Memorials to Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett

Thursday June 25 saw the deaths of two famous performers in the US, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. In real life, people expressed their sorrow for their departures. And in Second Life, people did so by erecting memorials to them.

Of the memorials to Michael Jackson, probably the best one was in the Paradise Plantation sim. It had a pagoda, a number of pictures, notably of the singer throughout his career, and numerous flowers and candles. Above it was a circle of pictures that had flowers emitting from it a short distance.

Talking to one of the people at the sim, the large memorial had small beginnings, “... tried to find a memorial, and couldn’t the night he, passed. So we cleared the beach, and put a rose on the stand. Um, and that, *points* happened.” Others had added their own items to that lone stop-animation rose until it had grown to what we saw. People were still placing items there. He went on to say, “Here in Colorado, when a tragedy happens, everyone joins together and makes a big memorial.” When someone thanked him for building the memorial, he answered, “No, YOU did.”

The memorial is at (25, 243, 21) in the Paradise Plantation sim. I was told the sim was being used as a nude beach, though those not wearing much were some distance away and when walking near the memorial usually put their pants back on.

Farrah Fawcett’s passing after a long struggle with cancer did not make the news as big as Michael Jackson’s sudden heart attack. This may be why there were fewer memorials. I was told about one by a friend in the “caLLiefornia” sim, and it was at (165, 156, 25 ). There were a few pictures of the 70’s actress, and a number of candles. People can still put flowers, candles, and other items there. The sim has another memorial, one to Michael Jackson, not far away.

Rest in Peace

Bixyl Shuftan

Source: Cait's Finds in Second Life

Remembering Three Residents Who Passed Away

By Bixyl Shuftan

Death is the last thing on the minds of most people when they log onto Second Life. Unfortunately, people behind the avatars can expire, and the previous week brought three reminders that our virtual friends can one day be beyond our mortal reach.

Last week, Julie Apocalypse passed away after a long struggle with cancer. She was best known in Second Life for becoming the Queen of Bohemia in Tiny Empires. Besides a memorial being built for her, a service was held in her honor by dozens of her friends. Mojo Fiddlesticks and Raymond Goalpost headed the service. Mojo told those planning to attend Julies real-life funeral that it was requested purple be worn, I am attending for each and every one of you.

Raymond gave the following speech, Thanks for everyones patience with the move. We have all gathered here today to remember Julie Apocalypse. She passed away on May 17th, 2009, leaving behind family, friends, and her legacy which has touched many of us here in SL. I know that people are perceived in many different ways, depending on circumstances, and I wish to share with you my thoughts about Julie and then allow others to speak as well.

I have only known Julie though the game we played called Tiny Empires. From what I know of Julie, it was one of her passions. Julie was always eager to teach, to coach, and to help players, no matter what kingdom they were from. She was competitive, but fair. She relished running Bohemia and being online at all hours to not miss the next Trader or Festival. She was dedicated to leading and guiding all of us Bohemians, which in a way she saw as her children. She was witty and had a great sense of humor. And she was a stickler for proper spelling and use of language.

Many of us didn't really know how sick Julie was till we heard of her passing. Unfortunately, I knew along with several others which she had sworn to secrecy. And sometimes it was a burden to bear, but something you do for a friend. After Julie moved in with her daughter to become closer to her family, she was online much less often. She would still visit from time to time, but her visits would be short due to the amount of pain she was in. She was always trying to protect her Bohemian children from the truth and she put up one hell of a strong fight.

It was during one of these last visits to Second Life when I spoke to her. It really summed up for me what she felt about the spirit of Bohemia. Julie had come online to give us our tax amnesties, etc., and she TPed me to the castle so that I could liege her in preparation for my ascension to lead Bohemia. So I TPed, and in one of those great SL quirks my avatar appeared naked to me! Too embarrassed to ask Julie if I was naked, I acted normal chatting with her as I checked my clothes in my inventory and saw that yes, I was fully clothed, so not to worry. So we carried on, discussing her health and small talk, then lieged, and she told me she must go, due to her back being so sore.

I bid her goodbye and TPed to my home and was almost instantly asked, WHY ARE YOU NAKED? Naturally I turned a deep shade of red and meekly IMed Julie, Um ... Julie? ... was I naked when I was with you? And she just said to me, Why yes you were. I thought about saying something but ... what the heck ... this is BOHEMIA. We had a good laugh about that, and I know that as she logged out of SL she had a smile on her face. ... And that is whats important. Making special memories, laughing each day, and having experiences we can smile about.

I know that only scratches the surface of Julies personality, but she will be forever remembered by me for who she was and what she stood for.

I also have a message from Steelcobra Calamari who could not be here today, and asked me to speak for them:

Hello all, friends, friends and family of Julie, Bohemia. Sorry I could not be there as at this time I am just getting off work (wishes he could fire his RL boss). Well, just want to say ... Julie was one who inspired, motivated, and was always determined. She was a guiding soul to those that knew her. Willingly and selflessly helped those in need. She also had much humor as well. She always insisted that I should be a misfortune teller and open up my own psychic office. She will be missed on the physical. But know that she will continue to love us and smile on us in Spirit.

