The Little Dove RFL Steamclub Opens

The Southern Colorado sim is noted for being a location for Relay for Life events, notably Hope Gardens. It now has a new place to hold events. On Monday March 5th at 4PM SL time, Club Little Dove held it’s Grand Opening.

Club Little Dove’s creation is due to one lady: Nydia Tungsten. She constructed the club in four levels, with the top level originally a pilothouse, but later changed to a landing field. The place was designed with a Steampunk look (for those unfamiliar with the term, think H.G. Wells and Jules Verne). There were features such as the main dance floor showing turning gears underneath, 19th century dials and huge lightbulbs making up much of the equipment, carved wood and stained glass making up much of the walls and furnishings, the occasional steam-age gadget or vehicle, a few hookahs around the place (the Victorian-Era had a libertarian view on drugs, and in some ways encouraged their use), and others.


The official name of the club is Her Majesty’s Airship Little Dove, or HMAS Little Dove. Club Little Dove is named after a former resident in Second Life, who sadly passed away last year. She was the real-life partner of a close friend of Nydia's, “she was devastated.” Nydia saw the naming of the club in her honor as, “just the right thing to do.” Nydia is part of the "Passionate Redheads" Relay group, but says the club is open to all RFL groups.

On Monday, the club was up and ready for it’s opening event,Relay for Life’s Daaneth Kivioq sending out an invite, “Commodore Tungsten invites you aboard the HMAS Little Dove, now flying high above Hope Gardens in the beautiful Colorado Sim! We will be celebrating the Grand Opening of this new venue with a Steampunk Ball. Music will be provided by two of SL's finest DJ's - Dusk Griswold from 4PM to 6PM, and the Commodore herself, Nydia Tungsten from 6PM to 8PM. All Proceeds from this event will go to benefit the American Cancer Society. Please join the Passionate Redheads as we launch the HMAS on her maiden flight!”

And so after 4PM SL time, the dance floor was soon full of men and women, both normal human and furred avatars, dancing away. There were no tip jars out. There was only the Relay for Life kiosk, which people chipped into. Although the theme of the party was Steampunk, which called for Victorian fashion, the music as thoroughly modern with a variety of music from the 70’s to today. “Rocky Mountain High” got a few chuckles, “Appropriate that we play this song, as we’re in the Southern Colorado sim.”

And of course, “I Run For Life” played as well. It played twice, the second time near the end, with Nydia calling out, “I run for life ! I run for Little Dove! I run for Fimi! I run for my Stepfather! Run for them all, and remember them all!”

Club LIttle Dove is in the Southern Colorado sim at (187, 37, 1002). During it’s construction, it’s location changed from where it began.

Bixyl Shuftan

Vampire Succubus Club Closes

On Friday, February 12th, the Vampire Succubus Club held it’s last party. At 10 AM, DJ Antarias Gothly started the event, with a 500 Linden prize up for grabs. Antarias invited all who could, “Make sure you come, and say your goodbyes, and share your memories.”

The Vampire Succubus Club, or the VSC as it was called for short, was built in the Giorna Kel sim. The sim was the setting for a vampire RP, the Caprionian vampires, but the club was a “fun area,” a “gothic burlesque club” where the vampires, friends of the vamps, friends of friends, or the simply curious could drop by and have fun. People were invited to stop by to “drink, dance, or get bitten.” But aside from vamp couples nibbling on one another, nobody was being a pain in the neck.

The music was generally goth, punk, techno, metal, and alternative, but other tunes were also played. Smogg Valois was the owner of the club, with Mistressbubbles Bondar as manager. Besides Antarias, DJs at the club included TessaFae and Sakura.

Talking with Mistressbubbles, of the club closing, “It was coming on for a while. Closing it gives us more time and energy for a new and better project. ... But it is a ways down the line still. ... The club is still standing for now. It's part of the RP of this place. But it has been modded to look abandoned. We plan to keep it up for a while at least. Have the occasional party or clan function. ... Closing the club will give us the time to focus on the lands and to invest in role-play. Also, I am working on building up the Faelands a bit more and adding some shops and hopefully soon 7Seas fishing.”

And so, the candlelight in the club went out for the last time, the creatures of the night slinking away to other things.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Perri's Xanadu

In the movie “Xanadu,” two men turn an empty auditorium into a successful nightclub with the help of a muse. In Rainbow Wood, it might not have been a muse behind the club Xanadu, but there are certainly a number of creative people behind it.

