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Second Life 16th Birthday Celebrations Confirmed


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15 minutes ago, Jameson2001 said:

Actually researchers think childhood memories (things we remember as adults) can begin as early as age 3.  So Blush definitely can remember Disneyland and Chubby since those events happened way later than when she was 3.  What has been fun for me is to meet all the people in SL of all ages but especially those in their 50's and 60's (Have not met anyone 70 or older yet).  The life experiences that they share in world is incredibly fun to hear and I am constantly amazed at their creativity and passion for making SL a beautiful place.

P.S.  I was born in 1962 and one of my first vivid memories that was a huge deal was watching the first moon landing in 1969.  The whole neighborhood TV sets were on watching the coverage and I remember us kids running around the yards looking up at the moon and marveling at the fact that their were people on the moon!

 

 

I totally agree that the diversity of SL, including the variety of ages and experiences here, is one of the pleasures of the platform.

I must be a bit of an anomaly perhaps. If pressed, I could probably come up with some fragmentary memories of the 70s, and I certainly remember the 80s. But the period with which I mostly identify is the 90s, when I came of age and started adulting.

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5 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

What relatively little I do know about 50s culture mostly concerns the post-war immigration of African Americans from the south to places like Chicago and Detroit

That happened after the Civil War .. not so much WWII.

By the way, I am a retired art and history teacher. So perhaps I am more fond of historical periods than most. I adore history regardless of whether it was a good period or not because we can and should learn from our past so that we know better how to shape our futures.

Edited by Blush Bravin
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They had some really catchy tunes back then and don't forget the artists from the 50s were still around in the 60s and 70s and people would have sampled their back catalog.  I think the nostalgia appeals even if you weren't around in the 50s and it's a less esoteric theme than last year's - crystal

 

 

 

 

 

 

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18 minutes ago, Blush Bravin said:

That happened after the Civil War .. not so much WWII.

By the way, I am a retired art and history teacher. So perhaps I am more fond of historical periods than most. I adore history regardless of whether it was a good period or not because we can and should learn from our past so that we know better how to shape our futures.

No, there was a second wave, mostly of displaced sharecroppers, following the war

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Great_Migration_(African_American)

Most of the great Chicago blues players, like Muddy Waters, were born in the Mississippi Delta region.

And yes, agreed about the importance of history!

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As a general theme for a celebration in a virtual world that's filled with fantasy, I don't see an issue with it even if it's glassy-eyed nostalgia.  People choose themes for parties and celebrations all the time, focusing on what is iconic about the theme even though I'm sure most all themes also have a dark side.   Being mainly a child of the 1960's (I was born in 1959) I can say that even the flower child peace and love experience of that generation had a dark underside.

What is iconic about the 1950's in my mind are poodle-skirts, soda fountains (and root beer floats), bowling, music, dancing, what my mom called peddle-pushers (and I call capris and might have been clam-diggers on the eastern US coast?).    I think the general iconic images of that period are great starting points for a celebration.  As so much of the SL birthday builds are resident built, even the migration of blues artists from the South to Chicago could be chronicled and celebrated in a resident-created exhibit if one wished. 

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10 minutes ago, moirakathleen said:

As a general theme for a celebration in a virtual world that's filled with fantasy, I don't see an issue with it even if it's glassy-eyed nostalgia.  People choose themes for parties and celebrations all the time, focusing on what is iconic about the theme even though I'm sure most all themes also have a dark side.

Of course: I'm not actually trying to poop on people's celebration of the nice or fun things that people associate with an era. 

That said, "The 50s" isn't just a "fantasy" theme: it's a representation of a particular historical epoch that had a LOT of different resonances for people still alive, and that echoes today in some of the social issues we still face. I'm far from suggesting that it should all be darkness and grit, but I also worry about the tendency to uncritically romanticize periods that were, for large portions of the world, about things a lot more viscerally important than poodle skirts and rock and roll. 

And it's not just about the "dark side" either: it's about diversifying the representation of the period so that it is more truly representative of -- and relevant to -- a broader range of identities and experiences.

