On Wednesday December 14th, between 16:00 and 18:00 SLT, we’ll be celebrating the best of the Christmas and seasonal songs with a special holiday Music with Anthony at Caitinara Bar.
It will be a great way to start your holiday celebrations – despite the bar being on a beach, we’ve ordered in some special seasons looks and even arranged some snow and a turkey dinner for anyone feeling peckish!
Anthony will be playing all the famous hits, old and new and will be taking requests from our guests. And if you feel like it – why not come dressed for the occasion – formal or fun, naughty or nice, all those with the festive spirit are welcome! So, we’ll hope you’ll join us in celebrating the season, and just maybe looking back over the year and forward to 2017 as we dance under the snow and the stars.
We look forward to seeing you! And please set your viewer to midnight on arriving, if it doesn’t take the parcel settings automatically.
It’s time to kick-off another great week of storytelling live in voice with Seanchai Library – and this week it’s a special week, with the return of a seasonal favourite: The Dickens Project SL.
Now in its fifth season, and as I’ve previewed, the project this year is hosted by Kultivate Magazine at their Water Haven headquarters. Every day this coming week, members of the Library and their friends will offers twice daily readings of the story, generally a stave at a time, live in voice, in surroundings created specially to evoke the settings and feeling of Charles Dickens’ most popular story. Supporting it will be a host of additional activities, with everything culminating on Sunday, December 18th with a marathon reading of the entire novel!
The Dickens Project SL is a unique festival and presentation by Seanchai Library, so take a note of the times below and be sure to hop over to Water Haven and partake of the story, the settings and the fun!
Sunday, December 11th – Stories & Carols
11:00: “Dickens’ Shorts” (Stories that is) with Trolley Trollop
12:30:The Raglan Shire Tiny Carolers – WOOTMAS!
13:00: Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby’s is a Friend of Mine John Morland reads Ray Bradbury’s short story featuring… “Charles Dickens”
14:00: More from the Pages of Charles Dickens- Short Selections with Dubhna Rhiadra and Caledonia Skytower
15:00: A Pickwick Holiday, Bryn Taleweaver shares a festive selection from The Pickwick Papers
Monday, December 12th – Stave One: “Marley’s Ghost”
13:00: VT Torvalar
19:00: Kayden Oconnell
Tuesday, December 13th – Stave Two: “The First of Three Spirits”
14:00: Bryn Taleweaver and Caledonia Skytower
19:00: Faerie Maven-Pralou, and Corwyn Allen
Wednesday, December 14th – Stave Three: “The Second of Three Spirits”
13:00: Eleseren Brianna
19:00: Aoife Lorefield
Thursday, December 15th – Stave Four: “The Last of the Spirits”
13:00: Hanna Hoo and Caledonia Skytower
19:00: Shandon Loring (also presenting Stave Five: “The End of It”)
Friday, December 16th
12:00 noon: MORE DICKENS! A ghost story and a novel selection with VT Torvalar
15:00:Part of Stave Four, & Stave Five“The End of It” – Dubhna Rhiadra and Caledonia Skytower
Saturday, December 17th
11:00:Tour of the Resource Centre and the Story Behind A Christmas Carol at the Community Virtual Library
TBA: Fezziwig’s Ball
Sunday, December 18th – The Finale: THE BIG READ
11:00: Traditional Dances and Music with Wald Schridde – live in Christmas Present Square.
12:00 noon: A CHRISTMAS CAROL – All the words of every stave presented all at once by a cast of voices, presenting in relay. Est 3.5 hours. Live in Christmas Present Square.
All readings and events take place at Water Haven, and all times are SLT. Note that individual programme items may be subject to change or update, so please check with The Dickens Project SLweb page for up-to-date information as the week progresses. Donations offered during the festival will be accepted on behalf of Team diabetes of Second Life, in support of the American Diabetes Association.
Since December of 1843, Charles Dickens’ “Ghostly little book”, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, has never fallen out of favour, or been out of print. Endlessly adapted, its journey of redemption has broad appeal for its secular focus, rather than sacred invocation.
