Second Life can at times be a very welcome distraction from Real Life. I’ve spent the last few days scratching my head regarding the audacity of Camelot, the operator of The National Lottery in the UK. In 2013 they raised the price of a ticket from a quid to two quid. Now they’ve told us that from this October we’ll have less chance of winning any of the cash prizes and in the most bizarre twist, they keep telling us that these changes are exciting!

Meanwhile the lottery regulator, explain why they approved the latest changes :

The Commission also considered the impact of the proposed changes on the odds of winning, and how this may be perceived as a negative change by players. Camelot’s research indicated that the majority of players are more interested in prizes than the odds of the game. The Commission noted the balance between odds rising on individual prize tiers with the increased overall chance of winning a prize and the improvement of the odds of becoming a millionaire, as well as the fact the same percentage of sales as before will go to the prize fund.

Having considered all of these points we were satisfied that permitting the changes to Lotto would be consistent with our statutory duty to protect players.

The regulator were convinced that people would not care about having less chance of winning a cash prize? The new prize is a free go! Seriously, you could not make this up.

Anyway, to save my blood from boiling, I welcomed Linden Lab’s blog post : Free Special-Edition Second Life 12th Birthday Avatar & Snapshot Contest. I then promptly went to Hairy Hippo Fun Land, because it’s a great location, with or without birthday avatars.

Now once you’ve got your avatar, it’s time to explore. Hairy Hippo Fun Land is in the Bay City vicinity and whereas it’s a lot of fun to roam the streets of Bay City and terrify residents, it’s nice to actually explore Hairy Hippo Fun Land.

I met a very nice Hippo there. However be warned, that is indeed a bouncy device in front of the Hippo and if you stand on it, you will indeed bounce! Now getting back to the blog post from Linden Lab, not only can you get your hands on a free avatar, there’s also a photo competition :

Celebrate SL12B in Ferocious Style for a Chance to Win L$10,000

Now that you’ve got your raptor – it’s time to take ‘em for a test drive. Share snapshots of your raptor avatar celebrating SL12B to the Second Life 12th Anniversary Snapshot Contest from now until July 20th, and you could win 1 of 4 incredible prizes – L$10,000 , L$5,000, L$3,000, or L$1,000!

Be creative! This limited-edition raptor has the entirety of the grid to seek out a picture-perfect spot to take a winning snapshot – but a good place to start is the SL12B Destination Guide category.

Read the full rules and contest details on the contest page.

Now it should be noted that The Destination Guide locations for SL12B point to places that aren’t yet open. Patience young Padawans, Patience. SL12B opens on Sunday.

So the next question is likely to be “Where Can I Get The Avatar?” Well you could get it from The Marketplace (Booooo! Boring!) or you could go to Hairy Hippo Fun Land (Yay! Hurrah!) Personally, I would suggest that you go to Hairy Hippo Fun Land, really, it’s worth a visit.

The building above is where you will find The Avatar, and I must say, it’s a rather impressive avatar and has a some funky features via a HUD.

To keep track of events and happenings for SL12B go here : http://www.slcommunitycelebration.info/

SLURL To Hairy Hippo Fun Land : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Weston/73/60/25/

Face to face
Sadly solitude
And it’s finger popping
Twenty-four hour shopping, in Raptor

Have fun with your Raptor!

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