More On The Last Relaystock

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

This weekend, the Relaystock took place with days two and three. While hosted by the Relay Rockers, it's always been open to performers from all teams, as well as some playing in behalf of one. And for many it was a moment to shine.

 

Among those performing Saturday, DJ Cynthia, with a number of others from Team Sunbeamers acting as dancers. 

 

The team would get almost 77,000 in the kiosk, which was enough to bring them over the one million Linden mark, and Emerald level. 

 

 The audience danced away, on solid ground between mud puddles, or just let things get squishy. 

 

 There were other teams of course, such as Roos With A Dream with DJ Kayla playing. 

 

 

They raised close to 100,000 Linden dollars.

 

 Also up was DJ Hell for Camping For A Cure. For all the jokes about his name, there was some  seriousness. He was performing while currently fighting a case of cancer.

 

Sunday I would see more performers on stage. 

 

 At times I was with the crowd, watching with other Relayers.

 

Wateru Kohime played some music in behalf of Purple Tears. 

 

 After him was Fuzzball Ortega of the Steelhead Salmons. 

 

And for those who know Fuzz, it was just a matter of time before he pulled out his massive wig, "The Hair."

 

[12:36] Softpaw Sommer: HAIR UP!!!!!
[12:36] Liandra Aries: HAIR!
[12:36] Taree Tashwood (TeslarShadaree Resident) is online.
[12:36] Sheila (Dusk Griswold): Had to be the hair. :)
[12:36] Liza Blackwood: good greif thats as big as that airship hat Vic Mornington has....
[12:36] Hina (HinaRykener Resident): Did you do something with your hair? you look different
[12:36] :: HinaRykener Resident: Did you do something with your hair? you look different
[12:36] Wateru Kohime: The HAIR!!!!
[12:36] Nuala Maracas: omg.. hold on ..the region may crash
[12:36] Nuala Maracas: i feel it shaking
[12:37] Liza Blackwood: LMAO
[12:37] Elysiane (Elysiane Sapphire): i htought that was just my laptop 

 

[13:08] Liandra Aries: Fuzz will be fine, the hair probably has some antigravity steampunk thing buried inside it
[13:08] Wateru Kohime thinks he's located the cause of the short in the microphone... Weather disturbances caused by Fuzz's hair... 

 

Then came  DJ Primilena Dumpling of Team ACTS, with some of the team including Oldesoul joining her. 

 

 Then Grace Loudon of the Cure Chasers. 

 

 The final act would be the Relay Rockers' Trader Whiplash and Nuala Maracus.

 

 And as the performers played, people danced away in the audience. 

 

 We had a lot of fun.

 

But while it was a happy event, there was some sadness. One was hearing about the passing of Ren Flow, a cofounder of Roos With  A Dream. But that wasn't the only bittersweet tone. 

 

This will be the final year for the Relay Rockers team, and with it's disbanding goes the yearly Relaystock. It was fitting among the displays were some older posters, showing how long the fun times have gone on. Yes, there are other great events such as the Fantasy Faire, the Sunbeamers' Air Show, and of course the Relay Weekend. But it's not going to be quite the same with out the three days of rock n roll and mud. 

 

A few days later at the Bid Me Bald, Trader would comment, "It's time to hang up our Relay team." But he did say, "Ways of somehow continuing the event are being investigated." Nuala would say the, "10 Year Total for Bid The Linden / Moles Bald..   $26,092 US ... L$5,834,040."

 

Their final words that day, Nuala would say, "Relay Rockers changed my Second Life.  We will still be around individually at Relay Events, not hanging up the sneakers completely. I 'll dust them off every year."
 

Trader Whiplash-Ballinger (Trader1 Whiplash) would add, "Nuala said it all...  this weekend was a fitting end to our 22 years...  and the results are just as fitting....  the Rockers may be fading but we aill all be around.. the jobs not finished "

 

"Thank you all so much for all of these wonderful years here at RelayStock. I've been attending since 2023 and I have had a wonderful time. I hope that in the future we will have this event again. ♥" 

 

"Thank you for the *rocker years* Trader!!" 

