Category: Events

A consulting detective returns as the pressure mounts at Saturn

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off the first full week of fabulous story-telling in Voice for 2014, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library SL.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday January 5th, 13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: A Study in Scarlet

Caledonia Skytower and Shandon Loring return with a Seanchai favourite: Tea-time at Baker Street. This time they are going right back to the roots of the legend, and the case which first introduced the world to Doctor John Watson and the renowned Consulting Detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

study-in-scarletA Study in Scarlet was written in 1886 as a full-length novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and published the following year. It is actually one of only four novel-length stories Conan Doyle penned about Holmes and Watson in the original canon (the remaining 56 tales of their adventures are all short stories). As it was the first time the two had appeared in print, part of the story was used to establish each of them, and how they met.

It is 1887, and Doctor John Watson, invalided out of the British Army after being wounded in the Battle of Maiwand during the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880), has returned to London where he is seeking accommodation. After bumping into an old friend, Watson finds himself being taken to St. Bart’s Hospital, where he is introduced to a stranger carrying out a laboratory experiment. On shaking Watson’s hand, Sherlock Holmes immediately perceives that he has recently returned from Afghanistan, and thus Watson first experiences Holmes’ remarkable deductive abilities – although quite how Holmes came to his conclusion remains a mystery. After a short conversation, he agrees to join Holmes in moving into a flat (apartment) at 221B Baker Street, where they’ll split the rent.

In the story, it is actually several weeks before Watson learns of Holmes’ rather unusual chosen profession. When told, he remains initially dubious until Holmes gives a practical demonstration of his powers of observation and deduction, using a messenger from Scotland Yard as his subject. The messenger has come with a request for Holmes’ assistance; Holmes is at first reluctant to heed the call,  but Watson urges him otherwise. So it is that they set out on their first adventure together, one involving poison, a double murder in London and a bitter tale of love, loss and revenge from America.

A Study In Scarlet was used as the basis for A Study in Pink, the first broadcast episode of the BBC series Sherlock, which re-imagines the stories of Holmes and Watson in modern-day England to great effect and critical acclaim.

Monday January 6th, 19:00: Science Fiction: The Planets Series

Gyro Muggins continues to take listeners on a journey through the solar system, as seen through the words of some great, and perhaps not so well-known, science-fiction stories and authors. This week, the story take us to Saturn, and a tale of pressure of the atmospheric variety.

What would you do if the ship you are aboard can carry you down into the depths of Saturn’s atmosphere – but your only way back up requires you rely on a matter transmitter?

Tuesday January 7th, 19:00: Treasure it the Heart of the Tanglewood

Faerie Maven-Pralou continues her reading of Meredith Ann Pierce’s 2001 novel for young adults.

TanglewoodHannah lives by the fearsome Tanglewood with a few talkative companion animals. She doesn’t age, and she has no memory of anything but this life of isolation. Once a month she plucks the flowers that grow from her head, a painful process in which “each yank made her whole scalp ache”, and brews them into a tea for the wizard who lives deep in the woods.

When Hannah falls in love with one of the many knights who seek the treasure of the book’s title, she starts to question the wizard’s motives, finding he has turned the knight into a fox.

Escaping the wizard’s manipulative grasp, Hannah sets out to find a cure for the knight, an adventure in which she discovers her own identity and the repercussions of some of her actions while under the wizard’s influence and control.

Wednesday January 8th, 19:00: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice

In 1915, a 54-year-old Sherlock Holmes find his retirement to the Sussex Downs, where he is studying the habits of the honey bee, to be interrupted by the unexpected arrival of 15-year-old Mary Russell. American by birth, Ms. Russell had come to England to live with her Aunt following the tragic death of her parents in an automobile accident.

Holmes is impressed by the young lady’s wit and intellect, ne before he knows it, he finds himself teaching her his former tradecraft of solving crimes. Thus was formed a new partnership is formed between the very modern young Miss Russell and the very Victorian Great Detective.

Now Caledonia Skytower returns with more tales from the pen of Laurie R. King, and her series of stories for young adults which focus on the adventure Ms Russell and Mr. Sherlock Holmes shared.

