infolinks

Sunday 20 March 2011

Buy a Floral Tribute for Epi!



Wear your 'The Last Rose' Lilly' 25L (with silver anchor and Bling)
This is for the late great sailor teacher and in world mentor Epicurus Emmons -
wear it with pride - All proceeds go to the Real Life floral Tribute from SL Sailors for Pippa



Thanks to Patrick and Fanci
Get it here http://slurl.com/secondlife/Clipper%20Bay/130/162/11

or from the following marinas and Yacht clubs

Fruit Islands thanks to Lizzo
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mango/239/76/21

Thanks to Jane
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Knaptrackicon/136/128/2

My Mall here thanks to Weston
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Boogdolt/128/96/2


Marktwain White proudly wearing his - you should too! :)

Hollywood thanks to Nber and Mark and at the Tugby field
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hollywood/100/92/2
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Santa%20Cruz/163/36/22

Triumphal - thanks to Orca
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Triumphal/170/146/22

Golden Gate YC thanls to Don Berithos
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Schilli/79/187/3774

Saturday 19 March 2011

Sail with Us! Video - To encourage Sailing in Second Life

In association with Charlz Price who supported the video of the J-class with Jane.

We have put together a homage to the history of sailing in Second Life - Sail With Us! - from Takos to Big Cats to protests to Fizz and much much more - to be used to encourage people to sail in Second Life. You can stream it in world using this URL in your media parcel too - http://blip.tv/file/get/Surfwidow-ComeSailWithUs328.MP4 this is specifically crushed down to stream at 768kbs mp4 QT format in media parcels (like the BBC iPlayer format so most broadband connections in world can view it without it stuttering and sticking and choking their otherwise already overloaded connections speed just coping with Second Life textures as they move ;)P

If you want to see higher quality you'll have to pop over to YT and see it there in full at 480 format feel free to comment there too :) as well as here ;)

I think we all need cheering up after what happened to Epi and this is a good way to do it.

It runs to a fast and exciting bombastic track and runs 'at a pace'.

There are so many 'Easter eggs' in this video you may have to watch it a number of times but a few worth mentioning are of course some special ones

In particular

3mins 55 : Epicurus Emmons at 4mins 39 is Epi, me and Beejee at Fisher's Island dancing Epi has the blue tshirt on over the white long sleeved undershirt he is in the center as always ;)PXxx
and of course
Delinda Dyrssen and many other are in there dotted about.

To quote Charlz Price when he first saw it, "you really need to watch it 10 times to see it all!"

Sorry if we missed anyone but chances are you are still actually there as like the intro of the Simpsons I add this quick scene at 4mins 20 is just about every boat ever made in one aerial shot of the 'grand protest sail' at Hollywood so no complaints on that LOL. And you were probably at a parties or in a Tako somewhere too or in the crowd watching them ;)P

Enjoy!

You may well need a lie down after watching this though! ;) hahaha LOL.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C875jFn9qs4

Monday 14 March 2011

Epi PhotoStream Early Days Pics

if you'd like to reminisce about epi back in the old days then here he is and some of the first shots i ever took of him

I have somewhere the very first shot with beejee too but that will turn up somewhere ;)

I have created a photostream of shots from 2007 here
enjoy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60593803@N03/page2/

Early Epi when i first knew him :) Avs were a bit more basic back then ;)P
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60593803@N03/5525755385/in/photostream/

Aerial view of SC Fisher's I sland Clubhouse with mouse over notes :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60593803@N03/5525745879/

Sunday 13 March 2011

Remembering Epicurus Emmons - The Video

This is for all those that want to see him again having fun and grieve his passing.

Warning - it maybe hard to watch the second part as its heartbreaking.

Hugs Pippa - this is for you.

It is with great sadness i have to post this video.

It is perhaps the most difficult thing i have ever had to do in Second Life. Editing it was particularly difficult and distressing.

I am kinda numb to it now.

It is more or less in two parts, the joy, and the loss. Watch it till the VERY end.

It is ad supported simply because the commercial track i wanted to use is copyrighted and the artists have to be paid.

Karen (Pippa) has given me special permission to reveal the real life them in the film.

And it shows the wonderful and clever intellectual man behind the av.

It also gives people who did not know Epi an insight of what Second Life has lost.

Chances are if you enjoy sailing then someone near you was taught by him or knew him well.

The Video


Whilst you can watch it here I strongly recommend you visit the main site here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3xzgUEVM-E
and watch it full screen at 640 x 480 resolution to fully appreciate it right till the end.



Goodbye my friend.

Your pal Surfy!x

Note the following downloads maybe temporarily unavailable after just being uploaded if that's the case check back again later.

There is a high quality download of it available here
It is in mp4 h264 .mov quicktinme format and it is in .wmv Hi Quality
The password protected zip file is available here
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=G7Q5EQ04
pass is = epicurus - what else?

Friday 11 March 2011

Epicurus Emmons (Marcel) died 10th March 2011.



I'll open this with a shocking message sent to us yesterday.

