Bonsai Exhibit

The new Bonsai exhibit is on display in the Japan Room in the Haiku Library at Shin Two. There are examples of bonsai trees, history, art and poetry. Check out the entries in the 2008 Bonsai Haiku Contest. 1st place winners are NGAGPA WRITER and LEZLIE LATTE. Honorable mention goes to to SKYLARK THIBEDEAU, LEZLIE LATTE, and NGAGPA WRITER. Praise to all the poets for their wonderful work, we have it here! Special thanks to POMONA WRITER and SUNNIE BEAUMONT for all their help! - Dante

Poetry Workshops!

The friday haiku workshop is on again! Bring your haiku to share and settle in for poetry, friendly conversation, and more. On Friday, September 26, 7:30 pm, slt.

On Tuesday Sunnie Beaumont discussed the Septet Short Poetry style which is a seven lined short poem.
Next week Tuesday, September 30 ToryLynn Writer will hold an Erotic Poetry Workshop at Inksters Rose Garden Classroom (212,129,21)

Premodern Japanese Art Circles and Second Life

A recent article in the New World Notes analyzes an academic paper by Eiko Ikegami and Piet Hut, which was published in The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research.
The authors of "Avatars Are For Real:Virtual Communities and Public Spheres" compare the Tokugawa era of Japan (1603-1867) with the virtual world of Second Life and find many parallels.

There were many artistic circles and haiku/poetry networks that provided alternative realities where people could develop a second life, not within their prescribed roles, but as individuals liberated from status and gender restrictions. Each person could express his or her love of particular cultural pursuits, unhindered by their formal background.
"Through tea ceremony and flower arrangement to haiku and the game of Go, Tokugawa citizens could escape political pressure and meet each other freely in the safe realms of the virtual worlds of art."

That sounds much like what the friends of Shin Tao do now. But I'm not sure if there really is a connection. Maybe it would work with other periods in history too. And artsy people always try to create their own society and culture in opposition to mainstream politics and restricitions.
Perhaps DanteOsaka knows more about the Tokugawa era and can give us his opinion.

Second Life HAIGA contest winner

Congratulations to the winner of the 2008 Summer HAIGA contest at Shin Tao: LEHUA LAMINGTON!

--hibiscus blossoms
flash their red petals at me
stoplights on sidewalks--

And thank you to everyone who participated in the contest and in our celebration.

Among the contest entries were traditional haiga with drawings but also haiga with high quality SL-photography.

The participating haiga in the 2008 Summer Shin Tao Haiga Contest are on display near the Zen garden in the courtyard of the Haiku Library in Shin Tao Haiku Retreat Two in Ophelia.

RIVERS display celebration on Friday, August 8!

Shin Tao is proud to announce the opening of our RIVERS display, celebrating the wonder of flowing water in haiku, haiga, and art. We will have an Open House all day on Friday, August 8, and a haiku workshop announcing the winners of our haiga contest at 7pm slt, followed by a dance at 8pm. Come join us! -- Dante

Rivers haiku display

Shin Tao Haiku Retreat would like to invite everyone to attend a celebration
for the opening of our new Rivers display in the Library of Haiku, Friday,
August 8, with Open House all day, a haiku workshop and announcing winners of
our haiga contest at 7pm slt, and a dance at 8.  Come celebrate with us!  --
Dante

Haiga Contest in Second Life

The Shin Tao is holding a haiga contest open to all sl residents.
Deadline - Midnight SLT Wednesday August 6, 2008.

Haiga is a haiku painting, originally combining the elements of
poetry, painting and calligraphy in one form. The contest will combine original haiku plus an original image.

Please contact DanteOsaka Deschanel, Sunnie Beaumont, or Pomona Writer for further info and contest rules.

Happy Haiga!

Dante's Creek

It is still not too late. We are seeking haiku or short poetry about rivers, streams, brooks, creeks, rivulets, becks and the like to use in our next Library Display. This is an open call to any Shin Tao members to contribute. Deadline July 4. Please deliver them to me, Sunnie Beaumont, or Pomona Writer. -- DanteOsaka

Haiku in Hawaii!!

Our weekly friday haiku workshop is back, and this time we are going Hawaiian! We will be holding our workshop at its usual time, 7pm slt, this coming Friday, but at an exciting location! Shin Tao member LEHUA LAMINGTON has graciously offered her authentic and beautiful Hawaiian sim in Utwig for our workshop. We will discuss seasonal references in non-Japan settings, Hawaiian haiku and much more! Come join us! Aloha and Mahalo! -- Dante

New Haiku!

Come to the library of haiku in Shin Tao 2 for new haiku from TOR LOCK, SUNNIE BEAUMONT, and DANTEOSAKA DESCHANEL. Also check out the winners list for the 2008 blossom haiku contest!
Dante

Basho Workshop on Friday, May 23rd

The Friday Shin Tao Haiku Retreat haiku workshop will feature "An Evening with Basho," being a look at the premiere master of the haiku form. Time for our meeting will be Friday, May 23rd, at 7 pm slt, until the frogs come home!. This meeting will take place in our sister sim, Shin Tao 2, in the LIbrary of Haiku. Landmark enclosed! Dont forget to bring your own haiku, and snacks for the leopard!

sLiterary Magazine features DanteOsaka!

