Announcement: Songbird Rocks the Castle at Grendels Children

WHAT:  Concert by Songbird Sorbet !!

Grendel's Children is proud to announce a concert by
the incomparable singer Songbird1028 Sorbet

WHEN:  Saturday, April 8th, at 12 Noon SLT .... 2017

WHERE:
at Avaria Tor sim, Home of Grendel's Children since 2006. The concert is in the new yuge castle of April Foolin'... ''Catsel Bufo'' - a play on "Frog-and-Cat" productions and the icons of the two founding builders. 

HOW to get there:
Arrive at Grendels' telehub:>
 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Avaria%20Tor/133/135/302
and sit on the Rocket to the April Fools ''Catsel Bufo''

MORE:
* Builders are your Cat-Toad-Octopus-and-Dragon friends from Grendels!  Clover Dezno, Toady Nakamura, Cacia Escape, Flea Bussy, RaptonX Zorger, DannyG Grun, and Lim Raeth.  

*  Wear Anything but you have to wear Something; it's a G-rated sim !!
 
*Over than 165 presents are hidden among the tricks, magic cards, fussy doors, silly games, odd art gallery and those ever-so-fragile dinosaurs... :) 

WEBLINKS

**>   Songbird !!
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0W6HlTzSM
 
**> Grendels !!
  http://secondlife.com/destination/36  official SL link
  http://world.secondlife.com/place/eb968fa8-f34c-b18f-452c-485f0c4b346d    CATALOG via "show in search" of the store

  http://grendelschildren.net/  links to our videos
and
  https://grendelschildren.wordpress.com/  blog about our classes.

Grendel's Owner's Computer Lost in Fire

Almost a year after being suspended by Linden Lab for technicalities, Flea Bussy, the owner of the noted Grendles' Children store, has found himself in trouble again. This time, the problem was a real-life one when the apartment complex he lived in caught fire. Thankfully no one was killed, and the damage to Flea's apartment was from smoke and not heat. But the smoke was enough to render his computer damaged beyond repair.

"The old one is toast," Toady Nakamura, Flea's partner and co-owner of Grendle's told the Newser. "He has an off-the-shelf one at the moment, which isn't truly his. But it's not enough to run well or fast in SL, and we're hoping to change that as soon as possible." Today thought that Flea could get a new computer in about a week, maybe less, if people bought more at the store, "we have some really great new avis, all mesh ... The Wing Chairs, which let you ride your friends along sitting in them. Really neat." Unlike the crisis last year, there is no real danger to the store this time, "We're fine on business. We have so much fun stuff that people keep coming to get it. The only request was to bring friends, buy stuff, take freebies, find the secret passage in the library which leads to the sleeping dragon, have fun."

Flea had been absent for four days before he had a chance to explain what happened through a phone call. His apartment complex is not a small one, but a "U-shaped" structure three stories high on one side and more on the other, with more than two hundred people. "He went upstairs to get someone out," Toady informed, "Way beyond what he needed to do to save himself. And got himself and the other down all the stairs and outside, then tried to persuade a pile of people who were plugging up the entry, because it was minus 20 degrees outside and snow, to exit before the smoke flared up into full flame. I think people who don't just save themselves are special. Especially how he described it, and of course everyone was sick with worry for not hearing from him for the four days he was in the Red Cross shelter before being let back in. Some people were rescued by the fire department off the balconies by the long ladders. It was one of those freezing cold fire events. ... Many of the building residents are elderly and so there was more than the usual pressure for rehousing and saving things."

Toady went on to say about half the apartments are occupied again. The other half will need repairs first, "everyone else is going to need to wait or move to a different apartment. ... I think they're moving as fast as they can given all the circumstances. Up where I live, that would be a huge disaster and people would be sleeping in RVs and barns because we couldn't rehouse 100 people overnight. But perhaps in a metro area, that is not much; it's all perspective."

Before going about her way, Toady reminded that she has been giving out building lessons at Grendle's, the times of which can be found in the store's blog: https://grendelschildren.wordpress.com/.

Grendle's is at Avaria Tor (133/135/302)

Bixyl Shuftan

Grendel's Children Saved From Shutdown

This week, Grendel's Children, a well-known avatar and accessory store, came close to being shut down due to Paypal, and then Linden Lab, bureaucratic stubornness over technical details.

When I asked Toady Nakamura, one of the co-owners of the place, about the problem, she answered, "we seemed to have fixed it. Some snafu in the billing caused the Lindens to lock Flea (Bussy) out right after the holiday weekend, and it took a few days to sort it out. ... today (at) 9:35 am, they let Flea back in.  It was kinda Miracle on Avaria Street, all our old friends and customers came out of the woodwork and between the good energy and their shopping energy, they helped us get around the PayPal/Linden snafu. So (it) was very scary for a while, because they really weren't listening. And even today 'when the fix was in,' it still took 3 calls to get thru to someone down there who had read the memo."

