It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in voice, brought to Second Life and Kitely by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library.
As always, all times SLT / PDT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island, or at their Kitely Homeworld.
Sunday, March 1st
11:00: Seanchai Kitely: Bard: The Odyssey of the the Irish
Caledonia Skytower reads selections from Morgan Llywelyn’s 1984 historical fantasy novel depicting a hypothetical 4th century migration of Galicians to Ireland, led by Amergin the bard.
13:30: Seanchai SL: Tea Time at Baker Street
Caledonia, Kaydon OConnell and Corwyn Allen reconvene at the rooms of 221B Baker Street to this week read the story of The Five Orange Pips, which first appeared in The Strand Magazine in November 1891.
In 1887, John Openshaw, a young gentleman brings to Holmes and Watson a strange tale concerning his uncle, Elias Openshaw and his father, Joseph Openshaw, which goes back several years.
Having lived as a plantation owner in Florida and then served on the side of the Confederate States during the American Civil War, Elias Openshaw had returned to England and settled at an estate in Sussex.
After a few years, he invited his unmarried nephew to join him, offering him the run of the estate with the exception of one locked room, in which Openshaw the elder kept his travelling trunks. Other than this, there is nothing really out of the ordinary.
Until, in 1883, a strange letter containing five orange pips arrives. It sends Elias Openshaw in a frenzied downwards spiral of increasingly erratic behaviour, until he is found dead in the garden pond, having apparently drowned after a drunken fall. Then, a year later, having inherited Elias’ estate, John’s father, Joseph, receives an identical letter. Five days later, he is found dead, apparently the victim of a fall into a local quarry while visiting a friend.
And now, in September 1887, John Openshaw himself has received a letter, again containing five orange pips, and has turned to Holmes for help….
18:00: Magicland Park SL: Leprechauns, Witches & Gold, OH MY!
With Caledonia Skytower.
Monday, March 2nd
06:00: The Emerald Atlas
Cata Charisma continues his reading of John Stephens’ The emerald Atlas, the first volume in his fantasy trilogy for young adults, The Books of Beginning.
Having been passed from pillar to post through orphanages, three siblings, Kate, Emma, and Michael, find themselves lodged at the home of one Dr. Stanislaus Pym. Kate, the eldest of the three is driven by a promise made by her mother, that if Kate protects her younger sister and brother, then their family will be one day reunited.
But in their explorations of Dr. Pym’s house the three of them find their way into the basement, where they come across a mysterious door and a equally mysterious emerald-covered booth, entirely without text. When an old photograph touches the blank pages of the book, however, the three are immediately transported to the time and place depicted in the photograph. Her they find themselves in a realm populated by witches, henchmen, giants, dwarves and more – and one Dr. Stanislaus Pym, a good deal younger than when they last saw him in his house…
19:00: Starswarm
Starswarm Station is a remote research station established to study strange alien life. The planet on which it is located is the home of the starswarm, intelligent plants living under the planet’s shallow lakes and seas, and roaming bands of centaur-like creatures dubbed “haters”.
The station is also home to Kip, a teenage boy living under the guardianship of his “uncle”. However, as Kip begins to discover, he has another guardian: Gwen, an AI system his mother had been working on, prior to her death, and which communicates with Kip via a small implant placed inside his brain at birth.
Gwen knows far more about the planet and the lifeforms it harbours than Kip could imagine. It also knows a lot about the company that runs the station and, for all intents and purposes, “owns” the planet on which it sits.
Slowly, Gwen reveals these various truths to Kip, including his own destiny. But in doing so, it puts Kip, and potentially the entire station, at risk.
Join Gyro Muggins as he commences a reading of Jerry Pournelle’s 1998 novel intended for teenage readers but which offers an interesting look at subjects such as neural nets and living computer systems.
Tuesday March 3rd, 19:00: Ireland: More from the Land of Poets
With Caledonia Skytower and Kayden OConnell.
Wednesday March 4th, 19:00: The Quiet Man
Released in 1952, John Ford’s The Quiet Man is regarded as a classic Irish-American romantic comedy / drama. Starring John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara (and assorted members of their RL families!) and Barry Fitzgerald, it is a popular choice among critics and film-lovers.
The screenplay for the film was drawn in a large part from a short story of the same name originally published in 1933 in the Saturday Evening Post, and penned by Irish author, Maurice Welsh. Together with a number of other short stories by Walsh, The Quiet Man was gathered into a single volume of his short stories, The Quiet Man and Other Stories, which dealt with many recurring characters living in rural Ireland of the 1920s, and set against the backdrop of the civil unrest which affected the country at that time, while examining the complexities and occasional intrigues of life, love and Irish traditions.
Join Caledonia Skytower as she reads Walsh’s original tale of The Quiet Man, Paddy Bawn Enright..
Thursday March 5th
19:00: Celtic Myths and Magick
With Shandon Loring.
21:00 Seanchai Late Night
With Finn Zeddmore.
Saturday March 7th, Seanchai Kitely: The Faery Handbag
Shandon Loring reads Kelly Link’s 2005 winner of 2005 the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
Genevieve has a somewhat eccentric grandmother, Zofia, who claims to have a community of faeries, about whom she often tells the strangest tales. The faeries are also, apparently, responsible for all sorts of mischief, such has hiding her library books when they are due to be returned, so they become overdue. Then Jake, Genevieve’s boyfriend, decides to steal the bag and see if it really does contain faeries….
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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for January / February is Project Children, teaching and building peace in Northern Ireland, one child at a time.
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