Raglan Shire Pre-Valentine’s Day Party

 

By Netera Landar

 

Dr. Bunny Dancer, Dr. Blade

In a Raglan Shire gazebo, the night before Valentine’s Day, DJ Alexis Radikal played some romantic tunes in a white gazebo. 

 DJ Alexis Radikal

 

 

Emmo Wei and Caleb Kit

Her group of regular Tiny avatars enjoyed the music and friendship, and looked adorable in their colorful outfits. 

 

Katie Canningham

They all welcomed me to their beautiful sim and said they didn’t mind that I was a “biggie.” 

 

Annaa Little Boots

The gazebo’s décor featured a magenta carpet, heart topiaries, multi-tiered hanging hearts, and twinkling fairy lights.

Butterfly dressed up for Mardi Gras.

They enjoyed their time together and couldn’t wait for the next event.

Netera Landar 

 

Tiny Carolers At Virtual Ability

 

 On Monday December 8 at 1PM SL time, Virtual Ability got a Christmas treat. The "Tiny Carolers" from Raglan Shire dropped by for a performance.

 

 ~*~ The First Waff-EL, The Tinies did Say, Was to certain small critters at home as they Ate ~*~

 ~*~ At home as they Ate, Licking their Paws, Wishing for NOMS Golden Crispy to Gnaw ~*~

~*~ Waff-EL, Waff-EL,Waff-EL, Waff-EL...Born is the Breakfast Treat that is WAFF-EL! ~*~

 

 ~*~And so this is Wootmas~*~

 ~*~And what have you done?~*~ 
~*~ Another year over~*~

 ~*~I hope you have fun~*~ 
~*~The near and the dear ones~*~

 ~*~The old and the young~*~ 
~*~A very merry Wootmas~*~
~*~And a happy new year~*~ 
~*~Let's hope it's a good one~*~ 

 ~*~Without any fear~*~ 

 ~*~Merry Wootmas Raglan, Merry Wootmas tinies ~*~ 

 

 ~*~ Sleigh bells ring! Are you listening? ~*~
~*~ In the shire, snow is glistening! ~*~
~*~ A wootiful sight, we're happy tonight, ~*~
~*~ Walking in a waffle wonderland! ~*~
~*~ Gone away is the blue bird ~*~
~*~ Here to stay is the new bird ~*~
~*~ He noms on chocolate ~*~
~*~ With bacon on a stick ~*~
~*~ Walking in a waffle wonderland! ~*~

~*~ In the shire we can build a snowman ~*~
~*~ Pretend that he's a chef from outta town ~*~

~*~ He'll say 'Want some waffle?' We'll say 'YEAH MAN!' ~*~
~*~ Then he'll pour the syrup while we chow! ~*~
~*~ Later on we'll conspire ~*~
~*~ As we riverdance in the shire ~*~
~*~ Tiny faces alight ~*~
~*~ With all the presents in sight ~*~
~*~ Walking in a waffle wonderland! ~*~

 

 ~*~ Hark the Tiny Critters Sing, Glory to the Waffle King! ~*~

 ~*~ Peace on the Grid & Syrup mild, Otters & Ferrets Reconciled! ~*~
~*~ Joyful with all your fur so slick, Raise up your Cookies on a stick! ~*~

 ~*~ And with upward paws proclaim, We shall RiverDance again! ~*~

~*~ Hark the Tiny Critters Sing, Glory to the Waffle Kinnnng ~*~

 

 ~*~ You Better Watch Out, ~*~
~*~ You Better Not Cry,~*~
~*~ You Better Not Pout, I'm Telling You Why, ~*~

 ~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming To Town,~*~
~*~ He's Making A List, And Checking It Twice ~*~

 ~*~ Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice,~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming To Town,~*~
~*~ He Sees When You Eat WAFFLES, ~*~

 ~*~ He Knows When You Eat CAKE,~*~
~*~ He Knows If You've Been Bad Or Good,~*~
~*~ So Be Good For Goodness Sake! ~*~

 ~*~ You Better Watch Out,~*~
~*~ You Better Not Cry, ~*~
~*~ You Better Not Pout, I'm Telling You Why, ~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming, ~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming,~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS is Coming To Towwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn, ~*~ SANTA PAWS IS COMING TO TOWN! ~*~

People applauded to the carolers, "Yay little cuties, you are making my day." "I needed this today." Gentle Heron, who runs Virtual Ability, would say "You guys are great!" One of the carolers, Linn Darkwarch, responded, "Thank you, we practice all year."

