Slight change of plans this evening. It’s now Night of the Starlets at Tribute Island in Second Life.
Unfortunately, Penelope Fullstop of Atomic Blondiewas in touch with us yesterday to say Geoff (their lead guitarist) has health problems and can’t do the Marilyn Monroe gig tonight, which Pen was particularly looking forward. They'd gone to the trouble of sorting loads of new stuff for this special show so alas it's impossible to do it without him and Saffia and I (thanks Saffia) started fishing around to find other arrangements.
So, in steps our good friend "The Duchess" and the outstanding folks at Radio Riel with a tribute of their own. Night of the starlets, 3 hours of DJ'd Hollywood music, at the backstage sets at Tribute Island [SLURL] from 1PM SLT, NOT at the bar as usual.
Come dress to impress directors and join us to celebrate those loverly ladies of Tinsel Town. Have an evening in that Oscar frock, wear those Anna Sten eyes, that Ida Lupino hat, fiddle with those sliders for those Doris Day curves, from Rita Hayworth to Marilyn Monroe, you get the gist.
Also, we have professional Second Life Marilyn, the loverly Miss. Sasha00 Laryukov of The Gauskov Entertainment Agency to pose for pics etc. These people do the most amazing one-off shapes, skins, costumes, looks and attitudes you'll see this side of Hollywood.
One of the most important tango composers of the late 20th century, Astor was responsible for revolutionising the genre.
Argentinian artist, Joaquin Gustav (a composer, director, & teacher) is rich in smooth Jazz sound, tempered with classical rock, and steeped in those south American sounds of Tango, Milonga, and Candombe. When Joaquin first came to SL he spoke very little English and has used the virtual world as a tool to learn the language, now speaking what his fans affectionately call 'Spanglish'. His beautiful and passionate acoustic sets are legendary in Second Life, and Astor is clearly a great influence on his music.
Syd Barrett! What an awsome chioice! My first record ever (I natuarally don't include 'Basil Brush Sings' or 'The Aristocats') was Relics, and I'm a long time Barrett fan. This one, as all the gigs in Second Life in this season, comes right from the heart, and Mankind (RL artist Seth Regan) is a top bloke, and a great artist, who (when ever I've seen him) never fails to leave his audiences applauding for more.
Renowned SL musician and recording artist Cylindria Rutabaga has kindly offered to play a live tribute gig to one of her heroes, the vocalist & 'songbird' Eva Cassidy.
Tonight at 1SLT (pm) we'll be having an evening of awesome ‘coffee-shop-folk’ and Cylindrians beautiful vocal style.Cylindria will be playing for an hour, followed by 2 hours of Eva Cassidy tribute tunes from Gabi Riel, at the Olive Reed Comemorative Bar on Tribute Island [SLURL].
Please get here early, this is bound to be a packed house! Tribute Island [SLURL] live events are arranged with the kind support of Lasting Tribute, Prim Perfect magazine & Radio Riel.
One of the lasting memories for me, of childhood, was the morning after John Lennon died. I grew up near Liverpool and I remember we had a special assembly at school. Mr Lazenbury (I wonder what he's doing now) the drama teacher told us that the pervious night, the 8th of December '80, Lennon was shot and killed in New York in the entrance hallway of the Dakota. He played 'Imagine' on a tiny little record player. I'll never forget it.
Tonight, at Tribute Island (the Lasting Tribute sim), the well-known avatar Louis Volare (real-life musician Louis Landon of www.louislandon.com) will be playing his live tribute to John Lennon and raising L$ for the American Cancer Societies 'Relay for Life'. This will be followed by a 2hr tribute to John by our good friend Gabi Riel of the online rado station Radio Riel. I'm quite a fan of Louis actually, I've been to a few of his gigs in the past, and I'm rather looking forward to this :-)
Just follow this URL to get to Tribute Island [SLURL] for the event. It promises to be a crakin' night, and a big step on from our previous run of music evenings that went down a storm earlier this year. So, 27th of June, 1PM-4PM SLT (9PM-12PM GMT), at Tribute Island. Get here early, as the sim is bound to fill up quick!
