Lindens at the Cake Stage

By Bixyl Shuftan

There's been a lot going on at the Second Life Birthday celebrations, and so little time to write it. One of the more interesting events was when a number of Lindens dropped by at a costume party on Monday June 20. Officially, it was called "The Roleplay Mashup Meetup." But to most of us, it was simply Lindens at the Cake Stage.

My part in the event started about five minutes beforehand, when I dropped by the Cake Stage at 9:55 AM SL time just after logging in. "Hi Bixyl welcome to the cake stage!" Grease Coakes, whom had recently come back to the Newser to do an advertorial, told me as he was DJing there. I had gotten a message from him which I had read that he had filled in an empty slot at 10AM. As it turned out, Grease had started at 9AM, and his set was set to end at 10AM. Instead of early, I'd been late to his impromptu performance.

Among others there were Mikati Slade, the builder of the Cake Stage. She complemented Grease on his DJing. One lady would tell her, "I have to say...this stage definitely takes the cake."

A few of my neighbors were also there: Skylark Lefavre, the manager of the Happy Vixen beach club in Purrfection, Felina Fermi, and Tigerclaw Apps. Daniel Voyager, who does a popular Second Life blog, also came in, though for what was about to happen next.

We soon saw a certain visitor, in a mesh "TV head" avatar. "Welcome Governance Linden! Its so nice to see you!"

Then there was the popular Xiola Linden, whom is often seen at events when residents meet up with Lindens

Then came April and Alexa Linden, "This place is crawling with Lindens, yay!"

And there was Whitney Linden.

Derrick Linden flew in from above as a small dragon.

"There are Lindens here I've never seen before." "Linden Time!!! Linden Time!!! OMG It's Linden Time!!!"

Natty Linden, dancing in bare feet.

Besides the Lindens, there were a number of other avatars around.

"OMG a MONKEY of Sunflower!" "Ok! STOP monkeying around!" "Ok! waht is all this MONKEY business?"

Loki Elliot, a noted builder, was there as a chimney sweep. "Anyone got a chimney they need cleaning?"

Jo Yardley, the owner of the 1920s Berlin area, as well as a blogger and one of the interviewers at the "Meet the Lindens" events was there. "No setting people on fire, health & safety wont allow it," she told someone. When someone else told her, " Well Jo, if you use an older laptop at the Cake Stage , you might be," she answered, "Hahaha I'm on a 2015 Macbook! ... If only apple would make a gamers laptop, we wouldn't have to buy other computers on the side."

"Hahaha! Xiola you need more to live for! I'm not that good a dancer. I dance the Charleston to everything, seems to work, most of the time." Of the costume contest, "I've come dressed as a 1920s grumpy old drunk smoking barmaid from Berlin." When people rasberried her self-put-down, she responded, "Yes! I am not a a 1920s grumpy old drunk smoking barmaid from Berlin in real-life! In real-life I'm a 1930s grumpy old drunk smoking barmaid from Amsterdam. I was thinking of wearing my Brunhilde Shieldmaiden outfit, but then I'd be roleplaying a 1920s barmaid going to a 1920s costume party and it would take 24 hours to get into that corset."

When the DJ started playing "We're Not Gonna Take It," Jo commented, "This song is asking for a riot. ... We should have all brought a head banging animation gesture."

She ended up dancing with Loki, "Loki i have a city full of chimneys that need cleaning." Loki Mused, "Linden Lab has a lot of brick in their factory, perhaps they have a chimney." Jo countered, "Just go door to door and make yourself useful." "I actually have a theory that Ex Lindens have a great fear of exposed Brick." "Poor Linden Lab, can't afford wallpaper (grin)."

Their talk went on, Jo asking, "Loki did you have a birly wurly? or whatever that portable organ thingy is called?" A nearby vixen in a pilot's uniform asked, "Hudgy-gurdy, Jo?" "THAT is the word, ja! I want a hurdy-gurdy." Loki commented, "I will repay you by cleaning any chimneys you may have." Jo commented, "Skylar is a great chimney cleaner as well. He only fell off the roof a few times. He's a great chap. He now has two secret headquarters in Berlin."

"One day I'll come to your dance Loki, but I'll need to find someone to take over my shift at the bar."

"Foxes can dance wherever they damn well please!"

The winner of the contest was Deshar Au, whom won 5000 Lindens. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending the roleplay mashup meetup!"

Madori Linden, whom was presumably busy with some duties elsewhere, was late for the dance and couldn't make it. She would later contact me, saying she was interested in the history of Second Life before her signing up with Linden Lab, and was happy to see records of it such as in the Second Life Newser archives.

