A Look At The Sci-Fi Expo

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

From Friday October 8 to Sunday October 17, 2021, the Sci-Fi Expo took place in Second Life. Subtitled "A Journey to New Eden," it was a celebration of science-fiction (and to some extent fantasy), it also had the purpose of raising money for Making Strides for Breast Cancer. 

The event took place in six temporary sims near the permanent American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society 2 sims. They were Aperture, New Eden, Arecibo II, The Remnant, Genisis Spire, and The Old Dam. For those not familiar with the "Portal" game, "Aperture" was the name of the corporation. The "IPink ICan" sim was host to the "I Pink I Can" event that took place at the same time. 

One minor complaint I've heard from a few Relayers is that some of the Sci-Fi Cons and Expos seemed a little plain in how they were made, compared to events like the Relay Weekend. 

This wasn't so much the case this time. The sims appeared to me to be much better done.

Lately, my schedule can be occasionally unpredictable. While I wasn't at the opening day of the Expo, I was able to be at several events the following day on Saturday the 9th. From 10 AM to Noon SL time at the main stage in Aperture, "DJ Kayla and the Roos," members of the Roos team of the Relay for Life, were playing onstage to a crowd.

 

 "Who you gonna call?" The Roos in this case.

From 1 to 4PM, there were the "Combat Bumper Boats ... Grab your friends and your water wings for some fun on the high seas!  Rez a bumper boat and challenge your friends to see who will remain dry, and who will be all wet behind the ears.  This is definitely a fun time you don't want to miss!"

The rules were fairly straightforward. Click on the boat rezzer, sit on the boat, select a color, then go at it in a free-for-all with no score. 

The boats when rezzed all started with 100 points of health. When they hit the shore, they lost a little health. When hitting another boat, they would lose more health. If there was a method to make another boat lose more health than you, I never did find it. Occasionally, there was a cartoon "smash," "zoing," "boing," or some other animated effect floating in the air.

There was also a water gun one could squirt at other players. I wasn't sure if it did a tiny amount of damage, or none at all. But we were using them anyway.

From 6 to 9PM that night was the superhero-themed "Bat Dance." As the narrator put it, "Don your super suit and enter the depths of the Batcave for a party that will even put a smile on the face of the Dark Knight!  It's a super night of dancing that will be absolutely heroic!" 

We ended up having a, super, time.

 On Tuesday at 8PM, it was DJ Mattie's turn on stage.

 "It's time for another event at the Sci-Fi Expo Main Stage. Performing at 8PM is the talented DJ Mattie. 'Shi was raised on country music, blues, bluegrass and classic rock. Shi still has a great passion for these genres, country being hir favorite. Music has always gotten hir though some of the worst times in hir life, and now shi love to share some of these wonderful tunes with folks here on SL' Come on over as we kick cancer's behind and have a fun time doing it."

 Someone passed around a few hula hoops. 

And there was quite a diverse audience.

I also decided to give the Sci-fi Expo quest a try. 

The plot of the quest involves Earth trying to broker a peace between the various factions of the colony world of New Eden. But the global communication network is down, and one of the research assistants from Earth has gone missing with a data crystal with information the delegation needs to get things going.

But as anyone whom has done these kinds of quests before, it wasn't that easy. Even when you find the research assistant, your quest has only just begun. She plugged an ancient computer into the communication network. 

In trying to find out what's going on, you discover a powerful artificial intelligence in the alien computer, which doesn't necessarily put Humanity's interests as priority.

You also run into the Greslok, the planet's native race.

 Much of their home area is littered with starship debris, which the human government has promise to clean up, eventually.

As it turns out, the Greslok live simply now, but long ago were more advanced and created a powerful artificial intelligence they ended up going to war with one another resulting in the destruction of technology, including the AI.

With the AI now seemingly reactivated, you go to turn off the main source of it's power.

You don't succeed in turning off the power. But you do get the artificial superinteligence to think about it's situation. In the end, a truce is agreed to, and it agrees to share some teraforming technology.

That's pretty much what I saw at the Sci-fi Expo. I did hear on Discord that on the day before it's close, it had raised more than 1,750,000 Lindens, or $7000 US dollars.

 There was more of course. Wildstar Beaumont would take a number of pictures and post them on his Flickr. And one can check out more on the blog (here). 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Fundraiser For Frank

By Deaflegacy

On Monday night on August 29, the Furry Fashion Lounge held a fundraiser for one of it's staff, Frank (F2004w Resident).

This Fundraiser caught my attention. It was a fundraiser for Frank to get his hearing aids. It is very important for him because he is deaf and needs hearing aids. His insurance company denied him that because they felt that hearing aids are just cosmetic things.

Frank's friends at Furry Fashion got together and started a fundraiser for Frank (f2004w). According to Moffett (moffettmephit), the DJ of the event, and Amethysia (amethyst.crystal), the owner of Furry Fashion, the fundraiser was a huge success. Everyone had a great turnout and had a wonderful time.

