Whole Brain Health with Dr. David Arguna

 

By Dancerina Starlight

What is Brain Health?

Brain health is the state of the brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioral and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the life course, regardless of the presence or absence of disorders.  For example, one of the most common disorders among millions is sleep deprivation. Yet, sleep is the most important thing you can do to reset the brain, allow it to heal, and to restore mental health," says Romie Mushtaq, MD, a neurologist and integrative medicine specialist.

Dr. David Arguna offers a weekly Question and Answer on the brain, using his 3-D facsimile of Brodmann's Brain to illustrate his answers. Participants prepare their questions, and he shares his knowledge as a research neurologist. This weekly educational session allows participants to continue their self-education in well-being.

Each week in Second Life, you can find Dr. Arguna encircled with knowledge seekers, expounding on matters of the brain, health, and wellness through query. 

Today, October 3, 2022, I followed Wisdomseeker's link to the discussion. Though I arrived for the last 25 minutes, I immediately followed the discussion and was intrigued to learn that categorically memories are either general knowledge" or "episodic/autobiographical."  General knowledge, also known as Semantic Memory, involves the recall of ideas, concepts, and facts commonly regarded as general knowledge. Episodic memory, on the other hand, involves the recollection of personal events or episodes in a person's life, such as birthdays.  According to Dr. Arguna it is conscious memory of a previous experience.

Dr. Arguna discussed there is "short-term" memory which is synonymous to immediate recall and working memory. Then there are stored memories, which comprise processes of converting an experience into a memory and a process for retrieving that memory.  Thus, as mentioned earlier, 'autobiographical memories' and general (saved) memories are categorized as either general knowledge" or "episodic/autobiographical" whereby general knowledge would be facts and language, episodic or autobiographical would be our experiences, the actual sensations we had at the time that got saved because these sensations/experience is "salient" and valuable.

When asked by one of the participants, Hannah, "Are the general and episodic memories stored in different parts of the brain or same location or do we know,?" Dr. Arguna stated that 'even the top memory researchers, like Larry Squire at Stanford, have not tackled that question but believes the distinction is clear.'  He stated, for example, that at an early age we were exposed to words, however, now we no longer remember the situation we were in when we first heard a given word.  He clarified that words become separated from sensations though he thinks his granddaughter remembers saying "No!" This is fascinating information which helps us to better understand who we are in Real Life and in Second Life.  It would be interesting to note how the brain functions in both phenomena because though we are avatars in Second Life, we are real people in the Real World with real brains.

As participants continued to show their interests and shared some of their autobiographical and/or episodic memories, Dr. Arguna continued to expound and clarify the difference between each participants' experiences and the associated concepts.  Primarily, he differentiated between thought and memory; discussing to be intentional about separating the two and avoid rationalizing, as thought is different from memory.  Memory is of visual and other sensations that occurred at the time. However, "feelings sometimes mean thoughts and sometimes mean the body sensations we had at the time" stated Dr. Arguna. We have to "reconstruct" when a memory happens, memory is not expandable. When asked by Wisdomseeker whether they were composite memories, Mr. Arguna explained that memories are not time stamped.

Why is it important to maintain brain health?

Brain health is a critical piece of our overall health. It underlies our ability to communicate, make decisions, problem-solve and live a productive and useful life. Because the brain controls so much of daily function, it is arguably the single most valuable organ in the human body. This is true whether we are in Real Life or Second Life.  For example, our behaviors in Second Life is a continuation of who we are, for the most part a healthy brain transcends into a fruitful and productive Second Life.

According to a well known doctor, there are “five pillars of brain health” that scientific evidence has shown to be “fundamental to promoting good cognitive function across the lifespan”; these are moving, discovering, relaxing, nourishing and connecting.

At Inspirational Island, you can find a composite of these pillars which will assist in improving brain health and wellness.

Today's session was deep diving and informative.  

