Second Pride Hugs - Day 9

Ziggy Starsmith

Baz Ceawlin 

Ty Yifu

Regi Yifu

Jaggy Naughton

BM Oh

Kahvy Sands

SP Members Fill Me With Pride

Like Tomais and myself, my buddy Eric Quimby and the commentator "someone" many other members seem to have been saddened by the sight of the many empty storefronts at the Pride sims.

"Where are some of the merchants, designers and creators whom we lavish our pink linden dollars on all year round? Why aren't they they here giving back a little to the LGBTQ-community that supports them throughout the year?", we asked ourselves I am sure.

I could mention some pretty large and well reputed brand names who are miserably invisible on the sims, but am choosing not to.

I am certain one reason for the empty stores is the fact that the seasoned Marketing Chair Merrick Genesis became sick and was hospitalized as we were getting close to the festival. The core duties of a Marketing Director had to divided between two of the other directors, who already have a full list of other responsibilities. I am certain the rest of the board had to step in and help too.

However, many members seem to have reacted like myself and Eric and have decided to take action by getting a store to fill out the empty holes and support our beloved Second Pride. Yesterday the Second Pride East sim looked much better although there were still some gaps. I was so proud to see this happening that my heart was filled with joy and pride and my eyes with tears. I love being a member of Second Pride!

I myself have set up a store for Bock in SecondLife. Just a small place for those who feel tired of walking and wish to take the weight of their feet for a while as they sip some strong Swedish coffee. (Today I will start serving freshly baked cup cakes every hour on the hour. Tomais darling, you better put your apron on!) You can also take a date there to cuddle up and have a good talk without the noisiness of a party surrounding you and your friends looking on.

When you hit the blog header on the back wall you get a link to "Bock in SecondLife" to have something to read while you rest. You can also - if you are daring enough and a true fashionista - collect my Pride 2014 Exclusive Version of my renowned The Jesters Hat. (Free/gratis/at absolutely no cost at all - AMAZING!)

Please come to The Bock in SecondLife Store @ Second Pride East (SLurl) and enjoy a quiet, relaxing, moment, I will be there from time to time to meet & greet with my readers too.

If you also wish to purchase a store take a look at the Festival Packages and follow the excellent instructions or get in touch with Karl Kalchek or Baz Ceawlin. (When contacting the board members please do remember that this is an extremely hectic time for them and do not expect immediate attention.)

I & My Identical Twin

Sometimes we need to be in two places at the same time, but as we know that isn't possible in our first life. However in SecondLife it is. On Friday evening I realized I had promised to be at two separate places at 12 PM (noon) on Saturday.

First I had promised Tomais that I would be at the Wastelands sim for a photo shoot with him, Lee McKay and Ryder Yowman for the "And equality under the law for all" picture. So I needed to have my body there. The second place I needed to be was the Second Pride board meeting taking place at the exact same time. So I needed to have my mind there.

The problem is impossible to solve in first life, but a no-brainer in SecondLife. I logged in the lairds Secretary of State, my oldest and wisest alt Wild Zepp-McMillan to take care of my presence at the Second Pride meeting, while my body rested safely at the Wasteland sim under the protection of my lover.

Wild hasn't been online much and far less outside of the home sim since he was created, so first thing he needed was new clothes. (He only had system clothing and any McMillan would rather be seen naked.) He was sent off to a trip to The Men's Department with an allowance of L$2 000. After only spending about L$500 he was good to go and a pride to see.

I can understand if you have difficulty telling us apart, but left to right it is
Bock McMillan and Wild Zepp-McMillan

The experiment was a complete success, I am happy to say, and I was able to perform my obligations in both places, thanks to Wild and being in constant communications with Tomais on Skype.

The photo shoot turned out wonderfully and I am extremely proud to have been a part of it.

"And equality under the law for all" Photography by Tomais Ashdene
with (left to right) me, Ryder. Lee and Tomais

You can see more of Tomais photography on his his Flickr photostream here or his Tumblr PhotoMonkey SL (NSFW). However, all four of us were ejected from Wastelands and sent back to our respective homes when we tried to pull off the naked version of the picture.

The Second Pride meeting went well too, for the minutes please visit SP Board Meeting Minutes 4-19-14 and for the transcript please visit Transcript of SP meeting on 4-19-14.

As could be expected, the present Marketing Director World Undercroft and Event Director Merrick Genesis, were relieved of their duties for failure to attend three consecutive meetings in a row without permission from the Chair.

The meeting was informed that the key responsibilities of the Marketing Director would be performed jointly by Karl Kalchek and Baz Ceawlin. As the position of Events Director is crucial for the upcoming Festival, even I could see that the position would have to be filled with someone who had the skills for the office. I was therefore not at all surprised when level headed Marge Beaumont made a motion that the position, in accordance with the bylaws, should be filled immediately by Kharissa Indigo (a.k.a. the Relentless Khar).

