Scenes From Steelhead's Last Party

"All good things must come to and end," as the saying goes, and Friday September 25 marked the end of official events at the Steelhead Estates with their last Friday night dance. Taking place at the Town Hall, it was quite literally the last hurrah of the community's home as they and their friends gathered to make the final party a memorable one.

See the pictures in Events.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Furry Fashion

By Bixyl Shuftan

Calas Galadhon Sims

With a number of notable locations vanishing or are about to recently, Gemma Cleanslate went to one longtime favorite of hers that is still around: The Calas Galadhon sims. With twelve sims to ride around and explore in, there's quite a lot of wilderness area to see. Plus there are clubs around.

Read Gemma's article in Places.

Scenes From Steelhead: "The End is Nigh!"

With the Steelhead Estates approaching their doom, yesterday the place began to look like it. Dropping by the place yesterday, a skyship had crashed into one of the stores, the "Three Cogs Shop," setting it aflame. With the streets deserted, there was no fire brigade to haul in water. Tobias would type in an announcement, "Don't try to put the fire out. Stew and me need the insurance cash."

 Nearby was a possible cause of such "fowl" mayhem: the Doom Hen Mk3, "Bwahahhahh! Cower before my ..*ahem* nevvermind."

With the city doomed anyway, Tobias had something else to unleash, "At each end of main street in main sim, you will find Steam Tank rezzers created by Ravenghost the excessively talented! You have team A and team B. Go battle! (Click tank panel for HUD)."

What else will happen as the onetime home of the famed Steelhead community faces it's final days?

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release:""Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 2015 Kick Off - Tailgating for Tatas"

It's Fall! And that means - SPORTS!  So we're tailgating!

Join us Sunday, October 4th starting at 10am for the official kick off for the 2015 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign!

The Kick off celebration features an afternoon of entertainment with:

DJ Titan Hawksby

Samm Quendra

Zak Claxton

Jeffah24

Shaye Dezno

T1 Radio will broadcast live throughout the day.

Information and sign-ups for a variety of special events and Strides activities occurring in October will be available.

Grab your cooler and your dancing shoes and come Make Strides Against Breast Cancer!

Event slurl:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Relay%20dAlliez/66/170/21

*** The tailgating theme was chosen for the kick-off event to highlight the partnership between Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and the NFL (National Football League).

Veterans Isle Event Raises 60,000 Lindens

On Sunday September 27, Veterans Isle held it's monthly benefit concert for Homes For Our Troops. Over four hours from 5PM to 9PM SL time (Midnight EST), four musicians performed for the crowd, although the identity of one wasn't announced until the last minute. The others were Bronze, Frets Nirvana whom helped organize the event, and Anek Fuchs, whom also performed at the Madpea Charity Auction that weekend.

Tonight, September 27 is the ninth benefit for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life for the year 2015. We continue to "soldier on" to help the severest of our wounded Veterans. And we have a great lineup for your listening pleasure!
5 PM - Anek Fuchs
6 PM - Bronze8020
7 PM - Frets Nirvana
8 PM - TBA!  A surprise hopefully
Come join us and help pay it forward for our wounded veterans!


The crowd was a little lighter that evening compared to most Veteran Isle events, possibly because of the charity event hosted by the popular Madpea group that weekend. Still the event collected Lindens over the course of the event, Frets himself chipping in some of his own.

AT 8PM the name of the mystery musician was revealed: Sing (Singsong4u Resident). The pianist played his music as he sang, with a friend in the audience narrating.

"What if you give your love so freely?
"What if you're my long lost love?
"What if you're the one I have been dreaming of?
"What if I said I needed you?
"Would you come running to my arms?
"What if I said I loved you?
"Would you hold me in your heard and say you loved me too?
"What if I loved you,
"and you loved me?"

Despite the other big fundraiser going on that night, 60,000 Lindens were raised for Homes For Our Troops.

