Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Furry Fashion Clubs

It's another exciting week of events in the Sunweaver clubs and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Happy Vixen: Furries, Pasties or Thongs, Swinsuits

Club Cutlass: Best in "F", TBA, TBA

Furry Fashion: Crux2, Sweets, Fandoms, Epidemic, Fall/Autumn, Disco, Myth, Fantasy

See the schedules in SL Clubbin.'

Whatever Happened to ... ? Club Fur

Readers may have noticed that Club Fur, on the record as the oldest furry-themed clubs, is no longer on the Newser's SL Clubbin' schedule. The reason is, not only is it inactive, it is no longer part of the Sunweaver Estates, which provides the land for the paper's office, or anywhere else in Second Life. Club Fur has been removed and back in the inventory of Alynna Vixen (Alynna O'onthrera Trypnotk). And Alynna hasn't been inworld since May.

Club Fur has had an interesting history, going back to 2004 according to Alynna. At one point it was described as being removed from an old location less than two minutes before the place was "flattened." It was in Furnation for a time before it ended up in Alynna's hands in 2009, whom eventually took it to Kitsuhana sim where it was reopened in November 2010. In June 2013, the club moved back to Furnation following the reopening of the sim. But in November 2014, Alynna brought the club to the Sunweaver sim of Sunweaver Bay, soon moving to to Sunny Beach where it would remain for a little while until Alynna's items were packed away earlier this year.

The club was known for it's bright neon colors, it's symbol was a neon tube shaped into a cat's head. During it's time in Kitsuhana, there was an effort to make the club active by the "Furry Club Alliance," but the stepping down of a few personnel made regular events just too difficult. It did take part in some events such as when the world failed to end on December 21, 2012. The club was also duplicated in InWorldz for a time.

While there is of course the possibility the club will come back, when something vanishes in Second Life, more often than not it's for good. While it's sad when any club vanishes, it's especially so in this case as this one had lasted so long, and for a time was part of the community yours truly calls home.

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview With Jadyn Firehawk of "Pixel to Pixel"

Jadyn Firehawk is the creator and head of the "Pixel to Pixel" Foundation, a group that provides Lindens to residents certified to be on disability in order to them to have some income. Recently, Deaflegacy interviewed her. Jadyn talked about how she found out about Second Life, and how her organization came to be.

Read more in People.

Eye On The Blog: Linden Lab Wants Halloween Screenshots

In a recent post on the official Second life blog, Xiola Linden reminded residents that Halloween season would be soon, and asked them to "Show your Halloween spirit" with themed screenshots.

I don’t know about you, but I am a 365 days of Halloween kind of person. I go home decor shopping when others go party decoration shopping, and if I deck a hall, it will most certainly be with boughs of spiderwebs and clouds of dry ice. I know that lots of us feel the same and wish stores would pack up those Winter Holiday decorations for a few more weeks and roll out more spook-tacular Halloween treats.

Now is the perfect time for us to pull out the stops and do it up in a BIG WAY. We’re looking for some of your great inworld, Halloween-themed images!

Share your pics, and your work could be featured in an upcoming email or banner campaign - with your avatar name credited of course!

Xiola asked those wishing to take part to post their images in Second Life's Flickr page, using the tag "SLHalloween2016." Residents are asked to include their SL names in the picture description. There is no limit to the number of pictures that can be sent, although the Flickr group rules state a limit of ten per day. Residents were encouraged to check the Destination Guide's "Haunted" section for possible locations for shots.

According to the rules of the Flickr group, pictures with nudity are not allowed, and those sending pictures there "grant to the Company a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, and cost-free right and license to use, distribute, or sublicense (through multiple levels), and otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your Submissions, for the purposes of marketing, promotion, and/or outreach for and about the Second Life virtual world." Nowhere in the blog post was there a mention of a prize of any kind beyond their name given the credit should their image be used in any promotion.

Linden Lab is asking for the pictures by October 5.

Cartoon of the Day

Someone once spoke about griefers, "They think they're the cleverest thing since bumper nuts, but nine times out of ten, they're the same-old, same old." One dropping by a certain club I was at was especially lame. While these weren't the exact insults tossed his way, what did get spoken was far more clever than what crudery he did.

And just why are most griefers either mishapen messes, or have something like TV set heads?

By Bixyl Shuftan

Templeton Cove Pirate Maze

Arrrrr! I be a mite late with me "Talk Like A Pirate Day" story. Apologizes me hearties, but bettah late than nevah. Our tale be of an adventure ye can still take fer yerself. We be talkin' about th' Templeton Cove Pirate Maze.

Read th' tale n' Places.

Skunk Party At The Happy Vixen, with Michi Lumin

Thursday Sept. 22 was the day of the Happy Vixen's "Skunk Party." Although the theme was chosen in advance several days earlier, the news of the "Sabrina Online" comic coming to a conclusion made the part a tribute to the twenty year strip as well. In the past, there have been some impressive-sized skunk parties at Club Zero and Luskwood. The turnout for this one was somewhat light, but there were a couple notable personalities from Luskwood and Trotsdale.