 

Thank you again, Relay Rockers, 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

  

Pictures From "Bid The Lindens Bald"

 

By Gemma Cleanslate and Bixyl Shuftan 

Picture from Bixyl Shuftan

From Friday May 10 to Wednesday May 15, the "Bid the Lindens Bald" event took place. This event was hosted by the Relay Rockers team, who were also doing their Relaystock from May 10 to 12. This is the team that brought "Bid Me Bald" to the Relay for Life in Second Life, and a few years ago the Lindens and Moles started getting involved. As this 2018 article shows, it can be quite a chaotic fun event. 

 

This year, there were five teams of Lindens and Moles:

 

Team 1 : Kit Linden, Alexa Linden, Itsa Mole, TJ Linden, Madori Linden, Simon Linden

Team 2 : Patch Linden, Millie Mole, Vanessa Linden, Keira Linden, Briganita Mole, Allota Mole

Team 3: Wendi Linden, Grumpity Linden, Derrick Linden, Oatmeal Linden, Kady Linden

Team 4: Hobbes Linden, Vix Linden, Atlas Mole, Justa Mole, Kreide Linden

Team 5: Abnor Mole, Sequoia Linden, Pepper Linden, Spiffy Mole, Anna Mole

 

People were free to donate to any, or all, of the teams' kiosks. It was promised that the team that raised the most money would give a haircut to the team that raised the least.

 

It was notable Patch Linden was still in the event. He has been somewhat scarce this year, not appearing in Bellisseria chat and skipping the VWBPE event. But he was at the Fantasy Faire "Jail and Bail."

 

Wednesday May 15 was the last day of the event

 

Haircutes are today!
Bidding open until 2:15pm slt
Vote for the team you want to KEEP their hair

Party starts at 12pm with Trader
MrMikie String LIVE at 1pm

Haircuts 2:15pm slt

 

The kiosks had their totals frozen. And at Noon, the party started. Gemma Cleanslate was there. In her words, it was, "Hair chaos, and laughter"

 

Some, such as Oatmeal Linden, had quite some crazy hairstyles. 

The team totals were as follows. 

Team 1 : 72,338
Team 2 : 117,427
Team 3 : 59,325
Team 4 : 50,683
Team 5 : 68,770

 

Patch's Team 2 would be giving a haircut to Hobbes Linden's and Vix Linden's Team 4

 

At 2:15 PM, it was time for Team 2 to make good on their commitment.

Vix Linden was sporting a shiny "chrome dome."

Hobbes Linden, the furry avatar in Team 2, didn't just get a haircut, but got shaved. He was balder than "Dr Evil's" sphinx cat. So we now know what a shaved furry looks like.

Gemma would say, "was a nice party .. loads of cracks about hairdos with all teams. Lots of Lindens and Moles there."

 

The official total raised was 401,658 Linden dollars, or $1670 US dollars. The Relay Rockers total raised this season skyrocketed, going up to a total of 1,470,00 Lindens. Firmly in Ruby level and within sight of Topaz. Before they Relaystock, it had been about several hundred thousand. 

There are still plenty of Relay events to be had. This weekend, the Rockers have the "Relay Fever" event. And of course in a few weeks is the Relay Weekend from Saturday June 8 to 9

Gemma Cleanslate and Bixyl Shuftan

The Relay Rocker's Annual Bid Me Bald Team Challenge

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

On Sunday, April 14, the Relay for Life in Second Life's Relay Rockers team hosted an event. It was the conclusion of their multi-team Ninth Annual Bid Me Bald Challenge. Eleven other teams had volunteered to take part in their fundraiser, and over time they had raised tens of thousands of Linden dollars. And now was the time for the final donations.

Which team will be going bald, which team will be holding the scissors?

Find out today at 4:30pm slt as the 9th Annual Bid Me Bald Team Challenge comes to a close!