 

The songs continued, caroler Linn commenting, "And of course, Santa Paws is going to bring Tinies some food..."

 ~*~ Jelly Beans, Hunks of Cheese, Sugar Frosted Ham. All Deep-fried, Toast on the Side with Wootberry Jam.. ~*~
~*~ Chocolate Cake all wrapped in Bacon, Nachos on a Stick! Come Along, Let's eat some Noms & Hope we don't get Sick... HEY!! ~*~
~*~ Nomming Treats & Sweets, from Our Raglan Shire Buffet, Fills our little tummies, with Food this Holiday! ~*~
~*~ Just singing 'bout it now, Make's our Hunger Rise! We can't wait to grab a Plate & Stack it real High.. Withhh.. ~*~
~*~ Jelly Beans, Hunks of Cheese, Sugar Frosted Ham. All Deep-fried, Toast on the Side with Wootberry Jam.. ~*~
~*~ Chocolate Cake all wrapped in Bacon, Nachos on a Stick! Come Along, Let's eat some Noms & Hope we don't get SICKKKKKKK! ~*~

 

Gentle would comment, "This is my favorite song."  

 

Linn would then say, "As we begin the last carol of today's performance we want to thank you all again for inviting us here to perform. And since some folks arrived late, and we're having fun, and you're having fun, we're gonna do some encore afterwards!"

 

~*~ Here we come A-waffling please feed us Breakfast Food! Here we come A-hungering so help our Starving Mood!~*~
 ~*~ Knives & Forks Come to Me, And a Warm Butter Patty, And please Serve us some Syrup & Chopped up Pecans Tooooo...~*~
~*~ And Please Sprinkle some Berries on them Toooo! Here we come A-waffling please Feed us Tasty Treats!~*~

~*~ Here we come A-chittering so give us something Sweet!  Thanks to All for the Snax! Now we all can go Chillax!~*~
~*~And go about the things that we all Dooooo..... And Happy Holidays from All of Us to YOUUUUUUUUUU~*~

 

At the end, the tinies would do a "Riverdance" that shook the ground. When things quieted, Linn would  say, "And from all of the Friends of Raglan Shire we would like to wish you and yours a very HAPPY EVERYTHING!!!  Thank you !!!!" 

 

For those wanting to catch the little guys singing, Linn invited people to check Raglan's event calendar here: https://tinyurl.com/yv5chnun

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

The Raglan Shire Tiny Poetry Slam

by Marcel Mosswood

Last week was my first time joining the Tiny Poetry Slam at the Raglan Shire. It was so much fun and cute! I can say it’s a poetry reading even where participant creates silly poetry and after the reading all who attend throw waffles, turkey, rubber ducks and toast to the participant as applause. In my opinion, Tiny Poetry Slam is a good way to be creative, silly, and fun! So, after it ended that day, I decided to interview Copper Mistral for SL Newser.

The Tiny Poetry Slam. This when I got rubber ducks and turkeys as applause after reading a poetry that I created

Marcel: Hi Copper, what makes you think that people in Second Life need such an event like The Tiny Poetry Slam?

Copper Mistral: All people have the ability to be creative in some way. Many people who can't paint or draw, or do hands-on art like knitting may feel, or even have been told that because they're not visually creative, they can't be creative at all.  But just about everyone can use words in some way. Other poetry slams I've attended in real life were often overly stuffy, and looked down on poets who just wanted to have fun and be silly with their words. Like the tinies of SL, Tiny Poetry Slam is all about having fun.

Marcel: Who are the avatars behind this event?

Copper Mistral: The hosts are Copper Mistral, Stereo Nacht, and Jillan McMillan. Raglan Shire Magistrate Zayn Till wanted to start a regular poetry event in Raglan and asked if I would be interested in hosting it. I had been attending the Wulfenbach poetry slam at the now-closed Mamma Gkika's and jumped at the opportunity to bring a poetry slam to Raglan. Stereo Nacht was asked to attend and give some guidance in getting things started. She fell for the tinies and joined our ranks, becoming ONE OF US!

Marcel: What a cool team! Is there an real life event that inspired you to create this event?

