Sunday, February 8, 2009

West of Ireland

One should absorb the colour of life, but one should never remember the details.
Details are always vulgar.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
It was the birthday of Millvina Dean the other night and the fine folks of sim West of Ireland threw a ball in her honour, which I attended. Millvina, who was not present, is the only living survivor of the Titanic. Interestingly, Spongebob Squarepants, in the centre of the picture, was one of the few 4th class passengers to survive the disaster and was a personal friend of Leonardo diCaprio, which is why he lives most of the year at the bottom of the sea. I had no idea Bob was that old and seeing him up close I couldn't but suspect he'd had some work done, he has the sharp corners of a much younger sponge. A great time was had by all, well me for certain, and the company and dancing were both enhanced by the fantastic photo display around the dance floor, showing the plush interior of the famous liner as well as dramatic paintings of her final moments.
West of Ireland is run by Siobhan McMahon on behalf of the South Texas Celtic Music Association. It's a charity sim, host to a wide range of shops , an Irish pub, a surfing beach where Cipriano Grut and Bobbi Laval run a competitive team and offer surfing lessons, and many fund raising booths for their cause Project Children in Northern Ireland. It's a charity that strives to bring together children from both Catholic and Protestant backgrounds and is a great cause. The sim also has an art gallery run by Hiawatha Runningbear and there's a competition on right now (first prize a whopping ten thousand Lind, if I'm not mistaken) for the best picture taken in SL... so you should tp over and pick up a set of the rules, if you're a photographer. I abstain, for reasons that are obvious to us all.The evening's readings take place under the stars at the smart modern library, built by Cunningham Doherty in March of last year (this night picture doesn't do it justice, scroll into the Italian bit for a better view) They have a rich regular schedule of book events well worth taking note of. Six nights a week you can come to the library (don't forget to click on Shaun the Sheep, in the corner, to pick up the WOI freebies such as yarn for the kitten in your life, Irish sweaters, and Celtic textures) and hear readings by Caledonia Skytower, Elder Priestman, Aiofe Lorefield, Shandon Loring, and Derry McMahon. The readings offer a nice mix of 19th century macabre, 20th century whodunnit, classic children's tales (Caledonia is currently reading from The Borrowers) and timeless legends, like the Darby O'Gill tale 'The Banshee's Comb' which Shandon Loring will be reading on Thursday. They keep it short and sweet, and for all the details of upcoming events, they have a fantastic blogsite of their own you can go and read.In this photo you see librarian Derry with Elder Priestman as they told the Poe story Sheherezade. They really brought the tale to life with their warm, humorous reading style, and we were all enchanted. Mark Twain is on the menu on Saturday, The diaries of Adam and Eve. Can't wait!
Join the West of Ireland group for regular updates and bookmark their website to keep up with all the fun. Mmmm thirsty work, I'm off for a Harp!

*****
Si deve assorbire il colore della vita, senza ricordarsi mai dei dettagli.
I dettagli sono volgari.
Oscar Wilde, Un ritratto di Dorian Grey
La biblioteca del sim West of Ireland è bella moderna proprio sulla riva del mare Atlantico guardando verso l'America, puoi ascoltare racconti inglesi e americani da domenica al venerdì ogni settimana. Si tratta di racconti brevi, come quelli di Agatha Christie, e Edgar Allen Poe, ma anche classici della letteratura d'infanzia come I rubacchiotti di Mary Norton, un simpaticissimo libro che parla di piccolissimi abitanti che ci portano via quegli oggetti domestici che crediamo 'smarriti'... Tutti i lettori sono molto esperti e se hai voglia di migliorare il tuo inglese all'insegna della letteratura e la buona compagnia, questo è il posto per te. La bibliotacaia Derry McMahon è bibliotecaia anche in Real, e organizza tutto con professionalità e simpatia. Leggi anche il loro blog per conoscere meglio un gruippo di amici trasatlantici che vogliono portare più comprensione e speranza a questo mondo spesso diviso e triste.
Questo interessantissimo sim di Siobhan McMahon promuove un progetto per aiutare i bambini protestanti e cattolici dell'Irlanda del nord, e ospita molti negozi, una bella spiaggia da surf con una squadra di surfers organizzata da Cipriano Grut e Bobbi Laval, e molti gioielli dell'architettura virtuale. C'è un pub irlandese dove puoi fare delle conoscenze e magari bere una Guinness o due. Per chi ama le textures, c'è una mostra sui tessuti celtici in corso, per saperne di piu' visitare il sim e il loro sito.Qui a W.O.I. troverai una stupenda galleria d'arte che proprio in questi giorni sta conducendo un concorso di fotografie scattate in SL (io non partecipo per ovvie ragioni) - corri a iscriverti, il primo premio è una somma ...cospicua! (OK ammetto non mi ricordo i dettagli.)
Sabato sera si balla invece al West of Ireland, la festa ha sempre un tema nuovo, molte volte festeggia un compleanno famoso o un evvenimento storico. Ad esempio l'altro sabato si festeggiava il compleanno di Millvina Dean, l'ultima supersite del Titanic. Come vedi nella foto riportato qui sopra, la pista da ballo è stata addobbata di foto del stupendo interno della nave e alcuni quadri di quella notte infausta. Presente e molto energico, Spongebob, il coloratissimo (e mi hanno detto molto vecchio) personaggio tanto amato dai bambini... ospite appropriato, visto che anche lui vive al fondo dell'oceano...

1 comment:

Ibrew said...

Very nice. Thank you for visiting and for telling people about us. We are very proud of the West of Ireland and love having visitors! Please allow me to make on small correction. Her name is Sioban McMahon and she's the heart and soul of the West of Ireland, and much of the reason why it's such a wonderful place.

Do come back soon :)