Submitted By:
Dancerina OnPointe Starlight

Viewer Developer's Remarks on Resource-Intensive Avatars Sparks Debate

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last month, Hamlet Au interviewed Black Dragon developer NiranV Dean about what the viewer maker felt was an underdiscussed cause of lag: avatars that use of a lot of resources to process. While it's no secret that the more avatars in an area, the worse the lag can get, some of the more popular mesh avatars are more taxing than others. He went as far as to state they used up far more processing power than characters in computer games.

"Maitreya starts with 80,000-100,000 — only the base body. Belleza was something like 200,000+ last time I checked. Modern games use roughly 20-40k for an entire character. A few games use more, obviously, but 20-40k is standard today. So with 100-200k you can imagine how much more straining avatars are. And they are just bodies — [not counting]  clothes, no hair, nothing."

NiranV's solution, he felt, was for users to refuse to buy these polygon-heavy avatars, and to look for ones that have less. One example he gave was the Snokra Snake avatar, which used less then 28,000 polygons, which could be reduced to about 15,000, while "the Maitreya body without hands, feet and head has 125.000 triangles. Belleza has even more." Hamlet himself felt that on average makers of popular furry avatars had done a better job of making quality mesh avatars that didn't use massive ammounts of polygons than makers of popular human ones.

There was no shortage of comments, especially in response to the first article. Some readers stated that high quality/low impact human avatars did exist, including one made by a furry product designer. But not everyone was on board for looking for an alternative. There were comments that decent human avatars had to have all that complexity to look good. And one felt "the barn door is open and the horses are out," saying these high complexity models for better or worse had become the standard and not many would "willingly use what they perceive to be a frankly less-beautiful product." Cassie Middles had a video with tips on how to improve performance either when wearing one of the avatars in question or being around them.



Between the links, there are a lot of remarks in the comments, including a few insults when the debate got heated and a few Not Safe For Work pictures. There's much information and opinions, but what there isn't is a clear-cut solution that satisfies everyone.

Among my friends in Second Life, one is proud of her appearance, and if it uses up a few more resources fine with her. At one point, she complained about people "jellydolling" her and not voting for her in party contests because of it, though no comments about it lately. Others have also mentioned using Maiterya for their avatars. I've also talked a friend who commented his screen would lag like heck, until derendering one particular avatar, then his frame-rate per second would shoot up to 20 fps. One sim moderator told me she had to deal with complaints about one renter's horses which were getting the blame for the lag, when it was really high-detail avatars hanging around at the social spot.

What do you the readers think? Feel free to comment below (but no insults please).

Sources: New World Notes, Black Dragon Viewer, Cassie Middles

Bixyl Shuftan

Science Friday

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

When the Editor, Bixyl Shuftan, mentioned this destination, he did not have details, but it sounded like the perfect location for this reporter to explore. Bixyl explained that it was a group in Second Life that gets together on Fridays to listen to a NPR radio program, called "Science Friday" and discuss the topics that are covered in the two hour program. Science and Art have been my two greatest interests, throughout this life time. While I am, technically, an amateur, some of my theories could stand their own against those of the pros. When watching science videos, narrated by celebrity scientists, like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox and Bill Nye, I'll debate them in a heart beat. In a group debate, you'll find me sitting on the same side as Carl Sagan and Michio Kaku (my favorite). My top three theories include; What Dark Matter is and why we can't see it, The real story of the Big Bang and The True Shape of the Universe is a Big Donut. Recently, scientists have begun to confirm my donut, calling it a spherical torus.

Determined to find the group and location, we did several searches and found the group that hosts the event. The group's description stated that they conducted Friday meetings and that Second Life comments and questions would be linked to the live radio broadcast, but the location of these meetings was left out. To get the whole story, I joined the group and then opened group chat to ask for the LM. Within minutes, one of the members shared a LM. Armed with a time and place, there was only one question left, for this scientist to ask. What to wear??? Intuition hints that this event might favor coming in human form, so I selected my "Newser-Jade" outfit.  It turns out that, although most were human, we were joined by a cyborg, so it probably isn't important.

