The 2013 Relay Weekend

By Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday July 13th to Sunday July 14th marked the high point of the Relay For Life's fundraising season: the Relay Weekend. Across the forty-some sims of the Relay track, hundreds of avatars walked, occasionally stopping at the dozens of exhibits made in the teams' camps. Numerous smaller events took place, both in and out of the Relay sims. Like other Relays, it was a time to both have fun and celebrate successes, in addition to reflecting on friends whom were lost. For this ninth Relay, some milestones were set, including one fundraising goal for the Relay as a whole.

At 10AM SL time, the Opening Ceremonies took place at the meeting point of the four RFL Activities sims. People were dropping in before the event, and for good reason. More than 150 residents appeared at the building there, noted for it's towering upside-down "Y" shaped structure of glass on top, which lit up when peoples' viewers were at Midnight. And with all the residents present, came the inevitable lag, which meant for most the screen was filled with clouds, gray avatars, and the occasional mesh glitch for a while.

Seated in the center were the Relay Committee. They thanked the various teams for their efforts at raising funds, and individuals for their teamwork. They touted Second Life as a means for people to get together, dismissing those who see the Internet as a land of deception. Then described how it could be used for a cause, the fight against cancer. Then some inspirational speeches were made, which at times brought some residents to cry, "Oh my God, this woman has me in tears." Following that a list of the Relay teams was read out. At the end, the Committee gave the all clear to head to the track, "Now let's go Relay!" The crowd erupted in cheers, as the radio switched to Elton John's song "Still Standing."

The first themed lap was the "Survivor/ Caregiver" lap. So for the majority of us, we sat at our camps, or someone else's. At the Sunbeamer camp, teammates and friends of began arriving, including a few whom had recently joined the team roster.   Team Captain Rita Mariner showed up in a ratgirl avatar instead of her normal purplish bunny. As one of the Sunbeamer's final events, she got into a "Bid Me" event, in which the kiosk with the most donated to would decide her appearance for the next week. One was a "Bid Rita Pink," a color she normally disliked wearing. The winning kiosk instead had her changing to a rodent form with a long pinkish tail and buck teeth, with long hair and the team's yellow uniform.

One recent change in Second Life got some talk among the Relayers, "Project Sunshine." This effort by Linden Lab to upgrade the Grid meant that those with older viewers would have more problems seeing the details of other avatars, as well as appearing gray to others as well. And as the avatars went down the track, most appeared gray, getting color only if they paused or had passed the camp.

"Did Linden Lab *have* to release that just before the Relay?" I heard from more than one Relayer. While Relayers often say the lag gets worse every year, it's usually spoke as a joke. This time, however, some people were wondering. Others just felt lag was an inevitable part of large events, and the only thing that could be done was deal with it the best we could. This meant taking down HUDs, such as "Tiny Empires," and other scripted items, as well as skipping sims on the track which were closed to further traffic, crowded, or crashed.

At 12:30, the time for the "Teams' Lap" was on, and I joined the Sunbeamer team, led by its captain Rita Mariner as it went down the track. Some of us were wearing a shirt designed by Becky "Sha" Shamen, "I do believe in serving others and when I learned that Sunbeamers needed clothing, I was happy to help them, for free." In the Sunbeamer package, there was her shirt, a bikini top, a few flags, and separate jackets for males and females made by a Mr. Allen. So we went down the track. Despite that many of us had the "Walk and Talk" tear-shaped backpacks, so named as people could continue to chat while they allowed one to walk automatically, we inevitably became separated due to the lag. And the walker wasn't quite perfect as at one point it stopped following the person in front of me, and instead steered right into the Goreans for Life camp and into it's team.

The way the Relay sims are set up, a sim can only have so much traffic before it is "closed" and appears to those outside as just water. This happened a number at times, and the result was a "pile up" of avatars at sim borders on the track. Some just waited for it to reopen while others skipped ahead to the next one. A few sims crashed and were outright offline from the Grid. Fortunetly, a few Lindens were around to remedy these problems. And with the lag, residents were crashing quite a bit. One Relayer jokingly called it, "Crash For Life."

But the reasons for the lag were that so many friends were around, and others joining in the Relay's cause. So few complained much.

After the Teams Lap, the theme of the track changed to Western. So I switched to a set of cowboy duds. As the hour ran down, I heard about some Giant Snail Races that would be taking place at the RFL Activities 3 sim. So I headed there. There, RacerX Gullwing invited people to join the race, and with just a handful present, for once I went ahead and joined in the event, saying ahead of time I would probably come in last.

