SLCS and Blue Angel Airport Funday, Sunday August 30

 

While the Relay For Life's official season is over, and spinnoff events such as I Pink I can won't be happening for a few weeks, that isn't stopping a few Relayers from doing off-season fundraisers. On Sunday August 30, the Second Life Cheerleading Squad had their "SLCS and Blue Angel Funday."

 

The Second Life Blue Angels soar across the virtual skies with precision, discipline, and showmanship that echo the spirit of their real‑world counterparts. Their pilots execute tight formations, daring maneuvers, and high‑energy demonstrations that bring authentic aviation excitement into the digital world. Each performance blends technical mastery with immersive visual flair, creating an experience that feels both familiar and uniquely Second Life.  

 

The event was an all day one, going from 8 AM SL time to about 9PM (Midnight EST).  It took place at the Quigley sim at (104,195,1001). For those who made a donation of 100L or more, they got to go up in one of the Blue Angels jets. There were a number of live performers such as Eric Steffensen (EricSteffensen Mistwalker), Mimi Carpenter, and Harmonia Trefoil.

 

It should be noted many Relayers (probably most) need long breaks due to real life, how much energy they throw of themselves into their events, or both. So these kinds of events aren't for everyone. But cancer never stops. And there's always someone planning a Relay event, even for the offseason.  

 

By Bixyl Shuftan 

 

A Few SLB Exhibits

 

 The Second Life Birthday is full of noteworthy exhibits. One that caught my eye was "The Great Carrot Caper" in SLB Marvelous by Owlie Fairlander, Beth Ghostraven, and several other contributors. In this tribute to Abbot & Costello and Alfred Hitchcock, you take part in a mystery comedy in which the goal is to find fourteen golden carrots (a pun on 14 karat gold).

 

 https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Marvelous/67/137/21

 

"The Great Movie Ride" at SLB Breathtaking by On A Whim Designs

Welcome, movie lovers, to the On A Whim Great Movie Ride! Please keep your hands, arms, feet, and any runaway screenplays safely inside the vehicle at all times. We're hoping to catch a little movie magic today, and you've picked the perfect cast for the job. Please do not exit the vehicle once you've sat down.  I'm Cody, and alongside me is Roxy. Together we'll be your guides through some of the most memorable moments in cinema history. Lights, camera, action!

 

 https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Breathtaking/185/140/21

 

 "Expendable Space - The Ocean Floor" at SLB Stupendous by the International Spaceflight Museum, and Helena Kiama and Roy Sutton.

 

What goes up must come down. While we often look to the sky to see the future of spaceflight, the history of our journey is written on the ocean floor. Come explore a detailed underwater graveyard featuring discarded boosters, fuel tanks, and engine clusters from the rockets that built our modern world. Also, discover an underwater habitat used for astronaut training.

 

 https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Stupendous/116/185/21

 

Discover more at the Second Life Birthday grounds 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Calas Christmas

 

In her latest article about Christmas locations, Gemma Cleanslate went to an old favorite: Calas Galadhon Park. This season marks the seventeenth year that the owners Ty Tenk and Truck Meredith have remade their area for the holiday season. And as Gemma found, once again they haven't failed to do a spectacular job, with a reindeer ride, ice skating, Disney characters, and lots of great scenery.

 

Read Gemma's story in Places. 

 

Last-Minute Halloween Places

 

Halloween is gone. It was a blast, but all good things must come to an end. But a certain fox had a little time this weekend to see a few Halloween-themed places. Keep in mind that they won't be up much longer. In fact, one or two may be gone by the time you read this. 

 

Read Bixyl's article in Places. 

 

Montecito Bay's New Community Pool

 

It's summertime, and in real life many of us take some time to relax in a pool. Second Life has it's share of pools, which can be the scene of pool parties. But Becky Nosferatu wanted to make one that was more than just a hole in the ground with water. For weeks she worked on a pool ride, and several days ago, it was up and ready at Montecito Bay and the community threw a party. 

