tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50276515335310784632024-03-05T02:44:58.517-08:00Sha's SL StoriesBecky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-65998364067999491462018-08-06T22:34:00.004-07:002018-08-15T17:03:15.141-07:00The Magic Path ep2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This castle is the home of the Master Magician, Merle Havgud. He Does not own the castle, but lives there by the invitation of the rocks from which it is built. When Merle first encountered the stones, they were little more than a large pile of moss covered riff-raff that had been left there by a retreating glacier, about one million years ago. Rocks can be very hard headed, but their group was more than happy to hear what Merle had to say about the benefits of organized higher life forms. Merle explained that the three main rules of life are to 1) Have Fun, 2) Learn New Things and 3) Become a Useful Member of groups and communities. The rocks discovered that, by getting themselves into shape and forming a castle, they enjoyed life in greater abundance and showed their gratitude by becoming a home for Master Merle.<br />
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Amity is one of Merle's best students of White Magic and has been gathering students of her own. For their next important lesson, Amity inspires her growing class with a field trip to Master Merle's home. Woody is always looking for ways to be a good guardian to his growing community, so he climbs up on the wall for a look at the surrounding countryside. "Wow", he shouted, "from up here I can see all the way to tomorrow." "Good for you sir" Amity added, "And, as you study White Magic, you will learn to see even farther into the future and even the past".<br />
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Grendel, the Deputy Queen of the forest, has brought along Alice Anne Bunny, to get her included in Amity's classroom. Neville, Amity's clockwork squirrel has come along to see what kind mischief he can get into. The lofty view from the castle balconey is indeed inspiring and the group is ready to absorb all that Merle can teach them.<br />
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As they go inside, Merle waves a hand and creates a large balance scale in the center of the room. He invites Rusty and Misty to sit on the two weighing pans, because it plays an important part in the lessons of Duality. To Merle's dismay, the group is having a bit of a laugh, as they notice that Neville is giving a hand to helping balance the scale.</div>
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Being "light-hearted" is important in White Magic, so Merle lets the laughter continue as he forms a large feathered symbol on the wall. You have probably seen variations of this "Yin-Yang" symbol. It reminds us that, when we are using White Magic, to make forms out of thin air, they will always contain elements that have opposite polarities, like up/down, in/out, plus/minus and male/female. Throughout the ages, the Master Teachers have taught that there is only one Spirit and that these dual elements are only illusions. If you are a student of white magic, you have probably heard this said and even say it yourself, but magicians are very curious and you will also want to ask how One Spirit seems to make itself into two opposite things. Taking it another step, you might ask how the One Spirit creates a universe of countless galaxies, stars and planets from nothing at all. It's really not that hard, when you think about it. In fact, using only your mind, your imagination can create a whole universe of it's own.<br />
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If we follow this line of thinking, we might soon find ourselves wondering Who or What is thinking up this universe that we are in. Most of us lack any memories of having put some thought into building anything as big as a whole universe, so we might take the easy way out and say that it is all taking place in a mind which is very much larger than our own and give it a grand title, like Lord or God.<br />
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This might sound like a good idea, but the Mind of Spirit is infinite and eternal. If there can be a "Higher Mind", there will always be a higher level above It. You will get nowhere and get dizzy in the process, if you ride that merry-go-round.<br />
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The Master Teachers told us there is only One Spirit. If that is true, there is no point in asking which spirit is thinking a universe, because every person and thing is doing it together. While it is true that everybody and everything is taking part in making the universe, we don't all do the same jobs. You have many parts in your body, but each part has a job that it does best. There are no good or bad jobs. The best jobs are those that are the most usefull to the groups you are a part of.</div>
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Merle explains,"When we think, our thoughts swirl around the idea in a ring. These spinning thought rings are the seed of every form in the universe and beyond. They are also the birthplace of opposites"<br />
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"I have a new theory", Rusty shouted out. "The next time I have to think of something complicated, I'm going to try thinking, while riding on the merry-go-round."<br />
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"Brilliant hypothesis young man", Merle complimented, "and adding fun always makes any work a lot more fun."<br />
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Minds create forms and forms create dualities like top/bottom, inside/outside, left/right and a host of other polarities. Just because there are opposites doesn't mean that one is good for us and the other must be avoided. We need contrasts to fully understand the meaning of the things that we come in contact with. If you were given a big book that contains all the answers to any question that can be asked, it would be very hard to learn anything from it, if it was made with white ink on white paper.</div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-12603850560640393542018-06-27T21:43:00.002-07:002018-07-10T20:43:12.045-07:00The Magical Path__episode01<div style="text-align: center;">
When you are a young Troll, such as Rusty and his sister, Misty, the world is full of magical things to learn about. They would often go on strolls through the woods, looking for interesting stones and guessing what magical properties might be found in each. It was on one such expedition that Misty called attention to a pretty yellow stone that Rusty was about to step on. </div>
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"Pay attention, brother. You don't want to squish the magic out of it, before we've even picked it up." Rusty picked up the stone and brushed the dirt off on his pants.</div>
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Attempting to place the newfound stone in their collection pot, it seemed to jump clear and land on the ground.</div>
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"Clumsy me", he mumbled as he bent to pick it up again, this time determined to get a firm grip on their new found treasure. He was not about to let it escape again.</div>
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As he moved his clenched fist to the collection pot, he could feel the stone start to vibrate. Suddenly, his hand was pulled forward, with so much force that he began to run, to keep it from pulling his arm from his shoulder.</div>
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Misty grabbed him by the belt, to help Rusty get back in control, but only managed to get pulled along, so fast that her feet seldom touched the ground. She quickly stopped her screams of protest, when she realized this was the most fun she had known in many moons.</div>
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Their flight soon brought them to the door of a large stone building, with no windows, right in the middle of nowhere. The stone forced Rusty's fist to knock on the door. "I hope you were dropping bread crumbs" he said, because neither of them had ever been to this part of the woods before.</div>
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The door opened and they were welcomed in by a charming blonde Elf. "Welcome Seekers", she chimed, "If you've come to be students of White Magic, my name is Amity and you have found your way to the right place".<br />
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"students?, found? That rock dragged us here", piped in Rusty as he added the after thought, "...but do tell us more about learning White Magic, We are very interested in that subject". With that, he opened his hand to show the stone and it promptly took to the air, flew across the room and landed in the weighing pan, bringing the scale into perfect balance.<br />
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"The stone is called `The Golden Gatherer' and its purpose is to help Seekers of knowledge to find their teacher", Amity informed them.<br />
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"Clever stone", Misty said with a big grin.</div>
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The fireplace, or hearth, is the heart of any home and, with or without flames, is a great place to have conversations that get everybody in focus.<br />
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Amity gently steered her students to the stove, to prepare their minds for the first lesson.<br />
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From seemingly nowhere, Amity pulled out a magic wand and tapped the oven, producing a viewing screen that showed images from her mind.<br />
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"We can use my thought screen", she began, "to help you get a better picture of the things we will be talking about".<br />
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Amity began the first lesson with a question, designed to get Rusty and Misty thinking in the right direction.<br />
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"When you make magic, it makes things, but the power used comes from the realm of no things. The power comes from you, but that's the easy part to figure out. The tricky bit is discovering who, or what you really are. Who do you think will be doing the magic that I will teach you?"<br />
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Ever the know-it-all, Rusty patted himself on the chest and announced, "It's me, me, ME! I am the one that will do the magic".<br />
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"Not so fast, little fellow", Amity cautioned. "Your eyes take you to new vistas to explore and your feet carry you there. Your hands have made things from wood, stone and cloth, but they cannot touch that which has no form and can't even be seen. We are looking for the part of you that is using your body as a vehicle or tool, by the real you that is using this tool to experience things. You could say that the real you is somewhere inside of the physical form".<br />
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"I think I know what you mean". Misty volunteered. "Sometimes I feel like I'm really a tiny version of me, that lives inside my head and has two eyes for windows. My Grandmother always says, the eyes are the windows to the soul. My guess is that the real me is a soul".<br />
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"Now you're headed in the right direction", Amity said with a smile, "...but the soul is also just another tool that the real you is using. It's like a doorway, between the form and formless realms. We are looking for the you that is using the soul as a tool".<br />
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Amity explained that we each have many bodies to use for gaining new experiences, even above the level of soul. Since our real selves are eternal, we also have forms on many different scales, from the size of stars all the way down to smaller than scientists have yet to imagine,<br />
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With that news, Rusty sprouted some translucent wings and began floating a foot above the floor. "I think we have an angel inside of us", he announced dramatically. I've heard the Elders say, that when we pass from the world of forms, our angel comes out and goes to the world of spirits,"<br />
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"You're getting very much closer now", Amity assured him. As his wings vanished and his tail end was reunited with the floor, his sister stood and crossed her hands over her heart. As she looked up, she was bathed in a bright white light. "I've heard the Elders say that 'Ye are gods'. Perhaps we each have a little piece of the earth mother, Mama G, inside of us", Misty announced with great joy.<br />
Amity put an illustration, on the thought screen, showing a big flame which was made from many smaller flames. She then explained that all things are living creatures. They get their life from the thoughts of a creator that is the center of the biggest flame of all. The Great Creator can be called by many different names, but is a being in an eternal realm. Even the best of eyes will fail to see the size of the Great Flame at the end of eternity, because eternity excludes beginnings and endings.<br />
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Just then, the class was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Amity waved her hand and the door opened. A young, enthusiastic, but hesitant Dwarf entered the laboratory and introduced himself.<br />
"Greetings, sisters and brother. My name is Woodard, but friends just call me 'Woody', he proclaimed. "I was out chopping wood, near my home and a red bird landed on my pile of logs. It took me by surprise, when the bird began to talk to me."<br />
Woody went on to explain the things the bird had told him. A spirit had told the bird that Woody was being summoned to join a class on the ways of the Path of White Magic. The spirit asked the bird to guide Woody to Amity's laboratory.<br />
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"Well, welcome to the class!", Amity announced, as she touched his hand. With that touch, she gave his mind the memories of the class, so far, so it now felt, to him, like he had been there from the start.<br />
Amity motioned him to come in and join the class, but to mind where he steps. Somewhere in the room, she had a clockwork squirrel roaming about, getting into things. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted Neville, trying to open a jar of almond butter.<br />
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Woody remembered that, so far, he had been missing from the conversation, so it was probably his turn to share his ideas. He offered a proposal that, since we are all parts of an eternal thought and part of that thought on every level, it doesn't matter 'who' we are as much as 'what' our job is, regardless of what level we are working on. He has heard many different names for an ax, but they all have the same what for. They all chop things up.</div>
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"Good point, Woody", Amity responded. She then offered to give them an example of the kind of work our center of being does. She raised her right hand and two large, colorful gems appeared above it. She then asked Woody if he was told that he could take whichever one he desired most, but that one gem brings good luck and the other disaster. How will he know which to pick? Woody began to wave his hand, slowly over the two gems, to get a feel of their energy. Each of his senses had its own input. One gem might have had a better feel, but the other was a prettier color. Remembering things that the colors stood for, like red for hot and blue for cool was of little help, because sometimes it's cool to be hot and hot to be cool. Words change their meaning with time.<br />
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Amity projected an image of the world behind her and made an announcement.<br />
" There is always a red and a blue side, to everything in the world of duality. The trick is, we must use our minds, to imagine zooming out to see things in the big picture, from ALL Sides at the same time".<br />
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Misty had been very inspired by the conversation and, with a bright smile, raised and waved her right hand."I think I have the answer to 'what' we are in our center. We are That Which Decides."<br />
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Rusty got a bit inspired with that idea and came up with a theory of his own. "If the center is That Which Decides, then perhaps the outer flames would each have a name for the center which has the meaning of 'I am becoming that which I decide to become'", he offered.<br />
Just then, a puff of smoke billowed in their midst and a little old gnome appeared and praised the students for a great job of learning the first lesson.<br />
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Amity introduced the gnome to the class. "This is Merle Havgud and he is the Master Magician that taught me White Magic. I'm sure he will be popping in on us, from time to time, to help with the lessons".<br />
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"Yes indeed" the Master answered. "In the next lesson, I will explain the duality mentioned, because this illusion must be overcome before you can use magic to create forms."<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Be sure to join us for our next class on White Magic</i></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Blue Triad Production</i></span></h3>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-19548080675112926422018-06-17T08:39:00.000-07:002018-06-17T13:42:04.752-07:00Redbird<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Knowing of Sha's love of adventures, her fans often write, to share their adventures with her. Recently, she got a letter from her old friend, Stacy, from Oklahoma. If this letter had come from a distant sim in second life, there would be nothing unusual about it, but as we said, this letter came from the real life Oklahoma, USA. Is the story true or false? We each have to decide that for ourselves, but I think we might all agree that the story is indeed worthy of our consideration.<br />
