The 2018 Roma Lupercalia Weekend

By Bixyl Shuftan


So what did people do around the time of Valentines Day before the holiday came about? In the days of the Romans, they had a yearly festival called the Lupercalia. The rites in the event were believed to deter evil spirits and purify the city. The most familiar of these rituals were young men running naked or nearly naked through the streets and lightly slapping people with thongs of hide made from a sacrificed goat. Women sometimes got in their way in hopes that being struck would help them become pregnant. Sometimes called "Februatus," the modern calendar in the West gets "February" from the name.

Although the holiday was held on February 15 in ancient times, the Roma community in Second Life holds their festivals at the end of the month. So the days of the celebration inworld were the Weekend of Saturday February 24 and Sunday February 25. And at 10AM Saturday, members of the community, and a few friends of theirs, gathered at the Lupercal cave. There, two women, Maali Beck and Melanippe Karas, reenacted the ritual for Faunus Lupercus, the God of Wild Things and Lupa, the female wolf in Roman legend who was believed to have raised the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, until they were found by a shepherd.

Maali Beck: "Salve Ianus Pater - Ianus Inceptio, Ianus Brifons, Ianus Patulcius, Ianus Domesticus, Ianus Quirinus! Te precor uti sis volens mihi propitius. Admitte me coram numina lucentia! Hail, Father Janus - Janus of Beginnings, Two Faced Janus, Janus Door Opener, Janus Home Protector, Janus of the Folk! I pray to You so that You willingly might be well-disposed towards me. May I behold the Shining Gods!"

Melanippe of Themiscyra (Melanippe Karas): "Ave Iuppiter Optime Maxime Pater Omnipotens Rex Deorum hominumque. Sive quo alio nomine appelari voluveris si pietae mereor da mihi Roma nostrae prosperitatem ac felicitatem in opere nostro. Hail, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Almighty Father, King of Gods and Men. Or by whatever title else that You may have willed to be named. If by obedience I am deserving, then give to me and to our Roma prosperity as well as happiness in our work."

After the pair and several others saying "Ita est," Maali went to the next part of the ritual, "Ave Faunus Lupercus. Te hoc vino ommovendo bonas preces, precor uti sies volens propitious illis Quiritibus te laudatis, quoius re ergo hoc sacrificium offero. Hail, Faunus Lupercus. With good prayers I offer to You this wine. May it be Your will to look with favor upon these folk who have honored You, for which purpose I make this offering."

After several more calls of, "Ita est," Maali went further, "Faunus Lupercus, God of the Wilds, bless us this Lupercalia. Yours is the season of fertility, passion, and lust. Grant us fertility, not only of the body, but of the mind. Let our creative visions come to fruition. Grant us passion, not only of the flesh, but of the heart. Let our spirits be inflamed with the passion of living. Grant us lust, not only of our loins, but the lust for success, in all our endeavors. Let us achieve all our desires." Melanippe spoke, "Ianus Pater Ivppiter Pater et Faunus Lupercus, si quidquam fuit vobis ingratum in stipe a me oblata, accipite hoc piaculum. Father Janus, Father Jupiter, and Faunus Lupercus, if anything was displeasing to You in the offered gift from me, receive Ye this rite of atonement. Ita vultis ita est! So You will, so it is!"

After several more spoke "Ita est," Maali went on, "Quod bonum faustum felix fortunatum salutareque sit mihi Maali Beck ac nationi Romae Universae. Ita est! May I, Maali Beck, and the entire nation of Roma have what is goodly, auspicious, fruitful, fortunate, and wholesome. It is so!" Melanippe then spoke, "Ilicet! It is done!" Maali then spoke to the crowd, "The rite is now ended - The Luperci will now lead you from the cave for the Running of the Luperci. This year we race to the Gardens of Maecenas for our post-ritual celebration! Mela and I will lead you, and the other Luperci will follow behind the crowd, snapping their whips to bless you. (And hurry you along, perhaps!) Everyone ready?"

And with that, the crowd rushed out of the cave and down the streets, with the Luperci occasionally snapping their thongs. The people ran around, and ended up at a dance area with a bonfire. There, the folk danced to the music, and sometimes strummed some instruments.