Raymond concluded, and Mojo spoke next, I used to take pleasure in talking in innuendoes ... that were sometimes so near to the bone. And Julie never told me off. (laughter) Her only exception was that she thought the word arse should be permitted. ... lag sorry. When she became ill, she refused to let me tell anyone anything. She refused to believe what the nurses told her in January this year. ... She spoke to me on the phone, and her main worry was that we were missing tax amnesties.

Mojo paused for a while, then resumed speaking, Sorry about that. SL always picks its moments. Even right at the beginning, on Boxing Day evening when she collapsed, her first words were, I need to get to the computer so I can give the permissions. She made her daughter ring me. The last time I spoke to Julie ... she admitted that it was terminal and she was not having treatment. She told me she had 6 to 12 months to live. What she forgot to say was that three months had already passed. She forgot on purpose, to protect me.

When I started Tiny Empires, there were no kingdoms. Someone bought me a TE HUD. I loved the game and moved the first time someone bribed me. I had no idea what I was doing. (laughter) Then Julie lieged me. I moved about 3 or 4 times ... daily ... and she said Hi ... within minutes she had given me more advice and help than the last 4 lieges had in total. And she explained to me that she lived about 1 real-life mile away from my house. That was our bond. She taught me everything as well.

People think that I knew Julie more than them. Okay, she sometimes confided in me about Bohemia, and I was her right hand man. But she didnt know me more than you ... nor did I know her more than you do. She loved each and every one of us, individually, for our minds, our souls, she loved all good people and stood for everything good. She never complained. She was an inspiration. She told me on the phone Bohemians were her children. Everyone she encountered on SL were close to her heart. But she was an intelligent woman, and she kept me at arms length because we met online. She was private, but loved wholeheartedly. Yes, her family knows how much we all meant to her. And that is why they have invited me to attend next week.

She cried, and said she didnt want to abdicate, but that she needed to for the good of the kingdom. Raymond was chosen by me because he believes in the Bohemia as created by Julie. And Julie never questioned my decision. She trusted my choice because she knew I didnt wasn't to ascend as I am not online as often as I would need to be.

She nearly died at Christmas when she first collapsed. And a few weeks later, she got an infection which sent her delirious and put her in the hospital. The nurses were going to let her go. Her daughter begged for antibiotics. She came home two days later, and came straight online as she had not been so for a whole week. She told the room, I have a trapped a nerve in my arm and cant type. Then she IMed me, and said, I nearly died. They brought me back from the brink of death. !! I said, and you told the room you have a sore arm!! Are you insane?! Please tell them. It sounds like you are being blasé. She said, no, I dont want to worry them. And I dont want sympathy.

Because she lobed us, and did not want us to feel pain. Also, she would not want any of us to sit online 24/7 and become ill. She wants people to see their real-life families, etc., and stop and smell the roses, and she wants us to remember her for what she stood for.

With the end of her speech, her fellow mourners spoke one after another, God bless Queen Julie.

Special thanks to Lomgren Smalls for providing the transcript and picture.

* * * * *

On May 26, 2009 a service was held for Artistic FimiColoud, whom had passed away from cancer one year before. She was Stephanie Koslow in real life and was 49. At her memorial at Park Galleries, people gathered passing one another memorial candles as soft music played in the background. A few people wore I Relay for Fimi tags.

Artistics friends talked about their late friend, her life online, her art, about how the little pink fox refused to admit defeat.

Artistics memorial at Park Galleries remains, at Park (234, 41, 78). Her work can continue to be viewed there. There is also a landmark to her treehouse home in Second Life, Sunweaver Air (42,116, 21), which continues to be maintained and has a number of pictures of her around the place. Most are various screenshots of her life online, but one there was one picture of Artistics avatar lying curled on the ground while an angellike being with a face much like her real-life one rose into the air. She also has a place in Second Life named after her, Fimi Falls, in Hope Gardens in the Colorado sim at (189, 44, 25).

Peaceful journey, little warrior.

* * * * *

Lohti Aeon's profile description didn't have much. A few groups, a picture of his virtual self, a single location. A man of few words, his 1st life tab simply stated, I'm a 19-year-old soldier who spends his spare time on his computer, after balancing out school, family crises, work, and other mumbo-jumbo.

In real life, he was Specialist Jacob D. Borton of the US Army. Described as a shy video gamer in his high school years, he joined the Army and was sent to Iraq. He was described as reserved, but not afraid to come to the aid of someone he felt was being pushed around, He wouldnt say much unless there was some injustice being done, and then he would speak up.

Borton met his end not at the hands of Islamofacist terrorists or their booby traps, but by one of his own comrades. He was one of the five soldiers killed at the combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty on May 11, 2009 by a sergeant sent there whom left the building and returned with a gun. Borton is described as putting himself between the shooter and another man, trying to talk the assailant into putting his gun down. He was 20 years old.

