Category Archives: Expos, Fairs and Fundraisers

1966

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Shot with Mechanized Life's Filter Cam and Expansion Pack

Rock Per Annum moves forward another year to 1966. 1966 was a year of contrasts. The Vietnam War continued to polarize people, largely along generational lines. Star Trek made its debut, as did the Monkees. The Black Panthers were formed, and the first Toyota Corolla was sold. More importantly for our purposes, this was a year in which the notion of an album really started to be much more than just an assortment of material packaged around a couple of singles. Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, and Revolver made a strong case for the pop album as an art form of its own. The Velvet Musicologist Maht Wuyts will be ending the set tonight by playing Revolver in its entirety. His plan is that most weeks moving forward, he will end the night with an important album from the year in question. The set begins at 7 PM SLT tonight at The Velvet. Be there or be square. (I wonder if that phrase began in 1966?)

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There was a lot of diversity in fashion in 1966. Hemlines were up, down and all around at the beginning of the year but by fall, were pretty firmly above the knee, though you wouuld often see a long coat paired with a mini-dress. The waist was gone forever, lost in a world of aline shifts and babydolls. There was a lot of experimentation with fabric. It was the year of the paper dress and of Paco Rabanne’s plastic and wire dresses. Yes, plastic a full 45 years before Josh McKKinley thought he discovered something new on Project Runway. Most women still wore cloth, however, and it often was a bright, bold print from textile designers like Emilio Pucci and Ken Scott. This dress from Subculture by Shauna Vella is a perfect example of the 1966 look.
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1965

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1965 was a strange year in fashion with the advent of bell-bottoms and granny dresses, one-shouldered sari dresses and metallic catsuits, flowing paisleys and the Mondrian dress. It was also the year of Edie Sedgwick, declared the “It Girl” by Vogue. Sedgwick was a fashion original with a free and rebellious style. She wore tights with nearly everything and added huge chandelier earrings, heavy eyeliner and a casual short moptop cut. She has an ease and freedom to her that made her captivating in photos. How perfect, then, is this Sedgwick dress from Ingenue for Collabor88.
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The Flesh Game: My Road to Reality TV Victory

The Flesh Game - the first murder

I showed up a few minutes late for the first day of shooting of the new reality show, The Flesh Game. Clearly they have not been in the business for long because there were no paparazzi and no step and repeat for photos to introduce us to the soon-to-be adoring public. So my fashionably thirty minutes late was not right on time as it should have been and the studio lobby was empty except for disappointed hopefuls who did not get the lucky 7th and last opening in this game.
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Seek and Ye Shall Find

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Seek and ye shall find;
knock and the door shall be open;
ask and it shall be given
and the love come a trickling down.

That was one of my favorite childhood songs was from a decrepit album of my sisters called The Womenfolk. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of them. No one’s heard of them. Incredibly, though, I found the song by them on YouTube. It was an old album and it appealed to my five year old sensibilities with some nonsense songs sprinkled in with traditional folk songs. I played it over and over until it was worn out. Despite its religious theme, it still appeals to me and when I find myself feeling impatient and frustrated, I will still sing the chorus to remind myself that patience is virtue worth holding onto hard and fast. Certainly a good theme song for hunts.

Since it was from a hunt, I decided to shoot at Hide and Seek. It’s a lovely sim, though I had to turn my music off because every step seems to put me in a different music parcel. It was very weird musically.

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A few years ago, Gidge and I did a couple hunts of 100 stores or so. Funny thing, though, I never unpacked the items and they sat in a folder in my inventory reminding me that hunts are not for me. There’s a couple reasons for this. Once the hunt is over, I don’t want to blog the items since I try to avoid blogging things that readers won’t be able to get for themselves if they wish. I make a few exceptions for some gloves and leggings that I will hold onto forever. People don’t just read today’s post, but half the views each day are from posts from long ago and far away. The second reason is that events are so very well covered in the blogs. There are several blogs that focus heavily on sales and hunts such as The SL Circadian, Seraphim,  and Shopping Cart Disco. But then I saw this jacket!
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I've been blown to the right and the left of the light

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Autumn flower rhyme filtered through my mind
But I wouldn’t begin to explain without help from a song
And the moon and the sun

Sometimes the wind that blows through life
Can stir up the darkness and pain
Oh I’ve been blown to the right and the left of the light
It’s the wind but I still feel to blame
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1963 – The Year that Gave Us Doctor Who

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1963 was a seminal year in American life.  It was the year of the Kennedy Assassination – a moment like 9/11 where everyone alive then can tell you what they were doing at the moment they learned of it. It was also the year that brought us Doctor Who and the release of the first Beatles album.  1963 will be celebrated in all its glory tonight at theRock per Annum event at the Velvet. Exploring the development of rock from 1960 to 2012, each week focuses on the music of just one year. It’s been a fascinating process so far because the music for each year is so much fuller and more varied than one expects.

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It's a Matter of Perspective

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I was getting read to shoot this outfit when Gidge and I went shopping. After a bit of a spree, we headed over to Collabor88. Now I thought I had put together a pretty good outfit, but I had that affirmed with a massive compliment when out of the blue a total stranger asked if she could shoot my look for her blog. Of course I said yes! I still hadn’t settled on earrings yet, but I was close to done.

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I Was All Aglow

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BFour years ago, I went to ND/MD Skins and Shapes where I purchased an Angelina Jolie look-alike skin and shape and a Marilyn Monroe look-alike shape in preparation for Halloween parties. I was a noob and I was thrilled that the store owner was in the store. She chatted with me and tp’ed in her partner Moonlay Laval to say hi as well. Alea gave me lots of advice on how to put together my Tomb Raider look and taught me one of the most valuable skills I ever learned in Second Life – tinting hair to get the color I want. I still do it all the time and often think of her when I am fussing with my hair. She invited me to be her friend and became the very first creator on my friend’s list. If you remember you noob days, you know how over the moon I was.

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There's a New Sim in Town

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There’s a new sim that calls out to the inner child to come and play. I ran over there to shoot some pictures and was entranced by the whimsical creatures and definitely wanted to wear something that was playful and fun. I remembered this outfit from Magoa at Modavia Fashion Week. Magoa’s Fashion Week collection is not for the faint of heart. There’s a dress made of eyeballs! But it is the collection for our inner Gaga and something tells me this sim is as well.

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Intrepid explorer that I am, I fell in the lake where I found floating tomato slices among the fish. I certainly fit in with my bright and cheerful skirt and top and the Ferris wheel headpiece.

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Hey, did I mention there was a sale at Truth District?

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I may have mentioned this already, but there’s a sale at Truth District with fabulous stores selling fabulous clothes for a fabulous 50% off. You have to be a Truth District Update Group member to go to the sim and membership is L250, which the savings on two purchases will offset. I have seen many of the sales items and Gidge and I have shown some of them off. There really are some great finds – among them this fabulous off-the-shoulder dress from DCNY. I love the soft teal and the romantic print and the shoulder and arm prims hang together beautifully in most poses, so long as I don’t frantically wave my hand in class like Alex Dunphy.

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