Memorial For Dano

A week ago we all learned that the man behind the SecondLife avatar DanR Raymaker, in first life known as Scott Spencer, had passed away after struggling with a painful disease for a long time.

DanR Raymaker-Mirabella
(a.k.a. Scott Spencer)
★ March 19, 2007  † June 30, 2017

I knew him as Dano and first met him at Boots Gay Beach in 2007 (when he looked as his profile picture above).

Dano was one of the most charming, kindest and caring men I have ever met, with a weird sense of humor and a contagious joy of life. Being around Dano, meant you had fun, whatever mood you were in when you got there.

Even his last post on Facebook bears witness of his amazing sense of humor despite the pain and adversities he was struggling with in first life.

Dano was also one of a handful of non-Swedish avatars who dared take part in my blog-series "Naked Avatars in SL" in 2010. You can see his beautiful contribution in this post from May 21, 2010.

Yesterday I was invited to, and took part in, the memorial service for him and the celebration of his life. We were about 20-22 assembled, under the guidance of Evan Greymyst and Ezzie Mirabella. I am sure we would have been many more if people didn't have first life responsibilities to contend with during a weekday, but I am happy I could be there.

As I understand it, Dano had in length discussed with Evan Greymyst how he wished his memorial to be conducted. It was a memorable service.

Evan Greymyst conducting the memorial

Dano's husband Nibz and their two sons

Rest in peace, Dano, you will be sorely missed!

Among My Countrymen

This evening I went visiting in the Swedish community in SecondLife, the reason for this nowadays rare venture was that Bara Jonson and Free Balan were performing a benefit live gig for Relay For Life at my friend Apollon Allen's bar, which is located on my ex-wife Iendi Laville's sim Yadkin.

The place was packed and I thought I had never seen so many Swedish avatars in the same place for a long time, but someone said that it wasn't much busier than a regular Friday evening.

For a long time after Ars had passed away, I sought refuge among the Swedes, where I felt safe and protected, which I was extremely grateful for and needed badly at the time. They involved me in all sorts of activities to keep me from brooding. They also responded kindly to and took part in some of my crazy projects, most notably the "Nakna avatarer i SL" ("Nude Avatars in SL") blog project. I think I had well over 100 entries where the Swedes dropped their clothing and sent me their wonderful and imaginative nudie-pictures for publication. I still have many friends among them although my visits are not as frequent these days.

I danced with Jasmine most of the evening, which was a pleasure, apart from the obvious fact that we looked great dancing together.

It was a fun evening and I had a very good time seeing and talking with friends I had not been in touch with for some time. People were generous to the cause, which made it even better.

Jasmine Cazalet, I and Apmel Goosson (He is wearing a hat, could he be losing his hair?)

"There was a young man from Nantucket..."

Above, Selma Edman and Iendi Laville show some of their moves.

NE0 Timeless's search is over

Tingeling captured between someones legs

The Cat & the Princess

Once upon a time, as all good stories should start even the true ones, there was an English cat living in Canada. He was a tall and lean man with a great capacity for love. On the other side of the Atlantic ocean in a small provincial Swedish town there lived a short and full figured princess with a weakness for tall and lean men and a similar capacity for love but no one to shower it over.

sirhc and Vampi posing for my blog project Naked Avatars in SecondLife
(see the tag Nakna avatarer i SL)

Little did the two know that the love of their lives existed and was waiting to be found. Universe saw this and knew it was wrong. This should not be like this, Universe felt, the two should be together and love and take care of eachother.

Universe thought about it a while and then it came with a brilliant plan and set it in motion. First it lighted a spark in the brain of a creative American computer geek named Philip Rosedale, something about creating a virtual world where he and his geeky friends and people from all over the world could meet and discuss their weird digital stuff and kill each other in war games and build stuff and have wild, steamy and passionate sex with fabulous women and tall, lean, men or cats or whatever they wished. Philip managed to convince enough of his wonderful geeky and creative friends about his vision and they set out to create the virtual world that was to become known and loved as SecondLife.

