EXCLUSIVE: Interviews with Outgoing and Incoming Leads of Gay Archipelago

Yesterday, while I was taking it easy and dancing bareassed with my husband - and several other hotties - at the Boystown Beach Party with DJ Ryder Bowman, all hell broke loose as the Gay SecondLife metaverse reverberated with the news that Gay Archipelago, or "the other organisation" as it was once upon a time referred to at Second Pride meetings, had gotten a new lead.

Ricogenu Resident (right) with his partner Avacar Bluestar at the
GA Estate Owners Meeting yesterday prior to the announcement

ricogenu Resident had just been named by the GA Discovery Committee to succeed in the position as lead of Gay Archipelago being vacated by Garth Raleigh-Underby next week.

What is an avatar blogger supposed to do when he is thus caught by surprise without any pants? As your intrepid reporter I called my two friends in Instant Message to get exclusive interviews with them both. (I did most certainly not inform either of them that I was conducting the interviews in the buff.)

First off I called Garth Raleigh-Underby, the outgoing lead
Bock: Hello my dear friend! What is this news I just got?
Garth: Hi, Bock dear! :)
Bock: Have you stepped down as lead for GA?
Garth Raleigh: Actually, I did that about a month ago when I informed the Owners group that I was retiring. A Discovery Team was created to vett and interview prospective candidates prior to my official last day (February 13th). Today was the announcement at the GA Owners Gathering. Now I work with the incoming Lead, Rico (ricogenu) on transitional issues and continue to advise him.
Bock: He is a nice guy too, although I do not know him as well as I know you.
Garth You will have many chances to know him better as he wades into the deep end of the pool, so to speak. lol
Bock: LOL
Garth: As for me... I have already started taking classes on Firestorm viewer issues and am slated to begin classes on building/creating with sculpties and mesh. Things I have not had time to do for myself. And I can spend more time with friends and with Mitch. It is our 1 year anniversary today, btw. :)
Bock: OMG congratulations!
Garth: Also, Othon retired as PR/Publicity lead for the GA. The new PR/Publicity Lead is Parvin (xcept.atlas).
Bock: Big changes on important positions
Garth: Change... is essential. Without change groups like the GA become stagnant and unable to move ahead. I wanted to make sure the organization remains vital and full of fresh new ideas and ways of doing things. Now I move out of the spotlight, it was getting a bit toasty under there. LOL

Bock: I am happy for you though
Garth: This means I can come pester YOU more. LOLOL
Bock: YAY! I hope you and Mitch have saved March 8th for me and Tomais
Garth: 8th... Right, saw that on your blog, dear.
Bock: Excellent! Now you can relax and say and do whatever and tell everyone to go screw themselves - although I know you would never express it quite like that...

Next I called on Rico Resident, who according to what his partner Avacar jokingly told me was attempting to "bury a hole". 

Bock: Congratulations buddy! Best of luck with your important mission

ricogenu: Thanks Bock

Bock: I assume you are busy so I will not pester you, just wanted to tell you I you I think you will be an excellent lead for GA

ricogenu: No I am good and Bock you are never a pest

Bock: Hugs mate and *fingers crossed* KICK ASS!

ricogenu: OK I will do my utmost best at it!

This is Rico’s acceptance speech at the GA Owner's meeting transcribed (quoted from the GA WeBlog:

“Hello and I thank you very much for turning up today for this announcement. I stand before you as a very humble man, ready for the challenge that awaits me, a gracious representative to the Second Life lgbt community as a whole.

Each of you play a very important part of the Gay Archipelago mission and I look forward to serving all of you both individually and collectively.

Many of you have worked with my partner in the GA over the last 3 years, and his experience along with mine are to be explored in the very near future on the GA blog.

I appreciate the diligence that the Discovery committee carried out in evaluating my qualifications to take the reins of the GA leadership and I hope to both meet & exceed your many expectations as we move forward this year.

Please bear with me as I become familiar with each estate owner and its superlatives as I hope to learn the many great talents of our overall team.

Your participation is vital to our success and along with many excellent and acclaimed accomplishments for the GA under Garth and his team, we aim to carry that same momentum into all future endeavors that benefit our membership.

