The Farshore Airshow and Country Rebels Tribute Concert

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Saturday April 18, Team Sunbeamer of the Relay for Life held their second annual air show at Farshore Field in Pacific Waters.

The events began at 8AM SL time. People were invited to bring their own airplanes to fly at the event, or choose one of several combat planes at a Dayafter Aeronautics plane rezzer placed at the airport by Jessicabelle Dayafter.Combat capable planes could duke it out with one another, or take out the drone flying overhead.

Besides the airplanes, there were a couple challenges for those passing by. One was the dunk tank. For a hundred Lindens, one could take three shots at a target linked to a seat over a tank of water, on which a volunteer sat.

One didn't use tennis balls, but a German 88 gun from a distance.

Another challenge came from Nydia Tungsten. She brought a Stuka to the airfield and for those making a 200L contribution, she offered 1000 Lindens to anyone who could shoot her down from the anti-aircraft gun next to the runway.

That is before she got them first with her own guns and bombs.

There were several takers, but none of the gunners could take her down from the sky. She did end up going down, but only after she got into a dogfight with a fighter. The 1000 Linden prize went unclaimed.

The air show went on until 5PM SL time, at which time the planes were grounded while several members of another Relay team, Country Rebels, went to the stage set up earlier for them and they began getting ready. At at 6PM, the curtain rose, and the band began playing a Garth Brooks tribute concert.

Baine and Panza Finch were among those who showed up.

Oldesoul Eldemar was also there, taking a place among the band.

 Others came there as well to dance away.

Team Sunbeamer's captain, as well as Sunweaver Estate chiefess, Rita Mariner was also there. She was "in the pink" thanks to a "Bid Me" event. It was a color she felt less than at ease with, though others took humor at her "Bubblegum Crisis" as one tagged it.

The donations continued to come in. One donor (whom has since asked that his name be withheld) sent a 25,000 donation. This was about half of the over 50,000 Lindens raised by the Sunbeamers that day. The Country Rebels also did well, taking in thousands.

After the event was over, the Sunbeamers thanked Billy Ixito for his team's performance.

As of the writing of this article, the Sunbeamers have raised a total of 161,350 Lindens, less than 90K left until Gold rank. Team Country Rebels has raised 42,950 L so far.

More events are being planned. Later in the Relay season, Pacific Waters will host a road rally, the details of which are still being worked out. And of course there's the Relay weekend in July. What the Sunbeamer camp will look like is still under development for the big event.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Yuri's Night 2015

On Sunday April 12, the "Yuri's Night" celebration took place in the Sci-Lands in Second Life. To begin with, Yuri's Night is not an event specific to the Grid, but a worldwide event among space enthusiasts that began in 2001 as a celebration of manned space flight, held on both the anniversary of the first manned flight in space by Yuri Gagarin in 1961, and the date of the first flight of the space shuttle exactly 20 years later.

The event's website states, "Yuri’s Night is a global celebration of humanity’s past, present, and future in space. Yuri’s Night parties and events are held around the world every April ... Yuri’s Night events combine space-themed partying with education and outreach. These events can range from an all-night mix of techno and technology at a NASA Center, to a movie showing and stargazing at your local college, to a gathering of friends at a bar or barbecue." The 2011 celebrations were described as being attended by over 100,000 people in over 500 events, including the one then in Second Life then.

The event was sponsored by the National Space Society's Second Life chapter and the International Space Museum. From Noon SL time to about 4PM, the celebrations took place high above the Spaceport Bravo sim. Cypress Rosewood performed music from about 1 to 2 PM. After that, Emileigh Stanbrook DJed the music.

There was a variety of avatars, often with space themes such as spacesuits.

And of course, aliens.

At 4PM, the party moved to the Sagan Planetarium at Aspen (199, 140, 3721).

The place had a number of exhibits where one can fill up on space knowledge. But today, the action was in the star and planet display room.

The place took advantage of what Second Life could offer, showing stars, constelations, and planets all around, not just the ceiling. And yes, there were moons, "We're getting mooned here."

There was a costume contest, with the first prize being a free Kerbal Space Program game from Steam. One guy showed up in a Kerbal astronaut avatar.

As time went on, more people showed up. People would chat about various things from the space program, to astronomy, to science fiction movies. And there were the jokes, "Robin are you dressed as an asteroid or is my client dying?"

Drinks were available, thanks to an astromech droid avatar.

 Spacesuits weren't just among those with two legs.

 As more people showed up, along with the music, the display provided visual as well as audio treats. Among the tunes were "Surprise," about the Sputnik launch, and "She Blinded Me With Science."

 With Uranus in view though, sometimes the jokes got a little cheeky. "Do you have Asteroids?" "No but my Dad does. Some days he can hardly sit down." Funny how the seventh planet used to be pronounced "yer-ay-nus," and after the Voyager probe flyby people began saying "yer-uh-nuhs."

Of the contest, the winner was ExpeditiousPony Resident , who won the Kerbal Space Program game and  664L of a 2000 Linden pot. Honorable mentions were JustinEvander Resident, BrinleyTaliesin Resident, and Gyro Muggins.

