The Skybeam Fox Hunt (Nov 2009)

By Bixyl Shuftan

 In late October, Second Life Newspaper had a new sponsor, the Skybeam Estates. It wasn't long before we had a chance to spotlight the community, their third anniversary on Saturday Nov 14. Among the events that day was the fox hunt. Maybe I was a little close to the subject, but it was the one that I chose to write on, the article going up Tuesday Nov. 17.

 * * * * *

Skybeam had a number of  events to celebrate it’s third anniversary. There was a “Worst Dressed” contest. There was a snail race. There was a spoof of “Wheel of Fortune” called “Wheel of Lindens,” in which I won a hundred L on. But what to me was the most memorable was the fox hunt.

No, they didn’t hunt yours truly. Amethyst Starosin, the Skybeam event manager, and Erix Oh, donned feral fox avatars, purple and red respectively, and volunteered to be the targets. There was also a third fox, Kiwako Snook, whom was the gray decoy. There were free horse mounts available to those whom didn’t have one, but as demos they were no longer redeemable once the player got off them, or 45 minutes had past. Anyone whom wanted the traditional red riding outfit, however, would have to get it themselves. To catch the foxes was a cager, just go in mouselook, aim, and click.

So at 10 AM SL time on Saturday the 14th, people began gathering. My presence led to a few chuckles, not just because of my avatar’s vulpine appearance but also the raptor-like mount I had for a “horse.” But no one tossed a cage at me. It was soon time to give the foxes a head start, and then everyone on horseback charged to capture them, or in my case on raptorback to “rescue” them.

But not surprisingly, I lost sight of them. I had heard all of Skybeam, not just that one sim, were open to the fox hunt. Peaking at the map, there were plenty of green dots here and there, so I wandered about, going through fields, over rocky hills, and by homes. I didn’t think I’d find the foxies, but I was having fun exploring around.

Finally checking the map, I saw that the sim the hunt had stared on suddenly had a mess of green dots. Was it all over. I ported over, expecting to hear that it was. Instead when things were rezzing, I saw people running around, and people shouting, “Some one get her!” The hunt was still on!

To my surprise, the purple fox darted in front of me. I promptly zoomed into mouselook, took aim, and ... nothing! As I had test-fired it once before, I wondered if it was a one-shot weapon, and went back to the starting point to get a new cager. But when I got it and turned my raptor mount around, I heard, “TWIZT GOT HER!!” “Yay Twiz!!” “CONGRATULATIONS TO TWIZT YING FOR CAGING THE ONE THAT COULDN'T BE CAUGHT!!” And so the hunt was over. twists response was simple, “Wow. I didn’t even see the cage.”

After that was the post chase chatter. Earlier on, Erix Oh had been caged by Neil McCullough. Amethyst had proven much more frustrating, “That was so frustrating having her right there in front of me and not getting her.” “I'm sorry ... but last year Neil had me in like 90 seconds ... this was great.” “Did anybody get a picture of me caging myself?” “... what'd you say, where I ‘rested’ on my sim, hidden in a hollow stump?” (decoy)“I almost morphed dragon a couple of times, just to give a horse a fright. :P ” “Eeeek a dragon!” “Oh my God!  Scarey dragon!”

Admist the laughter, there was talk of having another fox hunt in December, and Amythest the purple vixen getting a few belly rubs. And after a while, people soon left for the next event. And so ended the Skybeam Fox Hunt.

Among my furry friends, reaction was a bit mixed. Some thought it odd. Others joked about holding a different kind of fox hunt. Many thought it should be the foxes on horseback and hunting the “hummies.” But there was also one suggestion for a shy human guy being chased by a band of scantily-clad, giggly, vixens.”

* * * * *

This would be the only anniversary of it's new land sponsor Second Life Newspaper would cover, and there would be no fox hunt in December to cover. Still, it was a chance to get a peek of life and times at Skybeam.

Bixyl Shuftan

Ringing in the New Year In Second Life

Unlike last year, there was no official Second Life New Years event. So it was up to people and places to hold events of their own. And there certainly was no shortage of parties, and other happenings across the grid.

At 4PM SL time, the Queen of Hearts at the Mystery sim held their New Years Eve party. With some of the staff in Europe, it was already 2011. DJ Cameron played for those on the dance floor. At 5PM, the music stream was taken byDJ Bloodrose, also known as the "Evil DJ" due to his style of laughter and being noted for Mystery events such as Evil Christmas, "DJ BLOODRODR is taking over our NEW YEAR Celebrations! Come on down and join us! ... DJ BLOODROSE! sorry folks it's late here !" The slight misspelling had no effect on the good cheer of the revellers. For the romance-themed sim, it was a good beginning for the new year.


Also at 6PM SL time, Cutlass began it's New Years party. Club owner Jenni Greenfield had planned to DJ for the event, but real life intervened, and sent out a notice for a replacement to fill in. Fortunately someone did, Alexandra "Lexi" Tymets. The "nezumi" mousegirl played a selection of tunes for the dancers. Sim owner Rita Mariner livened things up with a snow machine, with flakes coming down on the partiers.

At the Big Tree at Luskwood, the denizens were having their own celebration. Founder Michi Lumin had taken the radio stream and was playing some gentle music. For the season, the tree had been given a new look, with snow on the deck and letters, the 7Seas pond frozen over, etc. Compared to Halloween and their avatar release parties, the gathering was smaller, about two dozen.

Also having a New Years bash, some old friends of the Second Life Newser staff: the Skybeam community. I read the party was scheduled for 8PM SL time, but people had been gathering for at least a couple hours earlier at the spot in northwest Skybeam Muse. With DJ Dakota Christensen spinning the music, the residents and friends partied it up, led by the estate owner Charlene Trudeau.

New Years was just one of a number of winter events Skybeam has had recently. They held a Winter Festival, of which days earlier the ice sculpture event was held where the party now was. The contest was a three-way tie, with 2500 Lindens given to each of the winners, with a commemorative trophy.

Even though their New Year was hours earlier, the Aussie Club "The Pocket" had a New Years' Party, starting at 8 PM Second Life time, led by club owner Chestnut Rau. At 6 PM SL time, one place held not a party, but a dogfight. The new modern combat sim of Gungnir hosted a "free-for-all" aireal combat match.

Finally, one club had its Grand Reopening on New Years Eve: Club Little Dove at Southern Colorado. Owned by Nydia Tungsten, she personally DJed for the partiers as the music and dance began at 8PM SL time. And what a party it was. The dance floor in the zeppelin's gondola was packed, someone counted 43 avatars at one point. With a 5000 Linden prize up for the best dressed, the contest board had five pages of entries. Every hour starting with 9 SL time, the new year was announced for each of the US time zones. The party went on to Midnight SL time, and probably for some time afterward.

Sim owner Daaneth Kivioq, noted for his work in the Relay for Life, made a little fun about the party the next day, "It only took me three hours today to clean up the confetti, empty bottles, and drunk furries over at the Little Dove this morning." But a great time had been had by all.

These were just a few of the events that took place across the Grid on New Years night. It was a great close to 2010, and a great opening for 2011.

Bixyl Shuftan