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Here is Stacy's letter</div>
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Dear Sha,</div>
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Last spring, while sitting around my fire pit in the back yard, (which I consider part of my sacred ground) I was contemplating life when a cardinal landed on a branch I had in the pit.</div>
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After taking flight several times and landing for a short period of time, he finally looked at me and said, </div>
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“Stacy, life isn't so complicated. Just be you. But understand who and what you really are. I'm just a bird, but I also have a mission in the overall scheme of things; however, because I'm not human, I am without karma to keep me in check.</div>
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We, in the animal kingdom, don't hold grudges nor do we hate or dislike, and we don't kill for sport or reward and we don't even badmouth anybody. Because we don't think of these things, we don't have karma to balance. We all have accomplishments that must be obtained every time we go through life's reincarnation cycles, but only you guys, man, have karma and that's the one important cosmic entity that should be kept in mind with each thought.</div>
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Peace is the supreme feeling one should hold dear in thought. If one does not have peace within himself, he cannot ascend the ladder of enlightenment. When one awakens in the morning, he should cocoon himself in peace and tranquility and carry those feelings and thoughts within him throughout the day. Don't beat yourself up trying to figure it all out. Just relax and keep feelings of peace within your mindset all during the day, and then only peace can attach to you. It's really that simple.</div>
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Well, I have to get busy and finish building my nest before the old lady ruffles my feathers! Oh and, hey...don't be burning all my nest wood, please.”</div>
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And just like that, the red bird took flight, leaving me in wonderment of his philosophy. Maybe life is just that simple, I thought. Maybe if we started each day in the mood and mindset of peace, then maybe, just maybe, it might balance things we can't do for ourselves and we're creating our day's expectations by our thoughts, and that's where it really begins; and you know something? It works.</div>
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Several weeks ago, I was preparing a woodpile in my fire pit in the backyard for an evening bonfire that I hoped would last late into the night. I had the proper amount of wood for a nice steady burn that would last until about midnight. I also had several large logs that would smolder through the night and allow me to finish the rest of the unburned wood the following day or evening without having to light a new fire.</div>
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The evening turned out to be a delightful one. The temperature was in the 70's and the sky was a bit overcast with the smell of rain on the horizon and a refreshingly light breeze. I was just starting to ignite the fire when an old friend of mine appeared quite suddenly, almost out of the blue.</div>
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It was that red bird. Remember that male cardinal who visited with me several months ago in the spring and told me not to burn all the good nest- building wood I had available? I was starting to begin another bonfire at that time also. Yes, it was the same little guy and he addressed me again by name, and again with a warm welcome.</div>
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"Hi Stacy. What have you been up to, my man?" the cardinal asked without hesitation. </div>
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He seemed to be as happy and delighted to see me as I was to see him. Not knowing exactly what to say or what to talk to him about, I quickly asked if he and his mate had built their nest and raised little ones.</div>
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“Well, hello there, my friend! How are you? Have you and your lady built your nest yet? Are you raising any little ones?”</div>
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"Oh yes. We had three eggs but one got blown out of the nest early. You know how bad some of these storms can be around here. Anyway, we have two robust young ones who are beginning to eat on their own. I'm happy about that because it gives me and my lady more time to socialize. I had extra time today, so I thought I'd stop by and visit with you, if you don't mind.”</div>
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Can you imagine that? Sure I have time to talk to any bird who addresses me by name and speaks my language! I may be crazy, but I'm not totally nuts. I don't think so, anyway. But maybe you'll have to ask the bird about that one.</div>
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“So, have you given any thought to what we previously spoke about, and what I said to you regarding what life is (and is not) supposed to be about?”</div>
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“As a matter of fact, I have looked at and considered, some serious aspects of your concerns. I agree with you that life should not be looked at as being so serious that it becomes an extreme drama instead of a pleasurable experience. One can live this lifetime, or a hundred lifetimes, and it matters not to anyone except oneself.”</div>
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I was relaying those thoughts and concerns to him when, all of a sudden, the cardinal inhaled deeply then ruffled his chest feathers while folding back his wings. Then, he hopped up and flew from his perch, only to return immediately.</div>
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"I was just looking to see where my lady is and who she's visiting with. We always try to keep a close eye on each other and the little ones, if possible. You know we red birds and bluebirds are really a tightly-knit group."</div>
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“What I mean to say is that I know that we, of the lower animal kingdom, are the ones below the status of man. You are the gifted animal with speech and reasoning and the rest of us cannot speak out in words for ourselves, so we have to adhere to and speak through you and your spoken words or your world of symbols.”</div>
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“Anyway, you or someone else like you, who can speak, read and write is going to have to tell the others to stop poisoning the air, earth, water and leave alone what's left of life's spirit. We, who are in the lower animal kingdom, are already dying off in large numbers. Please try to do something to bring a stop, or at least a slowing down, to this process of eradication. It's affecting us all simultaneously."</div>
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I understood what he was saying and I knew it was the keystone to this change if indeed it could happen. But where does one start, I thought? Granted, I knew a change had to be made, but was it done by calls for action from the top or from calls of action from the bottom. Just where does it start?</div>
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"It starts at the bottom where we are and it's still the right thing to do to apply this philosophy of one person at a time, spreading it by understanding within the proximity of another and, if done properly, this approach still works.”</div>
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“I vow to do my best to fulfill your request.”</div>
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Yesterday, while preparing another bonfire, this one in tribute to the people affected by hurricane Harvey, my cardinal friend once again flew in for a visit. </div>
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"Hi, Stacy. It’s good to be able to see and speak with you again. Of course I see you all the time while you're working in the back yard, but the pleasure is mine in having enough of God's grace to speak with a human. I didn't tell you this before, but I tried speaking with a couple of your neighbors before I finally made contact with you.”</div>
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“The guy who lives down the street over there" [Bird motions with a twitch of his head] I knew exactly who he was talking about. "was drinking and he was just starting to light a small fire when I flew up and landed on a perch and introduced myself and called him by name. I think it scared the crap out of him so bad that he quit drinking and I haven’t seen him out there preparing another fire since then. His eyes got so big I thought they were going to fall out of his head when I spoke his name. I really didn't mean to scare him that bad. The other neighbor was a small woman a couple doors down. She was buzzed a little on some smoke, but she sat there and listened to me for a little while and then shook her head, put the bud down and just said ‘no’. Then she got up and went into the house. You're the only one who ever listened to me and we seem to have a good connection. What do you think?"</div>
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It seemed he was being quite a motor mouth for some reason but I wasn't going to interrupt any bird speaking my language and addressing me by name, and also one I considered a friend. I mean, let's face it. We all have grand illusions of someday having some unthinkable good fortune happening to us at some point in our lives, but hell, this was serious communication with a cardinal, and somehow this outshone even my expectations. However I am content to be awarded with this as my gift.</div>
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“Hey, you know something? I don’t even know your name, if indeed you guys have names”</div>
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"My name is Kroh. In the cardinal world, my name, Kroh, carries a high status of recognition. Obviously even you can see that because I talk and communicate with you, right? Not just any bird, or even any cardinal, can connect with a human and when we do, it's for more divine reasons than to just chit-chat. But I think you’ve figured that one out already."</div>
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My mind was processing his words. He always did speak to me about matters of importance and I knew this conversation was going to be a meaningful one also, but somehow he seemed to be a little anxious in his presentation of thoughts, and I felt he knew of something important that he wanted to relay to me in a timely manner.<br />
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Before I could utter a word, another smaller cardinal flew up and landed on a lower perch, not more that a foot from Kroh.<br />
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"This is my son, Rak. I want you to meet him. I've told him about you. As a matter of fact, all the birds know about you and my conversations with you and they are all envious. But that’s an understandable thing in the lower animal kingdom because we are all in it together and for the betterment of all. This is something we wish you humans would go back to doing and believing in because what you're doing now is killing us all. Stacy, think about it and go about awakening whoever it is that has to be awakened and have them please do something to stop what they are doing, and do it ASAP. What they don't seem to understand is that it's happening to them also, unless there is a shadow being that lives without the convenience of the physical world."</div>
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His conversation caught my attention and neither tornado, hurricane nor earthquake could have driven my attention elsewhere. Kroh had my full attention.</div>
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“We need to hurry off, to see about that bird cry which sounds as if there is some distress. We shall pick up our conversation when we meet again.”</div>
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What did he mean by a “shadow entity” ? It would have to be one of intelligence or, if not, of what use would it be? However the thought of an intellectual non-human entity making decisions on its own without regards to man seemed quite impossible, yet possible at the same time. I knew we'd catch up with this conversation on our next visit, but it was getting dark and I had to light the fire for the night, so I didn't expect them back that day.</div>
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I'll catch everyone up when I see Kroh again. But remember, I saw him twice in just a short time, although it was several months after the first time we met, so it could be soon or not so soon.</div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-62453765465070683022017-12-27T10:22:00.004-08:002017-12-27T10:22:43.305-08:00Inculcating Virtues and Super Powers<b><span style="font-size: large;">Inculcating Virtues and Super Powers</span></b><br />
For nearly half a century, I have been teaching how to become a Saint. I am using the word "Saint" to mean one who has, through years of practical experience, acquired an above "normal" amount of virtue. The best technique for acquiring virtue is to name and practice by emulation or acting as if we have these virtues. A list of these virtues include Patience, Kindliness, Efficiency, Precision, Charity, Devotion, Sicerity, Courage, Forbearance, Tolerance, Discrimination and Humility. The primary reason for practicing virtue is to become virtuous, but there are other "side effects" that come with virtue. A virtuous person will also receive "Gifts of the Spirit", also known as Siddhis or Supernatural powers.<br />
The lower plains follow the higher ones, like iron filings on a magnet. By imagining in our mind's eye, we cause the physical to follow the image. If picturing ourselves as becoming more virtuous helps achieve that end, it follows that imagining gaining supernatural powers will also speed up the process, as long as we are motivated to be good because it is good to be good and not because it gives you more super powers. Alas, I don't recall ever seeing a list of powers that come with sainthood or from becoming part of "Atoms" and "Molecules", so I can't list them, like I did with the virtues. What I can do is to begin compiling a list, in the hope that readers can add to it. Such a list of "super powers" would be based on reports of abilities, said to had by disciples and Masters of various forms of yoga. See if you can add to the list.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Supernatural Powers</span></b><br />
> Abilities to heal and even raise the dead.<br />
> Ability to prolong life for thousands of years, although not immortal.<br />
> Ability to bilocate, be in two places at the same time.<br />
> overcome time and space, traveling to anywhere or when in the universe.<br />
> Can see into the hearts and minds of others.<br />
> Can walk on water.<br />
> Can fly.<br />
> Can control the weather.<br />
> Can change bodily functions that are normally automatic, like heart rate, body temperature, etc.<br />
> Pereives the inner workings, principles, that govern nature.<br />
> Can teach and be understood by all, even if they speak different languages.<br />
> Can communicate with all life forms, from the least to the greatest, even so called inorganic forms.<br />
> High degree of skill and knowledge in many fields of art and science.<br />
> Their words "ring true" and attract groups of Seekers of Truth.<br />
> They live humble lives, but are often deified after their passing.<br />
As I said, this list is just a start, but is still an inspiration to inculcate more virtue into our lives. See if you can think of any other powers.Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-61191104071800261442017-11-30T10:31:00.001-08:002017-11-30T10:32:11.240-08:00Time flies when you're having fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We have all heard the expression, "Time flies when you're having fun". In fact, since virtually all of us has personally observed proof for themselves, we could say it is hard science. If we really know something, we aught to be able to define it well, if not to others, at least to ourselves. If it's science, we aught to be able to create a math formula, showing the speed of time being equal to the number of funs in a given amount of time, like LPH_laughs per hour.</div>
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This is all fine and dandy so far, but it also creates a bit of an enigma. We are drawn into the game of life, because it is fun. If you aren't having fun, you aren't playing by the rules of the game. To play the game, all players start at a single point, called Start/Finish. From there, they spread out to every other point in the universe and then get back to the One Start/Finish Point, as fast as possible, by having lots of laughs on the way. The tricky bit is, the Start/Finish point is not located in any time or place. It's eternal. When we cross the finish line, all mention of time gets removed from our math equation. All that's left is the fun. Would I like a job, having non-stop fun, for ever and ever? Heck no, I'm in the Union. We need breaks for meals, rest, coffee and smoke 'em if you got 'em. Without breaks, we would all end up in padded rooms or coffins. But we are in eternity, so what time do we get these breaks? Are you beginning to see why we keep getting back into the game of life? Does god create universes, just to keep from getting bored?</div>
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Just wondering out loud,</div>
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"Sha"</div>
Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-11220432111456536622017-11-17T13:32:00.002-08:002017-11-18T08:01:48.701-08:00Atomology 101<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This article is the third, in a series on creating a human molecule. We began, in "molecular Mates", with the desire for creating a molecule, which would be made up from twelve male/female pairs, also known as "Atoms". In the second article, we find Richard, a.k.a. "Sha", and Maria, a.k.a. "Chari", being given "Hobson's choice" (the absence of a real alternative) to create an Atom. The lack of freedom of choice seemed to be a roadblock for the partnership to proceed any farther. Seeing this, Sha offers Chari the opportunity to back out and find a partner of her own choice. When she responded that she wanted to remain partners, this meant that both had mutually made the free choice to be partners. Unlike most unions that begin with physical attraction, an atomic partnership was to start from the "top-down", beginning with a union of minds. It seems clear that the developing atom already had some mental connection, because both now shared the same question. They both want to know more about what it takes to make a good Atom. Throughout history, countless writings have tried to explain what it takes to have a good, stable relationship. The study of any field of science is called an "___ology". What is clearly needed here is a "Reader's Digest" of all the things that have been discovered in, what I will call a textbook on "Atomology 101". Beyond telling you that the word "Atomology" is not new and has been around for nearly 4 centuries, I will leave out footnotes, references and bibliography, to keep it down to a useful size. I'm not big on quoting chapter:verse, so let's just say that everything in this article is just from "information" that I have gathered in a lifetime and we leave it to readers to decide which is facts or just theories.<br />
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There are multiple levels, or plains in which we can achieve unity or Oneness; soul, mental, emotional and physical. Usually, there is a door between each level, but there is a way to open the doors. Black Op government research on mind control revealed that the conscious and sub-conscious mind, which are normally closed from each other, become connected as orgasm is reached. the connection doesn't last long, but they found the door can be kept open if the subject is kept in a state of near orgasm for an extended period. I don't know what technique they used to create the extended pre-O, but have experienced that before and it does open doors of awareness. If union is attempted at soul and mental levels, the effect will be felt all the way down to physical levels, but if there was no physical contact made, the physical experience will not be anything as strong as that which would happen during sexual union. At the physical level, it might just feel like a breath of fresh air.<br />
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This next feature of atoms is something I have been talking about for months, but have only discovered the science that explains it, in time to write about it in this article. The link between proton (male) and electron (female) is not effected by differences in time and space. We are taught that space/time is an illusion. The reality is that all of space and time is contained in the one Here and Now. When the proton and electron communicate mentally, they create a diagonal slice through the illusion of time and space and are united in the One Here and Now, which is the True Reality.<br />
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As we continue the experiment with creating Atoms and Molecules, I will continue adding more to this series.<br />
Until then, OM,<br />
"Sha"Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-2720023566615317152017-11-02T20:48:00.002-07:002017-11-02T20:48:38.560-07:00I just met a girl named Maria<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXL7tWBl83OqEbsQ8y0Z2hnwZIuj6UDl_X29TZJFjrwzP7eSzAgR8lwlF9wz8wr1051XkOLJQvqQV6BsLElIlfKgGPnNmxzds0VEjE5VGTwBicwxTyuai-cp-biT-E-IQ_FdHSjET_Osz/s1600/LadyMaria.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1293" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXL7tWBl83OqEbsQ8y0Z2hnwZIuj6UDl_X29TZJFjrwzP7eSzAgR8lwlF9wz8wr1051XkOLJQvqQV6BsLElIlfKgGPnNmxzds0VEjE5VGTwBicwxTyuai-cp-biT-E-IQ_FdHSjET_Osz/s320/LadyMaria.png" width="306" /></a></div>
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It has been ten months, since my last article was penned. It seems that the year 2017 would be for changing from adventures in a virtual world to my gratest real life adventure of a life time. In my previous article, I wrote about finding a molecular mate. I had decided that I had never found the right person, because I had never imagined what that person would be like.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Recently, I was asked to be a member of a group that would begin to experiment with making a human molecule. Such a molecule has not been done since the time of King Arthur (4th century?). As I began having group chats with this new group, the talk was of picking a partner in the group. Oh my goodness, this was not going to be an easy thing to do, for me. My life, this far was a history of failed relationships. Looking back at previous lives, it seemed I had not tasted of such a relationship for almost two and a half centuries, and even that time there was usually an ocean between us. I had no idea of how to pick a partner from this new group, so I asked our leader, who would be a good partner for me. He was quick to give me one name only, Maria Herraiz. Some of the members in the group I had known for twenty years, but I had never heard of this lady, so I went to look at her Facebook page. WOW!!!! I had no idea that such a person was even possible, in this world, but now, as I get to know more about her with each day, it seems like the gods were plotting to bring us together. I think, given the chance, I could write a whole book about how cool Maria is, but words can be dangerous enemies of Truth. This will be like learning to juggle, while walking a tightrope across the Grand Canyon. This must be done with all the skill I can muster, because failure is not an option.</div>
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I am writing this to ask my friends to pray for my success and thank you in advance.</div>
"Sha"<br />
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-12083761576778339172017-01-10T02:52:00.001-08:002017-01-10T02:52:18.222-08:00Molecule Mates I have been on leave from SL Newser, for a couple of months now, because of physical pain in RL. Since I don't use MDs and Meds, I have tried healers in SL and RL. I have had four RL sessions with a Reiki Master, Chelsea. During the last "Past Life Healing" session, she said several things that caught my attention. With one hand on my back and one on front, she said she glimpsed all of my past lives. I replied, that would be a very long list. Her return was a yes and Ben Franklin was one of them. Ha ha, now I can tell people it's more than just a rumor. Later, as she did some house cleaning in my astral body, she tried to remove some big "worry". She asked what I worried about. I didn't think I had any "worries", but mentioned I might have one regarding not having a partner to do the "New Jerusalem Meditation" <a href="http://www.freeread.com/the-new-jerusalem-meditation/">http://www.freeread.com/the-new-jerusalem-meditation/</a><br />
She asked me to define this partner, but I was shocked to discover that I couldn't. It seems I had not yet attempted to imagine that partner. I decided I needed to take notes and write a story about it, just as I did when writing for the newspaper.<br />
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The New Jerusalem Meditation is done by a group of twenty-four individuals, made up of twelve male/female pairs, called "Atoms". Standing in a circle, the twelve atoms create a molecule. The molecule has powers that far exceeds the sum of the powers of it's atoms. It has been explained that, historically, these molecules are very rare and that the twelve apostles and the knights of the round table were two temporarily successful molecules.I did a graphic novel that shows the meditation, called "Petra and the New City" <a href="http://shaadventures.blogspot.com/2014/12/petra-page-1.html">http://shaadventures.blogspot.com/2014/12/petra-page-1.html</a> (follow index links to other chapters) , the project is unfinished, for now, but I learned a lot in the process. I know many people, besides myself, that would like to become a part of a working molecule. Many of us have yet to form good atoms, so let's make a checklist of what to look for.<br />
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⦁<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Male/Female:</b> At first, this seems pretty black and white, but, in the bigger picture, what are we really looking for? All forms are a mixture of yin and yang, male/female energy. Even at the base physical level, DNA produces more than two sexes. At the Astral/Emotional level, we see even more cross over, with sissy boys and butch girls. At the higher Mental level, gender plays very little, as our thinking evolves. In our imagination we can be anything at any time, with complete freedom. As we evolve towards good, because of the Oneness Principle, we all become hermaphrodites. Finding our partner is not about finding one of the opposite sex. We need to find a person whose male/female energy mixture, when combined with ours, creates the correct proportion of yin/yang in our "Atom".<br />
⦁<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Practical/Ideal/Mental:</b> Like the male/female thing, we all have various levels of Practicality, Idealism and Mentality. Studies show that a balance of these is essential to a good relationship. Two idealists will be torn from every direction, more than together. Put a practical person with an idealistic one and they will have a better chance at staying together, by balancing the see-saw. Two practical people will do even better, because they plan on doing things that are for the greatest good of the union. Regardless of how Practicality and idealism are balanced, the level of mentality must be equal. If they are not equally evolved, mentally, the dumb one must become smarter as the smart one becomes dumber. Being equal in the mind puts a couple on the same page, seeing eye to eye. This allows them to overcome any other imbalance of energies. They are even immune to astrological influences that might be bad for other couples.<br />
⦁<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Looks:</b> Perhaps perceptions would be a better word, as it includes our ranking of others, in regard to how well they match our personal mental image of a perfect partner. They don't have to be perfect by any other image than our own. Still, life is supposed to be fun and I confess to thinking that it's more fun to have a partner that I love to look at.<br />
Now that we have a list of things to look for, it's time to find potential partners and compare notes. Just finding new friends is hard enough, but bringing up the topic of "partnerships" can be a major challenge, given that you have both had your share of failed happily ever afters. You meet somebody at a party, enjoy talking, get a phone number, bump into each other a few times. When is a good time to talk about atoms and molecules? Don't ask me. I'm open to advice myself. I'm an artist. I create illustrations, carve trinkets, write and play songs and I write stories. Perhaps, the next time I meet somebody that I like looking at, I'll be sure to tell them that I am a writer and, if they are interested in a sample, I'll give them a link to THIS page. Efficiency is the mother of all virtues. When can we say "I love you"? Any time, if you don't know the true meaning of the word. To know is to love. It's going to take time to really know somebody.<br />
<br />
Still Seeking,<br />
<b><i>Sha</i></b>Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-85208914834978211282016-11-26T17:25:00.004-08:002016-11-26T17:25:39.932-08:00Our Lady's Futurecast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUdApHuqromQ2S03kfJnUuS7hES322YqYMZXL23T2GX59bcR0WMJ09_O4mb30SUCqLrWPgrowvho6zrPgWJo4xnX9brWOREH7bG-ojHi45snaMoh0KCzIVYstCyXv1N4w2vCQ-kVbAz86/s1600/OurLady.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUdApHuqromQ2S03kfJnUuS7hES322YqYMZXL23T2GX59bcR0WMJ09_O4mb30SUCqLrWPgrowvho6zrPgWJo4xnX9brWOREH7bG-ojHi45snaMoh0KCzIVYstCyXv1N4w2vCQ-kVbAz86/s640/OurLady.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> With the
elections and all the turkeys behind us, we begin looking forward to the
holiday season and the end of another year. December is a time for recalling
things from our past and making hopeful predictions of what the future will
bring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> This year had plenty
of ups and downs, but we also had two rewarding, memorable experiences. For a
half century, I have been an amateur esoteric scientist. I took delight in
telling friends things that science didn't know, but would soon discover. My favorite
stories were 1) that the true shape of the universe would be found to be a
giant donut and 2) that scientists would soon begin to prove there is a god (or
supreme designer). Admittedly, these are some fantastic topics, but in SL, with
it's preponderance of sci-fi nerds, they are great "ice-breakers" and
have generated many great chat sessions. This year, I found a number of videos,
on line, that science was now beginning to echo my theories. One group of
scientists had even shown where our galaxy, the Milky Way, was located on the
donut. My joy was short lived, when I remembered that I had never written them
down and so could not prove that I had predicted them in advance. Oh well,
there's still a silver lining. Now that science was accepting my introductory
logic, I can point out some of the logical extensions to the theories.
Hopefully, by getting it on paper this time, I can enlighten the world or, at
the very least, entertain the nerds among our readers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> We aren't trying
to write a book here, so we will just give some short thumbnails of the
theories that we think science will be discovering in the near future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">THE MATRIX<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> There is Energy
and there is Form, a.k.a. Matter. We keep finding increasingly smaller bits of
matter, but there seems to be no end in sight as too how small or big matter
can be. Where is the dividing line between Energy and Matter? If Energy can not
be created or destroyed, it is Eternal. What is causing the eternal to be
confined by the dimensions of time/space? The connection is neither and both
finite and infinite. It is only a mental image. Science will come up with a
math formula that will take a whole blackboard to write, but this same thought
can also be expressed in the form of a simple, short sentence, such as "To
be or not to be..." or "I am becoming that which I will become".
Words and numbers aren't even required, as long as you "get the
picture" in your mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">THE FOURTH DIMENSION<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> If you ask most
people what the fourth dimension is, they will, incorrectly, say Time. If the
first dimension is "here to there", the second dimension is
perpendicular to it or "left and right". The third dimension will be
perpendicular to the first and second or "up and down". Keeping with
this series, the fourth dimension will be perpendicular to all of the first
three or "bigger and smaller", or Scale. This understanding of
dimensions may seem unimportant, but as the world's thinking begins to take it
into account, many new doors will open to science.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">DARK MATTER<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Science observes
the behavior of the matter in the universe and finds it behaves like there is
much more matter than they can see. Science will soon discover that it is like
the matter that we can see, but with an added twist, which they will call
"Nutation" or wobble. If you spin energy, like a top, that spinning
form is what we call matter. If we could "freeze-frame" these units
of matter, we would see that the spinning energy is never evenly distributed
around the center of rotation. The imbalance of energy is like putting a
bowling ball in a washing machine, during the spin cycle. Every unit of matter
has a slight wobble to it. Although the frequency or rate of nutation can have
a wide spectrum of speeds, there are certain speeds that will be harmonically
in tune with other speeds and they will stand apart, like notes in a musical
scale. You could be standing next to a person or object and not be able to see
it, if the matter in your eyeballs is wobbling at a different rate than the
matter that the person or object is made from. Like the spokes on a bicycle
wheel, they are there, but you can’t see them. Operators of web fed printing
presses, like those used for printing newspapers, use strobe lights to see the
printed images as they speed by. Science will soon develop machines to view
other forms of matter. Individual humans can develop the ability to see other
forms of matter, because their bodies are made up of matter of the different
nutational rates. There are various yoga exercises that can help develop an
awareness of other grades of matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">SPEED OF LIGHT<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The speed of light is not a constant. It is
already known that light slows down as it gets near mass. What is yet to be
discovered is that light also changes speed relative to the scale of the matter
being looked at. If you could shrink down in size, to where a single quark is
the size of the whole universe, it would take light the same amount of time to
cross from one side of the quark to the other as it does to cross the entire
universe. Scientist will figure this out, using theory, because they can never
build actual machines that can zoom in to the needed frame of reference.