Party starts 4pm slt
 

Join the party and get in those last minute votes!

Team with the lowest amount in their kiosk gets the haircut by the team with the highest amount!  Still time to donate.

 

 The party took place at Arinultra Cay, not far from the Legends Rock Club. There were numerous Relayers there on the beach, representing most of the teams involved. "It's so great to see all the teams here."

 

The twelve teams each had a kiosk people could donate to.  The Relay Rockers, the host team, were not in the lead, but had a few others ahead of them, including the Sunbeamers.

"Roos With A Dream" was among the teams with the most raised. Another was the Cure Chasers, someone saying, "We have to sink the chasers to be safe, patty. get your siphon out. but don't let anyone see you." The one with the most raised was United For A Cure, "We are almost 5k ahead of the ROOS!" Nuala Marcus stated at one point. , "So looks like United For A Cure might be giving the haircuts   $50,000 in their kiosk.. but still 20 min left."

 

Nuala later reminded, "If you are a new team to Relay this year... ..say hello and drop an IM or friend request to some of the teams here. We all work together and love to help new teams out."

Sienna (Sienna Thor) seemed a little nervous about getting the buzz, "not getting my hair without a fight!" Trader Whiplash asked, "Sienna  are you nervous?" Arizona Ballinger-Whiplash (Arizona Ballinger) laughed at the sight, "Sienna, nice hat." Somebody rapped on the helmet, "*Raps on the top o' Siennas head....'you in there?' ..." A second was joking around, "Sienna, what is the  helmet for ? We playing football next ?" Someone else tried to reasure her, "You are safe Sienna." DJ Morph commented, "Sienna has the Truth Hair Group Gift. She's protecting her investment."

Finally, 4:30 PM came. And the kiosks were all raised dozens of feet up in an instant. United For A Cure was first by a longshot, 70,000 Linden dollars! In last place was Hellfires against Cancer, which had raised 9701 Lindens for this event. 

Pandamondium Blackwood, the captain for United For A Cure, was handed the scissors. WiccanSeductress stood in for Hellfires. 

And to the tune of the "Hair" song from the late 60s, the haircut was delivered.

Some people left. Others danced for a while. Including this person in a Wookie avatar. 

Here are the totals from all twelve teams:

United for A Cure - 70,000
Roos With A Dream - 33,617
Sunbeamers - 32,150
Cure Chasers : 32,000
Relay Rockers - 22,000

Seekers of Hope: 15,000

Heroes Helping Heroes : 14,700

SHB Gems : 11,500
Tiny Explorere 10,782
Team ES: 10,500
Supernaturals for A Cure: 10,400
Hellfires Against Cancer - 9701
 

Arizona Ballinger-Whiplash (Arizona Ballinger) would state the total raised was 271,350  Lindens, or
$1,085.40  US.

"Thank you so much for participating!"

 

 Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From The Relaystock

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

The Relayers had a lot of fun at the Relaystock Woodstock tribute from Friday May 12 to Sunday May 14. There were numerous teams taking part, as well as numerous live musicians and DJs. On Satutday night, it was the turn of two certain teams. At 6PM, DJ Cynthia of Team Subneamers would get on stage, dancing with a number of teammates, including team captain Rita Mariner, Nydia Tungsten, and Shockwave Yareach.

 

 

Like other teams the "Sunnies" had their campsite. 

 

 Some would hang out there for a while.

 

 

Team Captain Rita Mariner, in her "Bid Me" skunk form, demonstrates one new Sunbeamer item up for sale this year, "The Hindenburger," which floated around her. 

Nydia Tungsten had Internet trouble weeks, but thankfully was able to get online for the Relaystock.

Cynthia Farshore had gotten a temporary reprieve from her "Bid Me Ruth," back in her nannygoat form.

At the time, I was in a lapine appearance due to the "Bid Me Bunny" I volunteered for. 

At the nearby Meli's Maniacs' camp, Ginger (Dusk Griswold) would occasionally play the drums).

