Tag: 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, December 19th, Noon: A Christmas Carol – The Big Read

At the Seanchai Winter Holiday setting.

A Seanchai Library reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has long been a seasonal tradition in Second Life. Most often since 2012, the reading has been associated with the Library’s end-of year celebration of all things Dickens with the annual presentation of The Dickens Project, conceived and coordinated  by Caledonia Skytower.

However, whilst presenting a seasonal setting for their events in the run-up and around Christmas, for 2021, Seanchai Library is taking a break from the full quota of activities for the Project – but they will be presenting the highlight of the Project in the form of The Big Read – a cover-to-cover reading of Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol.

First published in 1843, with illustrations by John Leech, A Christmas Carol is a story with which we’re all familiar: the redemption of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge through the visits of four ghosts: his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

Part secular story, part Christian allegory, A Christmas Carol was written at a time when Victorians were exploring and re-evaluating the traditions of Christmas “old” and “new” – carol singing, the growing use of Christmas trees and the sending / receiving of Christmas cards. Partially inspired by the stories of other popular authors together with his own experiences whilst a boy, A Christmas Carol was the fourth Christmas story Dickens wrote, but its themes of redemption, giving, kindness and the ability to transform the lives of others struck a collective chord among the novella’s readers, one that has continued to be heard down the decades since its publication.

In this very special reading, Seanchai regulars Corwyn Allen, David Abbot, Aoife Lorefield, Dubhna Rhiadra, and Caledonia Skytower are joined by Gloriana Maertens to take us back to Victorian London and this timeless tale.

Monday, December 20th, 19:00: Prometheus

Gyro Muggins reads the final volume of Philip José Farmer’s tale of Father John Carmody, and ex-con who painfully grew a conscience, but who is still not entirely beyond benefiting himself.

Having been tasked with travelling to the planet Wildenwoolly entirely by his own means, and entirely without funds, Carmody find himself travelling with an unexpected – and unwanted – companion, the egg of a large sentient bird called a horowitz. Firmly attached to his chest with no obvious means to remove it, the egg leaves Carmody with no option but to travel to the homeworld of the horowitz.

In Prometheus, Carmody reaches Feral, the planet of the horowitzes – and finds himself cast into the role of a kind of Prometheus. Except that, rather than bringing light to that world, his role is that of an educator bringing moral enlightenment to the bird civilisation.

Tuesday, December 21st

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: Festivus

With R. Dismantled.

Wednesday, December 22nd 19:00 Adventures from Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather

Susan had never hung up a stocking . She’d never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t believe in such things. They didn’t need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn’t.

There are those who believe and those who don’t. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses; nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it’s helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution.

There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl – even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions.

Caledonia Skytower read selection from the 20th book in Pratchett’s Discworld series at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.

Thursday, December 23rd, 19:00: The Night Before the Night Before

The return of a Seanchai tradition with Kayden Oconnell, Aoife Lorefield, and Caledonia Skytower, Live at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.

Friday, December 24th, 14:00: Christmas Eve Skating Party

With DJ Caledonia Skytower at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday skating pond.

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, December 12th, 13:30: Teatime Holiday Radio Classics

At the Seanchai Winter Holiday setting.

Richard Clarke is a lawyer with his own legal practice in Pottsville, New York who has a reputation for been far too nice to be a profitable businessman, since he always fails to demand payment from his poor clients and never takes on those he doesn’t believe are innocent. But Clarke’s main problem is that he is hopelessly in love with the lovely Janie Brown, even though her wealthy father has decided that she is to marry the even wealthier Bill Potts.

When Clarke’s too-kind attitude fails to impress Janie’s father, he decides to heed Brown’s advice and move to New York City and earn money. This doesn’t go too well, forcing Clarke to play games of deceit to impress Janie and her father, starting him on a spiral that eventually leads him to gaining a reputation as a “mean” lawyer. While his newfound reputation brings him the adoration – and business – of wealthy clients, it doesn’t endear him to Janie. Could his success wreck his chances of marrying her – or is all she is hearing about his new approach to business and life really true?

