Day: March 14, 2021

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with Seanchai Library

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Sunday, March 14th,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 to mark the upcoming 2021 St. Patrick’s Day.

Monday, March 15th: 19:00 Leviathan

In 1914, the world is divided into Darwinists and Clankers. The Darwinists have evolved genetics to make animals more useful to humans. The Clankers have built their society on machinery technology.

Prince Aleksandar Ferdinand, the would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and part of the Clankers, has spent his life facing an uncertain future: because his mother was of common blood, he has been barred from taking his father’s title in the fullness of time.

But when his father and mother survive Gavrilo Princip’s assassination attempt in Sarajevo only to be poisoned later the same day, Aleksandar finds himself the centre of intrigue. Despite the fact that he has no legitimate claim to the throne, the Germans are intent on neutralising him, fearful that he might nevertheless unite the people behind him, possibly fracturing the alliance of nations forming the Clankers.

Forced on the run aboard a battletorn war machine crewed by a handful of men loyal to his late father, Aleks encounters Deryn Sharp, a young woman who has disguised herself as a boy to serve aboard British Air Service Leviathan, a living whale flying ship.

Despite their differences, and with the inevitability of war darkening every horizon, Aleks and Deryn embark on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

Join Gyro Muggins as he dives into Scott Westerfield’s 2009 novel of an alternate past.

Tuesday, March 16th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym, Live in the Glen

Music, poetry, and stories.

19:00: Darby O’Gill and the Banshee’s Comb Part 1

With Shandon Loring.

Both sessions at The Glen.

Wednesday, March 17th, 19:00: St Patrick’s Day Special at The Glen

  • 15:00: The Quiet Man reprise with Caledonia Skytower.
  • 18:30: Celtic music (with dancing!) from Ktadhn Vesuvino.
  • 19:0;: The Poetry of Ireland with Shandon Loring.

Thursday, March 18th 19:00: Darby O’Gill and the Banshee’s Comb Part 2

With Shandon Loring.

The art of Isabel Hermano in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Janus II Gallery: Isabel Hermano – Living in a Steampunk World

I did not intend to write about another exhibition at Chuck Clip’s Sinful Retreat so quickly after my last arts write-up (see: Sheba’s mystical art in Second Life). however, after witnessing Isabel Hermano’s exhibition at the Janus II Gallery in the region, I could not help but put fingers to keyboard.

Given the breadth of her work that is on display, I’m rather surprised to admit that’s I’ve not previously documented Isabel’s art, as her digital images are truly  captivating to the eye.

Janus II Gallery: Isabel Hermano – Living in a Steampunk World

Although entitled Living in a Steampunk World, the pieces offered through this exhibition feature much more than the style of retro-futuristic images we might normally associate with the idea of “steampunk”; while such elements  – the ideas of Victoriana, corsets, goggles, exotic mechanicals – present in several of the images, so to does the exhibition cast a wider net, capturing retro-modern elements, touches of Fritz Lang and Buck Rogers, hints of childhood, even a glimpse of contemporary science fiction.

This wider casting of the net doesn’t invalidate the title of the exhibition – rather, it enhances it, and offers a new twist.

Take Tinman, with its the image of C3-PO for example: whilst his appearance might bring to mind thoughts of a technologically advanced, spacefaring civilisation far beyond that of our own, his appearance as a “tin man” is not actually that far removed from the ideas of steampunk mechanoids.

Isabel notes that she likes to use bold colours  on account of the depth of passion they suggest, and that use of colour is clearly shown here – and I would argue that its presence in these pieces adds a further dimension to their narrative. And make no mistake, these are pieces rich in their ability frame moments and ideas that capture the eye and transport the imagination in the most marvellous of ways, whether or not the idea of steampunk are central to the journey.

For me, this sense of narrative is particularly strong with Radio City Music Hall, and The Sisters. These are also two pieces that may not immediately appear to be particularly “steampunk” in nature. The first brings to mind the era of Marlowe and hard-boiled detectives, whilst the latter richly mixes ideas. With the three female characters, there is a clear reference to Fritz Lang and Metropolis, whilst the airship above them both suggests steampunk airship – but set against a cosmic backdrop of a nebula cloud, it also carries that Buck Rogers vibe mentioned above.

Janus II Gallery: Isabel Hermano – Living in a Steampunk World

Theses are also pieces that are rich in motif and symbol – the use of animals in several of the more “steampunky” pictures, the juxtaposition of modern technology with suggestions of the Victorian era, mechanical octopuses, and so on that can lead the imagination onwards in it journey – and the eye to the richness of detail within each of these pieces.

Open through until early April, Living in a Steampunk World is a captivating exhibition of digital art.

SLurl Details