Abnor Mole's Speech for Bellisseria Mole Day

 

On Friday August 30 at 10 AM, Abnor Mole gave a speech to a crowd in Bellisseria. This would be the opening event of the Mole Day Celebration Weekend. While no one at the Newser could be there, the speech would be offered in a notecard in the Bellisseria group.

 

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Hello everyone! Thank you for coming.

As many of you know, today is the beginning of a major holiday weekend in the US… Labor day… a day to recognize the contributions of everyday working people and their contributions to society. And I think most of you already know this, but a group of moles is referred to as a ‘labour’ of moles… so, it is quite appropriate since that is exactly what LDPW Moles do. While most of you are here to play, we are here to work; toiling away building things not for ourselves but for all of you.

It is something we have been doing since 2008. Creating everything from the roads that span across the mainland to games like Paleoquest and Linden Realms… and if you haven’t played those in a while I highly suggest trying them out again. Even though they are nearly 10 years old at this point they are still quite fun. And if you have payment info and have used it (and if you live in Bellisseria you are Premium or Premium plus, so you have) you can even get a few L$ for playing.

Then there are the season regions like Isle of View for Valentines… (say it out loud if you haven’t gotten that particular pun yet)... Winter Wonderland, and the Halloween Ride, which should be coming back in the not too distant future like it does every year. That one still impresses me. It too is a little long in the tooth, but it is still one of the best Halloween experiences in SL I have ever seen.

Then comes the big one… Bellisseria. What started out as a facelift for the old Linden Homes morphed into something huge. Because you all loved it and appreciated it soooooo much, it morphed into something so far beyond its original scope it boggles the mind. Over 3000 regions and counting, 12 themes and more on the way. Roads, bridges, railroads and waterways that connect most of the original continents with a new continent all its own… all built with you in mind by a huge team of people working hand in hand to make it happen and bring features and amenities for you all to enjoy as an individual and as a community. An area so huge that you can sail, fly or drive from practically one end of Second Life to the other. I’ve done it! The bad news is it will take you all day, but the good news is, it… will… take… you… ALL… DAY. ;D

We appreciate every thank you we get from all of you of course, but what really warms our hearts the most is when we see you using and enjoying it. As any of you who have built things know, nothing is as disheartening as when you build something or plan something and you put all of your heart and soul into it… and nobody comes… Or they come, look around, say “meh” and leave. Like when you give someone this handmade gift that you worked on for a whole year and they put it down and leave it untouched.

But that isn’t what you all have done. We see you living in the homes we built and placed with care. We watch as you sail by or drive your cars and trucks through the neighborhoods. That.. that right there is the biggest thank you we can receive, because we know you love and appreciate what we built and are using it every day as a part of your SL lives. Decorating your homes, having friends over, maybe driving to an airfield and flying across the grid.

Of course then you hit a bad crossing and everyone is like… “OMG! WHAT HAPPENED? DID I CRASH? WHO IS FLYING? JERRY? JERRY!?!?!!! OMG JERRY CRASHED!!! WE’RE GOING DOWN!!! AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” and you crash into someone’s backyard in the ranch homes and their cow is staring are you. Jerry logs back in and you tp him there and it’s like “Um… Jerry? Where are your clothes?”

Yes, we complain about those things when they happen. Buggy region crossings… clothes not rendering… But years from now you’ll be with your friends and say, “Remember that time we crashed into that cow and Jerry lost all his clothes?” and one of them will say, “Yeah, that’s how we met Lexi.” and Lexi will say “That was my house and that cow was never the same after that. You still owe me a cow, Jerry.”

The point being, those things are what makes Second Life fun. It’s why we are here, to have those crazy fun experiences. But to have them you need a place for it to happen. And that is what we try to build for you. Not a place where we entertain you, but a place where you all can entertain yourselves and each other. And when we see you all doing just that, it is the most satisfying form of a thank you we can ever receive.

So on behalf of myself and the entire LDPW team I just want to end by saying…
It is our pleasure, and thank you. 

 

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It was stated there would be a video of the event available later, but as of the writing of this, so far the Newser has not come across one.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Greeting At The SL20B

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

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My SL life was interrupted by the SL20B since I am a greeter on the Regions and spend lots of time helping visitors and orienting them to the events and activities going on all over the 22 regions. I spend a lot of time at the Welcome centers in Awesome and Magnificent where most of the new visitors arrive for the first time. Here is located the vendor for both the Global and National sweepstakes which keeps people coming back daily to enter . The car which is the prize for the National sweeps is on display with Patch Linden replica standing by. Teleports to all the stages, important landing points and regions are  located here so it is a busy place. I have seen most of you here too!

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Several days I greeted as a dinkie and offered some help on the Hunt that was going on too. This year there were 5 prizes located at the main areas but the hints on the hud were hard ! Hints were talked about in the SL20B group chat and many completed it after a while. I made time to go do it and collected the prizes.

After a few days I was able to visit stages to greet there and offer information. My first trip took me to

the Mandala Stage where Tia Rungray(Tialer Mimulus) whose ethereal live music I first heard at last year was performing. His music is so enchanting and and is enhanced with reflections by Violet Boa.

The stage build is beautiful and held many performances and dj parties during the Music Fest and on into the week .

