GaFilk Con Report and stuff

[catsittingstill]

My back is gradually getting better, I think. We had company over yesterday and I spent much of the day cleaning house, and I *could* do that without having to lie down all the time.

Today I don't feel as well though. I took the day off and puttered about the house, doing dishes and laundry and practicing my mandolin and the Galacticon setlist and so on. My back goes through good and bad times--I've spent several hours lying on the floor. I did finish the GaFilk Con Report, though, as best I can remember at this late date.


Cat's Con Report for GaFilk

First off, let me say that GaFilk is a great con and I had a wonderful time--thanks very much to autographedcat for reminding me that it lies in easy reach since I moved to Tennessee, and for offering Echo's Children (me and Callie) comped memberships. And thanks very much to the con committee and volunteers who put so much effort into the con this year. And thanks to Spiritdance and Filker0 for the ride and letting me share a room Thursday night.

Thursday:
My back had been getting worse and worse for a while, and at work Thursday I realized my right foot was starting to feel funny. Kind of go-to-sleep tingly and numb. I found that pretty scary--I've had a herniated disc before and back surgery is no fun. But I was riding to the con with spiritdance and braider, and spiritdance had told me I could lie down in the van, which I knew would help a lot. It would surely be after the weekend before I could see a doctor no matter what I did, so I decided to go ahead.

After work I drove down to the airport (a location spiritdance could find easily, and one where I could leave my car for a few days without worrying it might get towed), and went to the baggage claim to wait for spiritdance and braider. They'd been held up a bit by snow and ice coming through Kentucky, and I was starting to worry when braider came striding through the door.

They packed me and my stuff into the car, me with my precious, if cosmetically damaged (remember, I walked into a counter with it) mp3 recorder tucked into my pocket for use at the con. Careful arrangement of the front seat and my back pillow made me as comfortable as possible, and we pulled out again.

The drive down was a lot of fun. We talked, and sang along with the CD player and with each other. Braider got my mandolin out for me and we sang through Dulcimer Dance several times. Braider played several traditional pieces and at least one that she'd written herself, called Spirit of the House, that I really want the tune to (hint, hint, Braider). I played Ice On The Road in a propitiatory spirit, to ward off any more bad weather. And because it was the most recent thing I'd been working on with my mando lessons.

When we arrived at the con I was kind of hurting and basically went straight to the room Spiritdance, Filker0, Khaosworks and I would be sharing for the night to lie down. We had some great pre-con music which I captured on mp3--Filker0 sang Caledonia (alas I had the wrong settings for it and the recording didn't come out but what a beautiful song! Maybe next time we're together I can persuade him and Spiritdance to sing it for me again) and his lullabye about demons in the bed and Khaosworks sang a great song he wrote about Captain Jack Sparrow. We worried about whether Callie would make it to the con, since the Portland airport was completely shut down with snow and ice. Portland doesn't get much of that kind of weather and isn't really prepared for it. Spiritdance gave me a nice warm blue-green-purple scarf she'd crocheted herself, which was very useful throughout the con, and to this day; I'm wearing it as I type, as a matter of fact.

Friday:
The morning started slow for me. My back felt somewhat better after a night's rest, but I still didn't feel like being on my feet for any length of time, so I decided to stay in bed. I told Spiritdance mournfully that I really should have brought a book, and she showed me how her new Palm Pilot had e-books on it. What a clever little item! I've seen Palm Pilots before but never really got a chance to examine one. She left it by the bed for me to read if I got bored--but it turned out spending so much time lying down meant that I found myself catching up on my sleep in an unscheduled way, which was okay too.

In the afternoon I got up and limped downstairs to register, got the songbook and the program book, and found a place to lie down--which turned out to be right next to Bill Sutton who was setting up sound equipment, and Howie Harrison. I'd never met Howie before and was a little disconcerted when he kept looking at me from different angles and saying things like "yep, she's beautiful from this angle too." He pretty much kept that up whenever we met throughout the con.

I also spent some time with Braider and TNATJ--Braider was putting on nail polish to match a dress she'd got specially for opening ceremonies, and TNATJ was playing his dulcimer. He let me rest my head on his padded dulcimer bag while he wasn't using it. :-) It was at this point that I discovered that in my efforts to produce a pretty ink version of the sheet music for Dulcimer Dance I'd neglected to add tiny details like the key signature. Quadrivium must have looked at it and said "Hmm, D dorian; don't see that every day. Cool." So it's in D dorian in the con songbook (and it can be done that way--it doesn't sound bad, just different) but I do it in D major. Oops.