Club Xanadu is owned by Perri Prinz (Perri Rhoades in real-life) and RECoyote Mindes. “There was another Club Xanadu when I first joined Second Life,” Perri explained, “It was my favorite hang out, but the owner never advertised it, so it soon disappeared. Later I found the building on SLX and bought it. I carried it around in my inventory for about a year, having no place to put it. Then we got a place, and REC wanted to (open it) too, since he liked the movie. So we set it up. But we soon saw it was beyond us to do a real Xanadu sim based on the movie. So we developed it into a classic rock club for people who enjoy both popular and obscure rock music from the 70's and 80's.” Club Xanadu opened in May 1, 2009.

RECoyote, “When we couldn't do a exact copy of the disco, we went for a 70s feel and music. But even getting DJ that stick to a 70 and 80 easy pop listing music is not easy.” Still, they found some who would, such as Nydia Tungsten, Lsai Aeon, Dusk Griswold, Timber Wolfenhaut, and Asuna Kaligawa. “Timber is one of the best for era music,” RECoyote felt. “Well, I'm the main DJ,” Perri told, “My music plays there round the clock, 24/7, when another DJ is not hosting an event. I play eclectic 70's and 80's album music, hit tracks interspeced with non-hit tracks. Disco, Classic Rock, Soft Rock, Progressive Rock, Jazz, Swing, Rock & Roll and Novelty tunes. We have other DJ's that specialize in things like Anime tunes, Euro-disco and other things for special events.” RECoyote described their special events as including, “Hippie, Groovy, Cartoons, Movies, Sci Fi, and a mix of general events.” Spoke Perri, “Whatever theme we can imagine, we do it.”

Club Xanadu is on a wide sky platform high in the air over Rainbow Wood. The exterior, like it’s movie counterpart, is based on the real life Pan Pacific Auditorium. The interior is dominated by a huge colorful disco dance floor, with a DJ stand in the back decorated with a row of vinyl records. One clicks on either the black singles danceball or the rainbow-colored couples’ danceball. The ring around the dance floor can be used as a roller rink, and residents can sometimes be seen skating around. On the walls are a small number of artworks and posters, including the poster of the Xanadu movie. There are a few seats further away from the dance floor one can rest one’s avatar, as well as a bar. The club also has a balcony, with a few cuddle couches and more displays of art. Just outside the club, there are a few cuddle spots for couples.

In one corner of Club Xanadu is a tribute to the Pan Pacific Auditorium, several photographs of the structure. The Auditorium was built in Los Angeles in 1934, and became an iconic structure. It hosted a number of events (including wrestling, which was mentioned of the auditorium in the movie). The place was closed in 1972 after the opening of the L.A. Convention Center. For the movie Xanadu, the exterior was made to look covered in neon lights through special effects. It was hoped among some that the movie would bring attention to the building and it being refurbished and saved. But no effort was made to preserve the building, and it continued to deteriorate. Just six days after it’s 54th anniversary in 1989, the building was destroyed in a spectacular fire.

A friend of RECoyote and Perri, Aurora Avilla, had the idea for a “Chocolate Lounge” as part of the club. But that idea was shelved and instead was set up elsewhere in Rainbow Wood separately. “Was created for the chocolate bunny craze that was going around a few weeks ago,” Perri explained, “We were thinking of adding a chocolate bunny lounge to the club, hosted by chocolate bunny dancers.” Aurora leads a group called the “Chocolate Nosebobbly Collective.”

Perri talked about a mall being planed to match the club, but for now there are a couple art shops outside the club. The larger one is especially important to Perri, “This is the art done for Perri's story,” RECoyote told, art for Perri’s thirty year old work of writing: Spectral Shadows (http://www.perrirhoades.furtopia.org/). Perri’s website describes Spectral Shadows as “a novelized serial in format of Doctor Who.” It’s origins go back to the 1960’s when a “makeshift demo” was made for a series of rock operas. But instead Perri began writing it down in the late 1970’s. She rates it “PG-16.” The store contains artwork for the stories.

“The saga concerns the exploits of intelligent animals with time travel capabilities. It is very much inspired by the traditions of Doctor Who and Star Wars, with a good bit of Watership Down and Jonathan Livingston Seagull thrown in for contrast, and a bit of Spellsinger and Xanth to provide balance. Whereas George Lucas used old-time movie serials for the formatting of Star Wars, we use the formatting of old-time radio serials. This works well, as it is a very dialogue driven series, containing many cerebral oddities and conundrums. What you might call a thinking person’s adventure serial. It’s something that, by all logic, should not work. But it most often does work, if just through the sheer tenacity of the creators to make something ridiculously impossible seem like a logical course of events.”

