Second Pride - Call for Board Candidates (Updated)

The minutes of the Second Pride annual meeting on July 30, 2017, have been published on the Second Pride website. You will find the minutes in the right hand column.

Left to right, Tootsie Nootan, Viktor Sandman, Jak Calcutt & LLedge Eames
(Marge Beaumont wasn't able to attend) 

A quick summary of the reports from the board members would be that this years Second Pride festival was a huge success, with lots of visitors, wonderful venues and builds, few security issues and loads of donations.

The board thanked everyone and the board members were in turn all lauded by those in attendance for their good work for the community and the organization.

After setting aside funds for tier for the Second Pride sim for the coming year and some petty cash, there will be roughly US$1,000 for the board to donate to charity. The board is considering donations to either The Rainbow Railroad or The Human Rights Campaign Fund.

The biggest surprise was the news that the whole board is stepping down, every single one of them. All the positions will be open for the election of new candidates.

The election timetable is as follows (all dates are of course SLT).

1. August 1 - September 3, 2017 - The Second Pride Festival group is closed for new members until the end of the election.
2. August 7-20, 2017 Call for candidates.
3. August 20-26, 2017 Question & answers period 
4. August 27 - September 2, 2017 Elections

The election committee will be headed by LLedge Eames as the outgoing chair.

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Those considering submitting their candidacies will find a Board Candidate Submission Form (here).

Please take the time to consider how you - or perhaps a friend - could serve the LGBT+ community in SecondLife and send in your Candidacy.

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UPDATE 8/13/2017
Lee MacKay, the current webmaster for the Second Pride website, in a comment on Google+, informs me: "It's also very important to note that anyone wishing to participate in the Q&A portion of the election process MUST create an account on the website to do so. The Q&A will take the form of comments beneath each candidate's statement, and a working, verified login is required to post or reply. This applies to the candidates as well, of course. - SP Webmaster"

Second Pride Festival Pictures?

Do you want to see pictures from the ongoing Second Pride Festival and possibly share your own? Here are some tips of where you can find them and post your own.

Photo by J.J. Goodman of a probably angelic, certainly
innocent and possibly virtuous party goer of unknown identity

1. There is a group on Flickr named Second Pride - Celebrate Diversity where you can see other peoples pictures from the ongoing festival and share your own photos, snaps and pictures. Just join the group!
2. Also, my dear friend and co-blogger Carl Gee, a.k.a. NakedCarl, is doing his usual thing and is live-blogging from the festival, see his pictures on his blog NakedCarl - Second Life Photographer.
3. There is also the Second Pride website, under 2017 Pictures. 

I am not listing Facebook, because all of those enjoy that website.

Should you know of any more places where one can see pictures from the ongoing festival, please give me the link in the comments and I will add them to the list.

Second Pride Wants Bloggers - Apply Now!

My dear old friend Mr Kahvy Smith Esq, nee Sands, asked me to help spreading the word on this. So here goes!

"We need bloggers for this years round of Second Pride!!!

For the first time ever, Pride is happy to announce the use of a Bloggers Room. With so many amazing creators on board -- check them out on http://second-pride.com/vendors/ -- we could not go without YOUR help!

So now we need YOU!!!! We are looking for Bloggers that want to blog about the items for sale at Pride from June 23rd - July 1st! Set up starts at June 18 and items should become available from now till the event opens.

• Bloggers gain access to a special bloggers room through a private group, items will be available there for you to pick up. 
• Acceptation based on first come base, Bloggers that already work with vendors that participate have first pick 
• We are gunning for at least two blog posts from you! We know the deadline is steep, if that's a problem for you, please don't apply! We need people that can work fast and furious to get the word out!
• Creator participation is volunteer base, not all of them will participate but some exciting content creators already have joined the room, including to date, Gabriel, L&B, T L C , Sources, RJD, Redangel, PowerDesign and more are added every day!!! 
• A young team of Blogger Management so we expect you, to work with us to make it better! Help shape us up and make Blogging a Regular for Pride! Be a Pioneer with us!!! 

Contact Kahvy Smith​ (kahvy.sands) inworld for an application and/or more info!"

3-Day Halloween & Birthday Party, 29-31 October

Halloween is always a busy party-season in SecondLife, not any less so this year than other years.

My friend Teej Morpork asked me to help him with adverting his 3-day party event, so here goes. I hope it helps, buddy!

