How Bizarre, How Bizarre

On October 19, 2009 at 12 a.m. EST, I attended my first ever Burning Life event. It was the DJ Sporty Event where avatars were invited to "chill, and enjoy some mellow tunes." Sounds fun and totally harmless right? Well it was, but when I first got there, I'm not going to lie, I was intimidated. Here is what I saw:

I was in a large tent-like structure that had an open circle in the center (see above) and a stage off to the left. I walked over to the circle and claimed the first available seat I saw. There were a few people there when I first arrived so I wasn't as nervous at the beginning. People were sitting and chatting, one girl was dancing to the bumpin' beats, and I was thinking how this wouldn't be so bad. However, when the chat changed from how awesome the tunes were to how everyone wanted to start drinking I became a little uneasy. I decided to remove myself from the situation and explore the perimeter of the tent. It was lined with intriguing pieces of art. I walked around the whole thing and took a picture of my favorite one.

It was a metallic mannequin that changed position every two seconds or so. I don't think it had any politic meaning, I just thought it looked cool. Anyways more people started to arrive so I decided to test out my chatting skills. I asked if it was alright if I took pictures and everyone said yes, but that was all I asked. I couldn't think of anything else to say. So instead I took pictures of all the avatars dancing to songs like Bad to the Bone and Balinese by ZZ Top.

I tried to take a picture of the center circle since more avatars had congregated there and had started dancing, but when I tried to take it this is what I ended up with:

I didn't realize until after I had taken the picture that there was a large keg in the corner, something I'm sure Linden Lab wouldn't want advertised on anyone's blog since minors were present.

Overall, Burning Life was a good and bizarre experience. It was my first SL experience with a lot of other avatars, and I liked it. It made it feel more like world and less like a video game. I might even attend another event before it ends, but we will see.