When Friday came, I was the first to arrive. in the center, there is a conference table, with a limited number of chairs and around the perimeter there are hanging basket chairs. As a newbie/observer, I selected a basket, with a good view of the room. As members arrived, I was invited to sit at the table. Each time that somebody sits at the table, it increases it's size and number of seats. One of the members, Beragon Betts, sent a friend request. Heavens YES, it's always good to have friends that out-rank us in the member's hierarchy and are more "in the know" than us. Beragon is friendly and helpful and has since come to visit Sunweaver Bay and Sunny Beach's Gathering Oak.

During the Science Friday event, I noticed there didn't seem to be communication between the group gathered and the radio program. I learned that, it had been so, in the past, until Linden Lab regulations stopped it. Linden Lab realized it shot itself in the foot, by ousting non-profit groups and reversed the rules. It may take time to heal, because schools are reluctant to return to teaching in a world that supports sex and vampires, over the acquisition of knowledge.

The radio program provided a number of topics, which we discussed in nearby chat. Some of the members were professional scientists and the group, as a whole, had an above average knowledge in science topics. The first topic was about research of gene editing to create bulls without horns and hey, we all like to talk a little bull, now and then. The second topic was about the continuing AI research needed to get computers to understand the spoken language. The sounds that carry our thoughts to others has always been of great interest to this writer. So much so that, I created my own True Type Font, called "DiJiFon," with a 40 letter phonetic alphabet, with each letter stored in only 8 bits, that can be displayed on any digital watch.

 

   Attending Science Friday is a great adventure, for it's friendly people and leading edge, on topic discussions. But Wait, there's MORE!!! It's all about Location, Location, Location.

 

   The Science Friday location is right in the midst of several science sims, including scale models of rockets, landers and satellites. I always get a thrill from the shift in perception of going from seeing it on paper to walking up to and going inside of the full scale model.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/162/56/22

   Hop in the cargo bay bed of this Texas size pick-up, because Houston: We are go for launch. Come, 4...3...2...1... your way to some fun and start next week-end  with a sub orbital journey to Science Friday.

 

"Sha" 

Editor's Note: Science Friday did have a presence in Second Life for a while, including the host having an avatar here and taking questions from residents. But in 2010 this came to an end, the cost of virtual land being stated as one of several reasons.

Press Release: "Down But Not Out" Discussion at The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island (Full)

We invite you to attend the symposium and tell your friends about it. In fact, bring them along, especially if they are skeptical about the value of virtual worlds.

See below for details about the presenters and their topics, and join us on the 18th of June as we explore latest approaches in the improvement of quality of life for people with mental illness.

SATURDAY June 18, 2016
Times listed are US Pacific Daylight Time/Second Life Time.

8:30am - Brain Mechanism Linking Stress and Illness, Dr. Vanja Duric
Significant research evidence suggests that psychological and physical stress is a powerful driving force behind both the etiology of and comorbidity between psychiatric and systemic disorders. This is supported by clinical observations that psychiatric symptoms and mental illness are commonly present in patients with chronic systemic diseases. Indeed, mood disorders such as depression are present in up to 50% of these patients, often resulting in impaired physical recovery and more complex treatment regimen. Here we will discuss the recent physiological evidence linking chronic stress and systemic illness, such as activation of the immune response system and release of common inflammatory mediators. Finally, discovery of new drug targets is needed for development of better treatments for stress-related psychiatric illnesses as well as improvement of mental health aspects of different systemic diseases.

Presenter Bio:
Dr. Duric is an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at the Des Moines University in Iowa (US) where he is doing neurobiology research on brain events that underlie pathophysiology and treatment of mental illnesses, especially major depressive disorder (MDD). His primary focus is investigating the relationship between the inhibition of a major cellular signaling pathway that is involved in neuronal survival and development of depression. Dr. Duric is also interested in brain mechanisms that link depression and other neurological or systemic illnesses, such as chronic pain.


10:00am - Understanding the Emotional Aspects of Multiple Sclerosis, Andrea Arzt
Although Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a physical disability, it can have emotional consequences.  Initially, a newly diagnosed individual goes through an emotional grieving process. As the disease progresses and nerve cells in the brain become demyelinated, the damage can cause emotional changes. Additionally, some MS medications can affect emotions. Treating the emotional aspects of MS is as important as dealing with the physical health issues.

