Wintertime fun

(No jacket required)

Second Life offers the opportunity to participate in all sorts of winter activities such as ice skating, snow skiing, and snowboarding. That's great for someone like me from a climate where the temperature rarely gets below 5C. So I get a chance to play in the snow, and I don't have to bother with a coat, hat, and gloves!

I found ice skating rinks in several winter locations. My favorite is Winter Wonderland, Canterbury. Skates are available right next to the ice -- lace them up and you're ready to go! Animations include single and couples skating, both with standard and stunt variations. The standard animations are good for starters, but the stunt animations make you look like an Olympic-class figure skater, with spins and other fancy moves.

If snowboarding is more your style, check out Salzburg – Snowboard Race, Salzburg. Grab a free snowboard and boots, strap in, and it's all downhill from there!

You can snow ski at different winter resorts and other locations. My favorite is the Epic Extreme Skiing at The Weather Channel HQ – Weather Island. See Rian Writer's article about Weather Island, including the extreme skiing, in this blog.



After a day of skating, skiing, or snowboarding, warm up by the fire in the lodge of your favorite resort. At the A Wolf Mountain Ski Resort, Peachtree Resort, you can also find a spa and hot tub to help soothe your aching muscles.

Landmarks:

• Winter Wonderland, Canterbury
• Snowboard Race, Salzburg
• Epic Extreme Skiing, Weather Island
• Wolf Mountain Ski Resort, Peachtree Resort

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Live concerts in Second Life by MrM

A couple of Sundays ago I attended a live concert performed by a concert pianist. This is nothing new – we have all attended live performances by artists of all kinds, and even listened to live events on the radio. But there was something magical about sitting in this outdoor amphitheatre in Mystic Village in SL New England and watching and listening as the performer played the grand piano and interacted with the audience. What made it magical was knowing that the performer was thousands of miles away in his real life studio, playing Chopin on his real life piano.

There are live musical events happening all the time in Second Life – from DJs spinning records in dance clubs to classical pianists in jazz clubs, and even rock bands in big outdoor theatres. You can use Search to find all kinds of events.

Tip: On the Event tab » select the Category "Live Music" » then click the Search button.

See you at the concert!


Check this out... After the concert, I climbed over the ropes and up onto the stage and sat down at the piano. That's me in the picture tickling the ivories. What do you think about that?
(Please don't make any funny comments about how you don't see anybody in the audience!)

MrM

Landmark: SL New England, Mystic Village

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International Spaceflight Museum

From our special reporter MrM: Fans of spaceflight and space exploration will enjoy the International Spaceflight Museum. Located on Spaceport Alpha, the ISM has interactive displays that represent the contributions to space exploration from countries across the world.

When you arrive at the Landing Point you see flags from all of the countries represented by exhibits at the ISM.

The Rocket Ring has life-sized models of rockets from various countries. You can see rockets from the early days of space exploration up to today's heavy satellite lifters. Signs located around the ring give notecards with information about the rockets.

A clockwork model of our solar system is on a viewing platform above the Rocket Ring. You can command the planets to move into position for any specific date (within some limits). Try your birthday to see how the planets were aligned!

The Canadian Robot Arm ("Canadarm") display is an interactive exhibit in which you can control a model of the robot arm that is used on the US Space Shuttle. The Canadarm is used during missions to assemble spacecraft on orbit.

Take a ride into outer space aboard the Gemini 4/Titan II! Board the Gemini capsule and on your command the powerful Titan II rocket will launch you to low Earth orbit. When you arrive, be sure to use the teleporters to tour the solar system, including the Asteroid belt, and perhaps even the surface of Mars.

A full scale model of the Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever built for the Apollo missions, is complete with its http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giflaunch tower. The top of the launch tower, where the Apollo capsule sits above the Saturn rocket, is 144 meters high and provides a wonderful view of the ISM.

There are many more displays and interactive exhibits at the International Space Museum – too many to describe here – so give yourself plenty of time to explore when you visit.

Landmark: Spaceport Alpha 48, 78, 24 (PG)

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