PARTY FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Good friend of our blog, Eddi Haskell is putting together a big event THIS WEEKEND to help combat gay bullying with the IT GETS BETTER people.

Come show your support and have a lot of fun dancing and meeting some great new people.

All the detail is after the break.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011

This Weekend- Be a Warrior for Jamey. And help stop the bullying epidemic that is killing at-risk teens.
by Eddi Haskell

This Message Comes From DJ Jared Palianta.  I plan to be at the event this weekend and will be a Warrior for Jamey. Please come and show your support. 


Eddi Haskell

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Dear Fellow Second Life Resident:


I am writing to you about something that has been of great concern for me -- the epidemic of teen suicides due to bullying, most notably including their peers in schools. Gay teens are a particularly vulnerable target. And they need your help.  And I am sorry to tell you that yesterday, news of another gay teen suicide in Ottawa Canada, Jamie Hubley, was announced.

Jamey Rodemeyer 

Troubled gay teens like Jamie Hubley and Jamey Rodemeyer, above, who ended his life on September 17 after making an "It Gets Better" video", are increasingly taking their own lives in response to having nowhere to turn. This is an epidemic that is getting out of control and must be confronted and stopped.

We look at these beautiful boys and girls and see a life waiting to be lived. Many of us cannot imagine the horror and despair that must be going on through their minds. What is happening?  For one thing, social media, most notably Facebook, is opening another venue of bullying and exposing all sorts of personal information to the outside world. For another, gay teenagers are "coming out" now at far younger ages than they did in prior generations, at a time when they are most vulnerable. And for every teenager who commits suicide, a much larger number are contemplating the same.

This weekend, the residents of Second Life will have their chance to do something about this. Tadd's Cabaret, together with Second Prideand other clubs and organizations,  will be hosting "Be a Warrior for Jamey Weekend" on Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23.

Tadd's Cabaret - venue for the event

This event will celebrate Jamey's life and the lives of other teens, many of whose deaths are not being recorded as suicides due to the associated stigma. It will also let troubled teens in Second Life know that they have somewhere to turn if they have are confronted by bullying. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and Second Lifers can show their support for initiative by attending this event.


Please plan on coming to this event and help save a life. Please contact me directly if you would like to help build awareness for this event.

I will be hosting the first night of the event on Saturday, and six of Second Life's best DJ's will be playing at a six-hour event on Sunday.

Thank you so much for reading this post. And I hope to see you at Tadd's this weekend.

Sincerely,

Jared Palianta

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Be a Warrior for Jamey Weekend Schedule

Location: Tadd's Cabaret and Dance Club
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Saturday, October 22
7-9 PM SL Time

DJ Jared Presents Be a Warrior!
with Jamey's Warriors
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Sunday, October 23
3-9 PM SL Time

6 Top DJ's:

InysX Piranha 3-4 PM

Loki Kahanamoku 4-5 PM

Queen Edman 5-6 PM

Johny Alderton 6-7 PM

TinaMaire Beck 7-8 PM

Jared Palianta 8-9 PM

SLURL to Tadd's:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Castro%20Beach/129/127/23/

SAVE KIRSTEN'S VIEWER!

Kirsten's Viewer is the most beloved viewer by those of us that film or do photographs on Second Life.
Many of us who've depended on it were sad to hear that because family issues, the maker of Kirsten's is going to have to give it up. And us too.

However, the brilliant Second Life blogger Hamlet Au has come up with a smart solution. If the 8500 users of Kirsten's all donated $6, it would solve the family issue and Kirsten's would live.

PLEASE NOTE: The maker of Kirsten's has NOT suggested this. It was Hamlet Au who did.
But I think it's a really good cause.

What do you in our community think about holding a fundraiser for Kirsten's Viewer? Any suggestions?

And please read Hamlet's piece below to get all the details. Just click READ MORE below.

Kirstens' Viewer Development Could Continue - If Kirstens' 8500 Users Donated $6 Each!

Development on Kirsten's Viewer has currently been suspended, as I reported last week, but I recently learned that the developer of the popular and innovative third partySL viewer is more than willing to continue working on it. Coder Lee Quick (Kirstenlee Cinquetti in SL) had to suspend development only because his partner Dawny Daviau has health issues, and Lee needs to find full-time work to support her. However, Ms. Daviau told me after I asked, Lee could return to viewer development, if they received enough donations to cover their income shortfall:

"Lee only stops with developing to search for work and income," she tells me, "so if suddenly money comes along in donations etc. for 1 year... he would continue working on the viewer." She estimates USD $50,000 a year is sufficient. Though for the amount of high end code work he does for so many people, I personally think he can and should get twice that.

Because here's the thing: Kirstens' Viewer is used by about 8500 people. (That's the number of downloads the latest build got, Dawny tells me.) If each of those Kirstens Viewer users donated an average of $6, that would be more than enough to put Kirstens' Viewer back in business.

Let me stress that I'm the one suggesting this, not Dawny or Lee. "We don't want to beg," she tells me. "And to be honest, I would have no clue where to start and have no insight on how to proceed."

So what's the next step? I suggested to Dawny that they consider submitting Kirstens' Viewer as a Kickstarter entry, something they're looking into. But if you're one of the thousands who've come to admire and rely on the viewer for your SL activity and content creation, keep in mind there's a way to keep it going. For now, maybe go to the Kirsten site here, and register your moral support now, then hopefully follow with real dollar support.

Jennnnna Attends Benefit; 100,000 Linden Raised for Homeless

The always busy Eddi Haskell threw a huge charity event this Friday. He should be very proud. His WHITE PARTY event was not only great fun, but it raised over 100,000 Lindens for real life homeless people. You have a big heart Eddi. Congrats!