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

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Ringing in the New Year

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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