Although I myself love Khar and could see that she had the required skills I was worried by this nomination both for Khar's own sake and for the sake of Second Pride as she has been a target of "some contention" (to put it mildly) within the community, so I gave voice to my concerns at the meeting.

After being assured by several members of the board that they would not allow Khar to stand alone as a target and that they had discussed policies to handle such a situation I was satisfied. The board then appointed Khar to the position of Events Director.

We were then introduced to The Sponsor and Vendor packages for the Festival, and the registration form for those who had purchased those packages.

Next meeting will be Sunday, May 4 at 12 PM (noon) SLT.

---
P.S. I would like to clarify that Merrick Genesis absence is due to first life health issues, not through any desire to neglect his duties.

Second Pride: Continued Trials and Tribulations (Edited)

This is probably old news for many of you, but as I have failed to report on it earlier I am doing so now.

Andy Long

Jagger Naughton

Last week we saw new changes on the Second Pride board as the board approved the resignations of Co-Chair Andy Long and IT Director Jagger Naughton. Both resignations cited "personal reasons" for this move.

Merrick Genesis

World Undercroft

At the same meeting two other board members, the Events Director Merrick Genesis and the Marketing Director World Undercroft, positions were discussed for "failure to attend meetings for three consecutive sessions without prior permission from the Chairman of the Board". Further discussion will take place at the next meeting when the board may also decide to release them from their positions.

Baz Ceawlin

The board also appointed Baz Ceawlin as new IT Director. As he has previously been a reliable board member we should be hopeful that he will stick with it until the next election.

After this "annus horibilis" with all the coming and going of members of the board, the Second Pride board now, apart from Baz, Merrick and World, consist of these reliable and stalwart people who will hopefully stay with us trough the fast approaching Second Pride festival period.

Petr Hastings Vanbeek, Chairman
a.k.a. "Big Daddy"

Marge Beaumont, Treasurer
a.k.a. "No Nonsense Marge"

Sutry Long, Security Director
a.k.a. "Sutry the Strong"

Karl Kalchek, Community Relations Director
a.k.a. "The Little Helper"

Jak Calcutt, Build Director
a.k.a. "The Best Little Hugger in SecondLife" & "Master Builder Extraordinaire"

P.S. I have corrected this post after receiving some feedback from members of the board.

Finally Moving Ahead

The Second Pride meeting on Sunday was a joy to witness for a devoted member. Instead of the bickering and infighting that has characterized the previous meetings, the few members that had assembled, saw a board working constructively to deal with the issues at hand and even raise their eyes to look into the future.

Left to right: Jagger Naughton, Sutry Long, Marge Beaumont, Karl Kalchek,
Andy Long, Jak Calcutt, Hottie B LockJaw and Merrick Genesis

The second most huggable man in SecondLife Jak Calcutt (Build Director) was granted access to the Second Pride avatar for the remainder of this year. The step was taken to avoid unnecessary delays in building as the avatar holds all the landscaping material, textures and buildings etc. that are owned by the organisation. The board and the membership present were convinced that enough safeguards are in place.

Jaggy’s Co-chair for IT Director is Baz Ceawlin, Andy’s Co-chair for Secretary/Co-chair is Story Long, Sutry’s Co-chair for Security Director is Jordan Anderson, Marge’s Co-chair for SP Treasurer is Jynxx Beebe. Karl, Jak, Hottie B (the board member formerly known as Hotboy) and Merrick are still looking for suitable candidates.

(Source my imperfect memory and Meeting Minutes of SP Board Meeting December 8, 2013)

Second Pride - Finally A Full Board Again

I have been remiss in my bogging to keep you updated on Second Pride, if you desperately need someone to blame I suggest you speak to Mr. Tomais Ashdene.

However, there was a board meeting last Thursday (which I unfortunately could not attend due to timezone hassles) that presented quite a few interesting developments. If you should wish to read the complete and unadorned minutes please visit the Second Pride website, Meeting Minutes of SP Board Meeting Nov 20, 2013 (url).

Here are my personal reflections on what occurred.

The attending membership was informed that Damian Tar had chosen to resign as Chairperson of the Second Pride board. He was duly thanked for his services to Second Pride.

This news saddened me greatly. Damian has been treated abominably by parts of the gay community, both in the election process and afterwards. He has received countless vicious and unreasonable personal attacks ever since he declared his intention of running for Chair. Damian has not even been granted the common decencies, that are fundamental principles of every democratic society, the right of being considered innocent until proven guilty or the chance to be heard in his own defence. Instead he has been judged, condemned and hung out to dry by the mob in whispering campaigns on social forums with little or no mercy shown.