"We made around 200 USD by the end of the night which adds to the money on the gofundme," said Amethysia.  She did say that it leaves Frank about 1000 USD to find himself if no one else donates. But that's still a lot better than the original amount."

Amethysia found out that Frank was planning to sell his motorbike to help pay for the hearing aids. That's when the fundraiser came in. Frank was surprised by the event. He was also surprised at how many people came to the fundraiser. Frank's friends came and danced the night away. Lindens were pouring away into the donation board. The donation board's goal was approximately 50,000. According to Moffett, it went over that goal.

  Frank has an appointment Wednesday about the hearing aids, but it is not for not sure if he's getting them or if it's more testing to determine what type he needs While Moffett was not sure on when Frank will get his new hearing aids, he said that as far as the 'donation speed' goes, he can guarantee that Frank will get them as soon as he can.

As Moffett would have put it, they have gone a long way toward supporting their good friend in getting his new hearing aids. What Furry Fashion did for Frank, that is a true friendship.

Deaflegacy

Gofundme Page For Frank

By Deaflegacy,

"I'm born hard of hearing with moderate to severe hearing loss. I'm the first one in a hearing family from the last three known generation," said Frank.

Frank (resident name f2004w) explained that according to his insurance company, it is considered cosmetic, even his parents had to pay the full price on his last one over ten years ago, even though he was insured under their family plan. They would cover it if only he took the procedure of getting a cochlear implant. But he finds no need for surgery because he can function fine with just hearing aids.

When Frank was asked if he was surprised that his boss is throwing a fundraiser, Frank said, "Yes! I was really surprised about that, I was thought nothing of it because it was more of my personal life problem than a work problem, he really went out of his way for setting this up."

Frank works at a car dealership that covers Audi, Subaru, Range Rover, Jaguar, and Volvo in one big building as a head porter, managing 15-plus porters. One of his bosses is Terry McQuaid, manager of Subaru,  the person who sets up the gofundme fundraiser (https://www.gofundme.com/2hcvpy33).

It is only currently only linked toward to GoFundMe, Frank is considering creating a certain mesh to help the fundraiser specifically for Second Life. Right now you can only find in Furry Fashion where you can click the board by the sandbox that gives you a direct link to GoFundMe fundraiser site.

When asked about the fundraisers, Frank said, "I didn't thought about it, I don't know any fundraising methods. So I mentioned it to the owner of Furry Fashion and within a few hours later I just been informed that there will be a fundraiser event Monday 29th of August for me.

Furry Fashion and a store named Treasured and Bully will be taking part for this fundraising event, "I will be also making a limited edition benches for fundraising as well."

The landmark is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Furry/32/52/31

A typical pair for a person with moderate to severe hearing loss hearing aid cost from $3,700 to $6,000 a pair. That is not including the cost of ear mold and hearing tests. The amount of the fundraiser at the moment is $2,865.

At this moment, I wish Frank all the luck in the world.  It's a shame that his insurance company thought the hearing aids are some kind of cosmetic thing but knowing my experiences with hearing aids, it is anything but cosmetic.

 

Deaflegacy

Interview with Frets Nirvana

By Bixyl Shuftan

Frets Nirvana is a musician in Second Life best known for the benefits he helps organize at Veterans' Isle every month. Just before the concert in May, I had a chance to interview him and ask him a few questions.

Bixyl Shuftan: "So how did you find out about Second Life?"

Frets Nirvana: "Through a former employee and friend, Von Johin. He was performing in SL, told me about it and helped me get started."

Bixyl Shuftan: "So you had a friend performing here? What did he tell you about it?"

Frets Nirvana: "He basically said it was fun and you could actually make money performing (at that time! Ha-ha!) Anyhow, he had not heard me play before although he had worked for me. When he heard me play ... he said they would love what I do musically in SL ... and encouraged me to perform in SL."

"That was about five years ago now ..... Due to real-life he is no longer performing in SL, but he used to a lot."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How did your first few days go here?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well the first performance was great. I performed at his venue and he helped promote it. We had sixty people that night. After that his manager helped promote me and I was off and running ......playing a lot of covers with my own arrangements of other people's tunes."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sixty people, that's pretty good."

Frets Nirvana: "Yeah ...Von was pretty well established at that time, so it helped. After that though ...it was a lot of hard work, and a bit of a struggle. I was not singing at that time ...just doing all instrumental. So it was a harder sell."

Bixyl Shuftan: "About what point did you include singing?"

Frets Nirvana: "I also tried doing a duo with a female singer. That was going well ... unitl (laughter) she bumped me and went on her own. Kind of the story of my musical life with singers."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Oops, what happened after that?"

Frets Nirvana: "I strated singing about six months after I entered Second Life. I had never sang lead vocal before ...just backup. But I figured out that I needed to sing if I was to have more success in SL, and well ... I just jumped in and worked on it and went for it. (laughter) Hopefully not offending anyone. Along with my guitar playing it is something that I have worked on a good bit. Although I will probably never be a love song singer."