October 29, 9-11AM SLT
Spongebob Theme - held underwater (SLurl) close to the tavern. Bring your aqualung/scuba equipment!

Best in Bikini Bottom Contest

October 30, 2-4PM SLT
Western Theme - held at Ye Olde Taverne ande Game Roome (SLurl). Line dancing available!

Best in Western Attire Contest

October 31, 6-8PM SLT
Halloween/Birthday Theme - held at The Cemetery. Walking Dead (SLurl))

Best in Halloween Contest



All parties will have:

• Old-fashioned Sploder (Please play responsibly)
• Free Money Giver (Apple Cider Gang group only. Feel free to join the group without cost

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I will have to find out whose birthday it is and add it here a.s.a.p.

SP Election 2016 Schedule and More

This is from a notecard sent by Viktor Sandman in the Second Pride Festival group and concerns the upcoming election of members to the board of Second Pride. (I have edited it only slightly for various reasons, hence there are no quotation marks except on the first part.) The process has been somewhat delayed by the server crash of the Second Pride-website.

"It is time for our annual elections to fill vacant positions in the Second pride board of directors. We are also seeking volunteers to serve on the election committee.

Please read the attached notecard and follow the information given if you are interested in volunteering, or if you would like to run for one of the open seats on the board.

Thank you for your interest,

Seco"


Please click on "Read more" for additional information.

60 Groups for Premium Members

Yesterday my sweetheart told me to look at the bottom in my group tag, and lo and behold I saw that I now have 18 groups free.

Linden Lab has once again heard our supplications and have given us more groups. Last time that happened was in January 2011. When we all got those 42 groups I thought I would never join that many, somehow it happened anyway...

I have learned my lesson well and will now be extremely careful about which groups I join, some groups are simply too spammy.

Just Do It !

Voting will commence in the election of the Second Pride board for 2014 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.

Vote wisely, vote with care but above all just go it - VOTE!

Culling My Friends List

Perhaps I was inspired by my recent experience of being removed from a friends list, but I have now done the same thing with my own.

When going through my friends list before starting the culling, I noticed that I had been removed from others friends lists already, most notable was my removal by the now abdicated queen of Swedish SecondLife which quite possibly was due to an altercation concerning whether I - as a "Friendly helper" in her group - should do as she ordered me or follow my own discretion. I am well aware that my kind manners sometimes misleads people into thinking that I am submissive, but frankly I do not take orders well so I left that group, thus relieving myself of any duties or obligations in the group she had created.

I have not culled my friends list for a very long time, except about a year and a half ago when I removed one person by accident and another by design. The thing that happened then was that I intended to remove a certain person but for some reason beyond me - possibly someone logging in or out of SecondLife - ended up removing the queen of a neighboring Scandinavian country in SecondLife by mistake.

When I immediately called her in Instants Message to explain my mistake the queen was naturally enraged by my action. She did not at all  believe my protestations and assurances that her removal was a mistake. I have learned that it is futile to discuss such matters further while someone is still furious so I left it at that, although I had first called her up to add her as a friend again.

So learning from previous mistakes and after due consideration I started on removing people from my list. The criterias for removing that I had made up in my mind were the following:

• I do not know who the person was
• I cannot remember ever communicating with the person.
• I have not had any communications with the person during the last three (3) years.
• The person has blocked me from seeing when they are in-world (2 persons).
• The person is a bastard that I will not wish to communicate with in the future(3 person).

Reasons to keep someone on the list inspite of the above criterias being met:

• The person is one I have a strong sentimental attachment to although he never logs in anymore (1 person)

Following the criterias I - carefully making sure I got the correct person - started removing people. I have now successfully concluded this project and have cut my friends list down from 278 to 149 persons. I find it to be a great relief and much less stressful to see only people I care about on my list.

If you still see me on your list, Congratulations! You're still in the running to be Southern Charms next Royal Consort.

And if you don't see me on your list anymore, Congratulations, you are rid of me! I hope you have a happy and fulfilling SecondLife.

If you wish to appeal the decision please send your written appeal in triplicate to
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543

The Tag Crisis

My sweet friend Butch seems to create and dissolve a fan-group in SecondLife every third month or so. Recently he created a more general fan-group that - hopefully - could encompass all his future ventures and/or clubs, Butch Diavolo | Info Group.