Somewhere in there I transferred rooms, to share with Blake, and Callie, who sent word she was coming via Seattle.

Callie turned up in good time to make opening ceremonies, which turned out to be a sort of New Years party. Complete with all the verses of Auld Lang Syne, which I will study for next year :-) I found a spot in the back where I could lie on the floor, as out of the way as I could manage. Persis gave me some sparkling cider to toast with, which I did, under the chairs where no one could see. There were a multitude of fancy dresses present, including Braider's and LadyATs, and Persis's and in general I just wished I had a camera, because rarely have I seen so many people looking so fine.

This was followed by Chris Conway's concert and Nate and Louis Bucklin's concert. I'd never heard them before, and really enjoyed it, though I wound up draping the scarf strategically around myself--that function room had a cold floor. I was particularly impressed with Chris's "Alien Salad Abduction" and the alien jellyfish love song, and "My Baby Only Wears Green Clothes." Nate and Lois did some great songs--the one about "can't find my way off the chart" was a hoot, and "don't trust a river-man" was a great story. How did I miss these people so long? I laid my mp3 recorder out on the floor and it seemed to work pretty well. Not being able to see meant I did miss some nuances, though when Chris was playing two pennywhistles at once in Rainbow Real, I had to get up and peek over the chairs to find out what was going on. I could hear that *something* was but couldn't figure it out by ear alone.

At the open filking that followed I got to talk to Chris a bit, and to hear several new songs--I'm not precisely sure what happened at which open filking to tell you the truth. When I went through and christened all the songs from the con (because Voice00N is a little anonymous) I lost a lot of the song order. But somewhere in there I got Gwen's (Telynor's) version of Caledonia, and someone singing "a very good friend of the Czar was I" and Juanita singing about a persian maiden with...err...a wide acquaintance. And someone pointed out that it was nearly midnight and Howie would sing the birdie song. I had no idea what she was talking about, but the general rush for the door convinced me it might be worth checking it out.

Howie did indeed sing the Reincarnation song, and even funnier, told a series of stories of other times he'd sung the Reincarnation song, which captivated a packed filkroom for easily twenty minutes. Oh. Okay. So that's who Howie is--now I understand the fuss. He also sang another song he'd just written about how it felt to be invited to GaFilk. By now I had read the program book from cover to cover (a result of a lot of lying down and no book--but useful enough that I may make a habit of it) and I knew he'd been going through treatment for cancer and was not feeling his usual bouncy self. I got the impression from the song that he was worried that a slower quieter Howie would be a disappointment. As I was leaving for my original filkroom, Blake started playing "The Great Nebraska Sea" and I settled back down--I like that song a lot.

Shortly after this, I sang "The Parting Glass" and went to bed, wanting a softer spot than a floor.

Saturday:
I woke up early Saturday morning--or at least earlier than my roommates. Prying breakfast out of my food bags as quietly as possible I reread the program book in the spill of light from the bathroom door, and thought about the song Howie had sung the night before. Howie might think himself diminished, but nobody else seemed to think so. Surely there was a metaphor for this slowing down, this change of tempo, that could offer another way to perceive it. I started scribbling down ideas, sniffling to myself quietly.

I went to Howie's concert, there to discover that what I'd heard in the filking was typical--Howie is not just a musician but a storyteller as well. I think my favorite of his songs was "Song from Lacey's Kitchen" but I can't choose between his stories :-)

During Rand and Adam's Interfilk Guest concert I went over to the quilting room (which had sound from the concerts piped in so quilters wouldn't miss anything) and tried my hand at making a quilt square. For a while I could kneel at the table, then presently I had to lie down, which made sewing more challenging. Eventually I gave up on it about 80% through the top of the square. Sewing while lying sideways calls for a whole different set of muscles than I normally use for the task.

I limped back into the concert room and took up my chairs again for Mary Crowell's concert--gracious that woman can sing! By now word had spread about my back, and Becca Allen, a friend of Howie's who is also a chiropractor, came over to where I was lying on a line of chairs, and worked on my back a little, which did feel good. Callie found some ice to put on it afterward, too. People were in general very nice about helping where they could, and I do appreciate it. I asked--Spiritdance? Telynor? Someone handy who was planning a shopping trip to pick up some more ibuprofen for me because I was (horrors) running out, and she ran into Howie on the way out and Howie said (apparently) "oh don't spend her money" and gave her a whole bottle of his acetomenophin for me--apparently they throw handfulls of such bottles at his head when he shows up at the clinic, and he didn't mind sparing me one. Thanks very much Howie--it was very kind of you to give up your pain meds for me and I earnestly hope you didn't suffer as a result.

