Sci-fi Actor Yee Jee Tso Interview At Spooky Strides

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

The "Spooky Strides" Halloween event for "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" had a large number of music events. But that was not all. At one point, they had a TV and movie actor to talk to: Yee Jee Tso. It took place at 4PM SL time at October 24.

NOW @ Spooky Strides: Actor Yee Jee Tso  4pm-5pm
you've seen them in Snowpiercer, Psych, Battlestar Gaalctica, Dr Who, and MANY more things.  LIVE LIVE Halloween Question & Answer event.

The event took place in front of an audience. Tso appeared in the avatar "yjtso Resident." He sat in front of a chair, next to a real-life picture of him.  Also nearby was a Relay kiosk for donations. Various people from the crowd would ask questions. Occasionally someone would be thanked after a donation.

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle), "You have been in a ton of films!"

Tso, "Yea there's been a few lucky moments over the years, haha."

VєηυŞ (Venus Amore), "So Yee, I know you have done a lot of things in your career over time. Do you still enjoy it now as much as you did in your earlier years?"

Tso, "Yea being on set is fun. Haven't been doing it lately as I took a hiatus. (The) last show was Snowpiercer. Great crew."

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle)  "Well, let's go, top three? I wont judge the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie!"

Tso, "Oh I'm not totally sure about Mary Kate. If I recall correctly it was an animated thing. Top three: Doctor Who. Maybe Snowpiercer is in top 3? I dunno, that's hard to say, 50/50 maybe. Oh 'Honey I Shrunk The Kids' was an interesting time. Unfortunately Peter and i did not spend too much time together."

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle), "The Muppets Christmas Movie!! So fun."

Tso, "MUPPETS! That is top three for sure. Small part, but very fun and amazing to work with the muppets. Good cast too. Although I saw some of the muppets being 'transported,' and it was a bit freaky,.cause they just sit there. I was expecting them to start talking to me. They had crazy CNC machines to make all the detailed set stuff. Yes when you go up close they still look real. Well, they were real, I guess, in a way (laughter). The CNC machine means they could make it look almost exactly like they designed it."

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "Which character that you have played would you say is most like yourself?"

Tso, "Oooo, good question. Um. well I'm pretty nerdy in real life. I work in software engineering, so that could be a few roles. Actually Teddy Chin in 'Antitrust,' he was an open source software developer."

When Nance Clowes thanked someone for donating to the kiosk, Tso asked, "So Nance, when I click on that kiso, I go to a web page. Do I just click a donate button and do a web chcekout?"

Nance answered, "The kiosk lets people donate to it in 'Second Life' Linden money."

Tso responded, "Oh I'd love to do that but not sure how." Nance informed, "You CAN donate by Paypal, directly to American Cancer Society, which is also us, at https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/12854 ."

Tso then noticed something, "Ooooo, nice cover of radio head." VєηυŞ (Venus Amore) told him, "This is 'Post Modern Jukebox.'"

Jenny Anatine (Jenny Shackle), "So (about the) hiatus? Will you be returning to this life? Or are you enjoying hiatus?"

Tso, "Hiatus, yea I'm enjoying trying out other things, like I've been producing music or learning to. But I'll get back into acting at some point."

Liz Wilner, "Of all the roles you've had, which was your all time fav?"

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "The characters you play seem to be more on the positive side, do you ever think to play more dark characters?"

Tso, "Dark characters, yea. On 'Witches of East End,' I played this guy that was possessed by demons and went insane. Also when I was young they used to cast me in Chinese gang member roles (laughter)."

Liz Wilner, "Is there any current show or project out there that you would love to be cast in?"

Tso, "Brandon Sanderson's stuff, because I read them all with my kids, so they'd be super-stoked. Or maybe the new 'Wheel of Time' series?"

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "Which character that you have played would you actually like to be friends with in real life?"

Tso, "Oooo, good question. Okay, there was one on Smallville where my character could make electric energy bolts and stuff. So, that could come in handy I think, if we were good friends. Maybe he could like power my house or something."

(a few chuckles in response)

"Also (the) Snowpiercer guy was one of the richest people in the world. Not that in real life, I'm looking to have rich friends. But since we're fantasizing about fictional friends, might as well be one who can buy me a jet. Haha!"

Liz Wilner: "Can you name a show you like right now, that you watch?"

Tso, "Show right now,that I watch. To be honest, I don't watch much of anything anymore. My kids and I were watching 'Mandalorian' together a while ago."

The donating came up again when Nance spoke up, "You guys have helped us raise nearly 1/4 Million
lindens this expo so far." Tso replied, "Nice! So I made a Paypal thing, but I'd love to try it with the Second Life coins or whatever, how do you make that work?" VєηυŞ told him, "I can help you in IM." Tso spoke, "Sorry I'm pretty bad at operating this thing."

Nance Clowes, "How was working on 'Psych?'"

Tso: "Oh those guys are hilarious! It's constant improv. Very funny, naturally funny people. And (it) gives you the freedom to just do whatever when you're acting with them."

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "As an Asian, do you think it was easy or hard to get into movies/shows when you started your career?"

Tso, "Oh another good question. Yeah, it was more difficult. The thing is, there are less roles available. It's better now, but back then for every audition I got, my white male friends would get five or ten. Now, they would bring up the point that more of them would go to the audition making it more competitive. But they limit the number of people they see for each. And they can only hire one per part. So the competition thing only goes so far. You need the sheer number of opportunities."

Rayvynex Resident, "Do you have any tips for anyone hoping to get a start ?"

