The Bob Hope Theater and Flight 93 9/11 Memorial

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Bob Hope Theater has made the news a couple times recently, doing shows in honor of veterans. I recently had a talk with the owner and builder of the place, Paul Woodrunner, who runs it with the help of his partner Morganna1Wulfsong Resident. We met in front of the theater stage, which had it's curtains closed and the seating wasn't placed. "The chairs are not in the theater," Paul explained, "I only put them down before the show."

To younger residents who might not remember, Bob Hope was an entertainer whom performed many acts for American troops for several decades from World War Two to the Gulf War. "Bob Hope brought entertainment to the troops around the world. His shows gave a part of the world back to them. He was a bit of sunshine in their lives, something they never forgot. Troops at war, and there was Hope.  The Medal of Honor Society made an award, the Spirit of Hope, to honor his bravery and courage for so many years."

When I asked how long the theater had been around, Morganna answered, "Oh gosh, well, it traveled to different veterans sims but came back here to stay in what, August?" Paul added he set up the theater at it's current location, "after July 4th. I chose to not go on the road anymore. The Outsiders are about vets and bringing about an awareness of veterans, and sometimes their needs. It is about heroes mainly. The Outsiders are the dance troupe that calls Bob Hope Theater home. We are all about first responders  veterans active duty military. ... so many things I need to do to prepare for this show. It has to be part educational as well as entertaining."

The theater has several events a year, "We try to do six shows a year. We do mostly military or US holidays like Veterans Day, Memorial Day,  9/11 Patriot Day,  we do a welcome home Vietnam vet day show, we do a 4th of July show."

Just behind the theater is a memorial to the fallen at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, "The Ground Zero Memorial is a true tribute to those lost in 9/11." It was a build of the North Tower pool at the September 11 Memorial in New York City, a huge black marble square, with water running down the walls of the inside, going to a smaller square in the center. "I'm most proud of it," he went on to say, "I hope it lasts a long time."

Paul stated he had one other 9/11 Memorial, this one located elsewhere in the sim, the Flight 93 Memorial, also called The Tower of Voices." Tping to the location, we were on a square with an eagle picture in the center with a National Park Service sign, "Flight 93 Memorial," and a trail leading on. "Let us walk the path to the tower," Paul spoke as he and Morganna led me down, the route winding around and taking me to the tower.

In real life, the memorial is still unfinished. But here it is. The Second Life memorial is a 93 foot metal structure with 40 wind chimes. "It is now open but still under lite construction. The tower is a musical instrument, with 40 chimes all different in sound to represent the 40 passengers and crew who died on flight 93. It is a place for honor, this is sacred ground." Morganna told me, "If you have the music down, you can hear the voices coming from the tower, representing all those lost who fought." "When you get closer you will hear it, if your media is on. Photos at sunrise and set are awesome."

Paul also owns and runs the Empire Room, a venue located elsewhere on the sim.

Paul had to leave to take care of some business. Morganna would say, "He really is very modest. I really just think that what Paul has built comes from the heart. He sees something that touches the hearts of people, and he tries to create the same here so that no one is forgotten. When the dance troupe performs at the Bob hope it is with that same spirit, and this really is a fabulous sim overall."

Bob Hope Theater
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Copperhead%20Road/64/124/1528

Flight 93
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Copperhead%20Road/83/9/1995

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: The Little Cinema At Road 12

By Ciska Riverstone

Those of you, who took Road 12 on mainland recently might have had a glance at that small simple wooden build surrounded by a lot of open space with the magic Cinema Sign up, glowing just a little.  It does not try to be glamorous and plain out loud by appearance. Instead it comes across as a practical and functional build, which friends of you could have put together on some weekends work at some open space, to have a place to come together and follow their passion or just hang out.

And this is exactly what the little roadside cinema does. Every Friday at 1 PM it becomes a cozy home for silent movies lovers.  Walk in, grab some popcorn, lean back in one of the classic cinema seats, enjoy the curtains opening to show the screen and wait for Abinoams magical words: "Did everyone start their Media? - yes? Okay, I sync the film."  - Yes that's Second Life for you!