I have grown to like, respect and admire Damian, but I can also see that in the end the hostility and focus on his person took away his and the boards ability to perform the important work they are elected to do. With the added burden of his sickness it is understandable that he, for his own good and the good of Second Pride, finally decided to step down. Like the board, I wish Damian all the best for the future.

Petr Hasting-Vanbeeck was appointed to replace Damian as chairperson.

Petr is a hardworking, no-nonsense and charming man who is well equipped to handle this position. I trust him and his level headedness to assure that the board's focus now is turned to the business at hand.

Andy Long was appointed to the position of Secretary/Co-Chair. I welcome this appointment also, although I will implore the new secretary to in the future spell my last name correctly, i.e. McMillan with two capital M's.

Sutry Long was appointed to the vacant position of Security Director. I am certain that Sutry will be an asset in the boards continued work.

So we finally have a full board again, lets get some work done people!

IT Director Jagger Naughton informed that Baz Ceawlin had agreed to become his co-chair.

At the meeting Petr then commenced to announce the creation of an ad hoc committee to review the bylaws of Second Pride.The committee is to be co-chaired by board directors Karl Karlchek and Marge Beaumont and include "Doc Spad, Bock Mcmillan (sic!) and one more as yet unnamed committee member".

Memories of Bygone Days

In preparation for the upcoming week long celebration of the life and times of Marcus Steeplechase, who recently passed away, old treasures have been unearthed and again see the light of day. The old Ironworks Club is being erected again at this location and friends of mine have already visited.

When I logged into my Facebook-account today I was first struck by the amount of pictures my name had been tagged in, but soon realized why. A display from 2007 has been found in Marcus' Inventory showing frequent visitors to the club or maybe it was participants in a photo contest? I cannot remember anymore. 

Among those shown in the display is the 6-8 months old me (third row from top, seventh from the left in the top picture). I still remember the hair and skin I am in very well, they were among the very first things I ever bought in SecondLife. To my left you see my then friend Drizz and fifth to my right is my brother in-law Dej. The whole display is full of familiar names, some of whom are still with us to this day.

A few months in SecondLife had finally made it clear to me that camping was not a worthwhile way to earn the money I needed. After having briefly considered the sex-trade I shrugged it off and decided to plug in my credit card instead, promising myself dearly that I would never ever spend more than  L$5,000 a month. Ah, the sweet innocence of youth...

In the beginning I did not at all want to look one bit like a Swede, but instead chose dark brown hairs and skins with California suntans (I seem to remember that this particular skin was named Hermes, but I am not sure.).

It wasn't until later, during my first year with Ars, that my appearance started to revert more to my first life looks with blond hair and lighter skin tones, because I realised I felt more comfortable that way. Of course the fact that blond hair finally stopped being a strange yellowish may have helped.

"The True Reasons..."

Today I received in my possession a note card from Cortez Brandriss, who was earlier a candidate for Event Director of the Second Pride 2014 board but who withdrew her candidacy.

The note card is unmodifiable and was according to its properties created by Ms Brandriss, despite this I also sought to get a confirmation from Ms Brandriss. I did this before having read the last sentence in this note card, for which I ask Ms Brandriss' forgiveness.

My main reasons for posting this are twofold, Firstly because I love Second Pride and want it to grow and flourish for many years to come and, secondly, because I believe that the membership of Second Pride has the right to know what is happening behind closed doors. 

I will post it without any further personal comment, other than saying that these SP election seems to be turning out to be extremely ugly and messy, with personal attacks, anonymous bloggers and other monkey business. 

Marius Watz "Web Science artwork"

"7/29/2013 Re: Second Pride Election
C/c Second Pride Current Board

 To Doc Spad,

 I have been very confused as to why, what was supposed to be a very quiet and simple withdrawl from this election has turned to a large population of Pride Candidates and Voters coming to me concerned with my departure from the race.

 I was dismayed to find the answer to my question in a notice, sent by you on 7/27 to the entire Second Pride Community, that my reasons for withdrawing from this race were because of a ticket system.

 I tried to make this very clear when we first spoke, and I will clarify again now-- I withdrew from the Second Pride election because of *our* conversation-- a conversation in which the current Chair of Pride, yourself, came to me with an attempt to coerce me to join forces on a ticket with someone I have not ever met, as a means of throwing the vote. I withdrew my candidacy because I was uncomfortable knowing that the Chair of Second Pride was so willing to discuss other candidates with me, someone you barely knew. I withdrew because I felt that I was being asked to be a pawn in a dramatic game of manipulating the vote. The unprofessional freedom you took in that conversation was what caused me to withdraw my candidacy.

 I ran for Second Pride because I admired the outward professionalism of it's team of chairs, and I wanted to do something important for the LGBT community. Our conversation was steeped in drama that I did not want to be a part of, concerning people I do not know and have never met.