ABOUT HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS - HFOT builds homes as a departure point for Veterans to rebuild their lives, and once again become highly productive members of society. Despite their life-altering injuries, many Veterans have embarked on new careers, completed their college degrees, or started families. Empowered by the freedom a mortgage-free and specially adapted home brings, these Veterans can now focus on their recovery and return to their life’s work of serving others. Many have embraced their roles as motivational speakers, sharing their messages of persevering through tragedy with groups and classrooms around the country. To learn more about the Homes For Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org

Interview with Azar Shelman (Chev, Tony Dyson OBSS) (Nov 2008)

In 2008, Bixyl Shuftan interviewed Tony Dyson, the "inventor" of R2D2 from "Star Wars." Known as Azar Shelman in Second Life, he had some plans for the virtual world he wanted to share then. Recently we came across Dyson on Facebook, and he expressed interest in the interview. So here it is.

Read the story in People.

Press Release: 2015 Second Life Christmas Expo Registration Opens

Registration for the 2015 Second Life Christmas Expo is now open! The following link is the registration page for the 2015 Second Life Christmas Expo:

      https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/expo-shop-registration/

The expo and fair have a variety of merchant and non merchant sponsorships. You can view the additional sponsorships at the following link:

    https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/sponsorship-opportunities/

                                                   and

 https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/mix-match-advertising-options/

The fifth annual Second Life Christmas Expo will be held on December 3 to 14, 2015 and is a mega event that raises funds for Relay For Life of Second Life (RFL of SL). 100% of registration fees, sponsorship fees, kiosk donations, hunt, raffle, auction, and vendor donation items are paid to RFL of SL. Relay For Life of Second Life is part of the American Cancer Society and is a virtual version of the real life Relay For Life. You can find more information about RFL of SL here: http://relayforlifeofsecondlife.org/ .

The 2015 Second Life Christmas Expo - A Frozen Christmas will consist of both holiday and non holiday items from some of the best creators and designers in Second Life, spread across 4 sims! The Expo will feature special events, including live performances, djs, Hunt For the Bells, Naughty Or Nice, a Christmas Tree Lot, Fashion Shows, Ice Skating, Snowman Building Contest and of course photos with Santa!  The Avi Choice Awards - Fashion are back as a special event at the Expo this year  as is The Holiday of Hope Ball.

The 2015 Second Life Christmas Expo Coordinator will be Nuala Maracas. Leala Spire will be the 2015 Second Life Christmas Expo Co-Coordinator.

About Relay For Life of Second Life:

Relay For Life of Second Life is an annual fundraising event that takes place in Second Life in July each year. Volunteers form or join teams to have fun while fundraising and raising awareness from mid-March through mid-July. In July teams build campsites and walk a track, just like a Real World Relay. Since 2005, RFL of SL has raised over $2.5 million USD for the American Cancer Society.  Since 1985, Relay For Life has become an international movement with over 5,000 Relays being held around the world. As of July 2014, RFL of SL ranks 17 out of 5,000! In fact, RFL of SL is the most global Relay event with teams and volunteers and supporters from more than 90 countries, worldwide.

About the American Cancer Society:

For more than 100 years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has worked relentlessly to save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together with millions of our supporters worldwide, we help people stay well, help people get well, find cures, and fight back against cancer.

                                   For More Information:

https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/

www.facebook.com/rflofslxmasexpo

http://relayforlifeofsecondlife.org/

http://www.cancer.org/

Memorial for Salem De White

A week ago, Salem De White of the Giant Snail Racing team passed away following months of illness. On Saturday afternoon, her friends got together for a memorial service in her honor. Besides the Snail Racers, there were people from the Relay for Life, as well as a group of vampires. But all were united in their wish to honor their friend.

Read more in Events.

Furry Fashion

Bloodykitty's search for places to shop took her to Furry Fashion. Although not a user of furry avatars, she took a look at the place, which has it's own sim at Furry. Besides shopping, for both outfits and avatars, the area boasts a newcomer welcome area, and a club, the Furry Fashion Lounge. So what did she think?

Read Bloodykitty's review in Places.

Bright Canopy Resumes Service

Earlier this month in an inworld conference, the Bright Canopy team explained their new viewer aimed at allowing Second Life to be accessed normally through tablets, as well as older computers, had been hit with technical difficulties. A few days ago, they announced they were back in business.