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "What acting advice would you give to your younger self just starting off in acting?"

Tso, "Yes keep doing it. It's all about perseverance. And advice to my younger self - Focus. Stop messing about (chuckle). In between gigs find something useful to do with yourself instead of f*rting around."

(a few chuckles from the audience)

VєηυŞ (Venus Amore), "Ok everyone we have time for maybe one more question he has to go to another engagement."

RezzDammit Resident: (Bixyl Shuftan) "Are you going to be coming back to Second Life, either for events like this, for personal fun, or both?  (and pardon about my using an alt, Second Life is one place you can be two places at once)."

Tso, "Yep, next week Venus has another one setup."

Nance Clowes, "Guys, Yee Jee Tso will be back for a Part 2, on Satuday the 30th at 1pm."

Tso, "Cool, it was really nice to meet you all (smile)."

Jaqueline Malus (Etoile Galicia), "Thank you so much for answering our questions."

Rayvynex Resident, "We will look for you on the Big Screen!"

The interview then ended, and Tso left the stage for the musician that came next.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

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
 

Ranchan Weidman and the Robotech Roleplay

By Bixyl Shuftan

High above the HV Community sim is a space carrier which Ranchan Weidman made her home in Second Life, and the hangout of many of her friends. The carrier, and a few other places high above the sim, are the settings for a Robotech Roleplay. The roleplay is not a new one, but has been going on for close to a decade, since 2008. The game has players from both the early days, and some more recent ones. It is not a "combat rolepay" like New Bastogne, but instead the various settings help put the players in the mood, as well as the uniforms the players often wear. The game is played out much like a real life roleplaying game, with Ranchan acting as the gamemaster and the players various characters helping to defend Earth, Ranchan occasionally calling on the players to make dice rolls when making an action or responding to one.

"For the last nine years, players have participated in my blended version of Robotech / Albedo," Ranchan told me, "It's a Sci-fi space drama which incorporates a large part of the history of the original Robotech Universe mixed with The Albedo Universe. The players have enjoyed a mix of settings within the theme of Science Fiction /Fantasy from being in space, to the cold of Alaska and down in the nice islands of Hawaii."

Although the game is often called "Robotech" out of convenience, the title Ranchan gave it is "Robotech: The Albedo Alliance." For those who don't know, "Robotech" is the American version of Japanese anime TV shows and movies in which human pilots fly space fighters that can fold into robots in combat against giant aliens called Zentraedi, whom are a warrior culture that finds a number of aspects of human society, such as music and love, hard to understand and sometimes frightening. "Albedo" is a less well-known science fiction tale, Ranchan stating, "Albedo is the shortened version of Albedo : Anthropomorphics. Artist Steven A Gallacci Art Featured here http://www.furaffinity.net/user/stevegallacci , and here http://www.stevegallacci.com , in where he created a universe of anthropomorphic animals in a slightly futuristic setting but dealing with an in depth look of political , social and military values ideals and repercussions. I would highly recommend reading the story. It's well written and thought through."

The plot of the roleplay's story universe diverged from that of cannon Robotech from the very start, "There are lots of things I remember, and I fondly remember how things got started for this roleplay. One of the things I stress to any new player, and as of late, older ones, I will not be following the cannon story line of Robotech. The story itself opened up with a bit of background history for the universe I was going to create, and the players were going to live in and help shape. ... Robotech fans ... would recall the day the SDF 1 crashed onto Earth. And that's about as much original cannon material I relied on to start with. Everything after that point is unique to the universe. When the SDF-1 crashed, it opened a tear in the space - time continuum . This space - time tear, pulled a cruise ship from the Albedo Universe, over, thus forever introducing anthropomorphics to humans

"From there, after 10 years of strife and working together. we introduce the players characters to the world. This being abbreviated from what the players actually read in the note card. But when it first started, our players were just arriving at boot camp, at an island nearby Macross Island. The SDF was three months out of being completed, when our first set of players started their training. The first set of trainees were, Miya Cross, Nydia Tungsten, L'sai Aeon, Icebolt Aeon, Umbra Gardenvale, Tanya Ayoob, Kit Repine, and Squick. "

Besides the plotlines of the roleplay, what's been going on with the place it's been held is a story in itself, Ranchan explaining, "Things were slow at first for the roleplay as I was still holding my own, running Club Afterburner, putting together the military training base the trainees were studying at and building a 100 m diameter labyrinth under the RDF CVN Aegwei I for a treasure hunt. It was only after Linden Lab changed the rules on void sims, changing them to Homesteads, and bumping up the cost that we had to abandon Pacific Waters and took up residence on Sunweaver Air, which later became HV Community sim, and not having the duties of the club things started to pace faster for the role play. The void sim offered the size of a full sim but a quarter of the prims , script allowance and avatars that could be on it. After moving over from there. we were squished into roughly less than a quarter size sim. I had to trim down further when my real life situation drastically changed and I couldn't support the parcels I had. so we became pretty small in size. It was around that time that we moved from the northeast corner of HV community to where we are now, about center east to just off center of the sim that I dedicated some of the land to a worthwhile cause.

"I've built at least 20 versions of the ARMD platform to fit each parcel. We're currently on a decent sized parcel, about 108m by 64. maybe 80 meters. ... My builders that have helped me with some of the zones. really deserve a good portion of the credit too. A special thanks to them 'cause my landscaping skills suck compared to building things .Kinya Resident and Matoazma 'Mato Foxy.' "

I asked about the ship's many different versions over time. Ranchan answered, "Four of the versions were for prim (and) land size. Everything else was overhaul. Like spring cleaning, only more frequent."

