The Dickens Project And Party At The Bellisseria Fairgrounds

 
By Gemma Cleanslate

The first minute you enter the Square at the Dickens Project, you know you are in a different time and space.  Pick up the map and wonderful TP hud in poster near the Gazebo. 

This will take you to places you will want to visit with much ease.

The Gazebo has a few offices and stores around it . Visit them. On the walls of two stores are wonderful free outfits to help you get into the era that is being celebrated here , one for men, one for women. You will feel much more comfortable clothed for the era and they are very smart.

To tour the nearby area before you use the hud take a leisurely coach ride and view the environs near by. It will take you by important places from Dickens books.

Every year it is a pleasure to see what is old and new in the project. This year there is a whole new region exposing the coal mining of the day. Find Sultan the horse  and take a tour of the mines themselves and then walk nearby to see the housing and other building associated with life then. 

If you want to attend an event during the week here is a schedule to check  https://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/p/dickens-events-calendar.html

If you have time explore the buildings surrounding the Christmas Past Square. I found two galleries , one with people who have played Scrooge across the ages, and one with posters from familiar remakes of the story in cartoon and film. On the way back if you walk stop into some of the homes along the way to experience some of the decor of the past.There is plenty of food almost everywhere you go!

I made it to an area I had missed in past years I guess,  a fascinating display and education of horses of the Victorian age . Find a tp at the stable near the homes. If you use the hud it is on there. There are so many locales for you to visit. I will leave some for you to find. This is a wonderful project and I hope it continues for many years. There is much to learn here  thanks to the Seanchai Library and the whole staff under the direction of Caledonia Skytower.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Dickens%20Project/125/118/22

Saturday I went to a holiday ball at the Bellisseria Fairgrounds. 

It was elegant and so well attended by many in formal dress dancing to the music of  FAR (fwdfwd Farslider) DJ while I was there .

The whole event was arranged by Giselle Lacombe.  I told her how lovely everything was and she explained the she had done it all with  help from Christhiana  of Needful Prims. She was really shocked by the response at the ball and I heard her exclaim later, ”When I had this crazy idea to do  this, I never thought it would turn out like this! You all are incredible.” It was lovely !

I think this will be my last article before Christmas so I want  to say Happy Holidays to all the readers of the SL Newser . If you are stuck where you are, rely on memories of past Christmas days that were so enjoyable and look forward to a better time coming. Our lives here in second life are safe!  I am telling Santa to grant you all your wishes!

Gemma Cleanslate

The KT Autism Festival

By Bixyl Shuftan

At the Rosemist Isle sim, the KT Autism Festival is taking place. At the event, there is music, shopping, and things to see. Raising money for the World Autism Organization, the benefit will go on to July 31st. The fundraiser is unusual as that it takes place underwater, with sea grasses, starfish, coral, and other things from the sea around the place.

I dropped by the day before the event started, and had a few words with Amythe Moonlight, the head of Made By Moonlight Rosemoon Designs, who was part of the staff of the fundraiser. "It got so big this year we had to take a whole sim," she told me after I arrived, "and make a map of the stalls. We have four hunts goin gon, one in the stalls, one to find a fifty Linden box of textures every day, one where things that shouldn't be under the water will give you a word when you click then so you can make a sentence, and a last one where you will find song reference in the decor round the sim."

But not everything was underwater Amythe pointing out, "Up on the water's surface we have a party boat with a bar and restaurant,and more dancing of course," later pointing out there was a teleport point up to it. She pointed to some vendors, "The gacha machines are held in place by crabs down this side. And most of the stalls are set up now. On the other side of the dance area we have one of a kind auctions."

Amythe then invited me to go on a ride. We walked over to a sea turtle and both got on, recomending I change the sun setting in my viewer to Midnight, "makes a huge difference. You don't see the lights without Midnight (smile). She joked that this was the first time she had tested it. The ride was very detailed, going into a cavern, then down into a whirlpool vortex in the middle and into another cave. The turtle sailed out into a larger cavern where there was a forest of kelp and some luminous plants that glowed, some fish darting around between them. Eventually, the turtle circled around, and we went back up the vortex from whence we came and back out of the first cave, "So that's the underwater ride."