The idea took off, the world was created and the wonderful, creative and innovative computer geeks from all around the globe converged into SecondLife. They built stuff, they beautified it, they just went wild with all their ideas. And the friends of the geeks started to check in to see what it was all about and they fell in love with it too, so did their friends and the friends of their friends.

Both the English cat and the Swedish princess were sort of computer geek so they of course heard about SecondLife too and joined the fun.

Then one day the princess was out on one of her excursions into the dark side of SecondLife, some war sim or other, and she saw this lean, mean, killing machine of a cat. And she loved what she saw and heard and could not get the cat out of her mind. She started prowling around wherever he went and stalked him from sim to sim until one day she decided to take a leap of faith and just pounce on him. The poor, innocent and lovable cat did not know what had hit him. The princess was like a whirlwind, a tornado of excitement and love that took over his life, his thought and his dreams, just as he had - unknowingly - taken over her's.

The two started spending more and more time together, falling deeper in love as the days and weeks and months went by. They also started sharing their first lives on Skype, with the cam running 24/7, so they could look after each other and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and watch a little. After a while they got handfasted in some weird wiccan ceremony and their love was sealed. Only Universe knows what kind of kinky heterosexual stuff went on in front of those cameras besides the two watching each other sleep, eat, wash, pee and all the other daily humdrum. Universe watched on and smiled and saw that all was well.

Then one day the princess woke up and couldn't see the cat anywhere in his apartment. He had completely disappeared from it, the camera was still running but the apartment was empty. She was not that worried at first but as the hours passed the worrying mounted, especially since the cat was sick and feverish at the time. When the hours turned to days she definitely knew something was wrong. She called out for help and assistance among her friends and an especially resourceful friend, a practical woman of course, lifted the phone and called the local police force in the Canadian town where the cat was living.

Vampi and sirhc and their alts for the blog project Naked Avatars in SecondLife

Despite the unusual circumstances the Canadian police were amazingly helpful and swiftly located  the cat and - after receiving his consent - informed the resourceful woman about his whereabouts and where he could be reached.

The beautiful cat had been found wandering the streets and not being able to find his way home in his sick and feverish state. He had been taken to hospital for treatment and was recovering when the Canadian police found him and informed him that a crazy princess in Sweden was asking about him.

Universe, that had been watching the whole story unfold, knew that something had to be done. The two could not be kept apart anymore, both needed the other to look after them and to look after the other. In some miraculous way a plane ticket was arranged  with a one way trip to Sweden. The still weak cat packed up his stuff and got on the plane which would deliver him to the waiting princess.

On this day, July 20, three years ago the two fell into each others loving arms at the train station in Helsingborg, Sweden, (See Bock in SecondLife; The kitten has arrived). Since then the two have stayed as inseparable as they were before, but now in both lives. The princess has taken care of the cats health and he has done the same for her. As it turned out the cat is an amazing cook, baker etc., etc., so he put the princess on an organic, nutritional and healthy diet. She is not as full figured anymore but feeling much better she tells me.

Universe is still watching over the two. It sees that they are doing well and it is happy, and so are the rest of their friends. For this is a true story, somewhat freely embellished but nonetheless true.

The princess is the lairds CTO Vampi Twine DeSantis McMillan McMillan (honorary) and the cat is his Sergeant at Arms sirhc DeSantis McMillan. The wonderful resourceful woman is PirateJenny Whybroe.

Happy 3rd Anniversary in Sweden, sirhc!

I hope you two will live happily together ever after. Love you both!

Elfay At Pride

The one and only Elfay Pinkdot.

There are very few things that can convince me to crawl out of bed before 9 AM (12 AM midnight SLT) on a Sunday morning, my Ars was one and the divine Elfay Pinkdot doing a set at Second Pride is another.

Despite the early hour I was happy when I got there and was looking forward to two hours of good music, pleasant company and a fun chat. My expectations were indeed surpassed!