Tribute Island opens 'officially' right now [slurl], with a big blow-out DJ bash from renowned SL DJ, DJ Jenns (his last in SL before his upcoming Italian season), and top Caledon favourite (and CodePoet) ZenMondo Wormser.
Prizes, competitions. good tunes, dancing, loads to explore (and all obsessively WindLight optimised).
Come over if you can, bring friends, and have a good browse around, do some dancing, and meet some of the folks who made the sim possible.
Tribute Island is about celebrating the lives of the people we've lost and loved. About showing the information we have, as a news and media company, in a different way. It's about the people who have inspired us, entertained us, selflessly protected us, and have filled our lives with sound and colour.
The island has tributes from the British Army, Navy, and RAF, to the political, scientific, and Hollywood classics. Most of the exhibits we've made interactive in some way, so pop over for some music and to enjoy exploring, and click the exhibits for freebies and to leave your own tribute (oh, and Treasure Hunt prize just went up to L$6k and theres a brand new GeoCache).
Nice to see Tribute Island turning up in the press overnight. Things are looking good.
She was listed as top place to visit yesterday in Jen Hienrich and Relic Starbrooks 'The Best of Second Life' and there are some nice comments appear in Seamus McCauley's 'Virtual Economics' (on the collision of news publishing, digital media and technology) about him reflectively looking for a friends marker in the military section. We're also featured on 'Hold The Front Page' (the journalism site for journalists) this morning and in a couple of blogs (like those of Edward Pearse, Daz, Guen DeCuri, Eladrienne Lavaland Aleister Kronos etc.). Just for a bit more traffic, check out our 'virtual ammo-box' at SLGeocaching too :-)
When I say 'things are looking good', I should actually be saying that 'things have never looked better'.
If you get the chance, pop along [slurl] and take a look at us with the new WindLight (FirstLook) client, available here.
SO damn beautiful, and the island looks so cool, I think this is really going to change my SL experience. I love it. Photo-real seas, stunning rolling clouds, gobsmacking light sourcing, added improvements to the Sky Editor dialog, improved glow and rendering tricks to minimize lag and add stability, Tribute was just made for this kind of thing.
“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.” I'm liking today already :-)
Tribute Island is now open to all visitors (posh official opening 'put-a-suit-on-hippy' party coming soon).
Hopefully we can make some pennies for The Legion today (as it's Remembrance Day).
The bloggers party went well last night, and we didn't crash the sim (tho we had a damn good go). A few people have been in touch asking to place tributes already. Come take a look [SLURL], or I'll spam you all with LM's :-)
Alas I can't seem to get access to the sims yet (might just be me tho). This video is SO beautiful, I'm really look forward to checking this one out :-)
So, what have I been going on about for the last couple of months?
Now I can talk about it :-) Saturday, at 2pm - 5pm SLT, will be the SLBloggers Bash at Tribute Island [slurl] (and, I'm glad to say, this won't be our Zoe's last shindig as head honcho).
Expert DJing c/o Radio Riel (who are doing a bloody excellent "Music from the Middle Ages" today). No point in going there 'till 10 minutes before the start tho, as the sim will still be closed and, during the do, only open to group members. After that it's open house.
My company have very kindly given the exclusive on this place to the real reporters of SL, the bloggers, and another 'official' opening will be happening in the next week or so. I'm well chuffed on this, being a bit of an SLBlogger since the groups inception, and it just goes to show how attitudes have changed in the media and within our field (RL journalism) in particular ;-)
For the record, Tribute Island was built during October ’07 by Associated Northcliffe Digital (part of the DMGT Group), with the senior design consultants and master builders of Wind Meta Works, and has been something of a labor of Hercules. 65,536 m2 of highly detailed content, made by a tiny team.
Anyway, so, what is Tribute Island [slurl] and why the big secret? Basically, it's all about celebrating the lives of the people we've lost and loved. People who have inspired us, entertained us, selflessly protected us, and who have filled our lives with sound and colour. The island is a SL based (and totally FREE) 3D sculpture and tribute park. Why a secret? Well, it's work and that's the nature of 9-5.
