RFL Announcement: Sinking of the SIMS Party! (The Flood Party)

 

 The Sim that the party will take place on is the WIN Region!
Wear your swimsuits, because its going to FLOOD!  Make sure you have your boats, your floaties ... and come on down!

 

The Party will begin at 4pm SLT  (You may want to get there early)  

Lets celebrate this season together!!!!
 RFL Win (129,67,23)
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Win/128/67/23

 

Top image from Selene Jashan 

 

The Flood Party, Next Year's Theme Announced

 

Wednesday June 11 at 4 PM was the last big event at the Relay tack, the Wrap Up party. Though it's better known as the Flood Party.

 

 It would take place at RFL Advovacy and Awareness. The water level was raised to the point people needed floaters to keep above it. 

 

 The event started when a sim manager on a whim in 2010 flooded a sim a few days after the Relay Weekend, and people rushed over with floaters and inner tubes. It became a Relay tradition. 

 

The Sunbeamers didn't bring a float, but a DWUK Army vehicle. 

 

 The event would be recorded (click here to view). 

 

Besides the revelry and fun, there were also a few announcements. The most important was that the theme for next year had been decided, Wild For A Cure. 

 

Following the event, a few would rush off to take down their campsites. But most would wait until the following day, Thursday June 12. 

 

Go Relay!

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Real-Life News: Burning Man 2023 A Muddy Mess

 

 For fans of Burning Man, this was a year that will be remembered not so much for the art, music, and the Burning of The Man, but for the mud.

Last weekend was the high point of the Burning Man art and music festival in Black Rock Nevada, which normally has the high point of the event, the Burning of The Man, a huge wooden effigy, on Saturday night. But then the normally dry desert ended up getting heavy rains. The result was ground turning into a muddy mess. People ended up covering their shoes in plastic bags so they wouldn't get stuck in the thick muck. With people unable to leave, or order fresh supplies, people were asked to conserve food and water. Some grumbled at their festival quite literally dampened. Others just took things it stride. There was also a death at the event when a man was discovered having died for reasons still unknown. The Burning of The Man ended up postponed until Monday so things could dry out. But by then, many had taken advantage of the roads finally being driveable again, and there was a jam of people trying to leave.

For Second Life, Burning Man has had a long-lasting connection. In the late 1990s, many of the original staff of Linden Lab, including it's founder and first CEO Philip Rosedale, would attend and be impressed by the temporary city of attendees having been so quickly created out of nothing, which helped inspire the creation of Second Life. Second Life would have reflections of the Burning Man festival almost since the beginning, taking place in October. They would be sponsored by Linden Lab until 2010, called Burning Life. In 2010, Linden Lab would cut off it's support, and the Burners would run the event on their own, renaming it Burn2. Eventually there would be spinoff events at other times of the year. In 2022, a split among Burning Man fans in real life would be reflected in Second Life with a "Renegade" Burn being held in the virtual world, as well as real life.

 

 Image credit: BBC

Sources: BBC, AP News

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From The Relay Flood Party

 

All good things must come to an end. And sadly so is the case with the Relay for Life Weekend track. But on the day before takedown, there was one final official event: the Flood Party. The Newser was there, and would take pictures of some of the fun that was had.

 

See the pictures in Events. 

 

RFL Announcement: Sink The Sims Party

 

 

Sometimes known as the "Flood Party," today marks the start of a Relay tradition that got started by accident, the "Sink the Sims" party. It's today, Wednesday at 4PM SL time. Suggested attire is bathing suits, floats, and life preservers. Keep an eye in the RFL Volunteer group for the location at the Relay track.

 

800,000 Still Without Power Following Hurricane Ida, 46 Dead In New York As Storm Causes Flooding

 

When Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana on Sunday August 27, it caused a huge amount of damage with over a million losing power in the state and next door Mississippi. But the storm wasn't done yet. It's still powerful remnants moved inland, eventually reaching the northeast US, where it caused major flooding in several states, notably New York City where some were trapped in their basements and drowned. There was video footage of one of the city's subway's choked with floodwaters. The storm has been blamed for 46 deaths, and counting.

Back in Louisiana, power is still out for over 800,000 people, with nine people confirmed dead. Numerous gas stations are described as having long lines of people waiting to get fuel, and some grocery stores are reportedly rationing certain foods and ice as people anticipating gasoline shortages are stocking up to reduce trips by car.

Due to it's level of destruction, "Ida" will be retired as a name for Hurricanes.

Sources: Daily Advent, MSN, Reuters, weather.com,

Bixyl Shuftan
 

New Toulouse Hit By Storm

Earlier this month on December 8, the sim of New Toulouse was hit by a storm. The result was some flooding in the streets. Francesca Alva took a series of pictures of the scenery. Fortunately, the water soon retreated, and there was no major damage, a party at a local venue soon following.

New Toulouse is best known for it's annual Mardi Gras event, which in 2020 will take place earlier than usual, probably on the weekend of February 22/23.

SL Video: "New Toulouse - After The Storm"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Natascha Randt, July 29, 2014, "Just an ad hoc video of the chaos at New Toulouse after the storm. A bit laggy because of the weather conditions. So it is just for the records"

RFL Walk 2012: The Flood Party

On Wednesday, the final day of the Relay track before the takedown, people were going about seeing a few more sights, taking a few more pictures, and of course there was what's become a Relay tradition in Second Life since 2010: the "Flood Party." Group announcements from Trader1 Whiplash let people know.