I asked about how often does the roleplay have sessions, asking if it had one a week. Ranchan answered, "We've started to do two. One of our long time members schedule at work changed and the goal was to include her more so a second day had been brought in. Been running a second day for over eight months now. The eventual goal is to have something going each day, with some parts being live interactions, as if you and I were walking through the hallways, and stopped to have a chat, then moved past that, one heads to a different location, while say I headed to the bridge of the ship etc. But that's going to require a bit more game assistants staff, and a lot more players."

I asked about the various plots over time. Ranchan answered, "Every player has a sub plot that they are involved with some how. Sometimes the sub plots become larger side plots and main plots as because of not strictly following the main story, but the players following an untold story of the combined universe has allowed for a lot of flexibility. A lot of 'who cares what Rick Hunter did, or Toki did, but what Nydia Tungsten did, or Miya Cross has done. Mato's achievements, and what our new players Christine ( played by Skylark 'Snowy' ) and Puella ( played by Kiwi ) are doing.' Unfortunately, with time and how it is (with) Second Life, for some players real life has stolen their time, not letting them come on and participate. Tanya Ayoob, our ship 'Gunbunny' Special Forces specialist hasn't been on in at least a few years."

"For me, I dwell in an abyss of plots and sub plots. I love to end sessions at times, with cliffhangers. A sample set of plots that I believe the players have enjoyed are as follows. One adventure led the players to take part in a ball at a ski lodge in Alaska. They had to detour an assassin plot against one of the delegates which were attending a meeting being held there. That one turned into a ski chase down hill. Another one took place at a roller rink. the players were going in to rescue the squadron commander, Shelly 'Kit' Sintol. She had been abducted while on vacation by a former friend of Umbra Gardenvale, who was leading an anti military group. One of the first plots during the training phase was surviving the wilderness after being shot down on a routine helo repelling lesson."

Asking more about the ski chase, Ranchan described, "After the team uncovered who the assassins were, some of the group that were involved attempted to get away from the players. One of them had managed to get onto a pair of skis and were rushing away down a non trail path. But they were captured still in the end. After the three sessions of the players arriving at the base in Alaska, they headed to a hotel, individually, although there were some that arrived in pairs. got dressed up for the night at the lodge, and eventually made it to attendance of the party they were able to uncover the who and neutralize the threats fairly swiftly. Although the one that got away on skis did make it down hill to a set of private cabins which was where he was taken down as well. that part only took one session to wrap up. I had built a small small not to scale model of the lodge up in the mountain, and a few of the cabins down below. After that, is when Mato started to take part as well."

The current plot  involves the team having been assigned their own ship, of which Matoazma captains, but Ranchan couldn't go too much in detail of the subplots, "Those are still in the progress of rolling out."

Of the roleplay's future, Ranchan told me, "Well, I would love to add more players, and bump some current players to staff that still play so that eventually this can be a more interactive roleplay with bells and whistles and running 24/7, and I hope that I can continue providing material for the players so they don't get bored."

"I would love to thank all of my players, past, present, and hopefully future for taking part in helping to shape the history of the universe that I started. Every one's contribution with their character into the story lines means a great deal to me. I enjoy watching players relax, characters develop and mature and hope that they have enjoyed it as much as I have, and continue to do."

The Newser may do articles in the future about the roleplay, such as in depth articles about the players and their characters.

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: The Interstellar Alliance Roleplay

By Foxythejamie

A group with simple beginnings, as the Interstellar Alliance (ISA), the fleet has a lot to live up to. However in most categories, it fell short of that goal, quite a bit. From bad administrators, to not so good role plays, among others.

The story starts quite a bit ago, with the ISA 1.0. In ISA 1.0, if you could fit a back story to your character, it was approved. The group was small, but amazing. The sim design was something to stare in awe at as well. However things started going south after a bit of trouble.

After a few griefer attacks which left the sim completely empty, and void of items, the group's owner decided to move sims. However, little did everyone know, his plan was to also move away from ISA 1.0. He turned it into a Star Trek roleplay, with 3 ships. Thus, the ISA 2.0 was born.

That is where most of the problems had started. To start off, the group owner removed his second in command, and replaced her with someone else, who proved to be a bad choice of an administrator. He then started liquidating whole groups within his now growing group, which pretty much ended up with quite a few people leaving the role plays. After a few more weeks the groups were made entirely up of people who had never even heard of the ISA 1.0.

Well then after he and his XO (Executive Officer, or second in command) scrapped that roleplay as well. They started a new roleplay, named The 12th Expeditionary Fleet. The name might suggest that everyone on the ship will be exploring far off places, and getting into loads of trouble. Well the second of that is true. There is loads of trouble. However the trouble doesn't lie within the storyline. The trouble lies within the roleplay itself.

Let's start with my first roleplay on the sim. It started out less than well. With me being a marine, trying to keep the culture of ISA 1.0 alive, there was no seat for me. So I had asked the Captain where he wanted me to be, and he responded by simply saying "I do not care." Well that got me a bit perturbed, however I stayed for the roleplay. I am now wishing I hadn't. For in the time of 1 hr and 30 minutes, we endured a Captain who thought meta gaming, god modding, and power playing were a great way to run a story line.

For non role players, meta gaming means you use things you found out, out of character, in an in character story line. For example, if someone IMs you information, and you use that information in a roleplay. Power playing means you are not letting anyone else respond to what you are doing. This means if you just walk over to someone, punch them, and walk away. God modding is the worst one yet. This one means you are role playing with someone else's character using an rp tool.

