Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Christmas around world

This is my last 2008 article for déjà vu magazine. Hope you all enjoy, and if you do, please leave a comment.

The Christmas around world


By Anna Avalanche, Gisa Miles and Luiz Speedwell



The arrival of Christmas inspires people around the world. The people of many different continents come together in this period of confraternities, meetings of family, hot meals and of course, exchange gifts.


One of the most colorful celebrations of humanity is the greatest festival of Christianity. It is time when all the fantasy is permitted.

Christmas is a day on which commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. In antiquity, Christmas was celebrated in several different dates, because it is not known with accuracy the date of the birth of Jesus. It was only in the fourth century that Dec. 25 was established as the official date of celebration. In ancient Rome, the December 25 was the date on which the Romans celebrated the beginning of winter. Therefore, it is believed that there is a relationship between this fact with the official celebration of Christmas.



The Germans give the name of Stomach Fat to the day before Christmas. They believe that those who do not eat well that night will be tormented by demons in her sleep. Of ginger cookies and dishes made from pork, pasta and salads, plus marzipan for dessert, make up the German Christmas dinner.

Moreover the decorations of the Christmas markets in Germany misspend lights and colors, creating a world of dreams and the style and the spirit of the season. A cultural program completes the schedule of attractions


Austria - The Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and candy and the Nativity scene make a perfect pair. The December 25 and 26 are national holidays and people used to visit family and neighbors. These meetings are served cold dishes such as cheese and bread and the traditional cookies and biscuits for Christmas. The Christmas in Austria is famous for being the country of origin of Franz Gruber, the composer of "Silent Night", the most famous Christmas song.

Australia - The Australian supper consists basically of turkey, ham and pork with plum pudding. The Christmas tree of Australians is different from all others, because it is a native shrub with small red leaves.



The Chinese Christians celebrate their Christmas decorating their homes with colorful lanterns of paper. Even the Christmas trees which are called "trees of light ', are decorated with lanterns, flowers and other decorations of paper. As the American children, the Chinese also hang their stocking feet for the Santa put the presents there. But there his name is a bit trickier. The old man is called Dun He Ren dao, which means ''Old Christmas'.

Egypt – The Egypt Christians celebrate the Christmas for four weeks and each one of them lit a candle. They fast for 40 days and not missing Christmas dinner of bread, rice, garlic and ground beef.



France - The French homes have a special space reserved for the Nativity Scene, which is known for the quantity and richness of figures that compose. During the supper French can not miss the trunk of Christmas, a typical cake in the form of tree trunk.



Greece - On the day before of Christmas, the children walk the streets singing Kalandia - typical songs of the region - and as a reward receive candy and nuts. After 40 days of fasting, the Greeks eat pork, accompanied by Christopsomo, the bread of Christ. In the Greek celebration there isn’t Christmas tree. Instead, they use a container of wood suspended, filled with water, which is hung a sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross. Every day a person's family wet the cross and spray the house with her.



India - Exotic. This word describes well the Indian Christmas. Mango and banana trees are decorated in India during Christmas. Still, the Indians use the leaves of these trees to decorate their homes, and oil lamps in the edges of roofs and leaves of tropical plants and candles to decorate the churches. The Christmas in India is very strict in terms of respect for sacred rituals.


Brazil- as the Brazilian people is one of the most cheerful of the world; the celebration of Christmas here could not be different. Millions of Brazilians gathered in family to celebrate the arrival of December 25. Full of popular culture and traditions, the celebration of Christmas has different performances throughout the country, with regional events and highlighted differentiated mainly in the north and northeast. In general, Christmas in Brazil isn’t much different from natal North Americans and Europeans: the family is held in an exchange of gifts near the Christmas tree and table is always full of delicious meals. The only major difference is the weather, because we are in December at the height of summer and they are in the winter.

But No matter the language, ethnicity, economic condition, age or the climate. Color, joy, hope, love, gifts and music create the festive atmosphere of the time and each country follows a tradition, respecting the line of evolutionary time, the legends and customs produced by ancestors.