"Kind of like everything for me in life ....I just make a decision that I am going to go for something, and work hard at it and do it."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What did audiences think at first?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well ...(laughter) nobody left due to singing to my knowledge. And they seemed to like it, and my crowd and bookings grew ... so guess it was a good decision."

Bixyl Shuftan chuckles a bit

Frets Nirvana: "But of course ...guitar picking has always been the feature."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "when did the idea first come to you about doing bennefit events for veterans?"

Frets Nirvana: "That idea came about the same time ... about six months after starting performing in Second Life.  I saw all the activity forRelay for Life, and some other causes, and thought 'gee, why not for vets?' If not for them we could not be doing any kind of benefit for other causes .... or for that matter Second Life ... huh, trying living in Syria or Iran!"

"So, I took the initiative, and started it. Take note,I am not a vet. I just feel strongly about what they do and how they sacrifice, and how they should be supported. ESPECIALLY in today's world.

Bixyl Shuftan nods again, "How did the veterans respond to your idea?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well, once I figured out who to get in contact with, they responded well and jumped right in. Some of the original people involved are no longer in SL much, but it has kept on going. Dahlea Milena is a BIG part of that at this time. She has been sooo helpful and supportive."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "I recall the events were first at Patriot Island for Wounded Warriors"

Frets Nirvana: "In general though ....it all had to picked up by the bootstraps at first of course .... And yes, until last fall, all were for Wounde Warriors Project. I switched allegiance to Homes For Our Troops at that time. one main reason, lack of support by WWP. I won't go into that any further. They still do good work but HFOT is much more supportive and I feel that the percentage of dollars that actually help Vets is higher with HFOT."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What was the most successful of these events?"

Frets Nirvana: "Mmmm ,,,, well it is really hard to say on that. It varies really, and so far I have not really found a definite 'this is the best.' But I can say this soemtimes we have raised as much as 300,000 Linden for vets in one month. I keep trying to keep the trend going up."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "I wasn't familiar with Homes For Our Troops before. Where did you hear about them?"

Frets Nirvana: "I found HFOT on the web. I was searching for an organization that would be more supportive, and I talked to a lot of them. Amazingly, many did not want to get involved, and I have some theories on that (government!). But HFOT jumped right in and said yes."

"I hope we can honor that support with soem excellent donations going to HFOT. They do great work."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sounds great. Did they have someone who was familiar with Second Life?"

Frets Nirvana: "No, they were not familiar with Second Life. I had to educate them on it. But they were open right away to hearing about it. Others seemed to resist.""We have sent over $45000 to help veterans through WWP and HFOT in the last five years."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Forty-five thousand dollars, that's pretty impressive."

Frets Nirvana: "I would like to do that in one year! An then increase it from there (laughter)."LOL

Bixyl Shuftan: "Heh heh ... Have any of the veterans made an effort to involve another charity?"

Frets Nirvana: "Yet ... on an aside, Relay for Life states they $250,0000 in one year, so why not for vets? Not that RFL is not a good cause."

"Not aware of vets trying for another charity. But if they do,good for them. But I know what I went through getting this set up, a lot of work."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What other benefits for veterans in Second Life have you heard of?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well ....I haven't really ...."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Just one time performances and nothing else on a regular basis?"

Frets Nirvana: "Usually .... Since I have been involved in this for some time now, if someone wants to do something for vets they will contact me, and I give them donation kiosks etc. .... there are others who do benefits, but they will use our donation kiosks etc."

"So if that is what you mean, there are venues here and there that do things, but not on a regular basis like our monthly benefit. But I WELCOME that big time. Our vets need all the help we can get. RFL does not, collects $250,000 with one benefit! (laughter) But I don't have the time to organize what they do."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "Besides the charity events, can you tell me what else goes on at Veterans Isle?"

Frets Nirvana: "As far as Veteran's Isle .... candidly you would have to talk with Dahlea about that."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "Did you have any plans for special events soon?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well, we have one event a month that I organize,last Sunday each month. That is about all the time that I have to be able to organize an event. But I definitely welcome anyone who wants to put something together for HFOT. ... this months benefit, May 31. Then the next one will be June 28 .... etc. Always last Sunday of each month from 5-9 PM at Veteran's Isle. That way we have at least one benefit, and hopefully establish a schedule that people put on their calendar."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "Were there any venues that you performed at which had benefits of their own?

Frets Nirvana: "Not on a regular basis .... thinking about it, I cannot highlight any that I perform at that have benefits for vets. But I would welcome that."

Bixyl Shuftan checks the time, "Was there anything else that you wanted to mention?"

Frets Nirvana: "Just that I encourage people to take the time out of their busy lives and think about the needs of our wounded veterans ....and help as they can. And if anyone wants to sponsor an event for HFOT, contact me."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Thank you for your time and good luck."