17 minutes ago, moirakathleen said:

As so much of the SL birthday builds are resident built, even the migration of blues artists from the South to Chicago could be chronicled and celebrated in a resident-created exhibit if one wished

I was thinking about this, actually. Not about the experiences of blacks during the second great migration specifically, but certainly about important and (for me and I'm sure others) signature aspects of the period, as most obviously the beginning of the civil rights movement in the States. 

I'm not sure I'm qualified to really chronicle any of that myself (although I might be able to do something on the status of women in the period), and I don't have the mesh building skills to do a decent job if I was. But I do hope that others address these diverse perspectives on the period.

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1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

That said, "The 50s" isn't just a "fantasy" theme: it's a representation of a particular historical epoch that had a LOT of different resonances for people still alive, and that echoes today in some of the social issues we still face. I'm far from suggesting that it should all be darkness and grit, but I also worry about the tendency to uncritically romanticize periods that were, for large portions of the world, about things a lot more viscerally important than poodle skirts and rock and roll. 

I didn't mean to imply that "the 50s" was just a fantasy theme.  I often do not do well at expressing my thoughts clearly.  If we were talking about a national or international real life celebration, I would think differently about it than as a celebration in SL (which I view as a fantasy place in part to escape from the darkness and grit of real life). 

In real life, I am very much a firm believer that societies need to learn and understand the past so that they don't repeat mistakes of the past or, perhaps more importantly, unwittingly give up rights and advances that were only won through hard-fought social change battles several generations ago. 

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6 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I'm not sure that was a consideration in the choice of theme.

5 hours ago, lummystar said:

it's a less esoteric theme than last year's - crystal

I don't think there's much specific consideration behind the themes, other than - at least for the last couple of years - a brainstorming session of "What is associated with this number?"

15th birthday theme = crystal: the traditional gift for a 15th wedding anniversary.

16th birthday theme = the 1950s and it's already been announced as "Sweet Sixteen" which is a title that many associate with several songs from the 1950s.

 

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1 hour ago, Skell Dagger said:

I don't think there's much specific consideration behind the themes, other than - at least for the last couple of years - a brainstorming session of "What is associated with this number?"

15th birthday theme = crystal: the traditional gift for a 15th wedding anniversary.

16th birthday theme = the 1950s and it's already been announced as "Sweet Sixteen" which is a title that many associate with several songs from the 1950s.

 

 

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8 hours ago, Alyona Su said:

So true! I barely remember the '90s  BUT, I did find an old TV show called Happy Days, I've been catching up on stuffs! Hahahaha I was wondering WTF is a "poodle skirt" LOL Okay, now I know. So cute those were!

I totally loved watching Happy Days when I was a kid. Check out Laverne & Shirley too. It was a Happy Days spin-off, one of the few TV show spin-offs that was a great success.

 

8 hours ago, Jameson2001 said:

Actually researchers think childhood memories (things we remember as adults) can begin as early as age 3.  So Blush definitely can remember Disneyland and Chubby since those events happened way later than when she was 3.  What has been fun for me is to meet all the people in SL of all ages but especially those in their 50's and 60's (Have not met anyone 70 or older yet).  The life experiences that they share in world is incredibly fun to hear and I am constantly amazed at their creativity and passion for making SL a beautiful place.

P.S.  I was born in 1962 and one of my first vivid memories that was a huge deal was watching the first moon landing in 1969.  The whole neighborhood TV sets were on watching the coverage and I remember us kids running around the yards looking up at the moon and marveling at the fact that their were people on the moon!

 

I was also born in 1962 and somewhat remember that moon landing on TV.  Most of my childhood memories are more like tiny snippets - too much intentionally blocked out.

 

Things about the 50s that I love: 
  The clothing style - I love the long pencil skirts, the tea length flared swing dresses & skirts, the poodle skirts, as well as the high waisted cigarette pants (basically high waisted versions of our leggins, but made of leather and other materials), and just about everything else that they wore in that era.
  I also love the music from that time period.  Something about the doo wop, swing, and rockabilly stuff just always gets my feet to tapping, makes me want to jump up & dance, and generally just puts me in a good mood.

