Guerilla Burlesque presents ... TIME (April 21 at 7pm )

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Guerilla Burlesque and Guardian Spirit team up to raise funds and awareness

Guardian Spirit is a registered charity in the state of Montana, formed to raise funds to establish, maintain and staff a simulated environment in Second Life. Guardian Spirit aims to provide a safe environment in which high-functioning Autistics can learn valuable life skills and be part of a supportive community.

I believe in this endeavour. I am personally supportive of any venture that makes use of the immersive nature of virtual worlds to facilitate greater self-awareness. That is what I, personally, have gained from Second Life, and I see daily examples of ways other people use the medium to teach and to learn. It's no stretch for me to see how autistic residents could use the medium to learn life and social skills, in addition to gaining access to good quality support services, and that is the endeavour Marcus Morris and Guardian Spirit are proposing.

This Saturday night, Guerilla Burlesque will perform a special event, one-off show in support of Guardian Spirit, who will simultaneously hold a first-life event to raise funds and awareness. The show, under the direction of Curti5 Rexen, will feature some of your most-loved performers in a themed program full of dazzling effects and clever routines. Please set aside time to join us from 7pm on Saturday night for this wonderful cause.

You can see footage of the Guardian Spirit sim here, and read Marcus Morris' interview with his local newspaper, The Billings Gazette.

chry's thank you for the Benefit for Jordan

So I need to do a great big speechify thing. I have some thank-yous to attend to (headsup - it's a looooonggggg one):

LizAday Solo was the first to come to me and say "we need to do something"; hot on her heels was G.Bevin, and while I was worrying about compromising Jordan's dignity, it was G who rang her and said "would this help?". Without them, the Benefit For Jordan Reyne would not have happened, and as most of you now know, it was an outstanding success, and will make a real difference to Jordan's current, fairly dire, circumstances.

G also ran up the webpage, with the buttons to make purchases and donate directly. We wanted people who could help to do so in a way that was immediate, and that bypassed the handling of people in the middle. For those who would donate in world, we wanted something simple and transparent, so that you could all see that the money went where we said it would go, as soon as possible after you donated it. Hence "Rogue Fretwerk" now outed as my alt :-)

I'm going to post the thanks to the next entity as his avatar, though I would be overjoyed if people in his real life know how kind and thorough he is. Dragonfly Live brought in several performers. I was schooled hard last time I did a charity event about asking people to perform for donations, and didn't want to do it this time. I asked in the most general way possible for people who wanted to give their time and ebergy, and I want to thank Mel Cheeky, Pol Arida, Russell Eponym, G, Liz, and Loreen Aldrin for their immediate generosity and response. But Joel (Dragonfly), filled out the rest of the bill with really talented, generous musicians who joined with the others to make the event not just successful, but a joy to participate in. I'd be thrilled to death to have attended that concert in real life, it was as good as any festival you can imagine (okay, maybe not soundwave, but horses for courses lol).

I need to thank, individually, and specifically, Russell Eponym, Mel Cheeky, Marvin, Pol Arida, Brendan Shoreland, Lisa Brune, Rara Destiny, Dragonfly, Loreen Aldrim, PT Beardmore, Lyrica Acoustic and LizAday Solo for their thoughtful compassion and their professional courtesy. Some of those people are not on facebook, or are not on my facebook (lookin' at YOU Russell Eponym), so if you know them please let them know how immensely grateful I am. Whether or not you know them, please support them, go to their gigs and tell your friends about them - they deserve it, they rock.

Important to thank is Thea Dee and the army of host-assistants she brought to the fray, ready and schooled for war lol. You guys made it fun and charming, I loved working with you. Thanks also to Cricket Palianta for shouldering the load in her super-heroine way - you don't know how important a break is til you haven't had one for seven hours! This event not only had the best musicians on the grid, but the best hosts, and it showed. I was so proud to be amongst you.

Last but never ever least, big love to my personal wailing wall, Lingual Markus, who never lets me down, and Shippy Creations who always builds me up, as well as the Guerilla Burlesque team and the mighty Idle Rogue. You guys are the net, and I'd be splattered guts without you.

