Interview With Cynthia Farshore.

By Deaflegacy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deaflegacy

Interview With DJ Khyra Ares

By Deaflegacy

Khyra Ares is a DJ in Second Life.  In the past, she's DJed at places such as the Heart of Gold club. The Newser best knows her for her DJing Monday nights at the Happy Vixen beach club. There, she's best known for her "EDM" style music, and her unique "dazzle" pattern of stripes, which has given her the nickname the "Dazzlecat DJ." She and I recently had an interview.

I met Khyra on Discord instead of on Second Life for the interview. It seemed like a good idea. My first question for her was how long has she been Dj-ing for the Happy Vixen Club? “Close to if not just over a year now,” said Khyra. When I asked her if she is also a DJ in real life, Khyra replied, “Actually yes. Some of the people I have known in Second Life have gotten me a few gigs here and there, mainly at conventions.”

I asked Khyra how she found Second Life. She answered, “Back in September of 2006 I was engaged to a guy that I had been dating for about seven years. On the second of September, he took me to his house and confessed how much he loved me and how it hurt when I wasn't there with him. He told me he would always be there for me. The last words he said were 'I'm sorry.' I had looked down for a moment when something hit the floor, and the next sound I heard was the gun as he took his own life."

"I was devastated,” said Khyra, “I shut down completely and wouldn't talk to anyone, I hardly ate, I didn't sleep. I retreated to the only safe place I knew of: my computer. I found myself searching the internet randomly, not really for anything in particular. But then an advertisement on a random webpage caught my eye. It was an ad for Second Life. I downloaded the viewer and retreated into the virtual world, trying to keep myself as far away from reality as I could. I made friends, lived my life there, and after a week or so, it became more of a grief therapy than a game. I wasn't able to sleep for almost a month, just spent that time in world. Second Life helped me more than anyone will ever know.”

The question after that was how she came to have that particular avatar that she has now. Khyra replied, “I always had a vision of how I wanted my avatar to look. It took a few years and saving lots of tips from dancing and DJing to be able to get an avatar creator to do a tribal stripe design for my tigress avatar and purchase all the other parts I needed.” replied Khyra, “The avatar mimics my real-life fursona.”

I wanted to know if Khyra was planning on staying as a DJ at Happy Vixen Club for a long time. “I am indeed. As long as they will have me,” said Khyra with a smile. The last question I had for her was what are her future plans. Khyra replied,  “I think this question deserves one of my favorite movie quotes. 'The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves' - John Connor, Terminator 2. Allow me to explain. My schedule in the real world is very hectic. One month I could have nothing to do at all other than my two day a week job. The next month I could be working 24/7 for three months straight. I live day to day, making my future as I go along."

"Aside from Djing in Second Life as well as room parties at real-life conventions," Khyra explained,  "my main job is as a Field Technician for Talton Communications, a company that provides equipment for telephones for detainees at multiple I.C.E. (immigration) detention centers across the country. I go to the facilities that I service once a week and do any repairs that are needed. My hobby, which other folks call a second job is I have a small, one person mobile computer repair business. I build computers, repair them, upgrade them, install home networks for wired and wireless internet, and install camera systems for residences. I am unsure of whether or not I will be able to DJ sometimes, but some how, I always pull it off in the end, one way or another.”

Khyra DJs at the Happy Vixen each Monday (baring real-life interruptions) from 6 to 9 SL time.
Purrfection Estates (236/219/24).

Deaflegacy

Interview With Tonya Souther of Team Firestorm

By Bixyl Shuftan

It was a week ago that Team Firestorm celebrated it's eighth anniversary party. Among those there was Tonya Souther, whom heads the part of the team that works on the Firestorm  Apple computer viewer, and is a founding member of the team. I recently met up with her to talk about her and her time with the team.

Noting that she had been around since 2009, I asked Tonya how she found out about Second Life. She answered, "I have an real-life friend who ran a club here for quite a long time. She's known as Axi Kurmin inworld, and as DJBronxelf in real-life. And yes, she will happily combine the two. I've known her for much longer than I've been on Second Life. She got me interested, and going to a furry convention (RCFM) that had some Second Life content.  I created this character before I got on SL, and was thrilled I could be the tigress I'd been playing online for years. ... .I was part of a group who'd been together on IRC for years. ... I bought the first avatar within moments, but that's because I'd met the creator at RCFM before signing up."

Tonya's first days and weeks went, "like learning any new platform, but Axi did a lot to help me up the learning curve, and so did the folks at the RCFM sim." One thing that got her attention was the futniture designed for Restrained Life furniture in mind, not just the cheeky aspect, but that people had the ability to design these kinds of things here, "that was what sold me on this platform being something that could be much broader than I'd magined." She would develop and sell her own line of RLV furniture.

Although Tonya became a user of the Emerald Viewer, "I liked the feature set ... I didn't meet Jessica until July of 2010. They had come up with a new release, but there was no Mac version available. They'd had problems getting it running, and their previous Mac developer had left in a huff. I got it working, and got invited to join the project, right before the whole Emeraldgate kerfuffle happened. I was an Emerald developer for a grand total of three weeks before it imploded.

As Tonya had just joined the team, her perspective from inside during Emeraldgate was somewhat limited, "What I saw was the fallout from the metadata data collection and the DDoS. I didn't know any of the players well, but I knew who were the big contributors. When LL issued their ultimatum, I wasn't all that surprised. The big problem for us was going to be to keep the project going. I wanted to have Emerald continue as before, minus the three people that Linden Lab had demanded depart. Two of them did, but one did not...and his refusal essentially shot Emerald in the head."