Presenter Bio:
Andrea Arzt, LCSW is Associate Vice President of Clinical Programs and Direct Services for the New York City-Southern New York Chapter of the National MS Society (US). She has worked for over 25 years with individuals with chronic illness and disabilities and their families.  Her special interest has been in working with people living with neurological diseases and injuries, with a focus for the past 13 years on Multiple Sclerosis.  In her current position at the National MS Society, she works closely with health care professionals who treat people with MS, and with MS researchers. She provides trainings on MS and psychosocial and emotional issues for professionals and as well as for people living with MS, and she develops programs for families and caregivers.


11:30am - Hippocrates Wept: Psychologically Surviving Modern Medicine During A Health Crisis, Colleen Crary, M.A. (SL: Anya Ibor)
So, you have an illness, and you think modern medicine can help. Think again: Often, fixing one medical problem can cause, multiply, or magnify other health issues. The stress over facing one’s mortality, the financial burden of illness, and the psychological effects of some
medications can be overwhelming. Learn how to psychologically navigate a profit-driven, “patient last” health care system before and during a health crisis. Take control over your care per your unique physiology and psychology.

Presenter Bio:
Colleen Crary is Anya Ibor in Second Life. A PTSD expert and advocate, Colleen/Anya is a tireless champion for international mental health policy and common sense solutions. Founder and CEO of Fearless Nation PTSD Support, she promotes care for all PTSD sufferers, their families, friends, and clinicians, war veterans, law enforcement personnel, emergency response workers, those traumatized by sexual abuse, child abuse, torture, human trafficking, hostage events and crime, man-made and natural disasters, and physical, psychological, and verbal trauma.


1:00pm - The ABCs of DBT, Rienna Rieko
What is DBT? DBT stands for Dialectical Behavior Therapy. It was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan in the 1980's to help people who struggled with Borderline Personality Disorder. The therapy mixes Zen Buddhist ideologies with Cognitive Behavior Therapy. While it was designed for people with a very specific disorder, the skills DBT teaches, such as learning how to be more present in today using Mindfulness techniques, learning how to be more effective in the area of Interpersonal Effectiveness, learning how to end suffering by engaging in Radical Acceptance, Improving the Moment and how to Distract and Self Soothe when life isnt easy, are useful for anyone in any set of circumstances.

Presenter Bio:
Rienna Rieko has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and worked as a sober companion for a substance abuse treatment facility that specializes in Amino Acid protocols. In her time there, she used Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills with her clients and taught them how to put them into practice. She has used DBT in her own life for ten years and enjoys teaching the skills to everyone she knows because everyone can benefit from learning how to use them.


2:30pm - Faith & Health: Research, Clinical Applications, and Resources, Dr. Harold Koenig
Religion and spirituality play a role in coping with illness, loss and trauma. Dr. Koenig will review research on the relationships between religion, spirituality and mental health, with a focus on depression.  His research led to development of a proposed spiritually-oriented psychotherapy for the treatment of moral injury in veterans and active duty military with post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Dr. Koenig will also speak about research on religion/spirituality and physical health, with an emphasis on cardiovascular disease and overall mortality.  He will explain how religious involvement positively influences health in monotheistic religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).  He will explore applications to clinical practice, and describe his current study to integrate spirituality into patient care in outpatient physician practices.

Presenter Bio:
Dr. Koenig is Director, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center, Georgia, US. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Public Health, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, People’s Republic of China. Dr. Koenig has published extensively in the fields of mental health, geriatrics, and religion, and his research on religion, health and ethical issues in medicine has been featured in popular journalism. His latest book is Health and Well-being in Islamic Societies. Dr. Koenig has testified before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on the benefits of religion and spirituality on public health.


4:00pm - Mental Health Outreach in Second Life: Past, Present, and Future, Dr. Tammy Fletcher (SL: Avalon Birke)
We will look back on a decade of mental health resources in Second Life – where we have been, where we are now, and some goals for the future. What worked, what didn’t, and ways we can continue to offer quality, ethical support for SL residents.

