Bank Holiday Monday is rapidly approaching (7th May) and in keeping with tradition, we have decided to have a  day out. So avoid the traffic jams and join us as we spend an enjoyable hour or so at the fun fair, as we:

• tackle the mighty rollercoaster, and the giant ferris wheel;
• have fun on the bumper cars and try out the water-boat version;
• go dizzy on the Octopus Ride;
• race on the go-karts;
• and lots more.

We will end the day with a picnic and we don’t want you to go hungry on the trip, so all participants will be provided with a packed lunch. Everyone is welcome, so bring a friend.

Meet at 12noon SLT (8pm BST) at the NewTopia Clubhouse, where your professional tour guide will meet you.

If you arrive late and we have set off, you catch up with us by IM’ing one of the tour guides (hjeidi resident / Elsbeth Biedermann).

NB: Some of the rides are in an area that may not be suitable for light-sensitive people, however this area is easily avoided. Just let us know if you wish to avoid this area.

Tomorrow night (Saturday 21st April) DJ Baldy spins a mix of tunes from the 50s to present day at Els Bells.  The event starts at 8pm BST (12pm SLT).  There is no dress code, just come as you are (just make it decent!).

Here’s a video taken at the fashion show mentioned in the previous post:

Video recorded by Rosavioletta, other credits included in video. All avatars portrayed in the video gave consent for it to be public.

Els Bells and NewTopia Spring Extravaganza Fashion Show and Dance
Prize L$500

Time: 8pm BST (12pm SLT) @ Fashion Show Skybox

Dance with DJ Anjoux Herbit to follow in the Themed Event Area

Information and rules

1. The theme is ‘Spring Extravaganza’. It is open to avatars of both genders and is not restricted to humanoids.
2. One outfit to match theme – can be casual or formal or wacky. Must be a mix and match outfit using bits from different designers or your own design.
3. Send a NC with details of your outfit including the designers for different bits using the template below these rules to hjeidi Resident before 12pm BST (4am SLT) on 14th April. This is so Tilly can prepare the commentary for the evening, so she can announce you and your outfit.  NB: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE THE OUTFIT YOURSELF – it can be a mixture of outfits that you put together.
4. Please arrive at the Fashion Show skybox at 7.45pm BST (11:45am SLT) at latest to get changed, or arrive already in costume. The show will start at 8pm BST.
5. We recommend you visit the Fashion Show Skybox in advance and try walking down the runway.
6. Contestants will be judged by a panel of 3 independent judges.  The winner will receive a prize of L$500.

Copy and paste this form into a notecard, fill it in and send it to hjeidi Resident by 12pm BST (4am SLT) on 14th April.

Avatar name:
Shirt/top by:
Trousers/shorts by:
Top by:
Socks by:
Gloves by:
Jacket by:
Shoes by:
Apparel (please name) by:

Find all the Easter Eggs at NewTopia. The eggs are hidden on the donated and shared plots that make up NewTopia. All the eggs are within the area immediately around the TP point – none are inside objects, or hidden in really difficult places to cam to … we want this to be fun not frustrating.

The hunt will run from Monday 2nd April to Saturday 14th April.

The prizes are all free, but if you wish to donate a Linden or two towards the prizes we offer at themed events and the such, there are tipjars in Els Bells (pink pig) and outside the NewTopia clubhouse (little tree).

Please pick up a notecard with details on where to find the eggs from the notecard giver at NewTopia.

As of 31st December 2011 the SecondLife Region “OUtopia” and the adjoining “OU Ocean” were removed from the SecondLife grid.  Due to Linden Labs withdrawl of educational discounts and recent Government funding cuts, the Open University will no longer fund the existence of these social environments.

On Tuesday 7th February 2012 it was announced via an OUtopia group notice that “Open University” island (the OU’s Official public presence in SL)has been withdrawn from the SecondLife grid following a payment dispute.

The only remaining SecondLife Region owned by the OU is now Deep Think (a research orientated region).
However the members of the OUtopia community intend to survive the removal of the OU Regions, so do read on!

Open University Students & Staff:

If you wish to join your fellow students/tutors in this online community, it is fairly straightforward and if you get stuck there are plenty of people in the main Forum who will gladly help you. Log into the forum and say hi, including your Avatar name and someone will reply and probably contact you in SL. There is a list of Genuine OU folk and their Avatar names in THIS thread in the Forum. New to SecondLife? To start your virtual experience you will need to register and create your unique avatar by visiting the main SecondLife website. Remember when registering on Second Life that your Username WILL be visible to anyone on SL. So it’s not a good idea to use personal information or your real name such as “johnsmith76″ if that is your name and you were born in 1976. You will be asked to install the standard Linden viewer for SecondLife but other versions such as Phoenix& Firestorm, Imprudence, Singularity and CoolVL(good for lower powerd computers)  are freely available to enhance your viewing experience.

New VenueA new venue has been created for us to hold our parties and get-togethers… Els Bells!

To be kept up-to-date of events, join the *Els Bells* SL group. (The join link will open the group profile inside your SL viewer, so you need to be logged in,which will have a “Join” button on it.)

A couple of other locations of interest:The NewTopia Clubhouse  and “The Dome” a teaching area.

For a glimpse of activities that ocurred on OUtopia you can visit the Flickr stream HERE, future events taking place will be listed on the Events thread in the forum. Photos of events held elsewhere will be posted HERE