She described what happened next, "When it became obvious that we were going down in flames, I got with Jessica. She'd made comments about forking the project, and I convinced her that we were going to have to do just that if we couldn't eject that one developer. We did try. Jessica had admin privileges on the Emerald servers and she tried to lock that developer out of it, but got caught and shut off. So I talked her into starting a new project, which came quickly to be known as Phoenix (from the ashes of Emerald). She was reluctant at first. But she realized after I twisted her arm that it needed doing, and she was about the only one who could. And so we did."

Tonya called the next few weeks, "Hectic as hell! We were busting our collective butts to get something, anything, ready to release ASAP, so the users would have something to work with. Linden Lab had been very, very clear in their insistence that if their ultimatum wasn't met, Emerald would be blocked. But we got something built and running and rebranded,-that was most of the hard work, really - and released. And as soon as we did, Linden Lab dropped the banhammer (on Emerald)."

When I asked if the reaction of Team Phoenix to the Lab putting their viewer on the approved list was a sigh of relief, Tonya responded, "Yes, and not from just us, either. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure Linden Lab was waiting for us to release before banning Emerald. They were quite happy that they had an alternative available for folks who didn't want to use 1.23." And the reaction fron the new team to what was left of Emerald signing up with Utherverse the owners of the small "Red Light District" adult-oriented virtual world? Tonya called it, "A collective eyeroll, and that was about it. We were up to our a**es in our own alligators enough, and we didn't have time to worry about what folks Linden Lab had run off were up to, as long as they didn't bother us. They tried. They released a version of Emerald, the 2600 release, that was designed to evade the ban, and got themselves thrown out of SL for their troubles. ... I don't know how many were banned just for using it; I only know that two were banned for releasing it - one of them one of the ones Linden Lab had demanded we eject from Emerald." This was Lonley Bluebird/Phox, "the other was Arabella Steadham, who was Emerald's PR person. Me, I never understood why an open source project needed a PR person in the first place, and when she started trying ot run the Emerald project at the end, that struck me as a serious case of (the) tail wagging (the) dog."

But after their hectic start, things began to calm a little. But they weren't truly out of the woods for a little while, "Once we got the first relase out, things quieted down a bit. We had some teething pains, with one developer trying to take over the world and getting run off, and juggling infrastructure. But it settled down after a few months. That's when we could start back to working on actually improving the code and fixing stuff that had been broken. I'd say we were in a state of flux for about the first six months, and then we could really get on with the business of making a viewer people would actually want to use. We were conscious that we were rising form Emerald's ashes. The topic on the Skype channel we were using to communicate at the time got set to 'Wie Phonix aus der Asche werd ich auferstehen' ...a line from Megaherz's song Kopfschuss. 'They tried shooting us in the head and we rose again.' And we knew that all eyes were on us, just waiting to pounce if we screwed up even a little bit. So we went out of our way to be squeaky clean."

So what was the feeling of the team at their first anniversary? Tonya described it as, "Surprised we'd made it that far, and relief that we'd put the worst behind us. We figured that if we'd lasted that long, then we were going to keep going indefinitely. Most of that was due to Jess. It's actually very rare for an open source software project to be led by a non-programmer, but she's done a masterful job of it." When asked what the biggest challenges the team faced since their first few months were, she remarked, "The biggest challenges have been personalities, mainly, Jess will joke, as she did at the party Sunday, about having two developers near each other who aren't trying to kill each other, but our disagreements have been ... passionate, at times. But we get through them."

I asked about the times Linden Lab stepped in and asked them to remove something, such as the feature early on that told users what viewer others were using. Tonya answered, "A few times, yes. We go back and forth with Linden Lab quite often about what goes into the viewer and what stays out. Most of the time, we agree pretty quickly. But there have been some serious arguments. That was one. The reason Linden Lab gave - that it was leading to bullying of users not using Phoenix - I think was BS, but LL does have the power to demand that we do things a certain way. And in the end, we do them if we can't change Oz's mind. Fortunately, he does listen to us and champion us internally. I asked if that was the biggest difference of opinion between the Lab and the team. She answered, "Mrrrr...that's a good question. I think it was, but there have been others almost as big. Take our 3-reelase policy, for example. We now will disable versions of Firestorm older than the current release minus two. We didn't want to do it, but the Lab insisted and said that we could either do that or else use their automatic updater. We're all about giving the user choices, so we do it our own way."

And while the team had their share of challenges, what were the parts that were the most fun? She answered, "The fun parts for us are when people discover something in Firestorm they didn't know was there that makes their lives easier. That gives us a real boost.  Events? We don't really have things that turn us on as a team. We're proud and happy when Jessica gets recognized for the work we've done."

Being part of Team Firestorm is only part of what Tonya does. She also runs a sci-fi roleplay inworld, about a group of Earthfolk whom are in a symbiotic relationship with extraterrestrials known as the Lategum, "Roleplay is alive and well in Second Life! I've got a sim I manage, and a group, that has an ongoing roleplay with some serious worldbuilding behind it. That's been rewarding, not just for its own sake, but as a place to belong among like-minded people. I'm wearing the uniform of the RP group, where I am known as Sister Alpha 8369. We spend quite a lot of time with each other, and it points out the real genius of Second Life: we can be who and what we want to be, deep down inside, and enjoy the company of others with similar interests."

Tonya showed me one of the meeting areas of the roleplay, "This is our common gathering area. ... We're actually 3 0 meters below the surface of the island nation of Jimat Pulau, in the South Pacific not far from Tahiti." There were some pictures nearby in a hallway, "We have a couple of furry artists among our members. But we are not furry-exclusive. We'll happily accept any species we can make a uniform for. In practice, that means they need to use a body that's SLUV compatible. Making uniforms for all fo the different mesh bodies is a rabbit hole that goes very, very deep. I made the uniforms, originally, and have adapted them for Maitreya and Omega."

