It’s another fine, sunny say on the SL23B continent, as if there were any other kind. (Except, perhaps for idiosyncratic weather in a few exhibit parcels). It’s the second day after all the big live events wrapped up. But, there are still almost two hundred resident exhibit regions to explore, some with hunts and freebies of their own, nearly all of them fascinating to explore.
The Swaginator Hunt, Shining Stars Collection Hunt, and Golden Ticket Giveaway are all still ongoing as well. And, of course, the Shop n’ Hop is still in full swing.
Today, I will be continuing my circumnavigation of the general SL23B continent. Today’s plan is to explore the regions on the north-west corner: Stupendous, Beguile, Blissful, and finishing at the odd region out, Awesome.
SLB Stupendous
And just as I was about to look in at my first exhibit in Stupendous, it was time for the morning region restart. Hopefully this will not be the theme for the day.
And we’re back! SLB Stupendous is the northern most exhibit region along the west coast of the SL23B Lands. It’s another sixteen parcel region. All of the regions down the east and west side of the continent are. It’s bordered on the north by the dense jungle that surrounds The Temple of the Funky Monkey. (Care should be exercised in that region. While trying to find a route out of the stage area, I distinctly heard some raptors in that area.)
Erte Inspiration
The first exhibit of the day is by Vanessa Jane. This is another classic “tortured” prim build inspired by the Art Deco movement that was so well represented in Hollywood of the 1920s and 1930s. This is another of several such installations I’ve seen. It’s a curious fashion for this year’s SLB. I’ve also noticed, the classic prim builds are tending to toward gigantic scale.
The Other Real
Be sure to read the personal note from the exhibitors tacked to the ground just by the bridges into the exhibit space. It tells us to explore underwater, at the surface level, and up in the tree. It also recommends shared environment as well as enabling music stream and media.
This installation is meant to convey the intertwined timelines of three long-time Second Life residents. A tall tree with a text-textured bark grows from the pages of a gigantic open book. In side the bowl of the tree, opened on one side, is a library. Having a seat in there is one pleasant way to absorb the surface vibe of this build. (Note, there are gifts available on the table. Another is to have a seat on one of the large leaves and slowly drift around the lake.
By the entrance, there are leaves shaped into swallows. Sit on one to fly up to the treehouse. There’s another copy of the gift table up here along with an owl that will give you a fable authored by Janine Portal. You can take the staircase of books back down to “ground” level.
Lastly, dive underwater to find a circular dance floor featuring a large crystal ball at its center. You can rez a couples dance by clicking on the heart floating over it, and join the dancing skeletons for a few rounds.
Grid Games
Back across the street, and back at surface level, the Grid Games display shows some of the world of Second Life sports. The Grid Games will apparently be starting up in mid-August. Numerous panels in the main display, past yet another red carpet complete with a flock of busy photographers, illustrate the various sports featured at the games and provide timing of events.
If this event captures your interest, there are a couple of panels at the counter where you can register for the games.
Jazz Club & Speakeasy
In one of the small parcels, the exhibitor has created an little watering spot inspired by the jazz clubs and speakeasies of the 20s and 30s as well as garden parties of the 20s through 40s. I must say, speakeasies seem to have come a long way from dark basements with narrow entrances!
Fearless Lovers Retreat & Bonded Adventures
This exhibit has been created by a couple of inworld groups. Touch the circular panel to enter the Alice in Wonderland themed display inside. Here you can find information about the groups. There are joiners available. Oh, and there is a pair of BBB passport stamp stations here if you happen to be collecting those.
A Retrospective – 20 Years in the Life!
In a little theater near the center of the region, Sephen Venkman is showing a retrospective of his time in Second Life. Inside the theater, you can view a slide show and get a notecard about the exhibitor.
The Dreams Factory – Creating Illusions
This next parcel has been carved up into five separate sub-parcels. The reason may be as simple as each section of this display requires its own sound track, so each has its own stream setting.
