April Fool's In and Out of Second Life

By Bixyl Shuftan

For those who love a good joke, or even a lame one, April Fool's Day is a day to look forward to. It gives one a chance to play a few jokes or pranks (harmless ones). The idea of a day for jokes and merriment goes back at least to Roman times. April Fool's Day as we know it has been around for a few centuries, supposedly it started when the adoption of the Gregorian calendar (the one used today) moved New Year's Day from April 1 to January1, and that those whom still celebrated New Year's on April 1 were called "April Fools."

Besides people playing jokes, newspapers and other news media have also done some foolery of their own with joke articles, one famous example being a BBC TV show about "spaghetti farms." And so the Newser has been doing an April Fool article every year, our foolery this year being that Linden Labs pushed back Sansar over a year due to a Windows 10 update, and was working on a third dinosaur-themed virtual world. Last year, we joked Donald Trump had bought Second Life. In 2015, Michi Lumin of Luskwood was in on the joke, us saying she had been hired by ABC News as their technology news anchor. In 2014, the joke article was Linden Lab was doing away with last names in older accounts. Our first one in 2011 was of Linden Lab announcing it was about to shut down Second Life for six months as glitches were about to make it so laggy as to be unplayable.

But the Newser wasn't the only one pulling April Fool's stunts. The Furry Fashion mall was temporarily sporting a new look on the roofs. The owner Amethyst Crystal gave me a picture of the new aerial view of the place, "We also changed the sim terrain texture to a picture from the 'Bee Movie.' That is a bit of a meme on the Internet. So we changed the sim terrain for a April Fool joke." She didn't tell me how long the prank paint job would "bee" up.

But this wasn't the only joke. The staff of Furry Fashion played a joke on those frequenting the place by replacing their display names with temporary ones based on the store owner's nickname: Ame. "It's an April Fool thing," Amethyst Crystal explained, "Many people try to say staff are my alts. So some of us have all changed our names to be like me." She then gave me a list of those in her staff who made the change in their names.:

Never be the Ame again (Amethyst Crystal)
The Ame with the D (RickGuyy)
Ame the Crux (LabMadeCrux)
Ultraviolet Crux Ame (TonyBurk)
Maybe Ame (Skyler Glasswing)
Disney Ame (Becky Doulton)
Amethyst (Strype Puddlegum)
Always Ame (Sugalite Silverfall)
Say my Ame Say my Ame (Caelia Bailey)
Not your Ame (CaeliaAmethysia)
Noob Ame (VileNik)
Distracted Ame (f2004w)
Could be Ame (Alexiel Magnolia)
Ame that could be Ame (Becky Nosferatu)
Is It Ame (Klomonx)
Violently Ame (LemonPledge)
I Can't Believe It's Not Ame (MoogaSpectrum)
Oh look its another F-ing Ame (ScratchMusikatt Sprocket)
That one Ame in the corner (TatteredTwilite)
Famous Ame-us (VesperBloodwing Parx)
Aim (xdakafallx)

The Furry Fashion Lounge would have an April Fool-themed event: "April Fool/Memes." The group notice for halftime went, "Thats right we are here and having fun this April Fools Day!!! Come Join In the fun !!! all you need to enter the contest hosted by Amethyst get some silly outfits or fashion nightmares mix and match or jester outfits on and come to Furry Fashion Lounge! DJ I Cant Believe its not Ame, has the ABSOLUTE BEST music to help us have fun today. And we have 1300L Up on that board!" People were encouraged to bring their funniest, craziest, goofiest looks. Ukli Resident had a particularly strange appearance (pictured left), "I'm laughing at my own avatar!" Feline avatars were also encouraged, "Cats are made of memes." There were a number of funny tunes played, and a few that had become memes themselves such as the "Rick-Roll" song. The contest was won by Emorald Resident, with Ukli coming second.

Furry Fashion wasn't the only place to have an April Fool Event. Grendel's Children did as well. Toady Nakamura had the following announcement.

Sixth annual!!! April Fool!  The ANNUAL April Fools event from your friends at "Frog-n-Cat productions" is back, this time in a yuge castle!! ... No fooling. !!   :)  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Avaria%20Tor/133/135/305  Ride the Rocket where you arrive to get to the Castle!!  More than 164.5 gifts all over -- in things or in gift boxes -- and ready to go home with you!!

