The RFL Luskwood Bennefit Concert and RFL Cross-Country Race

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Clothing Fair was not the only event for Relay for Life on Saturday, March 20th. There were others, among them a concert and a race. That afternoon, there was a benefit concert in Luskwood, and there was a cross-sim snail race.

At 12 Noon SL time, Luskwood held a concert for charity, to take in donations for the Relay. The event was held at the stage near the Great Tree.

From noon to 2:00 PM, come join us to listen to the awesome musical stylings of Frogg Marlowe and Jaycatt Nico for an hour, followed by the excellent voice of Alessandra Eberlain and her wide variety of songs for another hour. And, of course, don't forget to donate!

For the first hour, Jaycatt and Frogg performed for the audience. Jaycatt played the piano, while Frogg sang and strummed his guitar. At 1 PM, Alessandra took to the stage, her voice filling the airwaves. Lomgren Smalls and Daaneth Kivioq, whom helped organize the event were there, as was one of the Luskwood founders, Michi Lumnin.

“Thank you Daaneth, Lomgren, for putting this all together. ... My Grandfather died of lung cancer.” “Lom did all the work.” “Please help us fight against Evil! Please donate to the Kiosk in front of the stage! CANCER CAN BE BEATEN!!!”

At 2 PM SL time was the start of the Relay for Life Giant Racing Snail Cross-Country Race. The giant snail races are held regularly in Second Life every week by RacerX Gullwing. Usually, the snails are decorated to whatever the rider wants, and are held on a course. This time, the shells had to have large RFL signs on the sides, and the race would be held though a long stretch of road on the mainland, through over forty sims.

Thirty-six racers took part in the race. It took only a few minutes for lag to break up the line of snails, and the track went through towns, forrest, went over bridges, looked at by more then a few curious onlookers, went by places such as the Berlin’s Museum of Art, and more. After about forty minutes, Tindallia Soothsayer was the first to reach the end of the course, “thanks to lag and the last turn.” She had somehow avoided a bout of lag that slowed everyone else, and beat the next snail by over a minute. Following the race, a replay was shown in another sim for the racers and others.

The next RFL snail race will take part through sixty sims.

Bixyl Shuftan

Demonstration in Second Life Supporting Iranian Protesters

On Thursday June 25th, a number of people in Second Life in support of the protesters in Iran, whom have been speaking out against rigged elections despite the violent crackdown resulting in arrests and deaths. At 2 PM and 7 PM SL time, people gathered at the Palais Orleans Art Studio in the Roissy sim, many from the “Support Iran” group. A few held signs with raised fists on one side, and a picture of Neda, whom has become a symbol of the protests, on the other. The signs could be picked up in the Studio, along with memorial candles. The studio displayed pictured of Neda and the protests, and the people also passed around a green armband with a broken heart symbol. There were also “I am Neda” shirts.

One person at the first demonstration thought thirty to forty people showed up, some arriving a little late and some needing to go early, “We had a good turnout.” The second was smaller in number, but no less determined to make a point. There was also a security guard from the Justice League to keep any possible griefers away.

People were invited to make comments and give news they might have heard. Rene Grigorovich used voice instead of typing to make his point, “All these people are asking is for a free and honest election as is guaranteed by the constitution. .. the regime is absolutely bestial in how they treat the opposition. ... I would ask you all to keep these people in your prayers. ... thank you.”

There was one Iranian among the people in the second gathering, “I’m Iranian,” Melody Rosca told everyone. She was living outside the country. When asked how well Iranians could use the net, she answered, “I know that Internet connections have been next to nothing for the past day. I know that cell phones are shut off after 5 PM.” When asked if any SL resident in Iran could still get on, she answered, “All I know is that those I know are having lots of difficulty getting online and transferring information.” At another point, she spoke, “... it is extremely important for us, all of us, to remain aware. Knowledge is always power, and it’s no different in this turmoil.”

