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"When you're gone" Photography by Shyla♡Diggs

If you wish to see more of Shyla♡Diggs photography please visit her Flickr photostream here.

Venice by Night @ The Oval

This press release came to me from my special contact within The Gay Archipelago, my friend Garth Raleigh, the former lead who is now retired, but as busy as ever before.

"The Carnival of Venice (Italian: Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival, held in Venice, Italy. The Carnival ends with the Christian celebration of Lent, forty days before Easter on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. The festival is famed for its elaborate masks.

You've still got time to do some shopping for the perfect mask and outfit to take home the title of Carnival King! (Hmm…what to wear, what to wear?)

Sunday, March 2, 2pm-4pm, the Oval Concert Hall on the GA Coronal Region invites YOU to attend the masquerade of the season! Join DJ Rascal as he spins the tunes and the extravagant guests whirl on the dancefloor of the beautifully-decorated Oval. Host Miguel will be there to make everyone feel….well, extravagant!

Here's your diamond-studded and heavily-feathered gondola to the Oval! (SLurl)"

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"The Pines at Jacob Pond 1" Photography by Ziki Questi

If you wish to see more of Ziki Questi's pictures. please visit her Flickr photostream here. You can also follow her on her blog Ziki Questi's Blog. The Arts and Destinations in Second Life.

Zlatan, Volvo & Wilderness

Music by: Zlatan Ibrahimović featuring Day - "Du gamla, Du fria" (The Swedish National Anthem)
Produced by Max Martin

Clip description:
"Sweden is our home. Mountains, vast forests, long distances, sun, rain, darkness, snow and ice. This inspires and challenges us when we develop our cars. The Swedish wilderness is our heritage and it is here we find our strength. Just like Zlatan Ibrahimović. This is our celebration of Sweden."

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Zlatan (the son of a Bosnian father and a Croatian mother who individually emigrated to Sweden, where they met each other, fell in love, married and built a family), is undoubtedly the most widely loved Swede living today, although his "Swedishness" is disputed by a small clique of xenophobic extreme nationalist. 

Zlatan is a professional footballer who at the moment plays for the French club Paris Saint-Germain and the Swedish national team. He has previously played for the Swedish club Malmö FF, the Dutch club Ajax, the Italian clubs Juventus, Inter Milan and A.C. Milan and the Spanish club Barcelona (briefly). Zlatan is regarded to be one of the best footballers of his generation in the world.

Volvo is a Swedish multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its principal activity was the production, distribution and sale of cars, trucks, buses, and construction equipment. In 1999 the car division, Volvo Car Corporation, was sold to the American Ford Motor Company, who in turn sold it to the Chinese motor manufacturer Geely Automobile (owned by the Chinese Zhejiang Geely Holding Group) in 2010.

Notwithstanding these facts, Volvo Cars is still a Swedish company with its headquarter based in Sweden and its production in Sweden and Belgium. (Some cars are also produced in China, but exclusively for the Chinese market.)

So Zlatan, driving in a Volvo and cavorting about in the empty Swedish wilderness while rapping the Swedish national anthem, kissing and cuddling a blonde woman and blonde children after taking a sauna in a log cabin in the woods and jumping into an ice hole afterwards is about as Swedish as you can get - at least for 95% of the population in Sweden. We love it and ignore the clique who don't.

The only thing "un-Swedish" about this commercial is that Zlatan is actually wearing trunks when he jumps into the ice hole, no decent Swede would ever do that. It's pure blasphemy against everything that is sacred, nature should be met in the flesh as every Swede knows! 

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"Jirina_2014-02-25_016" Photography by Jamisson Burnstein

If you wish to see more of Jamisson Burnstein's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream here.

The Elopement Party

When Tomais and I eloped in the early hours of New Years Day to get married we were badgered by family members and friends for having cheated them out of a tear filled ceremony and a wedding party.

As the first was exactly what we had wanted to avoid and the second was something we didn't mind a bit, Tomais and I decided to throw an elopement party for everyone to be able to share our happiness in being joined in marriage.

Poster & photography by Tomais Ashdene

When we had decided to have a party, the next thing to decide was when to have it. We immediately received quite a few instructions on when not to throw it, because if we did someone could not be there. In the beginning we were pliable and kept putting it off, but finally we put our foot down and decided to set a date that suited the two of us.

We know of course that some of you will not be able to make it to this party, but that is bound to happen whatever date we decided on. Instead we would like you to know that this will definitely not be the last party we ever throw and that you will hopefully be able to come to all of the others!

WHY: Share and celebrate our happiness at being together
WHEN: Saturday March 8, 2014, at 1 PM - 3 PM
WHERE: The Lounge in the Sky at Southern Charm (SLurl)
WHAT TO WEAR: The theme is "A Night at the Movies", so come as your favorite movie characters
WITH: DJ Ryder Yowman and DJ Rylan Sirnah
WHO: Personal invitations are going to be sent out during the weekend at the latest, but you should also regard this as your invitation!

No gifts please, we are going to set up a donation box for a charity TBD.

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"[Sookie Corbeau] A specimen of beautiful avatars"
Photography by ARnnO PLaneR

If you wish to see more pf ARnnO PLaneR's photography please visit his Flickr photostream here.