Presenter Bio:
Tammy Fletcher is Avalon Birke in Second Life, founder of Wellness Island (2006-2011), Second Life’s first sim devoted entirely to mental health resources for residents. As one of the first practitioners to bring mental health resources into Second Life in 2006, Dr. Fletcher has worked to help SL residents become educated consumers, and to bridge to RL services when needed. She founded “Guiding Lights,” a formal program of instruction for peer counselors in Second Life, and established gridwide “SOS” kiosks for residents needing RL emergency referrals anywhere in the world. In her real life, Dr. Fletcher is an author, educator, advocate, and licensed psychotherapist. She maintains an active private practice, where she specializes in treating anxiety and depressive disorders from an integrative perspective. Dr. Fletcher has been featured twice in programs by SL machinimist Draxtor Despres, discussing mental health and advocacy in a virtual environment.


5:00pm - Poetic Reflections
This will be a welcome change of pace, a presentation of poetry written by talented individuals, exploring at the human aspect of living with mental illness.


6:00pm - Lifestyle Medicine and Supplementation for Mental Health and Psychiatric Disorders, Dr. Jerome Sarris

An examination of the use of nutraceutical supplements in mental health treatment.

Presenter Bio:
As an NHMRC Clinical Senior Research Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Sarris has a particular interest in anxiety and mood disorder research pertaining to complementary and lifestyle medicine, nutraceuticals, and integrative mental health. Author of numerous publications and recipient of significant research grants, Dr. Sarris advocates for an integrative approach to mental health through evidence-based use of lifestyle modification, psychological techniques, and both complementary and standard pharmacotherapy.


7:30pm - The National Disability Insurance Scheme - Supporting Australians Living With Mental Health Issues, Louse Dibbs and Lyn Ainsworth
Australia has made an extraordinary commitment to major social reform with the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme – Australia’s response to its commitment under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability. The associated reforms shift support from a welfare model to an entitlement or rights based model, and are designed to provide greater choice and control for people with disabilities, and better personal outcomes. However, the road to having mental illness recognised and well supported under the scheme has not been straightforward. After a period of discourse and advocacy during the trial site stage, people living with a Psychological or Psychiatric Diagnosis, as their primary disability, have been recognised as entitled to supports. This means that people with recurring, chronic or significant long term mental health issues have access to resources to develop holistic support plans that foster better long term personal outcomes. HWNS has been a lead provider in the NDIS launch site in the Hunter Region, NSW, Australia where we have supported more than 400 people to transition to the scheme. A significant number of these people have a Psychological or Psychiatric Diagnosis  as their primary or only disability.  We will present two case studies to demonstrate the enhanced possibilities and outcomes the NDIS is providing as a result of access to holistic planning and the implementation of individualised supports.

Presenter Bio:
About Louise Dibbs:
Louise has had a 15 year journey working in the community sector, commencing as a frontline worker, progressing to supervisory roles and finally most recently in senior management.  Louise also has several years experience in the corporate/business sector as a Human Resource professional which has embedded a strong customer experience ethos in her work. She has a Master of Arts in Psychology and is a certified trainer and assessor. In the past 3 years Louise has been working for House with No Steps in one of the key National Disability Insurance Schemes launch sites, in the Hunter region. Louise has worked with teams to transition approx. 400 participants to the Scheme. Louise's interests and work passions include Human Rights, organisational change, mentoring/coaching, developing individuals and teams, influencing and leading, and  designing systems. Outside of work, Louise enjoys anything active or travel related, with her husband and three teenage daughters.

About Lyn Ainsworth:
Ms Lyn Ainsworth, Head of Strategy, Excellence & Innovation at House with No Steps has 18 years executive management experience in the disability sector, including her current role with House with No Steps, one of Australia’s largest disability services non-government organisations. HWNS has been at the forefront of the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Australia’s response to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with a Disability, and extraordinary social reform. Lyn is a lawyer by background and has supported organisational transformation around Human Rights as well as having leadership responsibility for HWNS’ international accreditation with the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL).