Amythe then continued about the festival, "We have around 100 stalls this time. People have been offering help and items. It seems Autism is something many like to support." She personally had been helping out that day for over nine hours and would probably be around for several more. I asked how much of the items was going to charity. She answered, "We have several ways of donating from sales as well as the auctions and the exclusives and festival bargains set for 25L. Some of our merchants are giving 100% of sales.  If you walk round you will see the special vendors in the stalls. And those who don't have them have provided exclusive one off auction items or  donated in some other form. Several have given items to be used for raffles or hunts and/ or made exclusives items just for the festival. The merchants have been a lovely crowd.The Kushitales store is mine (giggle) with the 'Lizard of Oz' book and collectibles. ... The donation boards give gifts- different in each one and changed at milestones. ... We hope to make a really good amount for Autism. " She pointed out that the land had also been donated for use by the festival by "one lovely lady," Hanta.

Amythe introduced me to one merchant, KitKatPerrin Resident. When I asked how she found out about the festival, she answered, "Firestorm had an announcement that they were looking for designers. I ran the idea across my business partners and we decided that since it went towards a charity that touches us, we'd try it." Of her business, "Shadow Creationz is a group of three people, me, Ronin Furyo, and Luna. The products I myself have up are the lyrical tease outfit, what I'm wearing now, which is for sale for the 25 Linden sale price with all profits going to the charity." I noticed she had the Relay's UAC Medieval Faire in her profile and asked her about it. Smiling, she told me she had products on sale for charity then, "I was working under my Feline Fine Fashions name there." Switching back to the festival, "The other outfit we have for sale is 100% to chirty - it's the fancy top and skirt that Luna is wearing for 65 Linden. We also have two hunt items for 10 Lindens apiece."

Amythe pointed out the three mascots of the festival, "The Elephant the Rhino and the Holy Goat. ... When Kushi Mitch and I do an event, we put them out. But I put snorkels on them this time so they didnt drown." KitKatPerrin joked, "Ehh it's SL, they'll respawn." that was followed by more laughter.

Amythe emphasized, "I want to flag up the enthusiasm  and helpfulness of all the merchants. Without them there would be no Festival, and no money for Autism. They have all been so patient and nice." KitKatPerrin went on to say, "If anything I'm doing here at the festival spares one person the struggles I've dealt with in my life, then it's worth it."

"It's going to be fun the next two weeks," Amythe told me, "I hope the merchants will come and spend time here too and mkeet some of the customers and do some networking and bring everyone they know."

Amythe would later tell me via a notecard it wasn't just a hundred stalls, but almost a hundred different merchants involved at the charity, with room for others should they wish to join during the event. "Many merchants have offered a percentage of their sales to the Charity. This varies from 25%-100%! Merchants have also donated one of a kind items for Auction which will be ongoing throughout the Festival and exclusives items with a minimum of 50% going to the Charity. Some have put out 25L Bargains or 10L hunt items others have simply offered a percentage of anything they sell during this time. We have so many different kinds of merchandise being sold. Clothes and Jewellry, art and photography, wedding items, furniture, things for home and garden, gifts, textures, full perm items even rollercoasters. Although the shopping is amazing and there are some wonderful bargains to be had we also have hunts going on, djs and live singers at set times in the day, a treasure chest with a different texture pack each day, a hunt with song title references to spot, an out of place hunt where you'll see things that wouldn't normally be on the sim, a restaurant and bar up on our party boat and a turtle ride that takes you down into underwater caves."

They were also keeping track of the money, "We have a banker alt to keep the donations seperate and are able to check all transactions to ensure we have  everything documented properly.two to three weeks after the event closes we'll be sending out a copy of the receipt for the donation to all merchants and anyone else is welcome to request a copy of it."

And when is the next festival? "Ah now we need a little time to  recover from this one first but I would not be at all surprised to find another festival sometime between October and December."

The KT Festival is at Rosemist Isle (126, 128, 21)

Bixyl Shuftan

"Homes For Our Troops" Bennefits Raise Over $1000 Dollars

By Bixyl Shuftan

In Second Life, the veterans' charity "Homes Four Our Troops," which helps those who once served in the American Armed Forces whom have fallen on hard times by building them homes, is perhaps best known for it's monthly charity at Veterans Isle, organized by musician Frets Nirvana. But last month, it was joined by a second fundraiser. This one was organized by Blaze Teardrop.

Blaze, a member of the California National Guard in real-life, was the owner of Alpha Labs in Second Life. With Crowe Blackheart and Simplerosey Resident helping him with the event, He rented some land in the Grand Manor sim, set up a stage, and made a call for builders to put up some wares to sell for the charity. Linden Labs heard about his event, and made an announcement in the official Second Life Blog. The event began Sunday February 21, and lasted a week to Monday February 29. The area had live music events most  of the days it was open, the schedule saying Frets himself was part of line line up. Second Life Newser was also informed that Frets also provided the kiosks for the Grand Manor event.

