The "Twisted Christmas Party"

 

On Monday December 15, the Happy Vixen Beach Club would hold a certain event: The "Twisted Christmas Party." Sometimes called the "Twisted Christmas Special," it's become something of a holiday tradition at this longtime beach club. It's owner, Nydia Tungsten, takes the opportunity to spin some of the wilder Christmas parodies that are not for tender ears. 

 

Has the overexposure of the season made you a little jaded? Have you heard so many classic carols, you could just say "Bah Humbug!" Has the over commercialization made you feel like decking the next mall Santa? Well then, come on over to our "Twisted Christmas" Night where DJ "Naughty Nydia" will give you holiday hilarity like you've never before heard with her range of parodies from mild to wild, with some tunes rated XXX mas. today is for those Nice and Naughty. Here's your ride!  

 

 Usually a fox, Nydia did the show in her mouse avatar, dressed in a ribbon.

 

 Kitacelia was the hostess for the event. 

 

We had some props up. It wasn't the best moment for Santa and his reindeer.

 

 Among the props was "Frisky the Snowman," whose cheesy pick-up lines got many of the women groaning, laughing, or talking about ways to melt him down. This picture is from an earlier party as I forgot to take one of him during this one. 

 

 As always for this event, the Christmas tunes and parodies ranged from mild, such as "Rusty Chevrolet" and "The Twelve Pains of Christmas," wild such as Weird Al's "The Night Santa Went Crazy" and Shockwave's "Grandma Got Knocked Up By A Reindeer," and Oh Emm Geee, which included several songs even the titles aren't fit for a safe for work newsletter. Nydia would also play an AI-assisted song made in "honor" of Frisky. 

 

 Among those dropping by was Sunweaver chief Rita Mariner.

 

A variety of people showed up. 

 

 

 For some, the holidays could drive them a little batty. 

 

 

 It was quite a wild Christmas party only Nydia and her friends could come up with.

 

 The Happy Vixen is located at Purrfection Estates (236, 219, 24), and as of the writing of this article has events Mondays 11AM to 1PM, Thursday from 6 to 8PM. and Fridays from 8 to 10 PM (this week no Thurs or Friday parties due to the Christmas holiday.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

International Womens Day Event At The PBC

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

 

Jardenalexis  held the 5th annual International Womens Day event at the Premier Business Center . The SL Newser had a reserved table right up front near the podium. Bixyl Shuftan and Mrs Charlee Shuftan , Dancerina Starlight and I sat at the table and we invited Racerx Gullwing. to sit with us.

 

Jardenalexis opened the event welcoming all..Rhyme Gardner gave the opening prayer and Emely Mo sang a lovely song that was written for a similar women's event in real-life. 

 

Following that KARINOELLE BAPTISTE gave a very conssce  history of International Womens day .

After that Jarden introduced each of the speakers giving us their backgrounds. PLUMQUEEN BAPTISTE, JACKIE LEFKO,SIENNA HARRIS, each gave uplifting speaches ,speaking about adversity in their lives , always going toward recognition and inclusion and a feeling of belonging. It was all very inspiring and uplifting.

The audience was appreciative of all the speeches and enjoyed it thoroughly. Following the speakers all retired to the third floor for dancing and question and answer during the social with DJ Melly Mel. Jardenalexis gave thanks to the SL Newser for all the support in publishing information about the Premier Business Center and the activities there.

Thanks to Jarden for doing this every year.

Gemma Cleanslate

 

Caledon's Fourteenth Anniversary

By Bixyl Shuftan

Wednesday February 26 was the fourteenth anniversary of the founding of Caledon, Second Life's largest steampunk community. It should be noted though that the partying began a few days earlier on February 22 with their Mardi Gras celebrations. There was a "Skull and Bones Revelry" at 1PM. And at 5PM was a parade consisting of a train, numerous floats, bicycles and other vehicles, and people just walking. The parade ended in Port Caledon, where there was a dance party, with generous amounts of beads thrown.

Then came Wednesday, and the main events.

It's Caledon's Fourteenth Anniversary, and we're having a Ball!  Come celebrate the founding of Caledon.