It was then that we parted ways. Shortly afterward, Frets messaged me about one more detail, "Here are a couple more names that have been very supportive.  Jardasius Ecksol, Checkers Firelight and Vicktoreeia Resident. They are the primary ones that come to mind that sponsor events other than our monthly benefit. They do a lot with motorcycle clubs in Second Life. If you do mention other people, please make sure to mention them."

Shortly after this interview, the May 31st benefit on Veterans Isle took place. It was a success, raising 200,000 Lindens. Frets is still doing well at what he does. The next fundraiser there is Sunday June 28. Before then, he can be found performing at a few venues across the Grid.

Bixyl Shuftan

Nydia Tungsten Gets New Monitor From Sunweavers

Among the more active residents of the Sunweaver Estates is Nydia Tungsten. One of the estate managers who helps out with any land issues, in the past she was one of the regular DJs at Club Zero Gravity, the Happy Vixen, and other clubs. More recently she's been doing a number of videos, many of which have been featured on the Newser such as "Come Back," "Evacuate the Dance Floor," and "Margaritaville." And of course her articles in the newsletter, mainly reviews of games but also some occasional social commentary.

In real life, Nydia's finances have been a bit limited, as have those of many residents. So when her monitor began acting up after several years of use, such as blinking out for a couple seconds, She didn't have enough after regular expenses to buy a new one right away. So reluctantly, she made the following announcement.

I can't shoot anymore videos until further notice, I have a dying monitor and it is going to cost me between 150 to 200 dollars usd to replace, so please bare with me while I tend to it and save up.

It didn't take long for word to get around. So after some discussion, Sunweaver chieftess Rita Mariner made an announcement of her own:

Sunnies:  Nydia Tungsten's Monitor is dying and doesn't have the funds to replace it and that means no more videos!  Maybe no more SL for her.  We can't have that.  REC has suggested a Monitor Fund for her, I agreed to collect any Lindens you may wish to donate to help out.  After a period of time, I will pass along any Lindens we get to Nydia and she can then convert it to Cash and transfer it to her bank!  So if you wish to help out, just sned your donation to me, Rita Mariner.

Not everyone donated via Rita. A few directly donated to Nydia. But the results were the same. It didn't take long at all for Nydia to find out she had all the money she needed.

Sunnies:  The fund to raise funds to help Nydia Tungsten replace her dying monitor was a complete success!  Those of us that donated, raised over ... towards her new monitor and she was awestruck!  She has offered to make music videos for all those that donated.  Way cool, Nydia!  Here is the Monitor she decided to get.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005623
Thanks again to all who donated.  We are Family!


Nydia herself had some words about what happened, "When I found out about it...I was shocked.....for them to do that for me .... it touched me deeply.  At first I thought maybe ... $10 to$50 dollars .... because I know how tight money is. Then I started getting it...and I cried...."

"I knew I had to get the best monitor I could for the money, so I enlisted my mega geek brother for help. Between the two of us we found a monitor at a great price. I was even able to get a 3 year extended warranty. And I thought I should get it as fast as possible, so people wouldn't keep donating their hard earned money..."

Nydia paused for a moment, then spoke again, "You know I am not one toask for help at a drop of a hat.... Once I confirmed the sale...I cried again. I am almost eight years old in Second Life. I have seen and heard of this happening to others as well. But never thought it would happen to me..." There was silence for a few more moments, "Sorry for the long pauses...crying again..."

"There are a LOT of people here in Second Life I consider family. I know to some here in SL they will call anyone family at the drop of a hat.....I only claim those that I truly care for."

So what were Nydia's plans now that she has a new monitor on the way? "I have stopped video productions because of the monitor, as well as most streaming and gaming," she explained, So I will start that up again." When asked if she had an idea for a video, "Several actually, skunks and vixens as well as others dancing. I will start with a small one at first as a test."

"What I REALLY wanted to say... To all of those that donated, and wanted too, I would like to publicly say 'Thank you' and your love has touched me deeplyand I will never forget this. I truly want to say more... but words fail me. I am STILL bloody crying... I want so much to give back some how to those that have given to me.....even in some small way."

It was a day later that Nydia announced that the monitor had finally arrived. She showed a picture of it to the Sunweaver group up and running, in the new Minecraft server a number of Sunweavers and others in the Furry Gamers group have been in, and that she was back in business.

Another example of how Second Life friends come together to help one another.

Bixyl Shuftan

Avina en' Cael on the Wrestling Charity Event for Team Fox

Avina en' Cael (Saria Resident) is someone many in Second Life would find unusual: a female wrestler. A performer at HAWX (Hellcats Angels Wresting X-treme) and the WPWF (Women's Pro Wrestling Federation), she's gone through her share of body-slams. Recently she's been involved with an upcoming WPWF event to help raise funds for Parkinson's research. Charlotte Williams recently interviewed her about the happening.

 Charlotte Williams: "Thanks for inviting me here today Avina"

Avina en' Cael: "Thanks for coming! Welcome to the Asylum." We settle down at the WPWF Commentary Table, with its birds-eye view of the WPWF Ring and Stage Area."