"Second Life is a big part of my life, in general," Tonya told me, "Without Firestorm, I'd have left long ago. Yes, I'm a developer, but I couldn't do it by myself, not even close. We have a pretty large team, and every last one of them does something we need. They all deserve thanks."

Tonya Souther can either be contacted inworld, or email her at tonya.souther@phoenixviewer.com

Addition: Tonya Souther also has a blog, where she talks about "Second Life, from the perspective of a user, builder, vendor, and third-party viewer developer." - http://secondden.blogspot.com/

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview With Markus Damone of AllFurRadio

By Bixyl Shuftan

Recently, I met up with Markus Damone, the founder and owner of the AllFurRadio station. Although AllFurRadio is considered an Internet Radio station, it did get it's start in Second Life. After about four years of operation, it closed with the intention or reopening later. In  August 2017, the station would reopen and quickly regain a following inside and out of Second Life. Among it's shows is "Two Vixens and a Wolf," which the Newser wrote about in July.

We met up at at the All Fur Radio Club, which is still under construction, in the FnF AFMedia sim. Although incomplete, the two-story club had a number of furnishings, such as dancepoles and nearby seats, a DJ booth on the first floor, and more.

When asked about where did he first hear about Second Life, Markus answered, "Oh wow.  Um it (was) early 2006, and I did a Google search for free MMOs and it was the only one on the site that was actually free. The ad showed a picture of a goth chick kneeling, and I was like 'sure why not?' Plus it stated you get free in-game currency weekly, like 100 Lindens. So it was like win-win."

Once inworld, "Well, I was a little unimpressed. But then I found the search function, and was like 'Oh hey, furries. I know those things.' I met a fur in Luskwood as I was wondering how to get more Lindens to buy my furry avatar. After the help, I was able to have a little more fun, hitting some casinos, doing some club contests, and after about a month I had my first furry av. After that, I was hooked."

I asked Markus where he first got the idea for a music station. He askered, "I found Furnation and the radio station there. They paid money, and I was like 'Hey I can be entertaining on the air.' So I joined. But my third show, the DJ manager was very rude and disrespectful. So I said, 'You know what, I can do this better.' That was about April 2006. So I started AllFurRadio." But his initial performance was basically a trial run for what lay ahead, though a highly successful one, "The first time I opened up AFRadio  it was packed. Though it was short lived due to the lack of money to buy a streaming server.  But the first airing of it, there was about 80 listeners.  And i knew then that if I had ever gotten the money up (front), I would do it again. So after a day and one airing, I shut it down and went back to work with the station I had came from."

Markus would continue working for someone else for about six months. About then "Several of the DJjs with that station who had became DJs because of my shows came to me complaining. When I heard their talk, I reached out and was like 'Well, I have this idea I did before, and it was great then. I am sure it will be great now.'" They restarted in October 2006.

The reboot in Markus' words, "was like an explosion.  I hit the air with a stream, and before I knew it we had 12 DJs and a battle for Furnation had began between us and the previous station we worked for.  The listener counts peaked and it grew fast and aggressive." The first year was a great success, as was the second, "The first year we hit peaks in the 100s and then we did a live show at Anthrocon.  And  that only peaked us more. Soon we were in all of Furnation. Then we were the official station of Lost Furest, then ZZ Studios, and so many other sims and location began to stream us when they didn't have a live show.  It was fast and crazy."

And they had some inworld locations on sims, "We had several. Our main branch was based in Furnation Kitsune as a dojo.  And then we setup small stations all around.  Furnation also set their Furnation Prime station, and I built a second one in the Ryder sims.  The idea was to make there be a place everywhere that AllFurRadio was." But they eventually closed down, "slowly. That was because the sims ended up going down, and they never got used. We had such a presence in all the sims we broadcasted in that we didn't need to pay for a location. It was just given to us for use. So we would have random shows in the middle of sandboxes because we could.  It got to the point that we had no need for them. No one used them. So I shut the places down to reallocate the money elsewhere."

It didn't take long for their listenership to spread beyond Second Life residents, "Our first convention is when we really started to spread outside. along with starting a branch in Furcadia.  And it was rather successful." But there was one development that dropped their numbers inworld for a time, when the Voice option was added to Second Life, "I started realizing that we had more listeners on the page than in-game. And it was mainly due to Voice being so new. And yes, sadly the moment Voice was enabled in SL, our numbers dropped. Everyone would rather voice with each other then turn the stream and and listen to us."

The station would recover those numbers soon, but from outside Second Life, "by the time that had taken full swing, we had already (been) down several conventions. So a large number of the base was outside of Second Life, (and) had never even heard of SL. And since there is no voice chat in Furcadia, we still increased. So overall, the base in Second Life dropped, but outside it increased.  We also found that the listeners outside of SL listened longer, and were less likely to stop listening in exchange for something else, because at that time, there was nothing else furry related on the net."

The station would have it's challenges over time, "We had  several.  Some DJ would say something and p*ss another off.  The worest though was what helped lead to the station closing   It detailed with one staff member getting so mad, I cant even remember what for, and he convinced the general manager to leave AFradio's Furcadia branch  and all the DJs as well. Overnight the station went dark. This was in March 2011. ... The station closed down." Markus told me real-life matters were part of the reason for the closing, "I had just become a father, (and) I was working crazy hours." He did make one attempt to reopen it a year later, "but it wasn't going to happen."