Thursday January 9th

16:00: The Ballad of Donny Granger

The Ballads of Donny Granger, Book One is the first full-length illustrated novel from the mind Stephanie Mesler, also known in Second Life as Freda Frostbite. Want to know more? Then join Freda at the Seanchai library!

19:00: The Early Adventures of Finn McCool

Shandon Loring continues reading Bernard Evslin stories about the legendary Finn McCool  – Fionn mac Cumhaill – the mythical hunter / warrior who appears in folklore spanning Ireland, the Isle of Man and parts of Scotland, as well as sharing some links with Welsh mythology.

finn McCoolAlso known as the “Green Hero”, Finn McCool drew his name “Finn” or “Fionn”, meaning “blond”, “fair”, “white”, or “bright”, from the fact that his hair turned prematurely white. According to legend, he was born of Cumhall – leader of the Fianna (small, semi-independent warrior bands found in both Irish and Scottish mythology) and Muirne, daughter of the druid Tadg mac Nuadat.

Raised in secret, Fionn, who was originally called Deimne, became a skilled hunter and warrior, serving several local kings, albeit incognito, due to the events surrounding his mother and father – and the latter’s death.

Evslin draws upon the famous legend to weave a series of stories about the life of a young Fionn in the times before he became the giant of Irish folklore.

21:00 Seanchai Late Night

Details still TBA, so please check with the Seanchai Library blog as the week progresses.

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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.

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LL launch “New year, New You” competition, Facebook-style

Posted on by Inara Pey

Back in January 2012 the Lab ran a “New Year, New You” makeover photo competition with some L$5000 on offer to the first prize winner, and which I reported on at the time (and if they ran it again in 2013, I missed it!).

This year, they’re doing it again, as a blog post on Thursday January 2nd announces.

The "New Year, New You" 2013 competition poster, courtesy of Linden Lab
The “New Year, New You” 2013 competition poster, courtesy of Linden Lab

On offer this time around is a “Grand prize” of L$10,000, together with a “First prize” of L$5,000, and L$3,000 and L$1,000 going to the second and third prizes respectively, and the deadline for entries is 10:00 SLT February 10, 2014.

However, there is something of a controversial twist this year: people must log-in via a Facebook account in order to enter.

Possibly in light of the issues surrounding the 2012 competition, which saw people have problems trying to upload their photos to the competition pages, the 2014 event is being hosted over at Votigo, (and is visible from within Facebook). However, if you want to do more than just look at the entries and read the competition rules either via Votigo or via Facebook, you’ll have to log-in via Facebook. Additionally, those entering the competition are also required to “Like” the Second Life Facebook page if they have not already done so.

Whether the Facebook log-in requirement will extend to voting as well, remains to be seen (voting has yet to open), although I suspect it may.

The competition is hosted on Votigo, and requires a Facebook log-in to enter / vote
The competition is hosted on Votigo, and requires a Facebook log-in to enter / vote

Given Facebook’s past record vis-a-vis the use of avatar accounts, etc., within their pages, and the general apathy of SL users towards Facebook as a whole, this is liable to be seen as something of a controversial step by the Lab. It has already lead to some criticism on my.secondlife.com, where questions have also been raised on LL’s ability to police the voting process to ensure fair play.

For my part, while I can perhaps see something of a promotional value involved in leveraging Facebook as the vehicle for the competition, I can’t help but feel disappointment that the Lab are (again) running a competition which would appear to be exclusive (in the bad sense of the word), rather than being more inclusive of its broader user base.

In the meantime, and for those not put-off by the Facebook element and who opt to enter, I can only say: good luck!

Of flights to Mars and Irish folklore

Posted on by Inara Pey

This week, we’re at the last of the Seanchai Library SL gatherings for 2013 – and the first for 2014! So why not warm-up for New Year’s celebrations by dropping-in to the library on Monday December 30th, or have your day-after-the-night-before headaches soothed away with a tale or two on Thursday January 2nd?

As always, the programmes at Seanchai Library this week commence at 19:00 SLT, and will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Monday, December 30th, 19:00: A Martian Odyssey

Challenged to provide a story about each of the planets in the solar system, Gyro has come-up with a classic tale from the 1930s centred on my favourite world beyond ours – Mars.

