The Bellisseria Anniversary, PBC Autism Awareness Show, And Other Happenings On April 15 & 16

 

 By Bixyl Shuftan

April 15 was a very busy day in Second Life. The main event was the Fourth Anniversary of Bellisseria party. For about six hours from just after 10AM to 4PM SL time at Bellisseria Fairgrounds, both locals and their friends from other areas in Second Life partied it up to celebrate the creation of this continent in Second Life.

Patch gave an opening speech at 10AM. Unfortunately, I was a bit late and missed it, and I have yet to come across a recording of it. I dropped in to see many residents dancing, human and otherwise, to a DJ's music. I didn't get a picture of him as he remained one of the handful of people my viewer just wouldn't rez.

This included the "Bell Hammies," who earlier this month set up their "Hamraiders" event at the Fairgrounds. 

 

 At 12 Noon was the Autism Awareness event at the Premier Business Center in the PBC sim.  

Please join PBC and the Baptiste Family Foundation this Saturday at 12:00 PM SLT at the PBC Performance Hall for Dancing with Donny and The Panda Dance Crew for Autism Awareness!

 

 

 This was a family-friendly event, with numerous child avatars as performers on stage. PBC owner Jarden Alexis was there, welcoming people as they came in, "Thank you all for support of Autism Awareness. We want to personally thank each one of you for being here!" There were no donations being taken as the goal of the event was to raise awareness of the condition, which has been diagnosed more frequently in recent years, "So please make donations to the autism charities of your choice."

"✯What is Autism?
 

"Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Some people with ASD have a known difference, such as a genetic condition. Other causes are not yet known. Scientists believe there are multiple causes of ASD that act together to change the most common ways people develop. We still have much to learn about these causes and how they impact people with ASD."

 

There were free t-shirts for those who wanted them. Dancerina Starlight was there and got one.

 

 Once the event was over, there was much applause, Jarden saying, "I want to thank the Panda Dance Crew for volunteering for this event. Panda Dance Crew, you are appreciated." Then there was a "met and greet" dance, with a DJ playing music. Several people and publications were thanked for publicizing the event, including the Newser.

At 1PM, I headed over to a live music event at Music Island in the Sorbet sim.

Merryjest (Kain Scalia) was returning to singing in Second Life after having to take a hiatus for a while, demonstrating his skill as an opera tenor. Some longtime readers may remember him for his reader submission "My Psychotic Little Friend," which still gets laughter to this day.

 

 From 4 to 8 PM was the Affiliated Ministries' annual Easter dance in the Eternal Life sim. The event took place outside Club United's Chapel. The event was attended by multiple Christian groups. 

 

"I still love looking around and seeing all these various Christian groups all united together and it makes me smile to see our unity in Christ!" "Its always good we come together and worship and thank our Jesus for what He has done for us!!"

 

 On Sunday April 16 at Noon SL time, there was the Grand Opening of the Digital Dream Studios Gallery in FairChang Quebrada.

 

 DJ Maliit opened the event from Noon to 2PM, followed by DJ Snowbuns who played until 3PM. At 4 was DJ Whisky followed by 5 with DJ Anni. The gallery itself offers both PG art, as well as adult-rated.

It was an eventful weekend with plenty of events.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From Easter

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By Bixyl Shuftan

For Second Life residents, Easter is a special time. For the religious, it's time to celebrate the Resurrection. For both churchgoers and the secular alike, it's reminders of memories as kids of the Easter Bunny, finding hidden eggs, and chocolate bunnies.

For the few days before, there were some Easter-themed parties at various clubs, as well as related themes. At the Happy Vixen's Spring event, a bunnygirl appeared, ridding a carrot like a witch on a broom.

Club Zero Gravity had recently renovated the club build. A few joked with the holiday, it now looked like an Easter egg.

Going about, I was seeing more bunny ears than usual.

Thursday April 14 had the theme "Candy and Chocolate" at the Happy Vixen, so out come some chocolate bunny avatars.

A dark chocolate bunny, and a milk chocolate wolf.

"Milk chocolate with a little bite to it."

Saturday April 16, Club Cutlass had it's Easter Party.

With numerous bunny avatars present.

Sunday April 17, it was Easter Sunday. And the Bouncing Bunny Beach Club would have an Easter event.

"Hangin With My Peeps."

There was something "egg" strordinary going on at Burning Man - Deep Hole.

There was an exhibit on Ukrainian Psyanky eggs.

But this egg broke easily.

There was a special egg, that was about to be cooked.

A bit more than over-easy.

Looks like it was all shell, and no yolk.

Group hug.

