The Virtual Worlds Story Project Launches “The Life and Times of Uncle D”

Groundbreaking Multi-media Approach Uses Machinima and Virtual Reality to Fight HIV/AIDS

The Virtual Worlds Story Project Launches "The Life and Times of Uncle D"

Thursday, October 1, 2009, 12 Noon (PST), Second Life

Los Angeles, CA [September 23, 2009] -- Second Life: At noon (PST) on October 1, 2009, The Virtual Worlds Story Project (TVWSP), a production company that specializes in using new media and storytelling to engage, educate, and create community, will tackle its biggest topic to date: HIV/AIDS.

TVWSP is a project of Martin Keltz and Jena Ball. Known throughout Second Life as creative, passionate educators, Ball and Keltz have developed a signature approach to storytelling. Known as "Story Quests." These one-of-a-kind, 3D environments draw participants into and encourage them to help create stories. In their latest Quest, participants will explore the life of an HIV-positive person known simply as "Uncle D."

"The only way to eradicate a pandemic like HIV/AIDS is through education," says Ball, co-founder of TVWSP and Coordinator of Karuna* the National Library of Medicine-funded island devoted to HIV/AIDS education in Second Life. "One of the biggest challenges we face is the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. It's not enough to understand prevention. People must be helped to become passionate about saving lives. Stories are the way to do that."

"The power of story is undeniable," says Keltz, co-founder of TVWSP and producer of such well-known educational television programs as The Baby-Sitters Club, The Magic School Bus, and Goosebumps. "When combined with machinima and immersive, interactive environments in Second Life, stories come alive."

The Quest, entitled "Stories Without Borders: The Life and Times of Uncle D" and the compelling film made from its story line will premiere Thursday, October 1, 2009 at Noon (PST) in Second Life. In addition to the film's screening, attendees will be treated to live music, a Q and A session with the actors and producers, and guided tours of the Quest.

To see the film's trailer, visit the TVWSP YouTube Channel at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKCVLwFKxYU

*Karuna is a word from an ancient language in India that means to ease suffering. Karuna Island in Second Life is funded by a grant from the National Library of Medicine and written by Lori Bell of the Alliance Library System.

FountainBlue's Virtual Worlds Conference

FountainBlue's Virtual Worlds Annual Conference is scheduled for this Friday, September 25, from 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. and will be held at Sun Microsystems in Santa Clara. Founded in January 2006, FountainBlue was established "to foster transformative change for high-tech, life science and clean energy decision-makers one conversation, one leader, one organization at a time". The company produced its first virtual world's event in March of this year and also produces monthly events, provides support to communities, consults, and facilitates connections between people and organizations. FountainBlue was founded by CEO Linda Holroyd who characterizes herself as "a serial entrepreneur", and works avidly with entrepreneurial and leadership organizations. She is also an adviser to clean energy companies in the solar and transportation sectors.

I first came across Ms Holroyd when she'd posted an announcement for the event in one of the several LinkedIn groups I belong to and I contacted her through e-mail. We exchanged several e-mails over the next few weeks and when she'd asked if I would be interested in helping with the event I readily agreed. She'd asked me to work with the submitting entrepreneurs, vetting their submissions and in mentoring them as they prepared for presenting their business plan during the conference. I volunteered to work with one of the submitters, SL resident Tessa Harrington (aka Theresa Kinney-Johnson), developer of the virtual world, SpotON3D™. I'd met with and interviewed Ms Harrington for an article earlier this year. SpotON3D™ was one of the winning submissions and will present their business plan at the conference.

Here's the list of winning submissions that went out via e-mail from FountainBlue:

In the Consumer, Six to Twelve Category: Sherry Gunther, CEO, Masher Media
In the Consumer, Teenagers to Adult Category: Troy Hipolito, CTO and Owner, ISO Interactive
In the Enterprise, Virtual Events and Tradeshows Category: Terry Thorpe, KohdSpace
In the Enterprise, Virtual Meetings Category: Dustin Clingman, Immediate Mode Interactive LLC
In the Enterprise, Other Category (Collaboration in Health Care): Brian Bauer, OnTrack Health
In the Enterprise, Other Category (Virtual Real Estate and Office Tools): Stevan Lieberman, CEO, SpotON3D

I caught up with Linda late last week for a phone conversation and we discussed the upcoming event and FountainBlue.