Thursday 25th was also the day singer Michael Jackson passed away, leaving some to wonder if the media coverage might distract the attention of the American public. Melody commented, “I’m afraid that just because there wasn’t as much news today, or perhaps tomorrow, or even a week from now, everyone will forget and just assume it’s over.“

The group talked about the role of Internet blogs and Twitter in helping the protesters get images and information outside the country. However, some described the theocracy as making it harder for the people to communicate with the outside world. Melody told, “... information is being filtered much more drastically than a week ago.” Someone else mentioned satellite dishes were being confiscated.

One man had a story to tell, “I have a personal stake in the protests. I’m in love with an Iranian woman. I don’t know if she’s alive or dead. ... I have not spoken to her since last October, when she told me she asked her father for permission to marry me. ... She and I had many low-level arguments concerning her government. At first, she thought I believed all Iranians were fanatics. Then when she realized I made the distinction between her government and the people, she still insisted that I was wrong, that is was not like that in Iran. She honestly believed Iran was a free country, and that her government would not actively harm her. It took her several years to begin seeing the truth.”

“When she told her father that we wanted to marry, he confirmed all that I had said to her and more. She broke off contact after one final conversation. We talked on the phone for hours that last night. ... If a pro-government militia ever found out she was in love with me, the girl whom got ******ed to death with a baseball bat would have been luckier. ... They’re chopping down protesters with axes and shooting them in the streets. What do you think they’ll do to a woman who’s in love with Iran’s proclaimed ‘Great Satan.’ ... My desert rose is much stronger than she thought she was. My greatest fear is she took to the streets. I decided within a few days of the election that if she called me, I’d be forced to say things I did not mean in order to convince any officials tapping her phone line that she no longer had any ties to America.”

Some were concerned, wondering at one point the possibility Iranian government agents were conducting searches in SL. Still, there was optimism, “It might take a generation ... but the Iranian people are seeing what their government is capable of now. The Iranian people overthrew the Shah and they will eventually overthrow the current butchers.”

Eventually, the vigil came to an end. People wished each other well, some vowing to continue. We were told the Art studio would keep the pictures of demonstrations and candles and signs, “for the foreseeable future.” Palais Orleans Art Studio and Designs is at the Roissy sim at (31, 58. 24).

“Freedom is worth dying for but dying is easy ask your selves is it worth losing everything for and possibly being tortured to death for? this is the question the brave freedom fighters of Iran have asked themselves. They said yes, and for that courage I stand with them.”

Bixy Shuftan

SL5B Further Journeys

Going back onto the Second Life Fifth Birthday exhibits, I had heard about the Rezzable Greenies exhibit, so I went over to check it out. Teleporting over, I found myself next to a barbecue area of one of the little green men roasting something over a fire. Nearby is a stand with a robot next to it, where one can pick up a free robot of his or her own. From the campfire some stones lead to a huge birthday cake, which a Greenie UFO crashed it, the same cake featured on the “We’re Turning Five” celebration picture on their website. Not far from that is a large Greenies statue in front of a small public gathering area. According to the rezzable.com website, it’s a “Church of Greenies,” the site of some celebrations during the first week of the two week event.

Just across the road was a Tiny exhibit by Raglan Shire. Inviting visitors to “take a walk on the tiny side,” a few free tiny avatars and items for them were available. Further exhibits showed scenes of Winterfest, the “Tiny Olympics” (July 12 2008), a Tiny Science-Fiction area, and other places. Nearby was also a Tiny airport with free airplanes. The Japanese tinies had their own exhibit next door with some free items.

Not far away to the west was the “Furry Pride” exhibit, presumably from Northstar as when I clicked on a replica of the 50 foot huskygirl macro avie, which sported a short-skirted schoolgirl dress, I got a notecard with some information about them and a landmark to Northstar Islands. Behind the macro is a “Megastompolis City” game in which two players act like movie monsters on a city block, seeing who can smash the most buildings. In front of the macro is a building with a bulletin board one can post pictures on.

