Yosemite Brunch

By Gemma Cleanslate

It is always a treat to get over to Yosemite for any reason, exploring, horseback riding, shopping. Sunday morning I was lucky enough to have time to make it to the brunch that is held on the first Sunday at 10:00 slt. The Coffee Shop is the site for breakfast and is nicely set with a big buffet waiting, Eggs, sausage, pancakes, sandwiches, cappuccino... and other goodies are for the choosing.

There was a roaring fire in the fireplace next to which fleegle Mumblewood was taking a nap. 

Jadyn Firehawk , the owner  invites and says “These meetups are low-key social gatherings with casual conversation and friendly people to meet.“ There is also a campfire meet held on first Friday at 5:00 pm slt to suit the varied timezones and all are invited to both or either.  

There was a nice group of visitors attending the brunch and having conversations that were eclectic. Reference to the weather around the USA, the possible incoming storms next week, and wild fires in California. This led to more conversations about Yosemite and the actual good that wild fires do there in the area of the Sequoias . By clearing the understory it allows new sequoia to grow. Jadyn supplied a few links to view the so called firefall that has a long history at the park. Some who have been to Yosemite talked about their experiences of the sight of the giant trees, the new ones growing and the size of the seeds.. like footballs! The visitors joined in the conversation as they were interested in the topic. It was all very informal. 

Yosemite has also added new 7Seas fishing areas in the region. This whole area of the park is covered by servers.What  a wonderful place to sit in nature or ride a horse or just wander and fish to raise your experience points while enjoying the surroundings. 

Getting around at Yosemite is very easy. There are wonderful TP stations where visitors can choose a location and get there immediately. Visitor guides are available at the TP boards so grab one to keep. It contains all the areas to visit and the landmarks. Stop at the visitor’s center to get an idea of the real Yosemite and pick up lots of information about the wonderful park itself.Jadyn had set up a wonderful display of stones for us to take with  Then choose where you would like to visit. 

This will put you at the new fishing pond at the Visitor Center where you can start your adventure. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yosemite/134/147/2653 

Gemma Cleanslate

Ponyland's Grand Opening

On Sunday April 26 at 6 PM, the opening of a new pony-themed sim was announced. The place, appropriately named "Ponyland," was set up south of the more populated sims of Trotsdale and Pony Town. To celebrate, a party was held to kick off it's official start.

At 6 SLT we're going to kick off the grand opening party to the newest Pony sim on the grid: Ponyland! Big thanks and congrats to Scenty and Old Vamp on all that hard work and the fruition of dreams. (Ame won't be sad if you head over there instead of her slot, she's heading that way after her reading is done)

ScentualLust, one of Luskwood's skunks, was one of the administrators of the sim. She was there and dancing with the ponies on a platform about several dozen meters above the ground.

Among the pony avatars, there was quite a variety.

The floor glowed in places when stepped on.

Michi Lumin wasn't their directly, but did send an alt over.

 Panning out, one could see various scenes of the new sim.

A fun time was held by those there at the grand opening party.

SURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ponyland

Bixyl Shuftan

*Addition* As it turns out, Scentual isn't just an admin of Ponyland, but it's owner.

Luskwood Turns Eight

From Friday October 14th, to Sunday October 16th, Luskwood, one of the oldest communities in Second Life, celebrated it’s eighth anniversary. At the Lusk Tree and nearby Perry Amphitheater, the residents celebrated with music events, and a couple gifts.

At eight years old, Luskwood is the oldest "Furry" community in Second Life, and among the oldest across Second Life reguardless of genere. Besides being the location of a social area that always seem to have at least a few people over even in odd hours, it's also the location of the first company of avatar makers, Luskwood Creatures. Because of it's longevity and strictly enforced rules against lewd behavior, Luskwood is often the first place in Second Life science fiction and fantasy fans head to after being told about it by friends. Due to it's close proximity to a newcomer entry area, it's also the unintentional first social area of many others as well. Although a few newcomers are a bit intimidated by the residents' non human appearances, all are welcomed except griefers.

