The SLB Exhibits Come Down

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Monday July 11 and Tuesday July 12 were the "takedown" days of the Second Life Nineteenth Birthday exhibits. By the second day, many were gone, and the exhibit sims were full of empty area with just grass between the roads and sidewalks, which were now empty aside from the occasional exhibitor. 

In both the Second Life Birthday and Second Life Birthday Exhibitor groups, there were expressions of sadness that the time for the exhibits was coming to an end. But there was also a sense that there was quite a bit of good work done, and a job well done by all.

"... cleaned my parcel up and had to stand there for a moment.  Thank you, all you moles that made it happen and as smoothly as it went.  A lot of really good exhibits this year."

"Good night, SL19B friends. See you next time (if not before)!"

Bixyl Shuftan
 

The Relay Track Starts To Come Down

 

The Teardown, the final stage of the Relay Weekend track, has begun. Following the end of the Flood Party on Wednesday, some builders right away started to take down their campsite builds. So by late Wednesday night and Thursday, many of the camps were just green grass, or had one or two items.

But not all the builds were taken down. A quick look Thursday night showed some were still up. On a huge boulder in the sky set up over RFL Manage, a look from there showed a patchwork of empty, partially empty, and still intact camps. Some good places such as Fiona Fei's at RFL Spirit and Darkstone Aeon's at RFL Survivor were still up last I checked. But that may not be the case for long.

Some Relayers in group chat Thursday night talked about taking one last lap around the sims. How long the track will remain open is unknown.

Stay tuned for more information
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

The Relay Winds Down

Despite the lag on Saturday, it was a good Relay Weekend on July 14 and July 15. Most of the team campsites were up for a few more days, a few being picked up early for whatever reason. After the "Raze the Relay" party, a number of teams moved fast. Rather than simply pick everything up, the Sunbeamers had their Hope Lodge go up in a blaze of glory (image credit Cynthia Farshore).

When I walked the track that night, it looked like half the campsites were gone or mostly gone.

But there were still others up which I explored. Among them, Stingray's designer sim which included a twin-tower roller coaster.

A few people left a final message on their plots.

And so, with the Relay track all but down, the sun is setting on another Relay season. I have heard a handful of complaints, and at least one Relayer told me she will be taking a break next year. But all in all, it was a great season, and for my home community, it's team the Sunbeamers had their best year ever. For me personally, this means the "busy season" is winding down and after a few more articles about the Relay, I'll be able to relax a little. But only a little as the news never stops for long around here.

I'll try to have more pictures up soon. For now, one can check the Relay's Flickr page. Wildstar and Ishtarkiss took a lot of screenshots.

Bixyl Shuftan

Hurry Up and Explore: Relay Camps Coming Down Today

If you want a look at the Relay sims, today is your last chance to see them. Builders have been asked to pick up their exhibits by 10 PM tonight. A few whom presumably wouldn't be able to log in today have already packed up and left behind empty plots. But there's still much, to see, but not for long. As the day goes by, more will be gone.

Yours truly has spent more time exploring and less writing in order that the builds be documented in pictures. So for now you'll have to see for yourself. And there's more than just fun sites. At the Null Aries designer sim in RFL Courage, I found nine colorful geode stones and a display case.

There was much to see, both above ground and below, pristine forest and hillsides, and well done brick and marble structures. And a lot more.

The Newser will have more pictures later. For now, Wildstar Beaumont has provided a massive archive of finely detailed pictures of this years Relay Track sims. As for the traditional "flood party," word has it there will be an announcement at 4PM today SL time about the time and place.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Relay Winds Down

With the Teardown postponed for a day, the Relay for Life Weekend's track saw more activity as people took the time to both visit builds they hadn't yet seen up close, and to hold impromptu parties. Individual teams held small gatherings at their camps, which sometimes attracted well-wishers dropping in. Plus there was the event held by T-1 Radio on Wednesday afternoon.

At the Relay station's record player build, Trader Whiplash played the tunes while the Relayers danced away. People talked and joked and cheered one another, congratulating one another for a job well done.

Thursday was The Teardown. While a few builds remained up until late in the day, most were down or were in the process of being taken down by the time some American Relayers were getting home from work.

Hey folks!  As we move in the wrap-up of Relay Weekend I want to take a moment to say thanks for making this year's track such a success and so easy to maintain!  I barely had to ask anyone to move their items back onto their parcel!  YAY!  I'm tearing it all down now so be advised I will be returning items on the track to their owners.  Later tonight, we will return any builds that have not been removed in order to prepare to return the regions to Lindens and hopefully, be ready for next year!  Thank you!

