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

Scenes from the 2011 RFL Track

I took dozens of pictures of the Relay Track this year, too many for the main article. So here are some of the others.

Two tinies at the opening ceremonies.

Meeting up with others of the Passionate Redheads team, Nydia Tungsten (as bunnygirl), Lomgren Smalls, and Treminari Huet.

And after the opening ceremonies, we headed back to our camp.

And here's Rita, the Sunweaver Chieftess, and a major player in the Redheads. Earlier this summer, Rita raised 79,000L in a "Bid me Human" event. Originally having to serve over two months, Daaneth and Sabine let her off the hook, for which she was feeling very charitable and generous.

RABID PURPLE BUNNY IS BACK! - Redheads! RITA IS BACK!!!!!! I have been PARDONED! Daan and Sabine have removed weight upon my shoulders, that was keeping me a HUMAN! HAIRLESS APE! So to those of you who paid to make me human, I am BACK! Remember REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD! (Laughing Out Loud!) We raised a lot of Lindens off my pelt, something like $76,000L. So it was worth it.

Or maybe, our rents are going up.

The deer were so tame, you could walk up to them.

In memory of Dusk Griswold's mother.

There was a balloon to ride over the camp



During the Survivors lap, the teack was quite crowded.

Dusk and Skylark cheer on the survivors and caregivers

An old friend of Second Life Newser, Breezes Babi. Behind her, Fuzzball Ortega can be seen walking down the track in his big hair.

And here's Bree's real-life daughter Glitter Xentalt

Our neighbors across the track.

Getting on the track ourselves, we made a few stops at stations to pick up things.

Sims being closed to more relayers were a fairly common sight with all the lag

And on occasion, I would find myself alone, or almost alone.

One of the Autumn regions in the southeast

Oops, I crashed.

Logging back on, found myself next to the rest stop sponsored in Artistic Fimicloud's memory, in the northwest.

Did someone get through "The Great Firewall of China?"

The snowglobe

One of the "breedables" pet areas having a party


The "Kittycats" exhibit
The Amaretto barn


The "I Can't Believe I'm Wearing This" lap








Going through Bryn Oh's "Mayfly" exhibit


The "Tornado of Life"

Partying it up with DJ Dusk (Dusk took the pic)

More to come

The Magic of Enchantment Island

The name intrigued me, Enchantment Island, and so it is. This is a place to spend some time visiting all the sights. The owner has made it easy for you to move about. Rather than teleports, Bambitwice Nitely has made a notecard with all the landmarks you should not miss and you will find them easily.

The first on the list is the Bubble Ride. Hold on to your hat when you take that ride! It is a thriller, and make sure you do it because it gives you a blast. At the end of the ride you can actually walk to the Museum of Amazing Illusions. What a treasure. It is filled with amazing art, many magical interactive pieces to explore. I lost my head there for a while, literally! The Hall of Mirrors will astound you with its reflective beauty.

From there you will move on to the second, The Museum of Surrealism. Again you will encounter amazing art pieces, reminiscent of Dali, Miro and other surreal artists in real-life and some followers in Second Life. Study the works carefully to discover their inner imagery. Many are donations of SL artists to the museum. I asked Bambitwice about herself. She has been building in Second Life for 4 years and spent many years in the entertainment world in real-life. I can see her knowledge of that entertainment world in the Museums.

From there, for a change of scenery, you can take a tour of the undersea called Incredible Deep-sea Marine Life. Luminous fish are circling in the sea around you. From there you want to go to the Great Marine Adventure and treasure hunt. Try it! I found the treasure. I took off on the boat ride to the Land of the Pharaohs that was almost as harrowing as the Bubble Ride. While here, you will have to work a bit to find more lovely treasures to see and take. Take a dip in the pool (hint ) to cleanse yourself. It took us a while but it was worth it!

Then you can visit Alice's Tea Party and enjoy all the decor and characters. Right now in the Tornado Gallery you will find Cherry Manga's art pieces. Some, or maybe all, were winners of the UWA challenges. While in the sim you may want to do some shopping. There are fascinating shops with interesting items for your avatar use or for your home. I found a collection of one prim plants and trees and a lovely selection of fish for your pool or aquarium . Take a walk around and you and you will find more little nooks and crannies with fun activities.

Start with the bubble ride which you will find here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Enchantment%20Island/146/33/1000

Gemma Cleanslate