Photoset: Bedtime Reading
Tag Archives: gay
Norgaard Village – Summer 2020 Updates
I’ve been making lots and lots of changes to Norgaard Village lately (surprise, surprise!). I do love experimenting with different builds and features, it’s a lot of fun to work on that elusive perfect feel to a piece of virtual land. And over the past few weeks I’ve been doing that a lot, on an almost daily basis! It must be due to the pandemic and the fact that I’ve been spending most of my time at home – spending a little bit of extra time in Second Life helps to distract you from thinking and worrying about all the crazy RL stuff…
So anyway, let me give you a brief walk-through. The landing point is by the public road (Route 12), in the central part of Norgaard Village, right at the small police station / village office.
Following the path up north will take you to Refugium – our old meditation spot (also filled with fortune tellers, magic potions and Voodoo stuff!).
There’s also a small Shinto shrine – pretty much the only feature that has survived all the recent changes intact.
The area to the south is where you’ll find a small gas station, and a garage / service station / workshop – a man cave, basically.
Nestled among lush grass and wildflowers are the remains of a mysterious phallic cult. These rocks must have been here for thousands of years!
Up in the hills is where you’ll find the local brewery…
…the diner…
…and my home on the floor above.
To me, the single most important feature of the Village is one that occupies about the quarter of the parcel – the swamp. Ever since I left Second Norway and moved all my stuff to this mainland parcel in Odie, the swamp has been there (initially a small lake that I gradually turned into what it is now), with most of the builds placed around it and somehow gravitating towards it.
The waters are crocodile-infested, so think twice before jumping in!
The whole place is open to public, feel free to visit and use whatever you like! To get there, you can follow this SLurl.
Winter at Norgaard Place
This winter I’ve changed quite a few things around my place. Soon after Christmas, the large church and the Advent display were gone, and it took me some experimenting with different builds to see what would fit in their stead. The snow is still there, as is the ice sheet over the frozen swamps, but about half of the builds have been replaced.
The central part, also the landing point close to Route 12 and the rezzing area, remains my little office. It’s the oldest surviving building in all of Norgaard, withstanding all the many transformations and additions to the place.
Following the path to the south you will soon reach the brand new area, containing the gym, the small diner, and the boxing club.
Speaking of the gym, you’ll find that inside the building there are displays of the covers of gay magazines from the year 1980. Initially, it was supposed to be a full-blown exhibition in a much larger space, but given the time (and prim limit) constraints, I gave up on the idea. Still, as a compromise, many of the covers I’d prepared are now displayed all over the gym building as a sort of 40-years-later tribute to these now extincts mags and the men who adorned their covers.
Following the path above the swamp, you’ll reach the new Refugium building where we have our daily meditation sessions. There you can also get some nice winter treats: roast chestnuts, a cup of warm cocoa or coffee and such.
There’s also a bit of a naughty twist to it, as behind the Refugium building there’s a small sex shop!
The northern part of Norgaard Place has been left intact: there’s the small Shinto shrine, and finally, at the end of the path, my home.
In a few weeks the snow will melt and the ice will thaw, but until then you can come and enjoy the winter at Norgaard Place. 🙂
Direct TP to Refugium – meditation sessions take place daily between 2330 and midnight SLT
A few snapshots from this year’s Pride Festival in Second Life
Reminder: the Goh Mishima exhbition at the Refugium gallery continues throughout February. To visit, please follow this SLurl.
A special Japan event at Refugium
On Friday, 5 January 2018, there will be a special three-part event at Refugium. Starting at 1 pm SLT, there will first be the opening of an exhibition displaying works of Japanese homoerotic artist Goh Mishima. Upon teleporting, visitors will receive a notecard and a HUD accompanying the exhibition. (Note: some of the works are explicit.)
After the tour of the gallery space, we will enjoy some delicious Japanese food and sweets in the castle courtyard.
And if you’re in a more reflective mood, you can visit the small shinto shrine at the northern tip of the island.
Finally, around 1:30 pm SLT, we will have our regular Friday silent movie night – this time we’ll be watching a short silent film travelogue of Japan, made in the 1920s (the decade in which Mishima was born).
To reach Refugium, please follow this SLurl. Looking forward to having you with us!
P. S. Many thanks to Duncan Armundsen and Ciska Riverstone for helping out with the preparations for this event! ❤
Gay April at Odie Cinema
April is a special month for the Odie Cinema, as it was on April 15, 2016 that our silent movie nights first started.
That first screening was part of an exhibition I organised on my island in Second Norway – Love in Sepia – showing early photographs depicting male-male intimacy. To go with the theme, the first movie was Different from the Others (Anders als die Andern), a 1919 German silent on the subject of homosexuality. It was only after that movie that I came to the idea of organizing regular silent movie nights in Second Life.
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| The venue of the first silent movie night |
At the very beginning, the movie nights were a once-a-month event on the island, first in the park, during summer months on a boat, later in a proper cinema building.