A sign at the entrance gives some general instructions. Mostly it boils down to use shared environment and take your time. There are a number of different sets from western to outer space, and including the pottery scene from “Ghost”. I don’t think I can handle the mess!
I paused for a selfie sitting next to the femme fatale on the set of a hard-boiled noir detective’s office. Unfortunately, our streetwise sleuth is forever a silhouette at the door, so we can’t taunt him with half truths and outright lies about our piteous plights 😝
The Golden Age of Hollywood Horror
Just next door, walk through the swirling purple mist, while half the audience is showing “Girl! Don’t go in there!” On the other side, you’ll find yourself in what might be a 1930s Universal horror movie set. Off to the right is a werewolf who seems somewhat tormented about something. I expect him to be screaming “Stelllllaaaaa!”
Click on the heavy castle doors and you can walk into an exhibit featuring the all time classic horror movie monsters. Karloff’s mummy and Frankenstein monster are here along with Claude Rains’ invisible man, with bandages. He’d be kind of a letdown with out them as displays go. And of course, front and center is Lugosi’s Dracula!
Around the walls are many posters of other horror features from back in the day. It’s a fun reminder of where the horror film’s roots are.
The Hunt for The Maltese Owl
Everybody’s been thinking ‘falcon’ for decades! No wonder this thing has been so hard to find!
The Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS) have created a little Mediterranean village where you can learn more about CDS, its members, and some of the things they do. Also, you can hunt for the Maltese Owl. I haven’t time to go looking myself just yet, but I’ll note this as another exhibit hunt I would like to get back to.
There’s a BBB passport stamp station in the information center.
Funky Diva’s HQ
Here’s a bright, blinky home for a number of the Funky Diva’s bouncy machinima videos. There area number of video stations around the exhibit along with other social media links. The videos appear to be made with tongue firmly in cheek.
Behind the Curtain
At our next stop, step behind (or more exactly, through) the curtain and into a display about the glamour of Hollywood. There’s a free fatpack of lipsticks to be had by the mirror at the far end of the building.
Fantasy Island Stage
Across to one of the smaller parcels we find a little building from Fantasy Island Stage. Inside are several display panels showing some of the group’s past events and activities.
Expendable Space: The Ocean Floor
The International Spaceflight Museum (ISM) is usually looking up. But, this year they’ve turned their focus in the opposite direction. This exhibit is about the world beneath the waves, and to some extent, the effects that space flight is having on it.
Watching out for falling spacecraft debris, make your way into the tunnel and down below the ocean surface. (There’s an information notecard giver by the tunnel entrance.) Below, in addition to sea life and an underwater lab, you’ll find an astonishing collection of former high-tech spacecraft components that, having been expended after use, are cluttering up the ocean floor. It’s possible we’re making an argument for more reusable rockets and associated orbital assemblies.
Side note, my cigarette stayed lit even though I was underwater for quite a while. What the heck is in these things?!
Singing Bird Gallery
The last small parcel in Stupendous is The Singing Bird Gallery by Yuviene. Huh, an ashtray by the door. This really is The Golden Age! Inside is a small collection of landscape panels, mostly in bright hues and varying levels of abstraction. There’s also a little seating area where you can rest and look longer at a couple of the better ones.
Zombiestock
At Zombiestock, the movie zombies have broken the forth wall and take over not just the rural fields, but the red carpet and the drive-in as well. The local authorities and Zombie Outbreak Defense Team are on the scene and I’m sure have the situation well in had. (Mmm, that’s an awful lot of zombies though.)
Kindness In Every Step
Now here’s an example of the contrasts that help make Second Life what it is. Right next door to the fearsome zombie outbreak, we have Kindness In Every Step. Click the box for a resting Buddha gift and then walk the path through the exhibit. As you pass the hands supporting globes, you will be given messages about the dimensions of kindness in chat. Start to the left and walk the route clockwise if you want to receive the messages in order.
