Category: Events

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous 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.

Sunday, August 9th

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street

Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Corwyn Allen continue reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, originally published in 1894, and which brings together twelve (or eleven in US editions of the volume) adventures featuring Holmes and Watson, as originally published in The Strand Magazine. This week: The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, first published in 1893.

My dear Watson:

I have no doubt that you can remember “Tadpole” Phelps, who was in the fifth form when you were in the third. It is possible even that you may have heard that through my uncle’s influence I obtained a good appointment at the Foreign Office, and that I was in a situation of trust and honour until a horrible misfortune came suddenly to blast my career.

There is no use writing of the details of that dreadful event. In the event of your acceding to my request it is probable that I shall have to narrate them to you. I have only just recovered from nine weeks of brain-fever, and am still exceedingly weak. Do you think that you could bring your friend Mr. Holmes down to see me? I should like to have his opinion of the case, though the authorities assure me that nothing more can be done. Do try to bring him down, and as soon as possible. Every minute seems an hour while I live in this state of horrible suspense. Assure him that if I have not asked his advice sooner it was not because I did not appreciate his talents, but because I have been off my head ever since the blow fell. Now I am clear again, though I dare not think of it too much for fear of a relapse. I am still so weak that I have to write, as you see, by dictating. Do try to bring him.

Your old school-fellow,

Percy Phelps.

Watson’s receipt of this letter from an old school friend draws him and Holmes into a case of great national importance involving a naval treaty which had vanished while entrusted to Phelps’ care, resulting in him becoming sick with “brain fever”. But while the document may well have vanished, someone seems to have a most peculiar interest in the sick and bed-ridden Phelps.

18:00 Magicland Storytime – Thomasina

Join Caledonia Skytower at Magicland Park as she concludes reading from Paul Gallico’s 1957 novel (and later a 1963 Walt Disney film starring none other that Patrick McGoohan, alongside Karen Dotrice – who also appeared in Disney’s Mary Poppins and The Gnome Mobile – and Susan Hampshire).

When Thomasina, young Mary’s cat, suffers injury, Mary’s veterinarian father and widower, is typically unsympathetic , and rather than treating the cat, has it put to sleep – earning himself his daughter’s enmity his daughter, who declares him dead to her.

Thomasina, meantime, finds herself in cat heaven, only to be returned to Earth because she has lived only one of her nine lives. Thus begins a series of adventures involving Thomasina, Mary, her father and a local woman regarded as a “witch” by the children, but who has a caring way with animals…

Monday August 10th, 19:00: The Wizard of Karres

Gyro Muggins returns to the universe created by James H. Schmitz and given form through his 1949 novel, The Witches of Karres, as he continues reading the 2004 sequel, The Wizard of Karres, penned by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. So why not join Gyro as he once more traces the adventures of Captain Pausert and his companions, Goth and the Leewit, the Witches of Karres.

Tuesday August 11th, Southern Revival Meetings Harper Lee style

Following the recent selected readings from To Kill a Mockingbird and Go set a Watchman, Trolley Trollop hosts a special evening developed to Harper’s Lee’s best-selling and Pulitzer prize-winning novel published in 1960, and the original manuscript out of which it grew, and which has recently been published as Go Set A Watchman.

Both novels tell something of the same tale, but from every different perspectives. Mockingbird focuses on the young Scout Finch, and events unfolding around her over three years from 1933 to 1935, notably the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell, and whom Scout’s father has been appointed to defend.

Watchman relates events from the perspective of an adult Scout Finch – using her given name of Jean Louise – as she returns to her father’s home in Maycomb, Alabama, and re-lives events from her childhood, (including those central to the narrative of Mockingbird) as she tries to come to terms with political and personal issues, notably her own feelings about her birthplace and upbringing, and her father’s attitude towards society.

Thus it is that the two novels offer very different perspectives of much-loved literary characters (notably Atticus Finch). Here. Trolley presents similarly themes selections from both novels, allowing us to explore characters and themes as portrayed in each directly for ourselves.