Thought is the only thing in the universe that can travel faster than light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><b><i>Sha</i></b></span></div>
Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-71940343787090473722016-11-16T11:29:00.001-08:002016-11-16T11:29:15.991-08:00Paradise Eiland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ever since I wrote about Creations for Parkinson's, I have been attending their Sunday night angel's dance. Several friends, including some of the other Newser Reporters, also make frequent trips to Creations. I have also made many new friends there. Last Sunday, Maia Antarra asked me if I would be interested in writing about the coming opening of a new healing center which she was involved with. This new center, "Paradise Eiland Retreat & Event Center" uses non-medical, New Age therapies, like Reiki, Tai Chi, meditation and sound to restore balance and health. I found this topic very interesting, for two reasons. I have been looking into the idea that Second Life can provide real life therapy. Add to this, in the last few months I have developed a problem with poor circulation and pain in my feet and legs. I have very little faith in medical doctors and have been trying to book an appointment in a RL healing center, like the one Maia was describing in SL. I was given a LM and told to contact the owner, Rod Eiland. When our Sunday event ended, I headed for Paradise. In addition to reporting on it, I was hoping to offer myself as proof that these virtual reality techniques do, in fact, work.<br />
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The landing put me right in front of the healing center. While waiting for things to rez, I noticed and enjoyed the soothing music stream. The peace was enhanced as natural scenery and classic Greek architecture came into view.</div>
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Entering the healing building, I found a group prayer/invocation animation and some massage tables, with animation balls for the healers to use. The walls were decorated with iconography from various world religions. From experience, I knew that healing requires the patient to believe in the effectiveness of the treatment. I could tell that this environment would be very believable, for most people. I went back outside to explore more of the center and spotted Rod Eiland was on the West end of the sim with another member of the healing staff. I found them dancing on a beautiful glass dance floor. Introducing myself, I learned that they had already been told to expect me. The three of us talked, until Rod's assistant had to log off. Rod then offered to give me a private tour. The center occupies the Southern half of the Sugar Valley sim <a href="http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugar%20Valley/193/17/23">http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugar%20Valley/193/17/23</a></div>
<div>
Our first stop was the Tai Chi area, on the North side of the dance floor. Rod explained that his specialty was sound healing, using brass bowls and gongs and he offered a free session. He said it would work best if I wore headphones, so I dimmed my lights, lit a candle and put my headset on. I could feel the sound vibrating, all the way down to my solar plexus and, for the first time in weeks, was not having any shooting pains from my left foot.</div>
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I made an appointment to return the following night for a full treatment. Our timing was off, so I missed the scheduled time and spent time getting more details of the upcoming grand opening.</div>
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The center will open on November 26, with opening ceremony beginning at 1pm SLT, with the release of a flock of eagles. Technically speaking, I can't tell you that these healing techniques will cure anything. I can say that, based on experience in SL and RL, there is great potential for real healing here. These things also take time, so don't expect any instant miracle cures on your first visit. I'm going to keep my walking cane handy, until I've been to a few more sessions.</div>
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At this point of the story, I would normally be telling readers to come have a great adventure. What I will say is, if you or a friend have been feeling your light has dimmed, you owe it to yourself to explore Paradise Eiland and see if they can turn up the light and get you in the pink.</div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Sha</span></b></i></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-1859486655628938882016-11-07T22:41:00.004-08:002016-11-07T22:41:49.553-08:00Seduction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjU7uNKpR5CCaavVvKKbW6hg5rFk2TAVxmxzCaBKTGkOsMlGRlNe8WdJNPaq-V1JjYD4A3XSYlVwjNs09awHufju9JVv1_uDg3FCv28NBZNHVNxxmwZ6S8nI_mcYCorK3pU0mIlgF4XJd2/s1600/Seduction.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjU7uNKpR5CCaavVvKKbW6hg5rFk2TAVxmxzCaBKTGkOsMlGRlNe8WdJNPaq-V1JjYD4A3XSYlVwjNs09awHufju9JVv1_uDg3FCv28NBZNHVNxxmwZ6S8nI_mcYCorK3pU0mIlgF4XJd2/s640/Seduction.png" width="632" /></a></div>
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While scanning the World Map for interesting, unusual sim groups, we came across this cluster of 30 sims. The individual sims were laid out in such a way as to allow one to travel to all points in the cluster, while being spread out over a larger area of the grid than a compact grouping would cover. It was also clear that every sim also contained water areas that made it obvious that the preferred mode of transportation is by boat. We have a collection of boats, but thought it best to make a quick visit to determine what the rules are and what kind of craft would fit best in the area. Zooming in on the map, we notice that the sim which is fourth from the top and second from the right is the only one without any water of it's own and has a darker texture at the center. This seemed like a good clue that this sim might be an administration and gathering area, so it was selected as a starting point for our adventure. Arriving on a beach, on the West side of the sim, we open "About Land" and read up on what the area is about. The entire cluster is known as "Seduction Estates" and is dedicated to selling or renting residential properties. There are no shops or dance clubs or other public gathering spots. This region is for rich, hedonistic, clothing optional adults to have their mansions in a "Tropical Paradise", kind of like a "Berverly Hills on the sea". The rules say no child avatars are allowed, but there is no mention, for or against, of furries being permitted. We played it safe, by going as a 4' tall adult human female. To keep up with the Jones's, we decided to get an inexpensive motor yacht and found one at the Marketplace, for only $75.<br />
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We rezzed our yacht at Sunny Beach, to get a feel for how it handles. Satisfied that it would be a good craft for the adventure, we dressed in a yellow polka-dot bikini and a modesty top, to give us the rich girl, playing with "Daddy's Money" look.</div>
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We plotted a course that would begin at the Northeast sim and would take us through all thirty sims, using the public waterways. Since most of the properties have security orbs, we wanted to avoid getting sent home, so most of our exploring would be done by zooming and panning our camera. </div>
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To aid navigation, we made good use of both the World Map and the Mini Map. Unlike most of the places that we have visited, the world map, at this location, showed all the properties that are for sale or rent in yellow. This would help us locate and price the available properties.</div>
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Although we never found any offices for administration and land sales, we did discover the only gathering spot on a hill in the center of the sim we did our first research on, Seduction Isle. This "club" has a stage, with piano, and three dance floors, we assumed for couples dances, but there was nobody there during our adventure.</div>
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Each of the many individual properties is a small island, surrounded by rocks, waterfalls and trees, for privacy. Most have a large mansion in the center. I was impressed by several that even had the nautical equivalent of a drive way, to moor boats off the main water ways. Few of the mansions had a lived in look, so we began to think, if you've seen one cookie cutter mansion, you've seen them all, until we spotted an old, derelict sailing ship.</div>
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The ship and nearby building are probably not a residence. It seemed more like a local park, the sort of place that young adults might gather, to be away from the eyes of elders, while enjoying forbidden fruits.</div>
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Speaking of being unseen, we noticed that the number of people, on all of the sims, was highest after 9p.m., but even then was only a few individuals and couples and they were mostly up in skyboxes. We had hoped to find some residents that could be zoomed in on, to check out what the natives were wearing, but they seemed to vanish, each time we were near.</div>
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Following the World Map, we tracked down the three property sizes that are offered at Seduction. All of the properties require a one time payment of L$500 plus a weekly tier payment, based on size. They each come with a house, which can be replaced with your own. Houses provided count against the prims allowed for each property. A 1/16th sim is $1550 per week, with 460 prims. 1/8th sim is $2500, 900 prims. 1/4 sims are $2900, 930 prims.</div>
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Personally, as an efficient shopper, I enjoy a higher quality home and community, for half the price, so I'm not planning on moving. In SL, we can become anything we desire. If you feel seduced by Seduction Estates, I wish you all the pleasure desired. Live there or not, we found it to be a fun adventure. We navigated through 30 sims, in a shiny new mega motor yacht and it was like a Hollywood bus tour of the homes of movie stars.</div>
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Come, enjoy a tropical vacation and let your inner, petite, cuter than dimples on a bunny, rich white girl come out to play, Queen For A Day.</div>
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We already know what all the guys want,</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sha</span></i></b></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-69931251102582287262016-10-23T12:36:00.004-07:002016-10-23T12:36:53.826-07:00Shop Til You Drop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the world of Second Life, we wear a costume of avatar and clothing all the time. Is it any wonder that Halloween is a favorite time of year for many residents? There will be countless theme parties and haunted house destinations to report on. All this fun inspires us to dress up our own avs and homes, with a few shopping adventures. What could be better than finding 20 shops, dedicated to Halloween, all in one location. An avid shopper, we checked out an event that runs until October 31, called "Shop 'Til You Drop. The landing puts one in the center of the sim, with eight blocks of about 20 shops.<br />
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Keeping in the spirit, we sent Thing (from the Addams Family), to take notes and pictures. The layout of the streets made it easy to zig-zag through and see all of the shops.</div>
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We found lots of clothing, for both conventional and mesh and even a shop for "Dinkies". You could also find accessories, to enhance your costume. The Thing gave a thumbs up, at the vendor for Halloween painted nails.</div>
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Down the street, we found a shop that sold full scale animated skeleton bots, including a caged go-go dancer that shakes her pelvis and a butler that serves drinks. Thing posed for a picture with three sitting on a coffin, in the classic see no, hear no, speak no evil pose. We are tempted to return to get a prim count, to see if it would work in one of the tower rooms, back at our castle.</div>
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At another furniture shop, Thing got downright silly, trying to give a "hi-five" to a chair shaped like a hand. This relationship would never have worked, because the chair was only into big butts. Thing made up for this silliness, by finding a mesh dress shop, with a gown that Sha would surely find "to die for".</div>
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Whenever possible, one should always try the demo, before buying mesh clothing. We returned home, to prepare Sha for a visit, including some custom spooky lighting. The demo was a perfect fit, so by the time you see this, she will already have worn it to her next event, along with some bat wings.</div>
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Before we went to explore, we had no idea of where this story would take us. It turned out to be a lot of fun and even Sha found something she couldn't live without. We recommend that readers get off their butts and send in a hand, before the witching hour arrives.</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sha</span></i></b></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-30953387433572910542016-10-16T08:16:00.003-07:002016-10-16T08:16:50.460-07:00Science Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When the Editor, Bixyl Shuftan, mentioned this destination, he did not have details, but it sounded like the perfect location for this reporter to explore. Bix explained that it was a group in SL that gets together on Fridays to listen to a NPR radio program, called "Science Friday" and discuss the topics that are covered in the two hour program. Science and Art have been my two greatest interests, throughout this life time. While I am, technically, an amateur, some of my theories could stand their own against those of the pros. When watching science videos, narrated by celebrity scientists, like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox and Bill Nye, I'll debate them in a heart beat. In a group debate, you'll find me sitting on the same side as Carl Sagan and Michio Kaku (my favorite). My top three theories include; What Dark Matter is and why we can't see it, The real story of the Big Bang and The True Shape of the Universe is a Big Donut. Recently, scientists have begun to confirm my donut, calling it a spherical torus.<br />
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Determined to find the group and location, we did several searches and found the group that hosts the event. The group's description stated that they conducted Friday meetings and that SL comments and questions would be linked to the live radio broadcast, but the location of these meetings was left out. To get the whole story, I joined the group and then opened group chat to ask for the LM. Within minutes, one of the members shared a LM. Armed with a time and place, there was only one question left, for this scientist to ask. What to wear??? Intuition hints that this event might favor coming in human form, so I selected my "Newser-Jade" outfit. It turns out that, although most were human, we were joined by a cyborg, so it probably isn't important. When Friday came, I was the first to arrive. in the center, there is a conference table, with a limited number of chairs and around the perimeter there are hanging basket chairs. As a newbie/observer, I selected a basket, with a good view of the room. As members arrived, I was invited to sit at the table. Each time that somebody sits at the table, it increases it's size and number of seats. One of the members, Beragon Betts, sent a friend request. Heavens YES, it's always good to have friends that out-rank us in the member's hierarchy and are more "in the know" than us. Beragon is friendly and helpful and has since come to visit Sunweaver Bay and Sunny Beach's Gathering Oak. During the Science Friday event, I noticed there didn't seem to be communication between the group gathered and the radio program. I learned that, it had been so, in the past, until LL regulations stopped it. LL realized it shot itself in the foot, by ousting non-profit groups and reversed the rules. It may take time to heal, because schools are reluctant to return to teaching in a world that supports sex and vampires, over the acquisition of knowledge.<br />
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The radio program provided a number of topics, which we discussed in nearby chat. Some of the members were professional scientists and the group, as a whole, had an above average knowledge in science topics. The first topic was about research of gene editing to create bulls without horns and hey, we all like to talk a little bull, now and then. The second topic was about the continuing AI research needed to get computers to understand the spoken language. The sounds that carry our thoughts to others has always been of great interest to this writer. So much so that, I created my own True Type Font, called "DiJiFon", with a 40 letter phonetic alphabet, with each letter stored in only 8 bits, that can be displayed on any digital watch.</div>
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Attending Science Friday is a great adventure, for it's friendly people and leading edge, on topic discussions. But Wait, there's MORE!!! It's all about Location, Location, Location.</div>
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The Science Friday location is right in the midst of several science sims, including scale models of rockets, landers and satellites. I always get a thrill from the shift in perception of going from seeing it on paper to walking up to and going inside of the full scale model.</div>
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<a href="http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/162/56/22">http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/162/56/22</a></div>