I out myself as someone, who always liked silent movies ever since I was a kid. I adore the imagination, which had to go into expressing and composing the pictures, which made up most of the storytelling in those days and allowed by style to cut the words down to a small amount. For me silent movies act as an reminder, that you can tell stories without words in any world at any time, no matter how simple the means are.

Silent movies are driven by the stories they want to tell in an unique way. Their heroes are much less black and white, then their nowadays' blockbuster colored pendants, which makes them, despite their overacted emotions at times, more real and more serving to the whole story they are there to tell. They aim more towards inspiring your own imagination then to just digest the ready-made fast-food picture the blockbusters serve us today.

Coming together in this virtual space to experience those movies has a practical aspect too: most of us can read a little English at least, and for a silent movie not much else is needed. That makes it a great experience for folks from different part of the world and is a practical way to live the fact that art does exist without cultural boundaries.

For quite some time even before this cinema was built at the space it stands now. Abinoam, the owner of the Little Cinema, proved his talent in picking a wide range of silent movies from all over the world and all kinds of genres: From the well knows classic Comedies like Harold Lloyds Savety Last,  over The Abyss by Urban Gad, a whole collection of German silent movies to last weeks fun suspense movie "The Cat and the Canary" by Paul Leni, everyone watching had a chance to discover new old gems as well as enjoying already known ones. The coming weekends with be deducated to the dark sided movies fitting the Halloween season.

Be sure to join next Friday 1 pm slt @

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Odie/68/246/53

Ciska Riverstone

Antiquity

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

 During our time as a Newser Reporter, we have explored many areas of the Second Life Grid. Our writing style was strongly influenced by a movie seen in childhood. Bambi's friend, Thumper, was told, by his mom, "If you can't find anything nice to say about somebody, don't say anything at all." When we hear of a possible location to write about, our first trip there is a short visit, to get an intuitive feeling of the land and it's residents. Intuition is hard to put into words, but within a half hour one of two thoughts will enter our mind. It's either, "I can't wait to tell readers about this adventure," or "there's no story here."

   If you were to put all of the sims in the grid together, it would form a square of 610 square miles. By comparison, a single sim is only about .39 sq.mi. and there are currently 24229 active sims on the grid. So, how does this reporter find these small areas that are fun adventures, in such a big world? Newser staff meets once a month and the Editor, Bixyl Shuften, usually provides leads to potential sims. Another source is the Destination Guide, but this can be hit or miss when looking for a fun place, and Sha has frequently wondered how much the sim owner had to pay to get a mention in the guide. One of our favorite search techniques is to open the World Map and pan and zoom around the grid. We look for sim clusters which suggest community minded residents. The layout of the terrain, streets and buildings will give us an idea of the level of the ideal and practical skills that have developed in these communities.

   Studying the map, we found a 13 sim cluster. Each of the sim names began with "Antiquity" and there were massive buildings on many of them. We knew, before ever setting foot there, this would be a Great Adventure.

We select an open field on the North Western sim. The landing puts us at the foot of Mount St. Bruno, so we climb to the top for a better view of the country to be explored. There is a gathering spot on the top of the mountain; a clue that the natives might be friendly. From up here, it is clear that it will require several visits just to get a look at everything, so we start walking South, with plans of zig-zagging through all 13 sims. 

 

As our exploration began, we notice there is another person about 2000 meters up, showing up on radar. Minutes later, this same individual sent an instant-message, which was very unusual. She said that she had seen our name on her radar and it seemed to be a name that she was familiar with. After thinking a bit, she recalled that it was the name of her favorite Newser Reporter, who had inspired her to go on many new adventures of her own. We continued chatting, while taking notes in the buildings that Sha was inspecting. Then the message sender informed us that she was a local resident, named Cosette Rouages, who's job was to write scripts, used in the builds. She was very excited that her favorite reporter was there to do an article about Antiquity. After a bit more chat, she invited us for a look at "the other half" of Antiquity. 