When the hour was close, the people headed to the bathhouse. This was where the second event of the festival took place: "Venus' Truth." In previous years called "Venus' Truth or Dare," this year people were just asked to recite poems. The woman portraying Venus watched from a giant shel while the audience watched from the steps to the baths, or sat in inner-tubes.

Glittering-throned, undying Aphrodite,
Wile-weaving daughter of high Zeus, I pray thee,
Tame not my soul with heavy woe, dread mistress,
 Nay, nor with anguish!

But hither come, if ever erst of old time
Thou didst incline, and listenedst to my crying,
And from thy father's palace down descending,
 Camest with golden

Chariot yoked: thee fair swift-flying sparrows
Over dark earth with multitudinous fluttering,
Pinion on pinion, through middle ether
 Down from heaven hurried.

Quickly they came like light, and thou, blest lady,
Smiling with clear undying eyes didst ask me
What was the woe that troubled me, and wherefore
 I had cried to thee:

What thing I longed for to appease my frantic
Soul: and Whom now must I persuade, thou askedst,
Whom must entangle to thy love, and who now,
 Sappho, hath wronged thee?

Yea, for if now he shun, he soon shall chase thee;
Yea, if he take not gifts, he soon shall give them;
Yea, if he love not, soon shall he begin to
 Love thee, unwilling.

Come to me now too, and from tyrannous sorrow
Free me, and all things that my soul desires to
Have done, do for me, queen, and let thyself too
 Be my great ally!

Eventually, the event came to a close, and the woman portraying Venus spoke, "My children, I shall ascend to the heavens and gaze upon ROMA lovingly, protecting you from all harm. Remember to love one another and continue the beautiful community that ROMA has become." She blew some kisses to the crowd, then vanished. Then Cupid appeared, watching the people with innertubes bump one another, "So, you have no poetry to share but bumps of affection with your floating things?" When asked, "You make poems Cupid?" He answered, "I mostly seem to make trouble." Talking about what was a particuarly lovely moment, someone suggested when a new puppy is brought into a house. The talk went on for a while, and eventually the time for the next event approached. Cupid went, "I must be about my work anyway. My family's blessings on you, Romans!"

The crowd then moved on to the arena. After a few minutes of waiting for anyone dropping in at the last-minute, T. Iulius Sabinus (titusiuliussabinus Resident) shouted, "Salvete Romani et Peregrinii! Welcome to the Lupercalia Munera. As time as our narrator is missing in action I will take over this part too. As many of you know, and if don't know will know now, the gladiators group perform weekly in Roma starting with 12 pm SLT. The show try to be historical accurate. During festivals we perform another kind, more related to the festival theme. Mythological creatures are included too."

After introducing three of the usual gladiators, T Iulius went, "After our usual warm up I will continue with a few words about the current festiva Lupercalia. And what can be more relevant than the poem of Horace.Hymon to Faunus, Q. Horatius Flaccus, Odes, Book III, Poem 18."

O wont the flying Nymphs to woo,
Good Faunus, through my sunny farm
Pass gently, gently pass, nor do
My younglings harm.

Each year, thou know'st, a kid must die
For thee; nor lacks the wine's full stream
To Venus' mate, the bowl; and high
The altars steam.

Sure as December's Nones appear,
All o'er the grass the cattle play;
The village, with the lazy steer,
Keeps holy day.

Wolves rove among the fearless sheep;
The woods for thee their foliage strow;
The delver loves on earth to leap,
His ancient foe.

After the applause, T Iulius continued, "Well, let start our show. The first act is reconstruction of a battle, BELLUM MARCOMANNUM, Battle vs Marcomanns. The struggle against the Germans and Sarmatians occupied the major part of the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work Meditations, whose book one bears the note 'Among the Quadi at the Granua'." The fight had one legionare versus two warriors clad in wolfskin and armed with axes. The fight was furious, but with two against one, the Roman was not the one to be victorious this time. T lulius, not at a loss for words, remarked, "It seems that in the end this was the reconstruction of the Teutoburg Forest battle. For sure Marcus Aurelius would not be happy of it end."