But in September 23, 2017, AllFurRadio officially reopened, "It was welcomed  and to my surprise many were happy to see if back." It was successful from the start, though Markus credits the "Two Vixens and a Wolf" radio show by Svetlana Snowpaw, Roxy Noir-Snowpaw, and Greigh VonGottreich,  "I was finding it hard to get broadcasters, and when they came along their excitement and enthusiasm was what I needed to refuel the fire. And yes, their show attracts a lot of new listeners each show. It's the entertainment furs want, not just  playing music like a Second Life DJ, but doing a real show that is professional in nature. They showed me what I had forgotten and what I was missing, that excitement, that passion, that form, the time I had lost due to all the things that had slowed down the station."

When I asked about what special event was being planned to celebrate the anniversary of AllFurRadio's reopening, Markus told me although officially it reopened in September, the real reopening was a month earlier, "That's the funny part. The opening was in August, so we ran as soft opened for the time. Our celebrated reopening date was August the 10th 2018. So this day to be honest will just (be) spent with the staff.and enjoyed with each other and our hard work thus far."

And what are the future plans for the station? Markus answered, "More cons for one. We are also opening up our other branches: AllFurMedia and AllFurNews.  Allfurmedia is schedule to be fully open sometime at the beginning of the year with the sitcom "Are You Furreal." AllFurNews "is suppose to be mainly about furry events. Right now, we are working with a contributor,  The Furry Times, and getting them setup as well looking for other correspondence and contributors. We are working on a lot of different things. Thinking of SL shows. full animation. live video, but most of this is in the infancy."

And what do his real life friends and family think of his radio station? Markus answered, "My wife does, and my mother-in-law are both co-owners.  In fact, I met my wife from one of my DJs back when I first ran the station." Second Life and the station had worked out well for him, "Indeed it has. To always for the best, but always great in the end."

A year after AllFur Radio's official reopening, Markus and his station are doing well.

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Treacle Darlandes

By Deaflegacy

I met recently with Treacle Darlandes.  The first question I had for her is to tell us some details about herself.  “Well, I think my inspiration comes from the tools, textures, scripts and other things we can all use to make beautiful things in Second Life,” she told me,  “My father in the real world is an artist.  He paints with various mediums.  Maybe I have some of his art genes.  As for my artworks, they just kind of develop when I make or see things that I like.”

I asked Treacle about the Walk of Art.  “Yes.  I use a lot of colours, and moving fractals.  Often the real intensity of the colours and movements are lost out in the open, such as garden, or where there is a lot of light,” she replied, “I felt the need (for myself mostly in the beginning) to look at the fractals and things I made at Midnight setting, or in dark places, so I could feel the intensity of the colours.  Then I decided to make them against black backgrounds.  I like it so much that I made the Walk of Art with a complete black background so that anyone who visited would hopefully feel the same power from the intense colours as I did.  That too just grew as my ideas for it unfolded.  People who visit often say that the 'Walk' gives them peace.  Or a spiritual feeling.  Or makes them emotional.  I am very flattered that people feel that way.  That is why I try to get everyone else who wants to visit to actually do the walk and not be camming about, as that spoils the whole meaning of why I created it.”

The next question was what the inspiration behind the Walk of Art.  “Some I made from things I had created previously and were my favourites, or other peoples favourites.  The rest just sort of grew as I worked on it.  Always though the theme was the power of colour.  I believe colour, like music, can have a powerful effect on how we feel.  I wanted people to feel the way I did when I looked at rich colours,” answered, Treacle, “There is nothing for sale in the Walk of Art, it is simply there as a journey for people to see should they wish to visit.  So, I suppose the inspiration was pleasure, and feelings.  Hopefully good feelings.”

I was wondering if Treacle is planning on keeping the Walk of Arts around for a long time.  “As long as I am in Second Life, or as long as Second Life is here, or as long as I can still pay for my land it will be h ere, yes.  It is part of who I am in Second Life,” she replied, “Some day I may build more.  We will see.” 

I asked Treacle about the other projects.  “Well, I take care of my art gallery where my things are for sale, and I also help Meredith Staheli with her gallery, which is called Triglav Gallery and can be found through my profile,” she told me, “Other than art, I like to help newcomers to join Second Life, or older residents who may like some help with things.  I also like to visit the Buddha Centre as it is a very relaxing and unique place in Second Life.  My art gallery was made to feel relaxing and comfortable.  This is where people can buy what I make.  I do not make art from mesh, maybe I will one day.  For my art, I prefer the traditional tools.”

I also asked Treacle for the landmarks, and here they are.

To the art gallery:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lawst%20Paradise/202/209/24

To the Walk of Art:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lawst%20Paradise/200/234/2001

to the New Resident Island:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lawst%20Paradise/131/28/22

Deaflegacy

Reader Submitted: On Gallery Graine Closing

 From Graine Macbain

   I arrived in SL in March of 2009, and spent most of my first year just wandering about exploring, shopping, and listening to music. Wanting to actually do something creative and productive, in April, 2010, I took over the Azure Jazz Club and Gallery from Dem Uriza, and hosted both DJs andlive musicians like Joaquin Gustav, Melodee McDonnell, Ichie Kamachi, MoShang Zhao, CECI Dover, and many others, and exhibited artists like nessuno Myoo, KIcca Igaly, and Edward Vintner. We also featured Trivia and Tunes every Thursday night, hosted by Clancy Huckleberry with music from DJ Sparrow Letov-Meredith. I even dabbled with a poetry night and a comedy night.  I closed the Azure in May, 2011, frustrated that I was unable to break even let alone make a profit. But mostly it was too time consuming.

