By Bixyl Shuftan
with some pictures from Gemma Cleanslate
It was about eight years ago when the Bay City sims came to be on the Grid. Conceived by Linden Lab as representing "the American urban experience" in the middle of the 20th Century in early 2008, the region was built by the Department of Public Works (also known affectionately as the "moles"), and opened on May 8 that year, with parcels open for sale to residents about two weeks later. It was on May 16, 2010 when a parade and party were done to celebrate the city's second anniversary. Since then, the Bay City Parade and the music concert following have become an annual event in Second Life, attracting many participants and observers.
Before the parade, some of us met up at the Northern Fairgrounds.
This included Michi Lumin, one of the founders of Luskwood.
Also there was noted blogger Daniel Voyager. With his "Bugs Bunny" avatar, my friend Rita Mariner whom dropped by, responded by bringing out her Lola Bunny avatar (Bugs' girlfriend in the "Space Jam" movie).
As it got closer to 12 Noon SL time, I headed to the vicinity of the Band Shell Stage in the Harwich sim, where those taking part in the parade were gathering.
Marianne McCannn had given out some press badges a few days before the event, and yours truly wore his (the recent new tag on the hat was made by Alleara Snoodle).
Kenny Luckless appeared in his pony avatar, riding a snail.
RacerX Gullwing, the organizer of the Giant Snail Racers, was there in his jalopy.
Someone's plans were "up in the air."
Torley Linden was also there, although he (or maybe she considering the avatar), was in his non-Linden account.
Trying to organize everyone wasn't the easiest of feats, having to put everyone in a few groups that would start at several different times. And finally at 12:30 Noon, the parade was a-go, "Get ready to RUMBLE!!!" "Bay City For The Win!"
Didn't someone tell this guy mines are supposed to keep their mouths shut?
A police car from the BCPD led the way for most of the route.
While some openly hoped we could capture their best side, unfortunately for some, everything turned out grey or otherwise flawed due to the lag, such as this one of Marianne McCann in her parade uniform and tuba.
"From the, town of Bedrock."
Another look at Pygar Bu, towing his float.
The parade took a few turns.
Most of the parade's path was down Route 66.
The parade went past a few noteworthy locations.
"Who you gonna call?"
Bay City has a trolley service, and at one point, the parade had to deal with an oncoming car.
Instead of getting smashed, as it would in real life, one of the cars got hooked and dragged for a distance.
Two women, Dizzi Sternberg and Nightshade Fugu, instead of a balloon, brought an aircraft of some kind to the parade
But something went wrong.
And the craft fell to the ground in pieces.
Fortunately the girls were okay.
"Thunderbirds to the rescue!"
Gemma Cleanslate, riding a Segway scooter with the parade.
Looks like the car who had a run-in with the trolley got unstuck.
And the parade reaches the finish line.
This woman was dragging a wagon the whole way.
The policeman did a "pawsome" job.
A traffic cop tried to keep things somewhat in order.
Looks like the Flinstonemobile had front brakes installed, and someone slammed on the brakes.
It was then time for the music to begin, Marianne shouting, "We've got a great block of music today! Right now, it's GoSpeed Racer on the decks. Later it's Zachh Cale, Maximillion Kleene, and Winston Ackland who will grace our stage!"
Looks like the Newser wasn't the only ones reporting the event, though someone swiped their tires.
GoSpeed Racer DJed for the first hour, with some eight-themed songs in her mix such as the Beatles' "Eight Days A Week," and Sesame Street's "King of 8," and a few others that seemed appropriate, such as "There Goes The Neighborhood."
Uccello "Uccie" Poultry called out, "While you are hugging, send some to our Not-The-Mayor MARIANNE MCCANN! I can't imagine Bay City without her love and nudging."
And pretty soon, it was time for the conga line.
One girl commented, "ot so many in this line we're wearing a hole in the floor."
At one point, someone joked the Lusk skunkgirl, "Michi? You never use underpants? No wonder I love Luskwood." Michi responded, "I state for the record that I believe underpants are important for our society and economy!" At one point, GoSpeed joined the line, and ended up behind her, "Dang, behind Michi again. Your tail is tickling my ... "
Torley wasn't the only Linden to show up. One of the furs among Linden Lab's staff, April Linden, also showed up. "We just finished up my month," she smiled.
April never did join the conga line, "Hehe, I'm really short compared to y'all." But others still tried to encourage her, Belle Mistwallow, the current Miss Bay City, saying, "Vertical challenge builds character."
Eventually, some had to go, including Torley, "Ahhh it's been fun! Great hanging with you all! I gotta go for now, rock on Zachh and Bay City! PARTY ON AND BE MOST EXCELLENT TO ONE ANOTHER =^_^= "
Marriane reminded everyone, "Bay City hosts a number of events, of which this is but one. We also have Mole Day (celebrating the members of the Linden Department of Public Works and all their great builds!) in February, Hot Bay City Nights in August, our Holiday Tree Lighting and Prim Drop, and weekly Rumble Races! Always something going on in Bay City!" She also reminded, "Bay City has long been a supporter of Child's Play Charity (www.childsplaycharity.org) a great charity that provides toys and games for sick children. This week, I am proud to announce, Bay City became a silver sponsor of Child's Play. You'll find us right on their front page, in the lower right-hand corner."
She also had some upcoming news about the urban area."Coming soon will be Bay City's own Community Gateway, Enter Bay City. It will be a place for new Second Life residents to learn about Second Life with a distinctly Bay City edge. You'll hear more about this project soon!"
It was a great event in Second Life, parade, concert, and running into a couple Lindens and other notable personalities on the Grid.
Some other Second Life residents took pictures or videoed the event. RacerX Gullwing, took this Youtube of when he drove as part of the parade, then joined the others at the party (click here if it fails to play).
Daniel Voyager would also write about the event, in addition to putting some screenshots on his Flickr page.
Bixyl Shuftan (and Gemma Cleanslate)
No comments:
Post a Comment