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Hop in the cargo bay bed of this Texas size pick-up, because Houston: We are go for launch. Come, 4...3...2...1... your way to some fun and start next week-end with a sub orbital journey to Science Friday.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Sha</b></i></span></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-64485831710197513292016-10-09T04:28:00.003-07:002016-10-09T04:28:30.710-07:00Dark Side<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Several weeks ago, I did a social commentary, called "The Drawing Board", in which I hinted that SL was like a high speed computer model system, with which behaviors and life styles could be pre-tested, and ultimately lead us into an age of freedom and enlightenment. One could even say that there is a kind of Jedi Force, which is leading to a better way of living.<br />
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Last week, I gathered a dozen SLURLs from the Destination Guide, in hopes of finding the next Great Adventure to take my readers to. I found lots of pretty scenery and special effects, but none of them were good enough to get a recommendation from my hand. Added to this, I was also attempting to help mediate some local drama. This led to a lot of WTF questions, like; What's wrong with the Destination Guide, What's wrong with the local community and OMG, does Second Life also have it's own DARK SIDE?<br />
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In RL, I have been a publicly elected Mediator and am a life time student of ancient wisdom and secret brotherhoods. You would be amazed at how much of "Star Wars" was based on real history of planet earth (the correct spelling of Jedi is Djedi). Everything in the universe is a mixture of Yin and yang, male and female, positive and negative energy, good and evil, which have to be mixed in harmonic proportions. An out of balance mixture will cause a thing's structure to decay and die. The Masters, that I studied under, have explained that They do not call the dark ones evil. Instead, They call them "Our errant brothers" and teach that we must also love our enemies. In order to truly love something, you must first know and understand it. If the side of Light is good thinking and the side of Dark has errors in it's thinking, we need to look at what's on the minds of these two sides.<br />
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A Brother of Light understands that the universe runs on the law of economy and strives to plot a path, in our upward evolution, that is the straightest line between two points, from clod to god. Efficiency is the mother of all virtue. These Brothers know that the knowledge of Truth cannot be given or forced on us. It must be gained by each one of us. The prime directive is FREE WILL. They will never take away your ability to make your own mistakes. We learn faster that way. These Brothers also do not want to call too much attention to themselves. When you shout, AHA! I FOUND THE TRUTH, They are pleased that you think you found it on your own, without following the bread crumbs they dropped along the trail. These Brothers are also all about the Oneness and encourage gatherings, families and communities.<br />
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In contrast, the Errant Brothers are divisive, creating disunity and dissension. They do not allow others to have free will. Going against their way of doing things will make you an enemy. They do not serve others. They want everybody to be their servants. They don't want to change things for the better. They want to reverse evolution to make us little more than a pack of sheep, that they control and feed off of. Having no light in them, they lack a sense of humor and are short tempered. They are insensitive to the needs and pains of others. They will say they feel our pain, but the only pain they know is the frustration of not getting things their way. Even an innocent word or deed will incite them to harass and or ban you, to get control over your choices.<br />
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By now, many readers will be aware of avatars in SL that are very light or dark. We don't want to name any suspects here, because that will only get us drawn into their illusional dramas. What we do want is a world, where evil, erroneous thinking has been carefully put in it's proper place, in the past, behind us. Get thee behind me, Satan. Having a war between good and evil is not an efficient solution, because eye for an eye, evil for an evil creates a never ending cycle and will last for many thousands of years, like in the Middle East. How, in SL, can brothers of light put darkness in it's place? It's relatively easy, by using attrition. The two things that wear evil down the most are being ignored and laughed at. If your so called enemy puts a road block in your path, your feelings might tell you that they are being hurt and you should be angry and return the hurt. Not a very safe way to handle things. The mind holds the answer and reminds you that, Hey this is SL and you have super powers. With a click of the mouse, you can fly or TP around any road block. OK, but what if the enemy is threatening and harassing us, in our home and community? Stay in mind and remember, such activities are against FCC regulations. Being a bully in SL could get you in a RL federal prison. A mind, kept in the light, will see the threat, record the facts in the brain, override the emotions, while letting the negativity pass through, or bounce off, so that the state of mind and peace is maintained. An old saying goes, "A curse that finds no place to land, returns home to roost". This means, if your enemy's threats are like water on a duck's back and roll off, that water will end up in your enemy's lap. As a kid, we had our own saying, "I'm rubber, you're glue. Anything you say bounces off me and sticks to you".<br />
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May the force be with you,<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b> Sha</b></i></span>Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-51892059401279875312016-09-28T01:01:00.001-07:002016-09-28T01:01:06.507-07:00The Gathering Oak<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some time ago, I volunteered to help an old friend, turned new neighbor on Sunny Beach, Erik Mouse to build the sim of his dreams. He showed great interest in providing attractions for the community to come and have fun. I have become his court Magician and councilor, to teach him the power of Imagination. The force is strong in him.<br />
The perimeter of the island sim provides beaches, boating and surfing. The interior of the island is a thick forest, known as "Mythica Woods". At the North end of the woods, there is a clearing, with a spring fed pond. When I made the Sunweaver Tour video, I called this area, "the local watering hole", because it seemed like it was a natural gathering spot <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f144n1NYcos">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f144n1NYcos</a> .<br />
There are several Hobbit style homes, a camp fire, a TP and Stargate. We built a tiki hut club and called it "Surf's Up", to draw attention to the surfing wave, on the North shore. Erik was eager to begin having weekly events, on Saturdays at noon SLT. I let him know that it would be his adventure and I would not be on club staff. He is the owner and should make his own rules and provide any staff and DJs for any events scheduled. Well, Rome wasn't built in a day, but after three weeks, our little friend was feeling stress, because his club had yet to become an overnight success. He came to the Newser staff meeting, seeking help in getting more visitors to come. At the close of the staff meeting, Erik, Bixyl and I convened to Surf's Up, where an event was in progress. This was the ideal location for the discussion, since we could also get additional input from those on the dance floor. Indeed, I took notes as Skylark LeFavre began to describe a different decor, from her imagination. She described a clearing with a large oak tree..... Before saying another word, I was already seeing the complete picture. That night, I searched the marketplace for oak trees. I found a towering ancient oak tree, that looked like the perfect fit for Mythica Woods. I spent the night, with nobody around, installing the oak, removing the tiki hut and moving the club equipment under the tree branches. The next day, after seeing the new set up, Erik sends an IM, asking if I had left anything for him to do. Indeed, there were a few objects and the contest board, which I could not move. Later that evening, I attended a weekly dance event, at Creations Park. They have a rotating circle sync dance that is a wonderful thrill to partake in. After the dance, I met up with Erik again. I told him that I think a circle dance would be perfect for the new club layout, so we went about trying to find a good one. That was an adventure of it's own and we nearly got booted off of one RP sim. When we found an in world demo, of one I spotted on MP, we tested it, bought it and took it home to set up. Words could not explain how enjoyable it is for a group to share. I knew I would need to get some pictures or video of a group doing the dance. For two days, I asked friends to come try it. At the close of the following Happy Vixen event, I announced that I would be making a video and all were invited to be in it. We got a nice little impromptu group going and the camera began to roll. I captured 10 minutes of video, before folks needed to go and posted it, unedited, on Youtube.<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/L_kNx3Nz5oI">https://youtu.be/L_kNx3Nz5oI</a><br />
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Recently, I made the comment that where the sky and earth, fire and water all meet is a place where strong magic is made. There's lots of room to dance and several group sitting areas, if you'd rather sit this one out. There's even a cuddle basket, if you like that kind of magic. The club will now be known as "The Gathering Oak" and will have a weekly Saturday noon dance and you can also come any time, to enjoy all of the sim's attractions.</div>
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Aloha,</div>
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<b><i>Sha</i></b></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-4775796867839100852016-09-19T01:25:00.001-07:002016-09-19T01:25:25.690-07:00Drawing board<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our adventure today is not about a sim or group of them. It is about all of the SL World Grid. We will be looking into the heart and soul that animates this world. Last month, we wrote about Creations for Parkinson's and became friends with Barbie Alchemi, it's creator. Since then, I have been attending their Sunday night dances which, in addition to the inspirational music, always includes a topic for things of a spiritual nature. My companion, Erik, has attended and the guests all love him. His comments, on the topic, were well received and they thanked him for his "wonderful insights"<br />
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In private chats, Barbie and I talked of our experiences with the therapeutic uses of Second Life. We both knew of people whose real lives had been improved because of their SL experiences. We both admitted that as a major part of our SL Raison d'Etre. We come here to bring Love, Light and Healing, in service to others. I explained my evolving theory, that Second Life was like a drawing board for the new Age of Aquarius. Meteorologists use computer modeling to track and predict storms. They can run many variations of data to get the most likely prognosis. Have you ever noticed that time seems to flow at a different speed in SL? The six plus years I have been here, feels more like decades. We'll leave it to the accountants to figure out how much that is in "dog years". The thing is, regardless of the time difference, we still learn the same lessons from our experiences. Because of our hyper time, we can test out one "happily ever after" theory after another, until we get it right, in far less than the many life times it would take in RL. We learn quickly, the difference between what is good and what is better.<br />
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In real life, you have, no doubt heard that we are entering "The Age of Aquarius", a cosmic upgrade of the world's OS, which will make life, as we know it, a whole lot better game. What will the new age world be like? Well that answer would fill a shelf of books, but fortunately, a good friend of mine, J.J. Dewey, has just published his "quick list" and it is a good summary of things i have heard over many years. The items on the list are not for debate. We are all entitled to our own opinions. Any disagreements with the ideas would only happen if the author's definition of terms are not understood. You can read more of JJ's writings at www.freeread.com <br />
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<b>The World to come</b></div>
<i><span style="color: blue;">(1) A world without borders – no passports needed</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(2) One where brotherhood, goodwill and inclusiveness set the tone so we have right human relations.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(3) One where the Haves share with the Have-Nots so extreme poverty is abolished.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(4) There is to be a one-world government that unifies the world without becoming a tyranny.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(5) This will lead to a secure peace on earth.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(6) There will be a one-world religion which will basically be the world acknowledging through free will that certain universal principles are true.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(7) People will be influenced more by mind and reason than by lower emotion and being reactionary.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(8) People will becomes less materialistic and focus more on the spiritual.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">(9) Christ and his associate Masters of Wisdom will walk openly among us as teachers of the human race.</span></i><br />
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Personally, this sounds like a good plan and I have spent many years trying to help bring about this new OS for earth. I also do my small part in getting these ideals tested by the residents of Second Life. I could go down the list and mentioned ways I worked them into the minds of others, but this is not about me. Instead, I will turn these questions to the readers.<br />
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Do you think this sounds like the kind of world you'd like to live in?<br />
Are you willing to help build this world?<br />
Are you willing to be it's beta tester in Second Life?<br />
If you have any ideas on this new world topic and would like to share them with us, SL Newser welcomes Reader submitted articles for publication.<br />
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When I mentioned that I was about to write this article, to the dancers at Creations, Erik made a comment that I wanted to quote.<br />
"I actually thought that SL is more like a world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature of it is the part of the hopes and dreams of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundaries."<br />
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I couldn't have said it any better,"<br />
"Sha"<br />
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-7177696561899464442016-09-12T00:36:00.001-07:002016-09-12T00:36:43.695-07:00Wild West I have been writing for SL Newser, for several years now. With all this practice, we gain skills in finding and writing about ever greater adventures. This also enables us to observe and teach those elements that make any life, real or virtual, better for all. Life can be difficult, but the rules are very simple. To have a better life, always obey these two little rules. One, life is fun. If you're not having fun, you aren't playing by the rules. Two, life is for learning new things. Everything in life is a fun lesson and even an old god can learn a new trick. If you are not learning fun new things, you are stuck in a rut. Being stuck is not fun. Go back and read rule one. In addition to writing about a fun life here, we also give one-on-one guidance, to those that seek it. They are like students or Padawans. We will be including one of these padawans in this adventure. Let us begin to set the stage, for his entry.<br />
On an intuitive hunch, I opened the World Map, of the SL Grid and began scanning for interesting sim clusters. Finding a good candidate, we zoom down for a closer look at the terrain. Like a good spy satellite, we get a detailed picture of what is going on down there. In this case, we located a tight collective of 24 sims. Each sim is named after an area in the western part of the USA and you could see it in the landscaping. This area had all the elements of a great place to explore.<br />
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I had copied the SLURL for one of the sims and went, briefly, to set a LM and get a "first impression". The landing is a skybox, with a painted interior. There is a shack, a horse and a few signs. The 24 sim area is called "Wild West Roleplay Lands" and, as we guessed it, there will be rules. As kids, we called "Roleplay" by the name "Let'spretend". You did your best to look and sound your part, in order to free the imagination to act out the role. It has been many moons, since we last played "Cowboys and Indians" and my imagination has many other ways of getting around. I decided that when I come back I would take in the whole experience, by joining the group and wearing the HUD and health meter. After the regularly scheduled evening's event, I returned home to dress western, horse included, and returned to those wild days of yore.</div>