Originally a stage play starring George M. Cohan (who was famously portrayed by James Cagney in the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy), The Meanest Man in the World became a 1934 comedy film starring Jack Benny and Priscilla Lane. Now it is brought to us by the Seanchai team of Corwyn Allen, David Abbot, Gloriana Maertens, Elrik Merlin, and Caledonia Skytower, Live at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.

Monday, December 13th, 19:00: A Few Miles

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads the 1960 short story by fantasy and sci-fi author Philip José Farmer.

Tuesday, December 14th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: Vintage Christmas – stories by L. Frank Baum and Lucy Maud Mongomery

Live in Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting with Caledonia Skytower. The landmark will be distributed on the day.

Wednesday, December 15th, 19:00 Adventures from Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather

Susan had never hung up a stocking . She’d never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t believe in such things. They didn’t need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn’t.

There are those who believe and those who don’t. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses; nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it’s helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution.

There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl – even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions.

Caledonia Skytower read selection from the 20th book in Pratchett’s Discworld series at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.

Thursday, December 16th:

19:00: The Season in Music and Poetry

With Ktadhn Vesuvino and Caledonia Skytower, Live at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday skating pond.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary sci-fi with Finn Zeddmore.

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, December 5th, 13:30: Teatime Holiday Radio Classics

First appearing in 1947 and starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn and a script by Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street has been subject to a number of remakes and updates, including the 1994 version starring Sir Richard Attenborough. A novella based on the film, also penned by Davies, was published simultaneously with the film’s release, and was itself turned into a stage play in about 2006 by Will Severin, Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder and John Vreeke.

Now the Seanchai Team offer a radio interpretation. So why not join Corwyn Allen, David Abbot, Gloriana Maertens, Elrik Merlin, and Caledonia Skytower as they read the story of how Kris Kringle, initially indignant to find that the man assigned to play Santa in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is intoxicated, find himself hired to play Santa at Macy’s flagship New York City store on 34th Street, bringing a taste of Christmas miracles into people’s lives – even if they aren’t entirely on his side.

Monday, December 6th, 19:00: A Few Miles

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads the 1960 short story by fantasy and sci-fi author Philip José Farmer.

Tuesday, December 7th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: Vintage Christmas – stories by L.M. Montgomery and Ralph Henry Barbour and Others

Live in Seanchai’s *Winter Holiday* with Caledonia Skytower. The landmark will be distributed on the day.

Wednesday, December 8th, 19:00 Adventures from Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather

Susan had never hung up a stocking . She’d never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t believe in such things. They didn’t need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn’t.

There are those who believe and those who don’t. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses; nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it’s helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution.

There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl – even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions.

Caledonia Skytower read selection from the 20th book in Pratchett’s Discworld series.

Thursday, December 9th: 19:00: The Further Adventure of Ebenezer Scrooge Pt 1

On a hot summer day some twenty years after he was famously converted to kindness, Ebenezer Scrooge still roams the streets of London, spreading Christmas cheer, much to the annoyance of his creditors, nephew, and his employee Bob Cratchit.

But in order to help his former partner, poor chain-wrapped Jacob Marley, Scrooge will need the assistance of all those he has annoyed; he’ll also have to call on the three ghosts that visited him two decades earlier.

Written in uncannily Dickensian prose, Charlie Lovett’s The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge is both a loving and winking tribute to the Victorian classic, perfect for readers of A Christmas Carol and other timeless holiday tales.

Join Shandon Loring to enjoy the story.

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, November 28th, 13:30: Teatime: Holiday Radio Classics

Nero Wolfe, the brilliant, oversized, eccentric armchair detective created by mystery writer Rex Stout in the 1934, was more renowned for his preference from remaining ensconced in his New York City brownstone house than walking the streets to solve the mysteries that find their way to his door. At home, he could read his books, tend his orchids and await his next gourmet meal prepared by his personal chef. The legwork could always take care of itself – or more accurately, be taken care of by his sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant, Archie Goodwin who also got to take care of narrating the story of any mystery Wolfe chose to poke his nose into.