After the fighters from the first act cleared the arena, T Iulius went on, "Our next acts are related to Lupercalia. But for that i want to present you a some information. LEXICON MYTHOLOGIAE. Lycaon - In Greek mythology, Lycaon was a king of Arcadia,, who, in the most popular version of the myth, tested Zeus' omniscience by serving him the roasted flesh of Lycaon's own son Nyctimus, in order to see whether Zeus was truly all-knowing. In return for these gruesome deeds, Zeus transformed Lycaon into a wolf, along with his offspring. Nyctimus was restored to life. Satyr - In mythology, Satyrs are deities of the woods and mountains. A satyr is the member of a troop of ithyphallic male companions of Dionysus; they usually have horse-like ears and tails, as well as permanent, exaggerated erections. However in Roman representations they are portrayed as having the upper body of a man with a goat’s ears, tail, legs and horns but Satyrs can come in other hybrid human/animal forms, as well. And our next event is in conection with satyrs and lycaons. CERTAMEN ARCADIAE (Arcadian struggle): Satyr vs Lycaons,"

The fight put a giant satyr, armed with a spiked (and bloody) club versus two werewolves that were armed only with their claws. The fight went fast and furious, with the wolves leaping a few times, "Flying wolf-people!" "Is not sure whose side she should cheer for." This time, superior numbers did not prevail, and the wolves were knocked out. "We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen! The, er, Satyr!" "Impressive fighting!" The huge humanoid bowed, and left the arena, along with the wolves after they revived.

The next part, T Iulius spoke, "As many you know, during Lupercalia a ritual was held. During it a goat and a dog was sacrificed. Of course now in modern times we don't reconstruct that. We all love animals. But symbolic want to present you, Lupercus vs Goat!" There were a few chuckles from the audience, "And our next event is - a fearsome, a deadly - er, goat?" The match pitted a Luperci with a knife versus someone in a feral goat avatar armed with only his horns. The goat put up a fight, "C'mon GOAT!" But unfortunately for the critter, horns were no match for iron, and it fell. "Awwwww. Brave goat." T. Iulius shouted, "Roma is purified!" One resident commented, "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have the most ferocious, deadly wild beasts here each week.  and goats, too."

Once the Luperci and the goat were out, T. Iulius announced, "For the last act of festival we present you a scene of wild life." After a moment, the area was filled with rocks and grass, and appeared a lion couple and cubs. The smaller kitties were well received by the audience, "Aww, little cubs." "I want one too." But the idyllic scene didn't last for long as a crocodile entered the arena, getting some gasps from the crowd, "No no, don't hurt the baby!" The big cats went after the reptile, and after a furious fight, the couple stood over the defeated scaly beast, and the audience cheered, "They kept her from the cubs, hooray!"

Melanippe announced, "On behalf of the Consul and the Consul Pro Tem, I'd like to award our brave lion family and dead crocodile a token of appreciation! ... Gratias for a splendid and well-thought-out show!" "A masterpiece!" another complemented.

With the fight over, people began heading out, "Thanks to all, see you later, happy Lupercalia!" There would be two events the next day, chariot racing and "Half-naked Harpastum," a Roman version of soccer in which this time, the women would be topless. Unfortunately, the Newser was unable to be there. So there would be no pictures of half-naked female athletes.

The Roman community has events at the end of every month, so be sure and stop by next time.

Bixyl Shuftan

Ceremony at New Bastogne

By Bixyl Shuftan

 On Monday January 14th, the Luftwaffe JG-52 group in New Bastogne held a small ceremony for awards and promotions. The pilots were judged by the ranking officers as showing good teamwork and combat skills. The ceremony itself was conducted mainly by JessicaBelle Dayafter, whom was recently promoted to Commander, second only to Vickster Khun who owns the sim. Jessica promised to perform her job well, and stated she would continue to help build up the air group.

With "big band" music from the 1940s in the background, the ceremony was not all seriousness. There were a few jokes about an opposing aircraft buzzing overhead, "We'll kick their (tail) later." Of one pilot's long display name Adjutant-Gonzalo de Montalvo y Montignac, Jessica lightheartedly quiped, "I am so not writing out his full name all the time. Hee-hee." And of one pilot's preference for the Me 262 jet fighter, there were wisecracks about her being a "speed freak."