The first race were for the "Tiny Giant Snails," and I stood out with my freebie red one that I had picked up. I had a bit of a slow start due to forgetting to press the "always run" option for my viewer.While going on, there was a slingshot that allowed one to zip ahead if stepped into right, as well as obstacles like bouncy mushrooms and a twisty maze. I got lost in the maze, and ended up coming in last place.

Second race, it was time for the standard Giant Snails. I had an old one, so got that out. It certainly wasn't as dressed up as those of the girls who regularly raced. It took a little getting used to. To those watching, the giant snails were an amusing sight as they waddled around as they raced, spewing bubbles from their mouths. "Tiny giants" just zipped down the track. Not surprisingly, I came in last place again.

Third race, I ended up briefly in the lead, though later heard when seeing the recording of the event that I had accidentally cut through the end of a maze hedge, "Has the fox traded in his fedora for a top hat and twirly mustache?" This time however, I went through the maze somehow avoiding a single wrong turn. I came in second to last place this time. RacerX thanked everyone, and told us we'd each get a trophy later on for participating.

After that, I went back to my fox look and went on the track for a while longer, through the "Fabulous Fifties" lap. At 6PM, many Sunbeamers headed to their home community's Cutlass Club for it's Saturday party instead of taking part in the "Beach Party" Relay lap. The theme was "Relay Pink," so not all of the males present entered. The girls' contest got a few more entries. Club owner Jenni Greenfield was dressed up as a white bunnygirl dressed in pink with a pink beret, a look inspired by the Easter movie "Hop."

At 7PM was the musicians lap, and at 8PM many residents went chrome dome for the "bald is beautiful" lap. At 9PM was a special hour, the Luminaria Ceremony. All chat out in the open ceased, and the track went Midnight dark, the luminaries lighting up the path. Many instead of walking sat at their camps, reflecting on family, or friends, whom had lost their struggle with cancer.

Following Midnight, more Relayers began heading to bed for a few hours rest. On Sunday Morning, I was going to be the one interviewed for a change. Pooky Amsterdam had been talking to various relayers for SL TV, and I was going to get a chance. Techhnical difficulties at my end however postponed the interview for an hour. Pooky herself took on a vixen look for the interviewing. But then my inexperience with Skype began causing problems, and the interview was changed to her describing the Sunbeamer campsite. Oh well, there's always next year.

I would see a few more exhibits Sunday morning. Among those was the Steelhead Salmons' camp. This one had piles of books, and had the words "Knowledge is Power." Fuzzball Ortega was there in a Relay shirt, and at one point his adopted girl Mindy came over from a short break from summer camp. The Steelhead camp had a number of features inward that I had yet to look at before heading on, including what looked like a small Emerald City. It also had a box with the team shirts, team flags, and Steelheader Baron Wulfenback's own flag.

At 9AM was the formal hour, and at 10AM were the Closing Ceremonies. Once again, people gathered at the RFL Activities Center. The Relay Committee once again thanked everyone, and gave out various awards. DrFran's team tied for second place for the Cancer Education Awareness Award and came in third for the Best Theme-Decorated Campsite Award. First place for the Designer Sim Award was Ub Yifu's RFL Imagine and Journey.

There were speeches given, among them a funny one by "Stinky the Skunk," or rather someone speaking in his behalf with a "speeded up" voice ala "Alvin and the Chipmunks." There was also a serious one by Stingray, "The Empty Table."

"We call your attention to the small table that occupies a place of dignity and honor. It is set for one, symbolizing the fact that some of our loved ones are missing from this gathering. They have been diagnosed with cancer, and they are some of the names and faces behind luminaries. The chair is empty. Many of those who fought the battle with cancer are no longer with us, but rather than mourning their loss, we choose to celebrate their life. These people are unable to be with their loved ones and families now, so let us join together to recognize and honor them, and to bear witness to their struggle and their memory. … "

The speech went on, concluding with, "But, the candle represents the light of hope that lives in the hearts of all of us -- hope represented by cancer survivors and the hope for a cure discovered as a result of the detailed work of the medical profession made able through funds generated through events such as Relay For Life."

During the Closing Ceremonies, a special announcement was made. Since reaching the million US dollar mark of the total amount raised in their history, the Relay For Life in Second Life made it their goal to raise another. The Committee announced that milestone had been passed. The result was cheers from the audience in the form of sound effects and chat gestures that filled the screen, in addition to the "Yahoo!"s and "Yayyyy!"s typed. Outside the center, fireworks were launched into the sky, coloring it with streaks of light.