Wednesday August 12th, 19:00: Bits and Bobs

With Faerie Maven – surprising bits found in the Reader’s Digest and other places.

Thursday August 13th

19:00: Unnatural Creatures

Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories about the fantastical things that exist only in our minds—collected and introduced by beloved New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman.

The sixteen stories gathered by Gaiman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, range from the whimsical to the terrifying. The magical creatures range from werewolves to sunbirds to beings never before classified. E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Gahan Wilson, and other literary luminaries contribute to the anthology.

Join Shandon Loring as he brings some of these stories to life.

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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 August  / September is Water for People, “When one person or one family has clean, accessible water, their lives are changed. But when entire regions and countries have water, the world is changed.”

Additional Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library in this blog

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous 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.

Sunday, August 2nd, 13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street

Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Corwyn Allen continue reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, originally published in 1894, and which brings together twelve (or eleven in US editions of the volume) adventures featuring Holmes and Watson, as originally published in The Strand Magazine. This week: The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, first published in 1893.

It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation, which had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf clubs to the causes of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary aptitudes. The point under discussion was, how far any singular gift in an individual was due to his ancestry and how far to his own early training.

“In your own case,” said I, “from all that you have told me, it seems obvious that your faculty of observation and your peculiar facility for deduction are due to your own systematic training.”

“To some extent,” he answered thoughtfully. “My ancestors were country squires, who appear to have led much the same life as is natural to their class. But, none the less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was the sister of Vernet, the French artist. Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms.”

“But how do you know that it is hereditary?”

“Because my brother Mycroft possesses it in a larger degree than I do.”

It is in this way, via an innocent summer evening conversation, that John Watson – and Arthur Conan Doyle’s faithful readers – first learn the Sherlock Holmes not only has an elder brother, but that Holmes considers his brother to have a superior intellect to his own. So much so that while Mycroft prefers the quiet elegance of the  Diogenes Club the the exertion of investigation, Holmes has often consulted him in order to bring his cases to a successful conclusion. This time, however, as Holmes goes on to inform Watson, it is Mycroft in need of their assistance.

Monday August 3rd, 19:00: The Wizard of Karres

Gyro Muggins returns to the universe created by James H. Schmitz and given form through his 1949 novel, The Witches of Karres, as he continues reading the 2004 sequel, The Wizard of Karres, penned by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. So why not join Gyro as he once more traces the adventures of Captain Pausert and his companions, Goth and the Leewit, the Witches of Karres.

Tuesday August 4th, Go set a Watchman

Trolley Trollop concludes her reading of selected passages from Harper Lee’s newly published Go set a Watchman.

While referred to as a “sequel” to Mockingbird, Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Watchman actually pre-dates it, having been completed in 1957, leading Lee herself to refer to it as Mockingbird’s “parent”.

The story focuses on Scout Finch, the narrator of Mockingbird, who is here seen as an adult and using her given name, as she returns to her father’s home in Maycomb, Alabama, where she re-lives events from her childhood (including those central to the narrative of Mockingbird) as she tries to come to terms with political and personal issues, notably her own feelings about her birthplace and upbringing, and her father’s attitude towards society.

Thus it is that Watchman re-introduces readers to many of Lee’s most famous characters, including Atticus Finch, although readers may find the Atticus of this novel somewhat removed from the “younger” man found within Mockingbird.

Wednesday August 5th, 19:00: The Beauty of the Interstate

It was July 2013 and I had just accepted a part-time contract job that meant commuting some 60 miles round trip on the Interstate (I-5) several times a week.  It began with a single two page story one day.  Little did I realize that the highways and byways are full of stories . . . Beauty On the Interstate is a collection of some of those essays and short stories.

Join Seanchai’s Caledonia Skytower as she reads from her latest published work.

Thursday August 6th

19:00: Unnatural Creatures

Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories about the fantastical things that exist only in our minds—collected and introduced by beloved New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman.