 

It turns out, at the 2000m altitude, the sky platforms cover the entire 13 sims. A TP up and we spent hours talking and becoming friends. She also wanted to arrange for a private tour, with the owner of all the sims, Jacon Cortes de Bexar. Both of us live in the same real-life time zone and as 4:30 am rolled around, we agreed to meet again, soon. It would be necessary to return several more times, to take in all there is to see and do.

 

   There hadn't been many notes or pictures taken, on the first visit, but that is par for the course.  The plan now was to attend an event at Cutlass and head back to Antiquity after. As we came on line to prepare for the evening's events, there was already an IM waiting to be read. This time, it was from the owner, Jacon Bexar. Cosette had told him all about our meeting and he wanted me to come for a private tour. As soon as my event was over, we headed back to our original LM  in Antiquity. After landing, Cosette appeared on radar, at ground level, standing in a small group.  The welcome committee was made up of Jacon, Cosette and two other Ladies. 

 

After introductions and other pleasantries, Jacon would TP the group to his latest master build, a scale replica of Buckingham Palace. To date, this build has taken three and a half years and even every texture is from the real palace. Through out the tour, there are easels set up, with photos of the original. Jacon says, be sure to look up at the ceilings in each room. Each is a unique work of art. We told Jacon that the most difficult part about writing an article on Antiquity would be to avoid starting every sentence with OMG or WOW. When our readers visit Antiquity for themselves, they can wear out their own list of expletives.

 

   Back at ground level, I traveled to all the sims and took lots of pictures. Since this is an article and not a book, it will include some photos and brief comments. If space is limited for the article, the full length original and all the photos can be found at shaadventures.blogspot.com

 

The Antiquity Cathedral made me a bit nervous, because there is an autobot (the sim's name for bots that respond to you, not the cartoon robots) cardinal at the altar and he kept turning in her direction. I eventually got the courage to stand in front of him and explain, to the empty pews, her theory that god is a cyclops.

 

In the Royal Antiquity Theater, I took a seat in the balcony. I wonder if it would be giving my age away, if I said, as kids we went to movies in theaters as fancy as this one.

 

One shop sold a collection of "autobots," in period clothing. Many have a menu. I was tempted to go back and buy a maid that offers a glass of wine and a list of other services.

 

A harbor in the Argyle sim could be your next SL job, if ye be Pirate Friendly. Arrrrr!

 

Standing under the dome of the Texas State capital building, I recalled seeing a movie with Burt Reynolds standing in the same spot.

 

I paused in a Texas one room school house, brushing up on Texas history and spitball making.

 

There are groups to join, like for Export Import Co., a pirate group and an Equine group. On the Marie Galante sim, there is even a large area for Merfolk.

 

I rode my own horse on the trails that cover several of the Eastern sims. I have an AKK horse and now have a great place to take him on walks.

 

They have monthly horse events, like cross-country, fox hunt and chariot racing. 

   Having made videos in Second Life, I couldn't help but notice, everywhere I went, the beautiful scenery all looked like perfect backgrounds for new SL videos. I loved the various music streams that are encountered. They were soothing and energizing. The few highlight given above are less than half of the list of noteworthy places. By all means, Antiquity goes on my list of "Must See" locations.

We bid ye to have a Great Adventure in Antiquity,

Sha

Basilique Town and Performing Arts Company

By Wesley Regenbogen

Basilique Town is a small Italian city recreated within Second Life! The town was created and decorated in January 2013 by Canary Beck and Harvey Crabsticks. The place is nicely decorated and you really have the feeling that you are in the real life Italian city Basilique. It’s really amazing how they actually recreated the whole town.

 I found the music a nice touch. In the chapel and Bathouse, 1930s tunes are played. House music is played at the modern bar. There are both parties in the Baththouse for members, and DJs performing for crowds at the Modern. There are also chat salons where a dozen members discuss a planned topic for over 2 hours.

