Tag: Seanchai Library

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.

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

Sunday June 1st

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

Tea-time at Baker Street sees Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell open the pages of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the final set of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories first published in the Strand Magazine between October 1921 and April 1927.

This week: The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

The year is 1903, and the Second Boer War has not long ended. Holmes is visited by a veteran of that campaign one James M. Dodd, who has a strange tale to tell while seeking Holmes’ assistance in locating a colleague and friend.

During the war, Dodd served in the Imperial Yeomanry, alongside one Godfrey Emsworth.  Dodd lost contact with Emsworth not long after the latter was wounded. Now six months later, which trying to locate his friend, he has encountered a strange situation which has aroused his suspicions.

Upon contacting Emsworth’s family, Dodd was told Emsworth had departed on a voyage around the world. On visiting the family, he is again met with the same story, and Emsworth’s father intimates Dodd is lying about ever having known his son. Relating the rest of his story, Dodd reveals several more events that lead him to believe that all is not well with his friend and former colleague. He’s then rather surprised when having related events, Holmes considers that, but for one clue, the answer to the entire matter is elementary, and agrees to accompany Dodd to visit the Emsworth family to confirm his belief.

Find out how Holmes so quickly deduced what is going on, and what has happened to Godfrey Emsworth by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.

Monday June 2nd, 19:00: Space Wars: The Man Who Would Be Kzin

Gyro Muggins launches a new series of sci-fi tales as he dips into Larry Niven’s Known Space universe and pulls out a story from the Man-Kzin Wars.

The Kzinti, are a warlike race Niven first introduced to the world in his 1966 story The Warriors. They permeated many of his stories set in the Known Space series, and well as appearing in his Nebula and Hugo award-winning Ringworld. In his stories, Niven references a series of conflicts between Kzinti and humans, but did not write about the wars himself. Such was the demand for more information on the wars, however, he allowed the Man-Kzin wars to become a shared universe series, with the majority of the stories written by other science-fiction authors such as Poul Anderson, Dean Ing, Jerry Pournelle, S.M. Stirling, Greg Bear and others.

The Man Who Would Be Kzin, written in 1991 by Greg Bear and S.M Stirling, appears in the Man-Kzin Wars IV, and The Best of All Possible Wars. It poses the interesting question: how exactly does a human spy infiltrate a civilisation of 8-foot tall anthropomorphic tiger-like cats?

Tuesday June 3rd: The library is dark

Check the Seanchai library blog for any late-breaking news of an event.

Wednesday June 4th, 19:00: Tales of Despereaux

Following-on from Flora and Ulysses, Caledonia Skytower reads from Kate DiCamillo’s first novel to win a prestigious Newbery Award.

The Tales of Despereaux is a story of four parts, each part told from the perspective of a different character. Despereaux Tilling, is a mouse, and the hero of the piece. Born a runt with big ears and eyes, he is an incurable romantic, given to reading tales about knights and princesses. Chiaroscuro is a dungeon rat with an obsession with light, bright things. Miggery Sow is a simply serving girl with an impossible dream.

Together, these three become bound in a tale of dungeons, betrayal, kidnap, redemption and a princess named Pea, as well as a host of other memorable characters.

Thursday June 5th

19:00: Ladon

Shandon Loring delves into Greek Mythology once more, focusing on the many-headed dragon which guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides, and tormented the Titan Atlas as he held the heavens on his shoulders.

21:00 Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore

—–

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 May-June is Habitat for Humanity: envisioning a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Related Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library (SL) SLurl
• Seanchai Library (Kitely) URL
• Seanchai Library in this blog

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.

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

Sunday May 25th

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

Tea-time at Baker Street sees Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell open the pages of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the final set of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories first published in the Strand Magazine between October 1921 and April 1927.

This week: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.

The year is 1902, and Sir James Damery visits Holmes and Watson on behalf of his mysterious and illustrious client. The latter never actually directly revealed to the reader, although it might well be the king himself.

Damery’s client is concerned about the relationship between Violet de Merville, daughter of General de Merville, and Baron Adelbert Gruner, from Austria. Gruner is viewed as a rogue and a sadist and – in Damery’s and Holmes’ opinion – a murderer.