So for a walk back in time to the music of the 70’s and 80’s, come to Club Xanadu. The club is at Rainbow Wood (128, 72, 2501)

Whether it’s music, art, or fiction, “Find your muse at Xanadu.”


Bixyl Shuftan

Club Zero Closes

Due to the Sunweaver region cutting back on it’s number of sims, Club Zero is having to close it’s doors. The final party was Saturday November 28th at 8 PM SL time, with Lsai Aeon as the DJ. The “Farewell Bash” had the announcement:

“Come one, come all. Come bid a fond farewell to our beloved Zero Gravity. Come as you are. Come to party. Come to blow this place out of space. DJ Purple Puppy (Lsai) spinning the tunes. Who knows what she will do... Party starts at 8. Get up here. “

The party lasted late into the night, with people determined to have fun while they still could at the space club. Among the highlights, 2000 Lindens were up for grabs in the “Come as You Are” contest. Tippers were also generous, one poledancer getting 2000L. Club Manager Ranchan Weidman will be asking another club in the area not affected by the cutbacks to take up its time slot.

Club Zero has been in it’s current form since spring 2009 after it was placed under the management of Ranchan, and was created over a year ago, run by Spectra Ninetails. The space club has been known for it’s unique design and it’s lively Saturday night dance parties.

Although Club Zero's regulars have other clubs, notably Cutlass, the space station will clearly be missed.

Bixyl Shuftan

To Call Second Life a “Game,” or Not?

In Community, a little tale of some friends and I talking about what exactly to call Second Life, one of whom had a rather interesting way of describing it to a friend and getting him interested in joining.

To read what happened, click HERE.

Flirtatious! Grand opening

What are your plans this Friday night?  I can tell you where you should be: Flirtatious!  Located at Reverie 47, 64, 45 (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Reverie%2047/64/45/) on a mature sim, Flirtatious will be holding its grand opening on Friday, November 20!  Co-owners Chip Silverfall and Treasure Zarco describe the atmosphere at the club as strictly fun with a 70’s and 80’s vibe, “But not the pop stuff you hear all over,” says Chip, “The stuff people actually listened to back then!”  The club has a lineup of DJs and live performers that will keep the jams pumping through your speakers and on these nights the music will stray from strictly 70’s-80’s and will cover a variety of genres.  I recently had a chance to sit down with the owners and ask them questions regarding the new place.

Is this your first club in SL?

“Yes.”

What made you want to open a club in SL?

“It was a whim,“ answered Chip with a slight grin, “I needed something to do and Treasure has great connections in the entertainment industry.”

“I love working the clubs and with the artists,” added Treasure.

Are there any special events going on opening night?

“The opening day schedule will be 3pm Harmonia, 4pm Cranston, 5pm Magnolia Anthony, 6pm Chandra Deed, and 7pm DJ Salina.  We will also have contest boards for best dressed or something similar with 500L going to both male and female winners!”

What perks can be found at your club?

“There are many dances available both singles and couples.  Our club will be featuring DJs Sal, Tommy, and I myself will also be DJing.  There are 7 romantic residences available.  These are skyglobes with changeable scenes, dances, and cuddle and kiss poseballs.  We have a lovers garden where you can sneak away with that special someone and, my favorite thing, the elf dance.”

The Elf dance?  Can you elaborate?

“Sure!  32 dance balls all in a circle that are controlled by a single HUD.  On the HUD there are 50 dances that we have mastered the controls over!  So, when a faster tempo song is playing we know which dance will fit and when the next song is slow, we can have it queued up and ready to go,” stated Chip excitedly.  “This is something inspired by Inspire Space Park.  Their dance was spontaneous and didn’t have as many dances, nor did it have a name, but ours will be held every Saturday at 6pm.”

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your club?

“For us it’s all about fun!  If it’s not fun, it won’t be included.  We even have rules about being bored or lonely in our club rules note card.”

An up to date schedule for Flirtatious can be found at: 

http://www.brownbearsw.com/freecal/FLIRTATIOUS?KW=Treasure%20and%20Chip;Op=ShowIt&Date=2009-11-17 

The club is now hiring DJs, live singers, hosts, and hostesses as well as renting shop space outside near the entrance to the club.  If you’re interested in being a part of the Flirtatious team, contact Treasure Zarco for an application.  Shop space is 200L for 20 prims and your lease starts as soon as you pay the box located in the stall you choose.  Two spots are still free, so hurry up and grab yours today before they are all taken!  See you at the club!