I was able to see some members of Team Aether Chrononauts making an event out of their teardown, taking parts of their build, hoisting them into the air, unlinking the prims, and letting the pieces drop. But usually camps were taken down quietly without any announcement.

And so comes the end of another Relay season. While technically it won't be the end until the official wrap-up party in August, for most Relay volunteers this is the end of the long event. A few were talking about the Relay in the InWorldz Grid, or the Christmas Relay Expo.

The Relay wasn't all fun and games. There was a griefer incident involving "sim crashers," which was quickly squashed. There was also a protester against the American Cancer Society mentioned in Relay chat, but witnesses were saying he wouldn't offer any evidence of his rants. A couple teams also told me of nerves getting frayed and tempers flaring a little as the Relay Weekend approached and it was crunch time, but differences were patched up.

But for just about everyone, the 2014 Relay was a happy time, which left happy memories, and will be missed. At least we have records of it.

The Newser will soon have it's show of scenes from across the track. For now there are other links one can go to.

http://wildstarbeaumont.blogspot.com/

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/wildstar_b/

http://www.softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/RFL14

https://www.flickr.com/photos/softpaw_sommer/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/feelingdoing/ (DrFran Babcock)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/

The Relay Weekend was the last event of it's size in Second Life until Burn2 in October.

Bixyl Shuftan

Relay Track Teardown Postponed to July 24

Over Relay chat and announcements, yours truly heard some good news, The Teardown of the Relay Track, scheduled for today, was postponed until tomorrow, Thursday July 24.

So one more day to enjoy the builds, but don't dally. Already some are being taken down. You just might be able to catch some rides, such as the one in the Harmony for Hope's build pictured above.

RFL: The "Drain Party" and Teardown Date Announced

One of the traditions that's arisen about the few days the Relay Track is up after the big weekend is over is that among the impromptu parties that spring up is that somebody floods his sim, often just an extra foot of water, and holds a "Flood Party." This time on Monday July 21, there was a different twist. In one of the water sims, the water level was lowered, and a "Drain Party" or "Unflooded Party" was announced.

It was a bit sureal in places, with fish "swimming" around in the air, but it was still fun, "In an attempt to flood a different sim,... well.. accidents happen. A time machine, a weather control system,and a few violations of the laws of physics later..... Unflooded party! 3:30 ish  till whenever people fall over (again)!"

With DJ Fuzzball spinning the tunes, and his daughter Mindy going around with a toy ray gun, "pew pew," people danced away in the damp sand and shallow water.

Unfortunetly, the post-weekend fun will not last long. Tuesday will be the last day people can walk the track and see most of the exhibits. The Relayers have to take them down the following day.

"At this time, the plan for campsite teardown is Wednesday, July 23rd.  Please enjoy the regions until then.  Visit the campsites, take pics for memories, discover what you might have missed, and visit the Activities Regions and BUY MORE luminarias! Thank you for an amazing Relay Weekend!"

Hurry up and see the track and exhibits while you can.

*Addition* The Teardown date has been moved to Thursday July 24.

Bixyl Shuftan

Goodbye Relay For Life 2013

Friday July 19th was the last chance to see the exhibits at the Relay For Life Track. At 9PM SL time, builds still up would be taken down. And so people were going around to see places while they were still up. Already a few spots were bare from builders clearing out early.

Don't forget that you only have until 9pm slt tonight to clear your parcel in order to avoid having your build returned to your Lost and Found!  It's bittersweet to see it all go away and we are just in awe over the thought and talent that went into this event weekend this year.  Thank you so much for being so cooperative and creative!

While some builders just quietly removed their camps, others decided to go out with a bang. Teams held final dance parties at their plots, or held a "demolition party," making the end of the build an event of itself. This included the Relay Wizards for Spunky's exhibit in RFL Imagine.

I met up with DrFran Babcock and Catboy Qunhua at the plot, and we talked and joked for a while, launching a few fireworks and showing off a few items.

A few more showed up, and it was soon time to "crash" our own party. The exhibit was raised up into the air, the prims were unlinked ...

And then the build was dropped. The result was a shower of parts as the pieces went flying.

After some moments, the prims de-rezzed, and the plot was green once again.

Shortly afterwards, we went over to the New Babbage Exhibit where they were having a farewell party deep in the mine of their camp.

One could get there by navigating the twisty passages, lined with rails for mining carts. Or one could just port in.

We danced to a combination of pop music hits and sci-fi themes such as "Dr Who." 

By this time, just about everything was taken up. There were a few places left such as the sand islands in the RFL Reflections water sim. And by 9PM, just about everything was gone. Ub Yiffu's exhibit at RFL Imagine and Journey was still up, but that was all. I met up with one of the clean-up crew, and he gave me a 2013 shirt as a momento.