Not only was it a good crowd of humorous like-minded people that stayed on after the previous set or came in but also some long missed friends. Among those I want to mention Circe Broom especially, the iconic and generous megastar on the SecondLife live music scene from almost the start until the end of last year. Although Circe isn't feeling well and the fact that it was 3 AM local time for her, she joined us in good spirit and with her usual charm. It was so good to see her again!

Joetonight Starship and Ryce Skytower were also there, adding a bit of male beauty to the starving masses, i.e. me. Longtime readers of this blog will remember Ryce from my series "Naked Avatars in SL" where he stunned us all with his beauty; see Nakna Avatarer i SL 67 (url)

Even if Elfay had a sexy drawl at first, coming straight from bed to do the show, she soon warmed up and so did the crowd, both the regulars and her new fans. We really had a ball.

The best thing is though, that at the end of her show Elfay mentioned that she had agreed with the organizers to do a second set during the coming weeks. I will of course be there, I do not like missing Elfay.

Here are some more pictures from the event.

Joetonight dancing with feathers

Elfay, me and Circe

Ryce and I, the only picture of us that doesn't
have one or the others face covered by the darn flag

Hugging my dear Circe goodbye

Friday Evening

Iendi & DJ Apollon

Getting back home from the conference today, the only thing on my mind was to get some sleep. I was tired from an almost sleepless night being kept awake by quacking ducks and geese trying to find partners or fighting for territory.

After my four hour nap I was halfway fit for fight again and logged into SecondLife to check out that everything was well on the home sim, which it was. When I was about to log into first life there was an invitation in the Swedish group chat to come and listen to DJ Apollon. I have always liked Apollon and his mixes even if I may not enjoy some of the music as much. Somehow Apollon always succeeds in creating good humor at his sets.

I really hadn't planned on staying very long but it was just as easy to relax with Apollon and the others as would have in first life so I stayed a couple of hours until the Friday coma started setting in.

As some of you may remember Apollon is the winner of this blogs contest "Naked Avatars in SecondLife" ("Nakna avatarer i SL")

For the wining photoes please look at my previous posts "The Winner" and Apollon Allen´s contributions "Nakna avatarer i SL 46"

Lucky Woman & Luckier Man - UPDATED

Emarald Harvey

Look at that beautiful man in his humorous picture! It is my buddy Emarald Harvey.in one of his contributions to this blogs series "Nakna avatarer i SL" (Nude Avatars in SL)

Would you believe that this boyish, charming and talented man with a wonderful sense of humor could capture and hold the heart of one of the most kind, caring, talented and beautiful women in SecondLife for four years? Four years in SecondLife, that must be something like 25 years in first life, even for a straight couple.

Well, I know both Emarald and his wonderful wife Zigadena Gabardini and today they are celebrating their fourth anniversary, and let me tell you I am not in the least surprised. They complete each other in all the ways a long-lasting couple should.

Ziga attacking my buddy Em

Today my two lovely friends are celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary at one of the friendliest places in SecondLife Club Ormdricka and of course everyone is invited.

The party starts at 12.30 PM SLT. I for one am going to be there! Club Ormdricka (SLurl).

UPDATE: Ughhh terrible! First I overslept until 1.38 PM SLT and when I finally logged in I could not teleport anywhere. I managed to get hold of my buddy Em but the sweet Ziga had already retired. Hugsand kisses my darlings, I am so sorry about this mess, talk to you tomorrow!

The Kicki-effect

I have told you earlier about my observations about the surprisingly increased amount of visitors from Egypt.

Here are some graphs to show you the evidence.

This is what my friends from Egypt and most of the other Arabic speaking visitors come to my blog for; Kicki Springflower in Naked Avatars in SL 102.

I wish someone could explain to me what "Nakny in Wuxi" means.

Egyptian Invasion

Lately I have had a lot of traffic to this blog from Egypt.

 

I couldn't understand why and perhaps still don´t, but this post Nakna Avatarer i SL 102 is what they come here for. They find it when they do a search for "ناكني في كسي", which according to my Google Translator means "Nakny in Wuxi" in English and "Nakny i Wuxi" in Swedish. The problem is that both of the translations are totally meaningless to me.

