Festival of Hanatoro. - Kyoto Kagai, Midnight Sun in Second Life

One of the delights of Second Life is the huge diversity of experiences available. For example on Sunday I received an invitation to attend  the Festival of Hanatoro being held in Kyoto Kagai to coincide with the real life Festival being held in Hanatoro (花灯路, Hanatōro), which means "flower and light road Kyoto.

 During the Festival of Hanatoro live and street performances are held at stages around the area and it was one of these being replicated in Kyoto Kagai that I had gone to see performed by the Maiko of Hanafusa at the Yasaka Shrine  

 We were treated to performances of three traditional Fan Dances (Maiougi Sensu) by the Maiko, while stories were related, including the supernatural Japanese Folklore myth "The Golden Hairpin"

Hanafusa Okiya take a pride in the authenticity and accuracy of their dances  and stories, you can see a real life performance of the same event here.

If like me you would like to experience a traditional event, perhaps witness another Fan Dance or attend a Tea Ceremony you will find more information via the Hanafusa Okiya Blog.
I hope to visit Kyoto Kagai, Midnight Sun again soon and take some more pictures especially now it is Cherry Blossom time.

CALAS SKATE-O-RAMA, EREBOR, SECOND LIFE

I am always searching for something new to do in Second Life so  when I saw a blog post entitled "Skate-O-Rama is open! Come over for some fun!" I grabbed my old Roller boots and sped over to the newly created skate park at Calas Galadhon.

Upon arrival a note explains  the rules that Calas Galadhon has in place regarding scripts; 200 while exploring, 100 during shows,  A helpfully placed script counter which appears as a pink roller boot gave me the all clear, 21 scripts 912KB memory.

 You actually  rezz on the wrong side of the busy Route 66 South of the Skate-O-Rama building. Care should be taken while crossing, on long highways at night it is all to easy to misjudge the speed of an approaching lorry.

The Skate-O-Rama building is an impressive sight lit up at night.

In front of the building, the carpark  is a classic car lovers delight, filled with vehicles like a 1958 Impala Convertible, Oldsmobiles, TBirds and even a 1912 Model T. If the sight of these classics gets your pulse racing you can trace the creator and buy one yourself for as little as 100L. After I finished skating I went over to Axtel's Autos to do some test driving.

 

Outside the building there are a number of little touches that make a build that bit more interesting; I will leave you to search yourself  for the  Aliens or look for the Motel, I looked for wildlife and  captured the drama of a Wolf hunting a Jack Rabbit in the gloom.

I have to make a mention about the flora on show,  It never occurred to me before that that there would be much variety in Cacti and Succulents available to SL landscapers, but having seen the range of species here, I feel like trying to build one myself.

Skate-O-Rama has a 1950s feel about it, when  I sat in the Diner I half  expected Marty McFly to walk in at any moment.

Along side the rink is a stage for live performances and a full schedule of performances for March is available here. Most of the shows are scheduled for 7pm SLT but there are two shows at 2pm SLT which should be easier for Europeans to attend.

 Free skates are available near the entrance next to the 'Free' group joiner. I understand the rink is only open for the month of March, so  if you are interested do not put off a visit.

PeTOu, Everheart in Second Life

I recently discovered PeTOu, a new sim owned by υϯα(xoyuutaox) the former owner of Roche which sadly closed back in September this year.

At ground level PeTOu is a winter snow covered sim full of photographic opportunities; a snowman here, a huge snowglobe there, a house next and so on.  I wish I could spend more time exploring but to do so would risk this blog never being completed.

At the arrival point you are greeted with five useful teleports which take you to The Church, and Cafe. both at ground level, and Japonsky, Roofs of Paris, and Koi which are skyboxes/platforms.

Two pictures of the interior of the very detailed Cafe.

Japonsky is a place of flowers, lights and bridges and goldfish floating in the air, Far more interesting than it sounds from my description.

I really like Koi, the base for which is "My Little Pond"  by{-Maru Kado-} and Mato, and increased in size many hundreds of times and imaginatively decorated.  To give you an idea of scale, I am in the picture on the right hand side sitting on a ring chair.

The last teleport takes you to Roofs of Paris by Marie Lauridsen.