This article has been sponsored by AA Trade Company, Cleary (128,128,0) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cleary/128/128/0

For more pictures and information see:
English blog: http://annaavalanche.blogspot.com/
Portuguese blog: http://dejavu-intl-portuguese.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annaavalanche/

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Exploring the new sailing area

I spent the last couple of days exploring the new sailing area created east of the Nautilus continent with the creation of the sims of the Blake Sea and moving the United Sailing Sim. This is the first time a direct link is being created between a group of private estates and mainland

Exploring the Blake Sea

I used several of my ships in this esploration, that you can see in the pictures

Exploring the Blake Sea

I have mixed feelings about this operation. It is surely a wonderful opportunity for all those who love maritime activities in SL and expecially sailing, and I keep thinking to get at least a docking place in the area. But these same thoughts have also made me think of the great unbalance this operation has brought into SL. It is very clear that the lands aroung the Blake Sea, both the mainland in the larger Nautilus continent, and the private estate of the USS are more equal than the others. There is no match between a seaside parcel in the original mainland or in the Southern Continent and one close to the Blake Sea. And no other estate will ever be able to offer access the same amount of world that the USS have now. I love Beek Haven for instance, and the Sea of Antiquity, and I used to sail a lot in the water of the elven lands. But there is no match honestly. They are still great for roleplaying but they have become very small for fun sailing. This new situation will be (and already is) reflected in the value of the properties and of the commercial spaces located in the different areas.

the Morning Star Sailing from Nautilus to Sailors Cove

Apart from these considerations the area is just great and offers hours of fun and great views.

the Star of Faeria Cruising from Sailors Cove to Nautilus

I invite all those who like sea activities in SL to spend some time there and explore. It is a great experience.

the Star of Faeria Cruising from Sailors Cove to Nautilus

the Star of Faeria Cruising from Sailors Cove to Nautilus


See other beautiful places inside Second Life
Virtual Africa: Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont
Deja vu International & AA Trade

want to hug a dragon ? - Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont

Oxbridge - Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont

Zurich City SL Opera House Second Life - Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont

Saturday, January 17, 2009

What is Second Life? How to download Second Life? How to sign in Second Life?

I know the majority of readers from this blog known Second Life very well. But I have notice that some readers don’t know this platform or let’s say browser 3D. So I wrote this article for those who don’t know the metaverse, maybe some are your friends. If someone don’t understand what is Second Life invite them to read this article or make a commentary here. I will try to answer as soon as possible. At the end of this post I included some links for you to download Second Life and make your registration at Linden’s Lab (the creator of Second Life) to try this virtual world experience.

But what is Second Life? Second Life is a real life simulator in a virtual world totally 3D. We can also say it is a 3D browser too, analogous to Internet Explorer. Therefore, people can interact with others avatars from other countries. They can also create objects, business and personalize their avatar everything in a 3D ambiance. Residents can travel all around the world and meet people. Second Life is something like the combination of a simulator, web site, Orkut, and MSN all mix in a 3D environment.

What are the minimum requirements for me to run Second Life?
Your computer must meet these minimum requirements, or you may not be able to successfully participate in Second Life.

For Windows:
Internet Connection*: Cable or DSL
Operating System: 2000, XP, or Vista
Computer Processor: 800 MHz Pentium III or Athlon, or better
Computer Memory: 512 MB or more
Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
Graphics Card for XP/2000**:
• NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4 MX or better
• OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250 or better
• OR Intel 945 chipset
Graphics Card for Vista (requires latest drivers)**:
• NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better
• OR ATI Radeon 9500 or better
• OR Intel 945 chipset


For Mac:

Internet Connection*: Cable or DSL
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or better
Computer Processor: 1 GHz G4 or better
Computer Memory: 512 MB or more
Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
Graphics Card**:
• ATI Radeon 9200 and above
• OR ATI Radeon X Series
• OR NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4
• OR NVIDIA GeForce 5000 Series and above

Is it Second Life the web future platform?

I think Second Life definitely is a new concept platform. Obviously other innovations will make this concept better in the future. Others browsers similar to Second Life are here to prove my question. Other programs such as Smallworlds, Popmundo, Maplestory and Kaneva are analogous to the Second Life concept. Even the powerful Google yield to this idea.

Like I Said I believe this concept is the future of internet. Beyond all possibilities Second Life facilitate people relationship, business and learning. Also SL is a good 3D software. The most impressive thing in SL for me is the possibility to go inside a shop and talk to other customers. This is something very difficult to be seen in a 2D website. There are also unlimited possibilities to create pictures, movies and 3D objects. Actually there are more than 15 million accounts open and Sl economy grow about 35% an year. If you bet Second Life you will do well.