Nazz: This is FountainBlue's first "annual" conference dealing with virtual worlds, had you sponsored any previous events?

Linda: This is our second virtual world event and it is has been a challenge. We've never done anything to this depth before on virtual worlds with two morning panels. One on "What is it, Where Has it Been?" and the second one is, "Where Will Virtual Worlds Take Us". As part of the conference, we will also feature corporate exhibits on virtual worlds and profile six entrepreneurs, the winners of the business plan competition.

Nazz: That does sound like challenge, did FountainBlue do all of the work?

Linda: We've had twenty volunteers to help with the program, including you. People who've helped organize, recruit panelists and mentor the entrepreneurs. My role has been to lead and support the team.

Nazz: How and when did FountainBlue become interested in virtual worlds?

Linda: It was about a year ago, we'd of course been interested in Web 2.0. We saw virtual worlds as an emerging technology and as a progression from social networking to what gamers are doing. We had our first event in March of this year where we targeted virtual world entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and investors on the "The Hype, The Reality, The In-Between" of virtual worlds. That panel featured leaders from several large technology companies as well as a former Second Life executive. My husband is involved with a virtual world start-up, and through his activities it's exciting to see how the industry is evolving.

Nazz: I see that Sun is hosting the event at one of their facilities, how did you get connected with them?

Linda: Sun hosted our January clean energy event and connected us to right players to help us organize for this event. Sun is very active in virtual worlds.

Nazz: What's next for FountainBlue?

Linda: We're going to continue to produce and run events for Silicon Valley companies and FountainBlue also provides consulting to companies that produce events. I've been writing a series of books on leadership, entrepreneurship and the FountainBlue community is growing.

Nazz: Any other comments?

Linda: Please, when you post this, add a note that registration ends on the 24th at noon, no exceptions walk-ins will be turned away.

FountainBlue’s First Annual Virtual Worlds Conference

FountainBlue's Virtual Worlds Annual Conference on the topic of Virtual Worlds: Where We Were, Where We're Going, What Does It Mean to YOU?, is scheduled for Friday, September 25, 2009, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Sun Microsystems, 4030 George Sellon Circle, in Santa Clara.

Location and Parking
Sun Microsystems is located at 4030 George Sellon Circle, and parking is available along Palm Drive and in the Building 22 parking lot on the southwest side of the Auditorium. Limited parking is also available on George Sellon Circle, west of the Auditorium. A map and directions is available at http://upcoming.yahoo.com/venue/20041.

Agenda

If you are planning to attend the whole event, please arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. and stand up to network to ensure that you have an optimal networking opportunity. We have a very full agenda, so please assist with keeping our program on time.

Please allow yourself to be herded efficiently to and from networking and other sessions.

Please help us start the program promptly at 8:30 and help us move through the welcomes, a presentation, two panels, a break, a lunch and an entrepreneur pitch session.

Please disarm all electronic devices which might interrupt our conversation.

If you have to come late, leave early, or otherwise enter in the middle of a session, we thank you if you could do so as discretely as possible.

We welcome you to excuse yourself quietly during the program and have set up demo tables for the presenting entrepreneurs upstairs. Please feel free to visit the demos throughout the day, but the doors will close at 12:15, just prior to the entrepreneur presentations.

A rough agenda is below for your reference.

8:00 Registration and Networking

8:30 Welcomes and Thank Yous

8:45 Presentation on Virtual Worlds – What is it, Where Has it Been?

9:15 First Panel Discussion: Virtual World Business Trends

10:15 Morning Break, with Corporate Exhibits

10:30 Second Panel Discussion: Virtual World Case Studies

11:30 Lunch Break, Featuring Corporate Presentations

12:30 Entrepreneur Presentations

2:30 Adjourn and Further Networking until 3:00; Exhibits will stay open until 3:30 p.m.

Internet Access

Sun Santa Clara campus has graciously provided an on-site wireless network called "sunwifi". After you have connected to that network and have opened a web browser it will ask you to register as a guest user. Once you have filled out a small registration form it will allow you to fully access the internet for up to 12 hours. We will also have a table in the back with access to power for re-charging.

Please do not leave your laptop plugged in, and extend the cord down the aisle as it is a fire and safety hazard. Thank you.

Please be courteous about how often you use it and how long you plug it in so that the maximum amount of people may have access.