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23

Antaris Gothly’s New Treehouse

By Grease Coakes

In Second Life a lot of the time you see music clubs that are all about music, but there’s also a ton of emotes covering up the sounds. Nothing wrong with clubs like those, but if you’re looking to hang out with friends in a more mellow setting, I think Antaris’s Treehouse might be what you are looking for at SkyBeam FirstLand (34/87/35). The first thing I noticed is the music stream is very mellow. It’s not hard dance beats like from Dance Island or from club culture, but more like a coffee house atmosphere which is Antaris is aiming for. Antaris and I know each other from real life, so doing this interview was a real treat.

Antaris Gothly had something before called the clubhouse with her friend Sakura. She described the general idea as this, "Originally, I was trying to resurrect something that Sakura and I did many years ago called, The Clubhouse. It was just a place to sit and relax. A place to hang out for all of our friends. A safe place to be who we are without judgement."

Antaris said for many years she was managing clubs and dj/s. She said she wanted to take her Second Life and real life in a new and authentic direction. So I asked what direction is she going now. Here’s what she had to say, "The direction I'm going with this place is a more modern bohemian style. Fantastical, old world charm with the combination of the artisanal coffeehouse culture. I wanted to not only make an place of artistic and mental expression, but a place that was safe and welcoming to all of its visitors. But there is also a lack of places where furries and non-furries alike are accepted and welcomed in tandem."

I agreed with Antaris that most places welcome furries outside of furry clubs, but not all. She was shocked when I told her a church wanted me to change to a human avatar, her saying, "Jesus was about acceptance and love of ALL beings, not to pick and choose." Antaris herself isn’t a subscriber of Christanity, she’s more into Wiccan beliefs as well as Buddism.

Antaris Gothly: "I wanted to not only make an place of artistic and mental expression, but a place that was safe and welcoming to all of its visitors." Like Gandhi, Antaris wanted to become the change she wanted to see in herself, "I've spent much time furred and un-furred. I've seen things on both sides of the coin, as well as from the lesbian point of view. I wanted, no, needed to be the change I wanted to see, as Ghandi stated many decades ago."

Antaris’s main event is every Tuesday night open to anyone who like to perform music a short story or poetry or maybe even magic, "Every Tuesday night at 5 pm SLE, or 8 pm EST, I host a 2 hour open mic night where anyone who wants to can go on up and tell a story (like you did Grease), read poetry, sing a song, play their instruments, dance, do some performing art, do spoken word, rap, do magic tricks, whatever they wish to share with us."

If possible, as the Treehouse grows in popularity, she might have more open mike nights. She’s looking for live bands and or also live performers. There’s an art gallery open to everyone including furries, humans, robots or otherwise. Antaris told me, "Well, it's not free. 23 L/week for 10 prims. But that's what I can afford to share at this time. That's why I want to expand that to its own parcel."

But also Antaris didn’t want people to forget her friend and helper. Sakura Rajal has helped a lot in creating her treehouse, "I'd also like to point out that my niece and one of my dearest friends Sakura Rajal, the owner and creator of WinterShadow boutique (Just down the hill) is crucial to the development and creation of The Bohemian Treehouse. She helps with the day to day management and design of the place. I couldn't do this without her."

I happened to say it’s the people that make a place great. And Antaris said, "Exactly. Otherwise it would be an empty tree. What's the point or fun in that?"

She had this to say about the depth and complexity of Second Life, "SL is a virtual world made up of pixels, however there is a level of creativity and expression in here that in many areas of the world is frowned upon, or so expensive or dangerous that one can't do much about it anyway. SL has become a medium of sorts for creative expression for EVERYONE of all ages, all nationalities, all genders, all sexual identities and orientations, no matter what they're into, to come in here and create! That blows me away."

I added to that by saying, "Oh yeah in reality you can have a house cat but you can't be a cat. And yet both of us are sitting here as a cat and a griffin defying the laws of reality."

Antaris Gothly: "Yes and loving every second."

And the Treehouse itself is decorated very well in pillows to sit and relax on. And yummy things to buy and eat. Even if you don’t want to perform you can still hang out here and talk with your friends. The ambiance is relaxing along with the chilled music. You can talk about the newest MLP episode or maybe about retro cartoons or just utter goofy nonsense.