Despite the matter of his last wife’s mysterious death and his reputation, Violet de Merville will not be dissuaded from her determination to marry Gruner. So secure is the latter in his position that he is unfazed by a visit from Holmes – indeed, he warns the latter that a French agent who once confronted him with similar accusations finished-up a cripple for life after receiving a beating from thugs shortly afterwards; a veiled threat if ever there was one.

So, lacking obvious proof, how do Holmes and Watson prevent Violet de Merville from marrying Gruner and possibly facing the same future as the Baron’s last wife?

Find out more by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.

18:00: Magicland Storytime: More Selections from Flora and Ulysses

Join Caledonia Skytower in Magicland Park as she selects more reading from Kate DiCamillo’s second novel to win a prestigious Newbery Award (the first being The Tales of Despereaux in 2004).

Monday May 26th, 19:00: Hunter SL Thompson

Join the inimitable Crap Mariner in what is certain to be a most enjoyable and unusual voyage of words (the clue is in the title, folks!

Tuesday May 27th, 19:00: A Dog’s Purpose

Reincarnation can be confusing for a human; reborn into different lives, trying to learn lessons of the past in order to discover one’s purpose … Imagine what it must be like for a dog.

That’s exactly what humourist W. Bruce Cameron has done in his 2010 best seller A Dog’s Purpose.  Bailey, pup of a stray, is rather surprised to find himself reborn as a Golden Retriever after being euthanized. It surprises him even more when, after a happy life involving a young boy, a farm and more, Bailey passes from the world … only to return, this time in the body of a German shepherd bitch, and the realisation he is serving some higher purpose – but what?

Travel with Caledonia Skytower and Kayden Oconnell as they journey through Bailey’s heartwarming and funny tale of many lives, a dog’s-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man’s best friend; a story in which love never dies, and true friends are always with us.

Wednesday May 28th, 19:00:  Aoife in Ireland

With Aoife Niphredil.

Thursday May 29th

16:00 Freda in Progress

With Freda Frostbite.

19:00: Scylla and Charybdis, Part 2

From the pages of Greek mythology come Scylla and Charybdis, two immortal and irresistible monsters who beset the narrow waters (though to be the Straits of Messina) traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings as described by Homer in his epic Odyssey. Scylla, a supernatural creature, with 12 feet and 6 heads on long, snaky necks, each head having a triple row of shark-like teeth, was once human in appearance, according to Ovid. Her transformation, he claimed within his Metamorphoses, was the result of jealousy and witchcraft on the part of Circe.

Charybdis, on the opposite shore of the narrows, was said to lurk under a fig tree and drank down and belched forth the waters of the straits three times a day. The shipwrecked Odysseus barely escaped her clutches by clinging to a tree until the improvised raft that she swallowed floated to the surface again after many hours.

Join Shandon Loring as he takes us, as the saying goes, “between Scylla and Charydbis”.

—–

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 May-June is Habitat for Humanity: envisioning a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Related Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library (SL) SLurl
• Seanchai Library (Kitely) URL
• Seanchai Library in this blog

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

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

Sunday May 18th

10:00 PDT: CatNYP! at Kitely

“A feisty changling girl helps a changling boy return to the “real” New York City from the parallel fairy world where they were both raised. The New York Public Library’s automated catalogue, called CATNYP, is a real lion and a library page is literally an animated piece of paper that retrieves books.”

With Shandon Loring at Lighthouse Point in the Seanchai region on Kitely.

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Sign of Four Concludes

Tea-time at Baker Street sees Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell open the pages of the second full-length novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, which was originally published under the title The Sign of the Four.

In 1888, Mary Morston come to Sherlock Holmes seeking his assistance in two matters. The first is with regards to her father. Having returned safely from India in 1878, Captain Arthur Morston had arranged to meet his daughter at the Langham Hotel, London – but he had vanished from the hotel prior to ber arrival, and no trace of his whereabouts has ever been discovered. The second relates to a series of pearls he has received, at the rate of one a year, every year, from 1882 onwards. The pearls started arriving after she had responded to a strange newspaper query inquiring for her, and the last one had come with a letter, indicating she had somehow been wronged, and asking to meet with her.