The post shows my friend Kicki Springflower posing for my art and peace project last year called "Naked avatars in SL" (Well as I was still writing in Swedish then so it was "Nakna avatarer i SL".)

Kicki was pregnant with her first avtatar child at the time but still graciously agreed to participate in my project.

Nakna avatarer i SL - Rezday Special

Happy sixth rezday in SecondLife, PetGirl (Tina) Bergman!

Big hugs and best wishes!

Happy Rezday, Apollon!

Absolutely everyone seems to be having their rezdays now, so here is another one... my friend Apollon Allen!

I am sure you all recognize him as the winner of my earlier project "Naked Avatars in SecondLife" even if he happens to have clothes on in this picture.

Happy 4th rezday Apollon. Big hugs!

Nakna avatarer i SL - the end

The publication of the winner of the contest on Christmas Day was the end of the project "Nakna avatarer i SL" ("Nude Avatars in SecondLife") so it is now a time for an evaluation.

As far as the art part of the project, I think it is safe to say it was a huge success. Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate to receive beautiful, touching, imaginative and humorous contributions from over a hundred avatars. I sincerely love them all - for very different reasons. It is also my belief that the project may have entertained you all in some small way.

As for the peace part of the project I - at least for a short while - saw some glimmerings of hope and reconciliation among us Swedes in SecondLife. Sadly that did not last for long or even til the end of the project. The fractions are now entrenched and mostly no longer communicating at all. The peace part of the project must therefore be considered a total and miserable failure.

This failure should of course in no way prevent myself or anyone else from trying again in the future.

All in all, I had great fun working with this and that at a time when I badly needed the distraction. I also got many new contacts with interesting, strong, visionary and idealistic people. We are no longer strangers to each other - and that is always a good thing.

Knowing others always means it is harder to disrespect or dislike them. The best things is it works both ways, it is also harder for them to disrespect or dislike you. Getting to know one another gives us color, depth and perspective of each other. We see or can sense the other person´s point of view easier, clearer or better and that is how great friendships start.

There is still hope, I´ll be happy with that for the moment.

The Winner

It is with great joy I present to you all the second place winner as decided by the votes of the jury Apollon Allen.

Along with the honor Apollon will also receive the diploma above and 25.000 L$. You can see all three of the original contributions here.

This is the distribution of the jurors votes for Apollons wonderful contributions.

As you can see from the score sheet a majority of the jurors voted for Apollons pictures. Three jurors had them as winner, while one juror had them in second place and two others had them in third place.

Apollons contributions received a total of 105 points from the jury, making them the unthreatened winner of the contest.

My warmest congratulations to you, Apollon!

-----

I would now also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part in my project for art and peace in SecondLife "Nakna avatarer i SL" ("Nude Avatars in SecondLife") by sending me all your wonderful contributions.

Thanks also to the jurors for taking the time, the effort and pains to judge all the contributions from your very own point of view.

Second Prize Winner

It is with great joy I present to you all the second place winner as decided by the votes of the jury Qju Hapmouche.

Along with the honor Qju will also receive the diploma above and 5.000 L$. You can see the original contribution here.

This is the distribution of the jurors votes for Qju´s wonderful contribution.

As you can see from the score sheet one juror had this picture as winner, while three jurors had it in second place and two others had it in third place.

The contribution received a total of 82 points from the jury, placing it clearly in second place..

On Christmas Day, December 25th at 12 pm (noon) SLT, I will post the winner as decided by the votes of the jury.

Third Place Winner

It is with great joy I present to you all the third place winner as decided by the votes of the jury Millimina Salamander.

Along with the honor Millimina will also receive the diploma above and 2.500 L$. You can see the original contribution here.

This is the distribution of the jurors votes for Millimina´s wonderful contribution.

As you can see from the score sheet one juror had this picture as winner, while two jurors had it in second place and another one had it in third place.

The contribution received a total of 75 points from the jury, placing it clearly in third place..

Next Sunday December 19th at 12 PM (noon) SLT, I will post the second place winner as decided by the votes of the jury.

