I spent a good afternoon dancing at Kirsty Hawkshaw’s CLUB CONNECTED. There was a lot of energy as the People danced in sync to the music streamed in by the DJ John B. Club Connected is becoming famous for its themed parties, check it out.
Visit Aldar Beedo (13, 47, 68
Submitted by Starcadius Delacroixn

There are many great artists in Second Life, just as there are in real life. Many real life artists cascade their talents into their virtual lives as a natural element of their personalities. Chalker Zenovka is one of them, albeit that he had a hiatus in his creativity until he met his beautiful Second Life partner Skye Fargis. You can just tell, by being in their company, how happy they are together, and since meeting him, Skye has encouraged and inspired Chalker into using his great artistic talent in Second Life. I was drawn to his work because of the uniqueness of it, his art covers nature, trees, fruit, animals, still life, gargoyles and what he calls his alien art (eerie humanlike figures).
He told me that he paints subjects that he feels comfortable with. He creates his pictures by drawing them in pencil, using one continuous line from start to finish in the initial sketch. He then transfers the image to his computer and uses a graphics program to add the colour and finishing touches. This takes on the effect of a maze twisting and turning until the shape of the subject emerges. He told me that he started his work round about 1994 in real life, but he has only been displaying his art in Second Life for the last month. Chalker says that the planning of some of his work can take longer than the actual drawing, he may take several days thinking it through. However, some of his work is spontaneous, just drawn, he says, by letting the spirit of the earth guide him. I asked him if he was inspired by any real life painters and he told me that he liked DaVinci and Monet, the technical aspect of DaVinci and the softness of Monet. The very first picture Chalker displayed in Second Life is called ‘First Contact’ (on the right of the above photograph) and it is a gentle pencil drawing that gives you a feeling of great tenderness in respect of the dominant figure reaching out to the smaller one. At present, Chalker is working on the Signs of the Zodiac, he gave me a preview and I can’t wait to see the whole set of pictures as the completed ones are awesome.
Chalker’s work is displayed in two wonderful galleries, the Griffin Gallery of Fine Art at Kitaro and the S&S Gallery of Fine SL Art at TheDove, Rhodes, Paradis. I hope that Chalker will be holding his own exhibition soon, both in real life and in Second Life as he has a whole new concept with his unique style. I’ll be seeing Chalker again to purchase one of his paintings for my small Second Life gallery so that I can enjoy his great work.
Submitted by Janey Bracken

Today, by chance, I found a wonderful region called Calleta’s Hobo Railroad Infohub. It is a derelict area running live with rats, old furniture and general litter laying around everywhere. It is overlooked by a crumbling tenement building, which looks as if it should be pulled down. In the middle of the area someone has set fire to a pile of slot machines, perhaps whoever set them alight lost everything through gambling. There were a group of hobos sitting on the assortment of chairs and tatty sofas. I didn’t like to intervene, but they shouted out at me to join them for a cup of tea. I sat down and chatted with them and what a nice bunch of people they were. I asked them if they always met there and they said that they did. They made me feel at home, and it’s funny, as in real life, it’s always the people who don’t have much that are willing to share their last bit of food or pot of tea with you. I’ll definitely go back to visit them and catch up with how they are doing.
Submitted by Janey Bracken

Inworld photographer Timber Watkins opened his photostudio today with a big bash with music from Alex76 Seymour. Watkins describes his photography as “pure and natural…what I see is what you get!” He encourages residents to hire him for their profile pictures. Visit his photostudio at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Domino/103/210/22.
Visit Domino (89, 210, 311)
Submitted by Cybergrrl Oh

Last night I held an open house at my new JIRA Lodge in Duck, where you can come and promote your proposals to the feature voting and bug priority system in SL, and also answer the polls on current issues. Old and new residents dropped by to exchange presents and vigorously debated topics from the banking scams to what should be changed in the premium accounts. We listened to treacly Christmas music, and sampled Ordinal Malaprop’s smokin’ holiday humbugs. Veryon Supercharge was on hand campaigning for more than 25 groups.
Submitted by Prokofy Neva

I have come across quite a few married couples in second life. Although some of them are married to their real life partners in second life, a lot of them are second life marriages only, with, or without their real life partner’s knowledge. I find the need for commitment in second life as well as real life fascinating, so I went along to the Moo’nlight Chapel at FairChang Del Sol where I met the owner Marcio Moo (he also performs the ceremonies there). Marcio gave me an insight into the people he peforms the marriage services for. He told me that he had been in the business since June and in that time he had performed over ninety marriages. As the ceremony is based on love and not religion, anyone who wants to commit to a loved one can get married there. He told me that he had performed about half a dozen lesbian services to date, so there is no bar on love, which is how it should be. I asked Marcio why he thought people wanted to get married in second life as well as real life and he said that second life is an emulation of real life and he feels that people need to find a reason to stay in second life, so why not experience marriage in second life as well. He has ‘voice’ activated in his Chapel and he has heard people crying during the wedding services and says that second life involves real emotions with the couples involved. I asked him how much it costs to get married and he said that they have packages ranging from L$5000 to L$8000. His industry is devoted to weddings and you can get everything from wedding dresses to furniture to start your new home. The happy couples are issued with a certificate at the end of the ceremony to record their big day. Marcio is very good at dealing with people and very easy to talk to. He also has to deal with sadness on occasions, if a couple split before the wedding he has to comfort the would be bride or groom when they contact him to cancel the proceedings. I asked him if he thought real life partners got upset when they found out that their husband or wife was committed to someone in sl and he said he thought the problems arose when the real life partner did not know of the second life relationship. He considered that people might marry in second life to escape from a bad marriage in real life as well. Marcio said that second life is only real life with a digital interface. I have to agree with him on this, as being in second life can be a very emotional experience. I would like to thank Marcio very much for such an in-depth interview and may he continue to have success with the wonderful service that he provides for people in love.
Submitted by Janey Bracken

One of the many amazing things aout Second Life is that it allows people to make and run the kind of club that could never exist in the real world. Cirque Mystique is just such a place - it looks like the set designers of The Matrix got together with the conceptual artists for Blade Runner and decided to put their throbbing Euro techno dance club in the belly of a huge galleon from Pirates of the Carribean! Great music, great company, great night! This is HeadBurro Antfarm reporting for CNN from Cirque Mystique in Oceanus.
Visit Oceanus (110, 121, 77)
Submitted by HeadBurro Antfarm

Holidays are very nice on Second Life. Here is just one of the many holiday parties. Club LOVE at Fantasia -Resort
Submitted by Sade Collins

Sunday night’s regular 2pm fight at the Combat Card’s arena in Europa saw Mrs Santa Claus battling it out with an Elf - one can only assume there has been a severe falling out in the North Pole Workshop! Actually the fight was between Combat Cards veterans, Pinkie Delcon and Janey Bracken who were dressed for the season, and after a fierce battle Pinkie Delcon emerged victorious! Come along every Sunday at 2pm and try it for free - more details on the blog at www.combatcards.co.uk HeadBurro Anatfarm. ********
Visit Europa (106, 114, 54)
Submitted by HeadBurro Antfarm

AN forces have made Alpha Marines allies, the result of this treaty means that the AM and AN have ended the long war, this war has been going on for a very long time but we do not know why they ended it now or why they did it in the first place? Darkness caldwell SL i-Report
Visit Dorien (229, 219, 4
Submitted by Darkness Caldwell