Charlotte smiles, "The Asylum'? So what usually happens here at 'The Asylum?"

Avina en' Cael: "Well, technically its the WPWF arena, but Saturday nights we hold our weekly WPWF Asylum show."

Charlotte nods,  "Ok, and tell our readers a little about what WPWF is, what does it stand for?"

Avina en' Cael: "Womens Pro Wrestling Federation, it's the all women wrestling federation run by Tyress Serevi, or  'The Nova' Tyress Serevi as she was known in wrestling, its a once a week hour-ish show, and she was kind enough to lend me the use of her arena for the big charity event."

Charlotte Williams: "Ok, sounds interesting for sure. Can you tell us a little about how wrestling works here in SL?"

Avina en' Cael: "There's two types. There's "Poseball" which is where I got started, before it turned into it's current state, where you basically hop on a poseball, type a huge paragraph describing what you're going to do to the person, and click a menu, and thats how you run the entire match. Or there's HUD wrestling, the actual wrestling that requires a lot of focus and knowledge of everything going on around you in the ring. Which is where you put on a hud, and you move freely in the ring, no poseballs, and you type out everything that you want to do, and it's up to you to line it all up and make it look good.So say I wanted to powerbomb you...I check my gestures (If I don't know them exactly), find the powerbomb trigger, and type it (./powerbomb)."

Charlotte smiles, "Please don't powerbomb me Avina! Ok, I see, and its like a dance of sorts, albeit one which involves kicks and punches?"

Avina en' Cael: "Kicks, punches, slamming heads on corners, throwing your opponent to the concrete...I've seen one person, Ayane, actually use one of our (the entire wrestling community) fans and do a move off his head...craziest thing I've ever seen."

Charlotte laughs, "Wow, sounds crazy indeed, unlike something many people would have seen in SL!"

Avina en' Cael: "Numbers Rossini, who helped build the NexGen system we use, said it best, 'What we do breaks SL, it's not meant to do it, but we make it do it'."

Charlotte Williams: "Would that be an original quote?"

Avina en' Cael: "Pretty close, I cant remember his exact wording, but it was pretty much identical."

Charlotte smiles, "So as you mentioned earlier, you started out on a poseball with your wrestling career, what made you decide to start wrestling in SL? And as a second part to that question, what keeps you coming back to SL to do it?"

Avina en' Cael: "Heh...the poseball thing was literally I needed the money. I don't remember exactly what for, but Ace Nightfire who helped with the Charity event was like 'Hey you know poseball wrestling makes a lot of money sometimes', So I asked Shania Adder if she would train me in it, and with my vast roleplay background, and my father getting me into Professional Wrestling (Note, Professional Wrestling, NOT Sports Entertainment as it is now), it was just natural to me. Then he (Ace) was like 'You should try this HUD system we have, called Nexgen', and I met Stacy Grace at the same time, and they got me started on the HUD stuff, and I found I liked it a lot more than poseball which was turning more into adult oriented, and I outright refused to do that....I'm there to entertain, not get naked."

Avina en'Cael : "As for coming back, I might not be as quick as everyone due to my crappy computer, but I still enjoy it...and being a heel, a bad guy, I love finding new ways to make the fans hate me even more week after week," Avina grins.

Charlotte Williams: "Sounds like an interesting hobby to say the least!"

Avina en'Cael : "So we've got the background story on wrestling in SL and your history in SL, and as you mentioned, we are here to talk about your charity event that is coming up this weekend. Can you tell our readers what the event is and how it came about?"

Avina takes a deep breath, "Well as I mentioned, when I was in the poseball thing, Ace Nightfire was always the DJ. Then we worked together in DCWF, and he always talked to me about a dream he had combining the two, music with SL wrestling. Well, about a year passed, we parted ways, I left DCWF and fed hopped a bit, and we started talking again, and he brought the idea up once more only this time he was trying to go with it. I had run a music venue for awhile, so I had a lot of live music artist contacts, so I was like 'You do the wrestling, I'll do the music, lets make it happen'. Unfortunatetly, our first attempt flopped, we didnt get out of planning stages, then the second, this time, it just sort of all came together finally."

"The event is for Team Fox, who are run by Barbie Alchemy, who runs the SL portion of Michael J Fox Parkinson's Research Society. They, unlike other big name charities, actually give 100% of the proceeds directly to research. Most will pay sim tier first, then CEO's, then staff, bills, etc, THEN about 30% goes to actual research. The MJF charity pays no tier, pays nothing but goes right to research, and I'll give your readers a video to watch which is very inspiring that we'll show Saturday as well."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyiiWxNguGo

Charlotte smiles, "Thank you, much appreciated. As we are sitting in a wrestling arena, obviously the event involves wrestling, but I believe it will also incorporate some musical elements. If our readers wish to come along to the event, what can they expect to see?"