To login Second Life you need to follow these steps:

01- Click the image (Login Second Life) on the blog left column. After that touch “GET STARTED” on your right upper screen at Linden Lab website and fill the application form. When you finish that you will receive the link by e-mail. Next you need to download the Second Life software.
02 - Download here the Second Life software if the other link don’t work.

If you still have doubts click here for Second Life and make the software download

Friday, January 16, 2009

Virtual Africa

Have you ever wished to visit the Serengeti ? Until you can do so you can get very close to the experience visiting Virtual Africa in SL.

Virtual Africa

This is a beautiful region, made of 4 (soon to be 5) sims where the African ecosystem, culture and traditions are on display, realized with great passion and care.

Virtual Africa

I found the place jumping randomly from blogs to tweets and, at last, I saw a LM in a tweet, with an invitation to visit the place. I followed the LM and I found myself in this beautiful natural paradise. I was greeted almost immediately by Alanagh Recreant, one of the souls behind the project and a Capetown resident in RL.

Virtual Africa

Alanagh took me around on a balloon tour where I got a great felling of the place. You just need to immerse yourself a bit on the experience and you really believe to be flying over the savana.

Virtual Africa

There are wild animals areas, beautiful landscapes, camping areas, themed platforms in the sky, rivers to navigate, cultural centers and a market where one can find African outfits.

virtual africa

It was an overall great experience. More tours are available with stations to follow all over the place and I definitely plan to go back there for more exploration.

virtual africa

Oh .. I was forgetting: when you are there set your environment to sunset. The warm colors of the sunset light are perfect to enhance an already gorgeous experience.

Have fun ... and remember to pet a lion :)

W

Monday, January 12, 2009

Second Life Events Schedule for January 2009

January 18th
Time: 2 PM SLT
SL NAG @ Rich Island

Wipping Willow live premiere
from MIDEM event @ Cannes / Frances

http://myspace.com/WippingWillow
http://www.midem.net

Scheduled Sequence:

introductory instrumental, image et violoncelle
la periode noire (4 songs) "CInematika"
cerise intro tango
then the singer Anouk joins on l'oiseau tarantelle !

Emergence
Cello Fan
Darquologie
Cerise

Oiseau tarentelle
Cordes pixélisée
coeur grillé
Bonheur ephemere (i shouldn't)
Lollipop
Keskejfoula
rupture inversé (beauty arround)
Escapade
Demenagement
watcha Weia

RL-Videos to your attention:

oiseau tarentelle : http://vimeo.com/1138620
Bonheur ephemere (i shouldn't): http://vimeo.com/2228371
Keskejfoula : http://vimeo.com/2401243
Lollipop : http://vimeo.com/2559001
rupture inversé (beauty around) : http://vimeo.com/2188756
Escapade: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5hyyt_wipping-willow-la-bellevilloise-liv_music
Demenagement : http://vimeo.com/1169521

-------------------------------------------------
January 19th
Time: 1PM
SL Zurich Opera House

Info: http://www.francescocuoghi.it/bibli_streaming.htm
http://www.bibli.it/musica/adesso/2009/09-01.htm

LIVE from ROME:
Maurizio Barbetti viola
Francesco Cuoghi guitar and electronics
Gabriel Maldonado guitars and electronics
Speaker: Gianni Antognozzi

Music from following composers:
Eckart Beinke, Klaus Stahmer, Luca Miti, Edu Haubensak,Bruno Strobl,
Aldo Brizzi, Gerhard Stäbler, Gabriel Maldonado, Riccardo Sinigaglia

ask EdDereDdE Laval - for further infos :)

Friday, December 19, 2008

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year



My Christmas Wish For You


My Christmas wish for you, my friend
Is not a simple one
For I wish you hope and joy and peace
Days filled with warmth and sun

I wish you love and friendship too
Throughout the coming year
Lots of laughter and happiness
To fill your world with cheer

May you count your blessings, one by one
And when totaled by the lot
May you find all you've been given
To be more than what you sought

May your journeys be short, your burdens light
May your spirit never grow old
May all your clouds have silver linings
And your rainbows pots of gold

I wish this all and so much more
May all your dreams come true
May you have a Merry Christmas friend
And a happy New Year, too ..
We wish you a merry Christmas :)

Hope we all have a peaceful and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year


Anna Avalanche