And so another Yuri's night came and went, as only Second Life's science fans could deliver.

Bixyl SHUftan

Relay for Life: "Stand Up Against Cancer" And Harmony For Hope's Egg Decorating Contest

The weekend of Saturday April 11 and Sunday April 12 had a number of Relay events, from music and dance parties to swimming parties, and more. Yours truly had time to check out only a couple. One that got my attention was a stand-up comedy act by Lauren Weyland, one of Second Life's most noted comedians. The event was for the Hoot For a Cure Team, captained by Catz Jewell, and was at 3PM SL time.

Hoot for a Cure proudly Presents, Stand Up Against Cancer Comedy Review, Featuring: Lauren Live, Doc Grun, wyvern Blazewood, jwheels, Catboy, April 11, 2015, 3pm SLT. Please keep scripts and huds to a minimum. This show is in voice. Turn sound on.

The event was in voice, so the chat was almost all responses to the comedians, which was mostly chuckles and the occasional counter-joke. Among the things Lauren herself joked about was the Avi Choice Awards, suggesting perhaps there should be awards given out for whom had the most alts, who had the most convincing gender-bender, and other categories that drew chuckles.

Besides laughing at Second Life's shortcomings, Lauren and other comedians also poked fun at Hillary Clinton announcing her run for her party's nomination for the Presidency.

Lauren was followed by Catboy, whose colorful pink outfit was a contrast to her usual dark garb.

 Wyvern's act was the most provocative, skirting the event's PG limit, and the comedienne herself apologizing on occasion for crossing the line.

 Doc Grunn's act involved a prop, a tablet with a freebie Siri clone he called "Siriously." But the ap in action had him going, "Seriously, Siriously?" much to the chuckles of the audience.

After the event,  JerryDon Lane told the Relay group, "Thank you so much.....over 10 grand was raised for a great cause."

Lauren Weyland performs regularly every Tuesday evening at 5PM in her venue in the Cookie sim.

The weekend was also the occasion for Team Harmony of Hope's Egg Decorating Contest.

 The contest was open to entries all day Saturday and Sunday up to Noon, the builders paying a 200L fee apeice. Voting began at 5PM SL time.

 There were a number of entries, each involving an egg in some form, some more than one.

 People voted by donating money to a kiosk next to the exhibit.

 Builds had a 35 prim limit, and could only be about 10 in height at most.

The winner was Cuddly Waffle, whose "Minion" egg got $7000 in donations for her team, and the most of all the entries.

Cuddly was "so excited" to have won, twirling around and jumping around and got lots of cheers from Relay chat.

These were just two of the many events that weekend, of which the next one promised more Relay fun.

Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

AC/DC Tribute Raises 30,000 Lindens for RFL Sunbeamers Team

On Easter Sunday April 5 at Sunweaver Bay, Castle Primal Passions hosted a Relay for Life benefit to raise funds for Team Sunbeamers. She called it the "Stomp Out Cancer" party. The event was in two parts. From 2-4PM, there was a DJ music event with a theme and prize. At 4PM, an AC/DC tribute band played on a stage outside the club.

Normally an adult club with no dress code, this time club owner Rayven Tentigo (rayven.avalira) asked everyone to keep their pants on (or in the case of those with a coat of fur keep their "parts" hidden).

The theme was "Best in Black," and there were quite a number of outfits, and avatars, in theme.

In this picture from Rayven, the club owner struts her moves on a table in a "bunny" outfit.

Kite Petshop was the DJ for the first part of the event. As 4PM neared, he closed out his session with a tune from the "1812 Overture" that's been worked in some movies and war games, "Thanks for being here, and thanks for listening to my madness."

There was a prize of 2500L for the one best in theme. It was split between Shadowprincess23 and VenAAX.

"Thank you all who entered the contest, on behalf of Rayven, Kite, and myself, along with our staff. We get to match the prize money given to the winner in donations to Relay for Life, to kick cancer down the Highway to Hell where it belongs!"

Outside Castle Primal Passions, there was what looked like a huge locomotive. This was the stage for the tribute band. They strummed their instruments for a while, then, "Okay people, I think you waited long enough! SOUND CHECK!!"

And the curtain flew open, and the concert was on.

From left to right, Dagger1 Dagger played the part of Malcom Young, Paul Woodrunner as Cliff Williams, Jamie Geraln as Brian Johnson, Random Nirvana as Phil Rudd, and Wraith Belgar as Angus.

"AC/DC WILL THROW IN A CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE TO THE PERSON THAT MAKES THE HIGHEST DONATION LETS STAMP CANCER OUT IN THIS GENERATION!!! ACDC LOVES YOU GUYS!"

Rayven herself hopped on stage at one point.

The event was a rousing success. About 30,000 Lindens had been raised in both events. As of the writing of this article, the Sunbeamers have gone up a little more to 82,000 Lindens. Only 18,000 to go until Silver rank.

Later this month, the Sunbeamers will hold another concert at Farshore Field in the Pacific Waters sim.

Castle Primal Passions is located at Sunweaver Bay (170, 215, 25)

Bixyl Shuftan