Well the meta gaming we had to endure through that first roleplay was the Captain seeming to know exactly where the asteroids were, even when they were not on screen. He seemed to know that a ship, which had not been heard from in over 50 years, was floating in the middle of space, as well as knowing exactly where the ship was. Also seeming to know exactly which way a planet, which was over 200 Light years away, was from the abandoned ship.

The power playing we endured was the captain getting mad at a lot of characters and biting their tails, or slapping them. Then he would simply return to his seat without even waiting for a response. Of course that could have been easily overlooked.

However the worst thing being done by the captain, was an rp tool being used by him, to roleplay as other characters. He role played as my character as well as a few other, prompting some to leave mid rp.

The second roleplay I was in, was with a different Captain, this one being the owner of the group, but had pretty much the same outcome. This captain was also role playing as if he had never even seen a full episode of the great series. During the roleplay we encountered a ship with a weapon that was apparently powerful enough to pierce the shields, and then burn a hole straight through our saucer section. Yet somehow, this extremely powerful ship took one hit from a Quantum Torpedo, and was not only destroyed, it was vaporized. I am no expert in the show, but for one, I know for a fact that if something were to pierce the shields, then we'd have no shields left. Also, if something really was that powerful, it would be able to withstand an entire barrage of torpedoes. In Star Trek, ships with powerful guns are themselves powerful, and able to withstand a multitude of attacks.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this roleplay. In my mind they took a great theme and just soiled it.

Jamie

Star Fleet Galactic: Adventures of the USS Ironhorse

By Foxythejamie

"Star Trek" roleplay is not new to Second Life. In fact one of the first roleplay groups here was in fact a Trek group. However different groups have different ways of roleplaying, and that is not just one of the unique things about the Star Fleet Galactic, or SFG. From a dedicated group, to multiple bridges, and multiple captains. This group is one for the history books.

SFG is the child of the ingenious thinking of a man named Steve Atlanta. He alone builds bridges, and even worlds for his group. He himself is one of the two Admirals of the group. The other Admiral being Kitty. Together, these two have helped this small group thrive, and grow into what it is today...A multi bridged, multi crewed rp group, with a passion for having fun.

To whoever said you can't make a parcel roleplay work well, you need to come here, because not only do they have a parcel, they also have over 80 different, unique planets, all built by Steve himself. SFG is literally a small roleplay that can do, has done, and will do great things.

Another aspect that makes this group one of the best, is the sheer will of the roleplayers. The players, are given an outline of what the mission is, however they are free to choose what happens during the roleplay, whether it's the ship being boarded, or them boarding an enemy ship, you never know what way the RP will go, which adds to the suspense.

All in all, this is truly worth looking at, if you want a star trek roleplay that allows you to be who you are.

Images from Steve Atlanta

Jamie

Interview With Talia Sunsong, Author of "Twilight of the Star Vampires"

A friend in Second Life media recently told me about Talia Sunsong (taliasunsong), whom had written a science-fiction parody: "Twilight of the Star Vampires." She had been at book readings, and giving out links to where one could get the stories.

Today is the last day for free for book 1, then book 2 will be free for 5 days. It's a trilogy. I'm giving a book reading today at 2pm at Open Books at Four Bridges. You don't need a kindle to read it, as Amazon gives free kindle software.

I met up with Talia, Paula Sunsong in real life, at Open Books between readings. She was in a happy mood, as friends of hers had "really whipped up some magic. My book is #1 in my category, parody."

"So how long have you been writing?" I asked her. Talia answered, "I started writing at the age of 10, hoping to become a novelist. I wrote a roleplaying game published by Hero Games. It was a science fiction game ... 'Star Hero.' ... I also founded a free newspaper called 'The Rallyer.' "

I asked her how the paper went. Talia answered, "As a journalist for 'The Rallyer' newspaper, I covered an event where the police started clubbing people. I myself was hit with a metal baton. I had no major injuries, fortunately. Later the police even shot into the crowd with rubber bullets and I was in that crowd." I winced, "Ouch, how many were hit, and how close did those get to you?" "There were within six to eight feet of me. I did not hear of any injuries. The scary part was, I just saw the police shoot. I did not know whether it was rubber or real bullets." "How did the protest get violent?" I asked. She answered, "The police were actually more violent than the protestors. In fact the police beat uptwo2 police review commissioners who were in the crowd observing. The police did not know they were police review commissioners for the city." She paused, "I guess writing satire is a lighthearted contrast to my journalism career."

"Star Vampires is my first satirical work," Talia told me, "I like poking fun at overbearing corporate marketing and governments. It has several love stories intertwined with action. It opens with the Vullcan Spocko being turned into a vampire. He asks 'Is logic all that there is?' Later, he turns Edward Cullet into a vampire by force, and kidnaps Edward for the Vulcanturi Empire. Edward has two children with Queen Paddymay: Luck and Lela." She grinned, "You might recognized the similarity to Luke and Leia Skywalker of 'Star Wars,' Spock of 'Star Trek,' and Edward of 'Twilight.'Spocko meets Lela, Edward's daughter, when she is trapped on the Dearth Star. Both Being telepathic, they feel as if they are 'soulmates' but Lela is wary of the Vulcanturi Spocko for kidnapping her father."