   I intended to spend the rest of my SL time doing nothing, but sometime in 2012 or 2013, I was bitten by ambition again, and I opened the Riverside Cafe and Gallery Graine on the same sim where I lived, at first just to revive Trivia and Tunes, but then began to host regular live music events again, and even started hosting weekend-long, multi-artist music festivals, The Riverside Ambient/Classical Music Festival, and a second festival that was more pop-rock and vocalist oriented and usually named after the time of year it happened in (the Riverside Summer Splash, for example, and I always had a Christmas Holiday Music Festival).

   In my new gallery I featured such artists as Kayly Iali, Masako, Mathilde Vhargon, Aruba DeCuir, and most recently, photographer Anibrm Jung. (I even had my own amateurish stuff on display once.) Sometime in this period, I can't even recall exactly when, I heard that Scottius Polke's otterly fantastic interactive art pieces, mushROOM and The Docks were going to be taken down for good. A big fan of Scottius (all his fans are bigger than him, actually), I offered to host it free in the sky above my sculpture, but only had enough prims for mushROOM. I have been honored to showcase this SL classic until, and hope it finds a new home soon. I believe that the Lindens should accommodate it as part of their SL historic preservation program.

   Around the same time I took over the Azure, I began hosting Djs and live music at Avian Retreat, a nature preserve for birds and bird lovers, created by my friends LadyDi Andel and Zoezoe Xue, in an effort to bring tips and traffic into their mainland sim. Mostly, I hosted the same performers who played at the Azure, with some even preferring to play the "outdoor" venue with its round stage floating on the bay.  Health problems caused both of them to be absent for long periods of time, and eventually my dear friend LadyDi passed away in 2015, and Zoe also has left SL due to illness. But before she passed away, I purchased Avian Retreat from her to prevent her from having to close it, and I promised her and Zoe to keep it up and running as long as I could.

   Eventually, I stopped hosting music events, including the festivals. I stopped featuring new artists in my galleries, and continued with only Trivia and Tunes on a regular basis. It got to the point where it became too expensive in both money and time to own so many pieces of SL real estate, and RL was starting to make more demands on my time and money.

   Then on April 29th of this year, our longtime Trivia and Tunes DJ, Sparrow Letov-Meredith, passed away suddenly, followed recently by our trivia diva Clancy Huckleberry announcing her retirement from SL and the end of our nearly ten year run of trivia. I had been contemplating closing the cafe and galleries at Blue Curacao, and moving trivia to Avian Retreat in order to save expenses, but now I felt that RL was forcing my hand.

    And so it ends. Or maybe not. I am not leaving SL and Avian Retreat still exists, so who can tell what the future holds?

Graine Macbain

Interview With Bixyl Shuftan

By Deaflegacy

Bixyl Shuftan

Bixyl Shuftan is the editor for Second Life Newser. He had been working for the Newser since its beginning in June 2010. Before that, he was with JamesT Juno's Second Life Newspaper. Bixyl  has been an editor and head of the Newser team for eight years now. He writes some of the articles himself, but the paper has always been a team effort.

I asked Bixyl Shuftan what his biggest accomplishment is. “In Second Life, at first thought, it would be the formation of the Newser,” replied Bixyl, “But starting a business is one thing. Keeping it going is another. And if it wasn't for certain individuals, it probably would have closed by now. But thankfully, it's still going. And becoming a part of a community here that I feels I do a lot for them.”

I wanted to know if Bixyl would continue being an editor for a long time. “Yes. I think Second Life will continue to be around for some years to come. So yes, I expect the paper to be going," said Bixy, "If some real life emergency makes running the Newser impossible, I would try to put someone else in charge.”

We started discussing about Bixyl's goals on Second Life. “When I started the Newser, it was to keep the team together and give our readers the best job we could on delivering the news about Second Life, big and small," he told me, "Today, that's still the case." He mentioned another goal, "I've become a regular part of a virtual community, the Sunweavers. So naturally I want to do my part in keeping things happy and active there as well.”

I asked Bixyl  if he knows that he is an inspiration to some people. “Some have told me that, and that makes me happy.” he replied with a smile, “I've had people say they are thankful for the Newser, not just to me, but the whole team and what they do. So I suppose you can say the whole team has become an inspiration to others." I also told him that he is a mentor, too. I just wanted to know if he is aware of that as well. "Thank you. That's very nice of you to say that," replied Bixyl, "I have had a lot of practice in writing. If others use my work as examples to write better well, that means a great deal."

When Bixyl was asked what he would say to someone who wants to be a writer, he replied, “There's a lot I could say. I guess the key to being one is writing regularly, even if it's just a private journal. Writing better, you can read examples of what others do, and see over time what works and what doesn't. There are also writers workshops to see how you, and others are doing, including some here in Second Life. Back to writing. One artist once remarked good artwork requires doing hundreds of bad artwork first. Perhaps an exaggeration. But it does emphasis the importance of practice. You, I would say, got the less than quality stories out before coming here. (smile)”

My next question to Bixyl was if he is proud of how things have been going for eight years. “Yes, I am proud to have lead a great team of the best journalists here in Second Life,” he said with a smile,“The stores we've done. The adventures we've had. And what will will do and have had.”

I pointed out to Bixyl that there are also others who are proud of him, what he had accomplished. If I don't say it, then I should say that now. He has accomplished a great deal. I asked him if he has an inspiration and who would that be? “I have a number of close friends whom help keep me going. Nydia, Skylark, Cynthia, Shockwave, Dusk, Little Spirit, Nikki, Rita, and many others we don't have the ink to mention... But of course there's the Newser team, Gemma, Klause, those in the past such as DrFran, Shelly, Grey, and of course there's you. (smile)” I told Bixyl that he had done a great job over the years,and have made the paper what it is today. “Thank you,” he told me with a smile.