The sixteen stories gathered by Gaiman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, range from the whimsical to the terrifying. The magical creatures range from werewolves to sunbirds to beings never before classified. E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Gahan Wilson, and other literary luminaries contribute to the anthology.

Join Shandon Loring as he brings some of these stories to life.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore.

Saturday, August 8th, Noon, Seanchai Kitely – Star Wars Saturday

With Shandon Loring and Caledonia Skytower, in Spaceworld (grid.kitely.com:8002/Inis Eirc).

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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 June / July is the The Xerces Society, at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation programmes.

Additional Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library in this blog

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous 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.

Sunday, July 26th

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street

Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Corwyn Allen continue reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, originally published in 1894, and which brings together twelve (or eleven in US editions of the volume) adventures featuring Holmes and Watson, as originally published in The Strand Magazine. This week: The Adventure of the Crooked Man, first published in 1893.

Holmes pulled a large sheet of tissue-paper out of his pocket and carefully unfolded it upon his knee.

“What do you make of that?” he asked.

The paper was covered with the tracings of the footmarks of some small animal. It had five well-marked footpads, an indication of long nails, and the whole print might be nearly as large as a dessert-spoon.

“It’s a dog,” said I.

“Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? I found distinct traces that this creature had done so.”

“A monkey, then?”

“But it is not the print of a monkey.”

“What can it be, then?”

“Neither dog nor cat nor monkey nor any creature that we are familiar with.

“Then what was the beast?”

“Ah, if I could give it a name it might go a long way towards solving the case.”

And so, in this conversation, occurring late one evening at the domicile of Dr. and Mrs. J. Watson, Sherlock Holmes introduces a further twist in a strange case involving a the violent death of an army officer, seemingly at the hands of his wife, both the body and the unconscious wife having been found in the room in which they had apparently locked themselves.

15:30: Special Performance: The Cold Shot Players

The Cold Shot Players return to Seanchai Library once more for another of their dramatic presentations focused on the delights and drama of classic radio shows. This month, they present Stranger in the House, originally broadcast in the 1940s as a part of The Whistler, an American radio drama series. This will be followed by a light-hearted reproduction of an episode of My Favourite Husband, the radio series from the 1950s which starred Lucille Ball, and which became the basis for what evolved into Ball’s ground-breaking TV sitcom series, I Love Lucy. With sound effects by Sonitus Randt.

18:00 Magicland Storytime – Thomasina

Join Caledonia Skytower at Magicland Park as she concludes reading from Paul Gallico’s 1957 novel (and later a 1963 Walt Disney film starring none other that Patrick McGoohan, alongside Karen Dotrice – who also appeared in Disney’s Mary Poppins and The Gnome Mobile – and Susan Hampshire).

When Thomasina, young Mary’s cat, suffers injury, Mary’s veterinarian father and widower, is typically unsympathetic , and rather than treating the cat, has it put to sleep – earning himself his daughter’s enmity his daughter, who declares him dead to her.

Thomasina, meantime, finds herself in cat heaven, only to be returned to Earth because she has lived only one of her nine lives. Thus begins a series of adventures involving Thomasina, Mary, her father and a local woman regarded as a “witch” by the children, but who has a caring way with animals…

Monday July 27th, 19:00: The Wizard of Karres

Gyro Muggins returns to the universe created by James H. Schmitz and given form through his 1949 novel, The Witches of Karres, as he continues reading the 2004 sequel, The Wizard of Karres, penned by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. So why not join Gyro as he once more traces the adventures of Captain Pausert and his companions, Goth and the Leewit, the Witches of Karres.

Tuesday July 28th, Go set a Watchman

Trolley Trollop continues to read selected passages from Harper Lee’s newly published Go set a Watchman.

While referred to as a “sequel” to Mockingbird, Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Watchman actually pre-dates it, having been completed in 1957, leading Lee herself to refer to it as Mockingbird’s “parent”.

