ROLE OPTIC

ROLE Magazine is pleased to announce the publication of our July, 2009 issue. July was a hectic month for the ROLE Magazine staff as we were chosen as an exhibitor for the SL6B Celebration which required a build to suit the futuristic theme. We celebrated the 6th birthday of Second Life in style with a live performance by the talented Winston Ackland and a photo contest for SL6b revelers.

We welcome new staff contributor Salvatore Otoro and anticipate his upcoming articles on role playing sims including his first in our magazine on the City of Lost Angels.

Our controversial on-going discussion of what makes art "art" continues with thoughts from Kee Llewellyn. Aldwyn Zanzibar unravels the mysteries behind three in-world pose tools and weighs in with his thoughts of the merits of each. Keeley Huet hops about the grid in search of the dearest prefab houses for our consideration. Paypabak Writer bowls us over with her in-depth look at the sixteen sim fantasy world of the Great Alliance.

As always, our fashion spreads are lush, exceptional and artfully inspired. We think you'll agree that stylists Keeley Huet, Felicity Blumenthal and fashion photographer Zoe Demar have outdone themselves once again. Ana Lutetia gently nudges the guys towards the finer things in Masculino, male fashion and Cayce Newell and Tomoyo Breitman bring us Hot Finds and a Mix & Match feature that continues to delight and inspire those itching for a weekend shopping spree.

See an article that might interest your friends or group members? ROLE Magazine blog posts can now be easily shared by linking directly to your Plurk or Twitter page.

ROLE Magazine continues our commitment to our advertisers by providing verifiable readership statistics on our website.

As always, the team at ROLE Magazine thanks you for your continued support and encouragement!

Find the July issue here.

ROLE Magazine contributor Jura Shepherd is a well-known fixture of both the RL and in-world music scene. As a tireless promoter and supporter of musicians and their cause, Jura shares her observations on a noticeable hole in our music community.

"In a stylish Brooklyn brownstone on the Millions of Us sim, the intermittent stream of adult alternative music makes a listless attempt to break up the hush of utter inactivity. Promotional posters for Talib Kweli’s 2007 Warner Brothers CD release, “Ear Drum” adorn the walls like preserved relics of abandoned ambition that was to be Kweli’s foray into virtual worlds. The project had buzz, celebrity appeal, and a thoughtful build for showcasing live performances in-world but with a current day traffic rating of seven, it points to the greater question of why urban music has yet to capture audiences within Second Life.

To be fair, major label music acts have yet to utilize SL in a meaningful way and there’s also the fact that urban music isn’t the real world juggernaut that it was three years ago. Even so, at any given time roughly twenty percent of iTunes sales are songs classified as Hip-Hop /Rap. Look at ranking charts for terrestrial radio and you’ll see similar numbers so why is the genre so under-represented in SL’s live music community?"
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ROLE Magazine contributor Aldwyn Zanzibar is a man of many talents and interests. With his monthly ROLE Magazine column on gadgets and electronics Al has covered many relevant topics for SL residents. In our current issue, Al demystifies client camera controls and provides tips for those of you wanting to start snapping pictures in-world.

"Growing up, I loved photography. I played with cameras all the time. Unfortunately, the cost to develop pictures was more than my allowance could bear, so I was limited in how many photos I could take. Also, I got a bit tired of always carrying a camera around, because they were NOT small back then. Always having to be careful with it, making sure I didn’t lose it, was more of a pain then a joy. That was when I stopped doing a lot of photography. Even with the digital cameras out now, I still find myself not wanting to carry a good camera around all the time. Granted, I have a 3 megapixel camera in my phone, and it takes pretty damned good pictures, it’s not quite the same as having a high-quality digital camera at your disposal all the time. I used to dream about having a camera in my eye. If I saw something I wanted a picture of, I could just blink and PRESTO! The moment I wanted to capture is caught! My dream has finally been realized, and wouldn’t you know it, my dream came true in Second Life?"

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After a one-month hiatus, performer Winston Ackland will take the stage at ROLE Magazine’s SL6B exhibit. As a ROLE Magazine alumnus, we are proud to have Winston perform for ROLE family and honored guests. As a much-loved innovator in SL music we also think he’s a good fit for the SL6B theme: “The Future of Virtual Worlds”.

We invite everyone to please join us 1pm SLT on Saturday, June 27th at the ROLE Magazine SL6B Exhibit for great music from Winston Ackland.



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Links:
Winston Ackland on Myspace: www.myspace.com/winstonackland

Machinima music video by Toxic Menges of "All the little fishies".

Second Life is celebrating its 6th Birthday (SL6B) and ROLE Magazine is honored to be part of the festivities!

Contest Theme: YOUR Role in SL's Future

Contest Dates: June 23 - 30th, 2009

Prizes:

* High-quality sculpted sunglasses from ROLE Optic (8 pairs chosen by winner: 4 pairs for the winner and 4 pairs for a friend)
* U-FO's (Unidentified Fun Objects by Romano Frascati) Abductor flying saucer: (1 for the winner and 1 for a friend of the winner) (SLURL here)
* Winning photo to be announced and published in the August issue of ROLE Magazine.

What we want you to do:

* Visit the ROLE Magazine SL6B Celebration, bring your virtual closet and dress up to pose in our interactive exhibit.

* Upload your picture to the ROLE Magazine SL6B Flickr Group. You may enter as many times as you like!

CONTEST RULES:

1. The photo description must include the name of your SL avatar.
2. Post-processing is allowed but not necessary.
3. The ROLE Magazine title must be visible in all contest submissions or the entries will be disqualified.
4. By uploading a photo to the ROLE Magazine SL6B Flickr Group you agree that ROLE Magazine has the right to reproduce, edit and use your image.
5. No nudity! ROLE Magazine has the right to disqualify any entrants we deem inappropriate.
6. Deadline for submissions is 12am SLT, June 30th.

For any questions drop a notecard in the mailbox at the ROLE Magazine SL6B Celebration (exhibit level) and we will get back to you.

ROLE Magazine is honored to have an exhibit at the celebration of our Second Life community's 6th birthday! We have some terrific contests and events planned so watch for the announcements in the next few days!

If you haven't already heard, Linden Lab has once again set aside 20 sims for the birthday festivities (dubbed SL6B) beginning June 23rd and has given ROLE Magazine a parcel on which we can share in the fun! Watch a machinima promo of SL6B by the talented director Toxic Menges here.

The SL6B theme is The Future of Virtual Worlds -- a topic near and dear to our hearts as our magazine often focuses on what is happening in Second Life and your role as a member of the community.

Join ROLE Magazine in the SL6B celebration and ask yourself: "How will YOU contribute to OUR future?"

When our dynamic Staff Contributor Raul Crimson proposed writing an article for ROLE Magazine on what defines SL photography as art we knew we had what would be a very interesting read on our hands!

Art in Second Life® has been sometimes controversial. Comments in Flickr or Koinup, discussions in forums and blog posts. This controversy is related to SL-photography, possibly because photography (as a technique) has sometimes been questioned as art in history. All of these discussions have generated more questions than answers: "What is art in Second Life? Who makes art in Second Life? Is the tool that which defines the art? Who is an artist?"
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