JessicaBelle was the pilot who told SL Newser about New Bastogne's WW2 Combat RP over two years ago. Since then, she developed a reputation for being a crack dive bomber and quality aircraft builder, helping to train pilots and help organize details. Vickster Khun got her start in the old RCAF air group, eventually creating the New Bastogne sim as part of the WW2 area that's become to be identified by it.

Earlier, there was some friction between the Luftwaffe and SS groups, when one of the stormtroopers abused his authority and ignored the orders of an officer from JG-52 to back down. The offender was later disciplined, and a reminder given to everyone they were supposed to be fighting as a team and have fun while doing so. Since then, the troubles have been largely forgotten, and the band of pilots flying on as before.

Lately there have been some special events with other combat groups which normally fight in other areas. On Thursday January 17th, the US Navy group set up an aircraft carrier in Bay Area next to New Bastogne and launched an arieal assault. Despite being outnumbered, JG-52 continued to fly into the furball. The Navy group claimed victory after a couple hours, though smaller skirmishes continued to be reported in group chatter.

Bixyl Shuftan

Bomber Contest in New Bastogne

By Bixyl Shuftan

On November the 10th, the New Bastogne combat sim held it's second bomber contest. The first had been held on October 28th, but lag at the sim that say led to some unusually poor performances by some skilled pilots. So another was planned for a couple weeks later.

There were three separate categories of bombing in the contest. One was level bombing, in which the plane had to stay a hundred meters in the air with no loops or dives, with five passes at the target. Second was dive bombing, also with five passes. The third category was "anything goes" with the option of cannons, rockets, and guns in addition to bombs. Three passes were allowed at a moving tank. An administrator rode with the pilots in the contest. All planes had to be Second World War design.

About a dozen pilots took part in the contest: Florence Brendel, Kato Fall, Killingowl Resident, Klaus Himmler (titan.wardark), Laura Demina, Louise Francoise de Dampierre (felizitas.barbosa), Nikolai Suvorov (nickk.seetan), Nydia Tungsten, Rina Apfelbaum, Takashi Tsukune Naki (wanetta01), and Vickster Khun. JessicaBelle Dayafter helped referee the contest.

Eight pilots were in each category. The winners for level bombing were Louise with 86 points, Nydia with 64 points, and Takashiwith 30. In the divebombing competition, Nydia had the most with 53 points followed by Karo with 45 points and Vickster with 30. In the "anything goes," two pilots blew up the tank and damaged it again, Laura and Vickster with 170 and 167 points respectively, with Nydia scoring 56 points for third.

The winners of each of the three contests received 1000 Lindens, with 500 going to second place and 250 for third. There was also a raffle for each event. The competition was sponsored by Skunkette Aviation (also known as JessicaBelle Aeronautic Projects), Shana Enterprises, Buzzworx, and New Bastogne's German JG-52 group.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scary Fun at ZZ Studios

To celebrate the spooky fun of Halloween, ZZ Studios announced on October sixth they were having a "monster mash" party at their Club Stripes. Just doing a photo shoot with them, I wanted to check out their party.

There was an amazing prize of 1,000L for the best Halloween costume. I didn’t have anything very spooky except for a no face costume. The no face is the lonely ghost who enters the bathhouse in the movie "Spirited Away." I got a few compliments from the other spooky party goers. The scariest and best costume by votes was "Oogaboogaman." His costume was the Oogie Boogie character from the "Nightmare Before Christmas" created by Tim Burton.

Cindy Babii the owner of ZZ studios gave me permission to take photos around the ZZ studios sim. Usually it is forbidden and a bannable offense to take photos around her sim. However I worked for the SL Newser so Cindy allowed it.

ZZ Studios went a step farther to celebrate Halloween. They created a zombie maze that was pretty fun. First you had to grab freebie weapons from a nearby box along within uploading a HUD and bar above your head showing your hit points. It was a whole new game within Second Life. They used the grim combat system to do combat with those nasty zombies. You had armor, health and ammo in your HUD. I equipped myself with a sword to hack away at the zombies to give them a more permanent grave. The zombies had high detail and were cool and gory to look at. The maze itself was dark and forbidding as well with dark stone walls. Asking, I found out Rhin Forti and Mercy Moonwing created the zombie maze. They both did an aMAZEing job.