– Caledonia Skytower
These are the words Cale uses to introduce The Dickens Project SL for 2016, and they are a fitting way of opening this preview for what has – very rightly, in my opinion – become a firm Staple of the Second Life Christmas experience – and if you haven’t shared in it yourself, I strongly urge you to do so this year.
Truth be told, a Christmas Carol has always been a part of Seanchai Library’s calendar from the year it was founded. However in 2012, and coinciding with the Dickens Bicentenary Year, Seanchai took the step from reading the story to presenting it in a 360-degree immersive environment designed to visually capture the essence of the novel, within individual staves (chapters) read by Seanchai volunteers over the course of several days, with visitor free to listen to the presentations, and then explore more about the life and times of Charles Dickens.
Since then, The Dickens Project SL has reappeared in Second Life each Christmas, with new opportunities to enjoy the story, new events to share and more opportunities to discover the rich treasure of Dickens’ work, explore the lasting appeal of A Christmas Carol and learn about Victorian England from a literary standpoint.
I’ve followed the project throughout, including the special 2013 virtual / live cross-over performance, featuring artists in Second Life and the physical world. For 2016, it is being hosted by Kultivate Magazine at their headquarters region on Water Haven, where an expanded set has been constructed, offering a broader, more immersive setting for the story, with supporting activities and events. While The festival officially opens to the public on Saturday, December 10th, I was delighted to be able to have a preview tour of the project with Cale, taking the opportunity to talk with her about this year’s presentation.
“The first thing I’d like to emphasize is that the goal of The Dickens Project SL is literary, not documentary,” Cale said as we entered the wintry realm of London in the mid-1800s. “What we’ve built here isn’t intended to be 100% historically accurate; other ventures in the virtual media excel in that. Our aim is to reflect the emotional essence of A Christmas Carol by providing a visual framework for those listening to the story, and which encourages them to explore more of Dickens’ life and times.”
Caledonia Skytower, Shandon Loring (centre) and Kayden Oconnell in an evocative shot of a 2013 special virtual / live performance of The Dickens Project. Credit: Bear Silvershade
To this end, and making full use of the half region put at their disposal by Kultivate Magazine, Seanchai have built a number of interlinked story and activity areas – Christmas Present, Christmas Past and Christmas Yet To Come / The End of It – where individual staves of the book will be read, Dickens’ writings explored, and entertainments presented. Each has its own look and feel, helping to immerse visitors more deeply in the tale.
“We’ve been able to expand the programme this year,” Cale said. “The opening weekend on December 10th and 11th will feature music events and readings from Dickens’ popular novels short stories and related pieces. Then on Monday, December 12th, we commence reading A Christmas Carol, with two sessions of each stave or staves per day, through until Friday, December 16th.”
The event will be rounded out over the weekend of the 17th and 18th December with more music, the traditional Fezziwig’s Ball and The Big Read – all of the novel over three-and-a-half hours. A marathon it might seem – but one very mush worth hearing!
“In all there will be 20 hours of events during the festival, ” Cale continued. “And the Community Virtual Library has created a Resource Centre to support us, where people can learn more about specific elements of the story: what was Tiny Tim suffering from, for example. We also have teleport portals connecting us to other themed locations in Second Life, such as Get Scrooged, at HKU’s Education Island.” A further addition to the 2016 programme is the Eight Days of Dickens mini-hunt.
The Dickens Project SL is free to attend and explore. The twice daily readings are designed to help reach as wide an SL audience as possible, and will be presented by different volunteers, each giving his or her interpretation of the story and the characters, and visitors are welcome to attend as many readings as they wish. Donations will be accepted on behalf of Team Diabetes of SL throughout the week, to coincide with their Winter Showcase events.
A Christmas Carol is, as Cale noted in the quote opening this article, an enduring, endearing piece; a work of fiction with which we are all familiar; I asked Cale for her thoughts on why this should be. “The core of what makes it so are the words – very precisely chosen, very powerfully arranged words,” she replied. “A lot of what we think of today as ‘traditional’ to this time of the year can be traced back to this work, and Dickens’ own re-imagining of what the holiday could be and mean.”