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| Inside an earlier building used for the cinema |
Eventually they evolved into weekly gatherings at a separate mainland location in Odie, Nautilus, taking place on Fridays, 13:00 SLT (exceptionally at 14:00).
Additionally, there is now a Facebook group dedicated to Odie Cinema, and a Google Plus collection, both featuring news and updates, as well as background information on the scheduled movies.
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| Snapshot of our group page on FB |
I must say a big thank you to everyone who has been a part of our community. My Friday evenings wouldn’t be the same without you! Special thanks goes to those who have been helping me in various ways, from technical support to donations (often both): Duncan, Monique, Ciska, Florian, Zoe, Terance.
In honour of the Odie Cinema beginnings, this April will be dedicated to homosexuality in silent cinema. There is a surprising number of silent movies which had either a homoerotic plot or subplot, and this month’s selection is aimed at showing some of the most important ones.
7th April 2017
Michael (Mikael, 1924)
Made by the celebrated Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer, this German movie made history. Based on the novel by Herman Bang (who himself was gay), it tells the story of an unusual love triangle. The film has been praised for visual beauty and psychological insight. Starring Benjamin Christensen (known to Odie Cinema regulars as the director of Swedish movie “Witches”), Walter Slezak, Nora Gregor.
14th April 2017
Le menage moderne du Madame Butterfly (c. 1920)
We’re going to celebrate our first anniversary with a bang! This adult movie is the first known movie to include explicit scenes of gay / bi sex. It is only about 6 minutes long, and the intertitles are in French, but I’m sure people will have no trouble following the plot…
It was directed by Bernard Natan, a Romanian-born French director and actor, and the owner of Pathe – the world famous movie company. He was also one of the most important names in the early history of adult cinema, as well as the history of television: in 1929, he was the founder of France’s first TV station, Television-Baird-Natan, and a contributor to important TV experiments done earlier that year in Germany.
21st April 2017
Sex in Chains (Geschlecht in Fesseln, 1928)
This German silent movie was directed by Wilhelm Dieterle. The movie is about a group of cellmates, their (sexual) frustrations in the absence of women, and how the prison changed them. The film apparently aimed at a prison reform in Weimar Germany, rather than anything to do with homosexuality, but it is nowadays considered an important early gay-themed film. Starring Wilhelm Dieterle, Gunnar Tolnaes, Paul Henckels.
28th April 2017
Lot in Sodom (1933)
This is an experimental, avant-garde movie directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber. It is not entirely silent, but I thought it would be a shame to miss it this month. It is based on a well-known Biblical narrative, and in fact the intertitles are all quotes from the Bible. Of course, homosexuality hasn’t always been led into connection with the sin of Sodom, but that is the case here. Starring Friedrich Haak, Hildegarde Watson, Lewis Whitbeck, Dorothea Haus.
P. S.
Finally, as a reminder, here’s a list of all the films we’ve had the chance to see until now (you can search most of the titles on the blog for more information). They are all available on YouTube, if you want to do some catching up…
April 2016
* Different from the Others
May 2016
* Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans
June 2016
* The General
* The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
July 2016
* The Abyss
August 2016
summer break
September 2016 (theme: German expressionist films)
* From Morn Till Midnight
* The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
* Destiny
* The Last Laugh
October 2016 (theme: silent horrors)
* The Cat and the Canary
* Witches
* Nosferatu
* The Haunted Castle
* The Haunted House
November 2016 (theme: Vamps)
* A Fool There Was
* Salome
* Cobra
* The Circle
December 2016 (theme: Christmas)
* Three’s a Crowd
* A Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa
* A Trap for Santa Claus
* The Night Before Christmas
* A Christmas Carol
* The Adventure of the Wrong Santa Claus
* Big Business
January 2017 (theme: American South in silent cinema)
* Our Hospitality
* Sparrows
* The Birth of a Nation
February 2017 (theme: silent westerns directed by William S. Hart)
* The Return of Draw Egan
* Hell’s Hinges
* Wagon Tracks
* Tumbleweeds
March 2017 (theme: Japanese silent movies directed by Yasujiro Ozu)
* Days of Youth
* I Was Born, But…
* Woman of Tokyo
* Dragnet Girl
Cross-dressing in 1920s Berlin. Read the full story here: http://abinoamsjournal.blogspot.com/2015/02/fraulein-nrgaard-at-eldorado.html
Reading "Der Eigene" in 1920s Berlin
The world’s first gay magazine was founded in Berlin in 1896. “Der Eigene”, with selling line changing over the years, contained anarchist (later social-democratic) political writings along with literary works and homoerotic art. It was banned once the Nazis seized power, and the last issue dates to 1932.
For my apartment in the 1920s Berlin sim, I made a few copies which are lying around. Now, don’t get too excited – as I can’t really build a thing in SL (shame on me), these are just simple prims with the cover texture on them which I made a long time ago. But if anyone would like a copy, two are available on my Marketplace, and I’ll be adding more when I get to it.
To access Abinoam’s Home Collection on MP, click here.
Nørgaard Village Post 