A Life in Review

 Earlier this summer, the virtual world community was saddened to learn that Mal Burns had died. News aggregator, creator and presenter of Inworld Review, co-founder of the Hypergrid International Expo and extraordinary contributor to the Opensim Community Conference, Mal was a well known face and voice around Opensim and in Second Life too. 

He was also a much loved member of the HG Safari tour group so we wanted to celebrate his virtual life with a gathering of the kind he would have approved of - an opportunity to dance, hear some Jazz, and also hear the comments of a few of those who knew him well, whether they had been guests on his show, fellow tourists on Safari, or colleagues from other projects.
About 40 of us gathered - some were friends who rarely get into Opensim these days , like Fuschia Nightfire and Wizardoz Chrome, names anyone who knows the Safari from way back will recognize immediately, just to name two out of a really exceptional list of attendees. Good thing James filmed it!

The region where this party was held was built by Mal to be his new home for Inworld Review, but also a park and place for him to experiment with the various treasures that he found when out and about on the hypergrid. 

It's largely untouched, and will be left up as a tribute to his unique style and creativity. One addition for the event today has been provided by his Inworld Review co-host, Tosha Tyran.

In the main dance hall, set in the island close to the middle of the sim, Tosha has created colorful posters with messages about Mal that people left on various social media sites in the past months. It's an opportunity for all of us to read their thoughts - some very simple and poignant, some more detailed - look for the poster that has Tosha's poem to Mal on it.

It was a very informal affair, Mal wasn't one for a chapel setting or stiff ceremony, and in the virtual so many rl limitations become irrelevant, so we could dance, and hear jazz music (Mal's favorite) and also listen to voices coming from the Netherlands, Spain, Costa Rica, and all over the USA. 

Karima and Dale

Invited speakers were Karima Hoisan who shared both personal recollections, and some poems, something Mal particularly loved. Nara Malone aka Nara Nook shared an anecdote about Mal's what it was like to work with Mal on a presentation of the Nara's Nook grid storytelling project. Yana Dakota shared recollections dating from way back in the days when Mal was very active in Second Life.

Nara and Neo

and we also heard from Nyx Breen, Cataplexia Numbers, Lavia Lavine, Taarna Welles, Forest Azure, Lyr Lobo, as well as Tosha Tyran, Petlove Petshop, and James Atlloud, so jump over to watch the Youtube stream courtesy of James Atlloud  to see the show for yourselves, you'll be glad you did.

Cat and Clifford

The tributes flowed from person to person, each one sharing a slightly different take on Mal's impact on their life in Virtual, on his contribution to the general community. It was a reminder of an 'obvious' fact that we can sometimes take for granted; of the people behind the avatars, each combating their own situation, proving themselves good friends often despite difficulties we can only guess at. That's the heart of community, right there.

Wolem Wobbit

And after the many kind words, and not a few tears shed as we thought back to so many good times, a concert with Wolem Wobbit, who played many of his great originals, don't forget to subscribe to his Youtube. A firm favorite of Mal who loved any kind of excellence, and musical excellence in particular, Wolem's contribution to the event really set off the memories and reminded us all once again of the value of our international, boundless community, long may it last.

You can visit Mals' region on Craft any time.

HG Address: craft-world.org:8002:Inworld Review