Holmes discovers that the pearls started arriving shortly after the death of Major Sholto, a colleague of Arthur Morston’s from the army in India, and he is certain there is a connection between the two – a connection which appears to involve an Indian fortress and the names of three Sikhs and a man by the name of Jonathan Small. Then the subject of a treasure and links between it and Arthur Morston, Major Sholto and Sholto’s sons are all revealed …

Find out more by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.

Monday May 19th, 19:00: The Chromium Helmet Concludes

Gyro Muggins completes his reading of Theodore Sturgeon’s 1946 classic short story.

Tuesday May 20th, 19:00: More Good Poems

With Kayden Oconnell.

Wednesday May 14th, 19:00: Flora and Ulysses

Kate DiCamillo’s second novel to win a prestigious Newbery Award (the first being The Tales of Despereaux in 2004), is at its heart, a comic superhero tale.

“The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him.

“What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.”

Join Caladonia as she completes her reading of this lighthearted tale of eccentric, endearing characters, engaging illustrated by K. G Campbell.

Thursday May 15th

19:00: Scylla and Charybdis

From the pages of Greek mythology come Scylla and Charybdis, two immortal and irresistible monsters who beset the narrow waters (though to be the Straits of Messina) traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings as described by Homer in his epic Odyssey. Scylla, a supernatural creature, with 12 feet and 6 heads on long, snaky necks, each head having a triple row of shark-like teeth, was once human in appearance, according to Ovid. Her transformation, he claimed within his Metamorphoses, was the result of jealousy and witchcraft on the part of Circe.

Charybdis, on the opposite shore of the narrows, was said to lurk under a fig tree and drank down and belched forth the waters of the straits three times a day. The shipwrecked Odysseus barely escaped her clutches by clinging to a tree until the improvised raft that she swallowed floated to the surface again after many hours.

Join Shandon Loring as he takes us, as the saying goes, “between Scylla and Charydbis”.

—–

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 May-June is Habitat for Humanity: envisioning a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Related Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library (SL) SLurl
• Seanchai Library (Kitely) URL
• Seanchai Library in this blog

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

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

Sunday May 11th

10:00 PDT: Lighthouse Horrors at Kitely

“Storm-swept, remote light stations—and the isolated souls who man the beacons—are the perfect inspirations for tales of suspense and horror. Throughout the years, lighthouses have served as backdrops for dark, gothic tales of solitary, sea-based horror. If you like a good chilling tale and you like lighthouses and the sea, this story session is just for you.”

With Shandon Loring at Lighthouse Point in the Seanchai region on Kitely.

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Sign of Four

Tea-time at Baker Street sees Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell open the pages of the second full-length novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, which was originally published under the title The Sign of the Four.

In 1888, Mary Morston come to Sherlock Holmes seeking his assistance in two matters. The first is with regards to her father. Having returned safely from India in 1878, Captain Arthur Morston had arranged to meet his daughter at the Langham Hotel, London – but he had vanished from the hotel prior to ber arrival, and no trace of his whereabouts has ever been discovered. The second relates to a series of pearls he has received, at the rate of one a year, every year, from 1882 onwards. The pearls started arriving after she had responded to a strange newspaper query inquiring for her, and the last one had come with a letter, indicating she had somehow been wronged, and asking to meet with her.

Holmes discovers that the pearls started arriving shortly after the death of Major Sholto, a colleague of Arthur Morston’s from the army in India, and he is certain there is a connection between the two – a connection which appears to involve an Indian fortress and the names of three Sikhs and a man by the name of Jonathan Small. Then the subject of a treasure and links between it and Arthur Morston, Major Sholto and Sholto’s sons are all revealed …

Find out more by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.

Monday May 12th, 19:00: The Chromium Helmet

Gyro Muggins reads Theodore Sturgeon’s 1946 classic short story.

Tuesday May 13th, 19:00: The Raven and the Storyteller

Aoife Niphrendil concludes her reading of A. Gouedard’s novel, an enchanting tale of the travels of a Raven called Wilf and Moon the Storyteller, both of whom are immortal, and of the people and events they meet on their journey. The stories told are set within the book as their journey unfolds, and in the tradition of fables and stories within a story.

Wednesday May 14th, 19:00: Flora and Ulysses

Kate DiCamillo’s second novel to win a prestigious Newbery Award (the first being The Tales of Despereaux in 2004), is at its heart, a comic superhero tale.