Fifth Special Award

It is with great joy I present to you all the winner of the fifth "Special Award" Selma Edman.

Along with the honor Selma will also receive the diploma above and 2.500 L$.

You can see the original contribution here.

Tomorrow Sunday December 12th at 12 PM (noon) SLT, I will post the third place winner as decided by the votes of the jury.

Fourth Special Award

It is with great joy I present to you all the winner of the fourth "Special Award" Lelle Kidd.

Along with the honor Lelle will also receive the diploma above and 2.500 L$.

You can see the original contribution here.

Later today at 2 PM SLT I will also give you the fifth "Special Award"!

Tomorrow Sunday December 12th at 12 PM (noon) SLT, I will post the third place winner as decided by the votes of the jury.

Third Special Award

It is with great joy I present to you all the winner of the third "Special Award" Emarald Harvey.

Along with the honor Emarald will also receive the diploma above and 2.500 L$.

You can see the original contribution here.

Later tonight I will also give you the fourth and fifth "Special Awards"! Yeah go ahead and shoot me, I changed my mind and added two more! The fourth will be posted today at 1 PM SLT and the fifth at 2 PM SLT.

Tomorrow Sunday December 12th at 12 PM (noon) SLT, I will post the third place winner as decided by the votes of the jury.

Second Special Award

This picture of Stella Guardian and her lover Eon Abbot really hit the right cord in me from the start and it keeps doing so every time I see it!

It is with great joy I present to you all the winner of the second "Special Award" Stella Guardian. Along with the honor Stella will also receive the diploma above and 2.500 L$.

You can see the original contribution here.

Thank You Jurors

Sketch of the O J Simpson jury by Bill Robles

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the function that you have performed is one of the least important tasks that you will ever be called upon to fulfill. With the return of your votes, your service in this project is complete.

I know that your efforts with this project has involved sacrifice on your part. I trust you end it knowing that you have made a meaningful contribution to the process and hope that you have enjoyed the experience.

You have been a serious, attentive and extremely diligent jury. It has been my pleasure to have worked with you. On behalf of everyone involved in the project, I thank you each and everyone of you.

I greatly appreciate your willingness to serve and your service. You are now discharged. Thank you very much!

Big hugs and kisses on the cheeks,
Bock

(I confess! I just adjusted the "thanking of the jury" that American judges are instructed to give when a jury is discharged after a trial to suit my purposes and added the kisses and hugs.)
----
Facts about the jury
The jury consisted of 21 persons. (15 women and 6 men, 14 Swedish and 7 Internationals representing Europe, Australia and the North and South Americas).

Considering that I asked 27 persons I was totally overwhelmed by the response and willingness to take part. Only one who was invited declined to take part due to real life emergencies, while five did not respond at all.

Attention jurors 3 and more about the contest

The contest for best picture in my project for project for peace and art in SecondLife "Naked avatars in SL" is soon coming to an end.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please let me remind you that your votes must be filed in my email or inventory at the latest on November 30th, 2010, at 12 AM (midnight) SLT (that´s December 1st, 2010, 09.00 EMT.)

Looking at the score sheet I can see that the outstanding votes can still change all the three winners... This is going to be exciting!

.....

For those of you not selected for jury duty let me give you the plan for announcements in the contest.

All announcements will be made at 12 PM (noon) SLT on the following dates

First Special Award - Sunday November 28th, 2010, 2.500 L$,
Second Special Award - Sunday December 5th, 2010, 2.500 L$,
Third Special Award - Saturday December 11th, 2010, 2 500 L$,

Winner Third Place - Sunday December 12th, 2010, 2.500 L$,
Winner Second Place- Sunday December 19th, 2010, 5.000 L$ and finally 
Winner of Best Picture- Saturday December 25th, 2010, 25.000 L$.


The newly created "Special Awards" are my own capricious choices, while the three winners are the result of the votes from the jury. Please note, the fact that someone gets a "Special Award" does not mean they cannot also win by the jurors votes.