Luskwood's celebrations began with what was likely their most noted event, an hour of the musical duo Jaycatt Nico and Frogg Marlowe, better known as “Jaycatt and Frogg” or just “F & J, “ playing on the stage near the big tree at 7PM SL time. From the stage, they played several songs, Jaycatt on the piano and Frogg on the guitar. From the seats, both their mostly human-looking regular crowd and the furred Luskwood locals cheered them on. Afterwards, they talked a little with the audience, Jaycatt jumping down from the stage. Founder Michi Lumin had a little something for him: a “LW8B” (Luskwood 8th Birthday) baseball hat and T-shirt.


Jaycatt Nico: Okies, love the hat. (smile)

Michi Lumin: We'll likely have stuff on and off all weekend, most of it tomorrow, but thanks as usual F & J. for. doing this for so long. (smile)

Jaycatt Nico: It's been a pleasure.

Reignick Deakins: Glad to hear you every time.

Ranlei Random (ranlei.jewell): F&J are part of what makes Luskwood family.

Maurice (maurice.mistwallow): Frogg and Jaycatt should make a sing along blog.

Jaycatt Nico: We love playing here, it's kind of an honor for me. Hehe. ... I normally don't look good in a hat, but this one does better than expected.

Ranlei Random (ranlei.jewell): It's a cool cat hat, so it looks cool on a cat.

Michi Lumin: We kinda made it at the last minute, (grin) people wanted something to wear, heh.


Following Jaycatt and Frogg, Burr Lehane DJed for a time at the Big Tree. On Saturday, live singer Keeba Tammas performed at the auditorium at Noon SL time followed by guitarist Shannon Oherlihy at 1PM. at 3PM, it was constant DJ music by local residents, such as Luskwood member Chippingham Millions. There would be one more music event on Sunday.

In the past, anniversary events at Luskwood would sometimes remain crowded to very late at night. Although late, the Friday and Saturday celebrations did not quite go as late as some. This was anticipated by founder Michi, “This year's birthday probably wont be as eye-exploding as the other years just because, well ... when we hit 10 years, *that'll* be a big one. (grin)”

Luskwood got some praise at the event, a Ranlei Jewell sayin, “I love Luskwood and everything about it. I rarely feel welcome in any one spot for long. So Luskwood’s a haven.” Michi responded, “We do appreciate it guys. We know Second Life is big and, people come through, come and go and stuff, I just hope we have helped some around the grid. And we'll keep doing this as long as we can. ... I think Second Life is growing again a bit; maybe not in population but I think the communities that are here are becoming more solid and meaningful. ... It goes in circles, communities are organisms, they consist of people, people come and go, it takes time for new people find their place in community, so it ‘breathes.’ ... Body count isn't everything though. And, time and place for different things. Sometimes folks are in the mood for head pounding action, sometimes not.” DJ Burr joked, “Sometimes they’re just in the mood for ... (pause) nevermind. (grin)” Ranlei added, “Fads come and fads go. Clubs grow and fade. But communities thrive.”

With the anniversary celebrations over, things at the Big Tree return more or less to normal, as a social area that can be a little quiet, but one is sure to find at least a small group even at odd hours.

“Even if you've got another place that's your home now, you’re always welcome to come back.” - Michi

Bixyl Shuftan

Raglan Shire, and the 2011 ArtWalk

In May, the Raglan Shire area had it’s annual art show, or “ArtWalk.” The sims are most noted for being the home of Second Life’s best known community of “tinies,” but the ArtWalk attracts attention throughout the grid. The “sim cluster,” as the Raglan region called itself, boasted an open-air art show with “the works of 120 artists over two sims. ... Artists gridwide have converged to exhibit their RL photography and art and SL photography and sculpture in this annual arts festival.”