I was of course invited to join, as I am one of his biggest fans. All would have bee good and well, if it had not been for his unfortunate choice of group tags. Butch tagged himself as "The Weird One" and the rest of the group members as "Party Weirdo". Can you believe it? One would really have expected more of this otherwise pleasant, intelligent man with exquisite taste.

The situation was, as you can imagine, completely unacceptable and unsatisfactory for my station in life, so I started a rebellion in the group chat. Here is a slightly edited (mostly only shortened) extract of the group chat.

Bock McMillan: Party Weirdo, huh? I think a laird deserves a much classier tag than that! Pfffffffft
Aisha Ceawlin: LMAO
Harli (harliquin.taurus): I like party weirdo tag
Amanda269 Allen: I complained also
Aisha Ceawlin: I complained too
Bock McMillan: I feel so belittled - almost as if I was walking in the middle of a street at high-noon in only nappies
Amanda269 Allen: I mean....Party Weirdo??
TἶTἶ Lυςαѕ   (titianna.omizu): Fits us
Amanda269 Allen: Pfff
Amanda269 Allen: No comment
Harli (harliquin.taurus): I love the tag, wear it all the time  lol
TἶTἶ Lυςαѕ   (titianna.omizu): Could have been worse
Butch Diavolo: Hmm... the plebs are revolting?
Aisha Ceawlin: O.M.G. it speaks :P
Bock McMillan: Well, Harli, I am sure it could be suitable for some people - but after all I am a laird, mind you
Butch Diavolo: Y'all are weirdos, so the tag fits
Bock McMillan: Pffft if only I was tagged "The much Honored Weirdo" or something similar I would not complain
Harli (harliquin.taurus): A laird of x?
Butch Diavolo: In your case, that title is implied, Bock ;)
Bock McMillan: I am Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls and sovereign ruler of the Southern Enchantment region with all its outer territories etc., etc.
Kiri Dasmijn (kiri.cisse): The Outer Territories being the rest of SL?
Bock McMillan: Nahhh, Solace Island, Mount Whitney and a few more unknown places...
Butch Diavolo: SL and RL
Kiri Dasmijn (kiri.cisse): What about the Moon?
Bock McMillan: The supreme ruler of this group is trying to admonish me in IM
Spanki Moulliez: I've got a feeling Bock's title is not going to fit on the tag :P
TἶTἶ Lυςαѕ   (titianna.omizu): lol
Butch Diavolo: Since you cancelled the Kiss-a-Swede day, you will stay a party weirdo <--- admonishment="" i="">
Spanki Moulliez: Every day should be kiss a Swede day! perhaps that can be your title
Bock McMillan: The Moon is only a U.N. Protectorate in my realm, Kiri
Bock McMillan: That day is cancelled due to bad weather
Kiri Dasmijn (kiri.cisse): Yeah it's a protectorate til we run low on cheese, then it's every nation for itself.
Butch Diavolo: ( Lairdy Weirdo? )
Bock McMillan: The Right Honorable Weirdo would be sufficient even though I would feel common 
Butch Diavolo: That won't fit
Butch Diavolo: Or better yet... A Right Weirdo
Bock McMillan: The Honorable Weirdo then if it must be shortened

A few days later I got an offline message from The Weird One informing me that my tag had been changed.

I find the new tag satisfactory and appropriately respectful! Thank you so much for your responsiveness to my needs, Butch!

Feeling Tranquil

For some time I have been wondering how my life in SecondLife suddenly got so tranquil.

I have always detested the word "harmony" and the Pleasantville-ishness that I associate with it. To me it has always appeared like Potemkin villages, false scenery made to impress and cover up the truth. "Let us all just be friends forever and no matter what".

What happened or what did I change in my life? Previously I used to get involved in some drama or other on an almost daily basis, while I nowadays almost never get so totally pissed of as I once used to be.

Photographer Harry Gruyaert, Beach of the town of Fort Mahon. (1991) 

First I thought the reason could be that I was getting older, wiser and more jaded, but then I had a few fits over some silly things and I realized that was not it. 

The next thing I thought of was that my antidepressants were dulling my senses to such a degree that I became unmoved or insensitive, but that was not it either. Although it seems the medication have contracted the spectrum of my emotions somewhat by cutting off the highs and lows there is still enough range to allow variation. 

Then I thought of the people I associated with by choice, but they are basically the same crowd as before so that wasn't it either.