And so, the Linden-filled costume party event came to a close. There would be much more going on at the Second Life Thirteenth Birthday celebrations, but this was the biggest interaction between the residents and Lindens.

Bixyl Shuftan

Be A Work of Art and Buy a Work of Art: Relay Wizards Plan an Event

By DrFran Babcock

The slogan of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is: Celebrate, Fight Back, Remember. Each year the residents of Second Life™ expend time, love and energy to do just those things, in an effort to conquer the many diseases that make up cancer.

 The Relay Wizards for Spunky are together again as a team for the seventh time. Their core membership is solid under the leadership of Team Captain Shawna Montgomery, and co-captains Anhayla Lycia, HALEY Salomon and SpUnKy Young (our survivor), but they are always ready to welcome new members as they did for me and Catboy Qunhua last year, and for Blue Myanamotu, Taralyn Gravois, and Explorer Dastardly this year. The team has been meeting regularly to plan their camp and the events that they hold every year, such as the Dunk the Emperor, in which Tiny Empires creator, Ultralite Soliel, valiantly goes into the drink with good spirits, and lots of laughs.

At one of our planning meetings Explorer suggested that we do an art auction, and we thought that would be a solid idea, as long as Explorer was willing to organize it, and organize it she did.

It is my fervent belief that when something is meant to happen, it happens. That is exactly how the pieces of the auction came together. Taralyn Gravois, probably one of the largest art collectors in the metaverse, offered up her Art Castle as a venue for the event. Over the last few months Explorer has assertively approached SL artists, asking for art donations, canvassed all the members of the Relay Wizards to see if they knew any artists, and continued to meet with us to give us updates. She even held mini-meetings with many of us while we enjoyed our weekly dose of comedy at Lauren’s Place on Tuesday nights.

Little by little the pieces fell together, the event got bigger and bigger, and we all got really excited, because of plans for the opening day. The opening will be a huge costume ball, and you are being asked to come as your favorite work of art, or favorite artist. Veteran Relay Wizards for SpUnKy team member Thickbrick Sleaford has constructed a super-secret dance floor and party area for the opening event.

I have my costume all ready for the big day, and I can hardly wait to see what other people will do. All of this is very, very secret…you just have to come and see. We will have works of art for auction from some of the coolest names in the SL art world including:  Alcibides Zemenis, Bobbi LaSalle (bobbilaval), Bryn Oh, Crap Mariner, Explorer Dastardly, Feathers Boa, Graye Ashbourne, my friend and creative idol: Kake Broek, Lisa Figeuroa, Littleone Arles, Sweet Susanowa, and Van Caerndow (Phil Strang).

Come to the opening for fun, dancing, costumes, famous names in art. Come to gape in wonder at the amazing build for the dance floor. Come to look around Taralyn’s Art Castle to see one of the most varied and inclusive collections of avatar art in the virtual world. Most of all come to support the Relay for Life in combatting the scourge of cancer.

Here are the details for the Relay Wizards for SpUnKy Art Auction:

                                                                        Date- June 21, 2014

                                                                        Time- @ 1:00 – 3:00 PM SLT

                                                                        Place- The Art Castle

                                                                        Theme- Dress as Art or as an Artist

                                                                        Slurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cor%20unum/199/181/3764

Bidding will run for a week and then close on June 28, 2014

(names for pic of team meeting LtoR): Thickbrick Sleaford, Catboy Qunhua, DrFran Babcock, Explorer Dastardly, Anhayla Lycoia, and HALEY Sal 

DrFran Babcock

Halloween in Second Life

By Bixyl Shuftan

There's no season in Second Life quite like Halloween. With it's thrills and chills and dressing up, it brings out a mischievous side of many of it's residents. For some, the Grid provides the Halloween parties and haunts that aren't always available in real life. For others, it provides more to those who just can't get enough. Second Life Newser's writers have written earlier on some haunts and events. While it's been a busy time for me recently, I was able to show up at a few.

Saturday October 27 was Luskwood's Halloween party. The party was held not at the Big Tree itself, but at one of the clubs in the community's region, one that when viewed at midnight looked particularly spooky outside, one Lusky commenting, "Spooky tree! I love it!" But once inside, the atmosphere was fun and music, with DJ Haley Maruti spinning the tunes, "Time for music boys and ghouls!"


Events at Luskwood often have two problems. One is their popularity results in lag from so many avatars, "So many Luskies to load." With some people taking a while to rezz, there was the problem of running into one another, "I don't wanna shove people." Fortunately, there was a solution at hand, "Just use your minimap and be smart. If your dot isn't on someone else's, you're safe."