 

Read the story in Places.  

 

Announcement: Christmas Downs Is Open

 

The Duchy of Caledon Downs is pleased to announce the opening of Christmas Downs and the Santa Sleigh Ride. We do apologize for the lateness this year but most all know of the major land movement and parcel ownership that took place which caused a re-routing of the ride. 

 

The Christmas Express which takes you up to Santa's land is located on the high ground at the railroad track, Also the Christmas Express has been replaced with newer models with easier to sit on car. Ice skating on the harbor now can provide free skates. Up on the Goblin Cave hill is a free Sled to ride on. 

 

We do hope you will come and explore Caledon Downs as it is completely open to the public. 

 

Will remain till Jan. 2nd 2025

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Downs/200/114/44 

Cynthia Farshore

Classic Cartoon: Happy Thanksgiving

 

From Thanksgiving 2019, "Turkey made by Celeste Cazenove. As you can see, it's not as easy for a fox to take on the choice bird of Thanksgiving as it is chicken."

Cartoon of The Day

 

 

 A test of a floatie ride didn't quite go as planned. 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

New Genisis Bay Riding Sim

 

There are a number of racetracks around Second Life, including some three-dimensional ones that would hardly be possible in real life, twisting up and down. Some are fairly long and take a little time to go from start to finish. But at the Kinder der Nacht sim, I saw a track that is REALLY long. It bills itself as 25 segments high, and needing an hour to finish. And having lost track of time and distance when trying it out, it measures up to it's claims. And it's not just the length that distinguishes it, but the variety of scenery from urban to countryside to something out of the imagination. So just what was the experience like?

Read more in Places.

 

Cynthia Farshore's Santa Sleigh Ride

 

As the days to Christmas wind down, it's time for the Newser to take a look at what's been going on in the community where the main office makes it's home: The Sunweavers. Cynthia Farshore set up a Santa's sleigh ride that takes one around the many sims of the estates. There was a lot of ground to cover.

Read the story in Design.

SL Video: "Raglan Shire Ride of Horrors 2019"

 

 (Click here if the video does not play)

From Nitwacket on October 2019, Raglan Shire's Ride of Horrors that year.
 

Announcement: New Ride at Santa's North Pole on Down's

 

 

The Duchy of Downs is happy to announce the opening of the new Santa Sleigh Ride. This is a wonderful ride that travels through every region across all of Caledon! You travel high and low seeing many sights of our wonderful state. The ride is located at Santa’s workshop floating above the Goblin Cave. To get there you can use the attached landmark to the train station. There you will take the special Christmas train #25 on a ride up to Santa’s home and workshops. There is much to see around Santa’s estate so look all around. To get a sleigh ride head over to the elves workshop where a sleigh being loaded is parked and then touch the sleigh Santa will appear with his eight reindeer. The rider will carry two and you have 30 seconds to board by right click and select “sit”. Should something hold you up and he takes off simply touch the sleigh for another. In closing I do apologize for the late start of this as it became a much more involved construction due to many land restrictions and my own real life matters.

Duchy of Caledon Downs

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Downs/200/114/44

The Pink Power Rodeo, And The "Haunted Wild West And Saloon Ride"

 

 The Pink Power Rodeo is going on. This "Making Strides For Breast Cancer" event is taking place in a temporary area north of the American Cancer Society sim: Pink Power Hope and Pink Power Country. 

There's much to do here. There are music events. There are cowboy-themed competitions such as a bull-riding contest. People outside the contest can also ride the bull, though there's no record of who rode it the longest. There's a stable for getting horses to ride around. And there's a track around the two sims for people to walk laps around.

One interesting thing I saw was in the town in the northwest corner of Pink Power Country. Brian Topp and theme park ride designer Nance Clowes had made a "Haunted Wild West and Saloon Ride" for the Rodeo. The carts for the ride look like small covered wagons. When someone rezzes one and boards it, he or she is greeted by a ghostly bartender, telling them that while some of the ghosts in the saloon are just there to relax, others have "a bone to pick with the livin'." And so the ride goes through a number of spooky encounters, some amusing, some more on the scary side.