And so, the Relay For Life Track had come to an end, the sims due to soon vanish back to the virtual nether for another year. A few teams will have wrap-up parties, with the main Wrap-Up party in August with some awards give out. But for most Relayers, this was the de-facto end of the season, looking ahead to 2014.

"Go Relay!"

Bixyl Shuftan

RFL Walk 2012: The Teardown Begins

Thursday July 19th was marked as the teardown day for the builds on the Relay for Life track. The sims would be coming down Friday or Saturday, "depending on what the Lab wants to do," and anything still on them might not be returned to their owners. And so, teams and individuals alike headed to their builds, but not to visit.

Sometimes the teardown was made into an event, having the build go down in a blaze of glory. It one case, it was literal. The builder of team "Armada Fights Back" had a kind of pirate base, of which the wooden structures were set afire. When word got around, it wasn't long before someone rezzed a fire truck, drove it over, and began hosing the fire. She was joined by DJ Madonna and one other, whom also turned hoses on the blaze. But not being a scripted fire, the hoses of course had no effect, "these flames must've been fed by pirate booze." Madonna was joked about being out-of-uniform when hosing the flames in her latex, "then again, it's waterproof."

Team "Walking Tall for a Cure," whom were featured in the Newser a couple days ago in a cartoon, also made an event out of their exhibit's end. The place resembled the skeletal beams of a building in progress. Instead of having the place just simply vanish, the builder unlinked the prims and enabled physics, with the result being it collapsed over several seconds. And even after that, the beams kept settling and tumbling down, "they just kept falling." SL Newser didn't get to the event in time to see it happen, but Rastrolinkow Roffo provided some pictures (including the one to the left). The group cleaned up everything, "just like we found it," except for a single kiosk, and headed to Lollygagger Lane.

Other teams also made events out of their builds end. In other cases, the build simply came down. And sometimes there was a reminder left. When the "Dr Who Fans" domed city came down, Victor1st Mornington left a a sign, with a picture of a grinning man over pictures of the various Doctors from the BBC show. There was a bit of minor panic at one point when a rumor began floating around that the film of the track hadn't been done yet. Calm was restored when it was confirmed that the filming had been done on Wednesday.

But as the evening wore on, some of the builds were still up. This included the Passionate Redheads build, of which Lomgren Smalls copied, but delayed taking down. Team "Relay Wizards for Spunky," along with Spunky Young, were partying late in the evening with their build still up. But one way or another, all will soon be gone.

For those wishing to see more, the official photographer of the Relay, IshtarAngel, has a collection of photographs sorted per event of the Relay season: Click Here. And of course there is the Flickr group of all Relay pictures: Here. There's also some TV footage available. The Relay for Life Telethon, a cooperation of Treet.tv, Metaverse Broadcasting, Pookymedia, and Metaworld Broadcasting, which got together to report on "news, interviews, and special events, such as a snail race." The recordings can still be seen at : http://www.livestream.com/virtualrfl .

The last official event, the "Wrap-Up Party" in which next year's theme will be unveiled, will be in August. For the Passionate Redheads, there will be a team meeting sometime in the near future to discuss this year's troubles and what direction and strategies they should take for next year.

Bixyl Shuftan

RFL Walk: And So It Ends

What was probably the last of the unofficial events of the Relay for Life Walk, the teardown party took place last night. I arrived a little late, but it seems it was a little smaller than the one I managed to catch a couple years ago. But there were some old friends there I hadn't met in a while, and a good time was had by all.

Looking around, some of the builds were still up, and I took a few more pictures, but much of the track was already gone, or mostly gone. A few places left a lone item, or two or three, such as landmark givers or critters. One place had a giraffe running around, which had been the source of a few "I found your giraffe" jokes in RFL Voulenteer chat.


One place that stood out, it was clear of everything but just one word.

Remember.

And indeed, The Walk was an event to remember. It brought the total money raised for the American Cancer Society to a new record: nearly 75 million Lindens or $373,000 US Dollars. The RFL in SL remains the biggest of online fundraisers online.

There were sad moments, remembering friends who have passed on. My sim neighbors talked about their late friend Artistic Fimicloud again and again. But overall the event was an unquestionably happy and fulfilling experience, one shared with friends old and new.

As Relayer Tahisha Fairplay put it, "If there's one thing I was taught in this group, it's to not mourn the death more than you celebrate the life."

Later on will be an in-depth article on the Relay Weekend, as well as pictures of some of the scenes, plus some reader submissions.

Bixyl Shuftan