Lucy Halberd

Club Zero Gravity

From outside, Club Zero appears in orbit in outer space around a planet. It can be considered three sections. The landing pad is where most people arrive. On this platform are a number of Star Wars ships, plus one of the Thunderbirds. There is also a rideable rocket that seats up to three people. Every few minutes the crafter either launches and drops to the surface to land at the Sunweaver Space Port and Sunweaver Airfield, or launches from the ground to dock at the station. In the back is the store and gaming area, with a number of Zyngo games and vendors for items from vehicles to furniture.

Find out more in the COMMUNITY section with Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii of ZZ Studios

One of the more famous (or infamous) characters in online comics is Zig Zag, the owner/star of an “adult” movie studio. Created by Max Blackrabbit, the character was adopted by Eric Scwartz into his popular Internet strip “Sabrina Online” - the title character answers a want-ad for a webmaster and to her surprise finds it’s to a "blue movie" studio, though takes the job despite her embarrassment, leading to a number of misadventures. The comic itself has a PG/PG-13 rating, with no nudity and one swear word in over ten years of online publication.

As it turns out, there is a ZZ Studios here in Second Life. It is located in the southeastern part of the Falcon Valley sim. Besides being a social area, the place makes and sells it’s own “blue movies." I recently had a chance to meet up with owner Cindy Babii, whom is also called Zig Zag here in SL, for a few questions.

Continued in RED LIGHT (Warning, other articles in this section are usually Not Safe For Work)

“We Gotta Say Goodbye, For the Summer” - Bahama Beach Club Closes

At 6 PM Saturday August 22nd, the Bahama Beach Club at the Goldrush sim held it’s final event. Club owner Rory Langdon was the DJ that night, playing classic rock for a “Back to the ‘60s” beack party, with some guests and staff in their swimming trunks and bikinis. Instead of in the club, the party was held on the beach sands.

Rory Langdon, or Joe Ward in real life, has been playing music for over 30 years, with experience as both a DJ and club manager. Experience he brought with him to Second Life, both DJing and club managing here. In March 2009, he decided to start up a club of his own, buying up some land that already had a nightclub there, “Club 9:30.” As it turned out, there really was a Club 9:30 in real life. So he kept the building for a while, setting up a small beach club next to it, poles holding up a thatched roof, with a danceball overhead with a particle streamer sending down a light show at times, with a picture of a blue parrot behind the DJ stand, which became known as “Flip the bird.”

With his partner Marai McMahon helping to manage things, Rory had planned to run both clubs with events in both every week. But problems in real life cut down on his time in the metaverse, and the prim content limit limited what he could do with both clubs. So they decided to take down the nightclub building, building a a bigger beach club. They also put a little more detail in the beach. adding rocks, a waterfall, palm trees and hammocks, a secret cuddle spot, and more. Some people dropped over between parties just to see the beach scenery and relax. The new bigger club was renamed the Bahama Beach Club, though sometimes simply called the “BBC” as a pun on the famous media company.

Besides himself, Rory had other music-makers performing. Bosco sang at the club for a time. Later on came DJ’s SonicBlu and Boo Gearhead. And throughout the club’s history, there was ScratchMusikatt the “Chaos DJ,” playing for the late at night while he also performed in real life.

The club and it’s grounds took up a quarter sim, but prim limits limited what Rory, Marai, and the staff could do. There was talk about buying up a half sim, or maybe a full sim in the future for things like a staff residence home. Then his old friend and former neighbor Foxyfurman Kumaki who runs the Foxworthy sim offered a deal. Rory and Marai now have a section of the sim there for a club, which will be opened sometime in the near future. This time, it will be a nightclub to go along with Foxy’s casino next to the place. The land on Goldrush will be sold.

So, the Bahama Beach Club comes to a close, at least for now. It’s likely it will come back in some form, but the place at Goldrush will be missed.

As the final party came to a close, virtual champagne was passed around, and toasts were made.

“To this place being good to us, memories made here.”

“To memories old and new, to friends who shall never be forgotten.”

Bixyl Shuftan

2500th member at The Red Dragon Nite Club

What an accomplishment!
There are not many places that survive to this many members.
Find out more in the EXTRA EXTRA section

The U'Bar

Second Life has a lot of dance clubs. But the U’Bar has something that separates it from the pack: a radio show.

