"From whom do I need a hug?"
Dec. 13th, 2005 12:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bnewmanwas the primary theme of this year's Philcon filk program.
Sure, I invited![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
catsittingstill because she's written great songs based on the work of David Weber, who was Philcon's principal speaker. And, when it looked for a while like Cat might not be able to attend, I invited ladymondegreen, batyatoon and storychaser in part because I knew they would be able to arrange covers of those songs. And, of course, "Who's good who lives close enough to get here but hasn't been heard in this neck of the woods for a while?" is always the primary theme of a regional con's filk program, with "Who said that they're coming and would like to give a concert?" a close second.
But I have to admit that I invited the particular people mentioned above because they are wonderful, good friends whom I don't get to see nearly often enough. (Of course, I did not get what is usually called a "hug" frombatyatoon, but that's a minor detail, especially between people who can fry each other's brains with a few well-chosen words.)
Highlights of this weekend:
Meetingbatshua in person for the first time, not to mention introducing her (by email) to ladymondegreen and batyatoon — I wish I could have been there for Shabbat, but, even before being delayed, I arranged my travel so I wouldn't have to miss classes. I made kiddush over a cup of hot tea at the Legal Seafoods in the terminal at BOS. Best fried fish fillet sandwich ever. It was that point in the waiting for a delayed flight when there is no more worry, just waiting, and I was actually able to get some Shabbosness in.
Seeingfiddledragon, ccomack, sinsofthedove, crystalpyramid, and tirerim again. I miss you all. Unfortunately, there was not much seeing of eclectic_boy, because he got sick and had to go home. I miss you too. I'll see you in January.
Dinner at Kingdom of Vegetarians with most of the aforementioned people. Remembering that there is a Chinese restaurant near the Philcon hotel at whichbatyatoon and ladymondegreen can eat. Getting a table for 12 there (okay, 3 adjacent tables for 4) without a reservation, because, while I suggested that people arrive there at a certain time, I refused to actually organize because I was busy enough running the filk program.
Tom Rhoads, founding member of the band Broadside Electric, which really should be better known among filkers — what other band has an electric klezmer arrangement of "With Her Head Tucked Underneath her Arm"? — bringing Walter Smith, Haverford physics professor and keeper of www.physicssongs.org to the "Teaching Science in Song" theme circle.
Doing what I call "hazelnut surprise" forcatsittingstill. What is hazelnut surprise? Well, near the end of a certain song of catsittingstill's, there are a few simple, imperative sentences. One refers to a habit most of us are already in, and, as for the other, it's easy enough... I suppose I can no longer call it a "surprise", and it'll have to just be "that hazelnut song-ritual-snack-thing". And yes, I decided to develop a taste for hazelnuts after hearing that song for the first time at the last OVFF I was at (the one before the CD came out).
Introducing David Weber's GoH speech by singing "No Quarter" en masse. I had planned to do this as a flash-mob thing during the 5-minute break between program items, but the GoH speeches were in the back section of the divided ballroom, not near the foyer, and the artist GoH ran a bit over, leaving no break. However,catsittingstill asked David if we could, and he enthusiastically agreed. If I ever try something like that again, though, I will give more thought to crowd control.
Being in the filk room for a wonderful, tender hour or so which can only be described as a "neo initiation". Did you know, there is a certain rare nectar which drips out of the ears of filk neos the first time they hear certain songs? Filkers must occasionally partake of this nectar in order to survive. "We're not going to hurt you, we just want to drain your living essence." (I am so going to get a song out of this concept.) I wish I remembered her name, but her reaction to "When I Was a Boy" will keep us in quality nectar for some time. She sang "Danny Boy", after asking if it was appropriate to the venue and getting the (stock, correct) answer "of course". Only afterwards did I think to mention that "Danny Boy" must be filk becausefilkertom has recorded it.
Filking all night withccommack and then helping him write a song about Snow Crash, which will be revealed when it is finished. It will hurt your brain. (Is a song really about Snow Crash if it doesn't hurt your brain?) Declining an invitation to play a game with the line, "We'd love to, but we haven't slept all night and we're trying to write a wassail about Snow Crash." Even better, the person I said that to being Eric S. Raymond.
Speaking of Snow Crash,ccommack pretty well snow-crashed when partiallyclips rhymed "expandeth" and "bandwidth" in an essentially perfect Kermit-the-frog vocal impression (in a parody of "Rainbow Connection", of course). Man, can partiallyclips shtick!
Right, so I had a really great time, although I wish I had been able to be more emotionally present, and to catch more of the programming that I wasn't running. And now, to homework and bed.