The combat was easy. Zoom into mouselook, and there was a set of crosshairs on your screen to target those zombies. The hard part was staying alive. Just like a horror movie, they surround you and bite and claw at you until you fall over, dead. You’ll know when you die when your avatar falls over dead.  Unlike the soap opera "One Life to Live," you have unlimited lives. So don’t worry if you end up dead. Click "escape" and then click where it says “You have died, click here to be revived.” After a few messy deaths, I figured out backing away while attacking seemed the best way to keep zombies from biting me as I hacked away.

Over time I got a few kills and some experience, but after a while I wanted to look into the madhouse also on the ZZ Studios sim. Standing at the entrance, Darkefur Fraker joked that the hearse was about to make another trip. Risking my life anyway, I entered the madhouse.  It certainly was spooky and scary inside.  Navigating around was certainly difficult as there was no direct path throughout the madhouse towards the top. While in the madhouse, I heard the audio playing of a creepy movie along with scary images all around. Just like the zombie maze it was an excellent environment like a horror movie. Something scary I saw were buzzsaws at my feet with blood coming up. In the madhouse the enemy wasn’t zombies but more of a puzzle of how to get to the top by navigating through the twists and turns. Oh and there was a tentacle monster.

Darkefur Fraker and Mercy Moonwing created the madhouseand they did a great job. The madhouse did drive me mad not in anger more like insane trying to figure out how to get to the next floor or area. If you want a challenge try out their Madhouse.

Looking for a fun way to celebrate the spooky time of the year? I recommend ZZ Studios’s zombie maze and madhouse. There might be some ZZ studios staff or other vistors to hang out with as well.

Grease Coakes

Editor's Note: To those who don't know, Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii's ZZ Studios has an overall adult theme with it's adult clubs and sexually themed media up for sale.

The New Bastogne Second Annual Tank Rally

Saturday September the 8th was the first day of New Bastogne's Second Annual Tank Rally. Inspired by the "World of Tanks" computer game, the event was sometimes called "WoT2." The event was sponsored by New Bastogne's 1. Armee, in addition to Patrick Paspund, JessicaBelle Dayafter, and Sunshine Juneberry. Fox Cheri acted as an umpire for the event.

The Tank Rally differed from normal ground combat in the New Bastogne area. There would be no infantry involved, only heavy, medium, and light tanks. The combat tags normally worn by soldiers and tankers would not be used, although tank damage was dealt and recorded using the VICE system. Participants from both Allied and German factions were randomly placed into red and blue teams. So each usually had a mix of Allied and German tanks, sometimes a mix of Western Allied, Soviet, and German. Participants wore the flags of their teams, red and blue, on their backs, which poked out through the tops of the tanks.

At one point the participants were greeted by an official looking figure in a tricolor sash, "Heil pour le Maréchal Pétain! … I am the new mayor, Etienne Vigée, nice to meet you." He stated that before long, there would be an election with at least one opponent. It was not mentioned whom would be voting.

The tank battles were fought in both countryside and urban terrain, taking a little time for the forces to meet. But once the battles were joined, the action was usually fast and furious. The first round was in hilly country, with Fatalitywolf Firehawk, Vickster Khun, and Ayane Sauber on the red team. Killingowl, JessicaBelle Dayafter, and Toscha Vayandar were on the blue team. Both teams rolled out from their bases. But when they met, red team had their guns pointed right at two of blue, whom were driving across their line of sight. Vickster soon took out two, but JessicaBelle's light tank avoided the red team's fire and soon took out one. But her computer crashed, and so the match was declared a red team victory.

Round two took place in mostly urban terrain. Red team's Toscha Vayandar destroyed all three blue tanks. Round three, which took place in central Bastogne, started with the two bases not far apart, and the teams soon met up. This time Toscha's luck did not carry over, and his red tank was blown apart without a kill along with Blue's Crymson Serenity's. Blue Team's JessicaBelle was the winner with two kills, with Ayame Sauber having one. Red team's KillingOwl and Fatalitywolf got a kill each before their tanks were disabled.