Bright Canopy has been down now for almost a month. We have done our best to be transparent and communicative during the downtime. ...
We have been working with Frame on a new pricing plan that will allow us to offer the service immediately. We will continue working on options that will improve our costs on the backend and allow more  flexibility in the future.

Their pricing plan is $17 a month for 20 hours of use, with additional time at two cents a minute with a "30 minute minimum for sessions," or 60 cents minimum. For those using "10 hours or more of additional minutes, that will be charged immediately, otherwise additional minutes are charged at the beginning of the next month."

So if you use 5 additional hours during the month, you would spend $6 more . This would mean your credit card would be charged $21 at the beginning of the next month.

If you use 10 additional hours, you would be charged $12 now and $17 for your monthly subscription at the beginning of the next month.

Bright Canopy calls this a "fresh start," so everyone has to re-register at brightcanopy.com , even if they already have.

One can read more at their blog here, or email then at support@brightcanopy.com .

Hat tip: Daniel Voyager 

Trump Campaign in Second Life

In 2008, when Second Life was still the darling of tech and mainstream media, the US Presidential election found it's way into the Grid with the supporters of various candidates during the primaries setting up "headquarters" where people could pick up shirts. At the US Capitol Hill building, as well as Cafe Wellstone for Democratic supporters and the Straight Talk Cafe for the Republicans, people could listen in and discuss the debates, and on Election Night people gathered to watch the results of the polls state by state, the Democrats cheering their victory and the Republicans resolving to win next time. Four years later, the attention of real life media had gone elsewhere, and only one of the two political parties had to choose a candidate, so there was less political activity on the Grid, with fewer supporters, and no neutral location as Capitol Hill was gone, but more retoric thrown against each other.

With the 2016 campaign under way, so far only a handful of candidates have stepped up to campaign for the Democratic nomination to replace the outgoing President, while the Republicans have a long list. A search for locations for the two leading Dems on the Grid revealed nothing, though the current leader in the polls for the Reps did. Typing in "Trump" revealed two locations. One was the "Donald Trump Campaign" at Portland Main (218,231, 11), where one could pick up a shirt and check a campaign Facebook page.

Another location was "Donald Trump For America," Seokcheon (164,251, 49), on the Second Life mainland, where there were two prominent signs on the road.

The election is still well over a year away, so a *lot* can change. But one thing is certain, supporters of candidates will be making their voice heard.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Club Cutlass' "Sci-Fi" Night

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Madpea Charity Auction

This weekend, the "Madpea Celeberty Auction" is taking place. The event boasts three days of DJs and live music performers, in addition to various SL personalities taking part in auctions, from artist Bryn Oh, to SL video journalist Draxtor Despress to the "Queen Pea" Kiana Writer herself, "Last year I ended up singing at Furry Fair so I’m curious to see what you’d like to buy me for!" Some jewelry, real jewelry and not virtual, is also up for bid.

Dropping by yesterday at the location of the event, Stargazer Bay, the place was packed, with dozens of residents listening to Angela McKeenan and her band perform.  By the end of the day, almost half a million Linden dollars had been raised to help build a school in Kenya.

Today boasts events such as Max Kleene's live performance and a screening of Canary Beck's "Paradise Lost" machinima. Sunday has Anek Fuchs' performance and the "live" auctions.

Stargazer Bay (63/65/3008)

Scenes from Steelhead: Group Photo

Shortly after Steelhead's final town meeting on September 22, the residents there gathered for a picture in front of the Town Hall. Something to help remember the good times as the community's estate faced it's final days.

The last party took place last night, September 25, at the Town Hall as well. Pictures to come soon.

Giant Snail Races Video: "15 Sep 19 Talk like a Pirate Day"

 

 

(Click here if the video fails to play)

Posted on September 19, 2015, "If your favorite letter is R this was the race to be at. It was talk like a Pirate Day at the Giant snail Races. Some of our music we use during the race is by my good friend Alazarin Mobius Credits music by Alazarin Mobius Cosmodrome is on the album Reticulated Splines and during the race we used his song Space_Patrol is on the album Iaxartes Tholus. You can buy them at http://alazarinmobius.bandcamp.com , by The Invisible Band! Thanks Man!!"