Looking around from the entrance at Grendel's, it didn't take long to find the rocket to ''Catsel Bufo." Inside, there was a shopping area were one could get discount items, such as an underground tunnel kit, as well as a freebie dragon. Going further, there were a number of fun exhibits (be careful about bumping the dino skeletons). Finally getting back outside, there was a "Munchman" game (a Second Life Pac-Man spinoff game).

And then there was the "Everfest" event in Bay City. For three days from Thursday March 30 to Saturday April 1 Bay City celebrated the life of their late noted resident whom passed away three years ago, one noted for her quirky sense of humor.

"It went quite well," Marianne McCann, Bay City's most noted resident, told the Newser, "Chaos and frivolity rules, with quite a focus on sharks this time out. Ever did like her shark fancy dress costume, so I s'pose that's no surprise. What struck me is that the events tended to go much, much longer than expected. Folks had a blast bowling, and the dance party was going strong an hour after it officially ended. There were a number of residents who never had the chance to meet Ever, but I Hope some of us who did know her were able to help share some of her spirit."

Marianne also pulled an April Fool stunt that was apart from Everfest. She posted an update on her SL page, "END OF AN ERA: after 10 years in Bay City, it's time for a change. Traded my land with a Kama City landowner. It's time to shake things up in Zindra. ... I hope to be opening "Lirp Aloof's Home for Wayward Child Avatars" in the Oritz region soon!" There were responses of "Oh noooooo!" Before she finally admitted it was a joke. "I got quite a few folks with my April Fool," she stated, "I don't know if I should be happy or dismayed that I actually did fool quite a few."

In the past in the world of gaming, there have been some noteworthy April Fools stunts. Blizzard, the maker of World of Warcraft, made an announcement early in the game's history they would be introducing a panda-like race: the Pandaren. But the joke proved so popular, Blizard eventually brought them into the game for real. And there have been some playable April Fool's stunts, such as War Thunder's "My Little Pony" fighters. But this year, there was a surprising lack of April Foolery in the games yours truly checks out. Elder Scrolls Online had a "Jesters Festival." That was pretty much it. No special games in War Thunder, World of Tanks, or World of Warships. The ships game did have an unplayable submarine added to it's players' rosters, which turned into a free slot when the stunt was over, So at least there was that. No joke announcement in World of Warcraft either. Star Trek Online made a reference to "Contact Day," which made me wonder if the game was saying the day the Vulcans had chosen to make contact was April 1. It wasn't. Perhaps that April Fools Day fell on a Saturday and not a weekday this year was the reason for the lack of gags this time. Ark Survival Evolved did have a major update that put severe limits on flying mounts and boats that frustrated many players, Nydia Tungsten's Furry Gamers group included. But this was no April Fool, and no one was laughing.

So in the world of gaming, in which Second Life residents sometimes step into for a break in the routine, there would be no chuckles. But here on the grid, there were a number of examples of residents cracking jokes and having fun.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Snowman Contest and the Holidays For Hope Ball

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Relay for Life Christmas Expo wasn't over until Monday. But Sunday December 13 was the high point of the festival. This was a day of events such as the conclusion of the snowman contest, and the Holidays for Hope Ball.

Those taking part in the contest paid a 500 Linden dollar fee, with cash prizes going to the winners. Voting was done by donating Lindens to the kiosk next to the entry you wanted. Some of the entries were fairly conventional, such as this one sitting down next to a Santa sack.

Would this guy be an "Ice Pirate?" Yo ho ho and a keg of rum.

This one was a tribute to the new "Star Wars" movie out.

And this one, either the builder was from the big city, or a "Calvin and Hobbes" fan.

"Welcome to Atlanta." Looks like this snowman didn't survive his trip.

That dalek isn't part of the display, but someone in an avatar. But he certainly gave a new angle to this entry.

Now this snowman looks downright creepy, something out of a Lovecraftian story. You don't want to end up "Alone in the Dark" with that.

And then there was this one. Cuddly Waffle called it, "very cute. This was a snowman who was taking a break from the cold and somehow managed not to melt!" Maybe he was on a beach in Alaska.

 I would later hear that this snowman, built by Thathy Slade, was the winner. Second place went to the green tentacled horror by Eclair Martinek. ArianaAstro Resident's snowman came in third. A total of 80,000 Linden dollars would be raised by the snowman contest.