Demo Tables

We will have four demo tables downstairs: Sun, Stanford, CloudMach and IdeaBuilder. You are welcome to visit the demo tables during breaks and throughout the event. Thank you for doing this discreetly during presentations.

Each of the presenting entrepreneurs will also have demos on display in the upstairs conference room, from around 8:15 until around 12:15, just before the presentations start. You are welcome to visit the demo room and ask questions during those times.

Your Contact Information

To encourage ongoing connections, we are providing the attached attendee contact information in soft copy format. You are welcome to forward these confirmation details and the invitation below to interested others, but please DO NOT FORWARD the contact list to ANYONE, as we have permission only to share with other attendees. In addition, please let me know if you change your mind and would prefer not to share your e-mail and phone number with the group and it will not be included with the final notes sent to the attendees.

Networking Policy:

Although we encourage everyone to network, please practice the 'tell, not sell' policy, and do not aggressively promote your organization or its products and services during introductions, during the networking time, or afterwards via e-mail. Please let us know over e-mail if you aggressively approached by a fellow attendee so that we can directly address any violations in our policy while keeping your input anonymous. Thank you for your support and cooperation as it will help ensure ongoing quality networking experiences for everyone.

FountainBlue Membership:

If you elected to share your contact information, we have invited you to join the FountainBlue community on BigTent. If you have not received an invitation, please check your spam folder, or visit http://tinyurl.com/cbb5ua
and select the 'resend existing invitation link' at the bottom of that page. Membership costs are $40 annually or $90 for an ongoing membership, and are prorated. Membership benefits, including a $5-$10 discount for each FountainBlue event, are highlighted at http://www.fountainblue.biz/aboutus/membership.html.

Please Promote:

The quality of the audience makes a big difference for the networking and educational opportunity for any event. Please feel free to forward the invitation below to interested corporate and/or entrepreneurial executives in your network who may be interested in attending. Please note that the pre-registration deadline is Thursday at noon, and that there is NO on-site registration.

Dunking Jewelers and Lindens for Oxfam

This came to me by way of good friend Calamity Hathaway. Stop on over, good fun and a good cause.

 

Jewelry Fair 2009

Dunking Jewelers and Lindens for Oxfam

Good cause! Great fun!

Come see if you can dunk a Linden!

5 chances for 250L for Lindens

5 chances for 100L for jewelers

 
 

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18

Nuala Shippe 3-4pm

 
 

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19

Kimmora Linden 12-1pm

 
 

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20

Eolande Elvehjem 3-4pm

 
 

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21

Wendy Foxchase 3-4pm

Teagan Linden 8-9pm

 
 

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22

Siz Linden 3-4pm

ThomasD Felisimo 5-6pm

 
 

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23

Abraxxa Anatine 3-4pm

Whump Linden 5-6pm

 
 

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24

Polly Pavlova 3-4pm

Blondin Linden 6-7am

Niko Linden 7-8am

 
 

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25

Blue Linden 3-4pm

Grant Linden 6-7pm

 
 

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26

Siyu Suen 3-4 pm

 
 

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27

CG Linden 9-11am

Violet Voltaire 3-4pm

Porter Linden 4-5pm

Artis Gallery Exhibition Opening

PRESS RELEASE

From: Marly Peapod

Topic: Artis' New exhibit

Event date: Sunday, September 20th at 12:00 PM SLT

Location: Artis Gallery

Patrick Cournoyer's Artis group is proud to present its new exhibit featuring four promising artists, three for whom it will be either a first or a second show, thus continuing its tradition of discovery. It is my honor and pleasure to introduce them.

InsideOut Clip "Steins, NM"

InsideOut Clip is a photographer from Georgia who traveled across America many times with her husband, an over the road driver, often taking pictures out of the window of his big rig at 55 miles per hour. One such picture, of the Hood River in Oregon, won her first place in a photography contest.

She will be sharing with us a collection of her black and white photographs representing Steins, New Mexico. A once prosperous mining town which was suddenly abandoned when the Southern Pacific Railroad company announced they would no longer deliver water and that the train station would be closed. When they offered to relocate the habitants of the town, the majority left, leaving most of their belongings behind.

This is InsideOut's first exhibit in Second Life™.