Written by Stanley G. Weinbaum and first appearing in wonder Stories in 1934, A Martian Odyssey takes place in the early years of the 21st century, just (according to the story) a decade after the first lunar landing, and some 20 years after the invention of nuclear power.

In it, a four-man crew arrive on Mars in the first human mission to that planet. Not long after their arrival, one of the crew – Jarvis – sets off on a solo mission aboard an auxiliary rocket craft, only to experience a malfunction which forces him to crash-land many hundreds of miles from base. Rather than await rescue, Jarvis decides to walk back to the mothership.

Not long after he sets out on his journey, Jarvis comes to the aid of a birdlike creature, which decides to travel with him. While he can understand nothing of the creature’s language, Tweel – as the creature calls itself – manages to learn some English, allowing them to communicate. Thus is the start of a unique friendship as the two companions travel together, encountering other strange and exotic Martian lifeforms as they slowly make their way back Jarvis’ mothership, Ares.

A Martian Odyssey is in fact the first part of a 2-part story involving Jarvis, his crewmates and Tweel. With the follow-up Valley of Dreams picking-up the story a short while after Jarvis has rejoined his fellow humans aboard Ares.Both tales are interesting for some of the concepts they introduce, which resonate somewhat with later thinking and controversies concerning Mars as the emerging space programme meant humans could explore the Red Planet for real.

Pyramids feature in the stories, for example, and pyramids became the subject of much debate and conspiracy theories in the 1970s following the Mariner 9 and Viking missions. Also in A Martian Odyssey, Jarvis and Tweel encounter a creature which is possibly silicone-based – and even in the late 1960s, NASA hadn’t ruled out the possibility that Mars, despite its tenuous, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere, might still harbour hardly lifeforms predominantly based on – silicone.

In the follow-up Valley of Dreams – Weinbaum even managed to wrap some Earth-based mythology into the tale, beating the likes of von Däniken to the idea of gods being ancient astronauts by a good few decades – and providing the idea in a much more enjoyable way!

A Martian Odyssey is perhaps the first modern science-fiction story to present a sympathetic but non-human alien as a protagonist, and is regarded by many as one of only three stories ever written that changed the way all subsequent ones in the science fiction genre were written.

While Weinbaum’s life was cut tragically short, preventing him from truly reaching the heights of recognition enjoyed by his peers such as Lester del Ray, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury or Arthur C. Clarke, his work is nevertheless as important, and in many respects as epic, as many of the works by those peers. His Planetary series, for example, weaves a series of consistent tales about the solar system as it was understood by in the 1930s, presenting a series of individual stories which are interlinked and consistent with one another to offer a cohesive whole.

Thursday January 2nd, 19:00: The Early Adventures of Finn McCool

Finn McCool  – Fionn mac Cumhaill – is a mythical hunter / warrior who appears in folklore spanning Ireland, the Isle of Man and parts of Scotland, as well as sharing some links with Welsh mythology.

finn McCoolAlso known as the “Green Hero”, Finn McCool draws his name “Finn” or “Fionn”, meaning “blond”, “fair”, “white”, or “bright”, from the fact that his hair turned prematurely white. According to legend, he was born of Cumhall – leader of the Fianna (small, semi-independent warrior bands found in both Irish and Scottish mythology) and Muirne, daughter of the druid Tadg mac Nuadat.

Raised in secret, Fionn, who was originally called Deimne, became a skilled hunter and warrior, serving several local kings, albeit incognito, due to the events surrounding his mother and father – and the latter’s death.

Gaining wisdom as a result of burning his thumb while cooking a very special meal in a story with strong resonances of Welsh mythology, Fionn sets out on a life of adventure, love and legend, which ends perhaps not with his death, but in the fact that he lies sleeping with the rest of the Fianna under the hills of Ireland.

In this story, read by Seanchai Shandon Loring and written by Bernard Evslin, are woven the deeds and adventures of a young Fionn in the times before he became a great Irish folk hero.