When not there, we were often at the music stage.

Among the DJs were some live musicians, such as Maxamillian Kleene. 

Team leaders Trader Whiplash and Arizona Ballinger were dancing away as well with the audience, sometimes on top of the nearby van.

On Saturday afternoon May 13, over time most of the more active members of Team Sunbeamers came to the event area. At first it was to dance in the mud alongside the others.

As 6PM neared, the 'beamers gathered behind the stage.

Practicing their dance moves, making sure everyone was coordinated.

Finally it was time to get on stage. Trader Whiplash joked, "Did you wipe your feet before you climbed up there?" Shockwave responded, "You all having fun out there in the mud?"

Cynthia started the music, and the Sunnies started to dance. They danced to a number of classic rock songs as Cynthia played them.

With the furry dancers on stage before a mostly human audience, Shockwave mused, "Everybody avoid the brown acid. Everyone on stage looks like an animal to me." There were other musing as well, "I don't know what the age of Aquariums was." When the song "Something In The Air" was played, someone commented, "Something in the Air?  Another darn Chinese Balloon?" "Would you like to spy, in my beautiful balloon?" "The thing with Chinese Spy Balloons, there is always another along in about an hour." "Chinese balloons are never full."

 

Eventually the songs took a break for a short announcement reminding people to not keep snacking while sitting at their computer. Then the music resumed with "Sugar Sugar," which got some people musing, "Good song to follow that announcement (laughter)." "Hehe funny, they say not to eat or drink at your desk then they put on this song (giggles)." When the song "California Dreamin'" was played, Valkyrie Ice, the team succubus, mused, "Val always thought it was 'Califirnia Demons.'" When Arthur Brown's "Fire" was played, Shockwave grinned, "I was tempted to rez a giant fire for this song." When the song "Eve of Destruction" was played, Ginger mused, "the time before I am about to cook." Then came "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" by The Byrds. Ginger mused, "There is a seasoning for nearly all food. ... To everything I cook, burn burn burn."

 At one point, Shock challenged the crowd, "Okay audience!!  You got no L, but wanna contribute? Answer this question and you get 1K in the kiosk! ... What color is the Tamborine?" Several people answered "green." Shock grinned, "Damn all you know that song." Ginger mused, "We're old." Liska joked, "Listen while I eat my green tangerine." Cynthia would then play "My Green Tambourine," which Nydia Tungsten did a video of a few years ago to celebrate the team reaching Emerald for the first time.

 

When donations came in, the kiosk would give the following message:

Thank you for creating hope! Donations to this kiosk are distributed to the American Cancer Society IRL, and used to fund life-saving cancer research grants and patient services that benefit the entire world, including residents of Second Life through Hope Haven on American Cancer Society island.

Team captain Rita had pledged to match donations, and they kept coming in. Shockwave would soon challenge the crowd that if enough was raised, he'd wear a nightgown, looking like the "Big Bad Wolf" trying to disguise himself as Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, "Anyone makes it 45K I'll wear the whole Grandma outfit." Well, the amount was soon raised, and he made good on his promise. Shock would muse, "People just don't understand the whole wearing grandma's clothes kink." Liska mused, "You should get back into World of Warships, Shocky, you could be a wolf in ship's clothing." Eventually, he heard the pictures being taken, "That better not be a camera flash I see in the back!!"

Ginger, who was in an anthro otter avatar, commented, "Earlier someone here told me I made their autistic son's day, as he loves otters." Cynthia's response was, "Well you 'otter' do that more often."

Then Nydia made her own challenge, shouting, "Tell you all what, if we get to 40K, I will go human for a week 50 K am I will go human for TWO weeks! For this cause, I will DO IT!" To her surprise, it was quickly matched. Shockwave groaned, "We just got her back!! And now she's gotta shave?!" Her response was to up the ante, " I am putting out here. IF we reach $100K I will go human for over 1 MONTH!" FluffyFoxy364 Resident offered, "I'll go Shark for a month if the Sunbeamers hit 1 Million." Someone responded, "We're gonna need a bigger stage"

The offers to match donations continued to come in, Brian (BrianL61 Landar) offering, "I will donte $L1000 if two people match me, I will donate another $L2000."

