Jamm for Genes Raises 667,000 Lindens

By Bixyl Shuftan

From 12 Midnight early Friday morning August 1 to 10AM Sunday morning August 3, the "Jamm for Genes" event took place at "The Pocket." Except for a few hours on Friday afternoon, a series of musicians performed live on the Australian club's stage, one taking over right after the other signed off. The event was run by club owner and singer OhMy Kidd.

"Jamm for Genes" has been taking place every year in Second Life for several years. The event raises funds for the "Jeans for Genes" fundraiser by the Children's Medical Research Institute in Australia. In some previous events, other Australian clubs took part in the Jamm. But OhMy recently announced "The Pocket" would be temporarily closing after the fundraiser. This may have gotten others involved to let his club stand alone in the spotlight. OhMy had the help of Cellandra Zon and Bundy Scorpio (Bundy Xue), thanking those putting Lindens in the kiosk, "Thank you for your gene-erous donation." And explained those dropping in what the event was about, "Thank you for supporting Jamm for Genes.  With your help, the Children's Medical Research Institute can continue to unlock the mysteries of genetic disorders such as birth defects, cancer, and epilepsy.  You are helping to make miracles." People were invited to take some free t-shirts of the event from a box near the stage.

OhMy Kidd started things off with the first live music event. Following him were many more live musicans, such as Rosedrop Rust, Max Kleene, Beth Odets, and many more. Avatars of all kinds dropped by to dance, or just to listen. And the donations continued to come in as well. Occasionally there were some jokes and general funnery. One musician's microphone and cord was mistaken for a whip, which got a couple crack comments. At one point, a kangaroo av was hopping around to the chuckles of the Australians.

The event went on all day Saturday, Saturday night, and early Sunday morning. Finally as Bara Jonson and Free Balan finished up their event at 10AM, the total donated was 666,000 Lindens, which in a few minutes was raised to 667,000. The event's organizers hugged one another in celebration. Cellandra cheerfully told me , "It's been a fun event and Everyone has been so very generous.

It was late in Australia, and people whom weren't heading elsewhere were retiring to bed, Bundy saying, "Ok time for some much earned sleep, will pick my stuff up tomorrow when get up." I asked OhMy Kidd if he had anything to say. He answered, "Thanks everyone, especially all the musicians, and especially Bundy! I'm very grateful for the generosity of Second Life musicians and music lovers." So what were his plans now? "I am going to sleeep for 10 hours!  And I can say one thing for sure - Jamm for Genes in SL wil be back next year!"

And with that, OhMy Kidd went his way, and the 2014 Jamm for Genes was over.

Bixyl Shuftan

Happy Australia Day at "The Pocket"

By Bixyl Shuftan

"Happy S'Traya Day!" That was the greeting people dropping by "The Pocket" got when they dropped by Friday night on January 25th. January 26 is "Australia Day," and with the time difference, the club's Aussie staff, singers, and regulars were already celebrating in real life and ready to take the fun to Second Life.

When I first got there, there were a few dozen people around, and the place was grey with lag to me. I took a club-wide picture later in the night after some people had left, presumably to real life holiday events.

 Several live singers performed for the night of the national holiday. Among them were OhMy Kidd, who performed on stage with "percussionist" Saraine Sands. Also on stage was Lexi Luan, whom sung while strumming her guitar strings.

As the day went on, so did the greetings of "Happy Australia Day," "Happy S'Traya Day," "Ozzie Day," "Oz Day," and more. There was a little joking around, one pretending to be confused, "So STraya day is Australia Day, right?" Someone also joked, "When *** has finished having my child she'll be right back, honest." Another quipped in response, "Hope it's a SL pregnancy, I can't keep this up for 8 more months! 8 weeks maybe (grin)."

 For a couple people coming by the Pocket, it happened to be the anniversarries of when they came to the Grid, one saying, "Today is my Rez Day. OK, so it's not. It's A-DAY." "That means it's your UnRezz day" hostess Cellandra Zon joked in response.

A few unusual avatars showed up, including a tiny hedgehog, a steampunk "spider" avatar, and a kangaroo that hopped around for a bit before stopping to dance. It was a fun night for all.

"The Pocket" is at the eastern edge of the Fendahl sim, with a small part extending onto the Cassandra sim for busier nights. The sims are on the southern tip of the triangular-shaped mainland continent of Satori (also known as Malebaia or the Japanese continent). There are several live musicians, usually some or all of them Australian, performing every night at 8PM.

Fendahl, (242, 82, 31)

Bixyl Shuftan