It was this week in which news of Borton's death finally reached his friends in Second Life. In response, space has been purchased at the War Memorial Annex in Ileina Cova for a memorial plaque in honor of the fallen soldier whom like the rest of us had a virtual presence here.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Second Life

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

I recently went to the recently opened Vietnam Veterans Memorial’s virtual counterpart here in Second Life. Besides viewing the very well detailed replica of “The Wall,” I met up with one of the men behind it, Evian Argus. I gave him an interview, and he took me on a tour of the sim.
 

Evian Argus (Robert Eagan in real life) is the President of Meme Science (http://www.memescience.com/), which built the sim in honor of the Veterans who gave their lives, “we endeavored to communicate the history and existence of this significant memorial to current and future generations in an innovative and relevant manner,”  and for people interested in visiting whom are unable to visit the real memorial. Planning, designing, and building the sim took about two months, done by Bleys Chevaller (Don Cramer in real life). He spent several Fhours at the D.C. Vietnam Memorial, taking over 300 photographs of The Wall and statues. He then spent about a week studying the photographs. Work on the Three Soldiers Statue and the Vietnam Veterans Womens Memorial Statue was done by Meleni Fairymeadow. The sim was and will continue to be funded by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The virtual memorial was opened to the public in Second Life on November 7, coordinated with the 25th Anniversary ceremonies in Washington D.C. Between then and Veterans Day, about 1000 residents came over. And as I looked the place over, people continued to drop by to visit. Upon entry, one is greeted with a movie screen showing both images of the real wall and it’s replica here, along with audio of some of the names of the fallen.

The Three Soldiers Statue is “made up of mostly prim design w ith some sculptie objects,” with a total of 484 prims. Asked if there were any problems making it, “I had this sculpture made of all sculptir designing by another artist. It did not meet my design specifications, so I did not use it, ” So he paid the man and hired Meleni Fairymeadow, whose work with mostly prims he felt better captured “the true essence of the emotion of the individual soldiers.” Fairymeadow also worked on the The Vietnam Veterans Women’s Memorial, taking a total of about 70 hours and about 4 16 prims.

“The Wall” in Second Life contains 58,223 names instead of the 58,256 of the real one. Mr. Chevalier had found out 33 of the names had been placed by mistake, and there were three which had been added recently. So the correct number of names were listed. And from the avatar’s point of view on the walkway, like a person there in real life, one cannot help but be struck by the enormity of all those names on the large wall of black. The memorial’s names are faithfully detailed, and legible once fully rezzed. Besides the mouse, one can zoom in on them using control-0 and control-8. At night, lights in the walkway turn on and illuminate “The Wall.”

Finding an individual’s name was made simpler by the builders, “We have four directories. You can search for any name on the wall, and teleport to that name on the exact panel, and leave flowers or flags for that name, right from the Directory.” For testing, I had to pick a name at random from a list of names online, choosing Frank Blas. It took a few tries, but it worked after a couple false starts. Besides the option of teleporting to the name, one can also have the area briefly marked with a white arrow and walk down to it. Flags and flowers left will show who they are left for.

Every detail in the sim was finely done, the autumn leaves slowly falling in the breeze, the occasional squirrel chirping as it skitters about the grass. There was one detail the builders would like to have included, but were unable to. The real Wall’s black granite is polished to a mirror-like finish so when you look at the names of the dead and missing, you see your reflection among them. This could not be replicated using the existing building tools in Second Life. Chevalier hopes someday they will be improved to allow them to recreate the reflection experience. Still, “The Wall” can only be considered a faithfully detailed and well done tribute for our veterans in Vietnam.

For further information, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Second Life has it’s own website: (http://ww w.thewallsl.com/). A Youtube report is also available: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-o280x9xlI).

The builders of The Wall sim still have plans for further builds and improvements. Besides improving the name directories, they plan to increase the number of items one can leave at the wall, including photos and other custom textures. They also plan to add a new building that will host both real-life and Second Life material related to the memorial, such as video and weblinks. They also plan to add an image of the Washington Monument so it will look visible from the memorial as it does in real-life. For the website, they plan to add a search feature to find individual vets from there . One will also be able to view information about the vets from the database, and possibly add comments about them. One will also be able to leave items at the virtual memorial from the website, or schedule to have them left. Finally, as one can get a pencil rubbing of a name off the real wall, one will also be able to get a virtual rubbing from the web site.

On a final note, I was not able to start and finish this article in time for Veterans Day. But as Evian Argus noted, tributes to Veterans are not confined to then and Memorial Day.

“Thanks for coming, and your interest in the Wall.”

*  *  *  *  *

Addition (May 25, 2015): This was among the first articles I wrote for SL Newspaper, and still among my favorites. "The Wall" would be up for a few more years. Finally on Veterans Day 2011 when I looked on the map for it, it was no longer around.