"Thank you for joining in this fight."

Following the Closing Ceremony, people went back on the track for the "Victory Lap," as well as seeing what exhibits they missed. People also went to various events across the track. At Trader Whiplash's T-1 Radio's location was one of the larger parties, the "I Don't Want to Go Home Party." There, a few dozen avatars whooped it up to the music. There were some team leaders there such as Fuzzball Ortega of the Steelhead Salmons and a number of other personalities there, such as DJ Madonna noted for her latex outfits.  And Aryon Dagger, whom at one point donned an R2-D2 avatar, "Oh great, now we'll have to start bleeping out everything she says."

At one point during the party, Trader began cracking "Skunknado" jokes, a reference to a very bad flick about a tornado of sharks. Well, before long me and a couple furry friends decided to get into the act by changing into our skunk avatars. It might not have been a "skunknado," but the others in the dance cheered.

That would be the last event I was in that day. Eventually, the party ended, and we either logged off, or went back to exploring the track. Part of the time was spent welcoming back one  Second Life resident whom hadn't been online in a few years, busy with both his military career and family. Needless to say, there were a lot of changes since he had last been on. He eventually had to go, and it was later on that my Relay Weekend came to a close somewhere on the track while exploring.

There were a very few residents in Second Life who did not share my enthusiasm for the Relay. These people felt the cure to all cancer already existed, but the powers-that-be were keeping it to themselves, either to squeeze money from the masses, or as part of some scheme to keep them dependent. But if this were true, why do the rich and powerful also get sick and die from cancer?

But more importantly, many of my friends and neighbors whom had been with the Redheads were either too sick or otherwise held up by real life matters to attend, or just plain burned out. The team had crashed hard, and some former members were still smarting. Perhaps next year they'll be ready to Relay with the Sunbeamers. But other neighbors joined me on the track, so I was far from alone.

The camps will be up for a few more days. The sims last until Saturday, and the builders were asked to clean up then or Friday. One might want to explore early if possible as a few builders like to pick up their exhibits early.

Already, the Relayers are talking about plans for next year. There's talk of a "Team Stinky" in honor of Stinky the Skunk. And next month more awards will be given out. at the "Wrap-Up" Party in August, including the "Spirit of Relay" awards for the most noted team and individual.

It was an exciting Relay Weekend.

"Go Relay!"

First two images from DrFran Babcock

Bixyl Shuftan

The Annual Steelhead RFL Horse Races

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Saturday July 6th, the Steelhead community held their annual horse races for the Relay For Life. Every year, the steampunk community holds the event to raise cash for the American Cancer Society. And this year, a number people took part.

The action took place on a platform high above Steelhead Shanghai. People were asked to arrive at 5PM SL time or a little before. Dropping in, there were a few people there, with more coming as time went on. The entry fee for the race was fairly small, a donation of fifty Lindens in the Steelhead Salmon's RFL kiosk. TotalLunar Eclipse, the elven Steelhead co-owner, commented, "This is the first time I've done a race on my own," saying Fuzzball Ortega had some real life matters to attend to, "We'll have a specific 'horse race,' then an all animal race." The third race would be a "free for all" which was open to all, including avatars. Races would be first two races would be two laps. The third would have three. The winners would get trophies created by Lunar.

For the first race, the largest mount was a huge white stallion, "Ithax," belonging to Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach. outlander). Bringing out his horse, Lunar was greeted with some curious looks and a couple chuckles, a unicorn with a rainbow mane and tail, "He was a gift from Riven. … I'm riding 'Nyan Cat' horse." "I think he's pretty," Softpaw Sommer, a fairy catgirl commented. Her horse also stood out, purple and a little translucent. Garnet Psaltery of Babbage also took part with her horse "Daemon." Garnet stands shorter than the tall Lunar, but her horse was larger than the elven leader's smallish mount, "How funny to be able to look you in the eye, Lunar." Stereo Nacht was lent a horse by Sidonie Ancelin.

A practice run given to those showing up on time had varied results. The Baron's huge stallion proved stubborn. But Stereo's speed got a wide-eyed look from Lunar , "your horse is a bat out of hell." "Danke," the Baron spoke up, "he's from my stables." "She gave it some nitro beforehand," Lunar commented. Sidone grinned, "Isn't he a handsome boy. Pif is a *rocket!*" "I shall need him back," the Baron told her. Sidone protested, "Mine!"

