The Last Sunbeamer Moon Dance For 2021

 By Bixyl Shuftan

Team Sunbeamers has had a number of events this Relay season. But one was a weekly event, the Sunbeamer Moon Dance that took place every Thursday at 6PM over Farshore Field in Sunlight Bay. People would head over to the Moon Cannon, and get blasted off to the Moon platform where music and fun awaited (along with a few 'bot aliens dancing away). But eventually, there would come a time for a final performance. And on Thursday June 10 came the final Moon Dance for the Sunbeamers, at least for this year.

Most of the weekly dances had various themes, such as Memorial Day and sci-fi. But this last one was "Come As You Are." A number of Sunbeamers showed up, as well as some from other Relay teams. This included several of "Roos With A Dream," noted by their Australian outdoor outfits.  The maximum number of avatars the sim could hold was thirty, and there was a time or two someone couldn't get in. 

As usual, Cynthia Farshore was DJing, though adding tunes as she went along instead of playing a prepared list. Someone cheered when "Golden Years" was played, "David Bowie, yay!" Sunbeamer team captain reminded, "We have a memorial to Bowie in out camp, died of liver cancer." Of the camp having the theme of a British comedy, she commented, "I told my sister our camp was Monty Python themed.  she said 'Who?'" 

Other conversation topics were a small debate if music past the 1980s was any good: one didn't think so and a few others felt at least some of it was, "there are lots of good tunes every year, we just don't hear lots of them." There was also talk about the "Last Dragon," movie, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," and the Star Trek "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode. Cynthia responded by playing Shockwave Yareach's music parody, "I Snuck In A Tribble With You." That got some people chuckling. There was also some talk of the Animated Star Trek episode.

With the Relay weekend so close, there was much conversation about it. "I always get emotional when the actual Relay starts. even though I have been doing it since 2008." "The Luminaria ceremony gets to me the most." "I completely forgot I had submitted a dedication to be read the first time I did it. Caught me completely off guard when they read it off and I broke down hard." 

There was also some fun talk about partying people did in the past, "Threw an unexpected party at my house once while my parents were away. Was my friend's birthday and he was hanging out with a bunch of younger kids so me and another friend told him we were headed to my house after picking up some beer. About an hour later, a million people show up. Only trouble I got in from my parents was that I didn't recycle the cans. Was still underage at the time, think it was either the summer before going to college or the summer after my first year of college. No idea how I didn't get in trouble." "I went to a party at a farm once, real BBQ pit, roasting half a pig and various beef, also beer kegs and we mixed up something interesting in a clean plastic trash can. Whatever we mixed up was good, I had it to my van to pass out and woke up with one hell of a hangover." "The wildest parties are always while you're underage."

At one point, there was a small square area in which light inside had it's colors reversed. Inside it, at least when looking from outside, white would look dark, reddish tones would look bluish, etc. Panning inside, from within things looked the opposite, including the blackness of space looking white.

A good time was had by all, one lady saying, "Its been a lot of fun hanging out with 'beamers, gems and Purple Tears all season long." Rita responded, "Well we 'beamers specialize in fun. If it's not fun, it's not worth doing." She would say joint events with the Roos had always gone well, and fun, and congratulated them on their success. They'd made Diamond rank some time earlier, and had raised a total of 1,783,000 Linden dollars.

Before long, the party was over, and people headed out. Shockwave and Cynthia would go back to the Sunbeamer campsite to check things over. All were looking forward to the Relay weekend in two days.

As of the writing of this article, the Sunbeamers have raised a total of 834,500 Linden dollars, and are the highest rank of the Sapphire-ranked teams.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan
  

More Sunbeamer "Bid Me" Results: Over 60,000L Raised

 By Bixyl Shuftan

One of the events the Relay in Second Life is known for are the "Bid Me Bald" events, started by the Relay Rockers and caught on with others. But a Relay team with a lot of furry avatars, well, something different is called for. In the early days of the Newser, the Passionate Redheads would hold a number of "Bid Me Human" events, such as the one that left Rita Mariner "in the skin" for over two months. As time went on, the Redheads transitioning to the Sunbeamers, the "Bid Me" events began to show some creativity and variety when it came to what to be bid on, from other types of avatar besides human, to a different color, and more.