The fourth round was in New Fallout, normally the home base of the Soviet team. The terrain here was hilly, with trees, boulders, and some trenches. Red team had Vickster, Ayane, Toscha. Blue had Fatalitywolf, JessicaBelle, and KillingOwl. Meeting up, Fatalitywolf and KillingOwl fell to Vickster and Toscha after several rounds of cannon fire. JessicaBelle once again was outmaneuvering the Red team, but her tank ended up caught in a ditch and without mobility was quickly smoked.

Under the point system, Vickster was the winner of Day One of the Tanl Rally with 1800 points. JessicaBelle was second with 1200 points. Toscha was third with 1100. Ayane Sauber was fourth with 700. They along with others who scored received Linden cash prizes. Vickster as the top tanker also won a new tank of her choice. There was also a raffle, in which the winner was due a second tank, along with a new plane from Dayafter Productions and a new uniform from Sunshine. The prizes just for this first day exceeded 6000 Lindens, two tanks, one uniform and one airplane. The points will be accumulated throughout the Rally until the end.

The Tank Rally goes on in New Bastogne every day to next Sunday, September 16.

"Play hard, and play to win!"

Bixyl Shuftan

The Warbug Air Show at Madpea

On Friday July 27 and Sunday July 29, the Madpea gaming area, known for games such as it's Virtual Medical Doctor, hosted an air show by Warbugs. For those who don't know, the Warbugs are small aircraft made for fun little dogfights. While some are made to look a little like aircraft from WW1 or WW2, all Warbugs have the same basic tiny and round "bug" body, with small wings and tail. Not too difficult to fly, they can fight in any scripting-enabled area, and when hit begin spinning out of control to the ground, leaving a trail of smoke.

To meet opponents, as well as holding events, the Warbuggers have their own group in which to issue challenges over IMs, or organize a party or larger battle. For official scores, the fight has to be made in places with a Warbug Rezzer and score system. The Warbug website lists three places for dogfights, WarBug Headquarters at Black Forest, Panda Bay at Picturesque, and Heaven's Pirate Cove Beach at Winter Faire. One can fly and fight for free by getting a temporary Warbug at the rezzer, or at the Headquarters one can buy one at Arduenn Schwartzman's store or get one from a Lucky Chair.

The chatter on the Warbug group can be a little random on occasion, but most everyone has fun, either at the small dogfights or events. And their biggest event of the year would be at the Madpea sim of Tupol Island.

I wasn't able to attend the Friday show, but I made it for Sunday. The three hour event had three parts. At 1PM SL time was the Plane Art Parade, where various Warbuggers could show off their planes, which were usually quite different from Schwartzman's planes. The craft included spacecraft, a flying red skull, a doghouse, and even a flying couch with guns.

The Warbuggers themselves were also a random lot, some in uniform, some in rather skimpy outfits. Among the normal humans were tines, a kid avatar, cartoonish avatars, and even a dog. Arduenn went around in an official-looking officer's uniform with a strip of beef jerky in his mouth. Each of those in the Plane Art event had a few minutes to show off his or her aircraft. Then at the end, they were asked to line up behind Arduenn, whom used a copy of the Warbug plane that was free to pick up for the event. It looked like it was covered by blood splatter, and the pilot danced around in it instead of sitting. He led the planes up, the group circled around a bit to give the audience a look, then he developed lag trouble and crashed into the viewing stand. Once out, he commented he'd made a perfect landing.

Then at 2PM  came the "Battle of the Aces." There would be three fights. The first was a ten plane free-for-all. The best four in that would be finalists for two one on one fights. The winners of those would then duel to be the winner. For the first event, however, there were only five Warbug aces around. So Arduenn asked people from the audience to step forward. A few did, then after a period in which no one else did, a certain reporter joined up. I had picked up a Warbug from the Relay for Life Track a couple weeks earlier, but was asked to use one of the bloodsplatter ones. And without much experience, I ended up heading to the dirt.

