"Goodbye Jasmine" - DJ Jazzy's Last Performance (For Now)

 

 

On Sunday January 29 at 5 PM, the Happy Vixen gave a farewell party to one of it's DJs: Jasmime Dawn/ DJ Jazzy. Jasmine has been DJing on and off at the Happy Vixen since it opened over ten years ago. Almost two years ago she was able to do so again on a regular basis. Standing out in a place of foxes, felines, and bunnies in her equine avatar, later on a giraffe, the real-life veteran played a number of country, rock, and pop music tunes at her sets. But she had recently been hired by a company who would pay her more per hour, but she'd have to work more hours. So she was stepping down. But not without one last show at her Sunday slot.

This evening, in Second Life at The Happy Vixen will be my last event. I'm retiring from the stage and moving on to bigger and better things in my life and asking you all to come join me there this evening from 5pm to 7pm SLT     Will be a fishbowl event with a drawing for 3 lucky winners.  Simply come as you are. ALL are welcome to enter  and those 3 lucky 3 will walk away with at least 1000 linden lovings each.  Bring a friend and help me fill the place up yeah?  Help me say goodbye once last time.

 

 

 A few decorations went up for the occasion.

 

 

 There were quite a few party poppers going off: KABOOM!

Someone partied a little too hearty.

 

 But was soon back into action.

 

The theme was Come As You Are. And instead of voting on the board the prize was given at random to three people via "the fishbowl." Initially 3000 L, it rose to 9000, then 9500 L.

The last couple songs were "Take This Job And Shove It" and "The Parting Glass," the former probably chosen out of humor, and the latter for poetics.

The contest was won by three lucky winners, DeniseUnicorn Toonie, Halaliel Zenith, and Kit Shiriki MoonDust (Kit UwU). who split the 9500L prize.

Eventually the set ended and it was time for DJ Squeaks/Brandi Streussel to play the tunes, so Jasmine hung up her headphones for the last time, at least for now. It's probable she'll occasionally DJ on special events, such as Halloween. But DJing on a regular basis, and possibly the Halloween Haunts that have appeared annually for a while, won't be for at least a few more years, "There will always be a place here for you."

The Sunday 5PM slot is expected to be filled in by DJ Frost (assuming all goes as planned).

Thank you again Jazzy, and best of luck.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Burn2 in Second Life

by Grease Coakes

Burn2 in Second Life was an exciting event to participate in. Not only did I DJ a few times at the dj stage which was a large wooden ship I also was in the lamplighter procession traveling from sim to sim. In fact I had to end my dj set at 11am SLT for the procession between the sims to begin.

For those who might not know, Burn2 is the inworld version of the Burning Man festival, an annual event in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It’s based on a few principles such as "radical" inclusion, self-reliance community cooperation, civic responsibility, gifting, decommodification, participation, immediacy and leaving no trace and self-expression. It’s based on a temporary community of sharing art through music and sculpture all for bringing pleasure to the participants. Burn rangers and other avatars rented the sims every year for this grand event.

Second Life has brought that same atmosphere to inside your computer as I was a DJ to share my music. To adhere to the principles, I wasn’t allowed a tip jar and I was not allowed to ask for tips. I was sharing my music as part of the Burning Man theme.

Timothy S. McTaggart (tsmt01 Resident) said he himself has been to Burning Man and he had this to say as he was one of the builders, “Dusty and crazy but worth the trip.” In addition, he said, “This is the only real-life Burning Man sanctioned regional that burns 'The Man.' ” In other words Second Life is the only other place Burning man is allowed.

The Burning man is exciting even in a virtual universe and was fireballs of fun. If you get the chance come participate in Second Life or if you’re lucky go to the real one in Nevada.

As my DJ set ended, Burning man requested that the limbo sim be cleared for the lamplighters to prepare their parade like procession rangers guided us from one sim to the other. It was fun as they asked me to help carry the lamps Fifi Candyfloss and Franja Russell were lamplighters and firedancers among others. One of the burners Ratatosk Independent wrote this poem as self expression.

 Eye music
------------
Firework is like music for the eye.
Flowers and thunder in the sky.
Magicians send up flowers with ease
Patterns and wonders and buzzing bees!
It's one of humankind's better invention!
Love and laughter its only intention.

Laura loves the Fire Workers of Burning Man 2015

As I carried the lamps I heard drums like native American music with chants and rhythmic beat that was entrancing. Towards the end I was watching the fire dancers do amazing dances with torches. It was a no brainer that Burning Man was a hot event when I was djing and watching the fire dancers

Near the end of the event on Saturday there was an effigy burn as part of Burn2, the "Burning of the Man." There was avatars EVERYWHERE. Everyone and their dog was chanting BURN HIM. Based on "The Man" from this year's Burning Man, the wooden figure was smaller than on most years, but it burned hot and bright just the same.

For those who haven't been to the Burn2 area, or haven't seen the whole thing yet, the art exhibits will still be up for two or three days. You can marvel at the drawings of Leonardo DaVinci's genius come to life, or rezz a mutant vehicle and have some laughs as you drive around in a martini glass or red wagon.

Grease Coakes

Second Life Newser's Fifth Anniversary Weekend

On the weekend of Saturday June 6 and Sunday June 7, Second Life Newser celebrated it's turning five years old. It was  June 5, 2010 when it's predecessor paper, Second Life Newspaper, folded, and the new paper began. The celebrations actually began on Thursday June 4 at "The Vinyl." But when the weekend came, it was time for the celebrations to happen elsewhere.

Originally, we were going to have the party for Saturday at Noon at Thorstar. But there was a last minute problem: ban lines. We didn't see who now owned the stretch of beach, so the only thing we could do was move the party.

