SL12B, Happy Birthday Second Life Open June 21-28

Official blog site: http://www.slcommunitycelebration.info/

Visit Welcome Station inworld directly here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL12B%20Beguile/128/128/24

The Huge Cake Stage inworld here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL12B%20Captivate/128/128/22


The Second Life 12th Community Birthday Party opens 6-21-15 and their official press release info. states:

"Spanning 15 regions with over 200 exhibits and more than 600 performers, disk jockeys and speakers, SL12B is a showcase for the accomplishments and content of all SL residents, celebrating the anniversary of Second Life© leaving its initial beta in 2003.
The SL© "Birthday" event started 12 years ago as a parade through mainland regions. It has since evolved into the Resident-run event you see today .
On the 23rd of June, Second Life© will be officially twelve years old.  Our hard-working staff of Resident volunteers, coupled with hundreds of other Resident creators, have been busily preparing for our annual birthday bash—laying down the groundwork (literally) for you to celebrate.
The event kicks off at 12:00 p.m. SLT on Sunday, the 21st of June and runs through Sunday, the 28th of June, with a glittering assortment of musicians, speakers, artists, business leaders, media mavens, merchants, social organizers, and other amazing Residents like you. We’ll be keeping the 15-region site open for another week, so you’re welcome to come and tour the builds at your leisure."

More info. on the theme is as follows: "This year's theme for the SL12B Community Celebration is "What Dreams May Come."
The line is part of the "To be, or not to be..." soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet. It later became the title of a book by Richard Matheson, then an Academy Award winning movie.
Unlike our physical world, everything we see in Second Life© was born out of the stuff of dreams. For some, these dreams are what they aspire to, while others seek to recreate that which is unattainable in their lives.
Some may craft elaborate worlds of gleaming gold, while others may descend into the netherworld, portraying realms of flame and darkness.
Still others may have dreams of a simpler variety: a nice house, a picket fence, and a perfectly green lawn. All dreams, big and small, are valid and welcome."

There is also a hunt: "About the SL12B Nano Hunt, provided by Hunt SL:
For the second year in a row, we will be holding a hunt at the event. For additional information and a list of participants, please see" :
http://www.slcommunitycelebration.info/sl12big-hunt/

I went in for press day for some early info. and pictures.  I was greeted by Doc Gascoigne, Marianne McCann and Harper Beresford near The Station SL12B Welcome Area which is a super cool armed (as in it has arms like a creature) train that magically snakes off into the distant sky fading to invisible. I checked out some other areas and first tp'd to the giant cake stage by Mikati Slade.  The HUGE cake is pretty impressive, in her typical style, and has freebie gifts around.   Check out the web site or landing station area for event lists and locations as there are several stage areas.  Then I visited Grazietta Cazenove's parcel which is a domed area filled with her art that includes 3 d matching props and is along the lines of dreamy art which matches the birthday theme.  Once again they have the pod tours you can hop on and enjoy a narrated tour.  They have a great freebie gift area again and the annual time capsule.    The Flickr group for photos is here: https://www.flickr.com/groups/sl12b/

(this pic puts the cake stage in perspective)

Happy Birthday Second Life-SL8B Opens Tomorrow

The doors to the SL8B 20 region site open Monday, 6-20-2011 at 10:30am. SL8B is the 8th birthday of Second Life and the annual celebration theme this year is "Magic". On June 23, 2011, Second Life will officially be eight years old. The event runs through Sunday, June 26 with a glittering assortment of musicians, speakers, artists, business leads, media mavens, merchants, social organizers, and other amazing Residents.



I first entered SL8B 6-19-11 for press weekend to get some information and early photos, but was seriously overwhelmed with all the exhibits, colors, sites, sounds and magic of it all. I didn't know where to start even though I have the press package because I felt this rush of wanting to see it all immediately. ColeMarie sent me a LM directly to her machinima exhibit so I decided to land there first after entering the area. Her plot is home to a circular machinima theater that will play her newest video and when she is around she will also show some of her other machinima. She is also a SL8B performer. Her theater exhibit additionally provides machinima information from MAG, Machinima Artists Guild, and several other machinima groups.