"It is with the deepest sense of loss that I have to inform all of our friends here on Second Life that, after 18 months fighting with a brain tumour that kept coming back, my darling Epi passed away at 8.55 p.m. UK time on 10th March. I was at his side holding his hand talking to him and comforting him. My mother, sister and daughter [who he considered as his own] were with me.

I will forever be grateful that Fanci brought us together and that we shared our lives for what time he had left.

I will never forget him or the love we shared because - I carry his heart in my heart and I always will."


Pippa Rexen
March 2011

---

Over the years i have sat in many a boat with 'epi' (Marcel), he truly loved Second Life and the joy it brought him not only in-world but in his real life later. He quickly became a respected member of the sailing community and ran the original yacht club at Fisher's Island for a period of time. This is where i first met him. Because i liked wacky things in Second Life i attended some sailing classes at Hollywood YC. There i met a number of people, one of which was Abella Beck, who had a store selling sails on the island in Sailors Cove. She said you like nutty things I know someone like you and teleported me over to Fisher's Island - many years ago now - She said, "this is Beejee and Epicurus," they were two Dutch guys who really enjoyed what SL had to offer. We instantly hit it off and we firm friends from that day. That moment was probably a turning point for me as until then i felt very lost in there.

I sold epi my very first product in Second Life that i built in a sand box called a 'Woot Airhorn'.

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Woot-Air-Horn-Party-sound-Boat-Sound/326271

I said, "here what do you think of this?!!!" Epi sitting at his desk in the club headquaters there at FI said, "thats cool i'll buy it from you!" "$100L!" I said, "nah thats ok make it half price," LOL, and those horns sold in their droves and set the creative spark going - never looked back.

So he was also encouraging of others to make the best of SL as well as a mentor to many sailors who needed a careful hand of guidance he could offer.

I worked with him on a series of training images for his clubhouse here is an example.



Shortly afterwards i became interested in filming in Second Life and again after the America's Cup for 9th.com video he was instantly interested in producing a little video short about sailing in and around Fisher's Island and here is that very film. Of course in comparison to the wedding video later it is less quality but it does show epi enjoying what he did most and it is his boat crossing the line at the end - appropriate considering.


If you would like to stream this in Second Life click here
http://blip.tv/file/get/Surfwidow-ThePianoManWithEpicurusEmmonsMp4398.mp4
if this video is unavailable to view click here
http://blip.tv/file/get/Surfwidow-ThePianoManWithEpicurusEmmonsMp4398.mp4

His love of the Dutch Barges and sailing them in SL encouraged me to create a scale sized version, he oversaw every aspect of that, and to be honest that's more his boat design than mine :) Even today if you take out my Dutch Barge

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/DUTCH-BARGE-10-SKUTSJE-Sailing-Boat-Racing-Wind-Powered-Bargain-Price/326253

You will see on the free demo version available at my mall in Boogdolt, Weston Marina on the sails it says 'SKUTSJE MUSEUM' that he created some time ago.

Relationships

I am sure he had no shortage of girls after him in SL but one in particular captured his heart and he became smitten' that of Pippa, a charming and lovely girl who has been a tower of strength through all his illness.

He then married the love of his life Pippa Rexen in real life as well as Second Life.

At that time we were all aware that he was gravely ill, just at a time he had launched his book in real life based on philosophy of Epicurus (ironically). So an intellectual man too.

His Book (now also available in English is called 'De remedie van Epicurus', and the publisher is ASPEKt, NL. The author's name is Marcel Verweij.

His wedding I knew may well be his last appearance in Second Life so i went all out to create them a video of it as a wedding gift to them both but most of all Pippa so she had something wonderful to remember of him in SL.

Here is that video if you would like to watch it.

Here is the video and the opening music track is particularly poignant :'*)



Larger online streaming MP4 version available here (not recommended for full screen viewing download

the DVD quality file for that).
http://blip.tv/file/4035923

Streaming in world mp4 Quicktime version here
http://blip.tv/file/get/Surfwidow-PippaAndEpisSecondLifeWeddingMp4StreamingQuality512.mp4

Streaming Hi Bandwidth HiQ .wmv version
http://blip.tv/file/get/Surfwidow-PippaAndEpisSecondLifeWedding815.wmv

There is more on his wedding here
http://surfwidowsweb.blogspot.com/2010/08/epicurus-emmons-and-pippa-rexen-wedding.html

During his illness his dear wife Pippa kept us fully informed as to his progress, the ups and downs, the surgery and the moments of hope, that extended the short precious time they had left together.

I'll leave you with some more photos of epi doing what he did best :)

(This was very hard to write :'*( ).

There will be a memorial in due course in SL to celebrate his life perhaps a big sailing regatta?

There is a memorial Skutsje here in SL pop by and pay your respects.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Clipper%20Bay/157/243/22

It reads




"Fear of Death is unecessary. That is precisely why this gives me peace of mind and a positive and meaningful life."

The quote is very apt and something his life was influenced by.

Bon Vent! My friend!

We'll miss you.

Surfy

Some more lovely photos of him


Wedding photograph with his darling Pippa :*')










Me and epi in The Pianoman Video.



Americas Cup finalist

I will be editing a special video homage to him at a later date.