Avina en'Cael : "Well, we start at 10 AM sharp up here in the Asylum with a match a long time in the making, Whiskers Savage vs La Gata Loca, its something you just have to see to understand. We'll end it with a never before seen six woman tag team elimination match with a match type I created myself, called the Dragons Dance. After the wrestling wraps at 1 PM SLT we're going to have two singers down below at the main stage. Diana Pearl will be opening up, then we'll have Celia Cruz, who is a live tribute artist to the late real life Celia Cruz.

Charlotte nods, "So its a wrestling show followed by a concert with live singers?"

 

Avina en'Cael : "Yep. That was the original idea, wrestling and music, and I could be wrong, but I don't believe a charity event has ever featured both in one day. I could be wrong though, I know your We Care is a huge wrestling event too."

Charlotte smiles, "Thank you, we had DJs for We Care last year, but no live singers. As its a charity event, how can people donate or offer their support?"

Avina en'Cael : "They can contact me if they wish to donate an item, and it will be raffled off (If anyone has a raffle system to donate that would be wonderful), or somehow given away for the event. They will get a poster like the ones around the arena and free advertising throughout the show in exchange. I'll personally be donating my entire Dragon Blade set, which go for about 500L$ in world each, all 10 of them to it, Absolute Animations is giving away any move from their vendors."

  Charlotte Williams: "And there will be donation kiosks as well?"

Avina en'Cael : "There will be one just to your right, and a couple down below as well. You can also visit their sim, the SL Newser just ran a beautiful article on it, and donate there as well. I really encourage people to read the article the Newser did and visit their sim, it's so beautiful, they have horseback riding, art displays, all kinds of stuff."

 

Charlotte nods, "That sounds wonderful. You definitely have plenty of ways to donate and support this most worthy of charities. Thank you very much for your time today Avina. Before I go, is there anything else you'd like to add to inform our readers about your event this weekend?

Avina en'Cael : "All tier for the sim is donated by a third party, as well as all expenses, so all donations go right to the charity research. If you're into SL wrestling...we're going to have some amazing matches...I mean Lyra Phoenix vs Tara Titan...that's going to be a hard hitting match, the Dragons Dance is going to be crazy, the music is going to be great...so clear your day out and come enjoy the show. Just be sure to de-script as much as you can, that's VERY important to reduce the lag.

Here are the all important details, so you don't miss a second of the action...

This Saturday 16th August, The Wrestling Charity Event for Team Fox representing Michael J Fox Parkinson's Foundation Fundraiser begins at 10am SLT, at 1pm SLT Diana Pearl and Celia Cruz take to the Synful Desirez Stage for a special live event. If you still want more wrestling, the weekly WPWF show begins from 6pm SLT. The SLURL for all these events is: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Careers/209/243/224. If you have any questions about the event, feel free to contact Avina (saria Resident in SL) for further information. Enjoy the event and donate BIG!

 

Charlotte Williams 

Reader Submitted: "Concert For Caprice" Raises 76,140 Lindens for National Kidney Foundation

By Madonna Daehlie

On Thursday, May 29th, the Rubber Room hosted a special two hour event, called the Concert For Caprice. The idea came from Cherise (CheriseLynn) as a way to celebrate Caprice Darkrose's life and love of jazz, as well to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.

Caprice Darkrose was a longtime resident of Second Life who previously owned the Darkrose Jazzland club, and later became a key part of the staff of the Rubber Room. She passed away on May 3, 2014 at the age of 35, due to complications of kidney disease, which she had battled for some time. Caprice was loved by many people in SL, and leaves behind many friends and a lot of memories.

The inspiration for the two hour live event came from Cherise, who wanted to find a way to celebrate Caprice's love for jazz music, and do so to benefit the National Kidney Foundation, which was a cause near and dear to Caprice's heart. Cherise contacted Gina Gracemount, who not only agreed to volunteer her time and talent to this special event, but also contacted Chillee Hernandoz, who also agreed to take part. Chillee and Gina are both well known for devoting their time to support others, often performing for events for the Relay For Life of Second Life.

Evergreen Engineer, the general manager of the Rubber Room, and who was very close to Caprice, generously donated the use of the club for the special benefit. Evergreen also assisted in hosting during the event.

Once the talent was lined up, the next step was to contact the National Kidney Foundation to set up a means to allow Second Life residents to donate their L$ to the charity. Both Madonna Daehlie and Elstan Guardian contacted the NKF via email, sharing the plans for the event, and helped to bring them inworld. Elstan also provided the event with a basic donation box, which transferred all the donations received directly to the NKF's avatar.

The first hour of the concert was performed by Chillee, who took the stage at noon. Despite having never met Caprice, she spoke of how honored she was to perform at this special event. She also mentioned that she had known a few people who knew Caprice, and were "deeply saddened" to hear that she had passed away. Her set was a mixture of moving, as well as upbeat songs, with her regularly urging all those in attendance to donate generously to this cause. She closed out her set with a pre-recorded and touching song for her daughter, which left very few dry eyes in the club.