The two finalists were were Kingclulex and Tianna Akiri. Their dogfight lasted for some minutes as the two pilots fired and weaved. Fnally, Kingclulex's red triplane began smoking and headed down. Tianna, the kid avatar with a "Rising Sun" bandana on her head, and a cookie in her mouth, had emerged as the top ace. She was given a gold trophy with the other semifinalists given silver. All other participants got a bronze.

And once the awards were passed out, it was time for the dance. Warbugger ace and pilot alike, along with the audience, danced away as Stacia Reinoir DJed the tunes. The music was usually an air theme, from "Fly with Me," to "Airplane Mode," to "You Fly Me," and others. There was much kidding around as one guy kept joking his country could use the Warbugs in his country's arsenal, one of the tines was making "nose beeps," and more. Arduenn thanked the staff at Madpea for hosting their air show.

It was a fun time for this group of unusual pilots with their small and stubby but fun airplanes.

For more information, one can check out the article of the "official Warbug correspondent" Pixie Rain Here (Caution, other articles may not be work safe).

*Update* Chating with Kingcluex, he reminded me the trophies were for the Art event, not the air combat. The top dogfighters were given medals instead.

Bixyl Shuftan

D-Day Commemoration

June 6 marked the 68th anniversary of D-Day in Europe, when the Allied invasion of Normany was launched, paving the way for the liberation of France and eventually the defeat of Germany. In Second Life, there was a commemorative event held by both the Flying Tigers and New Bastogne's German groups at the WW2 Battlefield sim, two sims north of the Flying Tiger airbase in WW2 Tribute. Several German players took up defensive positions on the ground while some of the Luftwaffe flew up in fighters. The Flying Tigers attacked in British and American planes.

 Two German players on the hill while their tank rolls onto the beach.

 An Allied cannon presumably set up by the attackers, but the soldiers are nowhere to be seen.

 The Tiger tank advances through barbed wire.

 One of the Allied landing craft lies empty, the soldiers somewhere on the beach.

 Besides barbed wire and machine gun fire, the Allied soldiers faced mines.

 Planes dueling in the skies, a German Me109 versus a British Spitfire and an American Thunderbolt.

A close-up look at the Thunderbolt.

The Me109 manages to get on the Thunderbolt's tail.

When the commemorative battle is over, the German soldiers get together, Heer (army), Luftwaffe paratroopers, and Waffen-SS.

 The pilots, both Luftwaffe and Flying Tigers, met at the latter's airbase. On the right is Captain Umaga, who planned the event.

 Some pilots, Luftwaffe and Allied, had more than just airplane tails.

Following the event, Captain Umaga thanked the soldiers and pilots for talking part, "Honored Officer colleagues, Soldiers of Any Armed force. Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen.

"We are gathered here to commemorate those who fell on this Day, June 6th. ... Speeches have been written over this event since after VE-Day (VJ-Day). And they all claim that the Generation that went out to fight in WW2, was the best Generation EVER.

 

"I most and sincerely disagree with that statement that during all armed conflicts stretching from the past way into the future. I will make this statement: THOSE who raised arms to fend for their Country and Loved ones: Those who shared a dream of a righteous world, Those who was tricked into armed combat by Sly Politicians, Mind Smothering Religious leaders. What  matters is not wheather they Won or Lost. They gave the most valuable thing: their LIFE. And to those that survived, I see you as witnesses to Man's Madness when it becomes unleashed.

 

"So to all Veterans, Civilians from ANY theater of armed conflict. You fought for what you believed in. You protected your Country and Family.

 

"So Stand Tall, since I claim you all the BEST of YOUR GENERATION!!

"So To Honor those who fought on this day June 6th 1944. I Request for a Minute of Silence"

Following the battle, German GeneralMajor Vickster Khun posted the following, "I'm extremely proud of all members who participated in today's D-Day event in the Flying Tigers area. Our leaders did a great job with no notice or prep-time, and our soldiers of the SS, Heer, and Luftwaffe demonstrated the power of our command. Flying Tigers Command sends their thanks as well!"

For more pictures, check both the article on the Flying Tigers website (here), and Alois Setzer's WW2 Roleplay in Second Life (here).

Bixyl Shuftan