 Our wonderful nation, Caledon, was founded 14 years ago.  Come help us celebrate on Wed. Feb. 26th, in the Dragon Ballroom at the Rain Estate, Caledon On Sea, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm SLT  This is a good time to dress up, perhaps in the Caledon Tartan, or just our nation's colors.  Expect other events such as the Catgirl Ball and the Rose Hunt which also happen around this time, and let me know if you are planning a special event for this week

The Catgirl Birthday Bash will immediately follow the anniversary ball and run to midnight.

The Dragon Ballroom was high above the Caledon by the Sea sim. And the party started at 7PM SL time. The human, demihuman, furry, and tiny avatars present wore Victorian outfits, save for the feral deer which just pranced with a Caledonian flag in it's mouth. Among those attending were Steelhead's Fuzzball Ortega and of course Caledon's Governor Desmond Shang, affectionately known as "The Guv." Someone (not the Governor) had a gesture, "Governor Desmond Shang has entered ... all hail." Desmond apologized for being slightly late, "I've been stuck in this, surreal, 'reality' recently. (laughs)"

In the party chatter, at one point someone asked how Caledon got it's name. Another person answered, "we had a contest our first years and a submission by Junie GInsburg called 'Mighty Caledon' was selected as the winner." Of it's anthem, "If I recall, there was ONE vote separating the two anthems. So we said the winner was the national anthem and we called the runner up the Civic anthem." There were also people remembering it's growth, "at least once a month, somebody popped up wanting to join their regions to Caledon." "I remember IBM wanting to connect and we collectively said Hell No.  A lot of Caledon at the time did not like the corporate interest in Second Life around that time." "I remember a dangerous meteor shower that hit Caledon.  A huge one fell right behind my shop in the park in Kittiwick."

Eventually the formal ball ended, and the people moved on over to the Catgirl Dungeon in the catacombs beneath Caledon. For those outside the community, officially it doesn't exist, "There is no Cat Girl Dungeon, this is clearly a mass delusion." Unofficially, a number of women showed up as catgirls, furry and neko, one cyborged catgirl, and one mousegirl. "Cats like being sneaky," one commented. There were dancepoles for the catgirls, as well as a scratching post, and danceball rezzers and refreshments for everyone.

There were comments about real-life homes having their own, secret areas, "I too know more the a couple people with in-house dungeons." "I wasn't shocked at the idea of them doing whatever, in a dungeon," Desmond remarked, "What shocked me, was getting FIT doing that."

Other topics discussed included Sansar, which the Lab recently announced it was looking for someone to buy or help them run, "I think LL doomed Sansar when they said 1) No transfer of inventory or L$ and 2) No adult content. Between those, they were screwed from the beginning." There was Pooky Amsterdam's "I'm Too Busy To Date Your Avatar" song, which was among those played. There was some talk about Dungeons and Dragons and other roleplaying games. There was talk about creepy guys who didn't have a clue how to treat women. There was discussion of Japan's low rate of men and women getting together. There was talk about Chinese factories and those who worked there. And more.

Just before Midnight, as the catgirl party was about to wind down, fireworks began going off in the air above the city. It was a great end to the fourteenth anniversary of the large steampunk community.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From The CDS Inaugural Ball, Bay City's Christmas Party

By Bixyl Shuftan

The weekend of Saturday December 7 and Sunday December 8 saw a number of happenings, such as the Designing Worlds Christmas party, the Chateau Trikassi Holiday Ball, and various events at the Christmas Expo. But there were others. On Saturday at Noon SL time, the Confederation of Democratic Simulators held it's Inaugural Ball.

The event was held in honor of the community's new Representative Assembly and the new Chancellor, Emilia Dagostino (Emilia Avindar). The theme was "Sugar Plum Delights," with lots of candy decorations around, as well as couches made to look like cake. "Your buns will be frosted," someone mused. Emilia spoke of the set, "thanks to Lyubov who couldn't join us after working all night with Lilith (Ivory) last night!"