Special Note

There are no planned readings at the Seanchai Library SL on either Tuesday December 31st or Wednesday January 1st, 2014. However, there might be a short-notice event taking place on the latter – so keep an eye on the Seanchai Library blog for updates!

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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 November and December is Reading is Fundamental.

Related Links

Tutsy Navarathna tops machinima section of WD’s Sci-Fi Challenge

Posted on by Inara Pey

If you had the power to choose to make a film in any time or place in the Universe – when or where would you choose? Another planet or perhaps another time or reality on Earth? Filmmakers, Animators and Machinimographers’ will have 30 days in November, to write, shoot, edit, produce and upload their creative masterpieces.

So read the opening piece for the WD Project Sci-Fi challenge, which I reported upon back in October 2013. As noted, filmmakers, animators and machinima makers were invited to spend 30 days from the 1st November 2013 through until the end of the month writing, shooting, editing and producing a sci-fi short, with a total of $10,000 Aus. in prize money for the winners.

The machinima section of the challenge was held in association with the University of Western Australia, and has $1,500 Aus. (L$230,000) on offer specifically for machinima films, with $750 Aus going to the 1st prize winner, and all machinima entrants additionally in with a chance to win any of the main prizes.

The results of the challenge were announced on December 22nd, and once again, Tutsy Navarathna tops-out the machinima winners with his piece, The Residents, a remarkable tale of worlds within worlds, and a clever twist involving SL.

Following hard on Tutsy’s heels and in 2nd place is the appropriately named (given the sci-fi theme of the challenge) Erythro Asimov, with his piece Looking Around.

The remaining winders in the machinima category comprise:

Centuries Past also won the UWA Centum Special Prize along with Misgiving by Glasz DeCuir.

All six prize-winning films can be seen on the UWA’s website, and a complete list of the challenge’s winners can be found on the Screen My Shorts Facebook site.

Congratulations to Tutsy, Erythro and all the winners.

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Me, you, and 35 Elephants

Posted on by Inara Pey
Image courtesy of Eliza Weirwight
Image courtesy of Eliza Wierwight

Saturday December 21st marks the opening of a very special event at LEA4. Quite how long it will be there is unclear; hopefully through until the goal is achieved – and perhaps even a little longer.

35 Elephants is the work of Eliza Wierwight, and the aim is simple: raise funds to sponsor 35 elephants at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand. Specifically established for the rescue and rehabilitation of abused elephants, the park is a place where elephants can live as close to their natural environment as possible while remaining free from their biggest predator – mankind. The park also finances and runs projects such as Jumbo Express for the rescue and medical care  of elephants in remote regions of the country, as well as working to stop the steady deforestation of the Thai northern rain forest, which is threatening the entire local ecosystem.

"Lek" Chailert, founder of SEF and the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand
“Lek” Chailert, founder of SEF and the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand (image courtesy of SEF)

The Park is operated by the Save Elephant Foundation (SEF), created by Sangduen  “Lek” Chailert. Born in northern Thailand, Lek grew up increasingly concerned at the plight of the Asian elephant, fast becoming an endangered species largely due to a tradition which sees an elephant’s spirit cruelly broken through the Phajaan in order to be put to work, increasingly for the amusement of the tourist industry, and often in the cruelest of conditions as beasts of burden.

Eliza,  who has had a life-long love of the elephant, was made aware of the horrific  – and I do mean horrific – means by which young elephants are ripped from their mothers’ sides and their natural environment and then forced into subservience to humans through the film How I Became an Elephant, which focuses on the efforts of another remarkable person, 14-year-old Juliette West, and her determination to raise awareness of the situation alongside of Lek.

You can read more of Eliza’s own awakening to this situation, and her own determination to help, through a post by Emma Portilo. Suffice it to say that while Eliza’s efforts to help with the SEF’s work began modestly enough – buying lunch for two of the elephants – she has striven to do so much more, both in sponsoring one of the 35 elephants on which the LEA4 event focuses, and on becoming the official representative for SEF in Second Life.