SL Video: "Pirates Bride (Directors Cut)"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Drakortha on June 2014, "I decided to come back to this and make various improvements to the imagery and also the pacing."

Salem De White (Selene Spellhunter) Passes Away

Salem De White (Selene Spellhunter), one of the Giant Snail Racing team, has died. The date was stated to me on Monday September 21. Word began going around on Facebook on Thursday, with the following announcement by RacerX Gullwing:

I have some sad news.  Salem Knight has passed away this last Monday. She was a great host and a good friend and I'll miss her. Her latest avatar was DJXanadu on the show. She ran the streaming sound for us and provided commentary during the races. There will be a remembrance for her in second life soon. Some knew her as Salem Sella, Salem Knight. But we just called her Salem. Details to follow.

Coming onto the Grid as Selene Spellhunter in June 2010, I had the fortune to meet Salem when she was in an earlier account partnered with Jessicabelle Dayafter and both were residents of the Woodlin community. They eventually split, but remained friends. Describing herself as an "average goth girl" in real life, Salem had a number of interests, from anime, furries, sci-fi, Fantasy, cosplay, and more. But she will be best known as part of the Giant Snail Racers.

Condolences can be left on her Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/SalemBlood .

Bixyl Shuftan.

Club Sugar Rush

By Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life Newser was recently asked to check out a promising club: Club Sugar Rush.
Hopping over one Saturday recently, it was quite a scene, with a few dozen avatars dancing
to the music. The "80s Party" shirts and the Rubik Cube in one corner were a pretty strong
sign of what music was being played. And the crowd loved it.

I talked to QuentenDios Resident, one of the co-owners, about the venue, "I help run the place. Its a three owner team, myself, TiannaRosefield Resident and 0oSUGARBABYo0 Resident".  When asked about where the idea for the club came from, " We wanted to make a club that could provide more genres of music under one roof, rather than 1 or 2 genres." I then asked how long it took to come up with the design. Quenten answered, "Not long at all, a week or two. We've came a long way since we opened just four months ago. June 13th was our opening date."

"About how many events do you have a week?" I then asked. Quenten answered, "It varies really. We let the DJ's during the week have an event during their set if they want to hold one. We have a guaranteed event every Saturday from 6-10 with cash prizes. There's always a different theme." I asked what were the most popular themed here. He answered, "Western, Silks, Lingerie, Rollerskating, Disco, 80's, BDSM, etc."

Second Life being Second Life, I asked about the more amusing glitches and bloopers. Quenten laughed, "Gotta love appliers with a mesh body. More so for the women than the men. The usual boob slip or no panties etc of course. Thank god were all adults here."

I asked, "About how many people usually show up for an event, and what was your most packed night?" Quenten answered, "Some nights are slow, its hit or miss, but around 15-45. A few times we hit the big 50. (Our) most packed theme event was Western night, actually." So it went very well? "Oddly enough it did haha! We always decorate as best as we can to get people into the theme, for western night we held the event outside, put up a barn with some hay and a old fashioned pickup with a stage attached too it for the DJ and hosts to stand on. Had line dancing and all. (It) was a success."

The club had dozens of people working for it, "We currently have 81 staff members. Our staff is treated great. A perk to our staff is we take zero percent of there tips. Most clubs take a measely 10% or more. Not us. They work for their money, we just give them a venue."

There were a few shopping stalls around, "We have stalls for rent outside of the club, we don't charge an arm & a leg like a lot of clubs, Just 100L for 50prim, more prims can be added for a small fee as well. Also we love gacha vendors. If someone has a gacha or five and wants to drop them outside I'm more than happy to talk about a fair and decent price that wont break the bank."