June Clavenham "Two"

June Clavenham is a multifaceted artist who's always evolving, finding something new to try, to learn. She has worked with oils as well as photography and, five years ago, she discovered digital painting. "Digital art grew on me as a new and innovative way of [expression], mainly based on fractals, and using different software to bring shapes and colors to a new dimension." "I think digital art presses for a new point of view, since it is created in a nontraditional way, and can be seen in a different media." June Clavenham also says her art "just is... and it's up to the ones who look to give a meaning [to what they see]" She only started recently to explore movement and dimensions in SL.

Living in Uruguay, she is inspired by the colors and scenery of its countryside as well as by emotions, the human mind and by boundaries; the ones we put on ourselves.

This is June's second exhibit in Second Life™, and her selection represents the evolution in the exploration of possibilities, as well as an evolution in the concept of "virtual art".

MariaLouisa Muircastle "Heat of the Moment"

MariaLouisa Muircastle is a computer graphic artist who works with different applications, like Poser, Vue and Photoshop, to create 2D/3D images. Mainly focusing on people, she says she is inspired by the world that surrounds her, always keeping her eyes open to it. Dance is also a major influence, since she is a ballroom dancer in real life.

Born and raised in southern California, but now living in North Carolina, MariaLouisa started doing computer graphics about five years ago when she had been trying to make images for an history website she was a member of for many years. Mostly self-taught, she still strives today to better her skills.

This is MariaLouisa's second exhibit in Second Life™ and it will be focusing on strong women in moments of emotion.

Olli Inglewood "Monochromatic"

Olli Inglewood bought his first camera in November 2008. Since then, he has bought two more, sold one of his shots for a CD cover, found an agent and he even has a photography book in progress. Entirely self-taught, the rapidity with which he has found success is an affirmation of his talent and of his vision.

"To take a photograph is to capture a moment and tell a story, this is what motivates me. You have to respect what you photograph, especially human beings, this is why I do not take exploitive pictures of the female form, I prefer a different approach." He is inspired by Paris, its people, emotions and he has a soft spot for classic dancers.

This exhibit, representing his little monochromatic world, is Olli's third exhibit in Second Life™.

American Sign Language in Second Life

Good friend Gentle Heron sent me the following:


Hello, I'm spreading some exciting news for the Deaf Community. One of our own, Signing Destiny has a store for you to see. The land mark is:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Grace/249/158/96


Signing Destiny has created 7 ASL gestures at unbelievably low prices. She's working on more. She'll be happy to see you at her store. Please show support and buy your ASL gestures now, you will be amazed at how realistic and perfect the signs are, and how natural your avatar looks, signing, at last, in Second Life. Hurry, go soon!!

SL Jewelry Fair 2009

From the organizers of the Jewelry Fair in Second Life:

Welcome to the Jewelry Fair!

We're open from Friday September 18th to Sunday September 27th. The fair is designed as a continuous hedge maze - there are no dead ends, and if you keep walking in one direction you'll get through the whole thing. Our chosen charity is Oxfam - you can read more about them at www.oxfam.org - and we're giving you lots of opportunities to help out.

Please TP in using a random choice from these 8 landmarks so we can divide up the traffic and help reduce lag:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%202/79/120/28

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%202/220/59/28

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%201/122/69/28

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%201/235/95/28

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%201/71/130/28

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%202/70/187/28

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%202/211/183/28

http://slurl.com/secondlife/JewelryFair%201/163/190/28

Features:

*Over 130 Jeweler's creations

*Dunk Tank - dunk a Jeweler (or a Linden!) for charity

*Kissing booth - kiss a Jeweler for charity

*One of a kind auctions - bid on original jewelry pieces never to be owned by anyone else on the grid

*Jeweler resources area - how to make your own jewelry!

*Demonstrations and classes on jewelry making

Many of our vendors are selling special pieces which 50% of the money goes directly to charity.

The Jewelers of SL group is an association of all the finest jewelers in Second Life. Right now we are preparing for the largest Jewelry Fair Exposition in SL spread across two sims. To support our efforts in world and out we have a blog which is updated daily. All the information you will need is here including a link to our flickr group where you can keep up with all the new releases, please visit and feel free to leave comments.

Want to know more go to: http://jewelersofsl.wordpress.com/

The Jewelers of SL will continue to feed this blog beyond the fair to make your jewelry shopping a pleasant and easy experience to stay updated and in fashion.