Thursday April 8 was the final day for DJ Matt/Matt Carlton's "Bid Me Pink" fundraiser. For Matt, she felt a little pressure to bring in plenty of Lindens as she wanted to match this season the amount she made last year, which included 60,000 L raised at one event on Fantasy Faire's last weekend. This was also the first "Bid Me" in which the kiosks were located at the Bouncing Bunny Beach Club, the newest venue in the Sunweaver community where most (but not all) of the Sunbeamers make their home. This was partially to help draw attention to the new venue, and partially because Matt has a DJ event there, and her fans would be inclined to donate then. By the last day, Matt was already at two weeks with over 5,000 L raised.

As this was a special Relay fundraising event, Matt didn't take any tips, instead asking that money be donated to the Relay kiosks, and the cheeky pictures at the bunny-themed venue were covered up. The contest theme was "Best in Purple," so several people came in purple outfits, purple fur, or both. A number of people were there, including club manager Snowbuns (Skylark Lefavre) and owner Nydia Tungsten (Rita Mariner owns the land). Other people showed up such as Rosie (RougeRedHead01 Resident), the newest reporter for the Newser, and Gem Sunkiller. Several people would also send remote donations.

Matt would play songs such as "It's a Great Day to be Alive," "Live Like You Were Dying," and "Angels Among Us." Among the last he would play for his set was "Clouds" by Zach Sobiech, a young musician whom was diagnosed with terminal cancer when composing the song. (https://youtu.be/sDC97j6lfyc)

We could go up, up, up
And take that little ride
We'll sit there holding hands
And everything would be just right
And maybe someday I'll see you again
We'll float up in the clouds and we'll never see the end

We'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
Go up in the clouds because the view's a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

By the end of the first hour, Matt was already at 7,500L in the "pink" kiosk. Thanks to more donations coming in, by the close of Matt's performance, the total had risen to 15,000 Lindens. With 500L in the "stay orange" kiosk, this made for a total of 15,500L raised, and a comittment of six weeks in pink. Matt thanked everyone over the radio stream, which got someone musing, "First time I heard someone say thank you for being forced to be pink." Matt responded, "I like pink, but I Chose pink this time as my Aunt just fought Breast Cancer and won. So fitting, I thought."

Matt had offered a little bonus if 10,000 Lindens or more was raised. If that goal was reached, she stated she would spend at least half the time in the "Bid Me" period in Relay clothes. This could be either her Team Sunbeamer outfit or some other Relay wear.

The contest was won by LiskaBystrouska Resident.

Saturday April 10 was the last day of three "Bid Me Foxy" fundraisers. The volunteers for these were Shockwave Yareach, Cynthia Farshore, and team captain Rita Mariner. The kiosks were at Club Cutlass, and the fundraisers were totaled at the end of the party that night, at 8PM SL time. Shockwave and Cynthia got identical results: 250 Lindens each in the "Stay" kiosk and 7600 Lindens each to go vulpine. They'll be in their new looks for three weeks. For Rita, her default kiosk got 50 Lindens while donators chipped in 5050 Lindens for her to go vixen. So she has to deal with jokes about raiding coops for two weeks. With three people made foxy all at once on top of the existing number of foxes, there were jokes about a "foxolypse," as well as wondering if there'd be a run at the KFC.

Cynthia was DJing for the Relay USO event that night, and Shockwave was with her. So they didn't have to change until that event was over. The three fundraisers brought in 20,800 Lindens.

Finally came the end of Nydia Tungsten's "Bid Me Mouse or Bunny" fundraiser. This would be on Sunday April 10. Like Matt's Bid Me, the kiosks were at the BBBC, and the fundraiser was timed to end just as a party at the club was ending. Compared to the other Bid Me events, the default kiosk was making a strong showing. In the two hours, several thousand more Lindens were added to the kiosks. There were a few people coming by whom hadn't been to the club before.