Two more racers came in, Steelhead Jager Liam Richter (aert.odigaunt) with his dark stallion,  and Wraith Serdyuk, whom had been lent another of Baron Wulfenbach's horses, Ekhion. And with them, the racers lined up at the starting line, "3, 2, 1, Go!!" And they took off, with Stero's stallion once again racing down the track. Liam was the other racer strong performer on the first race, but getting off the track, he bumped into a few people. "Zorry for hennyvon Hy ran into," the Jager apologized, "dis guy does nut haff a clean turn." "Well done, Mr. Richter," Stereo told him. "Tenks! Hyu gaff me a goot ron on Illizzuz. He iz a pretty fascht horze!" Tensai called the race a "photo finish," with Liam being declared the winner.

For the second race, Satu Moreau came in with another unusual horse, which Softpaw recognized, "Oh, that's the fire elemental." There was a bit of confusion, with Lunar commenting, "Okay, Wraith gave me a horse called 'Bad Horsie.' I am not trusting this description." Wraith quipped, "I gave you a horse? How did I do that?" Garnet's mount for this race was one of the more unusual ones, a giant cat. The Baron's second try was greeted with more stubbornness from his mount, having some trouble even getting to the starting line at first. Lunar commented, "Well, the Baron's horse is going crazy … " Stereo brought Pif on the track again. Eventually the wild mounts began to cooperate, somewhat, and Tensai ordered the racers to get ready, "Ready Riders! To your Marks!! … 3, 2, 1, Go!!" This time there was some trouble as glitches had a rider or two "fly off" the track. Tensai declared, "Aaaaaannndd … by a paw … Garnet!" The kitty rider was surprised, "I won?? My goodness!" "Well done," Stereo congratulated her. Garnet petted her mount, "Well done, Magnificat. Extra tuna for you."

"Okay, one more race," Tensai reminded everyone, "Anything goes! Cars, horses, kittens, whatever. … ANY vehicle or creature." Nobody brought in a vehicle, though Lunar changed to a pegasus avatar and entered himself. I myself entered with my "Shiave" raptor-like mount. Garnet entered Magnificat again. Satu entered the fire mount for the third race. Liam also entered once again.

"On the mark … 3, 2, 1, GO!!!" And the racers went off once again. Once again, Liam sped down the track, and as expected, "Hoooo!!! In first place, LIAM!!" But yours truly managed to put in a stronger than expected showing, "In second place … Bixyl!! In third … Garnet!!" "Congratulations riders."

There was a bit of funnery as Sidone grabbed Liam's hat. Liam briefly snarled, but shrugged it off, "De forst plaze trophy, Hy tink, goez to Klaus," saying he was just a jockey. The Baron answered, "Was? Bah! You did the riding. You can put the trophy up in Der Hut, though." "Dot vill vork. … It iz victory for all of Vulfenbach Jaeger, proofing dot horzez is indeedt hyuzeful for more den eatink, or ridink into fight."

The only problem for Liam was he couldn't take home two trophies, so the Third Race trophy went to the second place rider, me. Liam approved anyway and applauded, "Hy chust like ridink horzez … " Getting her trophy, Garnet thanked Lunar, "I'll give it a place of honor." Of his trophy with the red gemstone, Liam asked, "Doez de red part taschte like schtrawberriez?" He then tasted it, with the others chuckling or going "Eww." Liam looked up, "Vot?"

Tensai, after giggling, announced, "Thank you everyone for coming out here today. Please tell others about the upcoming race for more fun! We will announce date and time soon." Lunar also reminded everyone about the festival hunt still going on that weekend.

The fun continued with some people remaining on the track for a while. One bystander changed into another horse av, and began chewing on Satu, "Ack! MY head!" Another horse was brought onto the track to practice, Sephiroth, and Sidonie commented after seeing him rocket down the track, "The Baron will have to go get him."

Once again, the results were:

First Race: Liam Richter
Second Race: Garnet Psaltery
Third Race: Liam Richter

The races were part of the Steelhead Salmon's RFL festival, which went on until the following day. It would be among the community's last events before the Relay Walk the following weekend.

Bixyl Shuftan

Screenshots of the Relay for Life Walk: Day One

Like other Relay for Life Weekends, this one was one to remember. One of Second Life's major yearly events, this was the climax of the Relay season which had begun in March, the event we had all looked forward to. The various teams were given areas, called "camps," at which to design builds. Some were simple. Others were quite detailed and fanciful. Among the teams were the Steelhead Salmons, from the Steelhead Estates whom are one of the Newsers sponsors, and the Passionate Redheads, whom come from several sims, including HV community where the Second Life Newser office resides.