Sequoia Nightfire

AngelGate Gallery Presents - Starax: The Legend

AngelGate Gallery Presents - The History of SL Art Series

AngelGate Celestia: http://slurl.com/secondlife/AngelGate%20Celestia/128/128/25

On Saturday, September 18th, 2009 the AngelGate Gallery presentation of the first in a planned series of events entitled, "The History of SL Arts" will close. At the inaugural event, AngelGate proudly presented "Starax: The Legend". The exhibition featured one hundred and forty sculptures of Starax and Light Wave, from the collection of second life resident Jeri Rahja.

As part of the closing activities, AngelGate Gallery is proud to present two demonstrations of one of the most special things ever created in SL, the "Starax Magic Wand". Due to the large number of people willing to see the working Magic Wand, the closing event and the demo will occur twice (to accommodate different time zones).

Friday, September 18th at 5 pm PDT/SLT

The sim will be set on low number of avatars to reduce lag, however, don't panic, the wand operators will try to run it as long as we need. AngelGate Gallery hopes that everyone who is interested will be able to come and see one of the most special things ever created in SL.

Orfeo's Oratorio

PRESS RELEASE

"Orfeo's Oratorio"

Date: Sunday the 20th, September

TIme: 1 pm PDT/SLT

Location: Ars Simulacra on the NMC Campus

An Immersive Installation by Alizarin Goldflake

The germ of the idea for Orfeo came into existence in 2001 when I was playing around with my digital drawing "The Very Rich Hours" ("Pink Colonade" in RL; please see www.marthavista.com). The drawing was done with Corel Painter and a Wacom digitizing tablet, and it is 4520 x 6770 pixels.

I had just finished it and for some reason I got the idea to invert it, i.e., turn it into a negative image. One of my friends was very disturbed by the negative, which intrigued me. When I started thinking about my next SL build last December, the idea popped into my head of using that experience to make a mirror environment, and "Orfeo's Oratorio" was launched.

An immersive art environment, it is a virtual amusement park with an Upper World/Under World theme. The centerpiece of the upper level is an other-worldly fountain. Two-person steerable gondolas and 1-person fixed-path coracles play the role of bumper cars. The coracles swing the rider into space outside the build, and the view back in is spectacular. There are dance pose balls and a seating area, "The Circle of Confusion," with a perpetual cocktail party going on. A quote from the end of Dante's "Inferno" periodically drifts up and out through a circular opening in the roof. The floor is of particular interest. Its texture of black and transparent squares creates the illusion of a mirror-like reflection that, along with the columns and arches, lends a Venetian atmosphere. Viewers will also want to notice how the light changes from day to night along the walls.

Two blue-jetted Ferris wheels connect the Upper World to the Underworld, which is an upside down version of the former. Hot oranges and purples replace the cool blue colors of the Upper World, and the Salsa Inferna pose balls dance the avatars on the ceiling. The underworld coracle is ringed with fire, and particle flames shoots up from the floor. A set of flaming sconces lights up either end, and the Underworld version of the fountain hangs from the ceiling, dripping particle sparks like a giant chandelier. Another quote from the Inferno sinks slowly through the floor. And a single Ferris wheel connects the rider to the Outside World, where the view from underneath is also spectacular.

337 prims, 12/24/08 - 5/14/09 (5 months to build!)

Opening of Beta Business Park

On Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Beta Technologies celebrated the opening of the Beta Business Park (B2P) in Second Life with an open house. I'd been aware of the opening and had noted it on my calendar, planning to stop by for a visit. As it turned out, I got there sooner than planned when the subject of my interview meeting offered me a teleport over to the celebratory event. The park, as I noted from their second life group charter is, "a project of Beta Technologies, is a community of businesses and the people who own, operate, and work at them". The charter goes on further to define the park community in that it "offers a different way to use Second Life" and "provides a coherent territory dedicated to businesses and their clients". The festivities had just begun just shortly before my arrival, and I found that a lively crowd had assembled to celebrate the opening.

Having completed the interview, I listened in on the live performance of one of several musicians who'd been scheduled to appear while scanning the crowd for a representative to chat with about the event and the park. Noting several were present judging from group tag names, I opened an IM window with one and introduced myself, then asked, "How's the opening going?"

"Hi Nazz … Oh, I'm happy with it — people are having fun and socializing, which is at the core of what we wish to tell, being in touch with people, that is the important thing of being in SL." Gwyneth Llewelyn replied.

