Firstly, in running around through Second Life and google searches, this has to be one of my favorite finds:
It is a second run horror movie theatre, streaming very high quality flicks. Last week,
they were showing Tarantino's "Death Proof", this week is Dario Argento's "Phenomena."
You can get free popcorn, chips, drinks, or other snacks to attach to yourself, on top
of buyable movie posters, cardboard cutouts, and haunted house type things.
It's a nice visit, and fun to cruise around the rest of the theatre.
Another interesting location is this Spaceflight Museum.
Not sure who owns it but I know it's not a NASA thing. It's wild how something like this can go on to look so official (and make money) without having much ground in the real world. Who knows who made it! It could be someone's crazy computer programmer grandpa who got bored over a few weekends.
Secondly, back to first life!
Royal De Luxe is a large-scale, European puppet theatre. Through engineering and performance, the company is able to (without warning) transport an entire bustling city street t0 a crosstown story, enveloping their entire audience in their world.
I think it's an astounding example of a virtual world designed within our own world, one that can fully engage the people viewing it, and may trigger an emotional response through story or scale alone.
Of course, there is a god figure involved to control the world, but this harks back to the puppet/puppeteer relationship we discussed last class. Is Royal De Luxe, in mounting these large scale city-altering impromptu showcases, controlling their giant beasts, and their audience as well?