Soon it was time for "the Grand Finale Event of the 2015 Christmas Expo," the Holidays for Hope Ball. This would be the sixth time this annual event had taken place. It would be held in a double ballroom.

The ballroom was created by Darkstone Aeon and the event was sponsored by T-1 Radio.

Dozens would show up at the event.

Formal attire was requested, though not a hard requirement.

There were two people in Santa outfits on the dance floor, one of whom was the one doing Santa duty at the Expo. Maybe one can call this scene "dueling Santas."

A fun time was had by all. Trader Whiplash would later announce the festival had raised over two million Linden dollars.

Congratulations To Nuala Maracas and the Expo Staff for a Job More than Well Done.. .. For an Expo that was not just a fund raising success but was a wonderful place to visit -AND- L$ 2,108,062 or $ 8,432.

And so, the 2015 Relay for Life Christmas Expo is now over. But the Relayers are not despairing. In a few months will be the the start of the official Relay for Life season. And once again, their fun-filled antics will resume.

Bixyl Shuftan

Steelhead's "Sharknado" Party

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Steelhead community in Second Life is the source of many weird happenings. While many are caused by the mad scientists among it's residents, others are not as the place itself seems to attract oddness. On Friday Sept 6 came another strange event when a number of waterspouts, to those who don't know a tornado in open water, appeared at Steelhead Shanghai. What made it truly odd was that there were electric sparks coming from some of the waterspouts, in addition to sharks seen flying around in them. The locals promptly christened the event a "Sharknado."

So what did the Steelheaders do? This group of wacky humans, elves, weres, furs, and other folk did what they so often do in the face of weirdness: throw a party. And faster than one can say "da-dum, da-dum," people began arriving at the harbor's docks.

DJ Fuzzball Ortega, normally the town's sherif, was the DJ for the party. The pointy-eared were had managed to squeeze himself in a scuba outfit, with his charming partner Eugene in a bikini. They had on just two of the many costumes at the event, which including old-time diving outfits, shark costumes, shark hats, and more swimsuits, "I love Ma's get up, hehehe!" And of course the pet sharks from the 7Seas fishing game.

Besides the sharks flying around in the air, a couple "landwalker" sharks joined the party, "Watch out for the land shark!" But these "landsharks" weren't there to chow down on the Steelheaders, or look for bargain real estate. They were there to enjoy the music and dance along with everyone else. And with the sharkgirl fitting her bikini just nicely, no one seemed to mind.

At one point, chainsaws were passed around, "helpful if it starts raining sharks." "I knew investing in power tools would be useful someday." By accident, one was passed to one of the landwalkers by accident, "Thanks! This'll make chopping up the tuna a *lot* easier. … When you have a shark's body designed for a big brain and opposeable thumbs, well, your jaws aren't gonna be as strong."

At another point, Lelani took a gun of some kind to the flying fish, "Don't be alarmed, people, just taking a practice shot at some silly old sharks." She got a few curious looks, "alarmed of guns in Steelhead?" One of the landwalkers remarked, "Just don't shoot me. I came for tuna, not 'long pig.' " Someone else mentioned the possibility of a Telsa gun seen on "Facebook" as a weapon against the sharks. Another just remarked, "Hey, you wth the gun! Less QQ, more pew-pew." A third cautioned, "You shoot enough sharks and it will be phew-phew!"

Some of the women's swimsuits were more revealing than usual for Steelhead, "Okay Lumi, that's oddly hot, and not at all 'G' rated." The neko girl just giggled, "hee-hee-hee, thats me, accidentally perverted." Someone else remarked, "Who needs stinkin' G ratings on 'Sharknado!' night?"

Fuzzball's tip jar got a number of donations, "Thank you … Now I can bribe SyFy NOT to make a sequel." One of the landwalker sharks suggested, "maybe we in Second Life can make a better shark movie." Steelhead co-owner TotalLunar Eclipse suggested, "We should recreate some of the movies on MST3K." There were a few jokes about bringing back Saturday Night Live's "Landshark," "knock-knock. Candygram!" And there were other ideas for B-rated flicks, "Shark Bait II - Fishing Chums."

With all the sharks flying around, someone wondered about "shark poop" falling from the sky. One landwalker commented, "Don't look at me, I used the outhouse before coming here." There were a few jokes about a "sh**storm," and "where's the fan?" And of course, "jumping the shark."

