happy anniversary bay city!

Bay City Second Anniversary Celebration!


happy anniversary bay city!, originally uploaded by rafeejewell.

Pure fun at the Bay City Second Anniversary Celebration was visible by the avatars participating and their costumes.









A parade of characters and cool vehicles arrived at the Bay City Fairground for the celebration.









A radio stream started the celebration and then live musicians took over starting with Christov Kohnke, guitarist and singer who sang mostly covers.









Then later, Edward Kyomoon, another guitarist, singer from Washington started his set with original tunes.









Bay City Alliance is the oldest and largest group in Bay City with approximately 200+ members. The community is well connected with a fun sense of humor and seems to welcome all!

Note: Thank you to the Bay City community for their wonderful celebration! (I heard that there was a beautiful home still for sale on the river there! What a wonderful place for an SL'er to live!)


Photos were difficult to take due to the large amount of avatars participating on the sim. Last count was approximately 56+. Apologies for the gray goo pics!

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Viewer 2.0 - I Got an Opinion!

I just read all the posts about the recent Second Life viewer 2.0. Log into the website and search for "Recommend Abandoning Viewer 2.0." When you click on the link here, it will take you to the middle of the comments... ya gotta scroll up to read all of it... if you have time. It's a worthy read.

One of the reasons I don't comment there is because I am a corporate avi. And, I figure no one will hear my opinions because of that. Blah blah says the corporate avatar who only thinks of the bottom line and business... so no one will pay heed or even allow me to have an opinion.



But, I do have a perspective that might be different from the old guard, newbies or even Linden Labs. I have been a cheerleader for the lab ever since I got here. I shared the same dream and vision of the grid as many of you. I really believed in the utopian concept of sharing, creating and making this a new frontier for our internet future. A digital world where we can have a secondary life while managing our real lives in here using banking, purchasing, researching educational needs, implementing concepts frugally and socializing with some of the most sophisticated, artful, technological minds in the world.



I really believed and I still believe this. Though things have changed mostly because of economic downturns around the world, LL has been inundated with the real life BS of corporate reality; ie., lawsuits, con artists, technological hurdles, social communities of various interests, and a pervasive attitude of me-ism.

I am a builder here (not top notch, but I like building very much). I spend most of my time building and hanging out at clubs and live music events. And every chance I get, I am exploring and posting blogs about my experiences in Second Life.

The comments that I read today is worrisome. I just loaded viewer 2.0 for my alt. She is a building alt to help me practice in-world because my main avatar, RAFTWET Jewell is so busy with IMs, chat, and blogging that it has become impossible to build as her. So my alt has loaded 2.0 and is practicing with it on another computer.

My first reaction was, "OMG! my desktop shrunk." The menu tabs on the right bolt out in a very large format decreasing your view by nearly half. And, I didn't like the movement keys below that are very large and seem to be in the way when you use them. The other thing I didn't like is that the system seems to be illogical and not very intuitive. It took me 30 minutes to figure out how to make a "pick" in my profile. I even asked a senior associate at the Fermi sandbox and she didn't know! I had to Google a search for "how to make a profile pick in viewer 2.0" to find the answer.

More clicks are necessary to accomplish what I used to do while building. And, for me, that is a problem, because I am showing signs of carpal tunnel and it made my wrist and thumb ache after a session. I never did find out how to see if someone has pushed, bumped or griefed me. (If you find it, please IM me and tell me where it is?)

With that said, I think the new viewer is more user friendly for a brand new avatar coming into Second Life for the first time. I do like that I can close all the windows and have a clear desktop for when I am exploring or building. But, I have to use more clicks to do that.

As with everything, I know this is a major attempt to make things better. I don't want to sound like a major complainer because I do welcome change. When I first got here, the GUI seemed daunting and not user friendly at all for a non-technical person like myself. And, I learned through trial and error and through the good graces of this sharing community.

With the new viewer, I hope I will keep an open mind and learn this new system. I want to believe that LL will listen to our criticisms and suggestions with an open heart and mind. The techies out there need to get on the blog and make your comments and suggestions, because we all need your input! If you don't see me in SL for a while, it's because I'm practicing as my alt with the new viewer... I will learn it. Just like I learned the old version.

JAPAN RESORT is my ...

Japan Resort is my home away from home. It's been three years since I found this little island on the Second Life grid. I still remember how I found it...

The first week of my SL experience, I spent time doing searches for my favorite subjects and places. Of course, I looked for anything Japanese or asian related. Japan Resort was at the top of the searches, so I tp'ed into the sim.



A vast expanse of beach with a small sign proclaiming "Japan Resort" rezzed in front of me. Next to the rezz area was a little ice cream stand with a simple chair. A bunch of avatars were just standing around there chatting. Some were dressed as fierce cyber warriors or dragons or creatures. Most were in regular clothes like me.

Off in the distance, I could see a tiki bar, hammocks and rafts near the beach side. And, a lifeguard station with surf boards and wind surfers were nearby. As I walked along the beach, I saw a pink cherry blossom tree with a pool and spa across the way. Many avatars were sitting in the pool and chatting away with each other. The event area is always a party zone with people stopping in for a dance or just to meet others.

I met my best friend here at Japan Resort. And, I also met my first love here. I have met so many people at Japan Resort that I could possibly say that my closest and dearest relationships were all formed here.

JR is a simple place without the fanfare of much of the grid. But, the place is more complex that any other... why? Because it is a place of real relationships and real people... a gathering place of international people reaching out for fun and human contact.

Thank you Japan Resort for all these years of fun!