Of what to expect in the future, Quenten explained, "We have a vision of making this into a 24/7 club. We put a lot of time into hiring DJs and hosts daily. We need a club that plays more genres 24/7 and I'm hoping to do that with Club Sugar Rush. It's gonna take patience and a lot of effort from the staff, But we will get there."

So if you're looking for a sweet time at a music club, head on over to Club Sugar Rush.

The Enchanted Reef (70/225/27)

Bixyl Shuftan

More Halloween Fun

Gemma Cleanslate has been on the search for more Halloween haunts. In her most recent foray into the spookier side of Second Life, she came across two, the Dark Dharma Haunted Manor, and NC's Haunted Mansion. So what kind of scary adventures did she have?

Read Gemma's story in Places.

ROMA Ludi Romani Festival Schedule

This weekend, the Roma community will be having it's monthly festival events. This month, it's the Ludi Romani Festival. With six events over two days, there's plenty to do in this picturesque recreation of Ancient Rome.

Read the list of happenings in Events this Week.

Marianne McCann Declares "Hot Bay City Nights" a Success

Sunday September 20 was the last day of Bay City's "Hot Bay City Nights" event. The main feature of the occasion was the vintage auto show at North Channel, but on Sunday was the "Miss Bay City" pageant, in which Belle Mistwallow was voted the winner. Afterwards, Second Life Newser had a few words with Marianne McCann, one of the community's leading residents.

When asked how the event went, Marianne McCann answered, "Very well! We finished up on Sunday with our Miss Bay City pageant.  Belle Mistwallow took th title. We also raised exactly L$60,000 for Child's Play."

I asked if the pageant's current and last year's winner had anything to say. Marianne answered, "Sadly, last year's winner, Uccello Poultry, who set a new bar for Miss Bay City over the year of her reign, was unable to be at the event this time due to a first life entanglement. She did provide notes for the new Miss Bay City, and will likely be able to speak about that. Belle did speak at the event, briefly, thanking the audience, the judges, and especially her family. Many of them came to root for her. Belle Mistwallow was one of five contestants. Others were Ayame Kintsugi (Zombiegal Resident), Micha (MichaMoz Resident), Cinder Roxley, and Wellington Beam."

"The winner, in addition to the title, sash, and tiara received a 1961 Panther from 2Zoetic Motors. ADudeNamed Anthony, owner of 2Zoetic was one of the judges. Kinnaird (Resident), Marianne McCann, and Evola Courtois were the other judges."

"For me personally, I want to thank all the Residents of Bay City and elsewhere in Second Life who helped make the event possible. I was ill during the initial set up, and so many stepped in to make it possible."

Bay City is one of Second Life's more noted area and communities. It has the distinction of a close relationship with Linden Lab's Department of Public Works as the group designed the city, and has several events a year that attract people from across the Grid.

Picture from thesecondlifeofbellemistwallow.com.

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Across Second Life

Welcome to the 2015 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) Across Second Life season! This year’s theme is  “Strides to Victory” and will take place from September 27 to November 7, 2015. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Across Second Life raises money for The American Cancer Society and is part of Relay For Life of Second Life.

The 2015 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Across Second Life season will begin on September 27, 2015 and will continue until November 7 , 2015. On Sunday, October 4 , 2015 at 10am slt, the Making Strides Kickoff Celebration events will be held.

The theme for the 2015 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Across Second Life is “Strides to Victory”.

The 2015 Making Strides Committee is led by Leala Spire, Chair and Ariel Goldrozen, Co-Chair. Visit the following link for a complete committee list: http://makingstridessl.wordpress.com/about-making-strides/organizers/

Please contact Leala Spire or Ariel Goldrozen in Second Life if you would like to get involved with the 2015 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer season in Second Life.

About Breast Cancer:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer.

The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is about 1 in 8. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 36. Breast cancer death rates have been going down. This is probably the result of finding the cancer earlier and better treatment. Right now there are more than 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

The American Cancer Society estimates for breast cancer in men in the United States for 2015 are:

• About 2,350 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed
• About 440 men will die from breast cancer

Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women. For men, the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000. The number of breast cancer cases in men relative to the population has been fairly stable over the last 30 years.