"It's good to hear the opening is going well. I saw the web site and announcement ... a full day of music and a nice line up as well." I commented

"Yes, no boring business presentations." She replied and then added. "Even the promotional video is as far as we could make it from a 'typical corporate video' and still be taken seriously for it. So, no CEO keynotes, or people telling others how great it is to do business in SL. Instead, we do what we 'know' that people love to do in SL, get together listen to great music, chat and IM each other."

"May I ask what your role is and what it entails?"

"Beta Business Park has its own team to run it, but it's a product by Beta Technologies, of which I'm the European Operations Manager. I wish we had a better site for Beta, but you can also get some more info at http://betatechnologies.info/. Oh, and you should mention that we're rising to Linden Lab's own challenge to create products that specifically target the business market, as they're so fond of promoting, but we certainly don't want to 'sell' our clients things that have little relevance to the vibrant community of SL. They have to be part of the community." She replied.

"After the celebration today … what's would be in store for visitors?"

"The next "big" event is the B2P Fall 2009 Conference. That will be a more traditional business conference." Llewelyn replied and then she added. "Between today and the conference, there will continue to be a mix of small chill-out events and training sessions. These will be ongoing for several months ... So we have sort of a mixed approach ... 'big events' every other month or so... the previous one and you can think of it as a pre-launch, was the Hair Fair '09. Then, smaller, regular events every week, sometimes more than once per week, which are a pretext for people here to network and refresh their contacts, and finally clients, will naturally be allowed to use our facilities too. A typical example ... we often rebroadcast mixed media events per request."

"An interesting approach." I commented.

"Yes … the next one might be a TED talk ... not confirmed yet though." She added

"I do like the TED series." I said.

"So do I, they will have a full SIM for that event, September 19th, which is not being organized by us, but with a promotion group that often partners with us. Here is the organization's link, http://www.accvirtual.org/. They're a not-for-profit that does a lot of promotion work in SL, for example, they did a fund-raising mixed-media event, http://accvirtual.webnode.com/news/fado-live-from-alfama-lisbon-to-second-life/ … so we turned our usual 'rock club' into a typical Fado house for that event." She said and then added. "So the strange bit is that the 'official launch' of the Beta Business Park is today for our own internal reasons, but it has been in constant use for over a year now."

"Thank you for the information Gwyneth, I do appreciate it." I said shortly before porting home to work on my notes for this and the previous interview.

Callidora Benefit Concert Acknowledgements

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece for the SL Newspaper titled "Brother and Sister Team Up in Second Life to Support RFL" and that they'd also teamed up to host a series of concerts that benefit the American Cancer Society. Renfew Sperber and her brother msw Tomorrow are both remarkable individuals and as a pair set an example for commitment to their cause and generosity of spirit. Renfew had passed along the following information as an acknowledgement of the contributions of their many friends in their efforts to raise awareness and money for the fight on cancer.

Musicians

Anabel Trafalger

Auzzie Blackburn

Beauregard Freenote

Curbguy Zerbino

dakota7z7 Pluto

Ember Muhindra

Erin and Satin

Goyamoon Zapatero

Grateful Stryker

Jana Koyomoon

Joaquin Gustav

John1234567 String

Kim Siefert

Laidback Celt

Lightnin Lowtide

Lonnie Nightfire

Mance Moonwall

Manx Wharton

Noma Falta

Only Half Crazy Gumbo

Paulette Oldrich

Road Caggles

Senjata Witt

Shelindra Ireland

Stella Silvansky

Tukso Okey

Others Critical to the 2009 Benefit Season

Nestra Careless

Fushia Shepherd

SherieAnn Thirty

Special Notes:

Beauregard Freenote and Joaquin Gustav were among our first friends in SL and introduced us to the live music scene in SL

Stella Silvansky has the honor of having the single largest fundraising set in the history of Callidora's benefit concerts. She had raised over $360,000 Lindens in an hour! Her fans and supporters really made it happen!