Since his origins, Wolfe has proven popular for radio, film and television dramas – and even on stage in three productions. Here, the Seanchai team of Corwyn Allen, David Abbot, Gloriana Maertens, Elrik Merlin, Kayden Oconnell, and Caledonia Skytower present one of Wolfe’s more unusual mysteries to solve when he is hired by a Santa to investigate the mystery deaths of a number of his sidewalk peers across New York City, and who fears he’ll be next.

So why not join the team for Nero Wolfe and the Case of the Slaughtered Santas.

Monday, November 29th, 19:00: The Stone God Awakens

A 20th century scientist is rendered frozen at the molecular level, and then reanimated millennia later by a freak accident. He finds himself in a strange world populated by sentient, anthropomorphic animals, who take his awakening to be the fulfilment of prophecy.

He accepts the mantle of godhood and sets about discovering this brave new world, hoping to find clues to the past while finding his place as the last human. But his quest leads to to question the reality of his status – might other humans also have survived? To find the answers he must lead his tribe of feline worshippers to the heart of a rival god: a great tree spanning half a continent.

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads a novella by the fantasy and sci-fi author Philip José Farmer.

Tuesday, November 30th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: The Wild Wood

A young artist returns to her cabin in the deep woods of Canada to concentrate on her illustrations. But somehow, strange and beautiful creatures are slipping into her drawings and sketches. The world of Faerie is reaching out to her for help – and she may be its last chance for survival.

With Willow Moonfire.

Wednesday, December 1st, 19:00 Adventures from Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather

Susan had never hung up a stocking . She’d never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t believe in such things. They didn’t need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn’t.

There are those who believe and those who don’t. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses; nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it’s helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution.

There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl – even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions.

Caledonia Skytower read selection from the 20th book in Pratchett’s Discworld series.

Thursday, December 2nd

19:00: The Further Adventure of Ebenezer Scrooge Pt 1

On a hot summer day some twenty years after he was famously converted to kindness, Ebenezer Scrooge still roams the streets of London, spreading Christmas cheer, much to the annoyance of his creditors, nephew, and his employee Bob Cratchit.

But in order to help his former partner, poor chain-wrapped Jacob Marley, Scrooge will need the assistance of all those he has annoyed; he’ll also have to call on the three ghosts that visited him two decades earlier.

Written in uncannily Dickensian prose, Charlie Lovett’s The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge is both a loving and winking tribute to the Victorian classic, perfect for readers of A Christmas Carol and other timeless holiday tales.

Join Shandon Loring to enjoy the story.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary sci-fi / fantasy with Finn Zeddmore.

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.

Monday, November 22nd, 19:00: The Stone God Awakens

A 20th century scientist is rendered frozen at the molecular level, and then reanimated millennia later by a freak accident. He finds himself in a strange world populated by sentient, anthropomorphic animals, who take his awakening to be the fulfilment of prophecy.

He accepts the mantle of godhood and sets about discovering this brave new world, hoping to find clues to the past while finding his place as the last human. But his quest leads to to question the reality of his status – might other humans also have survived? To find the answers he must lead his tribe of feline worshippers to the heart of a rival god: a great tree spanning half a continent.

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads a novella by the fantasy and sci-fi author Philip José Farmer.

Tuesday, November 23rd

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: The Wild Wood

A young artist returns to her cabin in the deep woods of Canada to concentrate on her illustrations. But somehow, strange and beautiful creatures are slipping into her drawings and sketches. The world of Faerie is reaching out to her for help – and she may be its last chance for survival.

With Willow Moonfire.

Wednesday, November 24th, 19:00 Steampunk Stories

Finn Zeddore opens the pages of Lightspeed magazine to read Carrie Vaughn’s Harry and Marlowe Meet the Founder of the Aetherian Revolution.