About Making Strides Against Breast Cancer:

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer or MSABC is the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the nation, uniting more than 300 communities to finish the fight. Every breast cancer walk and event is an incredible and inspiring opportunity to honor those who have battled breast cancer, raise awareness about what we can do to reduce our breast cancer risk, and race money to help the American Cancer Society fight the disease with research, information, services, and access to mammograms for women who need them.

About The American Cancer Society:

For more than 100 years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has worked relentlessly to save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together with millions of our supporters worldwide, we help people stay well, help people get well, find cures, and fight back against cancer.

For more information please visit the sites below:

http://makingstridessl.wordpress.com/

http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/

http://www.cancer.org/

SL Video: "The Drax Files : World Makers (Episode 32: Jayjay Zifanwe) "

(Click here if the video fails to play)

Published by Draxtor Despress, September 23, 2015, "The backbone of the our university's presence in the virtual world is the art and the film. It keeps things alive at all times!" says Jayjay Zifanwe from the University of Western Australia in Perth.

"With the blessing of his Dean Jayjay is actively promoting immersive art and machinima made by Second Life residents from all walks of life all the while emphasizing giving voice to creators with disabilities or chronic illness.

"The relationship between UWA and the SL art scene illuminates how a major university can use the creative and social aspects of virtual environments to enhance their mission of inclusive learning on a global scale.

"May this be a model for other educational institutions to follow? With the resurgence of interest in VR JJ's efforts may just be a template to emulate in the future...

"More information on UWA in Second Life is at http://www.uwainsl.blogspot.com

+++++++++

"This episode features the films of Iono Allen {showcasing "Obedience" by Rose Borchovski, Jo Ellsmere and Bryn Oh with music by Luca d'Alberto}, Tutsy Navarathna, Celestial Elf, Hypatia Pickens, Erythro Asimov, Rysan Fall, Pepa Cometa, Chic Aeon, Karima Hoisan, Natascha Randt & many immersive artworks displayed at the UWA sim in Second Life.

"The Freedom Project art works can be seen in the official book for the event here http://issuu.com/freeweeling/docs/uwa_siva_3.1_-_the_freedom_project_

"Thumbnail is composed from a still from Spiral Silverstar's "The Mirror Lies" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA0Fp...]

"Many thanks to Skyspinner Soulstar, James Atloud, Mike Denneny and Foxy Haddison for participating with their RL puppeteers.

"Special thanks to FreeWee Ling for her wonderful work making sure the art is properly featured in SL and Hava Zhang for doing some fabulous "real life" acting.

"Lastly: big thanks to Natalie Jagals, Micah Foster and Paris Javid for filming on physical location in Australia."

Update on Steelhead: Nevermoor is Saved

Some welcome news concerning the Steelhead Estates. This week, Willow Leafstorm announced that she now had ownership of the Nevermoor sim, and it would continue to stay up. But there would be one change: the sim name.

Dear Friends and Citizens of Steelhead.  I am happy to announce a portion of Steelhead has been saved from the Linden axe.  Nevermoor has been transfered over to my care and custodianship.   However, as per agreement with the previous owner  I had to change the name and move the region, but the spirit of Steelhead will live on.

There was more to say at the Town Hall meeting Tuesday night.

Greetings Steelhead!  I have good news.  Nevermoor has been transfered over to to the ownership of Willow Leafstorm and will survive the Linden axe. I'm working on getting rental lots ready for people to move into. There will be a new rental system as well as a new pricing to help prevent monetary short falls. The new rental scale is easy enough to remember and calculate.  The new pricing is basically L$1 per square meter. ... Please note the Initial land fee and deposit have been reduced.  The fee will be also waved for current Steelhead and Ravenwood residents for limited time.  And that is the Willow plan. As you are already aware the sim has been moved and renamed as per request of Lunar.  The new name is Ravenwood Forest. More details will be forth coming.  I do work full time and this will be a slow transition process with a lot of learning on my part.

In a time when so many locations have been closing, Steelhead being just one example, finally some good news.