The Spring 2008 issue of sLiterary Magazine published a poem of our leopard. The poem 'Internet Avatar Crashtime Blues' by DanteOsaka Deschannel combines modern virtual world romance with a classical lyrical Blues form.

You can read the sLiterary Magazine here! Dante's poem is one page 11 but there are other awsome poems, short stories and serial novels too. I really like the layout of this magazine and even their ads are perfectly designed. I couldn't find an inworld issue but it's more practical in a browser anyway.

Blossom Contest Winners!

Ngagpa Writer 1st place

Reading sutras
Cherry-blossom -
Lands on the open page

Ngagpa Writer 2nd place

By the Temple gate
Old plum tree -
Flowers once more

Morrhys Graysmark 3rd place

Your sleeping ashes
Don't hear the petals gossip
Gaily on your grave.

Honorable mentions

Burnt Burt

The falling blossoms,
Colliding with reflections,
Rippling the still pond.

Ngagpa Writer

Chanting monks
Fallen cherry-blossoms
Line the path

Nebbisk Oh

Sakura bloom
In two hundred varieties
But only one for you

Shin Tao Haiku Retreat Blossom Festival

Shin Tao Haiku Retreat proudly announces the Grand Opening of its new Library of Haiku, with Geisha and Leopard displays, and the celebration of spring and Cherry Blossoms at Shin 2 and Shin Tao Haiku Retreat on April 18 and April 19.
We will have an Open House and a haiku reading, and a dance!

Friday, April 18, from 4 pm to 10 pm SLT
Saturday, April 19, from 4 pm to 8 pm SLT

We will be reading “Blossom” Haiku from the Masters and modern haiku poets. Winners of the Blossom Festival Haiku contest will be announced, and the submitted haiku will also be read.

Join us as we celebrate a new beginning and come see our petal dropping cherry trees as we celebrate Sakura Matsuri. Of course, the Library of Haiku will be open to anyone at any time, so if you can’t make these dates or times, please feel free to come any time.

The Shin Tao Haiku Retreat in Ophelia<93,154,21>

The Geisha, a display of art and haiku

The Shin Tao Haiku Retreat presents The Geisha, a display of art and haiku, appearing in The Japan Room at the Library of Haiku, in the Shin 2 Sim in Ophelia.

Any Blossom will do, Haiku Contest

Shin Tao Haiku Retreat will be holding another haiku contest in conjunction with the Grand Opening of the new Library of Haiku in Shin2, and the theme is “Blossoms,” after the Japanese Sakura Matsuri festival.

The winning haiku will be announced on Saturday, April 19, 8:00 pm SLT, and prizes will be awarded.

Contest rules:

Haiku or Senryu should be blossom related. Any blossom will do.

Type your haiku onto a notecard, and save the notecard with your name and “Blossom Contest” in the title and file name.

Submit your haiku by dropping it into DanteOsaka Deschanel’s inventory by Wednesday, April 16. If you are unfamiliar with how to do this, find DanteOsaka Deschanel in Search and open his profile. Drag your notecard from your inventory to the space towards the bottom of the profile for inventory. Or you can simply drop it onto Dante if you see him wandering about ShinTao.

If you have any questions or need any assistance with submitting your entry, IM Pomona Writer, Sunnie Beaumont, or the great cat himself, DanteOsaka Deschanel.

Haiku/Senryu Contest March 27

Amatsu Okiya will be celebrating its one year anniversary on Saturday, March 29th.

To celebrate this festive occasion Amatsu, in conjunction with Shin Tao Haiku Retreat will be holding a Haiku/Senryu contest. Submissions for the contest can be either Haiku or Senryu with themes of: Anniversary, Rebirth, Purification, Renewal, or Love and Kindness.

Submissions should be placed on notecards. Be sure to put your name in the notecard and lable the Description and Notecard as your name. Drop all notecard submissions into Pomona Writer’s inventory by Thursday, March 27th.

Prizes will be awarded and winning haiku read at the Amatsu Anniversary celebration.

A panel of judges will read all haiku and award prizes to the winning Haiku. Winners will be announced and their haiku read during the celebration. All haiku submitted will be available on notecards for anyone interested.

For additional information, please contact Pomona Writer.

Geisha Graduation Ceremony, March 6!

Shin Tao member Kati Palen will be graduating to full geisha, here at Shin Tao Haiku Retreat. Her san san kudo will be held Thursday, March 6, at 7pm SLT. Come by and help Kati celebrate!

Dantastic!

"Artemis and the Transformation of Actaeon" a polyptych/multi-panel art piece utilising inworld photography and SL models (DanteOsaka and Defifee) is now showing in the Gods of Second Life section of the art museum at Angel Gate.

Geisha School Grand Opening 1 March

The Okasan, Onshi and students of Hana no Sei Okiya and Geisha School hold their grand opening, at Hana No Sei in Chodron on Saturday, 1 March at 5:30 PM SLT:
An evening of storytelling, music, and an introduction to the unique and fascinating history of the village and its mystical residents.