My last question to Bixyl are what is his hobbies. “I read fiction and nonfiction. I also try to keep up with the news. I've also played computer games for years, strategy as well as shooting, and more recently survival games. I've also been a writer of fiction, I'm currently writing a sci -fi novel on the side. I thanked him and wish him luck on his stories.

As you have it, Bixyl Shuftan who had been an editor and head of the Newser for 8 years. I look forward to working with Bixyl on the Newser for years to come. He did teach me a lot and opened the door to being a writer. I owe him a lot of thanks. Thanks, Bixyl Shuftan, for giving me a chance to be a writer. I'm glad I took that chance. That was and still is my lifelong dream coming true.

Deaflegacy

Interview with Six String

 By Deaflegacy

Editor's Note: Six String is Deaflegacy's partner in Second Life.

 

Six String (roleplayismylife)

I met Six String (roleplayismylife) in a comfortable room. My first question was, “What is your favorite hobby?” Six  replied, “Playing, writing, and performing music.” I wanted to know what Six write about. Six answered, “Anything that springs to mind, really. I've written a song about John Lennon, another about September 11^th attacks, and quite a few that were inspired by my experiences of growing up with autism, and the difficulties that came about as a result of that. I'm in the process of writing a song inspired by my love of history, particularly the Civil War. It's about a disgruntled Union soldier who had been fighting since the beginning of the war, and has had enough of all the death, violence, and destruction. The war is ever referred to in the chorus as a 'stupid uncivil war.'”

 In real-life, Six uses WiFi at the library as well as other places so he would be able to come on Second Life.

I asked Six what kind of music does he perform. “I write my own songs, but I perform music by other musicians spawning over multiple genres, and styles of music. The next question was what would he like people to know about him. Six replied, “I also write poetry, and short stories, in addition to being a self-taught musician. I write songs, and poems inspired by my Faith. I'm even more of a caffeine junkie than DeafLegacy. As Rick James, the singer of the song 'Superfreak' once said, 'Caffeine's a Helluva drug!'” Six String has been a musician since May 21, 2000. He started teaching himself just two weeks prior to graduating from high school.

When Six was really young, he used to write a bit, but they weren't very good, and as time went on, he started doing it more, especially once he moved out to live on his own. “In character, of course, my pony was forced out of his home due to their closed-mindness.” Six  added. As for writing My Little Pony stories, Six has been writing since 2016, saying, “I started writing it sometimes over the winter of 2016 – 2017, and posted it in May of 2017.”  Six started using a pony avatar when he first got his Second Life account 3 years and 7 months ago. Six suggested that if anyone is interested in checking out his MLP stories that he has written, the link is https://www.fimfiction.net/user/263882/Six+String/stories “'First, Last, And Only Letter' is the first story in the trilogy,” Six told me. I asked him if he would be interested in reading my stories about ponies if I ever get a chance to write about them. Six replied, “Absolutely. I enjoy reading the ponyfics that other authors write.”

I asked Six what inspires him to be a writer. “My Faith, and people through our history who have had great influence on me," replied Six, "such as Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy, John Lennon of The Beatles, others who were advocates for peace, such as Martin Luther King. My friends, and family, as well as members of the Congregation of my Church, and other supportive people in my community also inspired me. The Senior Pastor from my Church. He was a positive influence on my life as well.”

I did have one last question. “Would you continue to play music and write for a long time?” I asked. Six String replied, “Until I'm called home to be with God again.”

Deaflegacy

Captain Jarak Panther

By Deaflegacy

Captain Jarak Panther (jarakpanther)

I had a chance to get together with Captain Jarak Panther (jarakpanther) and his partner, RealCoffeeCat at their house. They have just became partners. Jarak's RezDay was on February 12, 2013. CoffeeCat hasn't celebrated her first RezDay yet.

 “I mostly chat with people in the different sims around the grid,” said Jarak, CoffeeCat nodding in agreement.

I asked Captain Jarak Panther if he is a captain of a Starfleet ship. “Just in character," he replied, "I don't have a ship in Second Life, and am not a part of any Star Trek role play groups.”

 

I then asked Jarak  if he roleplays. “One on one, yes. I used to be a part of a few role playing groups, but they didn't work out very well.” he replied.. “We are thinking about roleplaying with each other.” RealCoffeeCat said with a smile. I wanted to know what Jarak's hobbies on Second Life. He answered, "Being a bad kitty. If you don't believe me about that, just ask RealCoffeeCat.” . That got CoffeeCat to chuckle.

I asked Jarak if it's true that he doesn't have wifi at his place. “Yes. However, if I had Internet at home, I would be able to use voice chat, and would possibly be able to play guitar for people over voice chat,” he replied.

We started talking about Jarak and CoffeeCat. Of when he first met her, he told, “Here, actually in Cape Heron. We became really good friends right away, and not too long after that, we were partnered to each other.” 

The next question is what Jarak's goal on Second Life is. “To meet new friends who share similar interests.” he replied.

The next thing we talked about got Jarak surprised. “Do you know that you are an uncle on Second Life?” I asked him. “No, I didn.'t That surpurrrrrises me,” he replied. When Jarak was told that one of his nieces is a Pegagsus and another niece is an unicorn, he has this to say, “Wow.”

The last question is if Jarak ever felt that he had accomplished much. He answered, “Yes. From being a small, and frail child who was supposedly 'retarded,' and would never be able to sit upright, or walk, or talk to a self taught musician.” With that, I looked at his partner, CoffeeCat, who was nodding in agreement. She did not talk much during the interview, it is clear that she is there for partner. 

At the last moment, I found out that Jarak has a DeviantArt page. I asked him if I can mention the fact that he has a DeviantArt page. He answered yes. Jarak is not just a musician. He is also a creative panther. 