The sim is located at Ravenwood Forest (129, 129, 25)

Steelhead's last Town Hall meeting was something of a bittersweet one, with a number of residents giving their thanks to those who brought them over, and a reminder of the place's orgins, "It was originally Ambertown, and Steelwolf Pascal purchased it from the original owner for Katt Severine. There are dark times in Steelhead, I don't have time to go into, but long story short, Lunar and Tensai came in a couple of months after I did, and in January of 2007, Lunar and Tensai became managers and I became Sheriff."

"This has been a very rough month. But, remember, regardless what happens. WE will always be Steelhead. ... The Steelhead sims as you know it, is because of them. The Steelhead spirit as you know it is because of each and every one of you."

The exact date when the sims will be gone is unknown, "these sims may be in the queue for removal at the end of the month, but they could stick around another month before LL removes them." The last Friday night dance is planned to be at the Town Hall. After that,the  Green Fairy Cabaret in Ravenwood Forest will be holding them.  Of Steelhead's school for kid avatars, classes will continue to be held at Antiquity.

Steelhead has been on the grid for 9 years. That is a great accomplishment. As awesome as the Steelhead sims are, they were nothing without the citizens of Steelhead City. You are all an amazing group of people, and through you, the Steelhead Spirit will always remain strong, and will endure. Thank you all so much for an amazing nine years.

And so the community bravely faces the end of it's estate, with the small relief that one corner of their land will continue.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Firebird

Gemma Cleanslate recently attended a performance of a play in Second Life: "The Firebird." Done by the Fantasy Dreams Dance Group and directed by Andy Loon and Ina Carpaccio, the former whom worked on "The Little Prince" months ago, it was a dance on stage she thoroughly enjoyed. So what was it about?

Read about the show in Design.

Second Life's Mont Saint Michel to Close

Another noted sim in Second Life will soon be closing. Moeka Kohime, the builder and owner of Mont Saint Michel, which Becky Shamen listed as one of the top ten places to visit on the Grid, announced on her Flickr page that the location would be going away for "economic" reasons.

Going about the place, it was very well detailed. Much like the real-life Mont Saint Michael, which has served as an abbey, fortress, and prison, it has been a popular attraction with residents frequently dropping by. Many have left some of their screenshots on the location's  Flickr page where various residents have posted over a hundred pictures of the location.

The island also has an old blog with a few pictures, but has not been updated in years. 

To get to the place before it closes, head to Mont Saint Michel (104/29/21).

Hat tip: Hamlet Au

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Trotsdale Fourth Anniversary party

By Bixyl Shuftan

Events This Week at the Sunweaver Clubs

It's a week full of events at the Sunweaver/Angel clubs. At the Happy Vixen, feel free to "wing it" in "Best in Wings, you might see spots before your eyes at "Spots and Stripes," and for those who can't wait for spook-tacular fun next month, there's "Early Halloween." For Cutlass, the alphabet themes begin again with "Best in A," and things get a little steamy with "Steampunk."


See details in Events This Week.

Trotsdale Celebrates it's Fourth Anniversary

Saturday September 19 was the fourth anniversary of the Trotsdale pony sim. And they celebrated with a big disco party, the event starting at Noon SL time.

Let's celebrate Trotsdale's 4rth Birthday together! Starting ... at 12PM SLT, the Theme is 1970s Big city nights.

The event took place in a skybox 3000 meters high above the sim. Various DJs, such as DJ Dash  (shurikenangel) played music for the event. ScentualLust also played some music for the occasion at one point. Once in a while, a random prize giver would give a lucky attendee a gift, such as an avatar mod or 250 Lindens.

The party got quite packed at times, with a few dozen ponies, some furs, and a couple normal human avatars dropping in. There were quite a number of jokes cracked, being September 19 including a pirate joke or two, and well wishes for the sim and community.

"None of this would be possible if it were not for Nyan (xnyannyanx). Daydream (brian.rutherford), and Cloudy Skies (charlie.sapeur).  They helped big time with helping build the party area.  Also the awesome DJs and entertainers and of course you awesome ponies for coming here for an awesome time :) You all are what make this community great, Trotsdale has been around for four years and it's all because of you guys."