And finally, one Christian-themed sim, Peace Child, was having a party that night. The SURL look me to the sim's main entrance.

So I went down the path to the event. 

The party was outside the chapel building.

It was a party that was a mix of humans and some furs, one wearing a "Star Trek" uniform (The Original Series did have one episode with a Christian reference).

"The reason for the season."

It was a fun party.

On a final note, I was late in finishing this article. But better late than never.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Wonder Egg Hunt

By Gemma Cleanslate

Saturday I popped over to the Relay for Life event that was held by Team  RFL Fighting Sunflowers. It was an Easter Egg hunt in the Wonderland.  Jesie Ja'Nae West (Jesie Janick) did the décor and it was delightful!

Starting in 5mins, 9am-1pm slt there will be an egg hunt benefiting Relay For Life. This is an event you do not want to miss so get your baskets ready for some amazing prizes and photo opportunities with your favorite characters from the beloved Story.  So bring your family and friends. Adults are welcome to hunt eggs also! To get to wonderland you have to start at the rabbit hole!

Alice was there as were a cast of characters from the story of Alice in Wonderland. I even saw Peter Pan and had tea at the table with him. The Red Queen was overseeing it all. There were a myriad of kids running around in the grasses looking for tiny eggs with prizes in them. I could only find one egg and that was by accident as I saw a someone else find it. The Information Station was quaint and held many pointers about cancer. 

Alice was taking pictures with the kids. I got a kick out of one child who announced her dad was single very proudly. And then suggested that Alice would make a really nice wife for him and a new mommy. Got to love the SL kids! Everyone was having a wonderful time and I enjoyed the visit.

The Fighting Sunflowers Team has raised almost 44,000 Lindens inworld as of now, and has so far collected a total of close to 120,000 Lindens in total.

Gemma Cleanslate

Easter Weekend in Second Life

Holiday weekends offer plenty of activities in Second Life, and Easter is no exception. The Relay For Life provided much fun, but that wasn't all. There were egg hunts and festive places one could go to.

For egg hunts, I heard about a few. One took place in Areo Pines Park, their seventh annual Easter event: the "Eggapalooza."

It's EGGAPALOOZA! - Happy Easter from the Aero Pines Park Rangers!  -  The eBunny has hidden over 50 different gifts in eggs around the park. You're offered an Easter basket when you arrive!  Find eggs in the landscaping and public areas. Its more fun and advantageous with friends!  --  Start here: Aero Pines Park (8,3,23)    

 Porting over, I found a free basket, and an egg in an obvious location: a backyard grill. Going about the park's trails, I continued to find more of the eggs, from at the base and up trees, to crazy places such as in outhouses. The eggs themselves contained prizes, from outfits, to mermaid tails, and more. A nice little freebie hunt that took place in a nice realizing nature trail.

Second Life has a number of churches, and no doubt many held special Easter services. One I stopped at, St. Peter's Basilica in the Mediterraneo OC sim, didn't have a church group. In fact, it turned out to be set up as a location for weddings. But still, it was a well done structure.

Going inside, sunbeams shone through the windows onto the altars. There were also stairs up to the bell towers. No hint as to whether or not a hunchback made rounds here.

Then there was Easter Town in the Elizabeth Town sim. I had written about the place before, but went in for a quick look. The place was still the same cartoony and fun-looking place, looking like it did last year. No doubt people were continuing to go there for light hearted Easter fun.

Then there was the egg hunt in Hyde Park in the London area. Unlike Area Pines, they weren't offering a freebie hunt, but a game in which eggs gathered awarded points to participants.

Over the Easter weekend we will be dropping hundreds of eggs all over Hyde Park.  Hunters will will get points simply by either clicking on the eggs they find or stepping on them. The leaderboard will show the top 10 egg hunters so far, and the top egg hunter at the end of the Easter weekend will receive [insert prize here].  Eggs won't be fiendishly hidden;  They will be in plain sight but could be anywhere in the park.  Some eggs may be in a group, some may be alone and some could even be in the lake! The leaderboard will always show the number of eggs remaining to be found in Hyde Park.  If the egg count gets low then we will keep adding more until the end of the Easter weekend.  See if you can keep us on our toes all weekend by finding all the eggs and forcing us add fresh batches! Happy Easter!

There were attractions around besides the egg hunt, such as freebies for newcomers to pick up and fun places to dance on. There was also a spider going around, chasing the avatar who was nearest. In my bunny avatar, I wondered a little if it was out to make me hossenfeffer. But I soon gave it the slip and resumed looking around.

A fun little weekend.

Some of the events will still be around for a few more days. So be sure to check them.

Bixyl Shuftan