A Look At The Peale

By Gemma Cleanslate

I had a very eclectic weekend . Saturday I spent the morning over at the new installation of an exhibit  the oldest museum in the United States. The Peale.

It was very busy with numerous people coming to see the building and the exhibit . I was lucky enough to be able to view it all the other day with press  and take my time going through the exhibit . Following the introduction to the museum and some of its extensive history by story teller David London, there was a panel discussion about the melding of real life and second life exhibits.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m8fNDLc7kU0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

To learn about the history of the Peale I recommend you watch the Labgab 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8fNDLc7kU0&feature=youtu.be

About 40 avatars attended the Panel. Nancy Proctor , Director of the museum introduced the panel members, “First, if you can look all the way to my far right, seated there is Dr. Audra Buck-Coleman, a designer, educator, author, and facilitator.  She was the founding graphic design director at the University of Maryland College Park.  Next to Audra is Gentle Heron, also known as Alice Kreuger in the physical world.  She needs little introduction to many of you today, I expect.  She has been absolutely critical in guiding us to become possible in Second Life today. 

"Next to Gentle Heron you'll see George Ciscle, Curator-in-Residence Emeritus at Maryland Institute College of Art, and founder and first director/curator of the Contemporary Museum also known as The Contemporary.  George Ciscle is a volunteer with The ARC in Baltimore, helping artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities get access to resources and support for their practice in collaboration with local arts institutions.

"Seated next to me is Monica Rhodes, Director of Resource Management at the National Park Foundation.  In this role, Rhodes oversees preservation grant making to the National Park Service and efforts to develop a strategy for African American and Latinx engagement.  Prior to her role at NPF, Rhodes was the founding director of the National Trust’s HOPE (Hands - On Preservation Experience) Crew, which was created to expand the preservation movement to a younger, more diverse audience.

"And I'm excited to hear and share a bit more about HOPE with you today on this panel.

"Last but not least, to my far left and to your right is Dr. Jeremy Wells, Associate Professor in the Historic Preservation program in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland, College Park.“

The discussion of the collaboration of Linden Lab, The Museum and members of Virtual Ability was most interesting in exploring accessibility in real life and second life and virtual worlds. Members of the audience commented and asked questions at the end of the panel. I recommend you go visit the exterior, interior and the grounds . Make sure you enter the room on the second floor to the left of the mural to the present exhibit. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Peale%20Museum/128/95/22

Gemma Cleanslate

The International Spaceflight Museum

By Bisyl Shuftan

 In Spaceport Alpha is one of the better-known science-themed places in Second Life: the International Spaceflight Museum. According to the notecard provided, the place was founded sometime in late 2005 and has been ad Spaceport Alpha since "early 2006," with the Spaceport Bravo sim added in 2007. Kat Lemieux is the co-founder and chairman of the group that maintains the location.

Near the entrance are a number of flags, Each is from a nation that launched something into space. The music stream has a number of space-related songs, such as "The Eagle has landed."

The Spaceflight Museum is full of rockets. But not far from the entrance, there are two you can take up: a Gemini rocket and a Space Shuttle.

Gemini is the smaller of the two, and can seat up to two people.

Just click, select "board," and type "+blastoff."

And it's a rocket ride into space!

It isn't long before the sky goes black and you seeing stars. Your destination, the space station. But there's another way to get there.

 You can board the Shuttle Atlantis for a ride to the Space Station as well.

And we have liftoff!

The Shuttle docks directly with the Space Station.

 But you can also board the Shuttle, undock, and return to the surface.

 But reentry can be a little hot. Good thing the shuttle is covered with heat-insulating tiles.

And the Shuttle comes in for a landing, though far away from where you boarded it.

There is a ride back to the launch site.

And you can resume your looking around from where you were.

The Spaceflight Museum is best known for it's ring of rockets.

The V-2 rocket was technically the first rocket to make it into space in 1944. When the Americans used it as a "bumper" or first stage of a combination with their WAC, the US finally got into space as well.

The Soviet space program achieved a number of firsts with it's rockets. Their R-7 Semyorka was the one that got Sputnik, the first satellite into space, in 1957. The Vostok-K would launch Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, in 1961.

China got a later start in it's space program than the US and Soviets/Russians. But their rockets have been getting bigger and better, as well as their goals.

There are others, such as SpaceX and India.

In the middle of the circle of rockets is the theater area, which is often used for live events. When the shuttle was flying, people would gather here for launches and landings.

Underneath the ring are a number of exhibits such as the Apollo Moon lander, Mars landers, and more.

Spaceport Bravo has fewer exhibits than Spaceport Alpha. But some are bigger.

 The Vehicle Assembly Building in the Kennedy Space Center is one of the largest buildings in the world. It takes a building like that to make a rocket like the Saturn V used in the Apollo launches.

There isn't much about the Saturn V that isn't small. From the launch tower ...

To the mobile launcher platform, this thing is simply massive.

Nearby, the capsule that held the three astronauts on Apollo launches.

Spaceport Bravo has one of the two gift shops.

There are globes of the Sun, the Moon, and each of the planets except Uranus, due to it's weird axis of rotation.

As we mentioned earlier, way above the ground and accessible by rocket (and teleporter) is the space station.

But there's more up there to see.

You can also see exhibits of the various planets, such as Saturn and it's massive rings.

 Uranus never seems to get much respect due to the juvenile jokes about it's name, but it's unique due to it's extreme axial tilt that places it sideways.

When the Spaceflight Museum was first built, Pluto was considered the ninth planet. But when Eris, a Kepler Belt object far beyond it's orbit, was discovered to be slightly larger, astronomers decided there had to be a change. So Pluto ended up being "demoted" to the newly created status of dwarf planet, which includes Ceres which had once been considered the largest asteroid.