There were a variety of appearances on the dance floor, from a few demon girls, to the Laughing Man from the anime "Stand Alone Complex," to "Doctor Who," to witches, to a "Green Lantern," to someone who made his avatar look like it belonged in another virtual world, "You've gone all Minecrafty!" Luskwood being a furry community, so were most of those attending, though there were several human avatars. At least three of the four Luskwood founders Eltee Statosky, Liam Roark, and Michi Lumin were at the event.

Besides the song and dance, Luskwood was taking the occasion to release a new version of it's Big Cat avatar. The vendor there didn't rezz to everyone, though. and with the lag inevitably people crashed. But the party was a success.

Later on, my partner Jasmine and I went to the Sannomiya Pumpkin Hunt. This was part of a local festival that included events and a haunted house. Jasmine and I went looking for jack o' lanterns. Say "Trick or Treat" to certain ones, they would give you a gift, such as a piece of clothing or jewelry. The event was mostly mildly scary, with a few forbidding sounds and a few scary props. But stumbling upon a frightful sight when rounding a corner at the same time an ear-splitting scream rang out could be quite unnerving.

It's safe to say most clubs in Second Life hold some kind of Halloween event. The management of Club Zero Gravity, however, wanted to make it memorable. The decision was made to hold it "planetside" away from the space station and on a "Haunted Woods" platform. With it's aged wood, spider webs, and surrounded by an image of creepy woods, the place had a definate air of forbidding. Jasmine would be DJing for the event with a set of three hours of Halloween themed tunes. Things would be starting an hour early, at 5 PM SL time instead of the normal 6.

The party took place on Tuesday October 30th, and was a success with a few dozen dropping in on the "spook-tacular" event. This included Angel Estates owner Nydia Tungsten, Club Cutlass owner Jenni Greenfield, writer and Green Meadows Club owner Perri Prinz, and HV Community leader Ranchan Wiedman. There were a variety of appearances to, from witches to death knight, to vampire bat, to pony girl, and more. Among the tunes played were "Come Little Children," to "This is Halloween," to the "Ghostbusters" theme, to the "long version" of "Thriller," to a fun little disco tune Jasmine played for the vampire bat, "Drac's Back."

They're easy pickin's at the discotech,
I leave them feeling like they've been in a wreck.
You know they wake up all wasted, and they never check,
those two small holes that I leave in their neck.

Well if they were wise, they would soon realize,
they're not hung over, they're just vampir-ized.
'Cause Drac's back.

I wanna suck your (oooohhhh .. Dracula!)
Drac's Back!

Jasmine called it an especially catchy tune, "Don't blame me if it gets stuck in your head."

There was a three thousand Linden prize available to the winner of the costume contest. At the end, the votes were tallied, and the result was a tie between Ranchen, who came as a wolf-neko, and Kitculia, whose outfit was a spider priestess, and upon the announcement got into the act, roleplaying asking that the club be given a blessing.

Be sure to be on the lookout for some scary fun on Halloween Day. And even after the holiday is technically over, many of the haunts will be up for a few more days, as well as another costume party or two for those who need one more scare before packing their scary avatars away for a while.

To see a list of haunts, check out the official Second Life Destination Guide.

Bixyl Shuftan

Club Zero Gravity's Pirate Night

On Tuesday Sept. 18th, Club Zero Gravity held a "Pirate Night" in honor of "Talk Like a Pirate Day," giving people a chance to celebrate a little early.

"Avast ye landlubbers! Tis true "Talk Like a Pirate Day" be not til tomorrow, but ye git o' chance ta revel a wee bit early. Club Zero Grav'ty be havin' it's Pirate Party tonight. So git yer peglegs, yer cutlasses, yer eyepatches, yer parrots on th' shoulder, and whateva mark ye as one o' th' Brotherhood o' th' Coast. So no time ta arrrrrrgue, git yer best buccaneer look an' be quick about it or ye walk th' plank."

DJ Shockwave entertained the crowd with his music, as well as a few one-liners between songs, which included, "A Pirate's Life for Me," "Airship Pirates," "A Pirate Christmas," "You are a Pirate," and "Hey it's Can(n)on." His humor showed when he dedicated one song to a skunkgirl, "You Stink, But I Love You," and when some unknown person was having fun with a "spanker," his response was to play Michael Jackson's "Beat it."

Someone asked where to get one of the pirate songs. It was downloaded from a pay music website, "It would be bad form to pirate a pirate."

Club Zero Gravity's owner Nydia Tungsten was among those reveling it up on the dance floor. Jessicabelle Dayafter (right) was the winner of the contest for best pirate look. Her outfit having two sabers and multiple flintlock pistols, none of the other buccaneers chose to "arrrrrr"gue.

It was a night of piratical fun at Zero-G that night.

Bixyl Shuftan