SUNDAY July 23rd at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes Continues

The Great Detective continues his triumphal return to the Seanchai Fireside room as THE CASE BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1927) continues, this week: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

A precious diamond, a wax bust, a surly nobleman and a boxer.  What could they all have in common, and how will Holmes untangle the sticky web of intrigue around the Mazarin Stone?

Presented live in voice in the Fireside Room (downstairs)

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

***
 @6 pm: MAGICLAND STORYTIME: "Beauty and The Beast" Caledonia at the Golden Horseshoe in Magicland Park.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bracket/180/56/31

SUNDAY, July 16th: TEA TIME at Baker Street & More!

At 1:30pm - THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES continues in the Fireside Room.  Corwyn Allen,
John Morland, Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.

THIS WEEK: The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

In January 1903, at Baker Street, James M. Dodd sees Holmes about a missing friend, Godfrey Emsworth. Dodd and Emsworth served together in the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa during the Second Boer War, which has only just ended. Emsworth was wounded during this war. Dodd has not seen him since the report of his injury, and "not a word for six months and more". Since Emsworth has always been such a good friend, Dodd believes something is amiss.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

***

 At 3 pm: STORIES AT THE PARK  Join Caledonia Skytower, Crap Mariner, and Trolley Trollop for original stories and poems created for the current exhibition on Art Hill, at Holly Kai Park. 

Live in voice.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/228/139/22

SUNDAY, July 9th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street Returns

Have you missed him?  Conan-Doyle's "Great Detective."  While we have been involving ourselves with moves, Fantasy Faires, and Other Detectives, Sherlock Holmes has been taking a break.  Now he's back with THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, in a brand new series of adventures we have not presented in over three years.

THIS WEEK: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.

Sir James Damery comes to see Holmes and Watson about his illustrious client's problem (the client's identity is never revealed to the reader, although Watson finds out at the end of the story). General de Merville's young daughter Violet has fallen in love with the roguish and sadistic Austrian Baron Adelbert Gruner, whom Damery and Holmes are convinced is a shameless philanderer and a murderer. The victim was his last wife, of whose murder he was acquitted owing to a legal technicality and a witness's untimely death.

How will Holmes dissuade a woman in love, where others (including her father) have failed.

Join us in the Fireside Room as we launch a new series of Holmesian adventures, live in voice.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

***

@ 6pm - MAGICLAND STORYTIME: The Wind in the Willows continues live, on stage at the Golden Horseshoe with Caledonia. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bracket/180/56/31

SUNDAY JUNE 11th: A WONDERFUL DAY FOR STORIES!

We have two unique sessions today, so step right up!

~ 1:30pm THE THIN MAN Concludes
At Seanchai Library's Fireside Room at Bradley University
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

New York, 1932. Nick Charles, a retired west coast private detective, and his wealthy socialite wife, are in the Big Apple for Christmas. They enjoy witty repartee and banter with one another, and Nora is every inch Nick’s match in wit and intelligence.

Things change when Nick is visited by Dorothy Wynant, the daughter of a former client, businessman Clyde Wynant, who has apparently vanished ahead of his daughter’s wedding. Nick reluctantly – and to Nora’s amusement – agrees to find the missing businessman (the titular Thin Man). But what starts as a search for a missing man quickly turns into the hunt for a murderer after Wynant’s secretary is found dead, with all the evidence points to Wynant himself as her killer.

Corwyn Allen, John Morland, Kayden Oconnell, and Caledonia Skytower conclude Dashell Hammett’s 1933 classic, which became the first in a series of films following Nick and Nora’s adventures, as played by the inimitable William Powell and Myrna Loy.

~ 3:00pm "THE CURIO" at KULTIVATE MAGAZINE'S ANNIVERSARY 

On site at "The Curio" Sculpture, at the Celebration on Water Haven

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Water%20Haven/167/42/21

Caledonia Skytower joins Eleseren Brianna with A dyptic of tales based on Ms. Brianna's 2016 virtual sculpture, "The Curio".

When Eleseren created the statue last fall, she  also write a story about "The Curio" in which some 19th Century vacationers come upon its compelling presence deep in the Scandinavian wilderness.  Her story was very much one of observation and supposition, done in the format of a 19th C diary.  She asked Caledonia to consider creating a story from the sculpture's point of view.  And that resulted in the short story "Eternity's Test".  The two stories have only been read together once, and never in the presence of the towering sculpture itself ... until now!