Copper Mistral: Not particularly, though it has been influenced by an real life slam I used to attend at the now-closed Zoomdweebie's Tea Bar in Wichita, Kansas, and that slam saw some of my tiny poetry performed for an RL audience.

Marcel: I see this event is held in the Raglan Shire, a community for tinies and Dinkies, is it open for biggies to participate?

Copper Mistral: Absolutely! We welcome everyone, all sizes, shapes, av's, as long as they behave themselves. While we throw applause, we do ask that people be respectful, not interrupt, and keep things family-friendly.

Marcel: Waffles, rubber ducks, popcorn, who has the idea of using those funny things? And why use them?

Copper Mistral: Thrown applause is one of the elements that came to us from the Wulfenbach Poetry Slam. Over there, books and bottles were frequently thrown around as applause. Being tinies, waffles are a natural choice for us, but we've used everything from waffles to anvils, rubber ducks to wrenches, as well as books, snowballs, paintings, and more! We do it because it's fun, it's funny, and it's something you just don't see that often. For those who prefer not to get pelted by everything from soup to nuts, we have a party cannon, which fires only balloons and confetti. All one has to do is ask that they not be buried by rubber ducks.

Marcel: Are the participants also poetry artists in real life? For example, a painting in SL was made by the artist in real life.

Copper Mistral: Some are, yes. All of our original poetry is written by someone, after all. Many of us would not consider ourselves "real" poets, but the words still come with feeling and meaning.  Some do write considerable poetry outside of SL. Others might not have written a poem since leaving school until they joined us at Tiny Poetry Slam and felt the urge to join in the fun.

Marcel: Can you tell me about the philosophy behind the rules on the board "Be creative, get inspired, ignore the roolz, add extra silly"? This is so interesting, while other community trying to keep the rules of poetry.

Copper Mistral: So much of real life is seriousness. We work, we have health problems, we take care of others. Second Life is a welcome escape, no matter how little time we can spend here.  Tinies are all about having fun and helping each other out. At Tiny Poetry Slam, we firmly believe that poetry should not be all super serious and stuff. Sure there's lots of fun, silly poetry out there, but it's usually "for kids." Why can't everyone else have fun, silly poetry? Enter the beloved Pawku. A form of poetry unique to Raglan Shire. A pawku is like a haiku but without all the rules. A typical pawku is three lines (more or less), may or may not rhyme, and has as many or as few sillybulls (syllables) as needed to make it work. They're almost always pure silliness, but occasionally have a touch of seriousness or a good dose of friendship and love. After all, tinies are a caring group, and our friends are very important to us.

Marcel: Thank you, Copper, very nice info here for avatar who like to join the Tiny Poetry Slam.

The Raglan Shire Tiny Poetry Slam is held every Monday at 6 PM SLT, here is the LM:

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Heron%20Shire/163/76/115

Marcel Mosswood

Tinies Protest at Governor Linden's Mansion

By Bixyl Shuftan

While some people have a distrust of certain others who don't look or act like them in Second Life, the "tinies" of Raglan Shire are usually greeted with smiles by all. With their cartoony appearance and whimsical way of talking, their reputation is that of a happy and friendly folk. So what would get them mad and angry? Not much it seems. But on Friday January 11, many went to protest at Governor Linden's Mansion in Clementina.

The reason for the anger, a bug in anupdate to Second Life in late November. Jira "BUG-225893" filed by Chaser Zaks described the issue.

Ever since 18.10.25.521081, Me and various other people have noticed that avatars that are full mesh and not normal sized (EG: BentBox Imp) are floating 0.2 to 0.3 meters off the ground. This was not the case a few days ago where the avatar would be much lower to the ground.
This is not a viewer issue because it happened overnight on various viewers, including the official viewer. No viewer updates were involved.
Did something get changed on the asset server, or did the physics shape server side get modified?

While hover height can be used to correct this, it shouldn't be needed. Expected behaviour of an asset being changed like this is a big deal.

The Lab didn't fix the issue. So preparations were made by the tinies to have their voices heard.

The tiny avatars of Raglan Shire along with Dinkies and Titchys around the grid will be marching in protest on Friday at 2pm, seeking a fast resolution for our inability to keep our feet on the ground!  The protest will take place at Governor Linden's mansion.

