From the Library: 'Tis The Victorian Season - and the Goons!

Today, Elrik Merlin presents a programme of Victorian music, including seasonal items ranging from carols played on hand-bells, musical boxes and pipe organs to familiar choral and concert works of the period. And then we have a special programme for you: a Goon Show from 1959.

The image shown here is what is generally regarded as the first Christmas card, produced for Mr Henry Cole in 1843 by John Halsey of Torquay, in south-west England. Mr Cole had apparently left himself without enough time to write a personal seasonal greeting to his friends and relations and as a result commissioned the card. As was often the case at the time, there is a moral to the art: the centre panel shows the well-to-do celebrating Christmas while on either side we see the poor being fed and clothed, reminding recipients that the season was one in which, in the depths of winter, the less-well-off should be remembered particularly.

Radio Drama Today!

At 11am and 7pm Pacific (19:00 and 03:00 GMT) we'll be continuing our two exciting new adventure serials in The ZBS Radio Hour: at the top of the hour, it's another Jack Flanders adventure: Dreams of Rio; followed half an hour later by Ruby 4 Part I: The Moons of Sonto Lore. Tune in!

And then at 1pm and 9pm Pacific (21:00 and 05:00 GMT) we have a special treat for you: we'll be going back to the roots of modern British comedy and presenting a seasonal episode of the Goon Show, first broadcast over 60 years ago, with a hilarious script by Spike Milligan. This show runs for 30 minutes.

Season's greetings to our listeners and sponsors from all of us at gullar sahir! Thank you for your support throughout the year.

Today's programme is presented by Elrik Merlin and produced by gullar sahir in conjunction with our friends at the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme in-world now at http://main.radioriel.org, or simply click here to start your player, if your browser is configured to do so. Listeners in the United States are encouraged to tune in using this link: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-riel/tune_in

For more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit the Alexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.