Be sure to check out Antaris Gothly’s new treehouse with your friends when you want a change of pace from the music scene and you want to slow down and have some tea. Antaris would be glad you stopped by to hang out.

Grease Coakes

Antaris' Treehouse has it's own Facebook page, where it's called "The Bohemian Treehouse."

A Day in Second Life

By Grease Coakes

One day Xavier Thiebaud, one of the owners of the A-List, asked me to write out what I did in Second Life as a blog. Writing a blog constantly would be taxing over time. Xavier had a point though that people may be interested in what goes on in a furry’s doings on Second Life, especially one who hops between human and furry hangouts and activities.

So I figured I’d write about a Saturday where I had a few things lined up. For starters on a Saturday morning is brahma yoga class at 4 AM SLT which is 7 AM my time east coast time. The morning class on Saturday is the bajons or spiritual dancing with some meditation. I woke up on time and was frustrated that my Guru Pramiil Magne wasn’t online. 

Not that I can blame him he’s been busy with his job in real life. Despite that my fellow classmates and I decided to meditate without him. Aldaida said she liked my shirt with a picture of Watabou from dragon warrior monsters 1. She called it an alien, but it’s really a tree spirit from the video game. I was in meditation for a short while and I snapped out of it refreshed. I stuck around though and I wanted to prepare a notecard for a tailsale later in the day for IYC. 

I explained about tail sales in an earlier article. I talked with my friends after they got out of meditation for a bit. Celtic wanted to talk about things in her real life so I stopped and listened. When she logged off I warped to AX for a fave event I like to attend. I warped there and left my avatar there as I went afk to grab some breakfast.

After grabbing a bowl of cereal and a soda, no one is at AX yet. Do I look at my notices and DJ Starfall is playing at IYC. I warp over and I hear some awesome trance. Even at 5:30AM SL time, the dance floor is filled with various avatars shaking their tails. Not a lot of them are talking though, so I IM the DJ Ohni Starfall and say a lot of them are afk or in IM/s. He agrees with me. I let his trance relax me as I do my dailies for neopets. When it’s close to 6AM SL time,  I warp back to AX and see Dj Aurora Avila dance with one of her friends Jamaris Pawpaw.

DJ Aurora, in my opinion, is the queen of video game music as she plays a wide variety of video game remixes along with Asian music. She was the first person I reported on for the SL Newser when Bixyl hired me back in January last year. When anyone tips Aurora you’ll get a surprise if you haven’t been to her DJ sets before. DJ Aurora starts her set and suddenly I get an IM.

Spencer Mactire asks “Wait, were you just holding fire?”

I say, “Yes that’s my chat AO. I have lots of them."

Spencer says “That’s cool…” He also says hi to the readers when I tell him his comment is going in my article. I bring up a comment about Iron Man versus Samus Aran (the woman bounty hunter you play as from Metroid) Aurora has this to say as she’s a big fan of the Metroid series. 

[06:09] Aurora Avila: But I know Samus, and Lord knows that if she fights Iron Man, she'll be walking out with about half his modifications customized into her suit, and with a shiny new Repulser Beam. 

I think Tony Stark will have a bad day if he fights the Metroid hunter.

Listening to Aurora’s video game tunes, I decide to play Hubrid’s Hero heist. The worst game you can play in neopets if you want to earn neopoints as quickly as possible as a full game takes a ½ hour or so. It is fun to play in my opinion though, and I have a gold champion trophy in that game sitting on my neopets user lookup as greasy711. Sadly I play a lousy game. But it’s not all bad as I still hold the top score in rink runner of 534.

With expert mouse clicking while listening to Aurora’s music I do much better at rink runner. I asked a lady in a wild crux avatar named Sonicblue Dudek to slow dance with me. She says sure.

Over time the club fills up with various furries as I multitask chatting with people in the club and playing various neopets games earning neopoints. Fun is had by all while everyone hangs out listening to Aurora’s music.