Manx Wharton only missed one concert in the 2009 season and has the distinction of playing more additional sets to cover last minute cancellations or extend the benefit than any other musician in the lineup

Other Avatars/Friends of Note: Nestra Careless -- Event manager for the benefits for 2008/early 2009 and sl mentor extraordinaire, Fushia Shepherd -- Event coordinator and co-host for benefits 2009 and a remarkable human being and friend, SherieAnn Thirty -- Friend and owner of the Gaslight brought us many new talents to backfill

The History of SL Art Series: Starax the Legend

The following was released by the director of AngelGate, SophiaJane Alcott and is being posted here with her permission:

As AngelGate Director I am immensely privileged as I believe visitors to this exhibit are to participate in celebrating the great art of Starax. I cannot think of a more spectacular birth than for Celestia to be accompanied by the creations of Starax.

AngelGate values the creative potential for transformation individually and collectively.

A treasured element of this is for "creativity unbound".

The history of RL art is beset with the desire to monopolize the meaning, access and importance of creations by the few for the many. An interesting question is: Is this happening within SL?

I personally consider a high level of participant involvement in art is one of the great possibilities of creative interaction here. Rather than ownership dictating the ability to display, and dominate meaning structures, all people equally can construct and de-construct when such power hierarchies are removed where those who "Own" ( sl is a medieval hierarchy) fully share and so in truth deed these experiences as a collective identity, rather than Narcissus reflecting themselves.

White Lebed has taken a bold step in embracing freedom and access for the wider community. I would like to affirm AngelGate as a place where meaning in controversies can be welcomed as opportunities for dialogue.

I thank Jeri Rahja who is both inspirational as a collector and for all else she is and facilitates in SL. I thank all at AngelGate for standing behind these values. Any collectors interested in creating access to their unique "view" of creativity here is extremely welcome to explore that space with us at AngelGate.

Thank you

Sophiajane Alcott

AngelGate Director

Gary Kohime's 9/11 Rememberence Poem

From Gary Kohime, second life artist.

Jackson Street Books Welcomes Author in Second Life

I had a brief chat with Jackson Street Books co-owner, BookemJackson Streeter in second life where she happily announced the appearance of Garth Stein to discuss his latest award winning novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain. The event is scheduled for Monday evening the 7^th of September at 6 pm PDT/SLT and will be held at the Jackson Street Books in SL location. Ms Streeter's characterization of the book is a "Heartbreaking and achingly perfect this book is really impossible to describe. Narrated by the big hearted Enzo, this story reminds us of the grace of everyday, the preciousness of each moment. Enzo is a dog who can explain what it is to be human."

It will be Mr. Stein's first appearance in second life and she told me, "I'm really excited about this … but kind of nervous about the voice interview part … We've done other authors here, but in text ... this will be the first time in voice. I want to do more Monday author events and I'll have a Machinama of Garth to show at the upcoming NW book show ... but I'm not ready to be weekly yet."

When I commented that I thought she'd do fine and that it'd be just like talking to a friend, she said. "Luckily, he is a real life friend so I don't have to worry about that."

An Update on the Reluctant Quester

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post here in Lane's List about the "Reluctant Quester" and good friends Jenaia Moraine and Marty Snowpaw. You may recall my having explained that Jen and Marty are well known in second life for their work on the Virtual World Story Project. I'd also written an article about their recent activities which appeared in a SL Newspaper article, "Stories without Borders Quest Workshop at 2009 SLCC". This evening I received an e-mail update from Jen announcing that the adventures of the Reluctant Quester and Cice his "opinionated sidekick" had been captured in a machinima by filmmaker Ariella Furman. The machinima will air in an invitation only premier in Second Life on Thursday, October 1, 2009 at noon PDT/SLT. Meanwhile, here's a taste, a trailer that I'd viewed previously but watched again and again tonight, "SWB-The Life and Times of Uncle D – Trailer".

I know you'll be as captivated as I was … enjoy.

Fashions for Everyone – Presented by Virtual Ability

Press Release:

Virtual Ability presents "Fashions for Everyone" at Insight Virtual College. This one and a half hour long class will cover the following topics with plenty of time for discussion and demonstration:

• Background about disabilities in SL

• Relating to people with disabilities in general

• Issues related to clothing

• Store design for inclusion

• Issues related to salespeople

Did you know that 20% of SL residents have some kind of disability? Are you reaching this market with the fashions you create and your store layout? The audience for this class includes SL fashion designers as well as store owners in SL of any type.

Join Gentle Heron and Eme Capalini from Virtual Ability for an informative session that will challenge and enlighten fashion designers and store owners. Both are experts in SL disability issues.

Insight Virtual College

Stargazer Planetarium

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. SLT

Repeated on

Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. SLT