Political Horror

One of the most fun features of Shocktober, both to see and contribute to, is the annual Haunted Ride of Horrors. It's exactly what you'd expect: an automated 'ghost train'-style ride that takes you through a bunch of horror-themed rooms, each of which has been decorated by a specific individual or team of people. I've been lucky enough to have grabbed rooms each year, often without an idea of what to furnish it with, but that tends to depend on which room I get. For example, the first year I got the last room the ride went through and turned it into a death valley canyon, with a sign indicating that beyond it was a 4000m drop (the ride is placed up high to reduce lag); there wasn't, but I liked the idea of tinies considering bailing out of the car at the last moment to avoid it.

This year I had to settle for one of the smaller, more central rooms. That's fine with me, but meant that I had to think of an idea that was fairly minimal but high impact, so the riders of the carts would be able to get the idea of what I was trying to convey; but of course, it's also got to be something quite horrible! It is a Halloween-themed ride after all! A lot of tinies plump for the traditional-style Halloween decor of blood pouring from the walls, giant spider webs dangling from dusty bookcases and ferocious tentacles shooting up from sewage, so I'm always challenging myself to come up with something radically different from the others.

And it seemed to me that one of the things that has got a lot of people frothing this year has been politics - specifically American politics, but only because UK politicians have been riding the 'feelgood factor' of the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics and therefore have either been able to bury bad news or have been too busy attending street parties to do any real work. Anyway, I digress. I figured a political-themed room would be exactly the thing someone would not want to see and have thrust in their face - just like a giant spider or severed head on a spike.

More maniacal than Jason and Freddy!

And here it is! A quite sparsely decorated room, featuring only (in terms of prims, at least) a copy of me as some sort of lunatic politician (are there any other sort?) at a podium, surrounded by select buzz slogans - my campaign slogan being "I have only my best interests at heart!" Of course these slogans add to the horror, by demanding that we do away with the things that make up the essence of tinydom.

Scandalous!

My research consisted of me asking in Friends of Raglan Shire group chat, "what could you never give up as a tiny? What are the things that make us tiny?" and then set about destroying my respondent's hopes and desires in bold banners.

Consider these DONE! Mwuahahaha!

I'd recommend going to visit the ride at any time during October, if only to marvel at the exterior; it's a quite wonderful build. But I'd love for you to try the ride itself and take in the ghastly greatness that my fellow tinies have created. It's really quite brilliant and is about as close as we ever come to capturing the lightning in a bottle on this sort of small scale that is the brilliance of the Raglan Artisans. I'm always honoured to be amongst their ranks.

Here's your SLURL! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heron%20Shire/91/75/4002

The Dark Bun Rises

So it's Shocktober around the Shires. Yes, rather than limit Halloween-style havoc and ghoulish going's-on to just one night or weekend, Raglan tends to devote the entire 10th month to dressing up and scaring the bejeezus out of each other. Here's my outfit!

"I am Raglan Shire's reckoning!"

Yes, of course, I'm Bane, the villain from the Batman comics and this year's Summer blockbuster smash The Dark Knight Rises - which, despite having taking millions at the box office, no-one around Raglan seems to have seen, as I keep being mistaken for Hannibal Lecter or Jason from Friday the 13th!

Nin's Memorial

Nin's Memorial, originally uploaded by Caleb Kit.

From Nin's profile:

Hey =^.^=

*This iz a great world....
*So many wonderful freinds...
*So many lovely places to explore...
*So much fun ....
*Tiny Life iz da bestest ㋡

*Waves and howlzzzz*

Farvel Nin

Nin's Farewell by Izo Ryba

If anyone was still in any doubt as to the power of the community that Second Life offers - and after this year's SL9B, that must be very few - then take a look at the above picture; it's a snap of just some of the 60 people crammed onto Athen Shire to celebrate the life and contribution to the Raglan Shire family of Nin Maximus, a Danish resident who passed away in real life last week. The tribute was lead by Raglan magistrate Zayn Till and featured the reading of several poems written by friends and neighbours of Nin's. I'm sure I wasn't the only one there who shed tears.

Not pictured though are the dozens of others who couldn't access the sim because it was maxed out. Now, I don't know of any other social network in existence that would elicit such a strong emotional reaction from so many people from across the globe coming together to honour the passing of a friend they may have only ever met online. Second Life is special.

Goodbye Nin. You will be missed by many.

Nin Maximus

Nin Maximus by karmagirl Avro

Absolutely heartbroken to hear of the passing of Nin Maximus, a tiny of the Raglan community. She had suffered with cancer.

Nin was a tiny wolf. She and her partner Korben had been around for a while and wow, she was cool; when we weren't having a themed month, she would often dress in punk clothing accentuated by her tiny nose-ring bling and long black eyelashes; she often had a cool hairstyle or wore cool hats; and, best of all, occasionally wore a cigarette hanging nonchalantly from her tiny lips. She was stylish, seemingly effortlessly so. Among such a vibrant and diverse group of artists as Raglan has, she always stood out. She wasn't on a great deal, but when she was, I'd more often than not bump into her and we'd share some words and a giggle.

And she was a friend. She would always encourage me to do more, to make more, to create more. She complimented me on my machinima, and would tell me what she liked about each. It wasn't just small talk - she cared, or at the very least gave me that impression - and that care was reciprocated. Whenever we lose anyone, we always feel as though we've lost a little part of the care given to us - and every little piece matters. I will miss her for that. And my love goes out to Korben.

To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. Nin, you will not be forgotten.

A tributary blog post is up at the Raglan Shire blog.

Isles Away

After just under a year's reprieve, MarillaAnne and Mitchmeister Slade have finally made the decision to close their Adelebsen Isle sim. I'd already mentioned that the sim came very close to disappearing towards the end of last year due to their increasingly difficult financial situation but found a sponsor to help them out. However, Marilla has had an 'awakening' of sorts and in a very insightful blog post has revealed the reasons behind her latest decision.

I've really enjoyed being a vendor on Adelebsen. It's such a beautiful build and was well supported by the Tiny community she gave shop space too; but I completely understand Marilla's decision after having read her post. I wonder how many other sim managers or owners may have (of have had) a similar change of heart for the same reasons.

RFL

The Raglan Historical Society presents..., originally uploaded by Bear Silvershade.

Here's a fabulous picture of the rather fabulous tiny-centric build put up for the SL Relay For Life event.

I was very honoured to be asked to contribute to the development of this build, but disappointed that my contribution extended to little more than six cubes.

The biggest problem was that when I finally got access to the sims, the build was about 90% completed; when something is that far advanced and you can see how someone else's vision has come together and where's it's going, one isn't really in a position to change it or significantly contribute. I know my six prims were used though and I guess every prim counts in the end!