I had a few words with Blaze following the event, which he stated "went very well." He went on to say over thirty designers had taken part in the event, putting up items for sale, with proceeds going to the charity. He didn't say how much was raised, as he was "waiting for an accurate count from HFOT." But he did say he and his team were planning another event this summer, "We're gonna have another even July 2-10. ... We are going to schedule a meeting for all our staff to talk about what we did right and wrong and what we can do better. So we are better prepared for our next event." He thanked Crowe, Simplerosey, and the others involved, "I just want all my staff to get credit because I wouldn't have been able to do this event without there help and support."

I dropped by just after the event ended to see it the finally tally in the kiosks was available, but the owners of the sim had already reclaimed the land. So the kiosks were not available to view.

On Sunday February 28, Veterans Isle held their monthly benefit concert as scheduled, from 5PM SL time to 9PM (Midnight EST). Besides Frets, Lyndon Heart, Zak Claxton and Shaye Dezno also took part. Donations were generous, especially in the final hour, the total being 155,400 Lindens raised once Frets stepped down from the stage.

A few days later, Frets made an announcement, concerning not just his event, but both of the fundraisers.

I am once again proud to announce the results for our efforts in Second Life for Homes ForOur Troops.  For February we will be sending HFOT over $1050 because of the efforts of many people in Second Life.  A big thank you goes to Blaze Teardrop and all the folks at Grand Manor.  The special event they sponsored in late February really increased our donations. 

Additionally all the great artists at our monthly benefit at Veterans Isle did a fantasticjob.  Thank you Lyndon Heart, Zak Claxton and Shaye Dezno Jonstone for donating yourservices and providing great performances that inspired our donors.  And the consistentsupport from Checkers Firelight, Jardasius Ecksol, Dahlea Milena, Bri Mcmahon, GjackieWinkler, Victoreeia and Graywolf2030 are what keeps our efforts for severely woundedveterans on target!  Let's keep this effort rolling!

It is a pleasure and an honor to be a part of this project. Our extremely wounded veterans deserve it.

The next benefit at Veterans Isle should be on March 27, starting at 5PM SL time.

ABOUT HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS  - HFOT builds homes as a departure point for Veterans to rebuild their lives, and once again become highly productive members of society. Despite their life-altering injuries, many Veterans have embarked on new careers, completed their college degrees, or started families. Empowered by the freedom a mortgage-free and specially adapted home brings, these Veterans can now focus on their recovery and return to their life’s work of serving others. Many have embraced their roles as motivational speakers, sharing their messages of persevering through tragedy with groups and classrooms around the country; others take to a national platform to promote awareness of veteran suicide, homelessness and PTSD. Their incredible stories are the driving force for the work for HFOT.

To learn more about the Homes For Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org.

Bixyl Shuftan

Trotsdale's Third Birthday Celebration With Musicians Jaycatt and Frogg

By Bixyl Shuftan

 Last Saturday, September 20th, the Trotsdale pony sim celebrated its third anniversary, with a party high above the sim. A few dozen locals in their characteristic "My Little Pony" avatars, along with some visitors from Luskwood and other places danced away to the music of a live performance by Jaycatt Nico and Frogg Marlowe.

"Frogg and Jaycatt are now playing at Trotsdale's third birthday here at Trodsdale Heights. After F+J, Suri will be DJing, and we're going into the night."

Michi Lumin, one of Luskwood's founders, was among the two-legged visitors helping to celebrate.

The locals came out in pony avatars large and small, one whom dressed up for the occasion.

Eventually Jaycatt and Frogg finished their routine, and the audience applauded, "Thanks for the the music-ings!" "It would be nice to see you two perform at Trotdsale more regularly." "Thanks again, Jay, Frogg." "Thanks for playing F&J you two are awesome." "Hopefully we don't have to wait till next year to hear you guys again." "Dont' worry, Trotsdale has a catch and release policy for musicians I'm sure."

There were a few comments about making the pair honorary ponies, "We could declare them already ponies by fiat," as the tender part of a horse's hoof was sometimes called a "frog," "We're walking on our frogs." That got a few chuckles from Frogg Marlowe, "never heard that before! Cool!" There were also a few jokes about their avatars being contagious, "You will get ponied in your sleep. It happens." "Unleash the ponification ray!" "... ponification isn't required, it just sorta ... happens around here (grin)."