At the end of Aurora’s DJ set I start playing Extreme Herder off neopets, and wanting faster music I warp over to Dance Island. When I started my Grease Coakes account I used to go Tj Icey’s a lot for the club music. Today it’s now Dance Island which features a bunch of DJ/s playing various genres. Dance Island is known for a lot of gestures but it doesn’t bother me as I’m used to Dance Island being an emote fest along with the music.

I click a dance a ball as I say hi to Deirdre Masala who hangs out a lot there. I jam to the trance being played by Bel Air and I start playing more Extreme Herder. My highest score in extreme herder was 353 today which is a good score but not high enough to reach the top scores. I see a notice at Book Island the sim dedicated to books and promoting your own literary works. The event is Jackson Arthur hosting a book discussion at 10am SLT. I leave Dance Island and wander around Book Island instead.

Using my mini map I find a bunch of green dots and hear a man’s voice over voice chat. So I join in and see a group of people sitting around a round table. Looking at Arthur’s top hat makes me think of Simon Linden. He’s one of the Lindens I met in SL and I found his teddy bear. He also asked about moles in SL and Olivia Whitsend answered that moles are a group in SL headed by the Lindens as a public works group.

Brokali, a blue alien, mentioned he was organizing 75 stories about food. Over voice chat he was geeking out about vegetables. He said that the definition of geeking was to be focused on a hobby or interest as their thing. I said jokingly then I geek out about neopets. Olivia said her kids also play neopets so I said my grey neopet will destroy their pets! Arthur said that doesn’t sound good and I joked no it doesn’t ha-ha!

I discussed my children’s book with the group and how I had to rework my book on lulu a few times to get it right. Also how I found an artist to draw for the cover as Arthur was saying he didn’t want to work with covers. A lot of the book discussion covered writing and ways to get published.

When the event was over I was invited to another book Island event, but I declined saying I wanted to go IYC for their tail sale event at 12noon SLT. The sim had to restart but I warped back with ease. A while later IYC got their tail sale under way as I warped through a ball to a waiting area. I joined a separate group IYC tail 4 sale when I was accepted to be sold as a tail for IYC.  

At 12 noon SLT things were still being sorted out as everyone waited for the first tail to go up for sale. The tail sale got a late start as Havok Muircastle wanted to grab more buyers into the sim and kick off the afk avatars. At 12:30 SL time they finally got the tail sale started as Havok spoke out the rules over Voice chat. One thing about tail sales it take a long time as each tail being sold is stretched out being bid on going once, twice, and then a third time.

Many furries ahead of me went for various amounts of Linden of 3k or so. A majority of the sales were offering art work or adult services like the article I wrote earlier on the AX tail sale. Atheu Blindside ahead of me was offering scripting and building weapons was bought by TeiTei for 2,500. I went up next and I can’t move! The sim screwed with my avatar so I could not sit on the podium to be sold. However amazingly, I had high bids and I was finally sold for 5k to Dragonheart. I warped to a sim on my picks then back and I IMed Dragonheart about what she wanted and she was interested in my writing ability. Then DragonHeart kept going and bid on KJ, a girl furry for her artistic ability, for 32,000L!

Jenny of the Sunweavers asked for a DJ for Club Cutlass, so I volunteered. Rita needed my DJ stream so I sent her the DJ information I bought from shoutcast. Then I checked my friends list and my Guru Pramiil Magne was online! Cool. I was excited that he was able to come online for class as I enjoy meditation class with him. I had an intense meditation but I quickly left class to set up my DJ stream with Rita and Jenni of the Sunweavers.

I played a good balance of disco/70’s/60’s and what I usually play for the Sunweavers crowd. I made a fair amount of tips as I played songs like "Hotel California" by the Eagles and "American Pie" by Don McLean. I played a few video game remixes and some House, but I also remembered the audience I was playing for and played disco etc. But the last song I played was a video game remix based upon the first Mega Man.

All in all it was a busy day for me as Grease Coakes in Second Life.  There’s many things to do and experience here on the Grid. Don’t limit yourself to one club or one thing. I guess that’s the moral of this article, if there is one, is just enjoy life and do what you enjoy.

Grease Coakes