Finally I have reached the conclusion that my tranquillity had come to me when I dropped out of a certain group in SecondLife that I was a member of for a very long time. I left the group after an altercation with the group owner and with some regret at first, because I had met many of my best friends among my countrymen through it. However, the group had a lot of discord in it,.Backstabbings, whispers in instant messages and constant misunderstandings were rampant and lead to more or less a state of armed peace where every sentence was scrutinized and often taken out of context to cause havoc in the group. It was one of the best decisions I made to join the group, but it was an even better one to leave it when I did.

I do not miss it so much anymore, because the people who liked me still contact me and I contact the people I like with the added benefit that I do not have to deal with the haters and creators of discord. The people I do not choose are out of my life.

Saturday Night at The Sanctuary

My attention was directed to this event by a shout-out in The Sanctuary group that "The sexy DJ Butch is starting his set now!"

As you all must know by now I already know a Butch Diavolo, who sometimes is a DJ, so I wondered who this new DJ could be. I started inquiring in the group and it turned out that they were referring to the same Butch. Can you imagine?

Well, then of course I had to ask if Butch had made an extreme avatar makeover to achieve sexiness. This was not answered so I had to go there to check it out on my own.

The sexy DJ Butch with the sexy Shorty and the sexy DJ Feline on each side

I must admit Butch looked unusually hot and energized this evening, there was a glow around him like an aura of hotness which even I could pick up on.

I looked and listened with amazement at this man that I know fairly well and wondered what it could be. His secret prescription for attaining this degree of sexiness was soon revealed. Butch had problems with his equipment. Once in a while (every 15-20 minutes or so) it skipped a few seconds. We started calling him "DJ Sexy Technical Malfunction", or perhaps not "we" but I did.

Nevertheless, I must say his set was awesome tonight and I and everyone there thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Spanki Moulliez, myself and Butch in a shirtless dance

Butch was followed by another amazing and sexy DJ, Arcangelo "DJ Arc" Hellman. He tried to top Butch´s set but they ended neck-and-neck in my not-so-humble opinion. Two great DJ´s battling for our love and both won!

It is also good to once in a while get an eye-opener to the sexiness in those who are already oh so familiar to you. And although I have now admitted that Butch is in fact sexy, I hope you all agree with me that he has the possibility to double his appeal by starting to wear footwear. Bare feet are only sexy in bed or at the beach.

DJ Arc, surrounded by (from left to right) an unknown woman,
his girlfriend Primrose and the host Shorty

Sabotage at SP2012

Second Life - Group notice: Sabotage!!!!
Group Notice From: Second Pride Festival, Doc Spad

Yesterday, Saturday, late in the day someone managed to wreck most of the buildings in the Buenos Aires region of our Pride celebration. The vendor items were untouched...it was just the buildings. A crew of individuals did their best to uncover the shops for visitors to still see the vendor displays. During the day on Sunday various volunteers will get things put back together. so that others might enjoy that region for the remainder of Pride.

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This happened 7 hours ago while I was sleeping. It is - that I know of - not known who these griefers are and their reasons for this willfully destructive attack  People who have the urge to destroy and hurt others to get a thrill in life are sad and contemptible. 

Get Rid of Grey People

"I see grey people" is one of the most frequently heard statements in SecondLife. The expression means that the surrounding avatars are not loading properly in that persons viewer.

After close to five years in SecondLife I recently heard about the simplest trick to solve this common problem. I have spent over 4 years trying to solve this problem whenever it hits me with clearing the web cache, relogging and reloading Inventory or sometimes even rebooting my computer, when the problem could be fixed with a simple action. Can you believe it?

What you should do in this situation is simply change your group tag or switch to no group tag. Usually, this simple measure solves the grey people problem in less than 30 seconds.

(I am banging my head against the wall to try to remember who told me about this, but I just cannot recall who it was.)

Linden Lab Hears My Prayers

I read about it first on my friend Frostlands blog and then on The Second Life Blog (where P.J. Linden tells us about a lot of other interesting news and updates also).

My friends at Linden Lab have heard my prayers! Well everyone elses too, I guess, but I still choose to think of this as a personal favor to me from my friends at the lab.

We are getting 40 groups before the end of the year, yeaaaaaahawwww! OK, OK it´s just a trial and they may change it back but it will do for now...

Love ya right back Philip, P.J., Belinda and the rest of you Lindens!