Finally at 5PM SL time, the totals were finalized. 4,000 Lindens had been donated into the "Go Bunny" kiosk. The "Stay Vixen" kiosk had 6,010 Lindens. The "Go Mouse" kiosk made more than both combined, making 14,000 Linden dollars. As Nydia had pledged a week for every 2000 raised, normally this would have been seven weeks. But she had a surprise. She decided not to count just the amount in the winning kiosk, but the total of all three combined, 24,010 Linden dollars. So this meant 12 weeks, or three months. At the close of the party, Nydia changed to a mouse form, and her partner Brandi Streusel, whom was already a mouse, gave her a hug. There were more than a few comments about cheese recipes.

All five of these Bid Me events raised a total of 60,310 Linden dollars. Counting offline donations, this has brought the total raised by Team Sunbeamers past 450,000 and a half million, or Jade Level, within sight. This isn't the end of the Sunbeamer Bid Me events as DJ Snowbuns volunteered for one (more on that one later), and no doubt there will be more. With this combined with DJ Cynthia and DJ Matt helping out other teams, the Sunbeamers are continuing to be a top-ranking team in the Relay for Life in Second Life.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Interview With Cynthia Farshore.

By Deaflegacy

Cynthia Farshore and I met at her place.  She offered me some tea and I accepted.  I asked Cynthia Farshore how she found out about Second Life.  "Real-life friend," said Cynthia Farshore, "Really talked it up and said would have things ready for me.  I hadn't had any experience in inworlds so didn't know beans about it."

"Could you please describe to me what your first days on Second Life were like?" I asked Cynthia. She replied, "Mmm, first days.  I was really shy. ... October 3 was my ninth Rezz Day so we're covering about nine years in a hurry."  I wished Cynthia Farshore a happy belated Rezz Day, then she continued, "Now, one of the people to bring me in was Raschid Marenwolf who I stuck with til Eternity. But that sim group was dying. ... Well there's more to the story than that. Actually my first home was 7isles and that is my destroyed land felled by strange magic.  In other words, Linden Lab screwed things up. But that's another story.  Then I traveled to Eternity Castle where I met a few like Liska." 

"... I Looked around and had been told of the Sunweavers," Cynthia Farshore continued on, "Now I had a rough growing up, wasn't liked in High School, was bullied some. The Navy wasn't the best place to have REAL friends, so I was outgoing.  Why I say that is so you understand why I was sneaking around Sunweaver.  I didn't know what kind of people I was going to run into and my experience so far in Medieval roleplay sims was not always the warmest.  But one day, I was floating around, cause I would less likely to be seen or contacted. I ran across a pyramid building and saw a line of furries dancing in sync.  I thought I would like to be a part of that.  I began to explore the building and then realized Raschid knew some of the residents."

Cynthia Farshore went on, "'Ok so must be a good place,' so I got brave and walked in during a dance.  There, one of the first to greet me and start talking to me was Shockwave, and we hit it off right there.  On the roleplay sims you get a casual greeting. But once there, I found people actually talk to you.  Finally a place I felt welcomed and was happy.  Once I was comfortable I began asking questions on how things worked and started building my first house, and it looked like it. Thus comes in Shocky.  With his help, I learned and my skills grew.  Now Caledon, well that came much later.  I collect some antiques, so of course 19th century steampunk attracted me."

At that point, Shockwave Yareach came in and Cynthia Farshore greeted him.  I asked Shockwave  if he didsn't mind having his name mentioned in the article.  Shockwave replied, "Not a bit.  I'm proud to be with my lady." Cynthia explained that we were talking about coming to Sunweaver.  "You were.... hesitant." replied Shockwave  "And the first time I walked in to Cutlass which was the first real Sunweaver contact and the wolf was one of the very first to say hello.  So now we're at coming to Caledon. Again I sort of hid in the shadows and looked around.  This time 'cause being furry I found places like 1920's Berlin and Civil War RP to not be so happy about some one with more hair than them.  But soon I found enough to see it was open." said Cynthia Farshore.  "Place was not so populated so getting anywhere in membership and a place was slow.  Finally found some one who granted me citizenship.  It took a bit but finally got this parcel we're on and found a ready made store that would fit in perfectly."