The story focuses on Scout Finch, the narrator of Mockingbird, who is here seen as an adult and using her given name, as she returns to her father’s home in Maycomb, Alabama, where she re-lives events from her childhood (including those central to the narrative of Mockingbird) as she tries to come to terms with political and personal issues, notably her own feelings about her birthplace and upbringing, and her father’s attitude towards society.

Thus it is that Watchman re-introduces readers to many of Lee’s most famous characters, including Atticus Finch, although readers may find the Atticus of this novel somewhat removed from the “younger” man found within Mockingbird.

Wednesday July 29th: 19:00: The Case of Four and Twenty Black Birds

I sat in my office, nursing a glass of hooch and idly cleaning my automatic. Outside the rain fell steadily, like it seems to do most of the time in our fair city, whatever the tourist board says.

So when the dame walked into my office I was sure my luck had changed for the better. “What are you selling, lady?”

“What would you say to some of the green stuff?” she asked, in a husky voice, getting straight to the point. She opened her purse and flipped out a photograph. Glossy eight by ten. “Do you recognise that man?”

In my business you know who people are. “Yeah.”

“‘He’s dead.”

“I know that too, sweetheart. It’s old news. It was an accident.”

Her gaze went so icy you could have chipped it into cubes and cooled a cocktail with it. “My brother’s death was no accident. I’m Jill Dumpty….”

And so Jack Horner, a noir-esque private eye (if a little short on stature) in Nurseryland, is launched into one of the most perplexing mysteries of his career – who killed Humpty Dumpty? Join Kayden Oconnell and Caledonia Skytower as they read from Neil Gaiman’s brilliantly conceived and written 1984 short story.

Thursday July 30th

18:45: Prologue: Mind Pictures

With Shandon Loring.

19:00: The Girl Who Lived on The Moon by Frank Delaney

He has been described as “the most eloquent man in the world”. In a career spanning three decades, BBC host and Booker Prize Judge Frank Delaney has interviewed more the 3,500 of the world’s most important writers. He’s also an author in his own right, earning top prizes and best-seller status in a wide variety of formats.

His latest project is collectively called The Storytellers, and presents a series of short stories that follow the tradition of the seanchai: providing a crisp, concise tales of the world, and which also include his own notes on the history and craft of storytelling and the creation of myths.

Shandon Loring continues a journey through The Storytellers, this week reading from The Girl Who lived On the Moon.

She had a magical journey. Riding a moonbeam is like sliding down a very, very smooth mountain – it’s like having a wonderful slide for a long time, except that everything is warm, not hot, but a kind of gentle warmth, that makes one a little sleepy.

And so the girl who lived on the Moon rides to Earth, part of her journey filled with dreams. When she arrives, she grants the human race insights which cause us to wonder if times were different then, when “fish danced the polka on the surface of the sea and the birds said their prayers out loud.”

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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 June / July is the The Xerces Society, at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation programmes.

Additional Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library in this blog

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous 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.

Sunday, July 19th

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street

Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Corwyn Allen continue reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, originally published in 1894, and which brings together twelve (or eleven in US editions of the volume) adventures featuring Holmes and Watson, as originally published in The Strand Magazine. This week: The Adventure of the Resident Patient, first published in 1893.

“In glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of Memoirs with which I have endeavored to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way answer my purpose. For in those cases in which Holmes has performed some tour de force of analytical reasoning, and has demonstrated the value of his peculiar methods of investigation, the facts themselves have often been so slight or so commonplace that I could not feel justified in laying them before the public. On the other hand, it has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some research where the facts have been of the most remarkable and dramatic character, but where the share which he has himself taken in determining their causes has been less pronounced than I, as his biographer, could wish. The small matter which I have chronicled under the heading of “A Study in Scarlet,” and that other later one connected with the loss of the Gloria Scott, may serve as examples of this Scylla and Charybdis which are forever threatening the historian. It may be that in the business of which I am now about to write the part which my friend played is not sufficiently accentuated; and yet the whole train of circumstances is so remarkable that I cannot bring myself to omit it entirely from this series. “

And so, in his inimitable style, does John Watson introduce the reader to the rather strange case of Doctor Percy Trevelyan. Having entered into a novel, if satisfactory business arrangement with a man called Blessington, Dr. Trevelyan now finds things becoming increasingly odd as Blessington’s behaviour grows increasingly erratic and a strange pair of Russians seem interested in the practice for more than just the purpose of seeking medical assistance.