Toady went on, "Ah yes, Paypal (not known to us) decided that all accounts must be VERIFIED. That means something like cellphone or chargecard. Well, (Flea) doesn't have cellphone and the chargecard had rolled over with new expiration date. And kaboom, no good says Paypal, (and the) Lindens go 'no good' and lock him out. So he couldn't get to his linden balance to pay. (It) was annoying, catch 22 and a half,  subsection (really annoying 1.34.c)."

"So finally this morning it all got straightened out, but only after SEVERAL people had run it all up the flag pole and back down. ... We were a couple hours from losing the sims. It was a bit of an overreaction. We wouldn't have raised holy hell without it being so close. It's always around holidays that their billing department goes kukaburra. They did similar to me around Memorial Day 2014. My credit card did same thing, rolled over, new expiration date. And they wouldn't take my premium membership and the letter I got was all full of threats. ... Which was amazing stupid cuz not one week before they'd told me to send in copy of my drivers license and utility bills (which I did) for 'personal verification' and during that time they also threatened to close my account if I didn't comply. So two times in less than 30 days. Their problem solving department was apparently trained by 500-lb canaries."

"The Lab wouldn't listen to you?" I asked. Today answered, "I sent in all my stuff initially, but it wasn't good enough, driver's license and utility bill showing HOME address. They wanted (a) cellphone.  I don't have one. So I was being threatened for verification of something I don't have. And no they didn't listen very well. Ifilled out ticket after ticket and finally one of them was read well enough for comprehension to trickle down. I told them I'd be delighted to get cellphone, but they'd have to pay for it. Then I'd be so happy to give them the # for their files. They stopped being so demanding."

"This time, the Lab listened to a LOT of people freaking out all at one time.  I don't know if they'd have listened to us individually, but I would hope they would have."

"So what happens now?" I asked. Toady answered, "We have to straighten out the Paypal problem. But we have some time now... Hopefully Lindens take look at system that makes 9 year paying customers feel like they went in and out of SingSing. Not nice. But I can't tell them what to do, I can only hold up my end and wish they'd play nicer." She commented of Linden Lab's behavior, " 'plays well with others,' D- this week. 'Takes care of pets and toys,' F. 'Runs with scissors in stairways' (PLEASE!!)."

Toady called the effort by others to prove their worth to Linden Lab a "miracle," "Our customers and old friends, and people we never met before got enough $L in our accounts by buying things to render the PayPal snafu moot for now.  That's miraculous, and MUCHLY appreciated. A total wonderful flock of angels descended on our store and literally saved us. And PS, I never got so much $L in so short a time, even in the old days when sales were wonderful."

Toady had been one of the volunteers at the Second Life Birthday celebration, the builder of their live music stage, and was in the process of dismantling it as the cash flow came in, "I was taking down the birthday sim, prim by prim, set by set. And almost as I was taking prims, the balance of $ was going up up up, inverse, was utterly amazing."

Toady added, "And you could also thank the Lindens who were contacted. I don't know their names, but I know some of the people that heard about this contacted them. One twittered the CEO, others got strings pulled somehow so he didn't have to go thru the 'outsourced billing department' but got bounced 'up into Linden billing,' whatever that difference is. Again I don't know, but those were things we were told to tell him ... when he calls, insist to be transferred to 'Linden billing.' It's just a paperwork/computer problem that got really way too big, and way too out of hand."

Toady stated, "And if I had one wish in all this, is the Lindens would have some sort of algorithm for their customers. Anyone paying for one or two sims for 9 years is not your enemy. They don't deserve to be treated badly. So like have some account history for these poor people in billing. 'Oh gee, 9 years, at least two sims, maybe I should take that into account and skip the threats,' ... yanno really, they should just skip the threats, no matter how long someone been (a) customer. In truth, today's 1 month old sim owner who is late for snafu is just as important as 9 year old member, yanno?"

Toady did say that she wasn't bitter toward the Lab, "I am really grateful that the Lindens did listen, cuz the alternative would be watching 1600 of Flea's avatars disappear totally, plus all his other zany stuff. ... Just today one linden said they remember getting our 'new Linden gift pack' in 2007(?) or 6, and still having all the contents. You know Flea has two avatars in your library? (The) Box Bot (which the Lindens use in their premium adverts), and Fae Dragon ... You have Library > Clothing > Box bot, 'cardboard box bot' and 'dragonlet.' "

Today went on, "Back in the ooooold days, they flew Flea out to San Francisco to receive a Linden award, in 2006, and Philip said 'As goes Grendel's so goes the grid.' I then brought up a few years ago the quote had been used when Grendel's had some trouble. "We had four sims," Toady answered, "two of them went utterly wonky and we couldn't get customer service at all. So Flea sold them. THEN we got customer service for a while. Apparently there was a LOT of press."

Toady would then show me around Grendel's hidden areas, in addition to the roleplay area beneath the store. It was a reminder a lot more would have been lost than just a store had this bureaucratic snafu not been broken.

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: Grendel's Bids Farewell to the SL12B

Toady Nakamura, who was the builder of the Live Stage in Spellbound, sent in this picture of how she left the sim after taking the stage down.

Toady, and her partner Flea Bussy, run Grendel's Children, a huge store long known for discount avatars and other goods. There's also a prehistoric roleplay area in the sims.