Then there is the Basilique Performing Arts Company. Their performances are over for the year, though there are future productions coming in 2015. But up to September 21, they were doing performances of a Second Life version of "Paradise Lost," and "Romeo and Juliet 2.0"

This sweeping story features 43 characters, took over 1000 hours of development and a budget of more than L$250,000 to produce. You will come away saying that this is one of the most amazing things you have seen in Second Life. Don’t miss this unbelievable opportunity. Book now. Tickets are available on the Second Life Marketplace. Second Life’s most ambitious performing arts company presents an adaptation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Following their “masterful adaptation” of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, The Basilique Performing Arts Company returns to tell the story of humankind’s original sin. Choreographed and set to the fourteen movements of Mozart’s Requiem, this is the story of humankind’s creation by God, temptation by Satan, and expulsion from Paradise.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fFzBv6g7vX4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

(Click here if the video fails to play, possibly not safe for work)

In my personal opinion, it’s a nice town that has been recreated within the Second Life environment. This is a very nice place that you can visit if you want to relax a bit and just have a look around.

If you want to know more about this place you can find more information on and also about events, you can also find more information about Canary Beck and Baslilque Town on these links :

about.me/canarybeck

http://canarybeck.com/ (Blog)

https://www.facebook.com/canary.beck (Facebook)

https://twitter.com/canarybeck (Twitter)

http://bit.ly/X7NOxJ (YouTube)

http://bit.ly/QS0bwd (Google+)

http://bit.ly/RnK8pZ (Flickr)

http://soundcloud.com/canary-beck (SoundCloud)

https://my.secondlife.com/canary.beck

 

Wesley Regenbogen

Mystery Science Theater 3000 in SL

Have you wondered where the worst science-fiction B movies you have ever seen went?? I found them! They are in the comfortable theater located at the sim, This Island Earth.

A quote from the land says, “Keeping the world safe from bad B-Movies by keeping them contained." Somehow Squeebee Wakawaka has sequestered them all and they are playing 24/7 for your viewing pleasure. All you have to do is sit and touch the box at the poster to start or catch up if it is in progress. If you want to have an outdoor view and lounge by the pond you will find a screen there too. How he found these films is beyond my comprehension, but there they are. Grab a bag of popcorn or a pizza and settle down.

There are comfortable seats for all and for those who like to snuggle up with a partner there is seating for you too. I sat and watched part of “Fugitive alien” and on another visit, “ Star Force Alien 2." I had to chuckle and then laugh out loud at the films. Hopefully that is what the owner wants, or, my apologies.

I met Mordoc Blackheart and asked if he were involved in the theater. And yes, he is a Saturday night host for the showing of a movie. He told me they had been in this sim for about a year and in another one previously. Most of the films are from MST3K which was on TV from 1988 through 1999 in the USA. Mordoc said they had almost all the films that were shown during that period and also some other interesting science films.

If you want to learn the story behind MST3K check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000, or search it for other informative sites. The building is a copy of the space craft where the MST3K crew spent their time forced to watch these films (Listen to their comments!). There are huge tribute builds of the robots who were part of the crew outside. There appear to be hosts for events each day at one time or another. There is a group for notices about get-togethers for events if you would like to join and keep up on the current offerings.

Have a fun afternoon at the movies. http://slurl.com/secondlife/This%20Island%20Earth/205/153/23

Gemma Cleanslate

Sweet Dreams Theater

Looking for a place where she and others could be accepted was XXXGabiXXX Miami's inspiration behind Sweet Dreams Movies. When she came in-world, she was invited into a group of friends, but a misunderstanding caused the friendship to sever and Gabi found herself in a strange new world.

"I found myself walking the streets of SL, literally," she explained. "I had no friends. I didn't know anyone. I didn't know how to rent land or how to get my own place. I didn't even know what a prim was."

Then one day she found a theater, which offered comfort and a dark place to change her clothes. She also met an avi that helped her find a beautiful home on a rainforest sim. Shortly after, she learned that the theater had been removed.