Captain Jarak Panther's DeviantArt page is https://jarakpanther.deviantart.com/

Deaflegacy

Interview with SLB Exhibitor Kimble

By Deaflegacy

Kimble (kimblecoles)

I met Kimble (kimblecoles) and her partner, Disgo Coles (disgo) at a nice lot. The first question is about Kimble working with emergencies and catastrophes on global scale. “Yeah, well, my real-life job is in climate change. And so I made my Sec exhibit around that. ” replied Kimble, “It's generated some heated debates!” I wanted to know if Kimble knew why her exhibit generated heat debates. “And yeah, well, my exhibit lays out the facts, the evidence. And I have a poll running there about whether people think it's all a hoax or not,“ Kimble answered, “Some of the visitors, well, they got into arguments and they get quite passionate. It's a touchy subject for the USA's people it seems. Not so much the rest of the world.” Kimble continued on to say that it was her intention to make people think. So I think I go that!” Kimble She grinned. I told her that it's a good intention.

After I asked her how long she has been working in the field Kimble replied, “Well, I'm a programmer, and have been in the topic for a while. But last year I started with some big data analysis and it really fired my passion for it. And scared me, too.”  Kimble added, saying that the next generation is in big trouble.

“Second Life has been so special for me personally. I have some real-life history. And so this have been a way of giving back to SL,” said Kimble, “I think it's fair to say SL has been a huge factor in getting my real-life life back together.”

We started talking about the Second Life Birthday. For her, it was scary and exhilarating. We then changed the subject to Second Life. “Would you say that you have learned a lot about being on SL?” I asked. Kimble's response was, “Flip, yeah... in so many ways. I mean... there's the tech side.. building scriptings, etc. but there is the personal side... It's been a place to learn about myself, about other people. And I've met so many people who like me, have found SL a place to do the same.”

I asked Kimble  if it is a good thing to learn about herself, about other people. She replied, “Well, I was caught in an abusive relationship in real-life. So yes! I vowed to learn about myself and others so that this did not happen again. I wanted to understand how people can be caught up, and can find control again.

The next question is if Kimble would say that she's doing good. “Yeah, sheesh, you should have seen me a year ago. I was a mixed up mess," said Kimble, "And although a few deeply trusted friends, and with Dis here, I've rebuilt thing. I have to say though, my early years in SL were a mess. Because I've made a lot of bad choices. But trusted friends... makes all the difference. And Dis here, she's my reference!” Disgo, whom was still close by listening,  smiled.

“I think the biggest way I've learned is through challenges,” said Kimble, “I call it jumping off a cliff. Gee, my friend in SL, throws me over cliffs, like, “Hey exhibit at the spring art faire.” And the latest we're making a two person theater production. IT's all challenges that stretch me, and teach me about what I can do, and be. All it takes is an attitude of, … “I can try, I can learn” or “I can be scared and do nothing.”

I asked Kimble  how long she think she's going to keep doing this, the challenges and helping people out.She  replied, “I don't see a reason to stop. I guess if I run out of challenges. But for now, I see no end. The theater will be a long term growth. I like helping people, and with my real-life history, I keep finding people with similar of much much worse experiences, who simply want someone to listen. Scripting is a desire, because I program in real-life (I'm a nerd), and I”d like to do more arts. Exhibits are fun. Hey, the opportunities go on. But I do try and do it on the cheap. I've not much funds to put into it. So that places some constraints.”

I told Kimble that I think she's doing a good job so far from the sound of it. I asked her what she thinks. “Hmmm ... well .... two answers I guess," she replied, "I know that I am a far more whole person than I was after my real-life experience. And I put a lot of that down to my close friends here. So I think personally I'm doing well. For more measurable things, I've made art, and it sells, so that's good. I'd not built before, and my exhibit has had great positive feedback, so that's good. and I have wonderful people who love me, so that's good. and the theater, wow, I'm excited about that. “So I think I'd doing good. I'm loving it basically!”

Kimble makes her own version of fractal arts where she brings in some real image component with the fractal image. That's what Kimble exhibited at the Spring Faire. Kimble's big hunt gift at the SLB exhibit is one of her arts piece, "Yeah, I make my own version of fractal art where I bring in some real image component with the fractal image. That's what I exhibited at the Spring Faire. And my big hunt gift at the SLB exhibit is one of my art pieces."

Before I left, Kimble gave me one of her big hunt gift. I thanked her before I left. The interview was fantastic. We could learn a lot from Kimble about what's happening in the world when it comes to weather.

Kimble's exhibit at the Second Life Birthday, "Dystopia or Utopia," is located at SL15B Electrify (137/236/23).

Deaflegacy

What Is A True Friend In Second Life?

By Deaflegacy

As we go on in our lives, we would know one thing - best friends are one thing and true friends are another. That's what this article is all about: true friends. I had a chance to interview four people about the meaning of true friends. I am very happy to say that all the interviews have been a success. This is about true friends and how four people came to see true friends as.

Ari (arisia.vita)

I had a chance to ask Ari (arisia.vita) a few questions about true friends. I asked him, “What would you say when someone says that you are a true friend?” He responded, “I would say that they are a true friend too, it takes two.” I told him, “You are not just a true friend, you are also willing to help people out and have pictures taken of you, right?” Ari replied, “Yes, gladly.”

I wasn't finished. I went on, asking him, “In other words, you are a kind, caring man with a big heart, big enough to fit everyone inside?” Ari answered, “That is my goal, and friends like you help me achieve it.” I couldn't stop because Ari (arisia.vita) is my true friend, “You helped me to reach my dream of becoming a writer, that is what I meant to tell you today.”He was  so glad to hear that.