The Cake and Main Stages at the SL12B

Sunday at Noon the gates open for the SL12B! The parties begin! I thought I would give you a look at the Cake Stage by Mikati Slade. It is just so spectacular as it almost fills four sims. The dance floor is in the middle of the lower floor. The entire installation is just amazing to look at . It was so interesting to see her rezzing it. She has a trick for that.  Mikati has a unique style that has been seen at previous birthday celebrations . It is so recognizable . 

In real life Mikati is a “Digital artist from Japan, studied classical sculpture and drawing at art university. Work experience includes illustration, 3D CG, and graphic design on print media.” You can see some of her work here . https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikati/

Savor the Cake! Enjoy the entertainment. 

Toady Nakamura is the builder of the Main stage . Her work is recognizable from past birthday celebrations too. This year she and her helpers , “Flea Bussy, Wolfling Winterwolf, Food by Clover Dezno... plants and bounding boxes by iDev Resident and LimRaeth Resident, and general fixing everything we broke the wonderful Cacia Escape. Water sounds by Lorin Tone, Photography by Uccello Poultry.: environmental sounds, clock and everything else, Underfrog” and a host of other assistants. 

Toady told me they used over 12000 prims for all the stage , which is much more than a stage . It begs to be explored so don’t overlook it. Up on the top of one area there is a cake viewing point.

Look at the schedule for each stage. I will tell you about the other venues during the week.
http://www.slcommunitycelebration.info/sl12b-performance-schedule/

Gemma Cleanslate 

Editor's note: slight change made at the request of Mikati Slade

SL Video: "The Wizard and the Ozimal"

(Click here if video fails to load)

A video by Pyewacket Bellman about a tiny wizard on a quest to rescue his pet bunny. A number of avatars by Grendel's Children are featured here.

Grendel's "Grungeboardin"

The "Grungeboarding" track at the Grendle's Children area. Created by Nitwacket, "Grundgeboardin is Constantine Riel's 'fault' - according to Flea Bussy - who created the rest of the stuff in the machinima."

Noted Avatar Store “Grendel’s Children” Turns Five, Cuts Four-Sim Area to Two

One of the more noted avatar stores in Second Life is “Grendel’s Children. The venue is well known for it’s selection of avatars and other goods at cheaper than usual prices. Some of the items have been discounted to near-free or freebies. One can come here and get a number of avies. Quoting Tateru Nino’s article in Massively:


There are things on sale here from Thrulls and Liches to Medusae and genetic horrors - and things I don't even know enough about to name. ... There are dragons, gryphons, drakes, spiders, scorpions, birds (legendary, mundane, gigantic, or plush), necromancers, shadow-mancers, plague monks, incubi, succubi, assorted demons and devils, trolls, fae, angels, imps (elemental, and paralegal), treants (all seasons), dryads, myconids, chelonians, molluscs, a certain famous yellow submarine, mermaids, goldfish, therapods, dinosaurs and mammoths, aliens, and Lord only knows what else. Lots and lots of what else.


The store was just part of the fun in the region. Below Grendel’s were four sims: Avaria, Avaria Tor (directly under the store), Avaria Kro, and Avaria Sav. There, residents could engage in roleplay (including some dinosaur RP that I witnessed). They could play games such as “Grungeboarding,” and a resource-gathering game Xymbers Slade showed me that the HUD would take materials gathered and would make them in to various processed goods and clothing. And of course they could explore the various caves and other hiding places.

Grendel’s has been around since 2006, and has its fifth anniversary today. Sept 1, 2006 was the date of the store’s founding. But unfortunately, Grendel’s fans have less to celebrate. The region is half what it used to be.

Prim Perfect reported on August 29th that two of the sims, Avaria Kro and Avaria Sav were sold. A look at the map shows them still there, but offline. Inworld, they are nowhere to be seen.Grendel’s made more than enough for the $14,400 they paid Linden Lab every year. Unfortunately, according to Grendels’ team, the Lab hasn’t been providing the technical support they paid for.


“I can get spam from Cafe Press, but no answers from Linden Lab,” says Flea Bussy, the leader janitor of Grendel’s (and owner of the Avarian sims) wearily. There is no response to his tickets, and having been told “we’ll call you back” by concierge, there are no replies. “They don’t care.” After years of patience with Linden Lab, Flea is disappointed in the failure of the Lab to support what is a thriving business in one of the most important areas of the grid – the development of amazing content. “We took this problem all the way to the CEO,” says Toady, “and it was fixed for 3 days. Then it broke again. We can’t keep going to the top for routine things like ‘we cannot move in our sim’.”


Saddia Widdershins quoted Philip Linden, meeting with Second Life content creators, as saying, “As goes Grendel’s, so goes the Grid.” Of half of Grendel’s now sold because of lack of support from Linden Lab, “what does that say about the Grid?”

At a time when a number of sims have been up for sale or vanishing, it’s a question that more residents are likely to be asking.

The Grendel's website is at http://grendelschildren.net/

Sources: Prim Perfect, New World Notes, Tateru Nino

Bixyl Shuftan