Please be advised the grid-wide weather service has posted a severe weather watch for numerous RFL sims this evening, possibly around 6 PM SLT.

A severe weather watch means you can expect rain, possibly heavy at times, high winds, and localized flooding in low-lying areas of the RFL track.


People were gathering at T1Radio's Studio in the RFL Acceptance sim, the station playing music. And as 6 PM rolled around, the rain began to fall, and the water began to cover the road. DJ Madonna joked this was one reason why she wore a latex rubber suit. People danced away, some sporting ducky inflatable tubes. As time went on, the water got a little deeper. Fortunately for anyone without a swimmer AO, it didn't match the ten meters of the first flood party in 2010, but on the road it did get waist deep.

Eventually, the waters receded, the party came to a close, and everyone went their seperate ways, some going about the track for one more look at the builds. Thursday is the takedown day in which the builds come down. Come Friday or Saturday, the sims will fade away for another year.

Bixyl Shuftan

"And That's it for Extend a Helping Hand!"

Yay! I was able to go to the bank today and make the final donation. Here's a full post about it, complete with pictures of the receipts:

http://katjohnston.com/2011/02/25/eahh-and-the-donation-is-made/

The total amount donated was AU$8350, rounded up from the AU$8,337.03, which is what the money raised converted to once it was changed from US currency.

To have a look at the currency conversion process (and get transaction history/money coming out of SL/etc), you can check out this post:

http://katjohnston.com/2011/02/20/eahh-heres-the-final-figures/

Phew! And that's it for EaHH!

Thank you everyone, for making Extend a Helping Hand a memorable and incredibly helpful event in raising money for the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal. From the people who took part as vendors, through to artists, musicians, independent event organizers, donors, participants and attendees, this amount could not have been raised if it were not for all of you.

With warmest regards and incredible thanks,

Sanura Sakai / Kat Johnston.

Australia Day 48 Hour Benefit Raises Over 300,000L for Flood Relief

In recent weeks, Australia has been hit by record flooding. Thousands were forced to evacuate from towns and cities, three quarters of the state of Queensland declared a disaster area. A wikipedia entry stated the death toll was 35 dead with nine missing. Damage by the floods is at least one billion Australian dollars, estimates as to how high going as far as thirty billion.

Wednesday January 26 was Australia Day, when Australians celebrate the founding of their country. In Second Life, B&B’s in the Utopia and EnGedi sim decided to hold a two day live music event starting that day to raise funds to help those affected by the flooding. Four dozen musicians were participating, such as OhMy Kidd, Gina Gracemount, and the folk band SOAR.

Get set for the Australia Day Concert: 48 hours of fantastic LIVE entertainment from 12:01am on the 26th right through to 11:59pm on the 27th. There is an awesome line-up featuring some incredibly talented performers! You won't want to miss this.

When I dropped in on Thursday the 27th, I was greeted by over a dozen people dancing and listening to the music, led by B&B’s co-owner Bundy Xue.

♯♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥ Welcome to ♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥♯
♯♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥ B&B's ♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥♯
♯♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥ FLOOD RELIEF ♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥♯
♯♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥ BENEFIT 2011 ♬♥♪♥♩♥♬♥♯

Bundy continuously greeted visitors with a cheerful hello, and kept encouraging people to give to the fund. The goal was to raise 315,000 Lindens, which equals 1250 US Dollars.
Among the people there was noted SL blogger Nazz Lane. Cellandra Zon was also there.

“Bundy is such a sweetheart,” one person instant-messaged me, “She has worked soo hard for this benefit. She lined up all the musicians. She made sure everything was organized. And she has been here to work it too, and greet the people. AND she was here for almost all of the 24 hours! I think she took two 3 hour breaks, and that's IT.”

The event total was 293,000 Lindens when I arrived. Finally at 7:30 PM SL time. Cellandra Zon announced the total had passed 300,000, “THANK you, Grateful! THANK you Rayzer!” As the night went on, the total continued to rise. at 8:50 PM, it was announced that the goal of 315,000 Linden dollars raised had been met, “WONDERFUL WE HAVE CRACKED 1250 US$ Thank you all! (smile)” Dropping by the next day, the total on the board read 363,500 L.

The fundraising in Second Life has not gone entirely unnoticed by media outside the Grid. An Australian news site made a mention of the event: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/floods/8201695/.

The event was part of a larger fundraiser, which someone mentioned had so far raised a total of over 7000 US dollars. People wishing to contribute more can visit The Extend a Helping Hand Market, which according to a notecard passed at the event will be around until February 8th, "Money raised will be donated to the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal to assist those affected by the Queensland floods. ... You can join the Extend a Helping Hand Subscription Group to keep updated for the duration of the event, and to receive notifications when vendors release new donation items."

"Extend a Helping Hand is an event put together by Sanura Sakai to raise funds for the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal. The aim is to provide support and assistance to those Queenslanders affected by the recent massive flooding. She started organizing the event when it hit her home-town, and on the very first day of the market itself, it swept through her own city. 75% of Queensland, at the time of writing this, has been declared a disaster zone. Many have lost their homes, and some have even lost their lives.

"To read more about the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal, to which all funds raised by this event will go, please visit http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/. You can also donate directly, if you so desire, through the information provided on that site. To provide complete transparency to this process, transaction history for all donations will be provided at the close of the event at http://katjohnston.com. Kat Johnston is the real life name of Sanura Sakai, who will be running the event."

Another example of Second Life used to help people in real life.

(edit) The location to the Helping Hand Mall is Aiden (27, 64, 1025)


Bixyl Shuftan