I was able to get to several of the lab Gabs where Strawberry Linden interviewed Patch Linden . He gave us information that Bixyl has been reporting on .

Other lab Gabs followed every day with more information on how the Lab works in different departments ending on Friday with a gathering of all the Moles who supply our infrastructure on the grid. They are busier than a colony of ants! All the talks are here is you missed them. Strawberry (above ) did a wonderful job asking resident ‘s questions for us.

https://www.youtube.com/@secondlife

I have a few more events to tell you about in another article.

Below are some photos from the regions that I visited during my tour.

Gemma Cleanslate

 

The Newser Anniversary Party

 

 By Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

 Monday June 5 was the anniversary of the founding of the Second Life Newser. A couple days before that, on Saturday June 3 at Noon SL time, there was a party to celebrate.

 

 

I was there, taking a break from the "Ruby Avatar Challenge" that took effect the night before.  

For the first hour of the event, the tunes were provided by Charlee Shuftan (Charlee Amethyst).

 

 

For the second hour, DJ Grease (Grease Coakes) played the music, some of which won't be heard again until his session at the upcoming SL20B.

Among those there was Newser reporter Gemma Cleanslate, one of the original team in 2010.

There was Minty Melody (DJ Minty) of Furry Fashion.

There was Cynthia Farshore, a leading member of the Relay's Team Sunbeamers whose efforts helped make this season the team's best.

There was DeniseUnicorn Toonie, who was recently approved to be an exhibitor at the SL20B.

There was Herman Bergson, the professor of Gemma's Philosophy class

There was Miyuki Naidoo, a longtime hostess of the Happy Vixen.

The "Bell Hammies," who frequently appear in Gemma's articles, also made an appearance.

Nydia Tungsten, the club owner, was also there (still in her Relay avatar challenge appearance). Club manager Snowy (Skylark Lefavre) was unable to make the event due to real-life. At one point, there were twenty-five people at the club, not including a few who had to leave earlier or showed up after.

The initial 250 Linden prize was boosted to 3050 by Nydia Tungsten. The result of the "Come As You Are" contest was a four-way tie between Varestenia Varriale, Kylee Gracemount Frost (JD013) and Gemma Cleanslate.

 

It's been a busy, but fun, thirteen years. Here's to more.

Bixyl Shuftan

"The Man" Statue Turns 20

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By Bixyl Shuftan

July 19 was a day to celebrate in the sim of Natoma. One of the oldest objects in Second Life, "The Man" statue, would be turning twenty years old that day.

So with Second Life having celebrated it's nineteenth anniversary last month, how could anything here be twenty, some might ask. The answer is the virtual world was in alpha and then beta for a time before it's official opening. So there are a few items, and residents, older than the official opening of June 20 2003.

A look at the statues age shows when it was created. It was made by Oldjohn Linden. It ended up in the hands of Avi Arrow, the late manager of the Ivory Tower of Primitives.

"The Man" statue is one of the only surviving objects from the original "Linden Town" area that was developed in Second Life during the earliest Alpha stage of it's development.

 

At times, The Man has served as a shrine where miscellaneous offerings were left, and a celebration of the creativity SL was founded upon.

The Ivory Tower itself was decorated for the occasion.

  

 

Nearby, a place had been set up for a party, with DJ GoSpeed Racer playing the music.

Avatars of all kinds took part.

Including a large gryphon, "Summon all the griffons!"

There were a few Lindens and Moles present, such as Oatmeal Linden. "'Oatmeal? Oh, emm, gee, what a cute name!" The Linden just smiled, "I'm not even a year old in this avie."

Wendi Linden was also there, "Nice to have some Lindens visit us for today's occasion (smile)"

And there was Abnor Mole, looking a bit bookish.

Someone came by in a huuuuuuge mega-macro avatar.

It was someone named Fop (Kingforri Resident).

The avatar was well over a hundred meters tall, "Here comes Fop, the fop. What's a fop? It's a fop, or a pizza bat."

One thing that came up was how many longrime residents were around here, "Is less than a week from his 18th SL birthday himself." "Look at all the other oldbies"

The gryphon soon changed to a Chickenzilla, "Now Psyra is a giant cock." "The feathered kind." "I want to speak to this so-called Colonel!"

Eventually came the end of GoSpeed's two hour set with the playing of "Man Or Astroman - Mystery Science Theater 3000 End Theme." Then the place fell apart around us!

"Wheeee! Explosion of the ancients!"

"Well, that was a rememberable ending!" "What a fun day!"

"Yeah nice ending." "That was cool"

"Ok, now rebuild it."

Someone had the idea of a group photo.

"Everyone to the Man statue! group photo!"

"Great shot Ancient Mole!" "Let's do it again in another 20!" "Thank you so much for organizing the party." Kennylex Luckless would say, "Marianne McCann was big big help." "Sorry Marianne missed this today." "Happy 20th Birthday Man statue!"

Someone would rezz a huge corkscrew.

Then rezz a hollow ball, invite people inside, then drop it inside and let it roll down.

Before leaving for the day, I would see someone rezz a firestorm tornado.
 

Coming back later, I see a party hat had been placed onto the statue, owned by Kenny Luckless. 

 

It was quite a celebration for this old icon of the earliest days of Second Life.

 

Bixyl Shuftan