Norgaard Place: What’s in the box?

As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post (“Leaving Second Norway”), last month I moved into a new home – back to mainland! And for the first time since I’ve joined Second Life, it happens to be a skybox.

Normally I’m not a huge fan of skyboxes, preferring to play with terraforming and landscaping down on the ground. However, this one seemed to fit all my needs in terms of space, design, prim count etc. And it spares me the sight of the typical mainland horrors – although, in all honesty, the area around Odie, Nautilus, where my parcel is located, is not all that bad (at least for the time being).

Anyway, let me unpack this box and take you on a short tour.

Upon landing, the ground floor houses the Odie Cinema, where we now have our regular Friday silent movie nights…

… the meditation area…

… and a small gym.

There’s also an outdoor area. Originally, it was a pool with some water features, but with Duncan’s help, I transformed it into a small park.

Up on the first floor you will find a library…

…. and a cafe with a nice view of pretty much the entire skybox.

The second floor is the only area that is more private in nature. Just a simple bedroom, with some of my toys on display. 😈

So, there it is. You’re welcome to visit whenever, especially at times when there are some activities going on there. As a reminder – unless we’re on a break, or there is some RL emergency – silent movie nights take place Fridays from 1 pm SLT, and daily 30-minute meditation sessions start at 11:30 pm SLT. To visit, follow this SLurl.

Leaving Second Norway

All good things come to an end, as they say, and so did my stay in East Fjord Grieg of Second Norway. During the time I was there, my island went through many transformations, from a fishing village to a medieval castle and many things in between. It was also a home to Refugium, a small meditation space, and the place where I first launched silent movie nights that eventually became a regular Friday event.

When I returned from my summer holidays, I decided to make a few changes affecting both my RL and SL, including decluttering my living space, and trimming down my overall expenses. In the spirit of that decision, I knew I had to let go of Second Norway. On my last day there, as I was taking back my items, I reflected on all the memories and good things that happened there. I didn’t stay too long, though, not wanting to get too sentimental. Once I had all my thingies back in the inventory, I TPed to the rental place to click the ‘won’t renew’ button, and that was that.

At the moment, I’m regrouping in Odie, my mainland parcel, where all my stuff will be up in a skybox that I’ve had my eye on for a long time. More on that as soon as things are ready there!

Biker Bar on Route 12

This mainland parcel used to be the location of Odie Cinema, before its recent move back to Second Norway.

Now, if you travel along Route 12 on the mainland continent of Nautilus, you can make a stop here, refill your tank and grab something to eat and drink.

There might even be some live entertainment!

Sure enough, there’s a restroom, too.

So, weary traveller, do come by! Here’s the SLurl.

P. S. As I’ve pretty much reached the prim limit there, you definitely won’t be able to rezz a vehicle or much else on the parcel, but there’s a public rezz zone in immediate vicinity!

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.

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.

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.

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

Odie Petrol Station reopens

For a brief time, I had a small petrol station in Odie, Nautilus, along Route 12. Then I decided to re-purpose the parcel for my silent movie cinema, and all the car and bike stuff had to go away. But now I’m back in the business of tank filling!

Thanks to the recent increase in mainland prim limit, I’ve been able to rezz much more than I used to have there. And, sure enough, I’ve managed to reach that new limit within about 20 minutes… A lot of it is just trash – literally: a smashed car, barrels, used tires… I wanted something different from my neat and tidy Second Norway home.

Anyway, if you find yourself on Route 12, stop by for a refill and some donuts! Here’s the SLurl.

Good bye Heterocera, hello Nautilus!

Last night my last remaining parcel on Heterocera was sold. Since my move to Second Norway a few months ago, I’d only used the land in Triphosa for my small thrift store. It also served as a kind of a memento to a quarter sim that I used to own in the area. Eventually I decided to let it go. Fred, a good friend of mine, bought it and is now working on building a new train station there.

Duncan and I on the empty parcel, soon to be Fred’s train station

I haven’t given up on mainland, though. I still want a mainland place with access to a public road, where I can come back to after a road trip. I managed to find just one such location, on a continent I haven’t explored much so far – Nautilus, in a place called Odie. There I’ve just set up my petrol station and cafe, conveniently located right next to the public rezz zone.

The area is pleasant and surprisingly free of too much mainland clutter. And Route 12, judging by what I see on the world map, looks promising. I’m definitely looking forward to exploring it.

The place is still in need of some finishing touches, but if you need to fill your tank and grab a cup of coffee or a slice of home-made pie, you’re welcome to visit:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Odie/67/248/52