Be sure to have shared environment set before taking your walk.
SLB Beguile
SLB Beguile is the westernmost exhibit region along the SL23B continent’s north short. It’s just to the east of the jungles of The Funky Monkey stage regions. Like all of the others along the north and south coasts, this is a twelve parcel exhibit region with eight 4096 m2 parcels and four 1024 m2 parcels.
ATG Studios Beyond the Canvas
First visit is to one of a couple of ATG exhibits. I think ATG Studios is meant to be entered from the east, but it has a perfectly serviceable back entrance. The studios are build around a beautiful, oriental style garden with a quietly babbling water feature.
Inside the main building, you can find a number of art panels, information about The Tambalyn Museum. There are also some BBB passport stamp stations to be found.
Note that if you are a Hands of Omega TTC user, iykyk, both ATG locations along with the BBB exhibit have rezzers for exteriors. Look under “Social.”
Forbidden Planet!
Right in the south-west corner of the region is a large, unnamed parcel that contains a diorama of the crew of the C-57D about to have a (losing) battle with the Monster from the Id! It should surprise nobody that I’m excited to come across this display. You can climb into the saucer and have a quick tour. There are a couple copies of Robby outside, one monitoring the situation, the other ready to go for a drive. You can even take part in the fight if you have a mind to. Either man one of the ship’s batteries or buy a blaster rifle for L$0. Such a fun exhibit about a true Hollywood classic!
And more good news, there’s no Anne Francis here that I have to compete with. The bad news, I asked Robby for a new dress and he just ignored me 😕
The Young Dreamers in the Golden Age
The first of the small parcels contains a stage and many comfy chairs. Young Dreamers appears to be a children’s dance troupe. Dance recitals in Second Life as entertainment? There’s something for everybody.
Golden Age of Dreams
The Golden Age of Dreams is obviously looking back to the black & white era. The colour scheme, or maybe I should say lack-of-colour scheme of the build makes it quite plain what Hollywood period we’re looking back on. (Though I do see a Dorothy, who spent the bulk of her screen time in vibrant colour. And there’s The Girl from “The Seven Year Itch” fighting her eternal battle with the breeze from the subway. Pretty sure that wasn’t in B&W.) Still, you can tell what they’re going for here.
Look around and remember some of the giants of the Hollywood of nearly a century ago.
Angel Purple Cinema Museum
Inside this theater building, after you go through some kind of dimensional portal (an effect that I must say was very good), is a museum about and a theater showing episodes of the machinima YouTube series “Angel Purple.” I’m afraid I’m completely unfamiliar with it. I’ll look around a bit and see what I can find out. (I’ve already found a free cyber rabbit. How cool is that?)
Utopian Dreams – The World That Never Was
I should have been expecting an exhibit like this. From the beginning, Hollywood has shown us glittering visions of the future almost as often as it has presented cautionary tales of dystopian hellscapes. (“Metropolis deftly wove both themes into a single story. No wonder it’s the Ur science fiction movie.) While we rarely achieve the former we seem to aways be busily working on the latter. Here we find one of the glittering steel and glass towers we’ve always been promised, but never quite realized, except maybe at EPCOT Center.
Note the outfit giver at the entry level. Click it and select the body type you typically wander about in and it will provide you with items appropriate for the experience.
Saturn Studios Retro Drive-in Theater Space Park
Hey! If it’s a space park, why are we driving in?! OK, maybe I’m overthinking this. I do that with old movies too.
Walk inside and pull up a mini flying saucer. The drive-in screen while show “Where Light Remains”, a slightly more than fifty minute feature from Fantasy Faire 2026. The illusion is of a drive (fly) in on some distant asteroid. It’s a really cute build. The choice of film, a Tron like dance sequence with lots of particle effects could not be better.
Don’t forget your drinks and snacks. There are vending machines at the entrance that serve up gender aligned goods.
