Interview Time again :)))

In the third of our five part interview series, it's MY turn! ~ however ~ I add that Avion did the interviewing and took the picture!!
Enjoy!




1. What country do you live in?
Melbourne, Australia.


2. What is your role at VB?
Co-Owner with my partner, Avion... Admin Queen, bossy bitch and big sister.


3. What do you love most about VB and why?
 I love so many things it's hard to pin one thing down. I love the girls who make it what it is, and make it a better place to be.

4. What is your favorite weekly event, and why? 
I love the Friday morning 5am event - it's one I can come to around my RL, it's grown quickly into one of the highlights of the week at VBII, and each week it's themed...


5. If you could change something, what would it be?
The tier prices 'The SL tax' suck. I'd like to see lower pricing in line with what Open Sim offer, and a higher prim allowance. Unfortunately, I see neither happening, as it's not a viable option for Linden Labs


6. What annoys you most about SL (apart from the crashing?)
 What annoys me the most is its limitations. I want it to do more, it's not a game, it's a lifestyle that we choose to engage in.


7. What made you join SL in the first place?
 I heard about it on a TV doco -and decided to google it for myself.


8. Who is your best friend in SL, and why?
My bestest friend, confidant, lover, sl soulmate is Avion Luminos. We think alike, do alike, and without each other we have both admitted we'd be pretty lost.


9. What was your SL wow moment?
My SL wow moment was 1st December, 2007, I remember the date. I bought the original Venus Beach from its founders with another who also became its co-owner...I remember thinking...wow, is this for real? I actually OWN this place now! We quadrupled  the land area within a few months... :)

In the next interview, we interview Surfer, one of our Archangels and DJ...


Laura xo

Yeehaaa! Get your farmers outfits on gals!

Friday's party is gonna be in our corn field in our Venus Gardens Sim (follow the path behind the LP, and keep going!) $500L on the board for 'Best in Farmer's gear'...We're rezzing the wooden dance floor and crushing our beautiful corn paddock!.... it's a location we don't normally use for our parties, so come and join us, and take the time to discover the little known hidden gems that our sims offer :)
5am Friday, SLT... Don't miss out!


Laura and Avion

Gay Pride @ VBII

The other day saw our Gay Pride event at Venus Beach II. I wasn't there cos i had to work, but i'm told it was a great time!
The comp was "best in rainbow" (did i get that right?) lol. It was won by Surfer and Bev (joint winners!) Good on ya both!
Lets also say a big thank you to Avion, who spent ages making this dancefloor, (didn't it look great?!)
If you have any more pics other than below, please email them to me.
Coming up on Friday this week at 5am we have our "Farmers' Party! $500L on the board for the best in Farming Gear...so be sure not to miss that one!!!!

See you all at the beach!


Laura xx

Interview Time No.2 ~ Meet Bea!

1. What country and state do you live in for your RL?
I live in the USA, in Michigan. 


2. What is your role(s) at VBII?
I am an Archangel. I DJ here at the awesome Venus Beach II. I have been involved in some of the landscaping. I made the campfire close to the landing point, and Cuddle point, (with the campfire). I also did the area in Venus Gardens known as 'Bea's Beach'. 
I do the little 'event notice' that our community members get once a week, and also a more extensive newsletter for the management team. 
I do some event planning too, coming up with some of the themes for the Sunday events. If that where not enough, I kick out men who wander in (or anyone who acts like a jerk! - that doesn't happen often). I invite new members, and sort out stray prims etc..


3. What do you love most about VBII and why?
The people. I am convinced we have the nicest bunch of folks within Second Life.


4. What is your favourite weekly event, and why?
I love my Monday and Thursday parties. I enjoy the DJ'ing, and the whole casual "come as you are and have fun atmosphere ~ Just hang out"


5. If you could change something, what would it be?
That we get more than ten people at each event!

6. What annoys you most about Second Life?
The fact that Linden Lab (the makers of Second Life) do not seem to realise what a wonderful vehicle Second Life is for self exploration. 


7. What made you sign up for Second Life in the first place?
I simply read about it, I was curious. 


8. Who is your best friend in Second Life? ~ and why?
My partner, Beverly Hermit. She is smart, sweet, funny, loving and supportive. She has other virtues as well, but they can't be mentioned in a family publication!! :) 


9. What was your Second Life WOW moment? 
It was less than a moment than a gradual realisation of the true community and friendships that can be built here.