I chuckled a bit, "sounds like a number of people and things from those three stories get parodied." "Yes it was fun to joke about well known images," Talia told me, "On one planet they meet a 'Keepler elf of Nabiscko' who makes magic cookies in a tree. The Queen threatens to cut off the supply of Mint Milano cookies if the Senate does not help her. If only that threat worked in the real world to keep politicians in order. (laughter) Another love story is Obegone, the Jetti knight, who falls for Brun Solow (Hans Solo's replacement). Obegone also dated "Jabya the Hot" (Jabba the Hut's replacement in the story)."

"Guess 'Pizza the Hutt' was already taken," I mused. Talia chuckled,  "Mel Brooks scooped me on Pizza the Hut (giggle)." She continued, "Obegone met her at "Singles Roulette" where the men sit on a large spinning floor that spins, placing each man in front of a woman as a date. Jabya does not like being dumped by Obegone, but she gets revenge, having Brun Solow frozen in carbonite."

"Was the Star Wars parody 'Spaceballs' any influence?" I asked. Talia answered that it was, "I enjoyed 'Spaceballs' and 'Galaxy Quest' as inspiration. The playfulness of those movies frees my mind to write. Humor is freeing of creativity" "Were there any other influences?" I asked. She told me there were, "I think roleplaying games gave me the opportunity to play different characters, act out plots and joke with friends. That fueled me for writing. Roleplaying in Second Life can mean a lot of things from medieval fantasy to sexual fantasy." She then winked and giggled.

After a chuckle, I asked, "Did any of these games have an especially memorable plotline and scenes?" Talia's answer was, "In person, I started with Dungeon and Dragons, I liked Champions (the superhero game), Star Hero (the science fiction game I wrote) and private eye/spy games. Later I actually became a private eye in real life. Psychologists used roleplaying as therapy decades before roleplaying games were sold. I think roleplaying gives you a new perspective."

Talia being a detective caught my attention, "How did it go?" She answered, "I was a San Francisco private investigator for 3 years, like Sam Spade (smile). I had one case where I was following a man suspected of injury fraud. An ambassador's car with national flags got in between us. I was afraid I'd be arrested for tailing an ambassador (laughter). After a mile or two, the ambassador's car turned off and I was hot on the trail of the suspect again. One man I videod playing baseball when he claimed to be too injured to work. He flipped off the camera. My boss thought it was hilarious, and played it in slow motion to our whole office." She chuckled, "So you could say roleplaying and the silliness of life inspires my humor."

I asked Talia what were people saying about "Star Vampires?" She answered "I got a great five star review" on the book's page on Amazon, "People have said it is entertaining and yet has meaning in poking fun at mass marketing. Caglevision gave it a 5 star review. He is an author himself. ... My 'Twilight of the Star Vampires' is a trilogy and each book will be free for 5 days. The last one will by close the Xmas, like a gift."

"So what are your plans after 'Star Vampires?'," I asked Talia. "I have a fantasy short story about a witch with faulty powers," she told me, "I'm planning on putting it on Amazon. I also have been writing a book on how I put my diabetes into remission with diet and exercise." Of the witch, her spells don't quite work, "Her spells go haywire. Anything could happen with a spell misfire." She chuckled, leaving it to my imagination as to what could happen with such misfires.

"Any advice for those trying to write satire and parody?" I requested. Talia's answer was, "I like to say "Everyone is born with their own unique genius. Everyone  has a story to tell. I'd like to hear your story and to share mine. Today we have the tools to reach billions of people and 'sing our song.' "

It was about this time the interview ended. We chatted a little longer, then we soon went about our separate ways.

"Don't go to your grave with your song unsung."

Bixyl Shuftan

Perri Prinz and her Spectral Shadows Story Series

By Grease Coakes

Perri Prinz a long time bunny in Second Life took some time to talk with me about her ongoing series Spectral Shadows. Her artwork which shows scenes in her series is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/HV%20community/40/206/3001

In Perri’s own words, a genetic war on an earthlike planet called Cyngus melded human and animal DNA together to create a hybrid species of animal and human. Most people familiarize characters like that as furries. Her Spectral Shadows series in her words mirrors real life through her many stories. The furries in her stories walk around naked; however their sexual organs are hidden underneath their fur. They only show those parts when each character intends to use them.

On the planet of Cyngus there are many different towns that have their own religion based upon a certain theme. People in a gangster town have a short life span as everyone watches and worships gangster movies. Another town Perri mentioned was based upon the classic vintage movie the wizard of Oz. There’s four bad witches always in power as the good witches can’t wish accidents on the bad witches.

Perri Prinz, “Yes, short life expectancy is a staple of the religion of the gangster town. The Oz town has an extremely corrupt government that consists of 4 witches that are either good or bad. But because bad witches can arrange accidents for the good witches and good witches cannot do the same, there are almost always 4 bad witches ruling the town. “


I said in response, “Wow so sometimes being a good person can work against you. Playing by the rules doesn't always work. Like for example Dusty Coakes a fox who’s a cop shoots to kill when he confronts criminals. It might not be morally right, but as a cop he has zero tolerance towards lives being threatened. He picks the low road and shoots to kill to stop violent people.” I asked Perri does she have any fave characters or any characters readers should look out for.

Perri Prinz answered, "Well, Christine, our main protagonist fox girl is pretty popular. As are her companions, Vicki the Blue Vixen and Kacey the pink geek skunk. It's through Kacey that many aspect of Furry Fandom and GBLT situations are explored. Kacey is the only one of my characters to have attracted a seriously obsessed fan who collects anything I can give him of her.

