The Burning of the Man
In what appears to be all too short of a time, the end of the festival is upon us. But really this past weekend has included a tremendous response from the visitors and everyone seems to be enjoying it. Even the griefers are having a good time... LOL
And so as 3:00pm Linden time approached on the center playa this past Sunday afternoon, there accumulated a motley gathering of Burning Life Burners and visitors alike. As minutes ticked by the skies darkened and we all waited in anticipation.
There was Irish music gently playing on the playa, and everyone mingled happily... sharing the lag. Until unfortunately Burning Life (Tianci) sim crashed taking about 70 people with it.
Even after the sim restarted and came online it did not reappear for many of the people at the festival, and you could not cross over into it.
I guess it's not suprising that something happened considering there were around 240 people gathered around the corner of the four sims. I know this is the largest number I have ever seen at any event on SL.
Unwilling to log off and on, in case I couldn't get back online, I was able to live with the missing sim. The only real issue is that my photographs have a leg and head missing from the man. They were located inside Tianci.
By 3:15pm we could hear the shouts as the Lamp Lighters approached, led by Daaneth the Dragon (an expert in fire related matters).
The masterful dragon flew high into the sky, right up to the man, and then after a short pause (probably to summon up his most fiery breath) he let out his giant roar... bringing flames to brighten the night.
As "The Ride of the Valkyries" played in the background the man went up in a conflagration of flame.
Onlookers watched on and dancers danced as the flames lept from man to tent, from wooden beam to cloth and rope.
The picture above does not capture the splendor of the event, but you can see the extent of the flames and the hundreds of onlookers.
And as he burned... people danced...
and danced...
and danced...
Yes even I danced with some gifted fire wings.
And when the man was completely burnt people still danced in the ashes. They mingled and chatted, exchanged flaming attachments and dance balls. It was an enthralling experience.
The lag was bad, there were wardrobe malfunctions... but even if anyone was uncovered, it was at least acceptable at this event.
And as the fires started to die down a little... groups began to split off. Parties sprang up and people still danced.
Dance balls everywhere !!!
There was truly a marvelous spirit on the playa yesterday... and it seemed to drift through everyone. Yes, they complained about lag and sim crashes and the like, and everyone hoped for a perfect performance next year. But all seemed happy to be around so many other people... it had a community feel, something that Burning Life deserves wholeheartedly.
Thank you to eveyone involved in arranged and putting this event together. I know that you had short notice to get a suitable replacement for the original man, and to get the scripting organized. I am aware that a lot of people appreciated the effort.
what an amazing post!
thank you for sharing,
Simon
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