 

Finally Rita announced, "By the way, we hit 100K mudpuppies." Hearing that she had to make good on her promise, Nydia spoke, "Okay I love you ALL, but I'm a shut my mouth now. ... I will be Human until JUNE 15th!" Her friends cheered, "Go Nydia!"

At one point, someone rezzed a Volkswagon Beetle painted in 60s colors and started driving around. Eventually the driver lagged and spun out of the sim, crashing afterwards.

Among the funnery, some of the team would explain some personal reasons for why they were in the Relay for Life. Shockwave Yareach would say, "My dad and stepmom died from cancer.  I relay for them. ...  I hope we can find the magic bullet and stop this terror." Ginger would add, "My Mom died from cancer when I was 12, I mostly relay for her. ... My sister and sister in law survived breast cancer, fairly recently." Snowy (Skylark Lefavre) would say, "I relay for my 11 year-old (SL) daughter cancer took." Nydia spoke, "I survived cancer, but I relay for my friends and family and those I care for here in SL!" Liska remarked, "Resident): Been fairly lucky with family, I relay mostly for Fluffy.  Cancer went after him, and cancer got it's ass kicked."

 

Rita would say, "We relay for many of our friends and family who lost the fight against cancer." Ginger would say, "Our campsite will have items out representing those we have lost and those who are either fighting it or survived." Shockwave told, "Together, we remember them, and try to save the next generation!"

Eventually, the end of the Sunweaver's time on stage was in sight. Shockwave told the crowd, "We are grateful for your generosity.  And we hope you've enjoyed the trip down memory lane," then grinned about his outfit, "even if this is one memory I'll regret." Fireworks would soon be launched into the air, better visible when the viewer was set to Midnight. 

 

Finally, it was over, and time for the 'beamers to leave the stage.

From Cynthia Farshore

The team had done very well, that night, raising over 111,000 Linden dollars, or as Cynthia put it, "WWHHOOOOOOOAaaaaaa! Goat is going to faint!" "That was a lot of fun," Mato would say, "we raised a lot!"

 

An amount of a few tens of thousands would come from one generous donor who prefers to stay anonymous.

It was then 7:30PM, and time for the last performance that night, DJ Kayla with other members of "Roos With A Dream."

As the Roos' set wound down, they joined those of the Sunbeamer team that had stuck around.

From Cynthia Farshore

When the Roos' set ended at 9PM, they'd gotten another large amount of cash. They'd raised over 126,000 Linden dollars, even more than the Sunbeamers. For the home team, the Relay Rockers, they'd gotten the largest boost of all from the event. When the final performance on Sunday night, Trader Whiplash's, was over, the team had been pushed past the one million mark, and Emerald rank fundraising. A few days later, the Rockers would score more with the "Bid The Lindens Bald" event, which sent them past the two million mark.

On the last day of the Relaystock, Sunday May 14, Sunbeamer captain Rita would say, "I want to thank those of you that participated yesterday at Relaystock. It was a blast and we set a record for raising donations for the Sunbeamers. The ROOS beat us in total, but they loved our help.  Between the two of us, we raised enough to make a team go from zero to Platinum."

The last comment would be Trader Whiplash's who on Wednesday May 17 announced how much the events raised:

Final totals are in for the RelayStock weekend and today's  Bid Lindens & Moles Bald

L$1,825,179
$7,437 US

Thanks You to all the teams who took part in RelayStock and everyone who came over to enjoy the weekend and to those who took part in today's Bid The Lindens Bald.  You all rock !

It was one groovy weekend with lots of mud, rock n' roll, and fun Relaying.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Roos! Go Rockers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Addition: The lady who donated the few tens of thousands of Lindens was Charlee Amethyst.