As they crossed the Great Plains of America, Harry was certain she’d never seen anything so astonishing in all her life.

The Kestrel hadn’t had such a long stretch airborne since she crossed the Atlantic. Even on the third day of it, Harry leaned out a window to watch the land passing beneath them, and what seemed to be all of heaven passing above. “Have you ever seen the sky look so very large, Marlowe?”

“Only at twenty thousand feet of altitude.”

Thursday, November 25th, 10:00: Alice’s Restaurant Massacree

A Seanchai Library Thanksgiving tradition with Shandon Loring.

You can get anything that you want
At Alice’s restaurant.
You can get anything that you want
At Alice’s restaurant.
Walk right in, it’s around the back,
Just a half-a-mile from the railroad tracks,
And you can get anything that you want
At Alice’s restaurant.

As Thanksgiving arrives in the United States, Shandon Loring presents singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie’s famous 1967 musical monologue, Alice’s Restaurant Massacree (also popularly known as Alice’s Restaurant, and the inspiration of the 1969 Arthur Penn film of that name, starring Guthrie himself).

Aside from the opening and closing chorus, the song is delivered as the spoken word accompanied by a ragtime guitar. The story is based on a true incident in Guthrie’s life when, in 1965, he (then 18) and a friend were arrested for illegally dumping garbage from Alice’s restaurant after discovering that the town dump was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

What follows is a complicated, ironic and amusing story told in a deadpan, satirical tone, which encompasses fines, blind judges, guide dogs, 27 8×10 copiously annotated glossy photos related to the littering, frustrated police officers, the Vietnam War draft and, ultimately, the inexplicable ways in which bureaucracy moves to foil itself, just when you’ve given up hope of foiling it yourself.

Don’t be late – the entire presentation is just 20 minutes in length!

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.

Monday, November 15th, 19:00: The Stone God Awakens

A 20th century scientist is rendered frozen at the molecular level, and then reanimated millennia later by a freak accident. He finds himself in a strange world populated by sentient, anthropomorphic animals, who take his awakening to be the fulfilment of prophecy.

He accepts the mantle of godhood and sets about discovering this brave new world, hoping to find clues to the past while finding his place as the last human. But his quest leads to to question the reality of his status – might other humans also have survived? To find the answers he must lead his tribe of feline worshippers to the heart of a rival god: a great tree spanning half a continent.

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads a novella by the fantasy and sci-fi author Philip José Farmer.

Tuesday, November 16th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: The Wild Wood

A young artist returns to her cabin in the deep woods of Canada to concentrate on her illustrations. But somehow, strange and beautiful creatures are slipping into her drawings and sketches. The world of Faerie is reaching out to her for help – and she may be its last chance for survival.

With Willow Moonfire.

Wednesday, November 17th, 19:00 Steampunk Stories

Finn Zeddore opens the pages of Lightspeed magazine to read Carrie Vaughn’s Harry and Marlowe Meet the Founder of the Aetherian Revolution.

Despite the spiked iron gate, the estate was modest. Harry could have walked the perimeter of the grounds in half an hour, though the curving gravel drive gave the impression of greater space. At the end of the curve, one could glimpse the house, a two-story gray pile with a slate roof and clay chimneys, walls fuzzed with ivy, windows brooding—all of it easily manageable, easily guarded.

The gate was the only access through a ten-foot-high wall that surrounded the house. At the top of the wall, copper conductors placed every dozen feet or so guided an Aetherian charge, a crackling stream of deadly green energy: a second barrier, impassable, should someone think that they could climb the wall. The humming, flickering light travelled down the bars of the gate as well.

Thursday, November 18th,

19:00: Alice In Wonderland

Don’t fall down any rabbit holes, or allow yourself to get waylaid by airborne grins, because this is one tea party date for which you cannot afford to be late as Shandon Loring dives into Lewis Carroll’s popular tale – albeit this time a version with a certain Tim Burton twist!

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary sci-fi / fantasy with Finn Zeddmore.