Here's To You Jessicabelle Dayafter

 

 As thoughts look back over the past year and a half, yours truly thinks about the good times. But, there were also some sad times. Among them was when a longtime friend and virtual neighbor passed away, Jessicabelle Dayafter. She was someone I knew since 2008 and my days at Woodlin, who went on to become a crack combat RP/pilot, as well as someone who frequently appeared in Nydia Tungsten's videos and calendars. In this article, I look back at the times I knew her.

Read Bixyl Shuftan's story in People. 

A Few Weekend Happenings

A number of events happened this weekend. On Friday April 1, Grendel's Children launched their "Trust Nothing" promotion, and Club Gearz (pictured above) had their Grand Re-Opening party. On Saturday, the Furry Gamers group had their "Cheesy" tournament at the Happy Vixen Club with a computer game as the prize. On Sunday, combat roleplayers, including some from New Bastogne, fought in a "Carrier Battle in the Gulf." There were also a number of Relay events across Second Life, including the last day of "Stand UP - Battle of the DJs." The Raglan Shire Tiny-themed community announced some rebuilding of their sim. And more.

More about some of these events later on.

Happy "Talk Like a Pirate Day"

Arrrr! Shiver me timbers! Tis be "Talk Like A Pirate Day." An' time ta takes a look at a few pirate-themed places in Second Life. First, if ye wish ta catch up on yer pirate speak, be checkin' our old article on th' lingo.

In the past, we wrote about a detailed pirate themed area "Morgan Straits." It's no longer around, but there are other places one can engage in a little swashbuckling. One place you'll be wanting to check out is the Blake Sea. This is a HUGE area of water and islands east of the Second Life mainland. To join up with the Blake Sea Battles Group, head to Blake Diego (215, 45, 36)


There, one can get information about the group, in addition to a couple freebie craft, and one demo of a small armed ship. You can also find schedules of events, such as the sea battles.

Typing "Pirates" in Second Life search will get you a number of adult-themed roleplay areas. Near the top of the list were a couple that weren't, Trade Winds (51, 139, 22), and Pirates Destiny at Nassau Stronghold (126, 119, 25). But these places may not be friendly to nonhuman avatars, except merfolk. They have some freebie items, such as clothes, swimmer HUDs, and a merchant at Trade Winds had a freebie vessel, but while they may not mind a furry tourist walking around, being welcome in a combat RP may be another matter. This is too bad, as going about Trade Winds, there was some good scenery. But looking at Blake Sea Battles Group, the charter doesn't say anything about problems with anyone having a tail.

Besides these places, no doubt there will be a lot of venues holding pirate themed events, such as Club Cutlass near the SL Newser office. But to enjoy pirate-themed fun all year round, the best place in terms of volume of water and welcoming of one's looks is the Blake Sea.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day Mateys.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Enquirer: Meet the Flying Tigers

"Just when you think nothing on SL can surprise you anymore, you find yourself in the middle of a WWII aviation reenactment as a side gunner on a Japanese bomber with a white wolf wearing angle wings as your pilot. No kidding, but I digress. What started out four years ago as a small group of nomadic aviator friends flying around the grid for fun has evolved into a multi sim operation, the largest aviation group in sl with over 2400 members and a bunch of downright fun folks to hang out with. Meet 'The Flying Tigers.' "

(Read more in the SL Enquirer)

Be the Ninja! The Nexus Core System RP Sim

For those looking for a new place to game, Grey Lupindo took a look at a combat roleplay sim: The Nexus Core System RP sim, owned by BioBlaze Payne and Silicon Plunket. Led by a team of builders and roleplayers with years of experience in Second Life, the group behind the game and sim numbers in the thousands. Gray took a look at both the beautifully designed village and countryside, in addition to the game taking place there. This included getting her hands dirty with whacking a few troublesome critters.

See Grey's adventures in Design.