There are only two times of the year when I get homesick for the country of my upbringing: Thanksgiving and 4th of July. Well, the latter is upon us and while the Yanks have their annual fireworks festival (in warm weather, thank you - none of this November nonsense), we're celebrating the beginning of July down here in the south of England with some uncharacteristic sun.
To assuage my hunger for watered-down lager and patriotic tunes, I've just made a visit to the recently re-instated Americana in the virtual world Second Life, a simulation of some of the most recognisable monuments in the U.S. of A., lovingly recreated by some of SL's residents. Lest anyone start claiming nationalistic fervour on the part of the primarily-US-based "lifers", two of the builders are actually British.
It's all there, from the Washington Monument to the Statue of Liberty to a baseball diamond to a classic schoolhouse to Area 51. I had a burger and some popcorn and a wee tour past the drive-in movie theatre and Grauman's Chinese Theater [sic], and my homesickness has lessened. I even bought some fireworks for an in-game celebration later on.
This is one kind of creation that goes on in this strange virtual world. I hit the virtual Stonehenge a couple of weeks ago for the solstice festivities, and both experiences are next best thing to actually being there.