                                       
More interviews to follow in the next few weeks :)))


Laura xo

Thanks for all those who donated this week!

We all managed to raise $L5000 this week, which is a great result, thank you for everyone who donated, or who just came along to support the community with our fundraising week, all support of any kind is greatly appreciated. 
Last night we finished up with our cocktail party at our Ella's ballroom, we had a great night, (or morning, depending where you are!) and i think we all felt pretty posh in our cute outfits!! 
This week we're back to situation normal, with another full week of activities planned. Stay tuned to the blog for updates and gossip from the beach.
Sorry about the pic, it didn't come out too well, LOL, but you get the idea!

Alwayz, Laura, Avion, Surfer and Blake @ Ella's yesterday

Laura xx

Donation Update!

We've reached a great point! We've got to $2000L, which is about $20, I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's actually enough to provide an education for a girl in Sierra Leone for a month, so well done fellow friends!! Now lets try for $4000L by the end of the week :))

See you at one of our fundraising events!!


Laura xx

Have a read...this is why we're doing what we're doing this week...

In Africa, girls attend school for an average of only 2.82 years before they reach the age of 16.¹ That’s the least amount of time than anywhere else in the world.  Isn’t that figure alarming? We already know the benefits of girls’ education (reduction of poverty, improvement of  maternal health, greater economic growth, etc). So why is this figure so low? If we tried to identify one single reason, we would struggle. However, what we can tell you is that one reason of many is the barrier of costs associated with sending a girl to school.

In one of our previous posts, we explained that $240 will give a girl in Sierra Leone access to education. This amount covers the direct costs, like school fees and teacher’s salaries, as well as indirect costs like school books and uniforms. But in truth, there are a lot more costs for a family when sending their girl to school. These extra costs are the hidden costs or in development speak, the OPPORTUNITY COSTS.

Let’s explain that further.

In Sierra Leone, roughly 75% of the population live below the poverty line. Families in Sierra Leone neither have the resources nor the time to manage and cope with all the tasks of their daily lives. As a result, chores such as collecting water, cooking, cleaning and looking after the younger or sick siblings are allocated to the girls in the family.

Approximately 40 % of parents of out of school girls aged 10-18 cited the need for their work.²

When parents send their girls to school, there is a cost to the family with the loss of her work and services. There also may be a loss of family income when girls go to school instead of working at the market selling goods or beverages. These costs (and losses) are all OPPORTUNITY COSTS.

Girls are expected to work more than boys because parents believe there is a higher return from sending boys to school and the benefits from a girl’s education are harder and more distant to reach. It’s a cost versus benefit seesaw and in their eyes, unfortunately the opportunity costs (and other costs) outweigh the benefits.

Let’s take another example of an opportunity cost. Girls are more likely to be sexually harassed or subject to violence on their way to school, if it is far from or not in their village. It may not be safe for the girls to walk to school alone and as a result parents may need to pay for transportation or even more costly, walk them to school themselves. There is a loss of time in labour for both the child and parent which means ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY COST.

So how can we overcome this giant hurdle of opportunity costs?

We’d like to say it is easy and that we can address all these costs with a click of a finger, however the underlying causes of these costs are complex and come from years and years of inequality between men and women. BUT it’s not all doom and gloom.

Tiki Tooesday ~ One Girl event!

It's Tooesday, and it's Tiki Tooesday with a difference.  Come down and celebrate with us as we raise  money for a great cause, our chosen charity ONE GIRL. (www.onegirl.org.au) DJ Avion will be spinning  the tunes, and the old faithful tiki bar will be open for business.  Topless is the attire, but nude or clothed  suits us fine!!!...Newbies or oldies welcome!! :)) See ya there! Laura xx Check out the One Girl Website

One Girl Donation Update!

So far we're up to 14% of what we're after for the week, or about $L4000. We're tying to raise about $40US for the week (about $L10,000) so keep on donating ladies! Please give generously, for what is a very valuable cause.. I'll be posting some of their blog later, so look back soon! Enjoy the events, and see you soon :)

I didn't attend the schoolgirl party, cos I was at school, teaching!, for real!...