Between Light and Sound: An Emotional Symphony of Second Life
Click on the sign by the entrance and get a landmark… to the place where you’re currently standing… in a folder named “SL weddings”. I’m already confused.
Walk inside and around the huge drama masks. If you want the best table, climb up some stairs to the one with the cake! Click the screen and you YouTube page will open and begin playing “Constellation Signal” or “You Are Not Alone.”
The Blue Note Cinema-Bar
I have a question. Why are none of the cinemas in my neck of the woods also bars? It would save time, wouldn’t it? (Well actually, one of the cinemas I have on my home parcel does have a bar. Robby mixes a mean Manhattan.)
In this little cinema-bar, you can walk in and click the big plywood screen to start a seven minute video about The Blue Note. The group wrote its own stories and produced straight noir machinima. The exhibitor reopened the theater for SL23B. You can watch some of their films in this theater.
This sounds like really great Second Life stuff! I will be coming back… with a drink!
The Interplanetary Liberation Front
What is The Interplanetary Liberation Front you ask? Head into the huge, sci-fi structure and climb upstairs. (The teleporter seems to be on the fritz, so I sitaported to a control room chair.) Explore the extensive installation. It’s an impressive build. But I’m not sure it will answer your question.
Oh! And now I figure out the teleporter, which is working just fine by the way, on my way out.
SL Newser
One of the longest running inworld news organizations, SL Newser once again has an SLB exhibit. Drop by. Click the sign to be directed to the blog site and read today’s news. Inside are some pictures and cartoons relating to SL Newser.
Brightest Day Productions
I wrap up my walk through SLB Beguile with Brightest Day Productions exhibit. This group provides tribute bands for all needs apparently. I can’t really imagine a need, but that’s just me. If you’re looking for such, these may be your guys.
SLB Blissful
SLB Blissful is near the middle of the north coast of the general SL23B continent. As we get to this group of regions, they begin to break the pattern. This one is an eleven parcel exhibit region. What would have been two 4096 m2 parcels in a twelve parcel region have been merged into a single, 9216 m2 exhibit parcel. The road/red carpet layout remains the same.
A Small Measure of Peace
I run into the special parcel right away. A Small Measure of Peace is a large build filling the double exhibit parcel. Here, Akiko Kinoshi and Mitsuko Kytori have created a Japanese style garden based on one seen in the movie “The Last Samurai.” Mitsuko Kytori, being the chief designer of Hayabusa Design, makers of many elements you would want to include in a Second Life Japanese garden, the team are well equipped to make a very good garden! Don’t miss the temple at the northern end of the garden.
Click the sign at the entrance for information and gifts.
Lunamere
Lunamere is an LGBTQIA+ fantasy community. According to the description in the exhibitors guide:
Welcome to Lunamere, a modern fantasy community where winding streets, cozy homes, lush gardens, and a touch of techno-magic come together to create a place of belonging. LGBTQIA+ and Neurodivergent welcoming, Lunamere celebrates creativity, connection, and inclusivity. For SL23B, we invite you to visit a small recreation of Lumora, Lunamere’s town center, and experience the community spirit, creativity, and sense of home that make Lunamere unique.
Here at their SL23B exhibit, you can wander the plaza between vine enshrouded buildings. As you walk, messages about the build will show up in chat. There’s an information panel at the entrance that will give you some landmarks and an introductory notecard about Lunamere. Another sign notes that they are looking for DJ talent for their events.
The cinema has a poster up for a Harold Lloyd feature, but appears to be closed. Pity. At the east end is a gallery with pictures from around the estate, of events and activities as well as points of interest.
Camp’s Picture Palace
This little exhibit provides a couple more places to pose for the Hollywood camera brigade, including a chance to model the Marylin Monroe scene mentioned above. (I have enough trouble maintaining the remains of my reputation thanks very much 😜
Constellation
This is a cute little display. A hemispherical planetarium sits in the center. May of the stars in its sky glow, but many are not shining. They are a dull gray. You can click one of those and contribute a message to the sky. Your star will then illuminate and join its light. What a nice thought!