 I submitted a formal and professional withdrawl to Baz that did not go into these reasons, only to learn you have distributed a notice that has informed the entire Second Pride Group I left the race over the ticket system. Through this notice, you have not only publicly spoken for me with information that is not true, but you have also publicly pitted me and my withdrawl against the candidates in this entire election.

 I am outraged by the way you have handled this matter, and at the fact you have now brought me into the drama of Second Pride, when I have done nothing but gracefully bowed out of a situation you made uncomfortable for me to begin with.

 Please do not use my withdrawl as any future means to burden this election.

 With this notecard, I would like to officially announce the true reasons for my withdrawl. I ask that I am no longer contacted by any member of Second Pride about this election.

 Sincerely,Cortez Brandriss

 C/c: Second Pride Board. Kyle Beckett, SquirtN Wonder, Tylo Mabellon, Dextrum Boucher, Kharissa Indigo, Mr Gracemount, Baz Ceawlin, Tootsie Nootan"

Spontaneous Clubbing

After a long and busy day of overseeing my master builder-interior designer-landscaper-gardener all rolled into one hot packet of dynamite, the brilliant and sublime Butch Diavolo, and shopping for more plants and more furniture I was knackered. When Guyke and Butch dropped out for bed I was going to leave too, I just had to buy some new eyes because the ones I had were doing weird stuff and then I  also had some stuff I wanted to put out over by the barn - or so I thought.

I  ended up fiddling about with stuff at the barn until I got the notice that DJ Wes and Khar were starting their party at The Tribute, so I thought I might as well go there to relax and look at men a little before hitting the sack. I ended up staying for over an hour, the place was wall-to-wall carpeted by the most wonderful men.

The Hasting- Vanbeeck's , Tasty and Petr, with a stranger 

DJ Wesley Spengler & Kharissa Indigo

Sexy Baz Ceawlin & Kolin Wylie

The always stunning couple Shepherd & Larz Kas

Some dude, it could be me

 A study of an Australian patron who had a great body and beautiful moves. I have seen Muhu around the scene earlier, but he has never caught my attention as he did last night. Horniness could have played a role in this., mine not his.

Muhu

Muhu

Muhu

 And lets finish off this post with a cute couple.

Angel & Divi

SP Annual Membership Meeting 2013

The annual Second Pride membership meeting was held yesterday. It was a well visited meeting that was conducted in an orderly fashion. Extra seats had to rezzed as more members than expected turned up.

My pictures are all  taken at an early time in the proceedings,
I should think we were twice as many when the meeting ended.

Larz Kas looking hot in a new cap with Jarred, in the second row
I and Jared Palianta and at the far back to the right Eric Quimby.

Nigel Riel (far left), Marcellias (center) and HerrDirektor /far right)

From left to right, SquirtN, Mr. G. and Dextrum

From left to right, Doc, Baz, Tootsie and Kharissa

The most important stuff that occurred at the meeting was the information pertaining to the upcoming elections of the new Second Pride Board.

This is from the Second Pride website. Please note it contains important information about 
1) eligibility to the board, 
2) voting privileges in the election, as well as 
3) a need for you - in certain instances - to update your personal information on the Second Pride website so that your vote will not be discarded. 

Election Dates and Procedures:

• Candidate declarations will be accepted from July 7th through midnight SLT July 21st. per the by laws.
• Only Members of the Second Pride Group will be considered and their declaration must be accompanied by a “candidate Statement” which will be done on the second-pride.com website. (No one will be able to declare after midnight on the 21st)
• Candidates will be announced on the second-pride.com website and their candidate statements published on the forums on July 22nd. Members will be able to question the candidates for a period of ten days ending at midnight August 1st.
• On August 2nd Candidates may make their final statements
• From August 2nd through midnight slt on August 4th the forums will be closed from further discussion . Members are encouraged to view the candidates final statements .
• Voting will commence at 00:01AM August 5th through midnight August 9th
• You must have joined the Second Pride Festival Group by midnight August 4th to be able to vote for your candidates.
• At this time the election committee will certify the results of the election and announce to the membership those results no later than midnight August 12th.
• On August 18th at 11AM slt The new Board will be installed and have their 1st meeting as a Board of Second Pride. The existing Board will step down at that time and any transfers will take place at that time.
• Candidates: Candidate Declaration Form

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS
You MUST be a member of the Second Pride in-world group before Midnight August 4th to be eligible to vote. The election committee will be cross referencing the online votes received against the in-world membership list. Please be sure to click on your name at the bottom of this screen [on the second-pride.com website, my remark] (to view and/or update your online profile. Make sure your Second Life Avatar name is part of your profile so that your vote can be verified against the in-world membership.