Jaycatt and Frogg thanked the crowd for their well wishes, "It was a lot of fun." "Always glad to be a part of special occasions like this ... Thank you all so much!" Then they headed out as the local DJ,  DJ Dash (shurikenangel), began playing, "Thanks again everyone. Happy anniversary Trostdale!" Michi also headed out, "Thanks everyone for being here and I'll be back later tonight. But mostly, thanks for three years of this, putting up with our growing pains, and the changing pony sim scene, and sticking by. It really is appreciated, and you guys being here is what makes this possible."

*Addition* I later chatted with Michi. It seems she's not exactly just a friend to Trotsdale, but the owner of the place. She told me she was co-owner for a time, then made full owner.

Bixyl Shuftan

Jamm for Genes Raises 667,000 Lindens

By Bixyl Shuftan

From 12 Midnight early Friday morning August 1 to 10AM Sunday morning August 3, the "Jamm for Genes" event took place at "The Pocket." Except for a few hours on Friday afternoon, a series of musicians performed live on the Australian club's stage, one taking over right after the other signed off. The event was run by club owner and singer OhMy Kidd.

"Jamm for Genes" has been taking place every year in Second Life for several years. The event raises funds for the "Jeans for Genes" fundraiser by the Children's Medical Research Institute in Australia. In some previous events, other Australian clubs took part in the Jamm. But OhMy recently announced "The Pocket" would be temporarily closing after the fundraiser. This may have gotten others involved to let his club stand alone in the spotlight. OhMy had the help of Cellandra Zon and Bundy Scorpio (Bundy Xue), thanking those putting Lindens in the kiosk, "Thank you for your gene-erous donation." And explained those dropping in what the event was about, "Thank you for supporting Jamm for Genes.  With your help, the Children's Medical Research Institute can continue to unlock the mysteries of genetic disorders such as birth defects, cancer, and epilepsy.  You are helping to make miracles." People were invited to take some free t-shirts of the event from a box near the stage.

OhMy Kidd started things off with the first live music event. Following him were many more live musicans, such as Rosedrop Rust, Max Kleene, Beth Odets, and many more. Avatars of all kinds dropped by to dance, or just to listen. And the donations continued to come in as well. Occasionally there were some jokes and general funnery. One musician's microphone and cord was mistaken for a whip, which got a couple crack comments. At one point, a kangaroo av was hopping around to the chuckles of the Australians.

The event went on all day Saturday, Saturday night, and early Sunday morning. Finally as Bara Jonson and Free Balan finished up their event at 10AM, the total donated was 666,000 Lindens, which in a few minutes was raised to 667,000. The event's organizers hugged one another in celebration. Cellandra cheerfully told me , "It's been a fun event and Everyone has been so very generous.

It was late in Australia, and people whom weren't heading elsewhere were retiring to bed, Bundy saying, "Ok time for some much earned sleep, will pick my stuff up tomorrow when get up." I asked OhMy Kidd if he had anything to say. He answered, "Thanks everyone, especially all the musicians, and especially Bundy! I'm very grateful for the generosity of Second Life musicians and music lovers." So what were his plans now? "I am going to sleeep for 10 hours!  And I can say one thing for sure - Jamm for Genes in SL wil be back next year!"

And with that, OhMy Kidd went his way, and the 2014 Jamm for Genes was over.

Bixyl Shuftan

Happy Australia Day at "The Pocket"

By Bixyl Shuftan

"Happy S'Traya Day!" That was the greeting people dropping by "The Pocket" got when they dropped by Friday night on January 25th. January 26 is "Australia Day," and with the time difference, the club's Aussie staff, singers, and regulars were already celebrating in real life and ready to take the fun to Second Life.

When I first got there, there were a few dozen people around, and the place was grey with lag to me. I took a club-wide picture later in the night after some people had left, presumably to real life holiday events.

 Several live singers performed for the night of the national holiday. Among them were OhMy Kidd, who performed on stage with "percussionist" Saraine Sands. Also on stage was Lexi Luan, whom sung while strumming her guitar strings.

As the day went on, so did the greetings of "Happy Australia Day," "Happy S'Traya Day," "Ozzie Day," "Oz Day," and more. There was a little joking around, one pretending to be confused, "So STraya day is Australia Day, right?" Someone also joked, "When *** has finished having my child she'll be right back, honest." Another quipped in response, "Hope it's a SL pregnancy, I can't keep this up for 8 more months! 8 weeks maybe (grin)."