Thanks again for your commitment and dedication to the Gay Archipelago.
Sincerely yours, Ricogenu.”

With DJ Cupric at The Shipwreck

"The Gay Archipelago" (GA) is a huge collection of gay and lesbian owned sims that collaborate on a voluntary basis in various projects and joint ventures in SecondLife. Every year the GA hosts a huge Summer Festival and Pride celebration with loads of different events, parties and exhibitions spread out over many of the sims.

This years Summer Festival is going full force at the moment, so after having rested all afternoon I decided to drop in on one of the many parties.

As I landed at The Shipwreck the first thing that met my eyes was the sight of the talented and creative Regi Yifu's delicious and perky ass wiggling about in all its bareassed glory.

DJ "The Coop" (Cupric)

The party had just started so people were still dropping in all over the place, but DJ "The Coop" Cupric had already set the tempo which he meant to follow throughout the party.

The high tempo suited my mood perfectly. I accepted a dance invitation and started looking around at the assembled hotties. That's one of life's simplest pleasures that I thoroughly enjoy.

After a while I was joined at the party by my son Guyke and a well-rested and benign Butch.

When Butch was informed about where I was teleporting him he said stoically, "Oh, then I had better undress a little."

I (far left), Regi (center) and the always studly Draghan Marksman (second from the right)

Regi's luscious globes center stage

Uncle Vaan

GA lead Garth Raleigh-Underby and hubby Mitch Underby-Raleigh

At the Opening of "Viva l'Italia"

I was invited to the opening of my friend Eddi Haskell´s photo-exhibition "Viva l'Italia" today. my son Guyke accompanied me to.the opening, partly because I always like to hang with him, partly as my chaperon to keep me out of trouble. 

We were a little late in arriving because we had wasted a lot of time getting dressed. After starting out in full gala with tuxedos that could have fit in well at the royal wedding in Stockholm today, we dressed down until we were in extremely casual attire. 

When we arrived the party had already filled up with a host of beautiful men and some women. Mikedacook "Mikey" Dinzeo was the DJ of the evening. I enjoyed his music thoroughly while talking with Guyke in voice and the other guests in local or Instant Message, all the while hungrily looking at the men at the venue - one in particular whom I will spare the embarrassment of being mentioned here. 

Many of my buddies or long time acquaintances were at the party like Eddi and Benja, Garth and Mitch, Rico and Avacar, Mikey's partner Robin, Judas, Mattias, Khar and Christo,.but also many men and women that I did not know - yet. 

All in all, I had a great time, enjoying the beautiful photographs, the great music and the pleasant conversation. .

Guyke and I admiring one of Eddi's works

I and my favorite among the beautiful photographs

Brent (I was to distracted by his hotness to catch his last name), a
 mysterious and silent stranger with a sexy avatar. I noticed he had rezzed
in 2009, which means he is  like 15-20 years younger than myself

My buddy Christo Spyker.
What is this thing with Dutch men and their bare feet, I wonder?

Christo grooving

My friend, the always charming Kharissa Indigo,
mskes a fashion statement as always

The exhibition will continue until the end of June, I highly recommend you pay it a visit at The Eddi Haskell Gallery (SLurl)

More pictures can be found at my buddies blogs, Eddi Haskell's Second Life and Benja Aquila's Second Life

"You Can Call Me Cupid!"

I celebrated Saint Patrick's Day at the Gay Archipelago yesterday.

My mood was excellent and I had bought a stunning new suit, fitting for the occasion, at Marketplace. The suit was a statement in itself which shouted to the world that here comes a fashion forward man with great confidence in himself and his impeccable taste. It was therefore rather disappointing to notice that my finery blended in beautifully with the unfortunate choice of carpeting for the venue.

Being me, I did not let this little adversity spoil my fun in the least.

I was accompanied to the party by my friend Butch Diavolo. The man had an excellent time mocking my wonderful outfit.

Within fifteen seconds of our arrival at the venue the impetuous man was nagging me to animate him. When I had fulfilled his wishes and turned my attention to the assembled guests, I soon noticed that he suddenly stopped dancing with me and was not dancing beside me anymore.