SUNDAY, May 28th at 1:30pm : TEA TIME MYSTERIES "The Thin Man" Continues

Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man continues!

This week we have a full house as the stakes get higher, and more confusing in pursuit of Julia Wolf's killer.  Sometimes, it's hard to remember what crime is which.  Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland, and Caledonia Skytower present.

Having trouble following the characters various?  Use this list as a handy guide:

Nick Charles: the narrator, a onetime detective, now a lumberman. Humorous, self-possessed, tough, and intelligent, he discovers clues, arranges them, makes deductions, and solves the murders. He then summarizes the whole solution for his admiring wife, Nora.

Nora Charles: Nick’s wife, a woman with a well-developed sense of humor, who finds him fascinating.

Clyde Wynant, the Thin Man: a wealthy, eccentric inventor, once a client of Nick.

Mimi Jorgenson: Clyde’s former wife, a showy blond.

Julia Wolf: Clyde Wynant’s secretary, who is murdered.

Dorothy Wynant: Mimi and Clyde’s daughter, a small, attractive blonde who dislikes her family and who asks Nick to locate her missing father.

Gilbert Wynant: Dorothy’s brother, an odd, extremely inquisitive young man.

Christian Jorgenson, formerly called Kelterman: Wynant’s former associate who, feeling unfairly treated, breaks with him. Although he already has a wife in Boston, Jorgenson bigamously marries Mimi to get his hands on the large divorce settlement Wynant provides for her. Temporarily suspected of Julia’s murder, he finally returns to his legal wife in Boston.

Herbert Macaulay: Clyde’s thieving attorney.

Shep Morelli: a gangster and former friend of Julia who thinks Nick knows what happened to her.

Arthur Nunheim: a former convict who identified Julia’s body.

Guild: a detective.

Harrison Quinn: Nick’s friend.

Live in voice.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

SUNDAY, March 5th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME Mysteries!

THIS WEEK: featuring Dame Agatha Christie

Four and Twenty Black Birds: Poirot is eating out with a friend, Henry, and the conversation turns to people's habits. Henry eats regularly in the restaurant that they are in and he points out a white-bearded man as evidence of his theories. This bearded man eats the same meal there on Wednesday and Saturday and always orders much the same items as part of his three-course meal. The waitress brings their meals and sees Henry staring at the bearded man. She tells him that except the previous week he also came in on Monday and ordered things he'd never ordered before. Poirot's curiosity is piqued.

Wasps' Nest: Poirot visits an old friend, this time in the hopes of preventing a murder. But whose?

Live in voice, with Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland and Caledonia Skytower.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

SUNDAY, February 26th: TEA TIME MYSTERIES "Red Wind" Concludes

THIS WEEK: featuring Raymond Chandler

The author uses the madness legendarily induced by California's Santa Ana winds, and a string of pearls, to spin a classic story of love, betrayal, and murder all in the classic style of hard-boiled detective Phillip Marlowe.

Chandler's RED WIND concludes today, with Part 3, live in voice, with Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland and Caledonia Skytower.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

SUNDAY, February 19th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME Mysteries Continues

Humphrey Bogart as Raymond Chandler's signature detective, Phillip Marlowe

"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."       ~ RED WIND, by Raymond Chandler

Possessing one of the most lauded and beloved opening paragraphs in noir-detective fiction, Raymond Chandler introduces Phillip Marlowe, who would become his signature detective.

Chandler's RED WIND continues today, with Part 2 of 3, live in voice, with Kayden Oconnell, John Morland and Caledonia Skytower.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

SUNDAY, February 12th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME MYSTERIES!

A new iteration of Tea Time begins: 
TEA TIME MYSTERIES!
Everything non-Holmesian from Christie to Hamett, classic sleuthing to hard boiled detectives of the noir-ish hue.

THIS WEEK FEATURING: Raymond Chandler
One short story and the beginning of a longer adventure:

I'll Be Waiting.  The shortest of Chandler’s stories; it is also the first—and only—one published in a “slick” magazine. Nearly all his previous works of short fiction had been published in the pulps Black Mask and Dime Detective, but Chandler wrote one for the Saturday Evening Post at the behest of his agent and was motivated primarily by the money such magazines paid. 

Red Wind - (begins, to be continued next week). A favorite of many Raymond Chandler fans, Red Wind sports a memorable first paragraph the set the evocative worlds of the noir tale. Chandler maintains the wind motif throughout the story. Throughout the mayhem Philip Marlowe solves a murder and tries to track down some missing pearls.