The Mars exhibits included a look on the surface.

South of Spaceport Alpha is Explorer Island. It is not part of the Spaceflight Museum, but is it's own science education area. It has a number of exhibits. But this is for another story.

On a final note, the Spaceflight Museum is supported by donations, "operated by a US 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit charity, incorporated in Texas as ISMuseum." Besides buying things at the gift shops, you can also donate to help keep it afloat.

After all these years, the place continues to educate, and fascinate, and used as an example to newcomers as what great places are in Second Life.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/48/78/24

Bixyl Shuftan

Cats Museum

By Gemma Cleanslate

I am a lover of cats. I have had many in real life  but never more than two at a time. When I met the owner of the Cats Museum in second life , Selena Alexandre, she  told me she has eight! In second life I have two cats, one in my home in Thorstar, Puffin,  and one on my houseboat, Houseboat Hannah. Hannah likes to go swimming once in a while and I have to look for her under the Houseboat.

This is what drew me to visit the Cats Museum. What a charming place. The garden where the building is has many beautiful plants and statuary. The garden itself is worth a visit, great place to relax . I expected to find some live cats but Selena reminded me that plants can be dangerous to kitties and kitties can be dangerous to flowers.

Inside the door it is everything cat! Anything you want to learn about these independent creatures  you can. The walls are covered with information about different species of cat. One wall is dedicated to famous cats. There are notecards in both Spanish and English to help you . In one room is a list of all the good and toxic plants for cats.

 The  upper floor has a gift shop with  decorative paintings of cats for sale. One can watch a video about cats and their ancestors too up there.  The other room has photographs of real life pets and  is ready for more photographs of real life cats from those who would like to contribute to the museum.

Make sure before you leave you sign the guest book and you can read all the cute submissions so far too if you like....”I LOVE your museum. The thought that went into it and what you chose to display is puurfect ;) Thank you so much for creating it! ‘.....” never knew something like this even existed online, or in real life until a friend of mine told me about it.. “ and so many more.

Selena is looking forward to the one year anniversary of the Museum in August . About the submission of real life cats for the wall she said,    “yes, the museum is dedicated to real cats , so i thought that maybe some people would like to have their  real-life cat represented here, for the ones who love cats that room upstairs is kind of a relaxation one” . So if you want your kitty on the museum wall send her the darling’s picture. Selena is a well known DJ and  fashionista in sl and you can find out more about her at her website blog,   https://selenaalexandre.wixsite.com/selenaalexandre 

Go take a look even if you are not a cat fan it is enticing and a lovely place to visit.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Shishapangma/27/140/72

Found this cutie shivering on the window sill upstairs.

Gemma Cleanslate

The Museums of Archaeology

While greeting at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in education I met Qvintvs Petilivs Secvndvs   (SeverusAlexander Resident). I learned that he is an owner of the Museums of Archaeology in Second Life. I decided to visit the museum since it was completely new to me.

What a wonderful place this is for those who have an interest in history in general and those who love to visit regions with builds that are enticing,builds related to the past or to places we never expect to visit in real-life.

The Hub is the landing place where there is a gift shop featuring lovely ancient items that come from the various museums, a library filled with enough information to possibly acquire a degree. Some is on notecards , some on the web. Pick up a hud there when you land,that will guide you to the venues. There are also teleports at every stop.

I went to the Orbis Romanus first to visit an ancient urban area and view the monuments . At the entrance there is a map showing all the areas in the build. As you pass through the gates you feel the change of the of the time as you enter the ancient city . This would have been a wonderful way to learn about the building and columns of the past instead of looking at a flat book page. Listen to the sounds of the city as you walk. Information balls are on every build along with pictures of reconstruction and the original site of the building. It is an education!

My next stop was at the Ortem Project where you will see a collection of amazing inventions of the Roman times. A hall filled with all the armor and uniforms of the various times of the Roman Empire along with time maps of the progress of the growth of the Empire.Upstairs are examples of the very modern looking inventions for building and movement from that era.Some of this technology is still visible in our world today. Outside, near Caesar’s bridge  is a rezzer to see some of the tools  yourself. I rezzed a crane that really looked familiar, even close to the large cranes we see today,  and then rezzed an Elephant pulling an onager with troops behind.

From there I visited the Vatican Library , an imposing replica of a  beautiful hall of the library in Vatican City. Next I went over to the Mindan Museum. The story of the Minoan civilization of Crete and the Aegean Sea is told on boards around a build of the Palace of Knossos that shows the architecture of the time rediscovered in explorations of Crete in the late 18th century. See how lost history is recreated here .

The Chateau de Chenonceau is a replica of a famous castle on the Loire in France. Cedric Hansome donated his Second Life build to the museum when he retired to real-life. The grounds and the out buildings are charming . The Chateau itself is filled with period furniture and lovely art pieces. Roam the halls, climb the stairs, and open doors to view it all.

My last visit was to the Viking era Royal Residence at Tisso , Denmark. The contrast between this and the chateau are almost a shock when you arrive. A much different style of building and life .Outside the wooden wall there is a little library where you can see the reconstruction of the original site . There is so much detail to discover in this marvelous library that I will leave for you to find yourself. It would take reams of paper to describe everything .

QVINTVS said about the sim, “  I founded it and have some good friends, who are excellent builders. So I have the ideas and the archaeological groundplans and usually I am the person who gives the conferences mostly. And yes, sometimes a friend of us, also archaeologist, she is prof. at an American university, brings her rl students there sometimes.” It is well worth a visit go and experience . 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Buttercup%20Isle/128/113/3001

Gemma Cleanslate