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Back at the skybox, I gathered and read all the notecards about the ground rules and notice that they are in English and German. That seemed unusual, at the time, but I would eventually learn the reason. I joined the local Buffalo Wyoming Group and wore the WW meter HUD and health meter. Now I was ready to descend to ground level and begin the adventure. Turning towards the TP, I spot something at my feet that wasn't there before. It was my tiny neighbor, friend, Erik Mouse. He had located us on his world map. Not long ago, I had invited him to join me, during my explorations of Creations for Parkinson's and he had figured out, if I was far from home, I was probably researching another fun adventure. I could tell, he was hoping to get invited to join the fun. I have to admit, my first thoughts were, this is like getting a hot first date and your mom says to have to watch your little brother and let him tag along on your movie date. Then, my mind steps in, telling me this is exactly the thing we are trying to teach others to do. It wouldn't be a change in our plans, because we were making it up as we go along. Besides, I reasoned that Roleplay was a bit like sex, being more fun to play with friends, than to play with self. I told him that I wouldn't mind if he joined me, but he would have to do it as a human cowboy. He said he had never played a human, in SL, but would do what it takes. I informed him that he could find a human avatar in the library section of his inventory and that they provide free period clothing at the near by shed. Our location seemed to be preventing us from making any changes to our avatars, so we returned home to make a man of him. At the Surf's Up club, I located a complete cowboy avatar, on Marketplace, for only L$25. The cowboy avatar even came with a coiled lasso, so Erik was now fully prepared to rope him some fun.</div>
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So, now we have Erik, on his first day as a human, but he's not the only cherry. I quickly discover that I am no longer the author of this play and the actors are working without a script. Our first location, on the ground, was the town of Buffalo, Wyoming. Sha, from experience, takes up the lead position and her faithful companion follows a few paces behind. Being in a Wild West town, our first interest was finding the local Bank. We found it, but it was locked so we went across the street, to the Saloon. The barkeep and patrons are all cardboard cut-outs. If we wanted adventure, we needed to head on down the road. A quick check of the radar showed that we were the only ones on this sim, but there are a handful of others on the next sim, so we head in that direction. As we entered the next town, there only seems to be one resident and he is taking a nap, in front of the Pub. I spot the local jail and head over to check the accommodations. I entered a jail cell and invited Erik to come in and pose for a souvenir photo of our adventure.</div>
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We broke out of jail and returned outside where I spotted a gallows. I think this might be a good place to demonstrate the virtue of Courage, so I clicked the gallows and selected the hang by the neck animation.</div>
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Well, I was having some fun, but my companion was probably wondering when the adventure would begin, so we headed towards the blips on the radar. This ain't no big city. There are no paved roads or direction signs to follow. As we walk, I spot three buffalo, grazing in a field and say, "Oh look at the cute critters. Let's go pet them". BIG MISTAKE! One of the buffalo turns in my direction and prepares to charge. I take off for the hills, double time, and see on the radar that Erik is right behind me. I run into a stone canyon and find a Medicine man's tee-pee and campfire. Thinking this is a safe place, I sit down at the fire. Turning my cam around, I see Erik lying face down on the ground, with a rattle snake biting his leg. I asked him about the snake. He said that he didn't know about the snake, but his HUD just informed him that the buffalo had killed him. I'm like, OMG, they killed Kenny! I brought my little buddy here and got him killed. Then, the unexpected happened. Laying face down in a pool of blood, Erik begins to comfort me. "Don't worry, I'm just dead. I'll be better in about 30 minutes". WOW! Who is this guy and what did he do with the timid little mouse? I said, " no worries pal. I'll sit here and wait for you, while I smoke this peace pipe that I found by the fire." As I sat there thinking, I realized something else about this man named Erik, that was different from the mouse I had known for years. From the time he found me in the skybox, until now, he had not been AFK, even one time, throughout our adventure.</div>
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At about this time, a stranger approached the campfire, carrying a rifle. I could only hope that he was one of the good guys, because we were in a defenseless posision. As he began to talk to us, or should I say, er begann, mit uns reden, I realized this cowboy was speaking German and it was being translated to English. I learned, later, that Wild West Roleplay is very popular in Germany. The cowboy told us that Erik would soon live again, although his full strength would take a bit longer. When Erik rose from the ground, the cowboy pointed to the ground and said, here marks the spot where you were dead. The blood was gone and the cowboy bid us well on our journey. I told him, "Danke shon", and Erik and I continued on the trail. We soon found ourselves in another small town and it had a church. I have always been interested in the architecture of places of worship, so we went inside for a look. Erik's first comment was that we could have used some of this guy's healing skills, back on the trail. WOW! He understands religion. I was seeing inside the RL Erik in a new light. I wanted to get to know him even better, so I steered the conversation to our RL selves. "Do you go to church", I asked. "No", was his reply. I told him my age and birthday and he told me his. Erik is in the same age range as my three daughters. Our sun signs are also very compatable. I asked him if he used Facebook, so we could friend there. He did and we set it up, then and there.</div>
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The hour was getting late and I had a staff meeting the next day. I told Erik to feel free to explore some more, but I was going to bed and would probably come back a few more times, to explore more of the Wild West Roleplay Lands. He wanted to know if he could come again, with me. I told him, "Si, mi casa, su casa".</div>
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I must point out here that Erik and I only covered about 1/6 of the Wild West Roleplay Lands. If you come here, there is enough adventure to keep you going for months or even years. Besides that, I am scratching my head, wondering what this story is really about. A fairy mouse king becomes a mortal man, to descend to earth, is killed and comes back to life. It all begins to sound like a symbolic initiation into some secret brotherhood of knights or an ancient Greek passion play or the labors of Hercules.</div>
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I don't know where the story came from, but I'm signing it,</div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-35690624942266892772016-09-02T11:03:00.004-07:002016-09-02T11:03:47.707-07:00The Cure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since my youth, I have taken an active interest in doing my small part to help bring peace on earth, good will to all and the healing of the planet, with all of it's lifeforms. Throughout the grid, there are uncountable teams dedicated to finding the cure to many diseases. I do my part to help teams, in both SL and RL. From experience, I can say that there is a problem to finding cures that doesn't get mentioned much, if at all. I am going to tell you a story, but begin by telling you some important details that 1) It is based on true conversations, some in SL and others from RL, 2) the names of people, places and diseases are all made up to a] protect the inocent and b] to allow readers to fill in the blanks for themselves, and 2) I will refer to myself in the first person, just me, myself and I, talking directly to the readers. Since this is all made up, there will be no pictures included, for the same reasons as above.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Gehirnnebel</span></b><br />
I was enjoying my first dance event, at a sim that I had recently written about, when I got an IM from an old friend, whom I'll call Jack. Jack said that he wished he could find some friends to hang out with. I told him that I was at the place that I had previously been telling him about and there were many friendly people, that would welcome him. Next thing I know, everybody is welcoming Jack and asking him to join the dance circle. We both enjoyed it and ended up among the last 3 to leave. We'll call the other remaining guest Jill. Jill had not even been one year in SL and was happy to meet new friends and hear of the sims they live on. We decided to continue our evening together by touring the sims that Jack and I lived on. During the lengthy tour, I discovered that both Jack and Jill had the same disease in RL, we shall call Gehirnnebel.<br />
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The next day, I began to recall some things that I knew about Gehirnnebel. It was said to be caused by the Gehirnnebelwurm, which moves into and burrows around in the brain. Spread out in the brain makes it impossible to remove or poison, without killing the brain itself, so doctors say there is no cure. But wait, I had also heard that although you can't cut or poison it out, there is a way to starve it out. The gehirnnebelwurm lives on the glucose that circulates in our blood. Human cells, on the other hand, are not limited to glucose for their survival. If we only eat foods that do not break down to make glucose, the energy is delivered to the cells by a process called ketosis. The gehirnnebel worm can't thrive unless it gets glucose and will become dormant until it gets some. While these pests slumber, the brain has time to heal itself and, within a few days, the foggy brain begins to clear. I looked forward to telling Jack and Jill that a slight change in their diet could quickly lead to a wonderful improvement in their health. The next time I logged in, there was something I needed to re-write scripts for, but I was hoping that I would also find Jack and Jill. As I finished my repairs, to my delight, both showed up within a couple of minutes of each other. As I began to tell them that I knew of a possible "cure" for them to test, I soon noticed that Jacks brain had gone AFK and my news was going right over his head. Jill, on the other hand, was hearing the news, but was becoming agitated by it. Before even hearing what the cure is. How could I possibly have a cure, when doctors said it was not curable? How could I know of a cure, if I had never had gehirnnebel myself? I soon realized that helping Jack and Jill would not be as easy and fun as I had hoped, so I sat down and waited for them to regroup, so I could go into more detail as to what the cure might be. Keep in mind, at this point I hadn't said what the cure was and neither had bothered to ask what it was. Naturally, Jack was confused, because he had missed most of what had been talked about and Jill was getting very heated in her arguments, while still having no clue of what the cure was. Ultimately, her emotions got the best of her and she removed me from her friends list, muted me and poofed away. Now Jack was even more confused. When I explained that she got angry at me about claiming a cure, without either of them having learned what said cure might even be, Jack delighted me with his response. "So, what is the cure?", he asked. Since I didn't want to go through another argument with an uninformed person, I told him he should first get some background information, by doing a web search on the topics of Ketosis and Paleo Diets. If after reading about it he was interested in trying it, I could show him how to do it. For now, this is as far as the story goes, but we can already see the moral of the story.<br />
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Fundraising teams can raise billions of dollars for scientists to find and make a cure available, but for the cure to work, those that need it most, will need to keep an open mind and not be kept from using it by unearned authorities that want it banned, because they can't get rich by curing with methods that go beyond their barbarous treatments of cutting and poisoning.<br />
As our teams continue the quest of finding the cure, we must also know about and prepare for the greedy individuals that will do everything in their dark power to keep us from the cure.<br />
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<i><span style="color: orange;">[I would like to point out that I hold no grievance towards Jill and forgive her social blunder. She had warned us that her friend skills needed work and this is not uncommon for those with brain disorders. If she would like to be friends again, I will welcome her back]</span></i><br />
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The only dumb questions are the ones you forgot to ask.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Sha</span></i></b>Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-77339178351359018762016-08-27T22:22:00.001-07:002016-08-27T22:22:47.107-07:00Tableau Among the LMs that Bixyl sent us recently, there is one for a sim called <b>Tableau</b>. We stopped here long enough to set our own LM and then headed to<b> Creation's for Parkinson's,</b> to write about it first. Our first impression of <b>Tableau </b>was that, although it was, in ways, ugly to us, it was also, some how, very interesting and might even be a fun adventure. Before we begin our adventure, our readers must understand the language being spoken. Mediators know that disputes often arise between two parties that both want essentially the same thing, because of not knowing the other party's definition of the principles in question. If we tell readers that Tableau is a fun adventure, they are probably going to disagree. To get on the same page, let's sit in on the first lecture given at Clown College.<br />
The Professor wears a silly looking cap, called a mortarboard, and a bulbous red nose and is explaining why people laugh. Laughter is a release of tension. If you are struggling to figure out something, when you finally get it, you say "Aha". Other jokes are funny, because the teller uses a different meaning (double entendre), which is known about but not expected in the story. Another useful way to make us laugh is called "Slapstick". When we see a one ton weight, thrown off a cliff and heading down towards our position on the ground, we laugh with the relief of seeing it flatten the coyote, instead of us. OK, we can now go to Tableau and have a better idea of why we think this is a fun adventure.<br />
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Arriving on the sim, we are in a desolate town, in the middle of a desert. We wonder if there are any people that live here, if so, why. A sim surround adds to the impression that we are in the middle of freakin' nowhere. If I was a child, growing up in this place and was asked, what would I like to be, when I grow up, the answer would be, "I'd like to <b>BE</b>.......any place but here".</div>
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It seems that, to save a dwindling economy, the town created a tourist attraction, called "Dinosaur Park". The three dinosaurs are impressive in size, but lacking in realistic detail. Perhaps they were made from sheet metal, salvaged from the many vehicles found dead in the desert.</div>
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The town budget couldn't afford a sign painter, but some old weathered boards and a black crayon let us know which way to go.</div>
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Down the road, we spot an earlier attempt to draw tourists. It is called Fun Time Park, but something evil has destroyed this place. At the mouth entry to the park, outside authorities have blocked entry, with signs saying Closed, Condemned, Quarantined and Infectious Virus Area.</div>
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Sha is here for a story, not the rides, so, pulling out her Press Pass, walks boldly through the gate to the middle of the park. There is a black hole and signs of toxic waste. A Newser Press Pass will also shield you from harmful radiation. Sha marches straight into the black pit and drops into a glow in the dark, day-glo chamber.</div>
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Naturally, Sha loved the pretty lights, but wouldn't stay long, not having her Geiger counter or a sonic screwdriver in her pockets. One can't help but begin to think that this poor town is ripe for a take over by some crazy gang of hippies, ha, ha, he, he, ho, ho. Is there a secret gang, calling itself "SLUG", that is responsible for the tagging on the local walls?</div>
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Passing by a news stand, the headlines show that the residents are very concerned about the identity of SLUG and a dead lady, found inside one of the dinosaurs.</div>
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Perhaps they should be more concerned with finding a way to remove the two giant, rusted atom bombs from their town, but maybe they are saving them to make some new dinosaurs.</div>
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So now, as we wrap up this tour, we count the hands of the readers that got their eyes poked, hair pulled out and pianos dropped on their heads. None? I guess you all had a fun adventure. We send it off to print and close the light for a rest. Hmmm, are bunnies supposed to glow in the dark?</div>
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<i><b>Sha</b></i></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-18425891578240467682016-08-20T22:57:00.001-07:002016-08-20T23:02:40.347-07:00Creations for Parkinson's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Touching bases with our Editor, Bixyl, he gave us some locations, to consider for our next story. He was especially interested in one called "Creations for Parkinson's". Here, we will find shops and exhibits to raise donations to Team Fox for Parkinson's research, a fundraising program at The Michael J. Fox Foundation. As an active supporter and member of the Sunbeamer RFL team, we are always happy to promote the work of all such team events.<br />