Sponsor an elephant at LEA4
Sponsor an elephant at LEA4

It costs L$27,000 ($109) to sponsor an elephant. A number have already been sponsored through people rallying to Eliza’s call, which she put out through her Flickr stream and through her efforts at her in-world store, where she has created a seasonal topiary featuring a baby elephant, the designed approved by the SEF. This is available at L$499, with 100% of the price going directly to SEF, and can be purchased as a gift for others as well as for yourself. If you prefer, there are also donation boxes located throughout the store, with all proceeds again going to SEF.

Elephants at LEA4
Elephants at LEA4

35 Elephants, making full use of the region generously provided at short notice by the LEA committee, provides a means for visitors to not only donate to the efforts in reaching the target of 35 elephants sponsored, but to also learn about the elephants, their plight in Thailand (where it is believed there are only 3,000 elephants left, and around 50% of them are living in captivity, many for the amusement of tourists) and learn more about SEF through the photography of Lek Chailert.

Things will kick-off at 11:30 SLT on Saturday 21st December, with a benefit  concert by the fabulous Joaquin Gustav – which itself is not an event to be missed if you’re in-world.

Commenting on her efforts, Eliza says, “I’m not getting all vigilante about this, I’d rather emphasize the positive. There’s a place in our cognition to recognize wrongs in any stance, I guess it’s how we choose to address the revelation after that fact. Promoting awareness and cold hard cash directed to those in the front lines seems a reasonable reaction.”

It’s a fair position to take. After all, money has a powerful voice; so why not add your voice to the cause, and either hop over to LEA4 for Joaquin’s concert or, if you’re still looking for the Christmas gift for a friend or something special for Christmas in your own home, drop by Eliza’s store and pick-up the baby elephant topiary?

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a video from the Elephant Nature Park.

Related Links

Tales for Christmas and a Dickens of a time

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library SL. Also this week, Storyfest SL’s The Dickens Project is in full swing.

Seanchai Library Readings

All programmes at Seanchai Library this week commence at 19:00 SLT, and will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

  • Monday, December 16th: Views of Christmas in 100 Words with Crap Mariner
  • Tuesday, December 17th: A Faerie Christmas  with Faerie Maven-Pralou
  • Wednesday, December 18th: Christmas in the Classics with Caledonia Skytower
  • Thursday, December 19th: Duel in the Snow (“You’ll put your eye out!”)  –  with Shandon Loring.

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 and December is Reading is Fundamental.

The Dickens Project 2013

TDPThe Dickens Project offers you the chance to enjoy Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, as well as extracts from some of his other works in an immersive, interactive environment where you can learn more about the man, his writings and the times in which he lived. Having opened its gates to the public on Friday December 13th, this week sees the presentation of A Christmas Carol over fives and featuring some of SL’s best voice talents. Each reading occurs twice daily, allowing people to attend at a time that suits them.

Events take place within The Dickens Project set, and all times are SLT.

  • 12: 00 noon Sunday, December 15th: Other Works of Dickens: Chapter Ten from Little Dorrit “Containing the Whole Science of Government” with Klannex Northmead
  • Monday, December 16th:  A Christmas Carol: Stave One, “Marley’s Ghost”: 13:00 – Dubhna Rhiadra; 17:00 – Kayden Oconnell
  • Tuesday, December 17th: A Christmas Carol: Stave Two, “The First of Three Spirits”: 13:00 – Corwyn Allen; 18:00 – Caledonia Skytower
  • Wednesday, December 18th: A Christmas Carol: Stave Three, “The Second of Three Spirits”: 14:00 – Ixmal Supermarine; 18:00 – Kayden Oconnell
  • Thursday, December 19th:  A Christmas Carol: Stave Four, “The Last of the Spirits”:
    • 13:00 – Dubhna Rhiadra
    • 17:00 – Corwyn Allen
    • 21:00 – Dickens Late Night with Caledonia Skytower, Shandon Loring and Finn Zeddmore.
  • Friday, December 20th: A Christmas Carol, Stave Five “The End of It”:
    • 13:00 – Ixmal Supermarine
    • 17:00 –  Kayden Oconnell
    • 21:00 – Dickens Late Night with Caledonia Skytower and Kayden Oconnell.

All performances at The Dicken Project are free, but donations will be accepted on behalf of War Child North America.

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