 For a couple people coming by the Pocket, it happened to be the anniversarries of when they came to the Grid, one saying, "Today is my Rez Day. OK, so it's not. It's A-DAY." "That means it's your UnRezz day" hostess Cellandra Zon joked in response.

A few unusual avatars showed up, including a tiny hedgehog, a steampunk "spider" avatar, and a kangaroo that hopped around for a bit before stopping to dance. It was a fun night for all.

"The Pocket" is at the eastern edge of the Fendahl sim, with a small part extending onto the Cassandra sim for busier nights. The sims are on the southern tip of the triangular-shaped mainland continent of Satori (also known as Malebaia or the Japanese continent). There are several live musicians, usually some or all of them Australian, performing every night at 8PM.

Fendahl, (242, 82, 31)

Bixyl Shuftan

Wounded Warrior Event Raises 275,000 Lindens

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last Sunday on December 30th, Patriot Island held it's final Wounded Warrior fundraiser for the year. Four musicians performed live that night in the hangar in the eastern part of the sim, including Frets Nirvana, who helped organize the event. The event took place from about 5PM to 9PM SL time, and was attended by dozens of residents.

Hi folks, it is time for the last of this year's Wounded Warriors benefits … a great night. Come and help us reach our goal! Time to give to those who sacrifice so much ...

The sim itself had been winterized with a layer of snow. And a Christmas tree set up in the hangar. Pondman Haalan was the first of the musicians. When he got off the stage at 6 SL time, over thirty-seven thousand Lindens had been deposited into the two upturned helmets on both sides of the stage. Next was Shannon Oherlihy, and in another hour the amount was close to doubled, with 72,500 Lindens at a few minutes before 7PM.

Then Frets himself took the stage, and the crowd went wild, once again close to doubling the number to 134,000 Lindens when he left the stage. Frets helped encourage the flow of donations by occasionally offering to match the next person who deposited a thousand Lindens into the two helmets. The final musician was Ganjo Mokeev, who took to the stage dancing away with his guitar, with a lady on one side and a Tiny koala in uniform and his own guitar in hand on the other. "Ganjo has a wonderful set," announcer GJackie Winkler told, "glad you're not missing a minute of it."

Those attending the event included Sabine McGettin of the Passionate Redheads Relay for Life team, and Dahlea Milena who helps manage Patriot Island. To some, the lag on the Grid was worse than usual that night, and Dahlea tried to help, "I nudged the donation helmets on stage a little since with the lag it was getting difficult to get to them through the people in front! If you still have trouble clicking to them to donate, IM me & I'll reposition them some more!"

The Lindens continued to come in. By 8:12PM, 206,000 Lindens had been raised. "Get those helmets to light up folks," Frets told the crowd, "think of the vets .... " As the cash came in, so did a few wisecracks among the crowd, "Our dinner consists of eating whats left of the Candy Canes." "I had no idea your hips moved like that." "Usually when **** says 'give till it hurts,' she's using her stiletto heels to speed the process along." One lady offered to wear a thong if someone donated 5,000 Lindens. But there was also talk about their closeness to vets, "My Dad was a vet, Korean War." "My son-in-law is a vet." "my ex-son-in-law was a Marine, three tours in Iraq." "I have a Great-Uncle I never met who died in the Korean War."

By 8:48, the amount was up to 240,000 "Ten minutes to get to another 35K, can we do this?" "We gonna get there!" More chipped in last minute donations, and at 8:53, "275K folks!!" Frets announced, "Excellent, we done it!" The words were followed by numerous "Woot!"s and howls from the audience, "You all are awesome!" One lady pointed to the Tiny, "I'd give another 3500 if I had if just cuz ***'s so cute!" "Someone got 5K, you get a thong on ***!"

Getting off the stage, Ganjo told everyone over the stream, "Thank you very much everybody! We just reached our goal! Thank you so much!" The praise went around, "God bless the USA, our allies, and the people that serve in the armed forces!" "Happy New Year! May it be filled with amazing moments." Dahlea told the crowd, "Congrats to all the Wounded Warrior Project team for all the hard work and fundraising throughout the year. Thank you from the bottom of this disabled Veteran's heart."

And so, the Wounded Warrior fundraiser, for the month and year, came to a successful close. The next event takes place on Sunday, January 27th.

Bixyl Shuftan

Occuplaya Opens

The playa is open!

The Burn2  Occuplaya opened with a great performance by Mankind Tracer at the meeting place. His tunes delighted the crowd. There were 57 avatars in the porta pottie stage area that was made by Neeks Karu. It began at precisely 12:00 SL time on Friday and continues until Sunday 11:59pm. 