'Tribute' is roughly divided into topical areas (see the map above). You really have to see the British Military section, where we've replicated individual tribute markers to all the UK soldiers and military personnel who've lost their lives in the continuing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. It's incredibly sobering. Hopefully folks can get into some serious exploring, and click the exhibits for freebies, to make donations to charities, or to leave your own tribute (through our links with the Lasting Tribute website, so the sim can stay locked down tight). We hope to support the place by holding regular events and making something out of this sim, not just abandon projects to self maintenance like other corps do, so keep coming back or IM me ('Nikk Huet') to get involved.
I'll be setting up a Tribute Island Group today if I get the chance, so come join for updates. Most of the exhibits are interactive in some way and this place has loads of ‘Easter eggs’ (just for fun) and stuff to explore that we've been slaving over for weeks.
Anyway, please feel free to pop over after Saturday and say ‘hi’ if you see me or one of our staff in the sim :-)
While I have the chance I'd like to personally thank a few folks, namely Carricre Wind, Firiel McGann, Lapin Paris, Andr00 Darkstone, Posemaster Darkstone and Terry Lightfoot, with individual tributes and help from the likes of Brad Sabre, KP Pera, Sen Pixie, DALEK Drillon, Butterfly Laa, TheDove Rhode, Shadowen Silvera, Jimbo Perhaps, Desmond Shang, Emilly Ladybird, Grafix Writer, AngryBeth Shortbread, Cornelia Rothschild, Alfonso Avalanche, Mike Calhoun, Gabrielle Riel, Cheen Pitney and Ub Yifu, for their awesome builds, help, kind encouragement, coffee, sleepless nights, and support. Just a few of the great people who stood behind this project and understood what we were trying to do.
As of the Bloggers event we're open (ish) so please, if you get the chance, explore the island, take some time to contemplate and think about some of the exhibits, and help celebrate the lives of the people represented here.
If you have any ideas for tributes, events, fund raisers or want to get involved, IM me ('Nikk Huet') or catch me on the grid.
So, Tribute opens in 2 weeks. Had a review of the new sim with the boss at work today and (except for a few bits) he's happy for me to crack on. Actually, to be truthful, he was well chuffed.
Gotta say a big THANKS to Carricre Wind, Firiel McGann, Lapin Paris, Andr00 Darkstone, Posemaster Darkstone, Terry Lightfoot, Oolon Sptnik, AB Shortbread, Brad Sabre, Sen Pixie, DALEK Drillon, Butterfly Laa, TheDove Rhode, Shadowen Silvera, Jimbo Perhaps, Desmond Shang, Emilly Ladybird and Ub Yifu, for their awesome builds, help, kind encouragement, coffee, and support. Just a few of the great people who stood behind this project and understood what we were trying to do. Once again I stand upon the shoulders of giants.
2 weeks, SL Bloggers party. Still to sort the details with Zoe, but it's a go for opening pre official shin-dig (so cool my boss is up for the 'real' reporters getting in their first, cheers KP). 1 week, when I get back from my hols, then I can talk/blog about it :-)
Anyway, other news, I got a 900 prim plot now (with The Guvs blessing) in the new Caledon Penzance's sim. This'll be 'Caledon Studios' ("Lepus Gratis Cuniculus"), and will be my new base for machinima efforts instead of the old Mayfair Studios (which had lost its isolation with the advent of Penzance off the north coast). This sim is well worth a look as soon as it hits the grid. I've seen the theatre and the high street and it's a thing of textured beauty loving crafted by the hand of artist Ms. Persephone Gallindo. By the time I get back, it'll be time to get cracking.
Casting for the first movie will start around Christmas.
Come dress to impress directors and join us to celebrate those loverly ladies of Tinsel Town. Have an evening in that Oscar frock, wear those Anna Sten eyes, that Ida Lupino hat, fiddle with those sliders for those Doris Day curves, from Rita Hayworth to Marilyn Monroe, you get the gist.