So here's a pic of Avion and I in school uniform, and I'll be staying in it *all week* shock horror!..

Sorry about the pose, Avion seems to have lost her book!

Enjoy the week, and keep donating!!

Laura xx

Interview Time

Bea thought it would be a good idea to put some interviews up on the blog, so I thought, what the heck! why not?!
The first one i did was with my partner in crime, the wonderful Avion... 
Read on...

                         Laura and Avion (right) relaxing at the Venus Gardens Sim

When we did this interview, we where dancing somewhere far away from VBII, and Avion had to think carefully about each answer (lol)... Took us quite a bit of time by the time we got our act together! Therefore, I couldn't be bothered with ten questions!!! 

1. What country do you live in?

New South Wales, Australia.

2. What is your role at VB?

Co-owner, builder, DJ and event attendee..

3. What do you love most about VB and why?

The people, I have made some really great friends. VBII has been by both me and my partner, Laura

4. What is your favorite weekly event, and why? Usually Sunday evening, because we have a variety of events in different settings and costumes

5.If you could change somehting, what would it be?
Upgrade to a full sim, so that prim issues would be a thing of the past

6. what annoys you most about sl (apart from the crashing?)
 The lag, I suppose, I've sometimes gone lag-walking (or flying) for ages before either flicking back to my start point, or more usually crashing Standing in front of vendor boards, waiting for something to rez also annoys me....grrrrr!


7. what made you join sl in the first place??
 My ISP was promoting SL, offering unmetered download, so I joined to find out what it was all about. Curiosity, in a word

8. who is your best friend in sl, and why?
My partner and my love, Laura. We think so much the same way that we never have disagreements, and we're able to get things done easily.


The next interview will feature our Archangel and DJ, Bea...

Get excited girls!

Our "One Girl" event kicks off the SATURDAY NIGHT on the beach with a Schoolgirl party!! Come on down and celebrate an awesome week of celebration and fund-raising for a great  cause... A few weeks back I posted a video on it, so in case you missed it, here it is again... Watch it and be moved, and see what it's all about, come support us from this weekend onward..

Laura xx

Events Set for our One Girl fundraiser!!

We're getting excited here at Venus Beach II! We've finally sat down and had a yarn about what we're gonna do for our fundraiser..Hopefully we'll have a top week, and earn some money for a great cause. During this week i'll be blogging some more about that charity, and why we've chosen to do this.
The week is going to look like this (at this stage!)


Sunday:  Schoolgirl Party on the beach - come dressed in your best schoolgirl outfit!
Monday: Egyptian Night - come dressed in your Egyptian outfit, Avion has a great set for this one!
Tuesday: Tiki Tooesday special: Best in sexy swimwear
Thursday: Hawaiian Party
Thursday: Best in sexy animal prints
and finally we'll ed on Friday with a formal ball in Ella's


During this week we'll have a fundrasing gauge up, and we ask you to donate as much as you can for the cause. We will have money on the board for this week...


more to follow...




L xx

VBII FUNDRASIER - STARTS SUNDAY 17 JUNE!

So, you've read about, you've seen the poster at the LP - well soon, actually on Sunday, 17 June, our One Girl (www.onegirl.org.au) fundraiser starts!

In the next few days I'll post some info about the charity we're gonna be supporting, but if your keen, check out the website first.

VBII will be putting it's heart and soul into this event for the week, raising money for girls who live in Sierra Leone to get an education..

Sunday will be a 'Schoolgirl party' (come in your fave schoolgirl outfit)No prizes for this week - all donations are for the One Girl charity. All over events will be skewed toward the event, and we'll have a donation gauge up to see how much we're raising.

Check the blog, and the beach LP for info on the special events for that week...be part of it.

See ya there

Laura xx

Legally Blonde Event Wrap

Did you miss out on our Legally Blonde event??? Well! Here are some pics! We all came in our girly best.. and I put on some blonde hair for the first time in many years, and I think it will be the last! I couldn't wait to rip it off after haha!
Yes, the surrounds  are in Venus Beach II !!!. We held our event in the new castle ball room, which we hope to hold many more events in. 
The castle is free to explore at any time, so feel free to have a little explore, surprises around each corner!!
See ya soon!
Laura xx