There is a full schedule of live performers and DJ’s playing while you dance and roam the playa. You will be able to take a tour around t to see the invited artists creations rising from the playa while you listen to the music. There are three invited artists who have placed amazing builds . The three artists are  Mikati Slade - Japan, Takni Miklos - Catalania, Spain, Fuschia Nightfire - Canada, and each creation is as diverse as you can imagine. 

There is also a return visit of Avatar’s Garden of Particles from the 2007 Burn. Add to it, the directions are there. You will find it next to the sandbox. Yes, if you feel like playing there is also a sandbox waiting for you!! Just be sure to clean up after your fun. Pygar Bu created a colorful center camp for parties! There is a maypole in the tent. You can visit the gallery located in the northwest  corner of the playa, which is filled with pieces by various artists. While I was there, Sunnie Beaumont was conducting a poetry writing class.  

If you want to learn more about the Burn2 visit the burn2 blog at http://www.burn2.org.  The real burn is set for October 20 through October 28 in 2012. There is a freebie tent near the saloon. Be sure to pick up a few nice gifts. This is a “decompression” event held in the spring.  Spend some time on the playa this weekend and get the flavor of it all. You will find donations kiosks around the playa. If you can, try to donate to keep the Burn2 alive in SL. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/134/18/24

Gemma Cleanslate

Jamm for Genes Raises 380,000 Lindens

The “Jamm for Genes” is an annual event in Second Life. Every year in early August, musicians get together on the weekend to raise money for the Children’s Medical Research Institute. Although the charity is in Australia, the benefits are global, " ‘Jamm for Genes’ is all about live music raising money, for research into cell biology that helps with both prevention and cure of childhood, congenital and genetic diseases.”

Lacey Lohner called the event “an initiative of ‘Jeans for Genes Day’ here in Australia. Wear jeans to work for a donation - many workplaces run it!” With OhMy Kidd leading the organizing, the event took place at four venues: Lacey’s Place, The Pocket, Endavour Cove, and B&B’s.


Welcome to our Jamm for Genes event! We are raising funds for the Real Life charity "Jeans for Genes" in Australia. All proceeds go directly to the Children's Medical Research Institute: http://www.cmri.org.au/ . Jamm for Genes in Second Life has been running since 2007, and has raised over $4,000 for the Children’s Medical Research Institute. That's right - over 4K! Thanks to all of you - the Second Life community. Let's make 2011 our best.


Dropping in on “The Pocket” at Freestar Bay on Friday night August 5th, musicians and audience alike were ready to “give it up for down under.” Musicians such as Freestar Tammas and Kentucy country music singer Ande Foggarty were on stage at the Australian club once owned by the late Delinda Dyrssen, now run by Cellandra Zon. By this time, over 50,000 Lindens had been raised, and the audience was chipping in more. Ande entertained the crowd with songs like “Horse with no Name,” in honor of the musician who wrote it passing away recently, and “Little Red Riding Hood,” which brought a number of howls and other wolf gestures from the audience. At 11AM, the “Army of Ignorance” played, but instead of their avatars coming on stage, the tricksters instead put up cardboard cutouts of themselves.

“We worked very hard on this jam,” Cellandra told me, “Ohmy Kidd did most of the prework. ... I miss Delinda. She was instrumental last year. ... We work very hard to get the musicians lined up for people's enjoyment so they get something back for donating. And so many musicians are so generous with their time. I LOVE the musicians in Second Life, most of them are so open and generous.”

By 11:30 Friday night, 64,000 had been raised. By Saturday 7PM when Ichie Kamachi was singing at Endeavour Cove, the 150,000 mark had been reached. On Sunday August 7th at 1 AM, the event moved to B&B’s in the Utopia and EnGedi sim. On the final day of the Jamm, musicians such as the SOAR band (who played earlier this week at another benefit). Starrfish Ohmai, and Rock Doghouse played. Dropping in at 5PM, KevinMThomas Carpool had joined Onehempcat Oldrich on stage, and the frisky girls in the audience demanded the two guys take their shirts off if they donated a certain amount more money. The 300,000 barrier had been passed, breaking last year’s total, and soon it was at $322,000, “Kevin for 325K do the pants come off?”