“The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him.

“What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.”

Join Caladonia as she continues to chart this lighthearted tale of eccentric, endearing characters, engaging illustrated by K. G Campbell.

Thursday May 15th

16:00: TBA

Please check the Seanchai Library SL blog.

19:00: Cerebus Part 2

“Cerberus is a three-headed dog born to monstrous parents, who experiences many adventures, culminating in a tragic journey into the Underworld. It is here that Hades, ruler of that kingdom, determines to keep Cerberus as his sentinel at the Gates of Hell. The three-headed dog ventures into this perilous trap in his quest for the little girl he loves, who has been ruthlessly stolen from him by death. It is in Tartarus that Cerberus finally finds her and where he meets his greatest challenge. “Here is the stirring tale of friendship, cunning, and treachery within the turbulent world of myth occupied by heroes, gods, and monsters.”

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 May-June is Habitat for Humanity: envisioning a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Related Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library (SL) SLurl
• Seanchai Library (Kitely) URL
• Seanchai Library in this blog

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.

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

Sunday May 4th,13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Sign of the Four

Tea-time at Baker Street sees Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell open the pages of the second full-length novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, which was originally published under the title The Sign of the Four; or The Problem of the Sholtos, and later abbreviated to the name by which we know it today: The Sign of the Four. (also sometimes abbreviated to The Sign of Four).

In 1888, Mary Morstan comes to Sherlock Holmes seeking his assistance in two matters. The first is with regards to her father. Having returned safely from India in 1878, Captain Arthur Morstan had arranged to meet his daughter at the Langham Hotel, London – but he had vanished from the hotel prior to her arrival, and no trace of his whereabouts has ever been discovered.

The second relates to a series of pearls she has received, at the rate of one a year, every year, from 1882 onwards. The pearls started arriving after she had responded to a strange newspaper advert inquiring for her, and the last one had come with a letter, indicating she had somehow been wronged, the sender asking to meet with her.

Holmes discovers that the pearls started arriving shortly after the death of a Major Sholto, who served with Arthur Morstan in India, and he is convinced there is a connection between the two men which involves an Indian fortress, names of three Sikhs and a man by the name of Jonathan Small.

If that weren’t enough, it then appears everything may be bound up by a certain treasure which may have led to murder and betrayal.

 

Find out more by joining Cale, Kayden and Corwyn.

Monday May 5th, 19:00: Mimsy Were the Borogoves

Gyro Muggins reads this 1943 sci-fi short by Lewis Padgett (otherwise known as the husband-and-wife team of Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.

In the far-flung future, a post-human scientist uses a time machine to send two boxes of educational toys into the past in the hope of helping to save his race. The first arrives in 1942, where it is found by a young brother and sister, Scott and Emma Paradine. The second travels back to nineteenth century England, where it is found by Alice Liddell. And so through the writings of one Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the world is introduced to the Jabberwocky, and the Paradine children find the means to perhaps save that distant future civilisation …

Tuesday May 6th, 19:00: Good Poems

With Kayden OConnell.

Wednesday May 7th, 19:00: Flora and Ulysses

Kate DiCamillo’s second novel to win a prestigious Newbery Award (the first being The Tales of Despereaux in 2004), is at its heart, a comic superhero tale.

“The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him.

“What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.”

Join Caladonia as she continues to chart this lighthearted tale of eccentric, endearing characters, engaging illustrated by K. G Campbell.

Thursday May 8th

19:00: Cerebus

“Cerberus is a three-headed dog born to monstrous parents, who experiences many adventures, culminating in a tragic journey into the Underworld. It is here that Hades, ruler of that kingdom, determines to keep Cerberus as his sentinel at the Gates of Hell. The three-headed dog ventures into this perilous trap in his quest for the little girl he loves, who has been ruthlessly stolen from him by death. It is in Tartarus that Cerberus finally finds her and where he meets his greatest challenge.  “Here is the stirring tale of friendship, cunning, and treachery within the turbulent world of myth occupied by heroes, gods, and monsters.”

With Shandon Loring.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore.

—–

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 May-June is Habitat for Humanity: envisioning a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Related Links

• Seanchai Library (SL) blog
• Seanchai Library (SL) SLurl
• Seanchai Library (Kitely) URL
• Seanchai Library in this blog