It was the final day of the ArtWalk in which I was able to port over to see things for myself. Raglan itself has an appearance that reminded me of a storybook with it’s treehouses, small homes and furnishings, and all that greenery. There was quite a bit of hedgerow around, which the two-dimensional art was displayed on. At the spot I ported to, there was a rezzer for a “hedge boat,” with one seat for tiny avatars, another for normal-sized. One could use it to take a little tour around the part of the sim with the show’s paintings and photographs. There was indeed *a lot* of artwork on the hedges.

Besides the paintings, drawings, and photos, there were also some examples of three dimensional artwork. In the Heron Shire sim, there were a number of sculptures. Some looked like what one would find at an art museum. Others were designed in part to be interactive, such as a four-chambered meditation chamber. I would later be told there were about “70 sculptures from 24 artists.” The third part of the exhibit was the Director’s Show in the Raglan Tree Gallery. There were two artists featured there, Teal Freenote, and Tia MacBain, both from the Tiatopia sim (which featured an autism event last year). Among the art was a hollow globe which was cracked open and a crystaline figure peeking out.

While looking around, I ran into one of the tiny feline residents, Jillian McMillan. Talking about the art show, and it’s hedgerows, “we love our hedge!” she mentioned the greenery had it’s origins from a real life art show, “The entire ArtWalk idea was inspired by Raglan owner Zayn Till's visits to Seattle's Art Walk. He wanted to recreate the experience, art in a park.” Another tiny, a bunny, soon stopped by, Karmagirl Avro. Asked by Jillian if she knew more about the art show, “Yes, I know a ‘ tiny ‘ bit more. (grin) That a joke.”

Karmagirl told me a little more about the displays, “I myself have a few pieces of real-life photography, one real-life painting, and several Second Life photographs up.” Karmagirl also mentioned some artwork was up for sale, and she had spent quite a bit, “anything that makes me smile and laugh out loud, I buy.” She pointed to one section, which had a number of elephant faces, including a spoof of “American Gothic,” “ I bought this whole collection here. It’s just so whimsical, it catches the spirit of the Shire: funny, creative, silly, very well paw crafted. Two paintbrushes up. Wayyyy up!!”


Karmagirl offered to teleport the artist over, saying of the elephant faces, “that is her avatar,” saying she had worked herself virtually into the artwork. And soon the tiny elephant appeared, with a golfing bag over her shoulder, “oh, she was golfing, look at that.” The tiny pachyderm introduced herself as StainlessSteelRat Solo. Karmagirl commented, “StainlessSteelRat is one of the newer tinies here, but fits in quite nicely. She won the ornament contest for the Winterfest. ... we here in the Shire encourage everyone to participate, explore, and create.” “Especially flaming cheese!” StainlessSteelRat commented. When I asked what she meant, the small pachyderm produced a stick with a wedge of cheese stuck on the end with tongues of flame licking from it. It seems peppers worse than habenaroes were mixed in. “On a stick!” Jillian quipped, “keeps the fur on our paws clean.”

There had been something else going on besides the art show, Karmagirl saying, “Today we had a SL weddin’ of a couple who met in Second Life and got married in real life a few weeks ago.” They also mentioned a “Prehysterical” event, “ Prehistorical - but in Raglan, everything is a bit hysterical.” “It was basically dinosaurs and cavetinies.” “We have events continuously.” “We always have something new.” They mentioned a “Haiku Speed Build” event, and a “prim charades” game.

They also mentioned they had classes available at a building christened Raglan U, “Loads of classes n’ stuff. Last class I went to, was to make your own fireworks.” There was also a place at the Artwalk in which freebies and near free items were available, including freebie tiny avs, “... our assimilation of the grid is nearly complete!” “One of us ... ONE OF US!” “Your culture will adapt to service us, resistance is futile.”

There was a bit more funning around with the three tinies before we parted ways. For those interested in the next event in Raglan, there isn’t much longer to wait. June 10 marks the start of the “Tiny World Fair” in Raglan Shire, which lasts until June 26th.

“Tinies are the most creative helpful bunch in all of Second Life.”

Bixyl Shuftan