Live in voice.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15TH at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street ~ Kinda!

Image by achamplin from Deviant Art

We continue our post Virtual Baker Street withdrawal therapy at the hands of a contemporary master, Neil Gaiman.  THIS WEEK: A Study In Emerald.

The story is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche transferred to the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. It won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. The title is a reference to the Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet. "A Study in Emerald" first appeared in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street, a collection of stories combining the worlds of Arthur Conan Doyle and H. P. Lovecraft; it has subsequently been available as part of Gaiman's short story collection Fragile Things, in the collection New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, and is available online. The online version takes the form of a Victorian periodical or newspaper, which includes various advertisements that reference characters such as Vlad Tepes, Victor Frankenstein, Spring Heeled Jack, and Dr. Jekyll.

Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland, and Caledonia Skytower, Live in voice.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

SUNDAY, January 8th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME Returns!

Wow!  It's been almost a year since we were last in the Fireside Room.  The 221B Lounge has been packed up and tucked away in Caledonia's inventory.  While we are relieved, we are also kind of going through withdrawal.

Fortunately, we've engaged some superior literature therapy thanks to the brilliant Neil Gaiman.  Today we pay tribute to the Baker Street Build with Gaiman's THE CASE OF DEATH AND HONEY, followed by a tongue-and-cheek nod to the upcoming "Tea Time Mysteries Series" with THE CASE OF FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS.

Kayden Oconnell, John Morland, and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice in the Seanchai Library Fireside Room.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/101/208/28

TEA TIME & STORIES: Sunday, November 20th

@ 1:30pm TEA TIME at Baker Street 
continues at the University of Washington iSchool: THE SIGN OF FOUR. 

While the police wrongly take Thaddeus Sholto in as a suspect, Holmes deduces that there are two persons involved in the murder: a one-legged man, Jonathan Small, as well as another "small" accomplice. He traces them to a boat landing where Small has hired a steam launch named the Aurora. With the help of dog Toby, the Baker Street Irregulars, and his own disguise, Holmes traces the steam launch.

Kayden Oconnel, John Morland, and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.

CLICK HERE for slurl



@ 3pm STORIES AT THE PARK 

Another round of Original Stories and Poetry inspired by works of visual art currently in exhibition at Holly Kai Park.  

This exhibit includes the works of:  Sheba Blitz, Maxi Daviau and Skinnynilla, Terrygold and Sorcha Tyles. 

CLICK HERE for slurl

SUNDAY, November 13th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street!

TEA TIME at Baker Street continues at the University of Washington iSchool: THE SIGN OF FOUR. 

Arriving at Pondicherry Lodge, things are not all as they might be.  Bartholomew Sholto is found dead from a poison dart and the treasure is missing. While the police wrongly take his brother Thaddeus in as a suspect, Holmes deduces that there are two persons involved in the murder: a one-legged man, Jonathan Small, as well as another "small" accomplice. He seeks out the two men with the help of dog Toby that he sends Watson to collect from a Mr Sherman, the Baker Street Irregulars, and his own disguise.  Will he find them?  Well, you know his methods!

Kayden Oconnel, John Morland, and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.

CLICK HERE for slurl

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6th @ 1:30pm: "TEA TIME at Baker Street" Resumes

TEA TIME at Baker Street resumes with our final series at the University of Washington iSchool: THE SIGN OF FOUR. 

The story is set in 1888. The Sign of the Four has a complex plot involving service in East India Company, India, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts ("the Four" of the title) and two corrupt prison guards. It presents the detective's drug habit and humanizes him in a way that had not been done in the preceding novel, A Study in Scarlet (1887). It also introduces Doctor Watson's future wife, Mary Morstan.

The novel first appeared in the February 1890 edition of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine as The Sign of the Four; or The Problem of the Sholtos (five-word title), appearing in both London and Philadelphia. The British edition of the magazine originally sold for a shilling, and the American for 25 cents. Surviving copies are now worth several thousand dollars.

Kayden Oconnel, John Morland, and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.

CLICK HERE for slurl

SUNDAY, October 9th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street!

On we go with TEA TIME'S residency at the University of Washington iSchool campus in Second Life!