At 1 pm, Gina took the stage and performed the last hour of this special benefit. She too put on an incredible set, including a number of touching and emotional songs that people asked her to sing and dedicate to Caprice. Much like Chillee before her, Gina's set was a combination of moving and fun, and she too urged everyone in the Rubber Room to continue to donate in Caprice's memory to help others.

Throughout the event, there were 50 or more people crowded into the club, with a peak of nearly 70. Many of those in the club knew Caprice, and wanted to be there to support a cause dear to her, as well as share love and memories.

Also amongst those in attendance was Anna, a representative with the NKF, who not only routinely thanked everyone for their generous donations, but also passed along information such as "So far we've raised enough money to educate 8 doctors on the latest research and care on kidney disease." She also thanked everyone for their support throughout the concert at the opening and closing of the concert.

The two hour event raised L$76,140, or roughly $300, thanks to the love and generosity of the organizers, performers, and attendees. The concert, and it's final total, was seen as a rousing success by all involved.

Elstan Guardian is working on plans to hold his own benefit event for Caprice and the NKF in the near future. Elstan, the caretaker of the Caprice Darkrose Memorial and Kinky BDSM Club, was a friend of Caprice's in real life. The memorial and club, which he has built, is meant to be a lasting tribute to Caprice, as well as her legacy to all those she loved in SL. The memorial and club has so far hosted two special memorial events on May 8th and 10th, DJ'd by Evergreen, Madonna, Immm Back and Siouxsie Seoung. Details will be shared once the plans are finalized, and much like the memorials in early May, all will be welcome.

If you would like to support the National Kidney Foundation inworld, or would like to help out with the upcoming benefit, please contact ElstanGuardian Resident or Madonna Milena in SL.

Madonna Daehlie

Bain Finch's Fundraiser for Aryon Dagger

By Bixyl Shuftan

Om Sunday January 6, Relay for Life member Bain Finch held an event for friend and fellow Relayer Aryon Dagger. Aryon's computer had broken and she couldn't afford a new one, just as she was facing surgery for cancer followed by weeks of recovery. So Bain talked to a few other friends, and they set up a DJ music event high over the Lemonia sim. Bain wanted to keep things somewhat quiet at first, wanting the event to be a surprise. But on the day of the benefit, it was out and clear in the open.

The event began at 10AM SL time with Vic Mornington DJing. I dropped in shortly after 11 with Bcreative Wild playing the music. Later on, Madonna Daehlie and Nuala Maracas would DJ at 12 and 1PM respectively. The place was on the inside of a sphere with the appearance of partying in the middle of space. Among the others there were Avariel Falcon in his dark unicorn avatar, Panza Eilde, Saffia Widdershins, and more. One was in a green alien avatar. Arnold (Gager) of Steelhead wraped himself up in a Christmas box, getting some chuckles, "Arnold, I don't know why, but I want to open you (laughter)." "You know cats and boxes."

During the event, the people sent words of encouragement to Aryon, which Bain relayed to her, "Hey Aryon. Go ahead and eat all the good stuff that I can't eat. You need your strength to get well, so we can all meet up in Florida." "We all love you, Aryon, and we're all with you!" "Aryon, we are all with you in this fight, till we all emerge victorious over the evil C, biggest Huggs."

The words truly touched Aryon's heart, "I cannot begin to tell you all what this means to me. I asked (Bcreative) to play this song for you all because you DO open my eyes when I cannot see through the tears, you DO give me breath after you have taken it away with the strength and love you share not only with me but all those on the dark journey. Bain and Panza, you have listened to my rants and raves, my laughter and tears and I cannot thank you enough. To everyone who has offered support and hugs and donated ... I WILL not give up ... I fight for you ALL. Thank you and I love you all SO much." these words were followed by the song, "Thank you for loving me."

Yours truly had to leave early, but I did get a message from Bain Finch later, "DONE!! (We) raised enough for Aryon and I'm at loss for words on how to thank every one." A few days later, Bain announced that the surgery had been a success and the cancer appeared not to have spread. Aryon was on her road to recovery, which would take several weeks. And thanks to Bain, she would stay in touch with her friends.

Bixyl Shuftan

"Operation Bronze," and Other Relay for Life Events

A few days ago, the Relay for Life in Second Life hit a milestone. The total amount collected since it's beginnings in 2004 had reached the one and a half million dollar amount, "At the end of April 2011, we celebrated hitting $1milion," stated Bain Finch in a post, "and in just over 400 days since that amazing feat, you went and raised that bar to $1.5m."


The weekend of June 8-10 saw a number of Relay events. Among them was the RFL Street Fair held at Lollygagger Lane at Menophara on June 9 from 9AM to 7PM. Conducted by the Lollygagger and Hobo groups, the event promised an art gallery, bus tours, a mud wrestling ring, tarot card readings, a kissing booth, and of course the live music events, such as Frets Nirvana. And there was "more free stuff than you can shake your rat-on-a-stick at." The area had a general run-down look with automobile shells and other debris alongside shacks. There were a number of goods set up to sell to raise money.