The Virtual Museum Team
The Virtual Museum group appears to be a loose assembly of several inworld museums. Represented here are: The Museum of Computing History, The Museum of Telecommunications, The Bay City Moleseum, The Brevin Cat Museum, and The LGBTQ History Museum. All of these organizations have substantial permanent locations. Here you can see each in the form of a mini-museum, traveling sort of display.
In the intersection in the center, there is a BBB passport stamp station and information kiosks for each of the museums represented in the display.
Bellisseria Parade
This exhibit commemorates the grand boat/balloon parades that once took place on Bellisseria anniversaries. They’re no longer a regular occurrence. But, if you feel the need to organize things, perhaps you could step into the role!
Seanchai Library
Celebrating award-wining Hollywood stories is the purpose of this exhibit. Around the display, award-winning stories from 1927 to 1961 are highlighted along with the books from which the scripts were derived. We have Ben Hur, Gigi, Around the World in 80 Days (David Niven!), From Here to Eternity, All About Eve, All the Kings Men, Gentlemen’s Agreement, The Best Years of Our Lives (Myrna Loy!), The Lost Weekend, Mrs. Miniver, How Green Was My Valley (Maureen O’Hara!), Rebecca, Gone With the Wind, It Happened One Night (the Ur romcom), Mutiny on the Bounty, Grand Hotel, Cimarron, and All Quiet on the Western Front. A great collection of amazing films.
Drop by, walk around the exhibit and relive good time watching these greats, or start a list of movies you definitely need to see!
JoinMeJoinUs
JoinMeJoinUs is a group that fosters connection, in which case, great name for it. “JoinMeJoinUs.org is a grassroots global movement focused on connection as the foundation for change. We don’t know how, we just know why.”
The exhibit includes an obstacle course you can complete to win a champion’s trophy. There’s also lots of information available at the entrance.
The Golden Age of Cheer
I confess to a certain fascination for virtual world cheer squads. It seems such an unlikely thing, and yet completely natural when I think about it a bit. In past years, the KitCats cheer squad have set up large display and demonstrations at SLB. This year, the Second Life Intercheer Council is hosting an exhibit that covers many different inworld cheer squads.
And there are more of those than I might have expected. Woodcrest University, St. Mary’s School, PWPS Panthers, SLCS Cheerleaders, The KitCats, Bellisseria Belles, Phantom Sports Cheer Squad, Sharks, Columtreal Cheerios, Saint Elizabeth Honey Bees, and WG (Wild Gators) Cheer are all represented. Considering the amount of work it must take to keep one of these groups going, this is a very impressive list!
There’s a mini-hunt around the exhibit’s stadium. Find seventeen small megaphones and buy each for L$0 to assemble a cheer outfit!
Also, there’s a BBB stamp terminal on the sidelines.
A Tribute to Hollywood and Busby Berkeley
Here, a collection of robots, some humanoid, some very not, spin on a carousel evoking an old Busby Berkeley dance number. Of course, to get the proper Berkeley effect, you should cam up and look at it straight down from above.
Aladdin’s Genie
In constructing this exhibit, the exhibitors have employed a couple of genies to assist with the build. But, the genies seem to be a bit disgruntled. None the less, a notecard you get on entry says you can find here: wish granting lamps, fortune telling, a magic carpet ride, magic carpet races, and somewhere there’s a free magic carpet.
SLB Awesome
SLB Awesome is a peninsula on the north shore of the general SL23B continent. And it’s an odd layout internally as well. One giant 14,848 m2 parcel fills the north-west section. The large parcels are not identical, some being the expected 4096 m2 while a couple others are only 4608 m2. Finally, there are just two small, 1024 m2 parcels in the center.