From personal experience, there are "tricks of the trade" that can improve your success at asking people, "Got any spare change, man?". We often explained to our panhandling friends that if they provide their benefactors with some entertainment, even if it's just a silly little song and dance (that actually is VERY good at getting tips). So, in the back of our mind, as we approach the Creations Park sim, we're anticipating finding out if Team Fox has a song and dance for our entertainment. One of our extra-favorite types of entertainment is to see, hear and do things that I have never done before. On this adventure, our fun meter went off the scale. We kept thinking, this story is going to have us looking in the Thesaurus, to brush up on our list of superlatives.<br />
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On the first trip to Creations Park, thoughts of Disneyland come to mind. How did they fit so many attractions on one sim? It is also covered in vegetation. Navigating the paths sometimes requires using Mouselook and checking your locations on the map. But wait, there's more!!!</div>
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Creations Park is flanked on the West by Merlin Gardens sim and on the East by Frantastica sim. Each of these has it's own ton of fun attractions to explore.</div>
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Creations Park is the fund raising center and the Southwest quarter of the sim has many boutiques that share profits with Team Fox. This area brings to mind Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills, in their selections of clothing, furniture and landscaping plants. Come buy something glamorous, while helping out a good cause. You can also donate directly to Team Fox. There are paths that lead to all the attractions on the sim, like the castle, Aladdin's palace, a pirate ship, a beach and gardens. There are also TPs, to take you to locations in the sky and we'll cover one of our favorites, shortly.</div>
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There's nothing we like better than stepping off the beaten trail and blazing our own path. At this location, this could lead to an unplanned visit to Atlantis, in the waters below, but it could also lead to finding a secret attraction. In an unmarked tunnel, that takes a short-cut through a hill, we spotted large rainbow colored gems and a ball of lightning, that one can meditate in. We had never seen one of these and had to try it out.</div>
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Every area on the three sims that we explored had beautiful scenery and music streams that reduce stress and energize the soul. While visiting Merlin Gardens, Sha found a bench and sat down to read a book and sent us AFK for an ice cream break. After a good half hour, we were ready to check out the amusement park, on the Frantastica sim. The rides there were better than any we had ever tried. We made a note, saying that, with all this smiling and jaw dropping, we might need a sling to rest our mouth. </div>
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Our first visit here must have been fun, because 3:30 am came in a flash. We decided to head home and continue exploring the next night. Before logging out for the night, an IM came in from our friend Erik Mouse, asking our help in solving a mystery. There was a '57 Chevy Belair on the seafloor by his island. We recognized the owner and returned the car, but Erik was still agitated, by how it could of gotten there in the first place. To calm him down, we changed the subject and told him about the fun we were having, while researching this article. We told Erik, if he came there and tried the amusement park, we would include a picture of him in the article.</div>
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After getting him to try the water slide, space needle and bungee jump, we took a ride together on the Ferris wheel. Unlike the other rides, the Ferris wheel has no time limit, so we rode for a long time, before asking him if he would recommend this place to my readers. After a short pause, his reply came, "Um....YES, I would". By this time, the sun was beginning to come up in RL, so we parted company for the night.</div>
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One of the LMs that Bixyl had provided was for the Chapel of Eternal Love, located 4001 meters above Creation Park, so we went there on our next visit. This elevated area is the icing on the Creations cake. We found this to be an awesome, inspirational adventure. As we put the pictures and words together for this article, we find they can't begin to show how great the joy is, when you visit. To enhance our story, we have made a video of scenes taken in the Chapel of Eternal Love. We hope you will go see for yourself . Team Fox has brought us a piece of heaven to inspire a helping hand. Let's show them that they have earned our "spare change".</div>
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Namaste,</div>
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Sha</div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-14964397824263847772016-08-16T03:12:00.001-07:002016-08-16T03:12:51.975-07:00TradeWinds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Long before becoming a SL Newser Reporter, we had already developed the skill of finding new areas to explore, by scanning the World Map. Our previous article, about Antiquity, turned out so well, we decided to test it again, this time a bit closer to our home in Sunweaver Bay. Zooming out, we located an area of interest, about 7.16 miles West from home. The first thing we notice about the area is that there are over 20 small islands, scattered around the 12 sims, which are arranged in the shape of a cross. It was a safe bet that some type of boat would be needed to explore this area. Zooming in closer on the map, we find the centrally located Trade Winds sim has docks for large ships, all along it's West side. Starting our adventure here will tell us what kinds of ships are used by the local residents and there will probably be merchants of ships. This is also a good place to learn the local rules that must be followed.<br />
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We set a target on the dock and TP, landing, you guessed it, right in front of a shop that sells ships. Before we can get our "land legs" working, several notecards are given, stating the rules and which ships are allowed. The rules inform us that these 12 sims are dedicated to 18th century sailing and warfare RP. While here, your clothing, speech and means of transportation must fit the 18th century. Of important note, your avatar cannot fly here. If your boat sinks, you will either walk out or TP to a dryer location. Since this area is dedicated to 18th century RP, your appearance must fit the period. Gorean and Fury is not appropriate here.</div>
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If you are going to get involved in sea battles here, you must use one of the ships that has the latest SPD damage meters. A list is provided giving all the approved ships.</div>
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> SPD Corsair III (on SPD2 mode only) > SSS Sloop > SSS Polacre > SSS Goelette > SSS Junk</div>
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> SSS Norfolk > SSS Gunboat > SSS Frigate > SSS Grand Galleon > SSS Sampan > SSS Hercules</div>
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> AT Colossus > AT Xebec > AT East Indiaman > AT Shu'ai > AT Wicked Wench > AT Gunboat</div>
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> AT Revenge > BRS Avventura > BRS Fortuna > BRS Dorey > BRS Pinace > RSS Alert</div>
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> RSS Requin > RSS Lorcha > RSS Philadelphia > RSS Mystique > RSS Mercury > Terrada</div>
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> MTM Xebec > MTM Statenjacht</div>
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Non approved ships can be used, but not in battles, as long as they are 18th century wooden ships. If you are thinking of buying one of the approved ships, there are some rezzers, on the dock, that let you see the full ship. We found an open slip and rezzed our own, non approved Armed Merchant ship and headed out to sea to see where the winds will take us. Keep in mind, ships used here actually use SL winds to sail. Often, the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line. It can only be done by tacking a zig-zag route. We enjoyed getting in some sailing practice and will likely return for more. On the other side, it was hard to pilot and sight-see at the same time and we had to kedge our way out of a few tight spots. At the North end of the docks, you can find a rowboat rezzer. This is a fun way to get from island to island and it stays rezzed as long as you stay on it. Hint: you can also get around by using the World Map to TP to other islands, but good luck on where you land.</div>
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The islands are dotted with towering rock spires and, by now, we all know that Sha loves getting into higher perspectives [double entendre]. If zooming the cam to the peaks reveals man made structures, we would find a way to blaze a trail to the top.</div>
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Oddly enough, 18th century churches also seem to like these lofty locations. Our favorite was the Goth church on Cayo Hueso. The long and winding road to the top is very enjoyable and best done in "mouselook". We have a passion for architectural wonders and climbed every stair and opened any doors that were not locked.</div>
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Below the goth church, we find an older, simpler fortified church. Wishing for a view from the watch tower, we find a rope that lets the user do an animated climb to the roof top. After taking in the view, we set course for the interior of the church. Belay them plans, matey. All the church doors inform us that we don't have a key to this sacred place. A parting zoom look through the upper Celtic cross window reveals that this be a secret hang out of a pirate gang.</div>
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While it is true that the pirates are friendly, keep in mind their interpretations may vary widely from yours. In one pirate pub there is a metal grating in the floor, where the gang can drop you down to cages below, where they keep the guest that they will be extra-friendly with. Sha managed to get herself in a cage, in a room full of BDSM furniture. The cage door won't open, unless we enter a code that picks the lock. That would take too long to guess and, there were no guards, seeking x-rated entertainment, so she takes out her notebook, for clues on how to escape. Remembering having already made LMs in other islands, she becomes enlightened that "the Poof will set you free".</div>
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Free again, Sha heads for the nearest church, to increase her share of good luck. Spotting a confessional box, she goes in to get a clean slate.</div>
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<b>Sha: </b>Bless me Father for I have sinned. I have plundered a fortune by shaking my booty around a pole, at club Cutlass.</div>
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<b>Priest:</b> The church forgives you my child. Now, for your penitence say three OMGs and put a sack of 10% of your booty in the door by your knees.</div>
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We begin to sense a mystery to unravel here. Pirates and priests, how are they connected? Is it even possible to imagine a congregation made up of pirates and wenches? If they're into the 10 commandments, do they have their own interpretation of the rules to a good life?</div>
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In an open book, we spotted "The Pirate Code". It seems they have done the 10 commandments one better. The Code has 11 articles. Remind you of the rock band that had custom amplifiers, with volume knobs that go all the way up to 11? In fact, article 11 states that all musicians have the Sabbath off, by right and any other days, by favre only.</div>
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During our adventures at Trade Winds, we talked with and befriended a high ranking region manager, called Matisse. Learning that we were there preparing a story for the Newser, we were invited to join the local group, with the title of "Rogue Photographer". That would protect me from those that would hinder my progress. Hopefully, that would also stop stray cannon balls from taking seat in my row boat.</div>
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Now, pay no attention to the 15 port side cannons, pointed in your direction. Just be takin' our word on it, there be plenty of adventure here. Come set yer keel in the water and thrust the sails to the skies. There's magic in the air and the Pirates Code entitles you to a fair share.</div>
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<b><i>Sha</i></b></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-70636130269717827842016-08-10T01:47:00.000-07:002016-08-10T01:47:02.300-07:00Antiquity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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During our time as a Newser Reporter, we have explored many areas of the SL Grid. Our writing style was strongly influenced by a movie seen in childhood. Bambi's friend, Thumper, was told, by his mom, "If you can't find anything nice to say about somebody, don't say anything at all". When we hear of a possible location to write about, our first trip there is a short visit, to get an intuitive feeling of the land and it's residents. Intuition is hard to put into words, but within a half hour one of two thoughts will enter our mind. It's either, "I can't wait to tell readers about this adventure" or "there's no story here".<br />
If you were to put all of the sims in the grid together, it would form a square of 610 square miles. By comparison, a single sim is only about .39 sq.mi. and there are currently 24229 active sims on the grid. So, how does this reporter find these small areas that are fun adventures, in such a big world? Newser staff meets once a month and the Editor, Bixyl Shuften, usually provides leads to potential sims. Another source is the Destination Guide, but this can be hit or miss, when looking for a fun place and Sha has frequently wondered how much the sim owner had to pay, to get a mention in the guide. One of our favorite search techniques is to open the World Map and pan and zoom around the grid. We look for sim clusters which suggest community minded residents. The layout of the terrain, streets and buildings will give us an idea of the level of the ideal and practical skills that have developed in these communities.<br />
Studying the map, we found a 13 sim cluster. Each of the sim names began with "Antiquity" and there were massive buildings on many of them. We knew, before ever setting foot there, this would be a Great Adventure.<br />
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We select an open field on the North Western sim. The landing puts us at the foot of Mount St. Bruno, so we climb to the top for a better view of the country to be explored. There is a gathering spot on the top of the mountain; a clue that the natives might be friendly. From up here, it is clear that it will require several visits just to get a look at everything, so we start walking South, with plans of zig-zagging through all 13 sims. As our exploration began, we notice there is another person about 2000 meters up, showing up on radar. Minutes later, this same individual sent an IM, which was very unusual. She said that she had seen our name on her radar and it seemed to be a name that she was familiar with. After thinking a bit, she recalled that it was the name of her favorite Newser Reporter, who had inspired her to go on many new adventures of her own. We continued chatting, while taking notes in the buildings that Sha was inspecting. Then the message sender informed us that she was a local resident, named Cosette Rouages, who's job was to write scripts, used in the builds. She was very excited that her favorite reporter was there to do an article about Antiquity. After a bit more chat, she invited us for a look at "the other half" of Antiquity. It turns out, at the 2000m altitude, the sky platforms cover the entire 13 sims. A TP up and we spent hours talking and becoming friends. She also wanted to arrange for a private tour, with the owner of all the sims, Jacon Cortes de Bexar. Both of us live in the same RL time zone and as 4:30 am rolled around, we agreed to meet again, soon. It would be necessary to return several more times, to take in all there is to see and do.</div>
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There hadn't been many notes or pictures taken, on the first visit, but that is par for the course. The plan now was to attend an event at Cutlass and head back to Antiquity after. As we came on line to prepare for the evening's events, there was already an IM waiting to be read. This time, it was from the owner, Jacon Bexar. Cosette had told him all about our meeting and he wanted me to come for a private tour. As soon as my event was over, we headed back to our original LM in Antiquity. After landing, Cosette appeared on radar, at ground level, standing in a small group. The welcome committee was made up of Jacon, Cosette and two other Ladies. After introductions and other pleasantries, Jacon would TP the group to his latest master build, a scale replica of Buckingham Palace. To date, this build has taken three and a half years and even every texture is from the real palace. Through out the tour, there are easels set up, with photos of the original. Jacon says, be sure to look up at the ceilings in each room. Each is a unique work of art. We told Jacon that the most difficult part about writing an article on Antiquity would be to avoid starting every sentence with OMG or WOW. When our readers visit Antiquity for themselves, they can wear out their own list of expletives.</div>