PeTOu is a an interesting a beautiful place and I highly recommend a visit for SL Explorers and Photographers alike.

Anibrm Jung opens at Gallery Graine - Second Life

A new exhibition of Real Life photographs by award winning Dutch photographer Anibrm Jung  opened Sunday December 11th 12pm slt at Gallery Graine, Blue Curacao.
The collection which fills both floors of the gallery reveals Ani's love of nature with many of the pictures taken in her own garden using  her Nikon D60 camera.

Remarkably Ani uses no cropping or image manipulation,  instead the Second Life veteran who celebrated her 10th rez day earlier this month, relies on her viewfinder to frame her pictures.  I like the naturalness, the apparent spontaneity of some of the pictures (have you ever tried to get a cat to pose for a picture?)  a naturalness achieved thanks to Ani's technical skills.

All of the pictures are available for sale,  and not known for my decisiveness I took an age to decide which among all the stunning pictures I would buy, before I settled on "The Power of Love" a beautiful white bloom.
For lovers of flowers, cats and photography I recommend a visit.

1920's New York Project , Prescott - Second Life

Pearl Street, Second Life, compare with 1920s picture below

The 1920s Berlin Project is probably one of the most well known sims in second Life even having it's own page on wikipedia, however there are other, less well known historical sims that are also worthy of exploration, the latest of which is the 1920's New York Project, which is intended to be a faithful reconstruction of a section of lower Manhattan around 1926

69 - 181 Pearl Street, view at ground level, New York, New York, late 1920s. (Photo by William J. Roege/The New York Historical Society/Getty Images).

another view of Pearl Sreet, Original photo on the left, recreation on the right

The plan is to replicate Lower Manhatten in the 1920s, speakeasies,  street cars,subway, elevated train line and all is the brainchild of 3D designer, Jogi Schultz. Although far from completed the work so far is very impressive and shops and apartments are already occupied.

 

1920's New York Project Website

1920's New York Project flickr group

American Museum of Women in Civil Services, City of New River, Wolf Haven, Second life

While talking to Elliot (ladyangeldust) the owner/designer/curator of The Women of Science History Museum, it was revealed that a further Museum had only recently been completed and I was invited over to take a guided tour; of course I jumped at the chance.

The American Museum of Women in Civil Services is housed in an unassuming two story brick building  within the City of New River residential/role play sim. The layout of the Museum is very similar to that of the  Women of Science exhibition, eleven women are included with a display for each woman which includes photographs, and an informative biography, Notecards are also available for each woman which you obtain by clicking on a white star placed prominently on the display. The occupations of the women includes Firefighters, Soldiers, Police, National Park Warden, and members of the Military Forces. .

Whilst perhaps not having such a broad appeal as the  Women of Science Museum I still found the displays of considerable interest.  None of the Women's stories were previously known to me I have spent sometime since visiting researching more information on these  pioneers,  and others with similar histories but based in UK.

The Plain of Jars, Tefa of Sand in Second life

From the notecard of Fitch Lekvoda received on arrival
"The Plain of Jars, a vast plain of hundreds upon hundred of massive stone urns and ewers, the makers long since lost to antiquity along with their purpose...

Some recall the legend of the giant king's victory banquet. believing the jars to be the leftover alcohol vessels from that banquet.  Others think of a more mundane purpose, to collect rain water for passing caravans....

Whatever their purpose, the Plain of Jars awaits silently for the intrepid to come and explore it's mysteries."

There are a lot of Jars here, the notecard states that "1029 urns, ewers, jars. and vases were used for this build" and while I have not counted them I certainly would not question that number.

At first glance it is hard to judge the scale of all these vases, so I have overcome my natural shyness to pose in this picture near the centre.

Extraordinary as it may seem the Plain of Jars exists in real life..  There are several Neolithic sites in Laos identified as Plains of Jars and their is considerable speculation as to their original purpose.

Apart from the Jars stretching away to the horizon there is little else to be seen apart from two trees.

The Plain of Jars is a place to visit for SL bloggers, photographers and for the curious too. Perhaps you can discover the purposes of this jar site, as not everything is immediately apparent.