I always told my mother that as far as fashion and music go, I should have been born when she was.  I am glad I did not have to grow up with their view of women and sex though.

 

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1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

The clothing style - I love the long pencil skirts, the tea length flared swing dresses & skirts, the poodle skirts, as well as the high waisted cigarette pants (basically high waisted versions of our leggins, but made of leather and other materials), and just about everything else that they wore in that era.
  I also love the music from that time period.  Something about the doo wop, swing, and rockabilly stuff just always gets my feet to tapping, makes me want to jump up & dance, and generally just puts me in a good mood.

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14 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

I also love the music from that time period.  Something about the doo wop, swing, and rockabilly stuff just always gets my feet to tapping, makes me want to jump up & dance, and generally just puts me in a good mood. 

The Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley TV shows were a big influence on loving the 50's for younger generations.  I will always remember Richie, Potsie, Ralph Malph and the Fonz......ayyyyyyyyye thumbs up.   And, who can forget Sha Na Na

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  • 4 weeks later...
32 minutes ago, VivienneAKittenn said:

So, Daniel I would like to know where to find the place to join as greeter this year, I´ve been greeting at SL Birthdays. Any idea?

it's in the blogpost :)

Quote

SL16B Applications for volunteers, performers and exhibitors will be opening soon - so stay tuned to our blog for more updates as these applications become available.

 

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On 3/15/2019 at 8:46 AM, Shudo said:

Not at the level of the 1950s, when you take off the rose coloured glasses it was a decade that stood pretty much alone for post-war shortages, conflict, and hatred.

McCarthyism and Red Panic in the USA and of course the Korean War in the first half and then the horrors of the Vietnam war in the second half.

All the time while the cold war was ramping up and Europe was divided even more as a result of the USA/USSR tensions.. Additionally it was the decade of the Suez Crisis which caused some substantial issues in that region. The Algerian war started. The Cuban Revolution. The Kenyan uprising. The start of the Rwandan genocides. The Hungarian revolution also occurred. China "reclaimed" Tibet. Cambodian Insurgency. 

 

I just wanna dance and listen to 50's music, forget all the negative crap as Blush has said, the 50's was no better than any other decade. I will never understand why people always have to crap on every idea someone has, let's just have fun and enjoy what WAS positive about the era. *closes the door behind her and goes back to enjoying life*

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the 1950s was a decade of hope. Hope for people in western societies who had come through 2 World Wars and the Depression

the seeds for civil rights, emancipation, social justice, democracy and the strengthening of societal institutions to foster the growth of these, were sown in that decade. It is true that there was resistance by some parts of society against all of these things, as there still is today

i am grateful though to my great/grandparent generations for what they set in motion and I am happy to remember them and what they did for me, in this celebration

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1 hour ago, Mollymews said:

the seeds for civil rights, emancipation, social justice, democracy and the strengthening of societal institutions to foster the growth of these, were sown in that decade

All of these things were "sown" well before the 1950s. They just weren't quite loud enough until the 60s.

Edited by Selene Gregoire
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that is literally correct about the seeds. We could also say that the seed for emancipation was first sown from an apple plucked from the Tree of Knowledge

i rephrase things

it was in the 1950s that US civil rights entered into mainstream white US consciousness. 1954 Brown v Board of Education, 1955 Parks v Montgomery, to name two

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2 hours ago, Mollymews said:

that is literally correct about the seeds. We could also say that the seed for emancipation was first sown from an apple plucked from the Tree of Knowledge

i rephrase things

it was in the 1950s that US civil rights entered into mainstream white US consciousness. 1954 Brown v Board of Education, 1955 Parks v Montgomery, to name two

That is if you believe in that sort of thing.

Civil rights entered into mainstream white consciousness before the Civil War. If it had not, there likely would never have been a civil war and blacks wouldn't be the only ones kept as slaves. 

 

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