 And so we moved it to the Happy Vixen, with Grease Coakes spinning the tunes as the DJ.

 Lomgren Smalls, who has been easing back into Second life after a hiatus, was among those there.

Besides Grease, Gemma Cleanslate and Wesley Regenbogen were there, along with some friends such as Anne Brightstar.

 At 6PM, it was time for the party at Cutlass. As June 6 was also D-Day, Cynthia Farshore, whom was DJing for the party, wore a naval uniform and played a recording of the announcement of the landings in Normandy.

 Lots of fun was had with various news songs being played.

Zorro Wuramunga, normally with a fishing rod, sported the traditional news reporter's hat and overcoat that night. He and Carolzilla Lionheart won 500 Lindens each.

On Sunday at Noon, it was time to once again take the party to the Happy Vixen for the last of the celebration events.

Nydia Tungsten, who runs the Happy Vixen, would be the DJ for this events. She would play songs like "We Are the Champions" and several renditions of "Happy Birthday.

Today we are hosting the birthday party for the SL newser, yours truly is DJ'ing and putting out the tunes to help them make it another year, come by because you are all invited!

At one poiny, Nydia and Jenni Greenfield did a a hula dance routine.

 Ozymandius was among those showing up at the party.

The 500L prize, which had been boosted to 1500 by a supporter, went to Skylark Lefavre.

The Newser's celebration was also noted by Daniel Voyager, who mentioned it on his blog. There were also various well wishers on Facebook.

It was a Happy Anniversary to the Second Life Newser, and hopefully there will be many more to come.

Bixyl Shuftan

The SL8B Weekend

From June 20th to June 26th, Second Life held it’s official eighth birthday celebrations. The last two days fell on the weekend, so it was a chance for those busy during the week to come by, as well as be there longer. Time to see some of the events, both DJs and live musicians playing, plus the lectures and talk and game shows making special appearances.

Dropping in on Saturday the 25th, I found out Marx Dudek, the “Unique Bunny” as she once called herself with her custom avatar, was DJing at the Bay City Exhibit. So I dropped in to say hello, and enjoyed listening and dancing to the classic rock songs of the 1950’s and early 60’s. It was about this time a few friends I hadn’t seen much online lately logged on. We chatted a little over Instant Message, and thinking they would enjoy the music , I suggested the come over. They did, asking where the dance animator was, and joining in.

The friends in question are worth a mention. One is a US Army soldier back home from Afghanistan. He was wearing, of all things, a “Brony” avatar. What the hey would the symbol of American testosterone be doing in an “ODed on cute” avatar? Maybe it was for some joke. Or maybe it suggests something about what he had to face while performing the duties of “rough men who ensure the rest of civilization sleeps peacefully at night.”

The other friend was Gwyenalin Gausman, who came over with her real-life daughter. Gwen’s been on Second Life for a couple years, her “Gathering Place” in Second Life a testimony for those suffering from chronic pain and Fybromyalgia. She told me she had started a group for chronic pain, which recently had it’s first meeting.

After the Bay City event, I looked around for a while. I came across another group of people dancing away, and recognized the DJ: GoSpeed Racer. Longtime readers of Second Life Newspaper may recognize the name: she DJed for a few of it’s newspaper parties, as well as her station sponsoring the paper for a time. Speed appears in a female av, and not a dark-haired male, but she does have her own Mach-5 (I never saw it jack up in the air, though). Besides DJing, Speed’s spent some time in the sci-fi multiplayer online game “Eve Online” and told me of a recent development there (more on that in another article).

Before long, I heard Gemma Cleanslate’s partner DJ Quark was doing his own event, so I told Speed and her friends goodbye and ported over. Quark was doing his Trance tunes, and Gemma was there in her “dwarf giant” racing snail avatar. The place was quite crowded (the picture taken before everyone rezzed), and Quark was making a good impression on everyone. Then came a problem. Someone was streaming the place with particles, not just once or twice but again and again, and rezzing objects. She was politely asked to stop, but she angrily gripped she had every right to display whatever she wanted to, and had no intention of stopping. Maybe I should have changed to my skunk avatar and shot some spray particles in her direction.

Sunday June 26th was the last chance to see public events in the SL8B area. Some of the events were recorded on Second Life TV, such as Lauren Live and the First Question. Lauren Wayland’s usual comedy routine occasionally gets a little off-color, so she had to check with Linden labs about which words she could use for her Second Life Birthday special, “don’t worry, they’re all okay.” Still, although individual words were sometimes clean, the meaning was obvious, “What’s the worst chat line? ‘Is it big enough?’ I mean, come on! if it isn’t big enough, right click and just, stretch. (laughter) If only we could do that in real life.” And there were other jokes, like the made-up word, “Lagalicious: lag that you actually enjoy.” And one questions he was asked, “As a girl in Second Life, do you get cramps? Only when I TP.”

Also on Sunday was Pookymedia’s “The 1st Question” Championship show, with winners of three previous shows, Troy McLuhan, CathyWyo1 Haystack, and Patio Plasma. It wasn’t the easiest episode to listen to, as the stream carried background music instead of the Treet.tv broadcast. But the winner’s name was clearly on the screen: Troy McLuhan. Following the show, Pooky Amsterdam’s staff of tinies lined up and did one of the “Tiny Riverdance” routines that had been occurring at the SL8B time to time. This one was a little smaller than others that were screenshotted, but it drew cheers and applause all the same.

There were a few more events that night, but the nagging migraine in my head was Mother Nature telling me it was time to give Second Life a break and return to reality, celebrations be darned. And so, farewell to the Second Life Eighth Birthday event. I would be able to return to see the exhibits ( although not as often as I wanted to), but the official events were over.

Bixyl Shuftan