18:00 Magicland Storytime – Thomasina

Join Caledonia Skytower at Magicland Park as she continues reading Paul Gallico’s 1957 novel (and later a 1963 Walt Disney film starring none other that Patrick McGoohan, alongside Karen Dotrice – who also appeared in Disney’s Mary Poppins and The Gnome Mobile – and Susan Hampshire).

When Thomasina, young Mary’s cat, suffers injury, Mary’s veterinarian father and widower, is typically unsympathetic , and rather than treating the cat, has it put to sleep – earning himself the enmity of his daughter, who declares him dead to her.

Thomasina, meantime, finds herself in cat heaven, only to be returned to Earth because she has lived only one of her nine lives. Thus begins a series of adventures involving Thomasina, Mary, her father and a local woman regarded as a “witch” by the children, but who has a caring way with animals…

Monday July 20th, 19:00: The Wizard of Karres

Gyro Muggins returns to the universe created by James H. Schmitz and given form through his 1949 novel, The Witches of Karres, as he continues reading the 2004 sequel, The Wizard of Karres, penned by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. So why not join Gyro as he once more traces the adventures of Captain Pausert and his companions, Goth and the Leewit, the Witches of Karres.

Tuesday July 21st, Go set a Watchman

Following selected readings from To Kill a Mockingbird by Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Gyro Muggins, it is now the turn of Trolley Trollop to read selected passages to Harper Lee’s newly published Go set a Watchman.

While referred to as a “sequel” to Mockingbird, Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Watchman actually pre-dates it, having been completed in 1957, leading Lee herself to refer to it as Mockingbird’s “parent”.

The story focuses on Scout Finch, the narrator of Mockingbird, who is here seen as an adult and using her given name, as she returns to her father’s home in Maycomb, Alabama, where she re-lives events from her childhood (including those central to the narrative of Mockingbird) as she tries to come to terms with political and personal issues, notably her own feelings about her birthplace and upbringing, and her father’s attitude towards society.

Thus it is that Watchman re-introduces readers to many of Lee’s most famous characters, including Atticus Finch, although readers may find the Atticus of this novel somewhat removed from the “younger” man found within Mockingbird.

Wednesday July 22nd: 19:00: Holiday Times

Kayden Oconnell & Caledonia Skytower share short stories of holiday trips and seaside romances from Lucy Maud Montgomery and Stephen Leacock.

Thursday July 23rd

18:45: Prologue: Anthropomorphism

With Shandon Loring.

19:00: Pigsong by Frank Delaney

He has been described as “the most eloquent man in the world”. In a career spanning three decades, BBC host and Booker Prize Judge Frank Delaney has interviewed more the 3,500 of the world’s most important writers. He’s also an author in his own right, earning top prizes and best-seller status in a wide variety of formats.

His latest project is collectively called The Storytellers, and presents a series of short stories that follow the tradition of the seanchai: providing a crisp, concise tales of the world, and which also include his own notes on the history and craft of storytelling and the creation of myths.

Shandon Loring continues a journey through The Storytellers, this week reading from Pigsong, introduced thus:

Once upon a time and long ago, when snow tasted like cream, and timber tasted like sweet cake, and every tenth egg laid by a duck had a diamond in it, there lived up in the North of Ireland a very bad man.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore

Saturday July 25th, 12:00 Noon Seanchai Inworldz: Celtic Poets & Storytellers

Shandon and Caledonia bring us The Poet’s Curse and The Storyteller at Fault.

Seanchain Inworldz: https://inworldz/region/Sendalonde/217/144/28

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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 June / July is the The Xerces Society, at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation programmes.

Additional Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library in this blog