Events this Week December 10 to December 16

It's a week full of events in Second Life. Most notable are the Christmas happenings, such as the Christmas Expo. And there's the Winter Wonderland place, and more. And while checking out all that's Winter and Christmas, don't forget to check out our regularly
scheduled live and DJ music sessions, book and poetry readings, races and competitions, games, talk shows and discussions, and church services.

Read more in Events this Week.

Tribute to Nelson Mandela at the Sunrise Museum.

 On December 5, Nelson Mandela, South Africa's most noted civil-rights leader whom eventually rose to become the country's president, died at the age of 95. Following the announcement of his passing, he was honored with tributes across the world. This included here in Second Life, at the Sunrise Mansion Gallery and Museum.


Sunrise Museum [SRM] honors human rights advocate and freedom fighter  Nelson Mandela in our presentation gallery with an exhibit and short film. Drop in and receive his life in pictures slide show free.


The exhibit itself is in the back of the building. There were several photographs of the African leader, most of them in his later years following his release from prison. There was also a slide show of pictures. One could also pick up a copy of the latter for themselves.

The Sunrise Mansion Gallery and Museum is located in the El Salvador sim at (189, 190, 23).

Bixyl Shuftan

The Bay City Tree Lighting

On Sunday December 8, the Bay City area, a multisim region made to represent the classical North American urban experience, held it's annual tree lighting party. Three musicians performed for those attending, in addition to a silent auction held to raise money for the Childs Play charity, in addition to some skating and fireworks. DrFran was among those there, and wrote about the celebration.

Read DrFran's story in Events.

More Winter Fun

Winter has come to Second Life, and a number of regions are showing it, with both winter activities and Christmas-themed fun. Gemma Cleanslate has been dashing about the Grid, braving the cold to see where one can find them. Her latest story shows a few places where one can have so much fun, you don't mind a little snow and ice.

Read Gemma's story in Places. 

Reader Submitted: In Tribute to Alliez Mysterio

On Saturday December 7, there was a memorial event in honor of Relay for Life member Alliez Mysterio. Trader Whiplash and Nuala Maracus hosted the tribute.

  If anyone wishes to pay their respects to the family of Alliez Mysterio there is an open house in Alliez's honor at dAlliez http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/dAlliez/231/137/23  at 4pm T1Radio will become once again Radio dAlliez for a Musical Tribute to our Friend and CoFounder of the RelayRockers.  430 - 5pm Frogg Marlowe will perform live.

Pictures submitted by Bain Finch

Music and Dance At The Christmas Expo

This weekend I dropped by the Christmas Expo, which has a number of items on sale with the proceeds going to the Relay for Life. On Sunday, there were a couple of music events, including one by Sasha Fairywren, "Come on down to the gazebo and rock out with us!" And so I dropped by, running into people such as Bain Finch, and Avariel Falcon the dark unicorn. And in Relay chat, St. Nicholas made a few good-natured wisecracks.

For more information about the Christmas Expo, go to the website at http://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/about-us/.

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

InWorldz/Second Life Connection Center Closes - Statement From Zia Larina

Just a few days after it helped organize a discussion about InWorldz, members of the InWorldz/Second Life Connection Center group got a surprise. Without warning, the group's owner, Amore Crux, announced the place was closing. Manager Zia Larnia was just as surprised as anyone else to hear the news, and today made a statement about what had happened.

Read Zia's statement in Other Grids and MMOs.

Remembering December 7

It was 72 years ago this day in which the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a devastating air attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor . A number of ships were sunk or damaged, including three battleships that were sent to the bottom, and over 2400 American servicemen lost their lives. About half the casualties came from the USS Arizona, which was sunk along with almost 1200 sailors whom were killed. The other battleships were eventually brought back into service, but the Arizona was left on the bottom as a memorial to its crew. Later on, an official public memorial was built over the ship.

Second Life has it's own USS Arizona Memorial, in the Oahu sim. Most of the island is a happy tropical residential place, but one corner was set aside for a replica of the memorial to the sailors whom met their end at America's entry into WW2. A lei thrower allows visitors to toss in rings of flowers for the fallen. Under the memorial is an image of the sunken battleship, complete with an occasional bubble of oil that makes its way to the surface from the wreck. inside the memorial are pictures of the real structure, plus of the USS Arizona. At the end is a plaque to those who gave their lives in defense of the United States that day.

The Pearl Harbor Memorial is at Oahu (180/10/24).

SL Video: "Twilight Town in Second Life is Back (Trailer)"

"Twilight Town, the City of Eternal Dawn, has returned to Second Life. Please visit the Pixel Paws region in Second Life as well as http://TwilightTown.SL for news!"

Answering Questions About the InWorldz Grid

In recent months, the InWorldz Grid has gotten more attention among the residents of Second Life. There has been much talk, and some concern that not everything being stated is true. So a conference was arranged, and people familiar with InWorldz, including one of it's founders, were on hand to answer any questions and concerns.

Read about the event in Other Grids and MMOs.

Neo Victoria

After taking care of some things at home, Becky Shamen was ready to explore the Grid again. This time, she decided to look for a steampunk-themed place. Her journey would eventually lead to Neo Victoria. So what made the place stand out and what did she like?

Read Becky's article in Places.

Press Release: Relay For LIfe Breedable Auction This Sunday Dec 8

 

 

 

Returning to Second Life this wonderful Holiday season, the Magic of Christmas Breedables Fair is proud to present the RFL Breedable Collectors Auction with Nynaveve Wirefly!  This year’s auction features an unequaled selection of One-of-a-Kind items from the biggest names in breedables!

EVERY item is special in some way, a must-have for breedable collectors across the grid, and ALL proceeds benefit RFL!

