Starboards Yacht Club in Second Life

As you can see on the right hand side of this blog, I now have a page on Facebook for Starboards Yacht Club.  Join Facebook and become a FAN of SYC.  How things have changed!

Starboards Yacht Club (SYC) was founded by MarkTwain White on August 18th of 2005.  It was the first “yacht” club in Second Life, and the first dedicated venue for sailing.  MarkTwain had owned the Theater District Sim with a couple of others. The original intention of the Sim was to celebrate movies and the theater. Well, things changed and Mark bought his partners out. I invested my life savings in the Sim with MarkTwain and Starboards Yacht Club and Hollywood Sim came into existence. Below is the announcement that appeared in the SL Forums.

Announcing STARBOARDS YACHT CLUB
________________________________________
SLSF Skippers and friends are invited to check out the new Starboards Yacht Club in the THEATER DISTRICT sim (soon to be renamed the Hollywood sim). Starboards Y.C. and the adjoining pub and marina will be a gathering place for SLSF skippers and all in SL who love sailing.

11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

Poppy Field
Originally uploaded by Nber Medici

Eleven AM on November 11th 1918 marked the official beginning of the Armistice that ended conflict in WW I. Roughly 20 million people died world wide in this conflict. This is one of those events that is commemorated in a number of countries with various names. In the US, it has been named Veteran's Day.
 

I have planted a field of poppies at Union Passage Sim in Second Life to mark the day.  Why are poppies appropriate to mark this day? Because of this poem by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) who served in the Canadian Army.



In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

"Til Death Do Us Part" !

Here is an interesting piece about what happens after death to our virtual "possessions". A good read on the New York Times. http://bit.ly/1KptMD

Computer Weekly weighs in on content theft lawsuit

ComputerWeekly.com has a good piece HERE on the lawsuit filed against Linden Lab, the owner of Second Life. "Over in Second Life, trade remains robust. The value of transactions between residents in the second quarter of this year was $144 million, a year-on-year increase of 94 per cent. With its users swapping virtual goods and services worth around $600 million per year, Second Life has the largest economy of any virtual world - which exceeds the GDP of 19 countries, including Samoa." At issue is how much the Second Life is liable for alleged IP rights violations by other users. Should be interesting to follow this.

Young Sailor Attempts Round the World Voyage!

Jessica Watson, 16, plans to leave next week on sailing voyage around the world

Watson is attempting to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone and without stopping or receiving assistance!

Pink Poodle Skirt

Pink Poodle Skirt
Originally uploaded by Nber Medici

This is a picture of MarkTwain White at a Relay for Life Fundraiser in 2007 in Second life. MTW said that if folks exceeding 50,000L in donations, then he would dance in his Pink Poodle Skirt. This coming Saturday (October 3rd, 2009), you will have the opportunity to see MTW wear his PPS and dance with Quirky Torok wearing his "mankini".

http://slsailing.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17007#17007

Microsoft Courier

I'm not sure if I would really get one of these, but the interface looks rather cool.

http://bit.ly/F6dF4

HollyWood Real Estate

If you are interested in land in the virtual world of Second Life..check out the ad below for HollyWood Real Estate. All of the parcels mentioned here have direct access to the Blake Sea.

Vacation - June 2009

I haven't been very good at keeping this blog up to date, but I did want to share with you some pictures and a brief video from a recent vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. This is a beautiful area and I would love to go back someday. Links below are to my Flickr page and a video on YouTube. This is my first video from real life that I have posted. I am learning Adobe Premiere Elements. Hope you enjoy!

Flickr pictures are here and a YouTube video here.

Valentine's Day Gift

Because of some RL commitments, I had to miss a GREAT party at Union Passage on Valentine's Day. Chad, Aislin, and Mark carried on and made sure that the 40+ people who came had a great time. Thanks!

When I finally was able to log in to Second Life, MTW and I went to OUR hill in Hollywood. Mark gave me the most wonderful gift: he had commissioned a song especially for me. Listen to it here. Thank you so very much.

Black Monday, the USS, and the Blake Sea

On Monday October 27th, MarkTwain White and I were relaxing in Union Passage when an old friend, Chase Speculaas, sent us an IM asking how the new OS Policy from Linden Labs would impact us. We had not yet seen the blog post and immediately went to the LL Blog to read. After digesting the news, I felt sick to my stomach. My initial reaction,to be honest, was to just abandon the vast majority of my sims and move the remainder away from the USS-SL. It felt as if Linden Lab had kicked me in the stomach. THEN on November 11th, I was walking in the Garden in Holly Kai Estates admiring the art exhibit, when out of the blue I got a "ping" from Jack Linden. After some short pleasantries he indicated that he had been thinking a lot about all things sailing related, and thought that would be good to get MarkTwain and me together for a chat. He had some ideas to bounce off of us. A LOT has happened since then. Today (Feb 17th, 2009) I am standing on the bluff in Union Passage Sim overlooking the BLAKE SEA. Water as far as I can see!

It has been a long and sometimes unpleasant process. Tempers have flared and we have had to work hard to keep the process moving forward. But now we see at least a part of the results of the community effort. The USS-SL (United Sailing Sims) have been relocated around an open expanse of Linden owned water named the Blake Sea.