The annual RFL Christmas Expo opened its gates on December 1st, and will run through until December 12th. I’m not sure if it is me, but RFL events PR seems to have been a little low-key in 2016, to the point that this event almost entirely slipped my mind!
However, if it had by chance escaped your attention as well, there’s still the weekend to make the most of it, and to hop over, explore the four regions, buy goodies, join in the fun and donate to RFL of SL.
A highlight of the Expo is the Holidays of Hope Ball, now in its 7th year, which will take place on Sunday, December 11th, from 15:00 through 18:00 SLT. There will be special raffle baskets for which tickets can be purchased, together with random door prizes, which in 2015 totalled almost L$50,000 in value, while the 2015 raffle baskets were each worth more than L$35,000 each and included items such as homes, designer outfits and L$5000 gift certificates among their goodies.
Holiday formal attire is requested for the Ball, which will take place at the Polar Express Grand Station, high over the Expo regions.
The Team Diabetes of Second Life 2016 Winter Showcase and Art Show opens its doors on Thursday, December 8th, and runs through until Sunday, December 18th. It will include ten days of live performers, DJs, concerts, tribute acts, hunts, ice skating, ice fishing and, of course the Winter Showcase and the Kultivate Winter Art show. All to raise money for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), through Team Diabetes of Second Life, ADA’s official and authorised in-world fund-raising team.
The 2016 Winter Showcase is sponsored by Chop Zuey Couture Jewellery, Ghee, and Potomac Signature Homes and features the following brands: *DBS* Designs By Soosy, alme., Balderdash, Becksley Shoes, Black Rose Designs, BYRNE, ChiC buildings, Chiffon, Chop Zuey, EED Home&Garden, Emerald Couture, Feyline Fashions, Gee, Ghee, Get Jiggy!, Giulia Design, IC From Within, IT! (Indulge Temptation!), Kitty’s Claws, Le Fashion Wh*re, Lillou Merlin Design, Mahlberg Tailors, Mara’s Mysteries, Miss Darcy, Mousies Family Store, Park Place Casuals, Park Place Home, Pink Ice Boutique, Potomac Signature Homes, Romance Couture, Sophisticate, Sonatta Morales, Spyralle, Steelhead Outfitters, Stone’s Works, Sweet E’s Designs, TASHI, Tayren’s Fantasy Fashions (TFF), The Gold Club, TRS Designs, Vengeful Threads, Whimsical Happenings, Winterwood, & Wood Works.
The Showcase occupies the west side of the region, with stores arranged around a central square offering seating – including a chance to sit on Santa’s lap! The events area can be found on the north-east side of the region, alongside the Kultivate Winter art show.
Sponsored and produced by Kultivate Magazine, the Art Show features the following artists and photographers: Aradia Aridian, ArtemisGreece Resident, Bamboo Barnes, Bryn Oh, Brynedarkley Cazalet, CalystiaMoonshadow, Catalina Staheli, Cica Ghost, Cubito Smit, Eleseren Brianna, Eucalyptus Carroll, Giselleseeker, Hana Hoobinoo, ilyra chardin, iSkye Silverweb, Jamee Sandalwood, Johannes1977 Resident, JolieElle Parfort, JudiLynn India, Kaijah Chrome, Kayly Iali, KodyMeyers Resident, Layachi Ihen, Lucia Tophat, Lulyboop Resident, Miele Tarantal, missabstract Resident, Myra Wildmist, Pam Astonia, Paradox Messmer, Ramsa Luv, Rosy Highwater, Roxanne Fayanucci,Sabine Mortenwold, Sandi Benelli, Sheba Blitz, Silas Merlin, Slatan Dryke, Sparkie Cyberstar, Tisephone, TriplePlayNitely, Veruca Tammas, Warm Clarity, Wintergeist Resident, & WrenNoir Cerisse.
Full details on all the activities planned for the event can be found on the 2106 Winter showcase Calendar. However, highlights of the even include:
Thursday, December 8th, 18:00: SaraMarie Philly in concert
Friday, December 9th, 18:00: Metallica Tribute concert
Saturday, December 10th, 13:00: Elysium Cabaret
Sunday, December 11th, 14:00: CeCi Dover
Monday, December 12th, 17:00: DRUM
Friday, December 16th, 18:00: Bad Amp Christmas Show
Saturday, December 17th, 16:00: TSB Orchestra
Sunday, December 18th, 13:00: a special winter fashion show organised by Models Giving Back where participating merchants will show off their winter fashions and creations.