PARTICIPATING COMPANIES:
1. Meeroos
2. BioBreeds
3. Amaretto Breedables
4. Bands of Cypher
5. Charmed Breedables Fashions
6. Breedables Paradies Market
7. ABC Horses
8. Evo Breeding
9. Dwarfins
10. Ozimals
11. Gothic Breedables
12. CannabiSL
13. JingJings
14. KittyCats
15. PlantPets
16. Mossms
17. Odyssey
18. Wild Kajaera

VERY IMPORTANT!!

ALL INTERESTED BIDDERS MUST PRE-REGISTER TO TAKE PART IN THE LIVE BIDDING!  There will be a silent auction on the items starting Tuesday, December 3, and ending on Midnight, Saturday, Dec 7.  This will aid in the LIVE portion of the auction on Sunday, Dec 8.  The highest bid from the Silent Auction will be the starting bid for the Live Auction.

Please visit http://slbreedables.com/ooak-breedable-auction/ for more information!

Cartoon of the Day

For some weeks, a certain quirky music video by a couple Norwegian comedians about foxes has been going viral and still going.

The response from foxes has ranged from amusement, to disinterest, to "What the heck?"

By Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Gender in Second Life - Take Two

Recently, Newser reporter talked about the issue of taking on the appearance of the opposite sex in "Gender in SL." Some do so more or less freely. Others, not so much or not at all. Bixyl Shuftan had a few thoughts and impressions on the subject, as well as a different perspective. Here, he offers some words of his own on the topic.

For the article, check out People.

Second Life Statistics Show Continued Slow Decline

For some time, the total amount of privately held land in Second Life has been in a slow decline, and the most recent statistics from The Second Life Grid Survey show the trend continuing.

The latest numbers show the number of private sims to be 26,403. In the SL Universe forums, Tyche Shepherd stated this was a loss of 1568 since the start of the year, or 7.5%. While not as big a decline as last year's 2500, it's still not good news. Daniel Voyager estimated at this rate, the total would drop to about 24,000 in a year.

Hamlet Au had two things to say about this development. One was that the declining tier revenue was being partially made up by Blocksworld and other aps owned by Linden Lab outside Second Life. Should tier continue to fall, the Lab will depend more on it as a source of revenue. The second was a reminder to readers not to expect tier rates to fall, and that was no solution to Second Life's shrinking land area. If for no other reason most virtual property was in the hands of a handful of land barons, whom are doing fairly well. A drop in tier, Hamlet felt, would just mean a severe drop in revenue from Second Life. To stop Second Life from shrinking, Hamlet argued, the Lab needs to find a way for it to attract more new users. Hamlet got a number of suggestions from readers about how the lab could, though they were skeptical about the Lab's willingness, and competence to do so.


So can Second Life turn around, or will the slow shrinkage continue?

Source: Second Life Grid Survey

Bixyl Shuftan

Sha's Thoughts: Sunweaver Bay Time Travel

Becky Shamen's home at Sunweaver has been going through some changes. For one, her alt has moved in and been doing a little shopping. Also, the estates have seen some improvements and more land being bought up by new renters. But the changes meant things began to get more laggy for Becky's computer. So how did she adapt? She soon found a way.

Read Becky's story in Places.

Alliez Mysterio of the Relay Rockers Dies

Last night on the evening of Dec 3, it was announced in the Relay for Life Voulenteers Group that Alliez Mysterio, a longtime Second Life resident and a member of it's Relay for Life and the "Relay Rockers" group had passed away.

It is with deep sadness and sense of loss that i share with all of you the passing of Alliez Mysterio to Breast Cancer.

Alliez was the owner of dAlliez Estates and one of the creators of the 'Estate System' in Second Life. Her first sim Rue dAlliez was opened in Dec 2004 and was the home of T1Radio and the Relay Rockers team until 2011.

Alliez was a founding member of the Relay Rockers and sponsored and supported the team and Relay For Life in Second Life since its inaugural event in 2005.

Losing Alliez is a loss not just to those of us who knew and loved her, but to all of Second Life.

Please join Nuala and I in extending sincere condolences to Sue Peregrine, her daughter, and to her families in both worlds. We will miss our dear friend very much.

This year's Holidays Of Hope Ball will be held in Alliez' honor, and the 2014 Relay Rockers will be dedicating our 10th season in honor of one of our founding members.

2013 Avi Choice Awards Taking Place Dec 15th

The Avi Choice Awards, which brands itself as "the premier annual awards presentation recognizing the people and talent" will be taking place on Sunday Dec 15th at 3PM SL time.

The Avi Choice Awards is the premier annual awards presentation recognizing the people and talent of SL’s™ amazing creations, completely chosen and voted on by SL™ residents.  The 2011 and 2012 Avi Choice Awards response was tremendous and the websites saw an amazing 65000 visits and an staggering number of votes.  This year we expect even more.

This years show will again be hosted by T1 Radio’s Trader Whiplash and Nuala Maracas.  Presenting Avi Choices this year will be Saffia Widdershins and Elrik Merlin of TREET TV’s Designing Worlds and Satin Galli and Erin68 Frog who are longtime SL performers and RL couple, too.  Both sets of presenters are nominees this year and have both won awards in past years.  Performances at this years extravaganza include the wonderful artistry of Particle Tom and Lexi, Therese Nightfire and the Guerilla Burlesque Dancers and first life band Wayne Davis Rocks.  The show will be another stunning example of the talent and brilliance available in our wonderful SL grid.

The award presentation will take place at the Christmas Expo, and is considered a "black tie" formal attire event.

Among those nominated for best DJ is Fuzzball Ortega, of the Steelhead Estates. Krypton Radio, where he often performs, was among the nominations for favorite radio station. The Second Life Enquirer was among those nominated for best newspaper.

Those with questions are asked to email: AviChoiceAwards@gmail.com.