"I was heartbroken again, but I now knew how to use the search engine and I went out to find my own theatre," she said. "I wanted to have my own land with the theatre on it. I wanted it to be free for people, just like the one I had found was free for me. I wanted it to be a place open for anyone to go. When the drama gets too rough, but you don't want to log off of SL, it was Gabi's theatre, where she always left the light on."

Gabi's theater is an Aramax Cinema, which she purchased for 5,000L. After finding a home for it on Short Beach, in an amusement park, she and sim owner, Ellen Spark, realized there was going to be a problem. For one, the build was an unmodifiable skybox and there was no way to get inside. She loved the interior that this one had, which was very realistic. It has a huge movie screen with curtains that open and close. The lights even turn on and off.

"But, how do people get inside, I couldn't cut a hole in the side or remove a wall," she said. "Well, I went searching for a ticket booth. I guess I thought, put a ticket booth in front of a big black box and people could get inside."

She saved the landmark which sold ticket booths. She teleported there and learned it was an art gallery that belonged to Mike Hamlin. Gabi said he was inside his empty gallery, heartbroken.

"It was just an empty shell of a shop," she explained. “The owner of the sim had lost it and Mike had lost many of his custom builds. I had told him my story, how I had bought the theatre and truthfully, had no clue how to have people come inside."

Mike looked at Gabi's theatre and stated that he could create an entranceway for her as a gift. Building would deaden the frustration of his own loss. Creating a facade for her was wonderful, adding a dance floor on the roof with a clock that kept (Second Life) time, was more then she could dream of.

When in the theater, you should find a seat so that you don't disturb those already watching one of the movies. Click on the DVR and select a movie from the pop up. Your quicktime will activate and the movie will begin like it would in a rl theater. If your viewer doesn't cooperate, relog with another viewer. Best behavior and no typing are expected.

Asked how she determines which movies to present, considering that her audience is all age levels and global, she replied, "I go with the movie choices that I enjoy watching. I assume there are more comedies and action movies than horror flicks, because I enjoy watching those more. I try not to get movies with nudity or foul language, because those movies just don't interest me."

Her favorite comedian is Adam Sandler, so you'll be sure to see a number of his movies available. Seasonal movies are provided and even a few personal requests are honored.

Use the custom made teleports to enter the theater, leave it, tp to the roof or visit the fishing area.

"Another friend added a different screen so that my one and only movie at that time could play," she said. "Everything was so difficult. The original teleports to go from the inside to the roof were difficult for me to set up. I didn't know how to build or do anything and I had to have so many people help me create my dream of this wonderful theater. I couldn't have done it without all the people that I met along the way."

Gabi watched every step of the building process and was amazed with Mike's skill. She named the theater Sweet Dreams Movies and Mike created the logo for her. She stated that Mike is not only a builder, but a terraformer and content creator, as well. His vision gave her dream life.

A friend introduced Gabi to the sim owner of Short Beach. This seemed the perfect solution to where to rez her building.

According to Gabi, Short Beach, Long Beach, Sunset Beach and Bikini Beach were four connected sims. They were inspired by Long Island, New York. With a carnival theme, visitors enjoy free rides and play $10L games. They pay tier so others have a safe, fun area to enjoy.

"I wanted to give and if people want to tip me, that is wonderful," she said. "But, I don't make enough tips to pay one week's tier. It's not a money maker. It doesn't pay for itself. It would be nice if it did, however I wanted to give to the community and it brings me great happiness to see other people enjoy what I have to offer."

You'll find Sweet Dreams Movies on one-quarter of Short Beach, which provides additional room for other recreational attractions near her theater. So look for her spook house around Halloween, her ice skating rink in the winter and her meeroo petting island now. She even treated SL couples to a Tunnel of Love during Valentine's Day and had a raceway in the summer.

As for feedback from her return visitors, she's told that she has the best theater in Second Life because of the number of movies in her collection.

"People enjoy coming with a loved one or just to spend time alone," she told me. "There are a lot of regulars who come and a lot of new people who visit the amusement park. They see the theatre and come back later to watch a movie together. I've never had to ban anyone. Everyone who comes is pleasant toward one another and is courteous to others watching a movie."

