Aether Salson's War of 1812 Discussion

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

On Sunday Sept 20, The Aether Salon had it's discussion for the month. This time the topic was The War of 1812, which like other conflicts America took part in between the War for Independence and the Civil War tends to be overlooked by casual students of US History. The US leadership, furious over the impressment (kidnapping) of Americans by the British Navy, as well as incidents such as the unprovoked attack on the USS Chesapeake, declared war on the British Empire. But compared to the Brits, the USA had only a tiny Navy and regular Army. Attacks on Canada relied on called-up state militia that thanks to poor quality of men and officers alike ended up as disasters that left the country vulnerable to counterattack from Canadian militia and American Indian warriors allied to Britain. Fortunately for the USA, Britain would be busy with fighting Napoleon. But unfortunately the Brits could still enact a blockade. While there were a few individual victories by the US Navy in one on one battles, notably by the USS Constitution, the blockade was soon tightened and American overseas commerce strangled. 

 

Wildstar Beaumont was the speaker at the event, dressed up like a buccaneer. He remarked since this was "Talk Like A Pirate Day" weekend, he might as well touch on an issue somewhat related, the use of privateers by the badly outnumbered US Navy in the war.  He reminded the audience that he had chosen the topic months ago, and didn't count on talking about a war best known by the Canadians for it's attempted American invasions while in real life news America's President has been ratcheting up a trade war with the country. 

 

Driven by necessity to rely on privateers, the Americans found them to be a huge success. The smaller privateers could outrun the British when at a disadvantage, and engage when there was an opportunity. The result was numerous British ships sunk and captured, as well as the US Government taking in millions from duties on captured gold and other valuables, revenue it sorely needed with the blockade strangling the economy. News of naval victories also were a vital boost to American morale.

 

Also mentioned was the Battle of New Orleans, which took part in January 1815. Before the fight, the British tried to recruit smuggler and pirate Jean Lafitte to be a guide for their invasion. Instead he warned the Louisiana Governor, and offered himself and his men & weapons in exchange for pardons for him and his brother Pierre. General Jackson at first wasn't thrilled with the idea of them helping out with the defense of New Orleans, but would later laud their "courage and fidelity." The battle ended in a decisive American victory with the British taking on heavy losses. 

 

Negotiations to end the war began in mid 1814. At first the British demanded territory, seeking to create a buffer state for American Indian allies. The US Government angrily rejected it. The months went on, and a British attack in Maryland resulted in Washington DC being burned but failing to beat the forces defending Baltimore, the most famous part being the Battle of Fort McHenry which inspired the song "The Star Spangled Banner," and having to retreat. As more time passed, both sides came to realize the issues that started the conflict were no longer relevant and so they settled for status quo ante bellum - borders would remain unchanged. And the Treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas Eve 1814. 

 

Although the war was a stalemate, the United States came out of it with a sense of pride for having successfully fought off the strongest empire in the world, especially with the news of the Battle of New Orleans coming just after news of the treaty. For the Canadians, they also came out of the conflict with a sense of pride, as well as a newfound sense of national unity, for having beaten off American invasion. As for the British, with the conflict being a side-show compared to the Napoleonic Wars, they barely remembered it happened. Indeed it's not even mentioned in many British history books. But for the American Indians, the war would prove to be the beginning of the end for those east of the Mississippi River. They would lose a great deal of land in peace treaties, and some years later entire tribes would be expelled in the Indian Removal. Not mentioned in the discussion was General Jackson finding a career in politics and eventually becoming President. Also in politics, the Federalist Party, which opposed the war, would come out of the fight badly. In the years after the war, it would fade away into irrelevance and ten years after the treaty was dead. As for the privateers, after the war some would continue in the Latin American wars for independence. 

 

The Aether Salon is hosted by Ceejay Writer. The next event should be on Sunday October 18. The transcript for the event should be up on the blog (https://aethersalon.home.blog/) soon.