The road, with no room for it’s regular zig-zag, runs up to the north of the region, then doubles back, forks and exists on the east of the south side.
The Outlands 2003
Our first stop reads “Welcome to 2003” over the gate. The sign at the entrance tells us that “This display consists entirely of prims, and textures created in 2002 and 2003. During this era land was at a premium and nowhere was it more contested than the areas known as the Outlands. The competition for land led to the Jessie Wars of 2003.”
Walk around the display to see blocky bunkers, hippos! a section of the Jessie Wall, and early Second Life world maps. In addition to signs explaining the display items, there are historical notes as well. A fascinating look back at early Second Life history.
Vorlaxion Gallifrey
At Vorlaxion Gallifrey, we have a display about Doctor Who role play in Second Life. Walk into the building, averting your gaze from the Untempered Schism, to find information about the Vorlaxion Gallifrey role play group. Social media links out front by the entrance. (And just why does this place not have a Hands of Omega rezzer? Hmmm?)
The Little Princess Garden
This build is a garden in memory of Shirley Temple. Stroll around the peaceful grounds and read about her life and work. See her smiling visage gaze from a number of images. Watch “The Little Princess” on the video screen off to one side if you have the time. For those who still adore her, and I know you’re out there (I mean, I know some of you personally!) this is worth a visit.
Lollipop Garden
The adjoining small parcel is by the same builder and continues to celebrate Shirley Temple. (There is in fact a tunnel from one garden to the other.) Here, “dreams wander, wonder grows wild, and teacups refuse to follow the rules.” There’s a carousel, teacups reminescent of those at Disney World, and more displays about Shirley.
Look around a little and you can find a gift necklace.
Celluloid, Vinyl and Forever After
This is the eight-hundred pound gorilla of exhibits. It’s the one filling that special sized parcel in the back corner. Here are some nods to the most famous landmarks in Hollywood. There’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater, The Capitol Records tower (here labeled “Capitalism Records”), a collection of Academy Award statues (outsized), and for the grim minded, something like a Forest Lawn. In the dim distance, there’s the famed HOLLYWOOD letters extended to read “HOLLYWOOD HILLS”. (Strange, I believe it originally read “HOLLYWOODLAND”, part of a failed real estate wheeze.)
Hidden Masquerade
For this exhibit, Truth Fairelander was “inspired by Vincent Price’s The Masque of the Red Death (1964). Rather than recreating the film, this exhibit explores its enduring themes of masks, mortality, and the truths we cannot escape.” That was one of Roger Corman’s wasn’t it? He’s coming up in the world! (Actually, to me he’s already in the Hollywood pantheon!)
Walk through the darkened garden and you’ll find information about the film, Vincent Price (yay!), and questions about yourself to ponder.
In a dark summerhouse deep within the garden, with plush Victorian appointments, you can sit and watch the movie “The Masque of the Red Death” on a Simcaster screen.
Above all, follow the sign’s advice: “Walk slowly. Listen to the wind. And discover what remains when every mask is removed.”
The Magic of Oz
From the start of The Yellow Brick Road, follow the path to find many displays with information about the famed 1939 production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Backstories, actor biographical information and other interesting facts abound. Definitely on theme as 1939 is probably the pinnacle of The Golden Age of Hollywood.
Builders Brewery
I wrap up my explorations for tonight at the Builders Brewery exhibit. Here they have their own Grauman’s Chinese Theater along with several areas off to the side that look like they’re set up for classes, which is part of what Builders Brewery do. Walk straight ahead for the information area where you can find social media links, and a calendar link.
Remarks
I continue to be impressed with the quality of this year’s builds, and maybe a little disconcerted at the narrowness of the colour palette employed, particularly on the signage. A sign of things to come?
Tomorrow I’ll continue along the rest of the north coast and start my journey down the east side of the general continent. So many exhibits yet to see! There’s really no hurry though. We still have almost three weeks to visit them.
Thinking Outside the Plywood Box 