Press Release - Monarch Migration @Visit Mexico Ruta Maya
Over the weekend of April 25-27, 2008, there will be a massive migration of Random Calliope's Ode Butterflies through the Visit Mexico Ruta Maya sims in Second Life. Commencing on Friday, April 25 at 7am SLT and occurring sporadically throughout the weekend, the Ode butterflies will pair with the beauty of Mexico to offer visitors a virtual opportunity to experience the truly awe inspiring real life annual North American Monarch Butterfly migration.
Random Calliope is a creator of wearable art. He is a master craftsman and the work that he does with microprims is truly breathtaking. He has been creating jewelry in SL for almost three years and while he has created pieces that have fetched some truly awe inspiring sums for charity, what may be equally impressive are the pieces he creates simply to give away. Ode to Caledon is such a collection.
Ode, and the butterfly hunts that allow one to get it, is a homage to the once very popular community butterfly hunts of days gone by. Proper gentlemen and gentlewomen would pack their picnic baskets in the spring and summer and head off to the nearest flowered field. There they would use their butterfly nets to capture prized butterflies of infinite variety.
The Ode hunts are done just the same way. The community gathers in a field of butterflies and tries to catch them. They may be in trees, floating around, in the grass, or anywhere a butterfly might be found. The hunts work in this way. Pieces of Ode jewelry are put in selected butterflies and then released in a pack of decoy butterflies. There is a script contained in each butterfly that allows it to fly in a random pattern around the sim. When the hunt begins the participants need to find and click on the butterflies to "catch" them.
Ode is an 8 piece jewelry set (hair piece, earrings, necklace, pendant, brooch, bracelet, ring) which at this moment has 21 color variations. The challenge is to complete full sets of one color for your Ode butterfly collection; however, Ode pieces can only be obtained through participating in Ode Butterfly hunts and/or through trading with other collectors. New varieties of butterflies are occasionally added and some variations such as the Platinum and the Shades of Golden are extremely rare.
Random is honored to be invited to release the Ode Butterflies in the Visit Mexico Ruta Maya sims. As the winter habitat of the Monarch Butterfly, Mexico plays an essential role in the continued existence of the Monarch. It is Random's hope that while participating in the Ode Hunts this weekend and exploring the beauty and culture of the Mexico sims that people will take a moment to also reflect on the importance of preserving natural habitats in both North America and Mexico in order to ensure the continued prosperity of the annual migration.
To stay informed of when the Ode Butterfly Hunts are beginning please join the Ode Butterfly Collectors Subscribomatic group by clicking on a kiosk at either Random's WorthWhile Gallery in Ode (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ode/157/30/25 <http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ode/157/30/25> ) or one of the Visit Mexico Ruta Maya sims. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Visit%20...202/121/71/32/
Visit Mexico Ruta Maya is sponsored in Second Life by the Mexico Tourism Board.
For More Information in Second Life Contact:
Valiant Strangelove, Visit Mexico Second Life
Lester Nefarious, Visit Mexico Second Life
Elizabeth Tinsley, for Random Calliope Second Life