Perri Prinz, "Actually, I have several fans who contact me from time to time, but this one fellow is seriously obsessed with the series, and in particular the Kacey character. Yes, it is very much a mixed blessing having fans and being so readily available to talk to them. On the one hand it's very encouraging and an incentive to keep going, in spite of my failing health, but on the other it puts me in mind of my responsibilities to keep things going, which can be a bit hard for me to deal with in some of my weaker moments."

I said it sounds like a good series and like aspects of her series it creates a religion of her own as she does have some fans along with the fan that obsesses over Kacey.

Dark Shadows, a gothic soap opera from the 60’s and 70’s, was about a gothic family that deals with werewolves and ghosts. The show was one of the influences of Perri’s story series.

Perri Prinz, "Dark Shadows introduced the concept of the sympathetic vampire. There would be none of the vampire series they have today without that alteration in the vampire concept."

Grease Coakes, "So no Buffy or Angel without that show or being human from the UK."

Perri Prinz, "Actually, it was more like they had to find ways of saving the ghosts, vampires and werewolves from themselves. Such things, even death itself, were like afflictions that could be overcome."

Perri said the Grease Coakes in her series would be unfairly treated as he is different as a griffin. As her version of me has a beak he is treated unfairly by other characters. As a writer for a newspaper he starts to report about this. It shows a theme that she wants to write about people being racist like in real life.

I commented flyers could get in trouble in my story if they abuse their ability to fly. Glenda Griffin pays to get into the zoo fair and square. Another flyer tries to fly in without paying, and is arrested by Daisy Shepard. Glenda is very happy she played by the rules.

Dark Shadows has 1,300 episodes. Perri said this in relation to her own series, "Yes, Dark Shadows, but that is the nature of soap operas. One continuing, ever developing story, containing many sub-plots that come and go, following the storyline of multiple characters at the same time, and airing 5 days a week over a number of years. The episodes add up to staggering numbers. And that's the format I'm working in with Spectral Shadows."

Read her series at http://spectralshadows.livejournal.com/ also go to her gallery in SL at http:// maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/HV%20community/40/206/3001 and see the amazing art work drawn by the punk hippie from Canada.

the.punk.hippie@gmail.com is the best way to contact the artist if you want to hire her to draw for you.

Perri Prinz’s series sounds deep and involved. It sounds like an amazing series that points out the flaws of our society in Perri’s own world of Cyngus. Give it a read!

Grease Coakes

Pooky Amsterdam’s Talk on Virtual Worlds and Science Fiction

On September 15th, the Constellation sim hosted a talk by Pooky Amsterdam. She IMed her friends, “Greetings and salutations. I will be giving a small talk on the use of Virtual worlds for science fiction. Hope you can make it.” Getting to the SURL she provided, the location was a small auditorium with some Star Trek banners around.

Pooky addressed the audience, “As it has been said that we didn't create the universe, so we can not fully understand it. Yet we have created the virtual world, in which we can create anything imaginable. This is done with what are free building tools, here n the 3D world of Second Life. While much is recreated to reflect the outworld reality of the residents lives, there are opportunities for fantasy, science fiction and historic role play which are met. Enthusiastically talented, the creators of Second Life's vast and stunning array of virtual goods and content contribute much.”

“The legacy of science fiction has inspired many people to carve out tracks of the grid for space bases, futuristic cities and to sell everything from starships to transporters. All while wearing the latest 2520 fashion. While books give much for our minds eye to describe, it is thought out before us. Being able to immerse in a 3D world with other people provides a level of visual storytelling which is unique to us. And that can be unique every day.”

“A number of traditional media programs have spawned new virtual worlds like the upcoming BattleStar Gallactica, Star Trek, and Star Wars – Clone Wars. What Second Life provides is a way to create a new vision and interpretation, not just re-create and to role-play within it. There is a pool of resources within peoples minds that can and is crafted into being. That they can also be manifest virtually & sold is an incentive and this encourages a new way of investing in the future here.”

“There are designers and builders in Second Life creating assets and adventures which reflect the same design traditions of classic sci-fi, yet made out of prims, sculpties or now mesh. They also provide a great backdrop and wealth for films. Films can not be made without sets, costumes, props and all that makes for great visual story-telling. I feel lucky to be part of this kind of creative world which inspires.” Pooky then gave the audience a link to her own work in science-fiction, “Time Travelers” - http://www.youtube.com/user/pookymedia#p/c/0/gaR4nCQuSno

Pooky continued, “Science Fiction has allowed us to dream the future in ways that go beyond a somnambulist experience. The future set apart from now allows us to see our humanity from a distance, recognizing where we are heading, and how we are getting there. Writers such as Huxley, Orwell, Asimov and Heinlein have sometimes expressed it's darker side to a wide audience which has embraced these warnings, recognizing our weaknesses, along with our strengths in them.”

“I believe we are fairer people for having been exposed to those writers who can target our inherent humanity within any and every futuristic scenarios imaginable. Science Fiction has long served as a place where intelligent creation of mental experiments – the way a writer can create a word image to have the reader “experience” - what the writer is talking about. Has flourished, allowing us to lose ourselves in a world to which we don’t actually belong, but can actualize!”

“As we live our lives within worlds where the infinite is possible, and we are no longer grounded by physics of a gravitational sort, as we create literally out of electricity, our imaginations are unleashed. We are able to see ourselves not in just the minds eye, but in an actuality we feel because we are immersed in it. Is there more value in a story that is outside of ourselves, a book as it were that you can put down? Or is it in an actualization of a story we put ourselves into each day, allowing that story to be molded and shaped by the others we encounter during it. Both are valid, both are immersive as well, and you put down the book, or turn off the computer. We are writing the stories of our lives, and within the spaces we both carve out and inhabit in Second life, we are preparing for this future.”