I moved next to the centerpiece of the SL8B which is a huge multi-level cake by Tao Mistwalker and his team that can be seen from most areas of the celebration. Visit the cake here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SL8B%20Stunning/10/227/24 or direct link here: SL8BCakeHere.



The Linden bear island is back offering free Linden bears. This year the event has super cool tour pods you can ride around to see everything. There are free dolphin rides and a lot of cool freebies too.



The press info. reads, "..Spanning 21 sims with over 700 contributors, over 300 exhibits, over 300 live performers and speakers with special speeches from Philip and Rod Linden, SL8B is a showcase for the accomplishments and content of all SL residents, celebrating the “life” of Second Life."

I have to say I especially liked the concept of Moeuhane Sandalwood's exhibit titled "The Magic of SL is: You!". While it may not be the biggest, brightest exhibit I appreciated the message and it's interactive in that a visitor can enter panels and become part of the exhibit showcasing the various things appreciated in SL, such as arts, romance, music, dance, etc.

The exhibitors tend to go all out for this annual party, so not only is it a great way to learn more about what SL has to offer, it's a fun place to play, pick up freebies and be amazed at what is possible in this virtual world. SL is always magic to me.



Check out the official SL8B web site for details and updates: http://sl8b.wordpress.com/ or direct link here: SL8BBlogHere.

The press pass provided some additional important information and dates:

"June 20—10:30 a.m. SLT: Gates open to the public for the opening ceremonies. Scripts and build disabled throughout estates for the duration of opening ceremonies to discourage instances of lag and disruption. They will be turned back on after the opening speech.

11:00 am. Kim Linden speaks, opening the celebrations.
June 23—The Birthday!
3:00 pm slt. Rodvik Linden will be attending festivities at the Main Stage
June 26—Last day of entertainment.
July 2--Gates close. Sims will be locked.

Important Links:
SL Destination Guide: http://secondlife.com/destinations/birthday
SL8B Flickr Group: http://flickr.com/groups/sl8b
SL8B Blog: http://www.sl8b.wordpress.com
SL8B Wiki (for all rules, dates, etc): http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:SL8B"

SL7B-Happy Birthday SL/Censorship Issues Abound!

Happy Birthday

SL7B is officially open as of Monday and I was fortunate enough to see some of the opening day events, between crashes that is. Apparently half of Second Life wanted to see Phillip Linden's opening speech so that proved to be a bit difficult for my computer, but I did get to see some of it. The SL7B theme is Unexpected Collaborations (see my prior post on this).
Dates to remember:
-June 21—10:00 a.m. SLT: Gates open to the public for the opening ceremonies.
-June 23—The Birthday!
-June 26—Official closing ceremony.
-June 27—Last day of entertainment.
-July 3—Gates close.
Check it out here: SL7BHere.


Mankind Tracer at SLB opening

For more good information on SLB7 check out these sites: SL7BWordpressHere.

PhillipSpeechHere.

SL7BFlickrHere.


Censored
This year there is quite a bit of controversy with SL7B around the content they allowed or more specifically didn't allow to present. Apparently one well known and loved talented artist, rose Borchovski, was denied the opportunity to present her art installation: She states, "My Susa Bubble Installation : The Kiss has been returned to me from the SL7B sims where Linden is celebrating Secondlife. I quote “The images on your build are in violation of our general rating, to be clear: Nudity is not allowed at art events with a general maturity rating.”

While the content is "artistic nude" and not pornography, Linden Labs clearly followed it's terms of service in denying this. A large part of The SL artistic community is in a uproar over this rejection responding with protests, responses and a petition to LL regarding this issue. It seems many people I speak to have feelings one way or the other on this. There even seems to be a bit of spill over in other forums about censorship.

Susa Bubble

If you are interested in this subject here is the most informative link on the current issue and situation:

roseHere. Direct link, or you can try here: http://savemeoh.wordpress.com/2010/06/19/your-new-president-saveme-oh-rose-borchovski-and-peter-greenaway-are-%20angry/
(note: personally I really appreciate the well stated first comment on this site left in response by well known and respected RL/SL artist Filthy Fluno.)


Some other's views on the subject:
ColeMarieVideoHere

SpyVspyHere.