Among those there was Michi Lumin, perhaps the best known of the four founders of Luskwood, one of Second Life's oldest communities, as well as the location of the oldest furry avatar maker. Begining a few years ago, she's also been involved with keeping the sims of the pony community of Trotsdale going. She had dropped by to say hello.

Also there was ScentualLust, whom in the past had been a part owner of Trotsdale. But had recently given up her share to Michi. She stuck around Skylark LeFavre, the manager of the Happy Vixen, and that night doing the DJing.

Scentual, or "Scents" as she's occasionally known, told me a little something about skunk spray animations. It used to be they could only just go straight ahead or at anyone giving permissions (unlikely). But more recent ones could target anyone nearby using "Restrained Life Viewer" features. A rather "stinky" situation indeed.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Future Shock - Episode 1"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

By Pryda Parx on Sept. 16, "In a leisure orientated society people can choose to spend their time in a care free virtual world, but what happens when they run out of credit?"

Inara Pey would interview Pryda and write about the video, "Future Shock is set in a dark future world where technology is designed to keep everyone safe and secure. At least that’s the way it is meant to be. A place where technology dominates and where real life and virtual worlds intertwine."

This is the first of nine segments that took about a year to make, "to get the most out of the audience will need to pause, rewind and revisit previous episodes; there are a lot of subtle connections between episodes which will not be apparent when first seen."

Memorial Service For Catt Gable

Earlier this month, Relayer Catt "Kala" Gable passed away from cancer. Last Saturday, a number of her friends, in and out of the Relay, met at the Relay d'Alliez sim to pay their respects. It was an occasion of poetry, music, and some touching words.

Read more in Events.

Kayly Iali’s Art At The Paris Metro Art Gallery

Gemma Cleanslate was recently at the Paris Metro Art Gallery for the opening of a new exhibit. For the next month, Kayly Iali will have a number of her portraits there, notably her still-lifes of fruit. Gemma ran into the artist and had a few words with her.

Read Gemma's story in Design.

Announcement: Memorial Service for Nichus Berman

All friends of Nichus Berman are invited to attend a memorial service in Chadbury at 1PM SLT on Sunday September 25. 

We will share our memories of Nichus, speaking about how much he added to our virtual lives and how much we will miss him. There will also be space to leave a small memorial object, and of course there will be cake.

Chaubury (180, 150, 31)

From the Steelhead Group

Reader Submitted: Codename: L.E.A.P.F.R.O.G.

While it originally started out as a hangout for occasional parties, Erik Mouse has recently made an effort for "Surf's Up" at Sunny Beach to have events once a week every Saturday afternoon. But the best laid plans of mice and men can go awry, and one party not long ago ended rather abruptly. Although things were soon cleared up, Erik felt that it was still necessary for him to explain what happened. So he recently sent in a reader submission about what happened from his point of view and his plans on what to do in the future.

Read Erik's submission in Extra.

Veterans Isle Raises Over 100,000 Lindens

 On Sunday September 18, Veterans Isle had their monthly fundraiser concert for the "Homes For Our Troops charity. From 8PM SL time to just after 9PM (Midnight EST), live performers sung music for the crowd.

 Besides Frets Nirvana, who helped organize the event, was one of the singers, along with the music duet Jaycat Nico and Frogg Marlowe, baz (Avantgarde), and Savanah Rain. Frets would occasionally chip in a few Lindens once certain cash amounts were reached, the money going into two house-shaped kiosks on either side of the stage.

At the end, G J  (gjackie.winkler) announced the total, "Ohhh wow, we have 116,200 L in the little homes... THANK YOU SOOOOO VERY MUCH!"

The next fundraiser at Veterans Isle should be at Sunday October 30.

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Thank You From Virtual Ability

The Virtual Ability Executive Team is sad to share with you that our dear friend and highly valued, long time volunteer, Ladyslipper Constantine, has passed away in real life. 

We are planning a memorial service for her soon, and will keep you updated on that process. 

As Ladyslipper’s long time real life friend, I’d like to personally thank those of you who made an effort to show your love for her, and be present during her illness, via her CaringBridge site that her real-life family set up.   And for those of you who could not, but loved her, all the same.

Thank you for the love; she felt it.  She sent me an email a couple weeks ago, the last one I got; she said she loved me.  That was all.  It was enough.  She also loved all of you, Virtual Ability, Second Life and all the other groups here that she was such a vital part of.   Thank you for loving her back. 

Treasure Ballinger
Virtual Ability,® Inc.  Executive Team

* * * * *

UPDATE: There was a message shared inworld, sent from Virtual Ability, inviting residents in SL who knew and loved LS.

There will be a Celebration of Life hosted by Virtual Ability for Ladyslipper Constantine on Saturday, Oct 1 at 11am SLT, on the northeast lawn of Virtual Ability island.

The celebration will begin with some of her friends offering memories in text+voice, because LS was part of the deaf community in SL.

A slideshow will display photos of the many events LS participated in. If you have SL images, please send them to iSkye Silverweb for inclusion. There will also be music and dancing. LS loved a good party!

Celebrate Ladyslipper’s life with us. For more information, please contact Gentle Heron, Eme Capalini, or Treasure Ballinger in world.