“Now we can play and act out in public through roleplay games that are intensely personal and private. Where books can reach millions with concepts and ideas, our daily activities on the grid might not have the same reach, but honestly who cares? This is a form of exploration in story line, in allowing the reader to become the creator as well. As we read the text others generate, we incorporate them into the plotline we are actually living. When you roleplay in a Science fiction universe like Second life, the tools for creation go beyond the text -”

“When we recreate our adventures in a science fiction world as an ensemble we are crafting a collective story, a shared one that we replay not again in the solitude of our study, but in the arena of our friends and relationships. I don't see a time when the private reflections and true luxury of enjoying a novel or story alone will fade. We are cerebral creatures us humans, and do like to be mentally engaged. The stories we live daily – the trip to the doctor, the job we must attend to, the calls from our families we don't put on hold- this is the fabric of what will wind up to be the novel of our lives, and the pages we turn are the ones we fill up everyday. Our keepsake memories are on an interior roll of film we can play endlessly, or until another memory takes its place somehow.”

“We engage in science fiction here though in a way that would have been impossible 100 years ago because of what we can see and do here, because of the amount of projection of self into the daily film of our lives, for surely we are starring in our own cartoon movies everyday. Where what we saw was generated by masters of Hollywood special effects in the past has now been replaced by a much much broader contingent of creators, people we know. People who might not be working for Pixar, or Lucsfilms, but who are working and creating the components of a vision they have. And all within an expertise they develop.”

“Where what we saw was generated by masters of Hollywood special effects in the past has now been replaced by a much much broader contingent of creators, people we know. People who might not be working for Pixar, or Lucsfilms, bu who are working and creating the components of a vision they have. And all within an expertise they develop. Often training themselves, at all hours of the day or night to put that extra touch on that which our community sees and uses.”

“We don’t have one person writing the scenario we all act out upon. We aren’t really Keanu Reeves, or Laurence Fishburn, though we can get avatars who look just like them, and we can inhabit them as if they were really speaking. Then again Keanu Reeves is an actor, his part in the Matrix while replayed in Netflix and millions of DVD's is a finite story. Ours do not have to be, ours are evolutionary because they are scripted by us. We make this transformative jump into an other here, and our imagination is forced to deliver more upon the text – than we are when we read and our minds are compelled to imagine what we read. We are not following a narration, We are the protagonist, we are the hero or anti-hero.”

“Here we are seeing & being what we read – and so with these visuals intact, both a part of us and in front of us we must take our imaginations to the next level. This kind of role play experience, and dynamic venue creation and participation undoubtedly leads to story telling in a vast and dynamic framework. Then there is storytelling for those who rent as engaged let’s say.”

“A new computer program has been proposed called the The Infinite Adventure machine which generates fairy-tale plots. Based on structuring Russian folk-tales to 31 basic functions, TIAM aims to question the limitations and implications of attempts at programming language and narrative. Because the program is unable to deliver a finished story, rather only a crude synopsis and illustrations, users have to improvise, filling the gaps with their imagination and making up for the technology's shortcomings.”

“Sounds like another day in the life of lag on a role play sim. The story and narrative are part of the history of humankind. Without the great writers of literature, among them Homer, Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, Isaac Asimov, Vonnegut and so many many others we would not be able to examine the kind of human relationships we have through the characters of great story-telling.”

“What we have now is the ability to become those heroes in a fiction of our own making, allowing for the belief in our own romantic heroism to upgrade the fabric of our daily lives. And when we dream at night, we dream of this future we share with one another daily. As we can lose ourselves in the story we are acting out, we can gain value in the epic tales of battle or the smaller private moments we find illuminate the larger picture – Such is the attraction because we can and do project larger image of ourselves and in the world everyday. It is critical that we hold onto authoring these narratives for ourselve, and not allow others to dictate them to us. This is a great freedome and draw for virtual worlds in this arena of science fiction.”

“What if stories could tell themselves? A see an electronic billboard glowing in the darkness, with a massive auto generated section of news that no one is reading. Recently – I found Narrative Science, a tech start-up based in Evanston, Ill. that can take data from a wide variety of sources and turn that data into newspaper and magazine articles. The technology application generates news stories, industry reports, headlines and more — at scale and without human authoring or editing. Narratives can be created from almost any data set, be it numbers or text, structured or unstructured. And of course thought of - SF great Philip K. Dick who foresaw this development in the 1960's. In his short story If There Were No Benny Cemoli, he describes a vast underground computer system called a homeostatic newspaper which is computational journalism.”

“Philip K Dick was a genius writer, who was recreated as an android after his death, with an eerie likeness to the author, the robot featured award-winning artificial intelligence that mimicked the writer's mannerisms and lifelike skin material to affect realistic expressions. The voice software loaded with data from Dick's vast body of writing actulaly allowed the robot to carry on natural-sounding conversations, with biometric-identification software and advanced machine vision allows the robot to recognize people -- even in a crowd -- read their expressions and body language and talk to them.”

“Until the head was left on a plane during the junket for Through A Scanner Darkly – He was missing for years. The missing head of the Philip K. Dick android was discovered in St. Petersburg, last year and confiscated in an Interpol sting against the Russian software piracy syndicate ‘ Little Bear.’ “ (chuckles in the audience) “They were using the head basically as a portable hard drive to transport pirated ebooks, movies, games, and data between Russia and South America," said Detective Andrei Supernov. ‘ I think they thought it was funny.’ The head will be returning to the United States next week, where it will be rejoined with the body.”

