The 2017 Mental Health Symposium at Sojourner Auditorium

By Gemma Cleanslate

The  2017 Mental Health Symposium at Sojourner Auditorium  on Saturday drew a large audience. The topics were related to “ways to promote mental health for themselves and their families, how diet affects mental health, and how first responders and medical clinicians can improve their own mental health.”  

I’m sorry to say I  missed some of the presentations however the ones I attended were most interesting and informative. Many people do not realize amount of support that is available in Second Life for mental or emotional issues and also other health issues.  
 

There were tours offered to three sites where people could find out information about the ways in which Second Life can help and support someone inworld. I have been to all three before but visited to see the the tours.

Our first visit was to Ethnographia Region .  “This installation is a sort of "build biography" -- a story of discovery of a new self as a result of being in a virtual world, after having become disabled. The build is set up like an immersive gallery exhibit that you can walk through and interact with. It includes signs with pictures and captions, as well as objects and demonstrations that show some of the things that the story is talking about.”  The notecards represent how Second Life can be helpful in itself in helping a person to manage and enhance their identity in real life and SL. Jadyn Firehawk greeted every one and explained how the exhibit worked. This  exhibit is not to be missed by anyone who is curious about help in Second Life and by those who are interested in the regions in Second Life that are mental health related in any way,. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ethnographia/166/76/29

The second visit was to Virtual Hallucinations. Eme Capalini greeted us at the entrance and explained the site .  Wearing a hud into this exhibit will put you in the mind of someone suffering from schizophrenia and help one understand what goes on in this disease. “  About 1% of the population will develop schizophrenia during their lifetimes. It usually strikes in the late teens or early twenties, and is very debilitating." Visitors are warned to watch out for triggers but I recommend it to anyone who wants to become more aware of the issues with which one can suffer. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sedig/26/45/22

My third stop was at Inspiration Island. Wisdomseeker (Lissena Resident) addressed us at this site and gave us an over view of the island.  This is the home of Whole Brain Health. Here you can learn how to use this virtual world to “train your brain to function optimally over the life span”. There is so much here to explore and absorb. I plan to go back to see how it  all works.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//142/234/38

 

The day was certainly full, inspirational and rewarding. I am glad I was able to attend at least part of the symposium. It took a great deal of work to put something like this together and Virtual Ability does it every year. Here I am sitting next to Gentle Heron who as President of Virtual Ability is very active in all the activities held here.

Gemma Cleanslate 
 

The RFL Fourth Annual Farshore Field Air Show

By Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday May 20 was the day of one of the big events each year for the Sunweaver community and it's Relay for Life team the Sunbeamers: the fourth annual air show at Farshore Field in the Pacific Waters sim, owned by Cynthia Farshore.

The event has been called an air show and fly-in as people have been encouraged to bring in their own aircraft to fly, in addition to using the plane-rezzer at the place given by Jessicabelle Dayafter. Cynthia had put up most of the items up just for the show, along with Shockwave Yareach.

The event started at 8AM SL time. There were only a few people around at the start, but before long more came in. Some went to try the air cannon, seen on the left of this picture.

When fired, the cannon would launch whoever was inside into the air, such as this high-flying vixen.

But what goes up must come down. Cynthia demonstrates the limited edition parachute with the 2017 RFL in SL logo, which residents were recommended to take and wear before going up.

Nydia Tungsten was one of the pilots at the show.

 Giving the Focke-Wulf 190 a spin. While this WW@ fighter was not as common as the Messerschmidt 109, it was better armed, with options to carry bombs and rockets.

 Inside the FW-190 cockpit.

 Going up.

 And away

Zeroing on one of the target planes Cynthia had going in the air. After taking a number of hits, they would explode and plummet, only to be re-rezzed moments later.

While the airborne targets couldn't fire back, there was an anti-aircraft gun on the ground that could, which Shockwave tried out.

Cynthia had set up another gun, but not for firing into the air.

It was for firing shells at the dunk tank instead of lobbing tennis balls, with hits sending volunteers into the drink. But getting shots to hit the target could be a little tricky.

 Trying the planes myself, I ended up lagging and crashing. But there was something more my speed: an obstacle course set up by Cynthia and Shockwave.

 The course went into the next sim and back.

There was a contest for the best time made in the course, but to qualify one had to use these bicycle blimps. I guess I didn't do too bad on mine, but not the best.

 Wildstar Beaumont came by and took some pictures while yours truly had to take a break for lunch and errands.

Wildstar was able to get some great pictures of the clouds and contrails. More pictures of his can be seen on his Flickr album of the event.

 Some people preferred less conventional aircraft.

The event raised close to 22,500 Linden dollars. A good amount. There were a few whom had been hoping for a higher turnout, but a few people told me they had been preoccupied by real life matters that day. Otherwise they would have shown up. Plus several other Relay events that day cut down on those from other teams dropping by. Rita Mariner made an announcement soon after the event.

Beamers:  The 4th Annual Air Show, at Pacific Waters, we held SAT, May 20th, went off pretty good.  While there wasn't a huge turnout, we still did good regarding donations and Cynthia's and Shocky's efforts netted us a little over 22K Lindens.  Not shabby.  There were just too many RFL events going on to expect a huge turnout I am afraid.  Those of us that did show up had fun, mostly getting shot into the air, by the cannon! Others just enjoyed flying around.