My next question was about Cynthia Farshore's projects, especially the award winning build she did for Relay For Life a few years ago.  She answered, "Mmmm.  Ok well, I was just building small for myself when there was a disturbance in the force so to speak.  Someone who had built a lot of Sunweaver things, took their ball and went home.  So I being able and feeling I could help started by replacing the fishing deck that Zorro uses today on Sunweaver Space, in addition to having been asked to build a new Cutlass.  Course my jaws dropped off my skull.  It's the buckets of bolts hanging in the sky today.  I had the sim Pacific Waters and went nuts building there, since I'm from an aviation family: Air field! 

"Which lead to the air show idea after I joined our Relay For Life team.  Naturally once on that team, Rita the Chief, the two of us, " she pointed to Shockwave, "got called out to build.  We decided to take turns being chief builder per year.  Ohhh, my first camp nearly killed me, was fighting to get things to work to the last hour.  Was up all the night.  Learned a lot what NOT do do.  That was a couple years later and it was the theme Once Upon A Cure, so I thought story book let's just make a story then.  So this was different."

My last question was about "Bid Me Foxy." She answered, "Bid me Foxy, ohh boy," replied Cynthia, "I have been a goat all my SL life, until then.  It started with my friend Liska (doing a) 'Bid me Goat,' guess why goat (grin). So in response I got brave and put in for 'Bid me Fox.'  As Liska had basically my avatar as I am a heavy modded AV, I found her fox still available, the game was on.

"Booyy I had no idea the Sunnies would sentence me to twelve weeks!!  And if we include Shocky he also got twelve weeks as a goat!  But hey, we raised over 64 K.  So for 12 weeks me and Shocky was close to reversed."

I asked Cynthia  if there was anything else she would like me to mention in the article.  She relied, "Oh, and the DJing and two radio steams.  One is classic rock and the other steampunk or events.  For someone to have come in hiding behind trees, I now build, DJ, holder of two sims and two parcels, am a Duchy in Caledon and have a large number of friends.  Second Life has helped me in my real self. I have DJed for Sunweavers, Nydia's Angels, Caledon Nights and still do some as a matter of facts I'm DJing this weekend for Caledon Oxbridge University fund drive tomorrow night  (Saturday Oct. 20) 7 - 9 SL time." Cynthia Farshore went on to say that she will also be DJing  on Oct. 27th from 6-8PM SL time at the Goblin Cave Entertainment Center in Caledon Downs (104,89,32).

Over the past nine years, "The goat you got," as she once called herself, has come a long way.

Deaflegacy

Sunnny Awards Night at Cutlass

By Bixyl Shuftan (and Becky Shamen)

On the night of April 22, the Sunweaver community held an event to honor several individuals whom have distinguished themselves for their efforts to help out the community. The ceremony took place in the middle of the usual Friday night dance, DJed by Cynthia Farshore, which was briefly put on hold.

"People can I have your attention, please?!" Rita spoke up, then began reading from some notes, "Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here to join this man and this women........wait a minute....oops .....wrong ceremony. We are gathered here to award to some very deserving individuals the very first ever SUNNY Awards." After a couple chuckles from the audience, the white bunnygirl continued, "This award was inspired by the deeds of a certain individual who went way above the Call of Duty, to others and in the opinion of many of us deserves this award and more! Our own Sha, Becky Shamen designed it, so kudos to her for her work, on this and much, much more."

"Since we only set aside 15 minutes for this, let's get rolling. Perri Prinz, please step forward and stand beside the box and the center column, please." Perri moved, but was having a little trouble with lag, "Perri? Behind the column, please. Center one. Thank you." Perri would be receiving the first award on behalf of her partner RECoyote Mines, whom sadly wasn't there at the ceremony, but busy with his trucking job in real life.

"RECoyote is the inspiration for the SUNNY Award, it has been his over the top generosity, too so many, that it has to be recognized and honored. The wonderful part is he did it without being asked, he just saw the need and helped! That is a rare quality in today's world and so that needs to be appreciated and nurtured. The Sunweavers are like that, we are family! Now while most of us can't be as helpful as RECoyote was, many of us have stepped up in the past and done what we can, when we could, with what we had. Really no one can ask for more.

