: European, American, and Australian/Asian at 11:30 AM, 7:30 PM, and Sunday 3:30 AM respectively.

"The Man," outlined by green neon tubing, is set ablaze.

"The Man" is soon completely on fire.

Before long, the structure begins to fall apart.

Onlookers cheered as "The Man" burned, "WHOOOOOOOT!!"

One wag sang a parody of "The Weathergirls," "It's burning man... hallelujah! It's burning man!"

Just the feet are left standing.

And this is what's left of "The Man," fallen half-burnt timbers, and a smaller bonfire.

Debbie Trilling shouted, "Pile logs on the fire to keep it burning. No logs, and it will die to an ember!" And pile the logs on people did.

The remaining fire was kept going for a while.

Debbie Trilling uploaded this recording of the burn on youtube.

Next: The Temple Burn

Pictures by Bixyl Shuftan and Gemma Cleanslate

Adopt-a-Family’s Summer on the Boardwalk

Summer on the Boardwalk, a carnival for Adopt-a-Family, was held this weekend, July 8 – 10, at SnickerDoodle (126, 135, 25). Adopt-a-Family is an organization that helps make holidays a little better for Second Life residents facing economic hardship in their real-life. The carnival was a huge success, raising over $288,000 L for this charity.

The festivities included rides, food, live music, auctions, and even a dunk tank. Although the rides could be ridden for free, a convenient ticket box near each one allowed you to donate to the charity. The rides included a Merry-Go-Round, Bumper cars, Ferris Wheel, Jet Scream, and more. I got a great bird’s eye view of the carnival from the Ferris Wheel, but the Jet Scream ride was awesome. It started out tame, but soon was revolving like a rocket. Good thing I rode before I ate the hot dogs and cotton candy.

There was a House of Mirrors that looked interesting, too, but I never made it inside. I was distracted by a few fun-loving residents at the dunking tank who were having a great time. Instead of looking in the mirror, I decided to join them.

Lacie Beningborough and Laetitia Vella had Ted Floresby right where they wanted him—in the dunk tank. Ted splashed into the tank quite a few times thanks to Lacie’s mean arm! Laetitia and I cheered Lacie on a bit, then I had to give it a try. For a small donation I got 3 balls. I made the last one count—and downed Ted again. He was a good sport and was doing it for a great cause.

Other SL celebrities, including Frolic Mills and Dousa Dragonash took a turn in the dunk tank, too. Guess they know us mere mortals love dunking the rich and famous. BlackBarbie Bravin, who is both a SL celebrity and businesswoman said “it was a hoot.” “What's most important,” BlackBarbie said, “is that we are able to help others. It was a great experience and the best reason to ever to mess up my hair.”

On Sunday there was live music. Avantguard Frequency started the show off. When I stopped by he was getting a very warm reception from the crowd. Other musicians were slated to play during the day. Lacie Beningborough, who organized the carnival, said, “Other musicians heard about what we were doing and asked if they could volunteer. So we added an extra 2 hours to the show-- that was totally amazing!”

In addition to the rides and music, jewelry and fashion designers donated items for the auction boards that lined the stage area. Lacie said Frolic Mills and the folks at BOSL volunteered and worked hard to make this event happen. They all deserve a big “thank-you.”

Lacie Beningborough began Adopt-a-Family in November of 2009, when she discovered that a SL resident was in need in RL. The family was in jeopardy of losing everything because the husband had just lost his job, and the couple had two chronically ill children. Lacie organized a benefit to help the SL resident. The fundraiser was a huge success, and she promised to have it become a SL tradition. This year’s Christmas show will be December 19, 2011.

During the year Adopt-a-Family raises funds to help families in Second Life to have Christmas in real-life. The identity of the recipients is known only to the Board of Directors to protect privacy. Donors have the option of remaining anonymous or allowing their names to be used. If you know a SL resident that will need some help during the holidays, you can contact Lacie Beningborough before November 15, 2011.

Grey Lupindo