Both photos taken by Prad Prathivi at Heritage Key King Tut Virtual

The winner has been chosen! 

After having an amazing turnout with great submissions for the "Call of the Nile" flickr photo contest, we have finally selected a winner.  It was a very difficult choice as there were many stunning photos, but we finally narrowed it down to one winner, who we felt best represented the idea of "Call of the Nile".  Without further ado, I present Kynne Llewellyn!  Her submission was clean and simple, while conveying the beauty of Egypt. 

I was so surprised and full of joy when Voshie Paine of Nocturne modelling announced that we were doing a show themed on the ancient Egypt. Since I was a child I have been fascinated by pharaohs, mummies, hyeroglipics and whatnot, it's impossible for me to count the hours I spent inside the British Museum admiring the masterpieces coming from the ancient Egypt. This show was very important for me and I am grateful to have been part of it.

The day came when Voshie started dropping outfits on me for the show, and I can't say how amazed I was when I wore these beautiful creations. Designers such as Digit Darkes, Shai Delacroix, Sysy Chapman, Nicky Ree, Helena Stringer, Hart Larsson, and Kuya Akina just to name a few went out of their way to create clothes, skins, hair, jewelry and shoes that are in theme with the ancient Egypt, but that are also very modern, perfect for a hot day in the sun.

Shopping list:

Time is a great big circle, so it would seem. Not in that physics way where space time is curved, or whatever, I'm no scientist, I refuse to understand all that wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey stuff, but in the way of 'what goes around comes around'. And not even in a karma sort of way. It seems as if nothing is truly lost in time, as long as someone remembers it, either as a folk memory, or from documentation, things are always making a comeback. Music and fashion are two areas where this is most obvious. Those of us born in the 80s might have a vague recollection of the horrors that we wore back then, but it's what we're all wearing now. And as a further layer in the elaborate throwback, in the 80s, the 50s were big (just look at the Back to the Future movies and all the 50s theme diners that opened then), and now, in 2009, we have the pleasure of 'retro' 1980s tackiness, and 'vintage' 1950s style. It's all a wonderful melting pot of time.

The other day I was reflecting on how many activities in Second Life revolve around sitting on something. I'd juts purchased a picnic table for my SL garden, and was standing on the roof (yeah, I primarily inhabit a roof, what of it?) talking to some friends, complaining of boredom, as one does in SL. Then the fabulous idea hit me! “Let's all go and sit on the new picnic table” I said. And everyone said “Ooh, okay, let's!”. And we did. And much fun was had, involving a parrot, a squirrel, a dustbin full of atomic bombs, and a duck with an identity crisis (don't ask). All because instead of standing, we had gone to sit on my lovely new picnic table.

Out of chaos springs order, or Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess that gives her name to this lovely and symbolic dress by Ivalde. From humanity's first sentience, we've tried our best to explain these two forces, chaos and order. How did we arrive upon the planet? Why do we exist? Why is there destruction and disorder and chaos when every living thing seems to be so neatly organized into beings that think and create? The Egyptians spoke of the order in terms of gods and goddesses. Ma'at in particular gave order to the stars and seasons, and her aspect was also morality and justice.

The feathers on this symbolic dress reference the emblem of Ma'at, the feather which was set upon the scale opposite the human heart. If the heart failed the test, the owner was immediately devoured by the lioness Ammit who was seated hungrily by Ma'at's side, the soul doomed to remain in the underworld Duat forever.

The diligent readers among you may have noticed that this particular blog is in fact a team effort, I, Nivaya Barbosa, am your writer, and the gorgeous photography, styling, and modelling in the pictures are provided by the beautiful SerinaJane Loon. For the most part, we're a smashing team, her photo-ing skills far outstripping mine, and my writing containing fewer typos than hers! There do, however, exist some difficulties in this arrangement on occasion, arising mainly from the fact that the stunner in the pictures is not actually me. Allow me to explain. Anyone who has seen Serina and I inworld together will know of the stark contrasts between our appearances, I being a petite, pale skinned, aqua-eyed, occasionally freckled redhead with a taste for the alternative and quirky, and Serina being tall, strong, athletic and dark skinned, and always looking as if she's stepped straight from the impeccable pages of Vogue. In this case, the particular difference is one of skin tone.

Nephthys, the name of this skin by Wasabi Pills, is the name of a goddess. This goddess cared for the dead as they passed to the Blessed Land, and the living as they passed through the birth canal. It's interesting to me that women have long been the symbol for these two rites of passage; in Greek mythology these parts of life were embodied by the three fates, the maiden, the matron, and the crone.

I often ponder the fact that in Second Life we've made a world where it is very difficult to be or look old. We're eternally youthful, with unlined faces and bodies that reflect humanity at the peak of life. The clothing that adorns us represent this eternal youth as well, made to accentuate the taut muscles and perfect features of an exemplary body, like the outfit that I am wearing by Exile, and the high-braided hair meant to set off my face by The Stringer Mausoleum.

The Laughing Academy is what the thinking Victorian wears. The outfits are witty twists on history, and this dress for Kings Rezzables is no exception. It's called "Theda Bara," and when I began to dig through Wikipedia, I found out in short order that Theda wasn't an Egyptian queen, but instead a silent film actress known for playing Cleopatra. What passed through my mind was this -- we never see history as it unfolded, wrapped up in the hum and buzz of the times. Instead, we always see it through the lens of our own time. In this case, the dress reveals a double lens, the ancient past as seen through the 1920s, then through our own eyes.