Look for freebies around the holidays in the theater and fireworks on the roof on New Years Eve. Sweet Dreams Movies has participated in a few Grid-wide hunts. It's also a vendor for breedable turtles.

Check out Gabi's Sweet Dreams Theater; enjoy three free popcorn and a quiet date with your favorite avatar.

Netera Landar

Casablanca Hotel

Recently I visited The Casablanca Suites & Hotel Beach Resort, located at Casablanca Hotel (207, 51, 32). The Hotel was built by Patch Thibaud, and Frolic Mills is CEO. In addition to the Hotel, the Resort includes a residential community, convention center, country club, chapel, shopping, theatres, and more.

The Hotel Manager, BlackBarbie Bravin, has been the manager for 6 months, and she has one of the most glamorous work sites in SL. She gave me a VIP tour of the hotel, including a luxury suite and penthouse. We met in the lobby, which is a bold mix of red, leopard, and black. A subtropical floral centerpiece, created by Lilith Heart of Heart Nursery, accentuates the exotic luxury of the Casablanca Hotel. The red and black couches are perfect for meeting friends before an evening out.

Two small shops are located on the left side of the lobby. Casablanca Boulevard has unique sandals, and KPD (Kathrin Pearl Designs) has upscale ladies fashions. My favorite KPD is the Autumn Winds ensemble. It’s an entire outfit in a box: mini skirt, sweater, belt, bangles, brown leather boots, and a sculpted fur jacket (fake fur, I hope). In addition to the lobby stores, Bravin told me there are over 80 shops located here.

Rich, gold paneling carries the exotic theme from the lobby into an area that serves as a meeting room or a space for small parties. Deep red carpet gives this room a quiet, plush feel. Five small couches, each with a table big enough to hold a pair of wine glasses and a cheese tray, are located along one curved wall. A hallway gleaming with polished black marble leads to the formal ballroom. Bravin said the ballrooms are available for guests at no additional charge, and non-guests can rent the space for special events. They have had weddings and dinners in the formal ballroom. Glass doors open out to the lake side of the Hotel. There are water fountains, a nearby mall, and even a white sandy beach where you can catch some rays.

On the opposite side of the Hotel hallway is a spectacular infinity pool. You can sit at one of the umbrella tables, sip a tropical drink, and gaze at a stunning view of the ocean. For a more romantic evening, there are four private dining tents on the far side of the pool.

The most fantastic part of the Hotel—the suites and penthouses—are not public. There are eight regular suites and two penthouse suites. Bravin explained that for privacy and security reasons the rooms are accessed by landmark only. The rooms are available, however, for residential or limited rental. Approximately 4 to 6 SL residents live here full time. Contact her for rates and details.

First Bravin showed me the suite, and I was amazed at how spacious and beautiful it was. The living room had a fireplace and lots of room to entertain. Beautiful art and floral arrangements are found in every room, too. Bravin explained that Frolic Mills, along with Editorial Clarity, did the interior decorating. There was also a large bedroom with an adjacent bath.

On our way to the penthouse, Bravin told me that the Casablanca Hotel is home to a SL celebrity. Miss Virtual World 2011, Serene Faith, has a Master suite here. It was part of the prize package she won in the pageant.

The Penthouse was also lavishly decorated. The first floor was spacious, and it also had a fireplace and romantic balconies. A small staircase led to a hot tub that was tucked discretely in one corner. Another staircase led to a second floor and additional rooms. Bravin explained that any of the furnishings could be changed or removed at the guest’s request. “The goal,” Ms. Bravin said, “is to make you never want to leave.”

The Casablanca Hotel reached its goal with me. I would have loved to stay longer. When I mentioned to Bravin that the Hotel would make a lovely Valentine get-away, she smiled and said they already have a Valentine’s Hunt planned. The dates for the Hunt are February 14 – 28. I’ve already marked my calendar.

Grey Lupindo