The last day of the Pink Power Rodeo is today, Sunday October 25. The Saloon Ride, and other attractions, may be up a day or two longer, but no guarantee.

For more information on the Pink Power Rodeo: Click Here.  To go straight to the list of music events, Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

RFL Anouncement : Nance Clowes Offering Haunted Mansion Ride

Need a BIG Item to fundraise with?  Try this:

 THE 10-year famous, 100,000+ visited Haunted Mansion Ride is available to any one team can use it to raise RFL funds. Winner would get it exclusive at their sim for several months, time to be determined. Send a notecard to me, Nance Clowes , if your team is interested. The mansion attracts 7000-9000 visitors annually in recent years.

Space Frontier Saturn V Moon Rocket Ride (2009)

It was fifty years ago last Saturday that Man first landed on the Moon. There were many celebrations over the weekend, just as there were around the time of the forty year anniversary. It was ten years ago that in Second Life, Wicked Quasimodo built an interactive Saturn V rocket. Bixyl Shuftan wrote about the massive space vehicle in detail.

Read the 2009 article in the Second Life Newspaper Archives.

Scenes From The SL16B

Quite a lot has been going on at the SL16B. Numerous musicians have been playing, such as Jaycatt and Frogg at the Festival Stage on Sunday June 23. There's a youtube of their performance available (link).

But there were other performers at other stages, such as on Monday June 24, when DJ Lia (Female Winslet) played her music at the Spinmasters Stage.

There were plenty of exhibits to see, such as "Torgon Woodget's Fun Fair Time," with it's roller coaster, made to look like a birthday cake.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL16B%20Enchant/82/93/24/

Besides the resident and group made exhibits, there were examples of upcoming Linden Home varieties. At SL16B Spellbound, there were some campers and trailers up for display.

There's also the "Meet The Lindens" events, such as when Patch Linden appeared on Monday May 24 (video link).



Patch Linden had much to say. Among which, he stated that there would be no new games by Linden Lab soon as the Lindens and Moles had been concentrating on getting the new Linden Homes out, as well as organizing the SL16B. Of the new continent Belliseria, he stated there would soon be railroads and a ferry there, as well as commercial areas. Of the rainbow Magellan statue, he stated that was part of a new "Fairgrounds" area, much like the one at Bay City's North Channel.

More to come on the Second Life Birthday

Bixyl Shuftan

Calas – The Hot Air Balloon Ride

Deaflegacy recently went to a noted area, Calas Galadhon Park. What got her attention was the balloon ride. So what happens when a pony gets on a hot air balloon? She wrote about her experience.

Read Deaflegacy's story in Places.

Grand Opening Ceremony for the Sunweaver Railroad

After months of planning, landscaping, bridge-building, and track laying, the Sunweaver Lines Railroad is finally operational. The creation of Cynthia Farshore, the railroad's track spans one end of the community land to the other, going through the main sims. On Saturday, there was a ceremony attended by a number of the locals to officially open the line to travel.

Read the story in Design.

Last-Minute Christmas Locations

Gemma's had a lot of fun exploring Christmas-themed areas. But with December 25th almost here, there was time for only a few more places for one final article to see them before the holiday. Here, she reviews the North Pole Sleigh Ride Adventure, Haven Woods, and Ville De Coeur.

Read Gemma's story in Places.

"Shoot The Rapids" Log Flume Ride at Whispering Windz

Remember the log flume ride at the amusement park ride you made a cross-country trip to see? Well, you can find this kind of fun ride here in Second Life. At the Whispering Windz sim, there's an attraction in which you can ride a log through the forest. But the ride has a serious purpose: raising a little cash for the owner's brother who has cancer.

Read the story in Places.