Sure, I invited
catsittingstill because she's written great songs based on the work of David Weber, who was Philcon's principal speaker. And, when it looked for a while like Cat might not be able to attend, I invited ladymondegreen, batyatoon and storychaser in part because I knew they would be able to arrange covers of those songs. And, of course, "Who's good who lives close enough to get here but hasn't been heard in this neck of the woods for a while?" is always the primary theme of a regional con's filk program, with "Who said that they're coming and would like to give a concert?" a close second.But I have to admit that I invited the particular people mentioned above because they are wonderful, good friends whom I don't get to see nearly often enough. (Of course, I did not get what is usually called a "hug" from
batyatoon, but that's a minor detail, especially between people who can fry each other's brains with a few well-chosen words.)Highlights of this weekend:
Meeting
batshua in person for the first time, not to mention introducing her (by email) to ladymondegreen and batyatoon — I wish I could have been there for Shabbat, but, even before being delayed, I arranged my travel so I wouldn't have to miss classes. I made kiddush over a cup of hot tea at the Legal Seafoods in the terminal at BOS. Best fried fish fillet sandwich ever. It was that point in the waiting for a delayed flight when there is no more worry, just waiting, and I was actually able to get some Shabbosness in.Seeing
fiddledragon, ccomack, sinsofthedove, crystalpyramid, and tirerim again. I miss you all. Unfortunately, there was not much seeing of eclectic_boy, because he got sick and had to go home. I miss you too. I'll see you in January.Dinner at Kingdom of Vegetarians with most of the aforementioned people. Remembering that there is a Chinese restaurant near the Philcon hotel at which
batyatoon and ladymondegreen can eat. Getting a table for 12 there (okay, 3 adjacent tables for 4) without a reservation, because, while I suggested that people arrive there at a certain time, I refused to actually organize because I was busy enough running the filk program.Tom Rhoads, founding member of the band Broadside Electric, which really should be better known among filkers — what other band has an electric klezmer arrangement of "With Her Head Tucked Underneath her Arm"? — bringing Walter Smith, Haverford physics professor and keeper of www.physicssongs.org to the "Teaching Science in Song" theme circle.
Doing what I call "hazelnut surprise" for
catsittingstill. What is hazelnut surprise? Well, near the end of a certain song of catsittingstill's, there are a few simple, imperative sentences. One refers to a habit most of us are already in, and, as for the other, it's easy enough... I suppose I can no longer call it a "surprise", and it'll have to just be "that hazelnut song-ritual-snack-thing". And yes, I decided to develop a taste for hazelnuts after hearing that song for the first time at the last OVFF I was at (the one before the CD came out).Introducing David Weber's GoH speech by singing "No Quarter" en masse. I had planned to do this as a flash-mob thing during the 5-minute break between program items, but the GoH speeches were in the back section of the divided ballroom, not near the foyer, and the artist GoH ran a bit over, leaving no break. However,
catsittingstill asked David if we could, and he enthusiastically agreed. If I ever try something like that again, though, I will give more thought to crowd control.Being in the filk room for a wonderful, tender hour or so which can only be described as a "neo initiation". Did you know, there is a certain rare nectar which drips out of the ears of filk neos the first time they hear certain songs? Filkers must occasionally partake of this nectar in order to survive. "We're not going to hurt you, we just want to drain your living essence." (I am so going to get a song out of this concept.) I wish I remembered her name, but her reaction to "When I Was a Boy" will keep us in quality nectar for some time. She sang "Danny Boy", after asking if it was appropriate to the venue and getting the (stock, correct) answer "of course". Only afterwards did I think to mention that "Danny Boy" must be filk because
filkertom has recorded it.Filking all night with
ccommack and then helping him write a song about Snow Crash, which will be revealed when it is finished. It will hurt your brain. (Is a song really about Snow Crash if it doesn't hurt your brain?) Declining an invitation to play a game with the line, "We'd love to, but we haven't slept all night and we're trying to write a wassail about Snow Crash." Even better, the person I said that to being Eric S. Raymond.Speaking of Snow Crash,
ccommack pretty well snow-crashed when partiallyclips rhymed "expandeth" and "bandwidth" in an essentially perfect Kermit-the-frog vocal impression (in a parody of "Rainbow Connection", of course). Man, can partiallyclips shtick!Right, so I had a really great time, although I wish I had been able to be more emotionally present, and to catch more of the programming that I wasn't running. And now, to homework and bed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 07:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 02:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 03:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 03:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 04:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 04:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 04:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 04:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 09:13 pm (UTC)*beams*
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 09:56 pm (UTC)I'm totally not kidding about brain-frying standing in for touch in our friendship.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 10:03 pm (UTC)...it would be bad if I started carrying that thought to its logical conclusion, wouldn't it.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-14 04:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-14 04:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-14 07:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-13 11:34 pm (UTC)Haha! I heard him do that song at OVFF this year; it was amazing!
neo filker...
Date: 2005-12-14 02:37 pm (UTC)The Crumhorn (however its spelled correctly) did get recorded fairly well (from what I heard in the post con spot check) along with a few of the other songs from the neo filk song part.
I really need to get a omni directional microphone for filk rooms...
Thank you for the Hazel Nuts and a fun filk track.
Harold S.
Re: neo filker...
Date: 2005-12-16 03:45 am (UTC)Doctor.... WHO????
Date: 2005-12-16 04:08 am (UTC)Who, me? or rather, who me? Look at my icon. That's Loiosh. Think of him on a shoulder. Think of the face connected to the shoulder. That's my face.
bed... time... now..... bed.... time.... halfhourago
Re: Doctor.... WHO????
Date: 2005-12-16 04:09 am (UTC)Re: Doctor.... WHO????
Date: 2005-12-16 06:13 am (UTC)I don't know everyone's policy on having their real name publicly linked to their livejournal username, so I didn't spell them out here. Most of the people you couldn't identify are friends from Swarthmore or Bryn Mawr, but
Did I mention a Noda? There is a Noda, whom you do know, and who is in fact among the people you mentioned, but I don't believe I mention him except by his username in this entry.
Re: Doctor.... WHO????
Date: 2005-12-16 02:10 pm (UTC)