Arriving at the four sim junction where the Opening Ceremonies would take place. Even a half hour early, it was starting to get packed.

With somewhere between 150 and 200 avatars at the Opening, avatars could take quite some time to rezz. Two whom cleared up early for me were Redhead Sabine McGettin, and this Dalek for the Dr Who Fans, colored Relay purple of course, (set to "Exterminate" cancer?).

Six of the twelve Relay leaders addressing the crowd. Among them was Fuzball Ortega, whom had cut short his honeymoon from his wedding the night before to be here.

With so many avatars, some remained grey throughout the opening. Once they were over and people began leaving, those who remained soon cleared up.

And it was off to the Passionate Redheads camp, at RFL Hope.

Beside me here are Nydia Tungsten, a noted supporter of the Redheads, and Treminari Huet. Normally a Luskwood vixen, she had earlier promised to go human for the Relay Walk if the Redheads reached gold level. It did, and she did.

Lomgren Smalls, one of the two leaders of the Redheads this year, and the main builder of the build at their camp. Jasmine Dawn Shuftan also did some work. These Redhead flags, meant to be handheld ones for most avatars, are a little more effort for him.

Jenni Greenfield, the owner of Club Cutlass, waves her Redhead flag.

 Mata Lorie and Samara Barzane were also at the camp.

 

 Howdy Colter and Samara pay a visit to our neighbors across the road, the Knights of Avalon.

 Next to Avalon were our buddies the Steelheads, whom sometimes match or even exceed the Redheads in their zaniness.

 The first lap was the "Survivor/Caregiver" lap, for those whom had survived cancer and those whom had cared for them.

 The various avatars walked the track in various forms.

 Some avatars were a little out of their element, such as this mermaid.

 Redhead Skylark Lefarve was among the caregivers on the track.

 Dudarling "Duda" Supermarine was also on the track.

And the Team Spirit Lap begins, with all the Redheads getting on the field. Lom is just to the right of me.

 Lag, as well as mesh, could sometimes make the track a harder place to see. Here I am approaching the giant lab in RFL Manage.

DrFran Babcock, walking across the lab in RFL Manage/ RFL Overcome just as I was starting to crash.

The lag could sometimes cause sims to vanish. While sometimes people would stop at the border, other times one would keep on going, eventually getting knocked back, or crashing.

 A better look at the Giant Lab, which gave some Relayers memories of the old "Greenies" sim from earlier days.

 It was then time for the Silly Hats/Big Hair Lap. Thinking a moment, I had an idea: a giant copy of my fedora. So to match Fuzzball's "The Hair," it was time for "The Hat."

 "The Hat" gains up on Dusk Griswold, the Captain of the Redheads.

 Dusk, whom sported a frizzy wig, had a bit of levity, as did Holocluck Henly whom was nearby.

Holocluck in his own silly hat.

"The Hat" marches on.

 The Amaretto Breedables team, one of the more successful ones this year.

 The Amaretto camp viewed from the side.

 Going past the water activities.

 Avariel Falcon, one of the co-captains of the New Babbage team, trots down the track, making a comment about "Mr. (Vic) Mornington is as mad as me."

A picture from Treminari Huet, showing a traffic jam in front of a crashed sim.

 Among the events at the Relay was a "Tiny Giant Snail Race" by RacerX Gullwing (video here).

 There were also DJ music events throughout the Relay. Dusk played one hour.

 And got a crowd of dancers, Redheads and otherwise.

  At the "Blast from the Past" hour, Dusk dons a pie-dyed outfit from the 60s.

 The Silver Screeners team's build.

 Me and Lelani Carver, one of the Steelheads, going down the track.

 Hate to meet whatever lost that watch.

 The Armada Fights Back build.

The Justice League Unlimited Team.

 Team Relay of Hope's build, with DJ Madonna.

 On the "Favorite Holiday" lap, I "went bats," as I have a soft spot for Halloween.

Meeting up with Nydia and Brandi on the track.

 Following my teammates for a while.

 The Purple Tears team, note the child avies.

 One of the Goreans, a top-ranking team noted for the dark roleplays the team members take part in when not Relaying.

 Team OD, calling themselves "Musical Warriors."

 A late night party at T1 Radio.

 The "Cure Chasers" team, in cheerleader outfits.

 These were just some of the screenshots I took, more of which are available on the Relay for LIfe Flickr page.

Continued on Day Two

Bixyl Shuftan