“These are folk lore tales in a sense of heroes whose afterlives will generate stories to come because they were authors who reached many. We are also authors and our stories ring true with our authentic journeys. We are authoring them, we are actively in them - we are using new technology to tell us the story.”

“Innovega is working on display technology using contact lenses that enhance human vision to directly see near-to-eye objects like electronic micro-displays. This technology can be used to make see-through augmented reality displays using transparent OLED and LCD displays. With the abilities we have to create an unlimited array of virtual objects, and with the cost effectiveness that allows for legions of people to have access to the tools of creation there is no doubt that we will be using this 3 Dimensional space to advance prototypes outworld. While we have recreated much of the past, those of us on the frontiers of science recognize the value of these tools.”

“While I believe in butter more than guns, and ploughshares, more than arms, I understand that the Military has been responsible for advancing technology on many levels, and we have a debt to that. My greatest hope Is that the underlying deep nature of our humanity finds the positive, creative and beneficial to humankind as we can meet across borders within virtual worlds, eliminating hatred which comes from the fear of the unknown, and increasing our levels of tolerance and patience for eachother. Allowing us to live through our technology in peace and fulfillment.”

“Combining the various creative talents of us all, and that sounds like a good ending to the story we live every day.”

Pooky took a cew questions after her talk. Gandalf Nakamura asked, “How do you think that virtual worlds will envelope? Will they become more of a social network, or a place to gamble and to relax? Pooky answer included, “I think of virtual worlds as providing an antidote to loneliness … I think work is being done in that field.” Urza Flux asked, “How has Second Life developed your interest in Science Fiction Ms. Amersterdam?” Pooky answered, “It has helped me develop an interest in past sci-fi ... I've always liked sci-fi … can live as futuristically as we want.”

Bixyl Shuftan

Trek Sim Holds RFL “Jail and Bail”

While the Passionate Redheads were doing their “Bid Me Human,” a Trek group was doing their own Relay for Life fundraiser, a “Jail and Bail” by the UFS in the Starfleet Sector 002 sim.


Commander Kermie Mistwallow is in the brig for the 2nd of 3 days on charges of aiding and abetting a known fundraising effort! As part of his punishment for his crime, he may have to shave his head - but only you will be able to decide that through your donations!

This jail and bail ends tomorrow, Sunday, May 22. At the end of that time, Commander Mistwallow will be freed and the punishment extracted upon his hair that you have determined! He's already going to go bald for a week. Will it be longer?


Deciding to take a look, I beamed over, and the two cells I saw were empty, with what looked like a cardboard cutout and a mannequin in their places. Also, the walls were missing, so I thought my computer was being slow and taking forever to rezz. One of the crewwomen, Zania Turner, was there. When I pointed out what I couldn’t see, she clicked on something, and the wall plus a number of details appeared, “We use a lot of rezzers to save on prims.”

I talked to Zania a little about the event, “Our jailbirds have left holograms up, as they are currently sleeping ... If we can get L$100,000 in donations, these guys will go bald, along with most of our Engineers.” As of late Saturday afternoon, they had raised 37,000 Lindens, “He'll be freed after 3 days, and the punishment will be extracted on his hair dependent on what people donated. And the CO of an outpost, and most Engineers, will also follow suit and honor that same hair punishment.”

Of how the idea came about, “I've heard of other jail and bail events that were pretty successful. We were trying to consider what we could do for our fundraisers for this year. When I saw something on TV for the St. Baldrick's Society, I figured that was the perfect ‘ marriage ‘ for an event. St. Baldrick's is a group where the members shave their heads and go bald to stand in solidarity with kids that have cancer. My brother had cancer as a kid, so this was something that kind of hit home in a sense.”

Zania expressed doubts that they could do another fundraiser like this anytime soon, “This is really the last fundraiser we can have as the group that we're in is in dire financial trouble. If we don't raise money for our group, we're going to lose a region. That's why we need to make this one for Relay For Life big. ... We just aren't getting the condo rentals that we need to support us having both regions. We may lose one, if not both, if we don't increase our donations or condo rentals very soon.”

Zania told me a little about the UFS, “We started out as one region, and actually were part of another group until differences in leadership resulted in a split. Since that time, we have forged our own future within the Star Trek universe and acquired a second region. Our RP is based around the Delta Quadrant, where we have picked up the adventures following the return of Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant. As an organization, we are similar to SFI or The Federation (IFT) in that we provide memberships to those who are interested - for free - and they can experience Star Trek in any way they choose. We provide ships and stations for people to be stationed at, and even have a fully functioning Academy that provides almost 200 classes for cadets and members to take.”

At one point, we were joined by another of the group, Simmyish Resident. Zania explained, “Simmy here is in the process of changing, but he's one of our members. He's assigned as the Chief Security Officer for the Pathfinder Research Facility, which is where we're standing (in the Security deck).” They told of some of the fun they had with the jailbirds, “teasing in general, like putting tribbles in Kermie's cell (grins).” Simmyish mentioned, “I've kind of not being able to access the locks for them.” He also mentioned that crew members were showing Kermie samples of his favorite beverage and joyfully drinking it in front of him.

To get to the cells, beam over to Starfleet Sector 002 at (189, 102, 71). For those coming across this article a little late, the sim is a good place to visit for Star Trek fans.

Bixyl Shuftan