"So RECoyote from ALL of US to you we present you with the very first SUNNY Award and to top it off, we also present you with a statue of your mangy coyote self, so pigeons can poop on you daily! We do this cause WE LOVE YOU!" There were a number of cheers and claps and a "huzzaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh" animation, "Thanks for your deeds REC."

Perri spoke, "Since REC couldn't be here for unavoidable reasons, it's my honor to accept this award on his behalf. I'm sure he'll appreciate it and be long reminded of the love that comes to those who do good." Becky commented, "REC is the reason I made the award. It is designed to radiate JOY. The statue was a co-build with Rita." Shockwave spoke, "One of the nicest folks I've known. ... was worried about Perri and Ny.  A class act all the way."

"Thanks to him, living here just got a little easier for all of us. Those fees (to Linden Lab) weren't cheap. Neither were those tablets." "And he is helping with my transmission." "He also paid my family out of a ... debt. ... Pretty much saved our lives." "And he is helping with my transmission." "A very very generous soul." "There's a place in heaven for him." "Not soon I hope." "We bring heaven to earth by helping others."

After a few more comments, Rita continued, "Next up, Shockwave Yareach and Cynthia Farshore, please step forward and stand next to your awards, please." Sockwave pretended to be worried, "I didn't do anything! The tape lies!" Once they were at their places, the white rabbitgirl continued, "Shockwave has been with me since Day One, he has been my right hand Wolf, also pissing on my foot and chewing on the furniture, never totally housebroken." After a pause for chuckles, she continued, "Still if you need some building done, something sripted, a renter's temper soothed, a glitch in the club's media system, or running the Sunday Night Movies, Shockwave is right there. I don't think SL would be half as much fun without him. The greatest compliment I can give him is to call him my friend both here and in RL. So you deserve this Sunny award Shockwave. Enjoy it!" There were then a number of cheers, followed by Shockwave saying, "Thank you very much."

Rita then turned her attention to Cynthia, "Cynthia Farshore, I don't know you as well as Shockwave, but Shockwave likes you and since you keep a smile on his face and keep him out of the gutter, that has to account for something. On a more serious note, Cynthia has repeatedly, let us use her SIM to host Air shows for the RFL, she is also half of our dynamic duo build team for the Sunbeamer campsites. She has put out alot of her own money to get things done. She also loves to DJ. She is a valued member of our community, so you are deserving of this award Cynthia, Enjoy!" There were more cheers.

Rita then looked to Becky, "Becky your turn, park your tushie next to your award." Becky did, then Rita resumed, "The fourth person is our own Sha, Becky Shamen, the bouncing Bunny, who decorates the dance pole,here at Cutlass,during our dances. She also designs and makes all the clothes for the Sunbeamer RFL team. Sha also runs things here on Sunweaver Bay for me, taking in strays, mentoring new people, building stuff, ...  Sha is like my own bunny clone on the sim. She keeps things running smoothly here so I can goof off. Supreme Bunny is LAZY! Becky enjoy your award you earned it!" There were more cheers and congratulations."

Rita was a bit hesitant in speaking about the fifth award winner, "The last person on the list to get an award is me, but I am not going to blow my own horn, as they say, I'll leave that to others. If they wish." Shockwave spoke first, "Rita started this mad house.  Paid for it with her own money for years and years.  Kept us together when many other groups had fallen apart." Becky added, "Being a useful member of this community is one of my greatest joys. I am thankful and I insisted that our beloved Big Moma should also receive this award. She is the core of Sunweavers." Cynthia spoke, "I was still rather shy when I found this place but Rita and Shocky here help me to be more open."

Becky told Rita, "Take your place on stage, Chief." The white rabbitgirl did, "It has been a real pleasure to lead ths freak show, I LOVE YOU ALL!" Shockwave smiled, "We love you too, chief freak." Cynthia mused, "So for our chief freak I bring you ..." and the music resumed, then so did the dancing as the people on stage got down.

The coyote statue made in honor of RECoyote Mines would later be placed in the Sunweaver Estates, somewhere in Sunweaver Bay.

Pictures by Becky Shamen, Story by Bixyl Shuftan

Bixyl Shuftan