As Ari and I continued the interview, it turned out he had been playing piano for around two years. I have been on Second Life for almost three years. It is almost like we were meant to meet as true friends. That was not all. “How do you feel when someone tells you that you are an inspiration?” I wanted to know. Ari replied,“I tell them I just mirror the inspiration I see all around me, including them.” 

I did ask Ari another question, “How would you feel if someone tells you that you are a true friend?” His response was, “I tell them they are a true friend to me, and a true friend is one who cares.”

Before we went our own ways, I asked Ari if I could use his quote about if I'm the problem and he said yes. It was, “You are not the problem. You are a part of the solution.” That was his quote. I took him aside, and said, “Your music is so relaxing, so calming. You really do help people, do you know that?” He replied, “That is my goal.” I told him, “Your goal have been reached.” Indeed, Ari is a true friend.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

Bixyl Shuftan and I met. Bixyl is the editor at SL Newser but he is more than just an editor. He is a true friend and I got a chance to interview him. But before I started the interview, I thanked Bixyl  for giving me a chance to be a writer. “You can if you like, but I only pointed out the way. You're the one who made the decision to step forward,” he replied with a smile.

Six String (roleplayismylife) got a chance to point out something to him, “Yes, Bixyl. The fact that you gave her the opportunity to be a writer has definitely made a difference in her life, and it's quite noticable.” That's so true!

My first question in the actual interviewing was, “How do you feel when someone tell you that you are a true friend?”  Bixyl replied, “In one word, happy. I feel like I've truly won over a friend's confidence." I asked him to say in his own words, what a true friend is. He replied, “Someone you know very well whomyou can always count on to look after your best interests.” 

I wanted to know if Bixyl thought that a true friend is a very good thing to have, and that knowing that there is always going to be someone you can count on. “Yes," to told me with a smile, "A true friend is a very good thing to have.” That's indeed true.

 

Six String (roleplayismylife)

Before the interview got started, Six String (roleplayismylife) had a quote about true friends to share with me. The quote is, “Damn, that was fun! Let's do it again?” I asked Six if I could put this quote in the article and he told me okay. Six said that the quote came from a sign on the wall where he goes to once a month to do music. Thanks, Six String. 

The interview got started after that. I asked Six, “How do you feel when someone tells you that you are a true friend?” He replied, “It makes me feel really good. After enduring such hardships for most of my life, and pseudo friends who were only using me, it feels nice to know that somepony like me would think of me as a true friend.”

I asked Six what is a true friend in his words.He  replied, “Someone who sticks by you no matter what, even when things seem bad.”

The next question is, “Would you say that a true friend is a very good thing to have?” And Six String  said, “Yes, I would,” before adding, “Well, I think it varies from one pony to another, because everypony has their own definition of what a true friend is. But for me personally, a true friend is somepony that you're so close to, that you consider them to be family. And as such would do anything for them, including sacrificing your own life, if it means saving theirs.”

 

Snowy Sugar Blossom (skylark.lefavre)

I met Snowy Sugar Blossom (skylark.lefavre) at the club where she was working. She is my sister and true friend. The first question was, “How would you feel if someone tells you that you are a true friend?” Snowy replied, “I would be flattered, honored, and happy. It would mean I have done something right to deserve such a friendship and that I should keep being as best of a friend as I possibly can be and never do anything to jeopardize it.”

I asked Snowy  to say in Snowy Sugar Blossom her own words what a true friend is. Her reply was, “Someone who is a friend to you despite whatever quirks or abnormalities one has that would drive (away) others in a heartbeat. It is someone that accepts you, good and bad, and loves you despite them. A best friend is someone you can always count on no matter how bad things get.”

The next question was, “Would you say that a true friend is a good thing?” Snowy said, “Yes because true friends are a dying breed in this world, SL and real life as everyone is out for themselves and their own. True friendships can be hard to find. True friendship should have no strings attached or conditions.”

The last question was, “What is your definition of a true friend?” Snowy Sugar Blossom (skylark.lefavre) responded, “Someone you want to be with everyday and can't live without and love to do things with. Someone you are so close to consider them family.”

Now you have it. I have interviewed four people about their feelings on the topic of true friends. It is true that it's hard to get a true friend, but in the long run, when someone gets a true friend, it turns out to be worth the wait.

Deaflegacy

Interview with Patch and Keira Linden

By Gemma Cleanslate

I was able to make it to the auditorium Tuesday for the talk at 2:00. The Lindens present were Patch Linden, Senior Director of Product Operations, and Keira Linden, part of that team. Saffia Widdershins was the interviewer and talked with the Lindens asking questions and discussing. Both talked about their very early days in Second Life and their present position with the Lab. The audience was approximately 75 through out the attached sims.

Some interesting information they gave us explained the collaboration between the resident leads of the SL15B and the lab this year since it is 15 years . They both felt it was a special year of celebration not only for the residents but for themselves. They looked back on the changes that have taken place in the past years and both look forward to the next 15 promising that more changes we will like are coming soon. They are “baking” !

Kiera‘s job is working specifically with Second Life.

 Patch works with Second Life and also with Sansar.

One thing that they discussed that is interesting that I did not know was that certain regions that you can use for big events, The Galaxy is one, Svarga another .Patch says last names are coming back soon! He also explained who the Moles are.

If you have specific questions on becoming a Mole or other specific information you can im him or e-mail him too, or put a ticket to his attention.

The interview was interesting and went well over time with questions. Saffia always does a wonderful job talking to the Lindens and has a good knowledge of what is going on at the Lab. Please link here to see and hear all the discussion and the many questions that came from the audience that you might have been wondering about.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OGsngQXhsQ&feature=youtu.be 

Gemma Cleanslate