 

*Addition* - The transcript is finally up: https://aethersalon.home.blog/2026/09/27/1812-with-wildstar-beaumont/  

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Discussion on Tactics At Aether Salon

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

This is one of my "better late than never" articles that temporarily got lost in the reporting about the SL23B and then Rita Mariner's passing. 

Besides being the last day of the Second Life Birthday, Sunday July 19 was also the day of July's Aether Salon discussion. 

Today at 2PM SLT: The Aether Salon presents TACTICS! with one of the founding Salonistas, Jedburgh Dagger. Sneak in unnoticed, steal a seat and brace yourself for further instructions.   

One of the central points of the discussion by Jedburgh Dagger of tactics was what face a commander on the field: "the three 'Cs,'" Command, Control, and Communications."Command, go there. Control, stay together. Communications, tell them to go there too." And in ancient times with no radio, communications wasn't easy, relying on visual signals, horns, and messengers which took time to reach where they were going and vulnerable to being killed. 

 

 

Jedburgh noted that tactics pretty much stayed the same for millennia. Even when firearms first appeared in European battles in 1419, they weren't a significant change at first, until "in 1525 the first battle that was pivotally decided by firearms was fought in Italy. Battle of Pavia, when the cavalry found out that you can't run pell mell at a block of musketeers. But even so, guns ended up not changing the formations a great deal."

Real change would have to wait until King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, "known as the first modern general, and the man who started the widespread use of 'combined arms'.What he did was use cavalry, artillery, and infantry together, each using their strengths to offset the weaknesses of the other."  

Still, the practice of men in lines marching in formation toward each other continued, even in the early and mid 19th Century that saw developments in firearms and ammunition that made rifles more accurate and quicker to reload. But then came Maxim and his machine gun, "it took Maxim's gun to provide huge amounts of fire that ended the large unit use of line formations, and also killed colored uniforms for that matter." But line formations didn't go away entirely, "even today, the riot squad and the infantry squaddie still do the same thing their Greek ancestors did."

 

There were some amusing moments with the occasional joking remark, such as someone responding to the comment "the same thing their Greek ancestors did" with Tepic Harlequin going "drink too much and fight the locals?" He would also man the machine gun on display. There were also fireworks unleashed at one point. 

 

Ceejay Writer, who organizes Salon events, would say, "we do not have a speaker for next month, but we do for the rest of the year," and invited people to sign up to be one.  

 

The Aether Salon discussions are announced in the New Babbage group inworld, and on it's Discord. They take place at Babbage Canals (195/63/105).

 

To read the group blog, including this week's transcript, Click Here: https://aethersalon.home.blog/

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

 

Wedding Bells

 

 

 

On Friday June 26 came a special occasion: The wedding of Lilybeth Patterson (LilyBethPatterson) and Ardo Topaz.

 

You are all cordially invited to attend the wedding as we are excited to see you all there.  Please see the attached program ... 

 

The happy event occurred at WolfTail Inn, near Club Balance, with Maliit Uzz-Shirki (MaliitCoyote) and Bellslayer presiding. 

 

The event was attended by numerous friends, including some from the Sunweaver/Angels community. 

 

Following the event was a reception with much dancing, 

 

 

And the tossing of the bouquet by the bride. .The fun went on for a few hours, with DJ Frost, DJ Erika, and DJ Squeaks playing the music. 

 

Congratulations to you both,

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

More On The Last Relaystock

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

This weekend, the Relaystock took place with days two and three. While hosted by the Relay Rockers, it's always been open to performers from all teams, as well as some playing in behalf of one. And for many it was a moment to shine.

 

Among those performing Saturday, DJ Cynthia, with a number of others from Team Sunbeamers acting as dancers. 

 

The team would get almost 77,000 in the kiosk, which was enough to bring them over the one million Linden mark, and Emerald level. 

 

 The audience danced away, on solid ground between mud puddles, or just let things get squishy. 

 

 There were other teams of course, such as Roos With A Dream with DJ Kayla playing. 