After looking around for him I saw that he had thrown himself at poor innocent Judas/Atreyu/Craig and was now dancing couples dances with the young man instead. Please notice where the eager young man has placed his large hand... even if it can hardly be noticed on Butch's huge ass which is as wide as a barn door.

I said to Butch, "Here I bring you to a dance and you dump me in the middle of the dance floor for a hormone-fueled young lad, whom you met little more than a fortnight ago?" Butch answered me in his usual sullen way, "I have known Judas a long time, I only re-met him at Garth's and Mitch's wedding."

Lately I have become aware of that my mere presence somewhere seems to be a catalyst for budding romantic entanglements around me. I informed Butch about this phenomenon and told him "You can call me Cupid!". He simply snorted at my profound insight.

As the two men started to draw the whole venues attention to themselves in the most scandalous way (they should really have gotten a room) I called in the cavalry in the shapes of first the sweet Ziggy and, a short while later, my son Guyke.

Although Guyke had to leave shortly afterwards, it was good to see him again as he has been away in first life. Ziggy has also been busy with his first life so it was good to get a few dances with him and catch up before I had to leave for my beauty sleep.

The Wedding of Garth and Mitch (Updated)

If it was a fairy tale it would start something like this. "'Twas on the day when Dejerrity Mycron got 11 inches¹ on Manhattan Island, New York, N.Y., that Garth Raleigh and Mitch Underby were married in the humongous cathedral of Splendid Place."

The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm and prince of Cascade Falls, arrived to the cathedral fashionably late with his sullen aide-de-camp the commoner Butch Diavolo in tow. Butch was sullen because he had been ordered to accompany me and forced to wear shoes for the occasion.

"Do you really think that I can arrive at such a festive occasion without being accompanied by a  strikingly handsome man or with a peasant without shoes?", I asked him. "Now drop your c**k and grab your shoes, we have to be there in five minutes!"

The cathedral was already full of family and other guests of the two grooms when we finally arrived. Unfortunately I had my double-talk problem (today with a delay of a few minutes). This also affected my movements so I was walking all over the waiting guests before I could grab an empty seat.

Soon after we had arrived and taken our inconspicuous and uncharacteristically humble seats the officiant arrived. It was Draghan Marksman in the guise of a rabbinical neko², or as my aide-de-camp chose to call it "A Kosher Cat". He looked absolutely stunning. 

A short while later the wedding procession made it´s entrance into the cathedral and the two grooms took their places at the pews.

The wedding service was fairly traditional with highly moving personal vows from the handsome grooms. Mitch tried to make a run from it all mid-ceremony, he most likely got a bout of the wedding-jitters, but to the relief of Garth and the assembled guests he re-logged quickly and the ceremony was completed in an orderly fashion.

After the ceremony there was a reception nearby. While trying to move there I encountered some troubles and decided to re-log. Before leaving I thought to myself that I should perhaps try unchecking the HTTP Textures again, as previously suggested by Whirly, to try to cure my old #01587329-problem. So I did that before leaving.

When I arrived back the company had assembled to hear speeches and toasts to honor the newly wed. My double-speech and double-movements had amazingly been cured, to my great relief.

There was also a show, mainly with the amazing entertainer Oliver Elton, but also a special appearance on stage by Atreyu Raleigh (or Trey or Craig I got confused by the many names people gave him) a son of one of the grooms who joined Oliver for a rendition of the gay anthem "Its Raining Men". I was so enthralled that I unfortunately forgot to take a picture.

Update
After talking with Craig Raleigh in-world I am proud to add this picture from the part I missed. Thank you Craig!

Craig Raleigh in "Its Raining Men", photographed by himself

During this performance, when Oliver and Atreyu turned their backs to the audience and bowed, a guest said "I see cracks, and they´re not on the ceiling mind you..."

The wedding party then moved into the adjoining room for champagne, cake and some dancing.

Above myself and my aide-de-camp flanking the newly weds. Below the officiant gets into the groove with the booze and finally topples over.

