As well as the Halloween party on Saturday, I went to a sensational evening event (propping my eyes open with matchsticks … this was 7.30pm SLT – which was tough!).
This was the destruction of the Opera Populaire, the great building which stood on top of the cliffs in the Intemptesta Nox sim, one of the Tryst group of sims one by Baron Grayson and Sue Stonebender, and one of the older builds in Second Life, I believe. Back in May, I visited and took and panormaic view of the sims from the roof of the Opera House – you can see Relic, Ubuntu andBaron’s pirate ship and the fantastic steamship here and here.
But last week I received a message from Sue and Baron:
The secret to a great and enduring love affair applies in equal measure to a sim: keep it passionate, keep it fresh, and keep it growing.
Chances are you’ve noticed a rather significant overhaul underway on all of the SIMs in our region right now. Part of this effort includes letting go of favourite haunts to make way for new ones. (You may have noticed Baron working his sculpty magic to make things more compact and efficient on the SIMs so we can treat you to even more goodies in the new year!)
Baron & I invite you to join us this Saturday, October 27th at 7:30 p.m. SLT for a brief masqued ball in the Opera House on the Intemptesta Nox SIM, after which we’ll be busting out the flame throwers & burning it to the ground in keeping with the fate of the Opera Populaire. Put on your gowns and your tails. This is the first and only ball to be given in the opera house.
How could I resist?
Besides, it would be my last chance to wear an evening dress and sweep down that magnificent staircase.
I arrived early – and it was a wise decision. The sim filled up fast – with predictable results in terms of lag. Nevertheless, I managed one good sweep up and down the staircase – and was able to touch base with friends (Riversong Garden and Zeke Poutine) involved in Better World Island – our sim of the Month in September.
The Opera Populaire, despite its height on the cliffs, had been flooded for the occasion. It made for a very special atmosphere and people emerged slowly from the deep blue shadows, their movements seeming languid and strangely haunted. It all added to the sense of being present at a very unique occasion.
There was some beautiful music – and one would expect, and the site of couples, beautifully dressed and solemnly, almost sadly waltzing in the eerie blue waterlight that filled the great reception and the grand staircase. Then there was the announcement that the destruction was about to begin.
At this point I was faced with a choice. The lag had locked me almost solid; I could relog and attempt to move, or stand fast in what would be the middle of the destruction.
I relogged.
And found myself booted to another of the Tryst sims – Sanctum Sanctorum, as Imtempesta Nox was full.
It was frustrating, but I moved as close as I could to watch the falling masonry and the slow but certain destruction of this great building. As soon as I could return, I ventured inside again and scrambled over the fallen blocks of masonry. Soon something will rise again in this place, more spectacular, we are told, than before.
But …
The light was clear now, the mysterious shadows swept away, and there was an odd feeling that, although I had only been gone a few minutes, I was exploring something ancient and lost, like a temple in Memphis or Thebes, erected to gods whose names were half-forgotten.
And I thought of Shelley’s words:
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Prim Perfect 
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