By 7 PM, the 350,000 mark had been reached. At 9PM, the last singer, Veronica Wekster, got on stage, "maybe I need to do my Britney Spears impression - haha!" As she sang, the amount continued to climb. Near the end, Veronica herself chipped in 5,000 Lindens. B&B owner Bundy “Fluffball” Xue blurted, “Oh my God! I don’t know if I want to slap V or hug her!” At 9:58, the total was 367,000. Last minute donations poured in, some after Veronica left the stage. At 10:05, the total was $380,457 Lindens raised. With the event over, the musicians there took a few moments to congratulate each other, OhMy Kidd calling it, “an absolutely amazing weekend Jamming for Genes.”

For those wishing to donate to “Jeans for Genes,” you can visit their website at: http://www.jeansforgenes.org.au/ .

“Thank you ALL for donating your time, talent, Lindens, and ears to this wonderful cause!”

Bixyl Shuftan

They Had Him COVERED

From the man who brought us The ORIGINALS and Monsters series of events, once again, POL Arida orchestrated yet another unique even in the SL music community. This event, titled "COVERED," can only be called a tribute to the man and his music. On Sunday, 28 November, at the Idle Rogue venue, 10 enormously talented musicians came together, each covering one or more of POL's original songs.

The event was coordinated by Ms. Elura Galacia, an avid fan, who played the gracious host throughout the two and a half hour event. The venue was donated by ChryBlind Scribe and the all musicians donated their time, performing free of charge.

Opening up the show with 'Brief Encounter' were Lexie Luan and Zorch Boomhauer. This was followed with the pairing of Zorch and Nya Raymaker, Zorch streaming from the US and Nya from Germany. They performed the very poignant song 'The Suicide of Jane,' a song based on a RL experience of POL's.

Next up was Hazideon Zarco, another well known musician, doing his rather interesting rendition of the song '1,' a song about collective and singular responsibility in the world. Taking the stage next was the talented DeadEye Foggarty, who did a very POL-like version of 'Gotta Get Out of Here.' With a slightly slower tempo, DE did the song incredible justice. He next performed 'The Last Song,' ad libbing POL's story about this song with his own version of POL's encounter with the dreaded Joneses and the awful spaghetti Bolognese, as well as the rather less than satisfying consequences of the actions on that chaotic evening. Well done, DE, very creative indeed.

This was followed by a Lexie solo cover of 'Mother of Three' accompanied by Zorch on guitar. Lexie commented that she chose this song because it has personal meaning for her. Most especially, it has deep meaning for POL as it is written about his own mother, widowed at a young age leaving her alone to fend for herself and her 3 boys. Zorch then performed 'Love Confessions of a Serial Killer' with Lexie accompanying, followed by 'Happy Go Lucky Girl' with a very Zorch twist.

Rising to the occasion next was the inimitable Grace McDunnough performing 'Welcome to Winter' in her sultry style as only Grace can do. Following Grace was "bad boy" himself, BlindBoy Gumbo. BB commented that the first time he heard POL he thought he was rubbish; the second time, worse than rubbish. Fortunately, he came around by the third, fourth or fifth time (BB, why did you keep coming back?). BB played 'Catch the Wind.' Imagine POL a la Gumbo, slide guitar and all!

Once the piano movers got her piano into place on the stage, Phemie Alcott did a beautiful piano version of POL's recent song 'Winning.' Strum Diesel followed Phemie on the piano, leading with one of his own songs and ending with a beautiful segue into POL's 'Passion.' It should be noted that Strum performed while standing on his head on the keyboard!

Next the mastermind of this fantastic event, POL Arida himself took the stage. He performed a handful of songs not covered by any of the other musicians, including, appropriately, 'Screaming Song for a Retard,' which is a personal commentary on how the laws treat mentally retarded adults who unwittingly commit a crime. He also performed 'War Zone,' 'Immune to Collusion,' 'Home' and 'The Birds Fall Down.'

Wrapping up the show, POL commented on the interesting spin the others had done with the covers of his songs. He also noted that during his time performing in SL, not only did his fan base grow, but it included other musicians, which has to be the highest compliment and honor any musician can have. He stated that in the virtual world of SL, music as an art form has not been forgotten or ignored but rather embraced as a true artistic expression, with words that actually convey ideas, thoughts and feelings, contrary to commercial mainstream music.

This event was truly a success and clearly demonstrated the mutual admiration among the musicians here in SL. I look forward to possible future events like this.

Shellie Sands

(edit, some days after the event, it was made clear Pol Arida was not behind the event)

Mystery Throws Surprise Party for Owner Tygeria Mirabeau

Tygeria Mirabeau, the owner of the popular Mystery sim, didn’t have a birthday until a couple days later on Monday. But manager Amythe Moonlight wanted to throw a little surprise party for her Saturday morning. So she messaged a few friends to show up at 8:30 AM SL time. Among the people were live musicians Maxx Sabertooth, and the popular Debi Latte.