Eventually, the party came to a close. Unfortunetly for Steelhead Shanghai, this event for the location would be it's last. While no Steelheaders were killed or seriously injured, the structures suffered serious damage. With Steelhead's city funds running low, it was decided to level the ruined buildings and close the sim. And so Steelhead's Chinatown area was no more. While only a few residents had to move, the community was sad to see the place go. Willow Leafstorm wrote a poem in tribute:

'Tis a day that is sad for all good things must come to an end.
We say farewell to a land that was a home and to some and a friend.
Tonight we dance and and make merry for old Shanghai,
Auf wiedersehen. Au revoir, sayonara , ciao, zài jiàn and goodbye

 A few pictures of Steelhead Shanghai can be found in Eladrienne Laval's blog.

Steelhead doesn't usually mourn for long, so chances are instead of the event being known as the end of Steelhead Shanghai, it'll be known fondly as the "Sharknado."

"Thank you all for sharing your sharks."

Bixyl Shuftan

“Bah Humbug” - Second Life Parties for the Scrooge in Us

Christmas can be fun, but it can also be a pain. The shopping, the crowds, the parking, the driving in cold temperatures, the forgetting about the cultural and religious orgins, the phoniness of some people, etc. It’s enough to make one scream “Bah Humbug!” So to have fun at the expense of the hassle side of the holidays, a couple clubs in Second Life held events poking fun at it.

On Saturday December 25th Christmas Day, the Queen of Hearts riverboat club in Mystery held an “Evil Christmas” party at Noon, “The Queen of Hearts is both pleased and proud to present our very own DJ Bloodrose Writer! He will be spinning romance humor and traditional songs of Christmas and party. He calls it ‘Evil Christmas,” but he will play all hits of the season. Celebrating both the Scrooge/Grinch of Christmas and the Santa/Angels of the holiday!” Instead of the usual male and female contests, there prizes were for the best Scrooge/Grinch look, and the best Christmas Spirit, a one thousand Linden prize for each.

And what a party it was, DJ Bloodrose opening things up with his trademark evil laugh heard across the sim. Inside the Queen, revelers of both stripes came to the club. Some dressed in festive colors, red, white, green, or some combination. DJ Blodrose came in black of course, as did a number of others. One girl brought with her a Grinch doll. Another came in a vampire bat avatar wearing a Santa hat, “sometimes Christmas can be such a pain in the neck.” And one guy came by as a vagrant with a bottle, drinking from it (hic).

DJ Bloodrose played a number of songs, from “All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” to parodies such as “The Twelve Pains of Christmas” and “The Night Santa Went Crazy” and others. But he also accepted songs from the “fluffies” as he called those sticking with the sunny side of the holidays. A couple times Bloodrose would rez some snowmen, egging people to melt them with whatever they had.

The party went on for two hours. At the end, the “Best Grinch” was declared to be Arthas Darkfury. The “Best in Christmas Spirit” prize was split between Lane Weiser, and Angel4u Crazyboi.

Mystery was not alone in thinking there was something a bit saccharine sweet about the holidays. Nydia Tungsten decided to have her own bit of fun at it’s expense with the “Anti-Christmas Party” at Club Zero, “Yes, now is the time of year when we have had it up to *here* with all those sugary sweet TV specials and all those stores trying to get us to buy what ever piece of cr*p they had too many of, etc..etc... So we have the answer: the most irreverent, filthiest, and funniest Christmas songs ever made. We have $1000L's on each board. This all starts at 2 PM SL time. Your DJ will be yours truly. Hope to see you soon.”

The party wasn’t announced ahead of time, people given only a few hours notice. Still, a number came by to have a little fun. Some of the crowd switched to skunk avatars for the party, “Merry Stinkin’ Christmas.” One donned an American flag shirt, and lit a sparkler, feeling more in a 4rth of July mood, or perhaps wanted to get to a holiday as far away from Christmas as you could get.

As DJ, Nydia lived up to her nickname of “Naughty Nydia” with her selection of parodies. Some were tame such as “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” But others had a little edge such as “Christmas at Ground Zero.” And some were not recommended with little kids around such as “Grandma Got Knocked Up by a Reindeer,” “Holy S*** it’s Christmas,” and “Silent But Deadly Night.”

Second Life had plenty of events for those filled with Christmas Spirit, but it didn’t forget those who felt like giving the phony side the raspberries.

Bixyl Shuftan