UPDATE: Sunday night has less energy than a Friday night event, so I only went 4 hours instead of 8.  It was still a lot of fun!

 

Original Announcement:

 

DJ Strannik will be at AvatarFest on Sunday, September 24th from 6PM unil ???

Last year, DJ strannik set a new personal record by DJing for 8 hours straight!  Can he beat the record, or will he wimp out early?

The answer to that question depends on YOU and all of the dancing avatars.  As long as there are people dancing with energy, then DJ Strannik will keep going!

There are lots of other cool performers and exhibits, so drop on by to Avatarfest

The band of intrepid travelers, suffering through packet, avatar and inventory loss, arrived on the shores of Pirate’s Atoll for a dramatic reading from Moby Dick by Emil Jannings, a partial tour of the Atoll, and a dance party with DJ Strannik.  A good time was had by all.

 

Thanks again to Thirza Ember and her magnificent Safari Group!

 

Attendees of the Open Simulator Community Conference left from the last session of the weekend part of the conference and hopped the hypergrid train to Tiki Beach on Pirate’s Atoll for the 3rd annual after-party, known as “Etheriel: Dream Pop Rave”. There amidst swirling visuals, particles and fireworks (including some cool dance effects that people brought themselves), were lots of dancing avatars, taking in the sonic textures and solid beats of dream pop, shoegaze and some classic alternative rock.

At one point, a particular set of music was introduced as a tribute to Dream Pop Musician Cash Askew of Them Are Us Too, who had tragically perished in the Oakland “Ghostship” Warehouse fire the weekend before.

 

As the music played, inspired conversations continued, mulling over the amazing conference that had just happened.  The best thing about this party every year, is the community spirit that one can sense, which is why the slogan for this party is “One Hypergrid, One Love!”

 

 

The Open Simulator Community Conference is coming together, and Pirate’s Atoll has scheduled another massive after-party!

This is always the biggest event on the atoll, and we plan to make it big again. The Atoll is now 9X bigger!

• Sonic Textures and Solid Beats™, dancing on the beach under the stars or sunset
• Chill zones to converse with your fellow hypergrid denizens
• Sailing, surfing and kayaking
• Expanded pirate museum and tropical resort
• Party till the last avatar drops!

See this page on how to get there.

Pirates Atoll, both New Tortuga and the outlying islands had to be evacuated due to hurricane Michael scoring a direct hit (Well, of course I really mean the Digiworldz server in Palm Beach Florida, but being a tropical island, it makes sense to say the atoll in a mythopoeic sense).

The storm is still hitting, so it may be 2-3 days before residents can get back to the Atoll.  All of digiworldz as well as the Great Canadian Grid were affected.  This was also covered by Hypergrid Business.

UPDATE: The grid was back up at 11:20PM on Saturday night, and residents were allowed to return to the atoll.  There were some downed palm trees and grounded boats, but the islands are largely unscathed.  Thanks to the Digiworldz team for turning what could have been a real disaster into a short outage!

 

Last Friday, DJ Strannik ZIKR’s set went for 8 hours, breaking his previous record of 7 hours.  The video above was taken near the end at around 2AM, with a few stragglers still on the dance floor, and featuring a couple of DJ Strannik’s original mixes.

Some additional photos of the event are below:

DJ Strannik Zikr’s second set at AvatarFest 2015 went 7 hours. This year, we start at 7PM and go until the last avatar drops!

• DJ Strannik Zikr spins eclectic tunes with sonic textures and solid beats to move your heart and your feet!
• This event is not to be missed!
• Bring your own absinthe, drum circles, colors and lights
• From a Funky Punky Celi in the West to a Siberian Khatru in the East.
• ONE HYPERGRID, ONE LOVE!

Get the latest information on locations and other AvatarFest events at http://avatarfest.net/

Check this Page on how to get in-world.

Two big surfable waves now come in from the West. One breaks directly on Tiki Beach, moving over the region sized water to the West of it.  The other wave starts in the West by Surfzone Island and travels 3 Regions to Reefbreak Island! ATA Teleporters allow you to get back to the starting point to ride all over again.  I have one “freeride” surboard and one kayak that you can use.  Try your skills on the waves, and then dry off and dance on Tiki Beach for the SPIRAL MIND DANCE on Friday nights at 7:00PM.

    

The waves, surfboard, kayak and seagulls you see on Pirate’s Atoll are all developed by Magic Kayaker, one of the best scripters out there.
You can demo all of his stuff on his Kitely sim, Panthalassa. Be sure to check out his super Kitely Market Store.

 

 

First there was Etheriel…..Then there was Kava Kava…..And now:

It happens on select Fridays, earlier than ever. Sonic textures and solid beats by DJ STRANNIK, more eclectic than ever! More visuals and fireworks than ever! Occasional surprise live performances.

We go from 7:00PM until the last avatar (or DJ) drops. Bring your own libations.

Check the calendar here to see which weeks this is happening.
See this page to learn how to get here.

 

Click on any of the ATA teleporters and select “Tiki Beach” to get to the party!

 

 

 

OSCC was on a smaller scale this year, and the after party on the Atoll was as well.  We still had a good party with lots of people dropping by, and went for 4 and half hours.  Last year, half of the 6 hour party was DJed by Strangeways Radio, which no longer exists as a streaming radio station (but you should definitely check out the playlists, podcasts and other forms of their music).  I do continue to discover new tracks and mixes from them, so they did contribute to the mix, even if DJ Mikey wasn’t spinning the tunes.

In case you were wondering, “Etheriel” is not a misspelling of “Ethereal”, but the name of a tune by my favorite Dream Pop/Shoegaze band Lush. I have just learned that Lush is getting back together and on tour (delighted shriek). Lush was heavily featured in the Etheriel playlists.

I am doing my best to invent some Dream Pop/Shoegaze subgenres:

• Dram Pop: Scottish Folk with fuzzy guitars and vocals
• Bootgaze: Shoegaze fused with Country/Bluegrass (I actually have a Bootgaze Pandora Station).