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Back at ground level, Sha traveled to all the sims and took lots of pictures. Since this is an article and not a book, it will include some photos and brief comments. If space is limited for the article, the full length original and all the photos can be found at <a href="http://shaadventures.blogspot.com/"><b>shaadventures.blogspot.com</b></a></div>
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Antiquity Cathedral made Sha a bit nervous, because there is an autobot cardinal at the altar and he keeps turning in her direction. She gets up the courage to stand in front of him and explain, to the empty pews, her theory that god is a cyclops.</div>
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Seated in the balcony of the Royal Antiquity Theater, Sha wonders if it would be giving her age away, if she said, as kids we went to movies in theaters as fancy as this one.</div>
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This shop sold a collection of Autobots, in period clothing. Many have a menu. We are tempted to go back and buy this maid that offers a glass of wine and a list of other services.</div>
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A harbor in the <b>Argyle</b> sim could be your next SL job, if ye be Pirate Friendly, arrrrr</div>
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Standing under the dome of the Texas State capital building, recalls seeing a movie with Burt Reynolds standing in the same spot.</div>
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Paused in a Texas one room school house, we brush up on our Texas history and spitball making.</div>
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There are groups to join, like for Export Import Co., a pirate group and an Equine group. On the <b>Marie Galante</b> sim, there is even a large area for Merfolk.</div>
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Sha rides her own horse on the trails that cover several of the Eastern sims. I have an AKK horse and now have a great place to take him on walks.</div>
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They have monthly horse events, like Cross Country, Fox Hunt and chariot Racing</div>
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Having made videos in SL, we couldn't help but notice, everywhere we went, the beautiful scenery all looked like perfect backgrounds for new SL videos. I loved the various music streams that are encountered. They were soothing and energizing. The few highlight given above are less than half of the list of noteworthy places. By all means, Antiquity goes on my list of "Must See" locations.</div>
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<i>We bid ye to have a Great Adventure in Antiquity,</i></div>
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<i>Sha</i></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-91749880002830713162016-07-24T17:07:00.000-07:002016-07-24T17:14:15.672-07:00Mythica Woods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last February 20, 2016, we published an article on the Sunny Beach sim, which this reporter played a major role in remodeling, for it's new residents, Erik, Lilly and Edwyn Mouse. We met and became friends with Erik years ago, when he lived in a one room burrow on the North side of Sunweaver Bay. For years, Erik was just another name on Sha's large list of friends, until something sparked his interest in improving the quality of his virtual life. As a SL Newser reader, he knew that Sha was very interested in improving life for the community and it's residents, so he began to seek her help to find ways of improving his life. As a teacher of Ancient Wisdom, Sha recognized this as a sign that Erik was taking the first steps in becoming a "Seeker of Knowledge". Every new step is always preceded by a point of tension, but the pressures can be a bit easier to handle if you have a good guide, helping with good directions to your upward evolution. We assured him that he could always find peace and help at our home and even provided a private room in the castle, which would be a safe home away from home, should the pressure become too much and slow his search for joy. Sha is always quick to point out that a Teacher/Student relationship does not imply a higher or lower step on the evolutionary ladder. In fact, the teacher and student will often switch roles and learn from each other. For years, Sha has been developing a list of virtues or qualities that lead to greater Oneness within one's community. As we began preparing this article, it dawned on us that we had been given such a list of virtues in our childhood, having been a member of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts. It was called "The Boy scout's Motto".<br />
A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent. It seems that we have created SL Scout Troop 101. Let's see what our scouts have been up to, this year.<br />
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During the recent RFL walk, Erik had tracked Sha down and came to the Sunbeamer's camp, to stand on the sidewalk and cheer for the runners. While we stood there, he panned his camera to the camp on the other side of the street. He loved the dense woods there and asked if we could make the woods on Sunny Beach look more like that. We both inspected the area, to find out the maker of the mesh woods. Sha told him, if he got the kit, she would help him to fit more trees and landscape the ground to fit them. The result was the East side of the sim is now heavily wooded and fitting of the title, "Mythica Woods". Now, even more than before, the best way to navigate your way around the sim is to first enter Mouselook. The local animated critters now enjoy an endless game of Hide and Seek in the dense woods.</div>
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Inspired by his own creation, Erik now wanted to attract more visitors to Mythica Woods and connect it better with the local community. Part of our initial remodeling was to make the sim a good place for people to enjoy sailing around it. To accommodate the tall masts, Rita raised the inter-sim highway bridge to 32m. To allow visitors to walk or drive from bridge to ground, we provided a spiral ramp. Since Sunny Beach was now too wooded and hilly, for wheeled vehicles, Erik decided to replace the ramp with a staircase with railings, to promote "walk-ins". Sha let him do most of the design and work, himself, helping only with fine tuning the position and textures. We are very pleased with our little friend's developing skills as a builder.</div>
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As Erik was building the stairs, one trial position pointed the lower section North, towards the proposed new dance floor, but Sha pointed out that visitors would be blocked by one of the hobbit homes. Changing it to point West would cause visitors to see more of the sim, on their way to the gathering areas. When the stairway was finished, we arranged the welcome signs and build an arched gate, which, without words, invites visitors to enter the woods here.</div>
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As you meander through the sim, when you get to the twin waterfalls, head East and you will arrive at the area that I called "the local watering hole". This is the central gathering area of the island. Here, you'll find a spring fed fresh water pond, a bonfire for telling stories around, a star gate portal to places around the grid, a fairy ring teleport for group members to local favorite spots and our new Cuddle basket, with seating for regular and tiny avatars. If that's not enough to get gatherings started, we have also just added a dance club, with a working DJ booth and a contest board. The view, behind the DJ, includes the Sunny Beach surfing wave. To help promote the wave attraction, I named the club, "Surf City". Unlike many SL clubs, Surf City will not have a regular weekly schedule or a paid staff. Instead, it will be available for private events, like group celebrations, weddings, and other small gatherings. Contact Erik, if you would like to book an event. Sha has the DJ board set up with a pre-programmed set of music stream channels. We have already added our first DJ's stream, with a channel for Skylark Lefavre. If you are a DJ and would like to have your stream added, contact Sha with your URL and she will add you to the board. Djs will be paid for each event that they work. For those that just want to dance and socialize, we have provided a dance ball and will soon add ones for tinies and ponies.</div>
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Ready, set, go, Sunny Beach, a.k.a. Mythica Woods, has fully upgraded to become a great new place to gather in Oneness. We hope you will join us in our joyful celebrations of life in the virtual world.</div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-31190258639623774022016-07-21T00:29:00.000-07:002016-07-21T00:29:02.898-07:00Hair Fair 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When our Editor, Bixyl, sent out a list of possible stories to report on, it included the Hair Fair 2016. Sha has a large collection of hairs and is always on the look-out for new, unique, high quality hairs. In her early days as an exotic dancer, she had spotted an avatar with a beautiful long braid and spent months tracking down the shop it came from. The Hair Fair includes many designers, with new creations, that would give a percent of the profits to "Wigs for Kids". We copied three possible SLURLs and took off to find our next "to die for" hair. The first attempt to TP did not work, informing us that the sim was too full to allow any more to enter. Our second SLURL got us in and we land next to a large "You Are Here" map. The Fair was spread out across multiple sims and the street layout reminded us of the Nazca lines, in the deserts of Peru or the swirls in a finger print. We selected a path that would cover all the shops. Unlike the RFL Walk, there were no arrows on the street, to keep us on our selected path. At ground level, we would need some help navigating. The map and mini-map were no help here, because they didn't show the streets. We soon came up with a better way to check our progress. At the end of each block, Sha would stop and panned her cam to directly over head, high enough to see which direction to head next.<br />
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The next thing we notice is that this is like a suburban housing development. All the houses look alike and there are few landmarks to tell you if you have passed the same place before. Each vendor is set up in a garage, so it's like being in a town that only allows garage sales on one Saturday each month. I spent four hours at the Fair and managed to see all the vendors.</div>
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There are a few landmarks, scattered about the Fair, that created a secondary background theme. Here and there, we find film crews and their equipment. If you live in Los Angeles, this is a common sight, but here it kept me from going in circles, in a sea of ticky-tacky, at several street corners.</div>
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Scattered around the fair, we find several shops that provided head-wear for bald avatars, We wished we had known of them, during the month Sha was bald. The other shops displayed every style you can imagine. They also have hair for both women and men and even beards. In a shop, called Bizarre, I spotted one that would be perfect for Valkyrie, with bird wings on it.</div>
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All of the styles had free demos to try on before you buy and if you like a store's designs, you can also get a LM to their main store. Each time we tried a demo, we also added our Kemono head, to see if it would also work with all our mods. It was also fun to watch others trying on the demos. You could almost hear the sound of their minds, being made up, as they admired themselves wearing the demo. If you like the style, you then pick a color, like blonde, brown, red, etc. and it will come with a HUD for changing shades. Many were also available in fat-packs, with all the colors.</div>
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We had set a budget for this adventure and Sha managed, after four hours of shopping, to escape with two new styles that she could not live without, while staying well within the budget. Our new number one is this blonde, multi braid hippy look, which also has a base piece to adapt it to my Kemono head. We also got a blonde, straight, floor length style. I'll probably be wearing one or the other, next time you see me.</div>
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First impressions are lasting and the face and hair stand above in our display. If you want to change how people respond to you, a good looking hair style covers a multitude of sins. If you want to be "saved", come to Hair Fair 2016 and while you're at it, you'll also be helping those poor bald kids get wigs of their own.</div>
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<b><i>Sha</i></b></div>
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027651533531078463.post-9736341472666056272016-07-06T00:33:00.000-07:002016-07-06T00:33:53.508-07:00Spontaneous Gatherings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The topic of this report is one that this writer has observed, participated in and encouraged, many times during our years of adventures in Second Life. To the uninitiated and the newbie, SL may seem like an alternative life, an escape from the real world, just another form of addiction, an interactive boob-tube. As we mature, with age, our attention evolves from self interest to finding useful ways to be of service to all. To be of service to others, we need a connection with groups of others. This "urge to merge" could be called the Gathering Principle and can be seen at all levels of nature, from sub-atomic particles to whole galaxies. After being on SL a number of years, your reasons for staying evolved from "what fun is in it for me" to "How can I make this fun for everybody". What started as an addiction evolved into devotion to an altruistic ideal. Creating gatherings in SL is a means of computer modeling different formulas, used to gather, to find that which best complies with the universal laws of nature,a.k.a., divine will.<br />
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Second Life answers nature's call to gather with countless venues for gathering. Most are based on real life examples, like arenas, Dance Clubs and recreational areas. Second Life also seems to be big on little gathering locations and furniture, such as gazebos, campfires and our favorite, cuddle baskets. The larger gatherings require advanced preparations and notices sent out, to get large crowds at their events. The clubs enjoy large groups, because it raises their position in search engines of best places to visit in SL. Gatherings, like all things in the worlds of form, contain a mix of yin/yang (male/female) energies. Because larger gatherings contain elements of pre-planning and competition (best in theme, best avatar mods, best jokes and puns, etc.), the energy leans toward the male, electric, radiant energies, like those of the central sun in a solar system. On the other hand, small gatherings lean more to the female, magnetic, absorbent energies and are like the planets in a solar system. Competition is replaced by a cooperative spirit. Instead of trying to be the best individual of the group, those in small, spontaneous gatherings tend to assist the others to become more group oriented, more skilled at modding and more light-hearted and joyful, all of which makes them better, more useful members of the whole, larger community.<br />
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Our interest in small, spontaneous gatherings is not new. We have been planning to write about them for years, in the hope that understanding and using them would benefit residents in both SL and RL. The impetus to sit down and begin writing about them was sparked by a spontaneous gathering, that took place about a week ago.<br />
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Before describing the unplanned gathering, let's rewind a bit and examine the thinking that led up to it. To do this, we will need to break with convention and introduce Sha's RL player, a Moonchild called Rick. As a design engineer, creating 3D parts for machines that test circuit boards, the Moonchild's dream was to develop the ability to use 3D animations that would enlighten the minds of viewers. Sha broke from her usual routine, for 55 days, to create a 35 minute HD video about her favorite community. Pretty awesome build, for a first timer. The Moonchild had dreamed of this for decades.<br />
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Getting back to our gathering story, it seemed that the finished video got no views or comments. We begin to feel like a sun with no planets, a lonely falling star. It was hard to begin writing again, not knowing if we had an audience. At this point, Sha logs in, late night, with little question marks buzzing around her head. Who am I, why are we here and should I pay my rent now? Some house cleaning finished, we seek a little company and notice some friends are at Cutlass. Flying up, we talk with Rita about the local "cum see cum saws" [Fr. this and that], and mention some space junk, floating above the castle, that needs removal. Rita and Sha fly up and clear the junk, then hover and continue chatting. We were soon joined by Felina and, around these parts, "three's a party". The party moved to Felina's new back yard deck, with fire pit and surround seating. Within minutes, others arrived, one by one and joined us around the fire, until there were ten gathered, including Bixyl. Because this gathering was late night and on a private sim, there is a feeling of inner circle sanctity. Everybody enjoyed the topics of conversation and Elders Rita and Sha each gave short lectures on handy ways of storing mods and outfits in inventory. The spontaneous gathering lasted to the wee hours of the morning. We left with feelings of being uplifted and connected to a community of caring individuals. For us, it cured our writer's block. We've got a big box of words here. Stay tuned to see which ones we pull out after our next gathering adventure.<br />
Sha<br />
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Becky Shamenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01601866058925087715noreply@blogger.com0