Basilique to Close September 30

One well designed sim that's gotten attention for it's beauty, and for being the location of a group of a virtual actors and actresses that did an award-winning performance and machinima, will soon be gone. On her blog, Canary Beck announced Basilique, located in the Isolotto di Garda sim, will be closing on September 30.

I’ve decided that I will no longer keep up the Basilique (Isolotto di Garda) region in Second Life and will close it on September 30th, 2017. I’ve enjoyed maintaining the region and hope that you have enjoyed visiting it as well.

Canary did state in her blog that she was willing to have the sim transferred over to someone willing to pay the costs by Sept 23, but there was no mention of any such purchase after the date.

Wesley Regenbogen wrote about the place in November 2014. The sim, made in the image of a waterside Italian town, was created in January 2013 by Canary and Harvey Crabsticks. It's Basilique Performing Arts group staged plays there, the most noted was it's interpretation of "Paradise Lost" which won an award in the Avi Choice Awards.

The sim was the source of some controversy in which on the day of it's Linden inworld meetup in May 21 2015, I and a number of other nonhuman avatars were told our appearances were against the rules and only normal human looks were permitted, one telling me a friend had been ejected. Going there later, the locals I ran into neither had a problem with my appearance and seemed to be saying the rule wasn't really enforced. Looking around today, the rule had been relaxed to "Unless otherwise noted, we request that visitors to Basilique dress as humans in a minimum of casual dress."

In any event the closing of such a well-designed sim is a sad moment for the Grid. Those wanting to visit the place before it goes, head to http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isolotto%20di%20Garda/84/30/24 .

Hat Tip: Daniel Voyager 

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Grand Opening of the September 2015 Windlight Art Gallery Exhibition

DATE:  September 9, 2015

LOCATION: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Froien/172/111/23

The September 2015 Exhibition at The Windlight Art Gallery will open on September 8, 2015. A formal opening reception will take place on September 12, 2015 at 2pm slt and feature live performer Caasi Ansar.

The September 2015 exhibition features the September Windlight Art Fellows: Sparkie Cyberstar, Canary Beck, Trav Solar, Saoiriseheart Resident, Serenitee Bliss, Theadreem Resident, Eeraftr Resident, Lala Lightfoot, Wintergeist Resident, Kayly Iali, Theda Tammas, and Bamboo Barnes

About the Windlight Artist Fellowship Program:
The Artist Fellowship program will provide free gallery space to both new and established artists for a period of 30 days. This program is open to both new and established artists in Second Life. The goal of the program is to provide promotional and artistic resources to artists in Second Life.

About Windlight Magazine:
Windlight Magazine is a publication about the art and photography world of Second Life. The goal of Windlight Magazine is to support artists, photographers, galleries, and related events. John nee Johannes1977 Resident is the Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief of Windlight Magazine and Gallery. The magazine is published on a monthly basis.

For More Information:
www.windlightmagazine.com
http://windlightmagazine.com/fellowship-program/
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https://plus.google.com/+Windlightmagazine/posts
http://windlightmagazine.tumblr.com/
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More on "Sansar" as the Code Name For Linden Lab's Next Generation Grid

It was a few days ago on May 5 that Linden Lab announced the code name of their next generation virtual world still in development: Project Sansar. There's been some conversation here and there about it, such as the SL Universe forums, and New World Notes. Hamlet Au didn't like the name, "Sansar seems like such a silly name. I'm personally inclined to keep calling it Second Life 2 for now." It did remind him of two things. One was the name of the largest mainland continent in Second Life: Sansara. The other was Philip Rosedale's original idea for Second Life's name, "Sensarra."

Strawberry Singh posted in Twitter that "Sansar" was an actual word, meaning "world" in Sanskrit. It was also brought up the name could easily be twisted around in mocking ways, such as "Sexar." Adeon Writer explained a couple other meanings, "Sanasr is Turkish for Ferret. It's also some term for reincarnation. So reincarnated ferrets. And since the most important question to ask in a virtual world is 'Can you be a ferret?' I think the name is perfect."

Canary Beck in contrast to Hamlet Au thought the name was a good one, giving "Ten Reasons Why Sansar Would Be A Good Name For The Successor to Second Life." As listed, "It's unique, the dot-com TLD looks easy to acquire, it's easy to type and pronounce, it's easy to remember, it's short, it feels right, it's protectable, it carries no baggage, it's a place, not a life, it's exotic and visually extendable."

With all these in mind, I keep going back to the Turkish meaning of the word, ferret, and have this mental image of the new world being populated by masses of ferret Tinies, all doing the "Riverdance."

Bixyl Shuftan

A Visit to Linden Endowment for the Arts 17

DrFran Babcock is back with a review of an interesting exhibition. At the LEA 17 sim. Sniper Siemens has built there a series of displays of the history of Second Life. Sniper had tried this once before last year at another LEA sim, though didn't have enough time. So what did DrFran think of his current effort?

Read more in Design.

Basilique Town and Performing Arts Company

Some longtime residents may remember the Shakespeare Theater, where plays were done within Second Life. Sadly it was closed a few years ago, but that did not mean the end of theater in the virtual world. Canary Beck, with help from Henry Crabsitcks recreated an Italian small town in Second Life last year, Basilique Town. While it has many attractions, the biggest one is the Basilique Performing Arts Company, which has attracted much attention with grand performances such as "Paradise Lost," which was featured on an episode of the Drax Files.

Read more in Places.