The place is built like a pub. One ports in on a small platform in the corner. To the left is the bar counter and stools, often with a couple dancers on it during events. In front of that is the main feature of the place: the dance floor. To dance, one can press a button on the wall next to the large champagne bottle and drinking glass big enough for a girl to jump in. There are also a few dance poles, and in the other corner of the bar counter wall are a few comfy chairs one can relax in, or play a game of “Connect Four” with someone.

The owner of the bar is Cher Burt. “He is the man who created this place,” bar manager Islawhite Martinek told me, “and we love his music to bits. He works in the music industry in real life.”

The U’Bar has at least one event every day, which can be looked up in their event calendar. Sometimes it’s a special event, with the theme being music such as the “ABBA” parties, trivia events in which questions are asked and those with correct answers get a few Lindens for each one, showing of music videos, or themed avatars such as “Dragon Night.”

But what makes the U’Bar unique is the Cher and Carm Radio show. The show is done by Cher and his friend Carmine Caudron host the show in both a British radio station and at the U’bar, every Monday and Thursday from 12 Noon to 5 PM SL time (8 PM to 1 AM BST). Islawhite explained, “The run it from their real life music studio so it is very professional as well as being very funny and great entertainment!... but they also have another added feature of that they also do a simultaneous webcast so people can not only tune in from the Bar but can also watch the boys live on webcam from the studio.” The show’s website stated, “We play the very best in music from all decades, run competitions, chat about the strangely going on things in the world. Not to mention we have the best live artists perform from our professional studio ...”

Sometimes the show has a special guest. Recently they had “Mr. Methane,” whom appeared on “Britian’s Got Talent.” I didn’t see him, but was told his act was a real gas.

Dropping into the U’Bar during a running of the show one Thursday, I happened to arrive between songs, and the two radio show hosts noticed my entry, “And here we have Bixyl Shut-, er, Shoof- , um, a fox.” Cher had on a Superman t-shirt. Carmine had his virtual face painted up to look like Heath Ledger’s “The Joker,” clearly looking like he was serious about making the event a wild time. The place was packed, so it took a few moments to rez, but once it did and I joined those on the dance floor, I was welcomed by staff and visitors alike. And between songs Cher and Carm would liven things up by cracking a few witty jokes, and at one point offered a 1000 L for answering a trivia question. Sometimes the patrons would come up with their own madness. During the playing of “Me and My Car,” people started wearing their cars and spinning them around.

A lively little pub with daily events that offer big entertainment.

The U’bar is in the Lusiana sim at (118, 207, 3002). There is also a U’Bar blog: http://ubarblog.blogspot.com/ .


Bixyl Shuftan

Dutch Delights has moved!

Get a month rent free in the fabulous mall built just outside of the club at the heart of the sim

Simply the best designs and lingerie from the Up and coming designer Angelita Capalini...

Dutch Delights Club and Mall is the Brainchild of Angelita Capalini the up and coming designer and soon to be Avenue Model......
The mall is managed by her husband Spruce Canning Great deals, great events. great company what more do you need

Oh yes - SHOPPING!

12 high grade stores for your delight, only 100L$ for 30 prims a week

Find out more HERE

Mystery

A sim with a number of places to explore and things to do, Mystery is a winter wonderland that will be a pleasure to see this Christmas. Whether it's the themed parties on the riverboat club, shopping at the bazaar, or exploring for secret areas, there is plenty of fun to experience.

Check out the story in Explore.

SL-Newspaper opens the club for the you!

Click to enlarge image
Best in Black will be the opening night event

Candyrose - even the name sounds sweet

Its hard when you start SL to find a home base somewhere to chat and catchup with friends new and old, somewhere to just relax but this is what Serina DeVinna her partner and friends have built here in secondlife. Find out more in our EXPLORE section

Good Grief again!!!?????

On a photo shoot for our sponsors Bacchus club and mall today I got a little puzzled, I took a wonderful picture then zoomed in for a close up when suddenly these boxes started appearing, confused i flew in. They were everywhere in minutes and the chase was on........
Someone managed to cage the griefer Akis Woller until help could arrive to eject and ban him. By that time the beautiful club was littered with shapes so much so that those enjoying the dancing were actually dancing on them.

I was impressed not only with the way the staff were quick to sort it out but also with the attitude of those there, I guess it takes all sorts but rarely have I seen such laid back attitudes as the dance continued with everyone having a good laugh and joke about dancing on shapes.

Griefers are an ever growing problem and estate owners now need to make sure someone is available at all times to deal with the threat. But a well done for Channce Petrov's great handling of the situation and quick clean up operation which allowed his guests to continue having fun - which after all is what SL is all about (at least for most)!