Other community noteables such as Rosie Gray, Hand Held, former Chancellor Kyoko, and others were also there. "Thank you for two wonderful terms, Chancellor Kyoko," Hand Held would say. DJ Dino Viper provided the tunes for the fist hour, live performer AleyKat sung for the second.

"Here's to a great 32nd term, and long live the CDS!"

For Sunday, the big event was the "Annual Tree Lighting, Concert, and Fundraiser" in Bay City. Local residents of the community and their friends headed to the community center in North Channel for things to start up at 1PM SL time.

Welcome to Bay City's annual tree lighting, music event, and silent auction!" Marianne McCaan, Bay City's most noted resident greeted everyone, "The silent auction is ongoing, and there are some great deals to be had! Check out the goodies just south of the stage/north of the skating rink."

For the first hour, the music was provided by DJ GoSpeed Racer. She played music from classic Christmas shows such as "The Grinch," as well as traditional songs of the season and some more modern twists. Her audience in and out of Bay City was from around the world, "Listening in I have the US, UK, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, France, Canada, and the Netherlands!"

Many of the audience got into a conga line. This included artist Moya Patrick, and even Lacie Linden joined in. "I look forward to this conga line every year now," someone would say.

One resident, Moo Money, was the subject of some bovine humor, which was "udder chaos." "I'd like to submit a cow abuse report," she mused.

The other Linden at the party, Wendi Linden, was dressed for the season. While April Linden was asked about, it was explained she was busy with something at the time.

Not far from the dancing were the silent auctions. People would bid on various items, and those outbid got their Lindens back. The high bidders would get their items at the end of the event. The money raised went to the Child's Play charity, which provides games to the children of poor kids in hospitals. People could also just donate straight to the charity, Marianne announcing, "CaithLynnSayes also has put a donation into Child's Play on Bay City's behalf, to the tune of US $500.00."

GoSpeed's last song was "John Denver and The Muppets - Twelve Days Of Chirstmas." After the first hour were live performances by Mimi Carpenter and Wolfie Starfire.

It was a fun event for all. But this won't be the end for Bay City's fun this month. On New Year's Eve, the city is host to the annual "Prim Drop" event to ring in the New Year.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Last SL16B Party

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Second Life Sixteenth Birthday had lots of music events. The official ones ended Sunday night. But that wasn't the end of the fun. There were a couple of unofficial ones later on the week. There was a short one on July 4. On Friday July 5, I dropped in on another not long after it started at 12 Noon SL time,

The event took place in SL16B Astound, near a theme park area and the Auditorium to the northeast. It was packed, with the sim often at it's limit at 66 people.

Behind the DJ booth was a sign in lights, "Thank You SLB Volunteers."

The Newser's Gemma Cleanslate, whom had been busy doing work as a SL16B greeter, was there. 

So was Nance Clowes, an amusement park ride maker.

There was one of the Linden Moles there, Missy, aka Mischievous Mole.

Golan Eilde, one of the senior volunteers.

Torgon Woodget, whom made some of the amusement rides for the SL16B, notably two roller coasters.

Quite a crowd had shown up. With my viewer taking it's time in rezzing people, it was easier to see how many looking at nametags.

 Many of the people got on small squares to do a synchronized mass-dance.

Some though, such as this greeter, chose to just sit and relax.

Gemma danced for a while, then we both sat for a picnic lunch.

One of the traditions of the resident-run Birthdays had been the cake slices that had been passed to exhibitors. With the Lab running things now, that practice was stopped. Still someone felt there should be cake, and had this slice out for anyone to take one.

And while there might not have been a Cake Stage this year, someone made a large cake.

While there couldn't be a "cake explosion," it was set in a "cake agitator" to shake up.

As one 50s song put it, "whole lotta shakin' goin' on!"

Yours truly ended up crashing. Later on, I would drop by the sim after the party and head to the amusement park area nearby, where there were Torgon and Nance's rides and games.

Here was a shooting gallery in which you would fire in mouselook at targets while on a moving cart. I got about 35,000 points, about 100k shy of the high scorer.

It was a fun day at the Second Life Birthday, one of the last before the place closes.

Bixyl Shuftan