I heard about a place called “Down the Rabbit Hole,” so I went over there. It was little more than a hole and a sign. Going down, I was confronted with scenes from out of “Alice in Wonderland.” Clicking on “Drink Me” teleported me to one room, and in there “Eat Me” sent me into a normal looking bar, of which the door led back outside.

I also checked out the Caledon exhibit. The place featured a town in Victorian style architecture, next to a small woodland. Flying overhead was a steampunk zeppelin, pouring out smoke. Going inside the buildings, there were a few humorous pictures, and a free cottage.

These are just a few of the exhibits in SL5B, so go over and see them for yourself.

Bixyl Shuftan

Going through the SL5B Exhibits

It's not every day SL has a birthday celebration, so I thought looking around at the exhibits might be nice. And where to start? My newspaper's own was as good a place as any. Modeled after our red newspaper box, it stood out from the others. Inside, one could see on the media screen what was on the front page, which on Monday was my cartoon for the day. Heh. The following day, it was even taller, with the nameplates of various reporters along up the winding path.

But there was much more than our own. Just across the sidewalk was a series of gears, a "gear train." The lady there, Emilin Nakamoi, explained this was a mechanical engine that turned not by scripts, but by the motion of the gear on one end, "This machine works with the SL environment as an environment, instead of as a computer program as scripts do." The problem was, in places with a number of people and lag, it often had trouble.

Walking along, I found others by various sponsors, Alcoholics Anonymous was here as was another group for autism. I found a Florida exhibit that looked nice, with the various critters around. The Red Mesa exhibit also stood out with it's rocky hills and Native American object designs.

As I was going on, I got in contact with my friend Kanashi, and hearing where I was she asked for a teleport. I wondered what was up when it was taking a while to rez, then I saw her appear, as a fifty foot macro. We walked for a while longer, then she spotted an exhibit that was also a dance area for an elven group, Elf Circle. Walking over, her huge stature made our winged friends look more elven than ever, indirectly adding to the element of the place. Her size made her unable to dance with that low ceiling, so she just sat down as the elvenfolk greeted her, or tickled her outstretched feet. It was clearly a friendly meeting.

"Come back again. We elves are notorious dancers."

Bixyl Shuftan

Mars Landing Broadcasted in Imzadi Sim

The Mars Phoenix Lander, the latest of NASAs craft to explore the red planet, was confirmed to have made a successful landing on the northern ice cap at 4:54 SL time. Besides at the ISM sim, the landing was also broadcast at the Star Trek themed sim Imzadi.

At the Star Trek Museum Drydock at Imzadi (133, 125, 609), a screen broadcasted footage of NASA TV. Some computer images simulating the lander were shown, but most of the broadcasts were of the control room and it's personnel. At 4:46 PM, the craft began its entry into the Martian atmosphere, and the controllers (and the audience in Imzadi) anxiously waited, knowing that more than half of all landing attempts end in failure. Seven minutes later, the craft activated it's retrorockets, and touched down in a smooth landing, much to the relief of the controllers who burst into applause. So did the audience watching from the Trek sim.

Wabisabi Matahari, the Curator of the Star Trek Museum, as well as her real-life mother, were among the audience. So was Wabisabi's "helper" Edconnect Gulfer, who explained a few facts about the lander.

The Phoenix Lander is considered the best effort to find evidence of life on Mars, designed to examine the soil for life-supporting conditions. It traveled 422 miles over nine months to get to the planet. The craft cost 420 million dollars, not counting an additional 37 million spent by Canada. It was originally scheduled to launch several years ago, but was delayed by budget cuts. The landing site is at 68 degrees north latitude, 233 degrees east longitude in Vastitas Borealis, the Martian arctic. Temperatures will vary from -73 C to -33 C (-100 F to -28F) in the course of the 90 day primary mission.

Bixyl Shuftan