Thank you all, on my behalf, and on behalf of Jordan, who will, I am sure, thank you herself when she is able to get decent access to you all. It's estimated we raised over 900 pounds - I draw the line at learning english money, I think it's enough that I master six clocks without lasting damage. This is a lot of money, though probably not if you have to pay a rental bond and rent in advance with it. We made a difference, and we showed Jordan how well she is loved across the globe. Congratulations, and again, always, and with more than a little astonishment - thank you.

The Benefit for Jordan Reyne

You can donate directly, or purchase albums at http://idlerogue.org/jordan/ ... but you'd be missing, potentially, the concert of the year

Friends of Jordan Reyne are gathering in Second Life this Saturday, April 7, to raise funds to help Jordan get back on her feet.

Due to a series of unpredictable personal disasters, the things Jordan had been able to count on as part of a stable and nourishing life broke down, with the eventual result that, this very week, Jordan is homeless, without income, and has suffered losses to her personal belongings and equipment. And when we watched her put her beloved dog into foster care, some people thought: enough was enough. Those people, generous musicians and friends who have grown to love Jordan, decided to offer what they could - the proceeds from their work. To help.

A look at the lineup will show you that this concert will feature some of the very best live performers in Second Life. From the dynamic thumper Pol Arida to the cutting-edge alt maestro Dragonfly, to glam rocketeer LizAday Solo, every act is an outstanding example from our thriving live music industry.

What we need now is you. You and all your friends. Bring a few bucks along to the Benefit for JordanReyne at Idle Rogue in Second Life. It is the single best live music event you will see in Second Life this year. It will be a fun show, built out of love, as the best ones always are.

All donations will be collected and paid to Jordan via her Second Life account. You can also donate to her directly, via Paypal (jordanreyne@gmail.com), or purchase her albums to contribute. Use the link below to access the Benefit's home page.

Throughout my time working with Jordan Reyne, I have come to know that her particular gift is to shine a light on a dark place, and show us that everything will be okay - that it's okay to yell, and it's okay to howl, and it's okay to curse. That there's darkness everywhere, but you're okay if you can look it in the eye.

It's our turn. Jordan needs some light. Tag, you're it.

Guerilla Burlesque to work with Guardian Spirit to raise funds for Autism Training sim

April 2 is Autism Awareness Day, and today seems like a good day to announce our upcoming fundraiser show on April 21st.

We have been approached by Marcus Morris, the founder of Guardian Spirit, to assist with raising funds for the sim he runs using the Second Life Platform. Marcus, himself on the autism spectrum, has established a sim and has effective plans to develop it as a virtual training facility for autistic clients. It is envisaged that the Guardian Spirit facility will assist with:

• Effective training of social and employment skillsDeveloping pride, self-confidence and self-esteem in our autistic clients
• Easy, fun and affordable virtual training and counseling
• Precision employment training and placement
• Real world growth for the autistic client through a virtual setting

Marcus believes that the Second Life platform and the virtual environment are extremely valuable tools for this kind of teaching, and we agree.

Guardian Spirit is a registered Non-Profit organisation. Because of the many  and varied ways avatars are asked to support charities in Second Life, Marcus went to some lengths to provide evidence of Guardian Spirit's first life presence and non-profit status. We know you want to know that the money you donate will in fact reach it's target. Those wishing to pursue verification should IM chryblnd Scribe inworld in the first instance.

The Guerilla Burlesque troupe is very supportive of Autism awareness, and they are all keen to present a fun show to a new audience - this event will be held at 6pm SLT, and not our usual midnight timeslot. We hope fans will be excited to invite their friends who cannot stay up late enough to see the weekly show. Curti5 Rexen is overseeing the production of this event, and we plan to release more information on just what the event will feature over the coming weeks. What you can be sure of is a vibrant, dynamic and quality production from a team who does just that every week.

Save the date and join us for a fun night with a heart of gold. Saturday, April 21st from 6pm at Idle Rogue.