 Source: Daniel Voyager

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Green Fairy's Pirate Party. If you don't get the joke, chances are, you'd rather not know.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Gaming Island

It's been years since Linden Lab's gambling ban, but one can still find games that offer the look and feel of such games. These are called "skill games" because the makers of them say at least some measure of skill can help a player's chances of winning. Recently Linden Lab opened up a place, Gaming Island, saying the location will help educate residents about skill games. So how does the place do so?

Read more in Design.

"Thanks Again To Everyone" "Sabrina Online" Internet Comic Ends After Twenty Years

For many of us, comics are a favorite part of the newspaper. So when the Internet and World Wide Web was coming of age in the 1990s, some artists began drawing and publishing comic strips on a regular basis. Most would last only a few years before the cartoonist either ran out of ideas or real life made it too difficult to keep up his/her schedule. But others would keep going. Among one of these first online comics to gain a following was "Sabrina Online" by Eric Schwartz. Starting off with a girl connecting to the Internet, the strip went through a number of plots and tales of Sabrina and her friends.

On September 15, twenty years to the month after the comics first went up, Schwartz uploaded the last of the strips, Sabrina marrying her boyfriend, followed by a message.

'Sabrina Online' first appeared on the web on September 15, 1996. It seemed fitting to bring the strip to a close twenty years to the day later, ending with a bang (of sorts) rather than keeping the strip plodding along month to month indefinitely without any focus or goal. I want to thank all of Sabrina's readers and fans out there, whether you've been there from the start or discovered the strip more recently. You all are the power that helped me keep the comic rolling as long as it has. While all good things must end, Sabrina, R.C., Zig Zag, Amy, and everyone else are not gone. It's only the regular monthly strip that is completed, but new stories and works from the Sabrina-verse will pop up from time to time. Just drop by for news and info, whether on this site, Furaffinity, or elsewhere. Thanks again to everyone. I can only hope you enjoyed the two-decade ride anywhere near as much as I did.

Over the years, the strip has gotten Schwartz a number of fans, inspiring a great deal of fanart and some fanfiction, and been translated into several languages. Some fans led by Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii, built in Second Life a "Double Z Studios," also called "ZZ Studios," named after the place where the title character of the comic ended up with a job as the webmaster. The place is still around today at Sheridan (64, 145, 2500).

 The comic itself can be found at sabrina-online.com. Be aware that the strip rates a PG-13 as while there's almost no profanity and no real nudity, it does touch on adult topics. That the strip got a bit edgy without going past a certain boundary (much), was likely part of it's appeal, along with the quality of the art and characters.

It should be noted Schwartz stated while this is the conclusion of "Sabrina Online," he will be doing more tales later on of the characters "from time to time." So fans should be hearing more about the Amiga and Transformer loving skunkgirl soon.

Bixyl Shuftan

Nominations Sought For Last Avi Choice Awards

The Avi Choice Awards, who brand themselves as "the premier annual awards presentation recognizing the people and talent of SL’s™ amazing creations, chosen and voted on by SL™ residents," are once again accepting submissions. However, this will be the final time the awards will be done, at least in their current form.

As announced during last year’s Avi Choice Fashion Awards, we are retiring the Awards, as we know them.  We are talking about continuing our mission forward in some way ...  But for now.. we have an announcement to make! On December 4th, 2016 we will host one more Avi Choice Awards!  The GRAND FINALE!  This one will take us back to the early days of our Awards when we had one program a year celebrating as many recipients in all three genre’s as we could.

 There will be some special mentions and moments as we all say our goodbyes to what has become an amazing part of Second Life history.  This program will be the conclusion of the Avi Choice Awards, as we know them.  It’s been a good run and we could not have done it without support and cooperation and input from the amazing virtual community known as Second Life.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Awards are in three categories: Fashion, The Arts, and SLife.

Among the categories for Fashion are clothing, avatar, avatar accessories, and jewelry stores and makers.

The categories of The Arts include "Favorite Magazine, Newspaper, or Periodical," Favorite Radio Station, Favorite Male DJ, Favorite Female DJ, Favorite Streamed Music Club, Favorite Machinima Artist, and more.

For SLife, which has the most selections, categorizes include Favorite Furniture Maker, Favorite Sim to Explore, Favorite Place to Take a Date, Favorite Shopping Region, Favorite Roleplay Sim, Favorite Second Life Blog or Website, and Favorite Second Life Blogger.

Residents have until Wednesday October 12 to cast their votes. Going through the guidelines, there doesn't seem to be any rules against voting for someone or something in multiple categories.

The Second Life Newser fits the "Favorite Magazine, Newspaper, or Periodical" in "The Arts."  But the several sections qualify for "Favorite Second Life Blog or Website" in "SL Life." Bixyl Shuftan and Becly "Sha" Shamen qualify for votes in "Favorite Second Life Blogger," also in SL Life. The Newser has been nominated twice in the Avi Choice Awards, but has yet to win first place in getting an award.

So the Second Life Newser asks you the readers for your support for the Awards.

Bixyl Shuftan