Cynthia certainly kept the ball rolling. After the air show, more money continued to come in, as of the writing of this article over 40,000 Linden dollars since the event. There is some talk about making other teams part of future air shows, such as Fly for Life. But for now, the Relay season continues, with the Sunbeamers having their tributes to the late Artistic Fimicloud this week, on May 23 at the Happy Vixen and Friday May 23 at Club Cutlass.


Go Relay!


Bixyl Shuftan

The Bay City Anniversary Celebration

By Gemma Cleanslate

One of the activities I love  at this time of year is visit the Bay City Anniversary event.
             

Since 2008 Bay City has grown and flourished and the citizens have formed bonds . There are several fun activities during the year and many residents and friends contribute to the festivities.

The Parade is a favorite of mine. I took some pictures of the parade participants for you .

Before the parade, Marianne McCann getting ready to walk out.

To me this was the cutest entry in the parade, and I wanted some food from it!

RacerX was there with a huge entry in the parade .

And there was much more. 

Daniel Voyager watches the parade with a local.

The party after with dj Marx Dudek was full and almost shut the sim down!! Many residents and friends of Bay City were celebrating 9 years.

Christov Kohnke took the stage with his guitar and live songs.

It was a fun day as usual. Wonders what the 10th anniversary will be like!!!

Gemma Cleanslate 

(with contributions from Bixyl Shuftan)

Editors Note: Check out these photographs from Wildstar Beaumont and  "Kit" LadyKittyKid on their Flickr pages. And the youtube from RacerX Gullwing below.

Reader Submitted: D.R.U.M. – Celebration and Remembrance

Divine Rhythms of Universal Music (D.R.U.M.) is a live music percussion band in Second Life. With origins from the lamplighter ceremonies at Burning Life festivals, D.R.U.M. shares Burning Life culture throughout Second Life. As many of you know, the inspiration for Second Life came from the real life Burning Man festivals, famously attended by SL founder, Philip Linden (Rosedale).

Today’s concert at Barbie Alchemi’s venue on Creations Park region, was dedicated to Brazilian rhythms. I invited a professional Brazilian musician (who plays in SL), Mandala Bee and her friend Dee, to enjoy the show and dancing. You can experience a taste of D.R.U.M. on YouTube, but the live concert experience is really exceptional.  The rhythms really resonate and suddenly you find yourself dancing!

The members of D.R.U.M. include: Atrebor Zenkova, AlmostThere Inventor, Fil (yark), Dream Wrexan, Mia Anais (malreeoneal), and Maia Antarra (psiberangel). Also attending as an audience member was one of the group’s founders, Lorin Tone. Another founder, LadySlipper Constantine interviewed by SL Newser last February. Unfortunately, LadySlipper passed away in RL last September. Her name was recalled fondly sereral times by D.R.U.M. and the audience. Including this quote from Barbara Alchemi: “Every DRUM performance is done in memory of our dear LadySlipper.”

-- Any1 Gynoid is a reader contributor to SL Newser

The 2017 Relaystock

From Friday May 12 to Sunday Evening on May 14, the 2017 Relaystock took place. Both DJs and live performers sung on stage in this tribute to the famous music festival in 1969. This was the fourth Relay season the event had taken place, the first in 2013. The Friday performances started at 3PM.

Later on was Fuzzball Ortega, who whipped out "The Hair."

 

Sometimes there was some virtual rain, as shown here in the Saturday afternoon event.

At times, it could get a little crowded, and a little laggy, such as this crowd, which despite a few minutes of rezzing, many were still half grey in my viewer.

Avatars of various shapes and sizes, such as furs and micros. Hopefully the little guy didn't end up in s deep spot in the mud.

Although the Sunbeamers have been the largest mostly furry team, there have always been furs on a number of others. But this year I noticed more.

While the biggest concentration was at the theater, sometimes team members would gather at campsites, such as some of the Sunbeamer team at our tent.

Sunbeamer Gil Otaared brought her pet ringtail "Mini-Me." With the shortage of porto-potties, hopefully she avoided stepping in where the hippies relieved themselves.

Probably the most touted act on stage was live singer Keeba Tammas and her Tiny Maniacs band. They were among the last of the events performers, playing from 2 to 3 PM SL time.

 Bain and Panza Fitch, dancing while avoiding the deeper parts of the mud.

After 3PM was the Relay Rap, with the Relay Committee all dressed up in 60s garb.

In the final event, Trader Whiplash and his "Time Machine." It was an event in which people were free to request their team's kiosk on stage.

 Trader looked like something out of a "Sgt. Pepper" picture. His partner Arizona Ballinger, who organized the Relaysotck, was in period wear as well.

Many teams did well in the event. The Sunbeamers went from below 170,000, to Silver rank, and past 200,000. As of the writing of this article, they were at 204,000 Linden dollars raised.

With the Relaystock over, the Relay season is now in it's second half, with events next weekend including the annual Castle, Home, and Garden event, and the Team Sunbeamer Air Show.

Addition: Ishtarkiss would upload more pictures on her Flickr account.

Go Relay!

Bisyl Shuftan