The Hana no Sei Geisha School offers education in the traditional Japanese arts, set against the Asian/fantasy backgroup of the village of Hana no Sei. Human and non-human students and patrons are welcome.

Senryu - Short Poetry Workshop on 2/26

The difference between Haiku and Senryu has been an ongoing debate as the blurring between the two continue to puzzle the Haiku world. Come join Shin Tao member Sunnie Beaumont and look further into Senryu and try your hand at writing a few.
The Workshop will be on Tuesday, February 26 at 7 pm PST at Rose Garden in Cookie.
The INKsters Community in Second Life will be holding a series of Short Poetry Workshops focusing on the short poem - poetry of ten lines or less, beginning with the more popular or well known short poem styles such as Haiku or Limericks, to the more contemporary or obscure poetry styles such as Fibonnaci or Quinzaine.

Shin Tao Haiku Presents: The Leopard

The Leopard....an exhibit of haiku, artwork, history and big cat facts on display at Shin Tao 2 in Ophelia. Come and see the artwork by DanteOsaka and the Shin Tao members.
With information about the leopard around the world, its spots, leopardic mythology an much more.
You can browse through some leopard haiku at the Shin Tao Haiku Gallery on the right!

Haiku Workshop on Fridays!

In case you haven't noticed: DanteOsaka Deschannel hosts the Haiku Workshop every Friday at 7 pm PST at the Meeting House in Ophelia. You can bring and share your Haikus or just have a chat with some popcorn.
This week's workshop will be looking at the Japanese short poetry Senryu, which is similar to Haiku. Senryu however is not about nature but more about emotions and human weaknesses. Come and join!

Links to Shin Tao Friends

When I checked if google finds the Shin Tao Blog with the metatags i had added a while ago I also found some blogs of DanteOsaka's friends:

Cyanide Seelowe is the founder of the Virtual Artist Alliance a group that wants to make the Arts more accessible to the public in RL and SL. Join their weekly Haiku Speedbuild at the Blekinge Sculpture Park. Cyanide also maintains her own blog Wherein I try to balance my First and Second Lives

Honoria's blog with Haikus and a portfolio with amazing drawings.

And Wila Shepherds blog The Teachings of the Scholar about the role-play of a group of geisha in Second Life, known as the Maneki Neko Okiya and Teahouse. By the way Wila Owns a beautiful house at the Shin Tao 2.

Soon we will tell u more about what's going on at the new and still growing Shin Tao 2 in Ophelia.

Meditation 2

This is the 4th day of my meditation experiment. I got a book by Tobin Blake that teaches meditation in 30 days. I don't think I can learn it within 30 days but maybe I can get an idea. I try to meditate 5 minutes in the morning and in the evening with the kneeling meditation position. Yesterday's lesson was forgiving someone which i found very difficult and even a bit ridiculous. I'm not sure if it really worked but at least I tried to see things from a different view. I also made this picture because I enjoy looking at symmetrical shapes. It was inspired by the hungarian Matyo embroidery my mother used to make.

Oh the running made!

I thought maybe there is an easy way to create a haiku. And because I read a lot about artifical intelligence, I searched for some haiku generators, a kind of artificial poets. Actually i expected something like i add a word and a program generates me a haiku. But most of the generators I found didn't have this option. Here is a choice of my generated Haikus:

energy purrs, door
meanders, adolescent
flying sallow hand
Everypoet
most of the haikus generated with everypoet are rather dark, but I found them best

Oh the running made!
fie! ouch! weaving sweeping shoe.
Alice hunts quickly
Randomhaiku
after clicking through some of randomhaikus I noticed that the vocabulary is not that big

Rain breaks then snow sets.
Hail works but a flower talks.
Old fish diminish.
Peter's Haiku Generator
Peter's Haiku generator probably hasn't been updated for a while. I could only use the standart vocabulary but there are others like erotic and noir

practice and patience
the leopard speaks welcome to
the shin tao blog thanks
memes.angrygoats
This is interesting. You can have haikus produced out of recent blog entries. Hmhm...if only we had more entries...

oh and btw, if you wonder why my texture in the picture is checkered, try the browser-based SL Movablelife

Meditation

I don't know much about Asian culture and philosophy. Some days ago i read that meditation is one way to clean your mind (I have many troubling thoughts and I would like to not to think about anything for a while)
Then I asked Dante how to do it and he told Defifee to sit in a meditation pose, close my eyes and shh away thoughts that pass by. I have always wondered if people really meditate with their avatar on a poseball. Well it didn't work for me. There is always something to think of, even if I think 'now I'm not thinking' .. But I'm trying it offline everyday for about 10 mintues now. Probably it takes a lot of practice and patience.

The Leopard Speaks

Welcome to the Shin Tao blog. Thanks to Defifee Fizir {the cute kitten on the right} for all of her help in getting this blog going. Tune in here for more info about the Shin Tao Haiku Retreat in Second Life!

Hello Avatars!

Good News for the Friends of the Shin Tao and all the rest:
DanteOsaka's Shin Tao Haiku Retreat in Ophelia has its own blog! From now on you can find information on events, new haikus and artwork and important messages from the leopard HERE.