 

 

They raised close to 100,000 Linden dollars.

 

 Also up was DJ Hell for Camping For A Cure. For all the jokes about his name, there was some  seriousness. He was performing while currently fighting a case of cancer.

 

Sunday I would see more performers on stage. 

 

 At times I was with the crowd, watching with other Relayers.

 

Wateru Kohime played some music in behalf of Purple Tears. 

 

 After him was Fuzzball Ortega of the Steelhead Salmons. 

 

And for those who know Fuzz, it was just a matter of time before he pulled out his massive wig, "The Hair."

 

[12:36] Softpaw Sommer: HAIR UP!!!!!
[12:36] Liandra Aries: HAIR!
[12:36] Taree Tashwood (TeslarShadaree Resident) is online.
[12:36] Sheila (Dusk Griswold): Had to be the hair. :)
[12:36] Liza Blackwood: good greif thats as big as that airship hat Vic Mornington has....
[12:36] Hina (HinaRykener Resident): Did you do something with your hair? you look different
[12:36] :: HinaRykener Resident: Did you do something with your hair? you look different
[12:36] Wateru Kohime: The HAIR!!!!
[12:36] Nuala Maracas: omg.. hold on ..the region may crash
[12:36] Nuala Maracas: i feel it shaking
[12:37] Liza Blackwood: LMAO
[12:37] Elysiane (Elysiane Sapphire): i htought that was just my laptop 

 

[13:08] Liandra Aries: Fuzz will be fine, the hair probably has some antigravity steampunk thing buried inside it
[13:08] Wateru Kohime thinks he's located the cause of the short in the microphone... Weather disturbances caused by Fuzz's hair... 

 

Then came  DJ Primilena Dumpling of Team ACTS, with some of the team including Oldesoul joining her. 

 

 Then Grace Loudon of the Cure Chasers. 

 

 The final act would be the Relay Rockers' Trader Whiplash and Nuala Maracus.

 

 And as the performers played, people danced away in the audience. 

 

 We had a lot of fun.

 

But while it was a happy event, there was some sadness. One was hearing about the passing of Ren Flow, a cofounder of Roos With  A Dream. But that wasn't the only bittersweet tone. 

 

This will be the final year for the Relay Rockers team, and with it's disbanding goes the yearly Relaystock. It was fitting among the displays were some older posters, showing how long the fun times have gone on. Yes, there are other great events such as the Fantasy Faire, the Sunbeamers' Air Show, and of course the Relay Weekend. But it's not going to be quite the same with out the three days of rock n roll and mud. 

 

A few days later at the Bid Me Bald, Trader would comment, "It's time to hang up our Relay team." But he did say, "Ways of somehow continuing the event are being investigated." Nuala would say the, "10 Year Total for Bid The Linden / Moles Bald..   $26,092 US ... L$5,834,040."

 

Their final words that day, Nuala would say, "Relay Rockers changed my Second Life.  We will still be around individually at Relay Events, not hanging up the sneakers completely. I 'll dust them off every year."
 

Trader Whiplash-Ballinger (Trader1 Whiplash) would add, "Nuala said it all...  this weekend was a fitting end to our 22 years...  and the results are just as fitting....  the Rockers may be fading but we aill all be around.. the jobs not finished "

 

"Thank you all so much for all of these wonderful years here at RelayStock. I've been attending since 2023 and I have had a wonderful time. I hope that in the future we will have this event again. ♥" 

 

"Thank you for the *rocker years* Trader!!" 

 

Thank you again, Relay Rockers, 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

  

The River Fundraiser For RFL And ACS

 

 By Netera Landar

 

The River's Bridgerton setting for Valentine's Day

When coming in-world, the Firestorm announcement informed me that The River’s Valentine’s Day setting represented Bridgerton. Valentine’s Day had already passed, but I thought it might still be there. I was glad to hear they hadn’t taken it down yet.

Get the horse from the stable, and you'll be ready to ride this carriage.