The rest of the guests were well-behaved although some intimate ass-fondling could be noticed by an observant onlooker (me).

It was here I re-encountered Rob Colter, the poor man who had been sitting beside me - and behind my emerald gown - at the Miss Wigstock 2013 contest. Rob was a perfect gentleman and tried to convince me that he had not been bothered in the least.

We were also treated to a spectacular fireworks show to the backdrop of the castle. This was again the widely talented Oliver Elton´s work.

After the fireworks show I noticed my typos increasing rapidly, which i a sure sign that I am getting very tired and should go to bed, so I congratulated the happy couple a final time said my good bye´s and dropped out to first life. When I dropped off the party was still going on and it may probably still be...

I hope you live happily ever after, Garth and Mitch!

¹) 11 inches of snow, you dirty-minded little sods, this was the day the northeastern blizzard Nemo hit New York, N.Y., remember? (This joke is credited to my brother-in-law Dej)
²) A neko is sort of a human cat, i.e. an avatar with a human body shape donning a cat tail and cat ears and sometimes also whiskers.

Miss Wigstock 2013 - The Fabulous Event

As a veteran in SecondLife I know that some events you go to an hour before they start if you want to get in at all. The annual Miss Wigstock contest at Gay Riviera is one of those events.

So I was ready to go at 11 AM SLT while Butchella DeVille, mon compagnon à la fête, was still sauntering around in some stunning casual attire. I admonished her strongly and told her that I would go ahead and she should call out when she was ready.

As I arrived at the Theater on the Hill at Gay Riviera I saw all the green dots indicating other clever avatars who had learned their lesson. Luckily Butchella is a fast dresser for a gay man. She actually does it in half-speed compared to the tempo in which she runs her mouth but it was fast enough and we squeezed her big ass in before the sim was full.

I was heading for a humble seat among the dazzling glitterati of the SLebrities that had assembled at the theater this evening, but Butchella called me back and told me she had found two empty seats suitable for us.

It was in the royal box no less. I told her that OK we could sit there for a while but we should expect to be ousted from the best seats in the house when the top brass arrived.

As I had seen on the mini-map the beautiful theater was already filled with the most dazzling, studly and fabulous avatars.

...but I and Butchella had the best seats in the place in the place, in the two center seats of the royal box. To my right was a sweet but silent man named Rob Colter and to Butchella´s left was the famous Hotboy Lockjaw.

Butchella and I settled in our chairs fit for queens and started to relax and feel cosy and happy to have arrived in time and gotten such splendid seats, with a good view of the stage and all of the audience. Poor Rob almost had his view of the stage blocked by mt gown, but as I said he was sweet but silent so he never said a bad word about it, a real gentleman I am sure. Butchella told me we both looked too fabulous because we were almost  certain to outshine the contestants.

When Butchella said that I just had to show her how stylish we looked with our feet sticking through the floor.

We started looking around to see who was there and here are some SLebrities we spotted.

Eddi Haskell, (blogger, photographer, fashion guru and all round good guy)
with his alts partner Benja Aquila (blogger and a very pleasant new friend).

Ricogenu with his partner Avacar, owners of Gay Fun World,
with a to me unknown beauty

Our hosts for the evening Mitch and Garth Underhill-Raleigh

Oppps, this is of me, Butchella and Hotboy again,but its
too much of a hassle  to rearrange so I will leave it here

Frolic Mills of BOSL

Ohiomike Lockjaw with Oliver Elton and Othon Weiland

MC Queen Edman, dressed in a tux for once, with the female MC,
whose name has unfortunately slipped my mind at the moment.

The Winner and Miss Wigstock 2013
Juve Wheelwright

First runner up,
Silvano Korobase

Jean Marc, which was the performer that I had as winner

Hotboy in his wonderful interpretation of
Lady Gaga´s "Born This Way"

After the prize ceremonies there was a dance. Butchella and I joined for a while but we soon realized it was close to midnight in Europe and we had to leave to crawl to bed. Happy after a fabulous and magical evening.

Mr´s Yifu; sexy Ty and always amusing and sexy Regi wearing "the hair that needs it´s own postcode"