As the time neared, people began showing up at the Queen of Hearts riverboat club. Amy and staff member Ajay Carpenter had already set the stage up, a big “Happy Birthday Tygeria” sign on stage with the letters flashing, a birthday cake, and for some reason, a platter of sushi. The reason for the gift of raw fish was never given.

As 9 AM approached, Amy announced Tygeria was online, but was out of the sim looking at something. So Amy thought of something, “Okay folks! Get ready! I’m IMing her that there’s trouble here.” So we waited, and after a couple minutes, she chuckled, “She’s away from the keyboard (giggle). Hang onto your hats!” And a couple minutes later, there were shouts of “Whhoohhooooooo!”, “Happy Birthday, Tyg!”, “and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYGERIA!!” Tygeria was stunned quiet for a few moments, before commenting, “Thank you.” She would later say she had tears in her eyes behind her computer.

And with that, Maxx Sabertooth took to the stage, he began singing, and everyone broke out into dance. Amy invited people to, “Call your friends and lets make this the best party ever!” And so as the party went on, more guests arrived. Among them was a lady elsewhere from Second Life media, Persia Bravin. Seeing me, “Are we stalking each other around SL? (laughter).”

Before long, the sim was so packed, a couple of the men sat down so they were less likely to crash from the grid, “Wow talk about a graphics glitch...from here it looked like Ayjay was doing the splits.” “At his age?” Late in the hour Max got offstage and into the middle of the dance floor, “Look out! Wild man off stage!”

At 10 AM, Debi Latte got on stage, wearing a flowing red dress, starting off singing “Happy Birthday” to Tygeria. Supposedly, she skipped lunch to sing, her local time being 1 PM. Someone must have promised Tyg flowers, because for part of the hour she was in a flower costume. And it wasn’t long before Debi was singing the club’s signature song, “Queen of Hearts.”

“Playing with the Queen of Hearts,
knowing it ain’t really smart,
the joker ain’t the only fool,
who’ll do anything for you.”

There were a few examples of “creative misbehaving” going on. This included someone trying to swipe the cookie off a lady microfox, “Nooooo! Not my cookie!” A lady then grabbed his hands, “Noooooooooo! Want cookie!” “(giggles)Too bad!” She then started to drag him away from the foot tall vixen, “Nooooo!” “Will you stop trying to take that cookie? ... The poor little thing is going to crawl up your pant leg and bite you where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Tygeria kept cracking naughty jokes at Debi, which got her giggling a bit, "How am I supposed to keep singing cool songs if you keep making me laugh, Tyg?" Late in the hour, her curiosity got the best of her and she got off stage and headed to the back, Y'all are misbehaving, I want to see what's going on." She then saw the lady microvixen had a dance partner, a second microfox, and giggled a bit. It was about this time someone found the fireworks, and launched a few rounds, giving a pyrotechnic display for the birthday girl.

Finally at 11 AM, Debi concluded her hour of live music. She signed off, and the radio came back on. But people continued to dance for a while on the riverboat’s top deck. Some of those who did stop dancing explored the sim for a while, which had recently been given a winter look with a covering of snow. And the sim does have a lot to explore from the mountain to the manor, to the village, and more.

Surprise parties are nothing new to Mystery. In September 2009, it was Tygeria who pulled a surprise rezzday party on Amy. It’s a sure thing the surprises will continue.

Bixyl Shuftan

Roselinda’s Paradise Party

Roselinda’s Paradise was the fantastic setting for a whole day of party on Sunday July 18th. Eymerich Lane and Roselinda Mayo graciously opened their home for the event. There was music from an array of DJs including Arcangelo Hellmam, and Qwark Allen who entertained the guests with their music for dancing. In between Eymerich Lane himself took to the airways with his streaming.

The elegant sim was open for visiting. The private Art Gallery is amazing, filled with a collection of pieces gathered over the past four years. After the DJs, there was a live performance by Skye Galaxy, songster, whose music is lovely and enthralled the guests.

There was more to come! PA DeCosta sang next and was well received. He was followed by CraigLyons Writer. He was ready at the top of the hour and the crowd started to build up right away. The large screen over the lake was set up for CraigLyons live video feed of his real life performance.

The affair began at 8am and went on until 5pm. All enjoyed visiting the sim and listening and dancing to the wonderful music.

Gemma Cleanslate