So on Friday January 11 at 2PM SL time, dozens of protesters headed over to Governor Linden's Mansion. The sim's 45 avatar limit was quickly reached, and those who couldn't get in headed to a smaller protest in the shore of the Taber sim to the north. Just to the west was Natoma where the Ivory Tower is, and a number of sims further west was Luskwood and Bay City. But that day, the Mansion was the focus of the news with dozens of avatars with protest signs and a few pitchforks.


     ??  What do we  want??   ??
 ??  TO GET BACK ON THE GROUND!  ??
 ??  When so we want it??   ??
  ???? ?? ??  ?? MEOW!!??  ????????

Many of the tinies were indeed hovering off the ground. Some stood on stilts so they wouldn't appear to float. They carried signs such as "I wanna come down man," "We want our paws back on the ground!", "don't wanna be High any more," "Let petites walk in Second Life like me" (carried by a prim tiny), "My body my hover height," "Let us Riverdance on the ground," "Lower Dinkies back to earth!", "Hover is over," and more.

Not all involved in the protest were tinies. Also there were normal human avatars, as well as ferals, a petite, and a Colossus avatar

"A hover bug that been going on since last year of November!" Nerxual Oh shouted, "This affects everyone, and we have to constantly change our over heights every switch we make! Second Life is fifteen years old, focus on us small people that make your dream a reality!" Linn Darkwatch yelled, "We can't even use hover height adjustment to fixt it because then we are messed up if we sit or lie down!" Bloodsong Termagant yelled, "New avatar makers can't make avatar rigs and animations properly!" "We opened tickets to LL, and we had no answer!" Mia Rose grumbled, "We want one!!!"

Governor Linden's Mansion was built by Stellar Sunshine, Second Life's first resident in the Grid's alpha days in 2002, and given to the Lindens before Second Life went to it's beta version. There were a few events here in the early days of the virtual world, including ironically enough protests on the issue of stipends.

On the issue of the hover bug, I was asked to talk to Etheria Parrott. She told me she had talked to one of the Lindens who told her it was a high priority issue and they were still working on it. She then showed me a group announcement, "Anchor Linden has found the root cause for the issue, buried in the Bake Service. He has a fix for the problem, and it will be going out as soon as possible after it has been through testing and QA."  Etheria went on, "Whirly Fizzle had hinted to me that it might have been that new bakes on mesh code since it contains both hover and shape information."

The protest would go on for about two hours before the numbers in the sim began to dwindle. There were still people left before I headed out just before 4PM. I never saw any Lindens there, though it's a sure bet they heard about the protest.




Nitwacket would make a video of the event. It would also be covered in the blog "Second Sighting."

How much longer the "Hover bug" will last is unclear.

Source: Second Life Wiki

Addition: shortly after this article was published, Linden Lab announced there would be an update the next day to correct "avatars experiencing issues with hover height."

Bixyl Shuftan

Giant Snail Race at Raglan Shire

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Saturday May 31, Raglan Shire was the scene of the month's cross-country Giant Snail Race. The Giant Snail Races are organized by RacerX Gullwing and his team. The races take place very Saturday, usually on RacerX's obstacle course in Devon Dream. But during the Relay for Life fundraising season, they hold a cross-country race on the last Saturday of Relay months. In the past, these races to raise funds for charity were held on the mainland. But starting this year, RacerX began offering a charity auction with the location of the next race as the prize. And Raglan won the chance to be the location for May's race.

Normally the snails in cross-country races are in two groups. Those paying a 2500 Linden entry fee start right on the starting line, with those paying a 500 L one starting a little further back. This time, there was an additional starting place further back,with an entry fee of  just 100L.

Across the tiny community, the giant snails made their way across streets, trails, ramps, streams, and walkways. The use of "teleport logs" made things a bit confusing as the snails tried to follow the course, some locals commenting "looks like now they're not sure what is going on." "I hadda idee dis wuz gonna be barely controlled chaos." "Thats nuffin' new in Raglan. Hehehe." But despite that and the lag, a good time was had by all.

The locals sat in various locations to watch the race. Some were showing their humor, such as this kitty looking like a patron at a French restaurant, which if you're a snail is the last place you want to be.

Raglan's tinies already have a reputation for having plenty of chaotic fun. The addition of giant snails just added to it. "We got runned ober!" "I BEEN SLIMED!!" "Ewwwww, tentacles touching me!!" "Told ya things could get crazy."