Dropping by in the middle of the event, there were a number from Europe still up, Firery Broome asking, "I can not believe that you EU peoples are still awake." "Hehehe!" "Just getting started Fire." "We Germans still party."

For those who don't know, "lollygagger" was what one Linden was quoted as calling those residents whom were always complaining about the Lab, and the name was soon adopted by some with rebellious streaks.

The big event that weekend was "Operation Bronze" on Saturday June 9. For twelve hours from Noon to Midnight SL time, Relayers would party at ACS Island. The purpose of the event was to boost the totals of active but underperforming teams to 10,000 Lindens, which ranks as Bronze status in the Relay. The idea had started at the "Halfway There Fair" earlier this season.

For this Bronzing event, 25 smaller teams had their totals raised to Bronze rank. From Zelda Generations to WrongSide Relay, to Asylum, these obscure teams had their moment in the sun, and a new status while DJs like Fuzzball Ortega and Trader1 Whiplash did the music for the dancing Relayers. All teams that had raised at least one Linden were elgible. And by the events end, the last elgible team was at  10,000 total, "2890 now! … 1890 to go! … 790 to go!" "Yes! We did it!" "Last team bronzed." "Oh my God! What an achievement!" "SL Relayers are Amazing!" "You guys rock!"

The event was marked by wisecracks and joking around. One guy spent his time in a feral deer avatar, leading to some jokes about being a hatrack. But there was also more sentimental statements, "I was part of something great, and found I have a family here who I can reply on and will help if I can."

As Bain Finch put it, "It really was beautiful to witness the birth of Bronzing.

To see the team totals, Click Here.

Sunday was another event by Team Harmony of Hope, "Racing Tiny Cars for a Cure" at the Yes sim. The event took place on a track under a roller coaster. The little cars were cute, getting in them showing an animation of the character squeezing in, and then the rear license place showing the driver's first name. "I still have no clue how i got into the thing!" Trader1 Whiplash Exclaimed. People were asked to donate at least 50 Lindens.

Unfortunately, the cars could be difficult to drive, instead of bouncing around obstacles mine would launch in the air and come back down. Eventually, mine was knocked off course and into the lake. Still, everyone had fun.

There were of course other events that weekend. Among them was a race by the Strigoi Motorcycle Club. They found themselves without a sim and appealed for help. Ghostriders World MC heard about their problem, and offered their own sim for the event.

It was a good weekend for the Relay for Life

Bixyl Shuftan

The "Buddy Walk" Downs Syndrome Bennefit

On March 21st at the Palladium and Platinum sims, a fundraiser was held to raise donations for Downs Syndrome research: the 4rth Annual SL Buddy Walk. Throughout the period, nine musicians performed at the stage at Platinum, beginning with Mankind Tracer at 2 Pm SL time:


Mankind will be performing live today at "Buddy Walk" to benefit Down Syndrome! All live! All Acoustic! All ROCK! Bring out your friends and let's help raise some awareness and maybe some money!



Showing up at the landmark just after 5PM, I saw that the dance floor went across two sims, one third of it and the stage over the sim crossing from the other two thirds. Maximillion Kleene was performing at the time to an enthusiastic audience, and just after 5:30PM the total raised hit 50,000 Lindens.

People could donate to various kiosks set up around the place, "Donations collected from this event are given to NDSS! you can find the kiosks at the landing point, both sides of the venue entrance and both sides of the stage." Most Lindens donated went to the unit next to the stage which also gave the total amount.

Both the volunteers and the dancers cheered each other on as the total went up, "We are so happy to see everyone today at the 4th Annual SL Buddy Walk," with occasional announcements going up.


SL Buddy Walk Announcement shouts: ++++++++ March 21, 2012 marks the 7th anniversary of World Down Syndrome Day and for the first time in 2012 this day will be officially observed by the United Nations. Each year the voice of people with Down syndrome, and those who live and work with them, grows l

SL Buddy Walk Announcement shouts: ++++++++ There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States.

SL Buddy Walk Announcement shouts: ++++++++ Down syndrome occurs when an individual has three, rather than two, copies of the 21st chromosome. This additional genetic material alters the course of development an …


Checking in again just after 10 PM SL time, Edward Kyomoon was performing for the final hour. Volunteer JL Zinner shouted "We are at $136,673 raised..... our goal is to beat last year which was $156,000L. Just an hour left to do that!!" Taking a look at the main kiosk, the total was actually 139,674 Lindens. The final total, listed in the event's blog, was 143,283 Lindens, with 506 residents visiting that day. The stage was not a permanent set, and was gone the next day.

The volunteers suggested three links on the Internet for people to check out, www.ndss.org , www.buddywalk.org , and www.worlddownsyndromeday.org .

For pictures of the 2011 event, check the Flickr.

Bixyl Shuftan