Before we take a brief TEA TIME hiatus to fully engage with the Halloween season, we pause a moment this week to laugh.  No, seriously, we mean it!  You wouldn't think that prominent authors with popular canons like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would poke fun at their creations, but they did!
Today we share some shorter works from both the classic and adaptive canons, where in the authors "take the Mickey" out of The Great Detective.

Corwyn, John, and Caledonia, live in voice.

Sunday, October 2nd at 1:30pm: THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES Concludes

This series concludes at Tea Time's residency at the University of Washington iSchool in SL.  THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES concludes, with Corwyn, Kayden, John, and Caledonia. 

Holmes and Watson are closing in on a fiendishly evil plot for murder.  Will they be in time?   Join us at the 221B Lounge, for the thrilling conclusion.

CLICK HERE for slurl

SUNDAY, September 11th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street!

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES continues at Tea Time's summer digs at the University of Washington iSchool in SL.  

Holmes has dispatched Watson to accompany Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall.

Barrymore and his wife wish to leave the estate soon. Watson hears a woman crying in the night; it is obvious to him that it was Mrs. Barrymore, but her husband denies it. Watson has no proof that Barrymore was in Devon on the day of the chase in London. He meets a brother and sister who live nearby: Mr. Stapleton, a naturalist, and the beautiful Miss Stapleton. When an animalistic sound is heard, Stapleton is quick to dismiss it as unrelated to the legendary hound. When her brother is out of earshot, Miss Stapleton mistakes Watson for Sir Henry and warns him to leave. New and intriguing characters, along with mystery stacked on mystery - this week.

Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.
CLICK HERE for slurl

SUNDAY, September 4th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street!

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES continues at Tea Time's summer digs at the University of Washington iSchool in SL.  

Intrigued, Holmes meets with Sir Henry, newly arrived from Canada. Sir Henry has received an anonymous note, cut and pasted from newsprint, warning him away from the moors, and one of his new boots is inexplicably missing from his London hotel room. The Baskerville family is discussed: Sir Charles was the eldest of three brothers; the youngest, black sheep Rodger, is believed to have died childless in South America, while Sir Henry is the only child of the middle brother. Sir Henry plans to go to Baskerville Hall, despite the ominous warning message. Holmes and Dr. Watson follow him from Holmes's Baker Street apartment back to his hotel and notice a bearded man following him in a cab; they pursue the man, but he escapes. Mortimer tells them that Mr. Barrymore, the servant at Baskerville Hall, has a beard. Sir Henry's boot reappears, but an older one vanishes.

Holmes dispatches Watson to accompany Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall. They learn that an escaped murderer named Selden is believed to be in the area.

Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.
CLICK HERE for slurl

SUNDAY, August 28th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street!

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES begins at Tea Time's summer digs at the University of Washington iSchool in SL.  

Dr. James Mortimer asks Sherlock Holmes to investigate the death of his friend, Sir Charles Baskerville. Sir Charles died at his Devonshire estate, Baskerville Hall, and Mortimer now fears for Sir Charles's nephew and sole heir, Sir Henry Baskerville. The death was attributed to a heart attack, but Mortimer is suspicious, because Sir Charles died with an expression of horror on his face, and Mortimer noticed "the footprints of a gigantic hound" nearby.  Intrigued, Holmes meets with Sir Henry, newly arrived from Canada. Sir Henry has received an anonymous note, cut and pasted from newsprint, warning him away from the moors.

The Baskerville family has supposedly been under a curse since the era of the English Civil War, when Hugo Baskerville offered his soul to the devil for help in abducting a woman and was reportedly killed by a giant spectral hound. Sir Charles believed in the curse and was apparently running away from something when he died. Could it have been the legendary spectral hound?

Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.
CLICK HERE for slurl

SUNDAY, August 21st at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street!

HIS LAST BOW: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes continues at Tea Time's summer digs at the University of Washington iSchool in SL.  THIS WEEK: "His Last Bow: A Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes." 

On the eve of the First World War, the German agent Von Bork is getting ready to leave England with his vast collection of intelligence, gathered over a four-year period. His wife and household have already left Harwich for Flushing in the Netherlands, leaving only him and his elderly housekeeper. Von Bork's associate, Baron von Herling, is impressed by his acquisition of vital British military secrets, and tells Von Bork that he will be received in Berlin as a hero. Von Bork says that he is waiting for one last transaction with his Irish-American informant, Altamont, who will arrive shortly with a rich treasure: naval signals. And where does Holmes play into this?  Join us and find out.

Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, John Morland and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.
CLICK HERE for slurl