The romantic setting was a wonderful place for a sunset stroll with the one you love. There were colorful Victorian houses and awaiting carriages. Across the sim was an impressive stage, and according to my radar, people were talking off in the distance. I contacted one of the women, Siafra Odinson-Foxtrot-Softpaws. I’m always interested in learning more about Second Life.

One of the River stages located off the Bridgerton setting.

“This is the River, we’ve been here 15 years; however, this build is for a 2-day RFL event – RagnaRock Cancer. We have six tribute bands and 2 live singers over the next 2 days. It’s hosted by the Sugar SKOLS and the River as a fundraiser for RFL and the ACS,” said Siafra as she gave me the tribute schedule. 

The River's 2-day fundraising event took place on volcanic sets.

Saturday, Feb. 21 included: PINK at 12 PM; Red Hot Chili Peppers at 2 PM; Shinedown at 4 PM, and Imagine Dragons at 6 PM. Sunday, Feb. 22, would feature Prince at 12 PM; Live singer Eddy Bexar at 2 PM; Live singer Raven at 3 PM; The SyndiCATs present: Ghost at 4 PM, and In This Moment at 6 PM.

DJ Mark Ravenhurst takes the stage.

I returned on Sunday to see the event in action and learned that it was dedicated to a friend.

A memorial for the late DJ Boom.

“We are dedicating this event to one of our own DJs, whom we lost Tuesday to cancer…DJ Boomer. Since we started yesterday, we have already raised over 400,000L, and we are going until 8 PM tonight with another live singer and two more concerts,” said Siafra. “In the last two weeks, we raised 1.9 million Lindens.”

The Pink Tribute.

The River’s owner, WyldChild de Raven-Odinson, said that The River stands loud and unbreakable with Relay For Life. This is the first year The River is doing RagnaRock Cancer Fest.

Just City Tribute Band: Presents Prince and the Revolution.

“We fight because cancer has stolen too many voices, too many laughs, too many damn moments. We’re done watching it take the people we love. Relay Weekend is where grief turns into strength, memories turn into fuel, and community becomes our weapon."

Pink tribute on stage.

 

"We don’t back down – we stand together, and we fight like hell, because cancer doesn’t get the last word."

 

The SyndiCATS present Ghost.

 

Eddy Bexar (live singer).

 

In This Moment Tribute.

WyldChild is always looking for DJs and hosts who are ready to bring the noise and keep the River roaring.

Netera Landa

 

Note: some pictures from Angelika Courtois, Rafe Odinson, and Chaos deRaven-Odinson.

 

Willows Pre-show for Valentine’s Day

 

By Netera Landar

Faleen Renard and her hubby, Steverino

I learned that The Willows was having a pre-show for Valentine’s Day, on Friday, Feb. 13, so I thought I’d check it out. Immediately impressed by the venue’s size, I asked Faleen Renard, the owner, if it was okay to take pictures. She quickly approved, and I joined a group of regulars already enjoying the party. 

Mrs. Capriana Arcane and Mr. Chronos Arcane.

The venue was decorated in Valentine hearts, with a sign in the center in big, lighted letters reading, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”  Faleen was having a great time dressed as a sexy cupid, while her hubby, Steverino, wore a red vintage suit and bow tie. DJ Jaffee Gaffer chose some great music and was cute in his tee-shirt and shorts with hearts, and Suzy Sorbet, who was dancing next to him, wore a cute pink top and skirt.

Suzy Sorbet and Willows DJ Jaffee Gaffer

“Tonight is just a casual party, so everyone can participate in Valentine’s Day and have fun,” said Faleen. Tomorrow night is our formal event. I make sure we have a different theme every night of the week, and the club décor changes nightly, as well, to reflect the theme. It’s a lot of work, but I love it.

Jack and SaraAnn Aubry

Faleen said that the group has fun selecting costumes and avatars.

Kylie and Desperado Raynier

Senger and Willow Axelbrad

“We never know who (or what) will come through the door.”

 

Netera Landar