No doubt the fifth anniversary party will be a blast as well.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Last Word From Electrobit City

It was last month in which Electrobit City, which we wrote about four years ago, announced it would soon be closing. On Saturday September 19, co-owner Jei Desoto gave one final message.

As we know, today is the day the sim shuts down... So though my work has been as of now, completely picked up, it's not the end! I've taken my project back to it's smaller state for now, and I'm continuing tests when I can on aditi. Any questions regarding my work should be directed to me Jei.  Also, if any reason the sim rolls back as to 'retain' my build, is not authorized by me, and should be reported. Anyhoo, happy adventures, all! I will update in my work's original intended group. Stay tuned, kids!!!

And so another area fades into the virtual nether.

September 11 at Stagg Island

It's been a little over a week since the fourteenth anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack on America. Sometimes called "Patriots' Day," September 11 was a day that would mark America much like December 7 decades earlier. Remembered in real life, people in Second Life also took time to remember the shock and horror. One of the largest remembrance event was at Stagg Island, whose owner Geena Zackerly gave a moving narration. Also, the Newser mentions one small memorial that got overlooked, and Cindy Bolero of Aero Pines explained why the park's stair climb tribute didn't go up this year.

Read more in Events.

Ready for Halloween

By Gemma Cleanslate

It is early , I know, but I thought I would go check out some of the Halloween venues that are already established and actually have hunts going on! I visited Hipville’s 5th annual Halloween Hunt first. Here I found a heart and brain hunt. The sim has four areas to visit, the corn mazes with frightening creatures appearing. The asylum where you have to be very careful what you touch.  Cross the bridge to enter the witches’ forest where cauldrons of fire and worms await you. Click a globe and you can take some great pictures of yourself posing as part of the decor.

The walk to the graveyard is spooky with spirits rising before your eyes and on into the grave yard for more spirits about. I found some prizes as I went along but must return for more because they will be changing as time passes. You can get all the information you need to enjoy the region at the entrance. There are some great Halloween decorations for sale, including the corn mazes, dunking for apples, and more.Don’t forget to ride a broom!!! Lots of fun!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//189/182/24   

My next visit was to Heart of Darkness where there is so much going on too. A treasure chest hunt and a photography contest and  billboards are at the entrance so click them for information you will need. Wonderful sim to roam and search for treasure chests. Be sure to look up, down, under and over and behind. I have to go back for more! I found about 18 already but there are many many more~ up to 40!

It is a pirate town so there are many pirate skeletons hanging around the town and on the half sunken boats.Try out the interactive poses and hope to save your life! Some of the prizes are from our beloved Aley which are always nice to find. For the photography contest read the notecard and visit the store for a free outfit and so many cute outfits for sale too. Use the region windlight for effect and beware of everything! This will be open until November 4.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//154/165/22

Gemma Cleanslate

"Talk Like a Pirate Day" at the Sunweaver Clubs

The Sunweaver/Angel community, the neighbors of the SL Newser office, loves a good party. And "Talk Like a Pirate Day" provided a good excuse for some swashbuckling fun. So we donned some buccaneer outfits, and had a couple of pirate parties.

ON Thursday September 17, the Happy Vixen had a double event from 6-8, and 8-10PM. DJ Rose provided a selection of pirate tunage.

Saturday was September, September 19, "Pirate Day," and so Club Cutlass made it's theme for the evening pirates of course. DJ Tantari provided the swashbuckling tunes for the night, some familiar, some not played as often. The larger of the two parties, there were quite a few outfits (including a cutlass or two), lots of "Arrrr matey" and other pirate chatter, and the event included a sharkgirl, and a "pie rat" or two.

Shockwave Yareach and Dawnmarie were the winners in the costume for the best outfits. Tantari ended her set with the familiar "Pirates of the Carribean" theme. Of course real pirates are and have been far more vicious than their portrayal in Hollywood movies. But that doesn't stop the residents of Second Life from having some good clean fun.

Bixyl Shuftan