Established in 1940, the American Diabetes Association is working to both prevent and cure diabetes in all it forms, and to help improve the lives of all those affected by diabetes. It does this by providing objective and credible information and resources about diabetes to communities, and funding research into ways and means of both managing and curing the illness. In addition, the Association gives voice to those denied their rights as a consequence of being affected by diabetes.
About Team Diabetes of Second life
Team Diabetes of Second Life is an official and authorised fund-raiser for the American Diabetes Association in Second Life. Established with the aim of raising funds in support of diabetes treatment and to raise awareness of the disease in SL, Team Diabetes of Second Life was founded by Jessi2009 Warrhol and John Brianna (Johannes1977 Resident), and is served by an advisory board comprising Eleseren Brianna, Veruca Tammas, Sandie Loxingly, Rob Fenwitch, Earth Nirvana and Dawnbeam Dreamscape, with Saiyge Lotus serving as a special advisor.
It’s time to kick-off a week of story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.
Monday, December 5th 19:00: Sci-Fi Gems
Gyro Muggins digs deep into his amazing library of classic Science Fiction and emerges with more jewels to share.
Tuesday, December 6th 19:00: Serafina and the Twisted Staff
Caledonia Skytower reads the second adventure for Robert Beatty’s young heroine, Serafina, published in July 2016.
Introduced in Serafina and the Black Cloak, the titular heroine had, up until the events of that story, lived a secret life in the basement bowels of the manor house on Biltmore Estate. However, she was forced to reveal herself to the estate owner’s young nephew in order that together, they might discover why the children on the estate were mysteriously vanishing.
Now, just a few weeks after those events, Serafina and her new friends must confront a new danger, one worse than the Black Cloak.
In doing so, they well face tests that will strain friendships, while Serafina learns more about her unique talent and abilities, allowing her to grow from introspective “other”, to a young girl accepting of herself. Nor is she alone in her growth; Braeden also is able to come into his own, understanding his own particular gifts,
Intended for younger readers, the Serafina books have a richness of prose and an approach to storytelling guaranteed to keep readers – and listeners – of all ages enthralled. Join Caledonia to find out more!
Wednesday, December 7th 19:00: Miracle and Other Christmas Stories
Trolley Trollop offers a selection of readings from this collection of eight seasonal tales first published in 2000 by winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, Connie Willis.
The tales capture the timeless essence of generosity and goodwill of Christmas, reimagining classic tales for the time of the year, such as the journey of the three wise men, the tale of Mary and Joseph as they seek lodgings, and more.
Each has something of a sci-fi element to it, but each story is much more than that: there’s a holiday themed mystery; a revisiting of the classic Christmas story as noted above; there’s even a tale which allows Willis to show why she thinks Miracle on 34th Street is a superior film to It’s a Wonderful Life. And while they may all be unique, they all offer a celebration of the power of love and compassion.
Thursday, December 8th 19:00: Joulutarina – The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
Shandon Loring presents Julie Lane.s classic story for Christmas.
Nicholas the orphan becomes Nicholas the wood-carver, whose job is to create a gift for every child in his small village on the Baltic Sea. As he grows older, explanations for many beloved Christmas traditions are woven into the story as the true spirit of Christmas is revealed.
Saturday, December 10th: A Christmas Carol
The 2016 Edition of Seanchai Library’s annual celebration of English literary giant Charles Dickens, The Dickens Project, will open in Second Life on Saturday, December 10th with over 20 hours of live events of all kinds, spanning eight days, to benefit Team Diabetes in Second Life. This year’s Project is sponsored by Kultivate Magazine and will take place on Kultivate’s headquarters region, Water Haven.
I’ll have a special preview of the event, including a chat with the project’s Director, Caledonia Skytower, ahead of the opening.
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 November-December is Reach Out and Read, a non-profit organization that gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into paediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 