And at the end, there was the usual celebration and dance, with everyone who made their way to the finish line getting a trophy.

The unofficial list was as follows (RacerX accidentally crossed the line at 10):

 Lominola Rehula 1
 Lulee Babenco 2
 Bree Himmel 3
 Tapple Gao 4
 Vanessamendonca Resident 5
 Tindallia Soothsayer 6
 Alden Cortes 7
 Shady Fox 8
 Loopy String 9
 Temba Resident 11
 Fullauto Vandyke 12
 Cinders Vale 13
 Trebek Raymaker 14
 Caleb Kit 15
 Linn Darkwatch 16
 SkippyMcSkipperson Resident 17
 Galaxar Darkstone 18
 Cobbie Tigerpaw 19
 Kaydge Resident 20
 Seth Stratten 21
 Safra Nitely 22
 Rendal Constantineau 23
 Sweecahcahche Ah 24
 Panacea Pangaea 25
 Morganne Darkstone 26

RacerX would later offer a video of the race.



(click here if the video fails to play)

Bixyl Shuftan

Raglan Shire's Art Show

The weekend of May 24th and 25th were the last official days of the Raglan Shire art show. For those who don't know, Raglan Shire, and it's neighboring several sims, are the home of Second Life's most well known "Tiny" community. Most whom have been in Second Life for a while have seen them, these small avatars just a few feet high. Those of the Raglan community are known for their lighthearted ways, playfully greeting one another in ways like beeping one another on the nose, cheer at the sight or mention of waffles, and have a seemingly complete absence of drama (probably because they're too busy having fun). While some might find them a bit silly, others find them a delight to be around and find their cheerful manner contagious.

On Saturday the 24th, I dropped in as a music concert was going on. Two "biggies," as tinies sometimes call human (and furry & neko) avatars, were performing for a crowd of tiny locals and normal-sized visitors. Grif Bamaisin and Drutim Bates sung on stage for the crowd, "luvs da Live Musicians." When it was over, the tinies cheered, and invited others to see the art show while it was still up, "yay for raglan!!! yay for art!!!!!" There was also an air combat match elsewhere, "Jay iz dog fightin in planes - wants to go?" The musicians left in good spirits, "Thanks again everyone - you guys are great to play to."

While there, I ran into Zayn Till, the magistrate. He greeted me, "Helloz Bixyl (smile). Good day to come! last day of Artwalk." Asking him how it turned out, he answered, "It has been wonderful (smile), so much fabulous art, YESH!"

Zayn turned to a nearby artist, "Skyblue, loved your watercolors." When I asked which art had gotten the most attention, he wasn't sure, "with so much art that would be impossible.. its all about self expression and art of coursed.. is subjective. You'd have to walk about and see yourself. (smile)" One local nearby suggested, "Esops fables on Athen's Shire?? The giant flower with book pages for petals on Morning Shire, or the giant carrot sculpture on Heron?? We'll go see it all! hah!" "Enjoy the arts!" Zayn would say again, "ART WALK!!! Its INTENTS!!"

There was quite a bit to see. There were a number of paintings exhibited.

There was also a table where visitors could pick up some tiny avatars, outfits, and animations/gestures. Some were for free.

There was more than just paintings, but also 3D sculptures.

One display needed a teleport to get to. It showed a couple in an ever twirling dance. 

Some sims had no, or few, paintings, but just sculptures. 

Black rat magic?

A pink tree? Was there a lorax nearby?

Why do I get the feeling Jack Nicholson is nearby with an axe?

Deep meanings

This was the Aesop's Fables exhibit mentioned earlier.

This was meant to be seen at night.

When artists clown around.

A faceless figure hugging a critter.

Juggling robot bunny.

Just "dragging" along.

Floating ink, as if squirted by an octopus.

Not everything that looked appealing was an art exhibit. The neighborhood itself was nice to look around in, one place having an eye-catching aurora.

This resident obviously wants to "keep it cool" despite the summer.

One resident showed me one of the community trees. Note the acorn elevator.

It'll be another year until the next art show, but Raglan has events every month. And Saturday May 31, the Giant Snails drop by for their cross sim race, taking place on the last Saturday of each month of the Relay season.

Bixyl Shuftan