GaFilk has two by tens instead of one-shots. People sign up for a slot to do two songs, up to ten minutes total. The ones that stick out in my mind right now are Becca Allen's--she did a song starting "Yellow is the color of my true love's eyes" from a vampire's point of view, and Grant Livingston's --the song about freeways from an armadillo's point of view sticks with me. I heard somewhere that he's a professional musician lured into filk by the prospect of an audience that pays attention--but he certainly has a filker's twisted mindset. Bill and Gretchen Roper did a very funny one that I suspect is called "You Were Right." The verse about the deep fat fryer is particularly poignant. Blake Hodgetts did a couple of songs--one about Star Trek engineering-speak that I keep trying to sing along with and keep falling over my tongue, and his one about "174 years to go" that is also on his CD. Ben Newman also did a song about Lord of the Rings and one about Here Be Dragons. Callie and Blake and I also did a couple of songs somewhere in there, "Nuts From The Hazel Tree" and "How Far Back," marred somewhat by an uncooperative guitar and the fact that my ibuprofen had worn off. The audience seemed to like it anyway, which was nice. Someone whose name I didn't catch did one about the ills that computers are heir to. At one point I had to limp off to find the facilities, and I think that's when I met Lynne Gold's dog. I don't know very many dogs that go to cons, but Lady (? I hope I have her name right) seemed happy to be there. I was not in good enough shape to bend over and make Lady's proper acquaintance--perhaps some other time.

I put together dinner out of the food bags and had a nice rest in the room, but I'm sorry I missed the singing at the banquet--since Jodi and Mary were going to be part of it, I bet it was excellent. On the other hand, there was so much good singing at the con! I'm really glad I brought the recorder--even when I wasn't paying attention (I can only do that for so long) it was, and now I keep finding little musical surprises in the con recordings.

Presently I went down to Mich Sampson's concert. I'd never heard her before either. I'm sorry I couldn't see the stage--it was obvious from people's reactions that Things Happened. I enjoyed her concert, particularly her song about the grey ship that departs into the west, and the one that starts in the train station, and her erie lullabye. Unfortunately this was the one time my mp3 recorder let me down. I'm not sure if it was that I was at the back of a large audience or that the concert wasn't miked as high as the others, but my recordings all have kind of a muffled quality to them. I don't remember having any trouble hearing her at the time.

After Mich's concert was the Interfilk auction. Auctions aren't really my thing, and I had no money to speak of, so I wandered off. I know there was open filking that night; I know I went to it--but my memories are blurred and uncertain.

Sunday:
I showed Howie In Waltz Time to Callie, and she got an idea for a melody, which she kindly put on the mp3 recorder for me in case I couldn't get my own scraps and snatches of melody to weave together into a coherent whole. I was struck by how much the last line of her melody resembled what I'd been planning to use for the last line--as though the melody had been defined by the rhythm and temper of the words.

Ecumenifilk was a lot of fun--great songs and stories. I was particularly struck by Ben's song about The Holy Mountain (for the holy mountain could be anywhere), and by the Three Weird Sisters doing "My Karma Broke Down On The Road To Glory" ( which was stuck in my head for days thereafter, so approach with care!).

I stepped out after that, intending to work on Howie In Waltz Time and missed pretty much all the keyboards circle as a result, which was a great pity as I really wanted to hear more from Mary and Blake. But I finished the song, and recruited a bunch of other filkers to hear it, on the basis that a number of voices singing along on the chorus would cover a multitude of sins, and make it sound better than it was in case it wasn't so great. One of the filkers I recruited was Bill Sutton--who liked it so much he told me to sing it at Closing Ceremonies.

So one of the events at Closing Ceremonies was Echo's Children singing Howie In Waltz Time on stage. I neither fell down nor broke down (it's kind of sentimental) and that's pretty much all I remember about that. I hope we didn't embarrass Howie too much.

The Dead Dog Filk at the end of the con is everything people tell you it is and more. I heard as much great filk there as at the rest of the con combined. Well, okay, half as much. Well worth staying over Sunday night. I have some gems from that "Clay County Basketball Berserkers" "A Subtle Kind of Greatness" "The Thief's Lament" stories of the first moonshot, "I Was A College Radical" (note that these titles are frequently not the actual title because most people didn't announce song titles--they're just my short descriptive tags to remind me which is which). I got to hear Kip (not my husband) sing again, which I haven't heard since I was living in Texas nearly ten years ago. I got to hear Rika, (Bardling? I think?) who had come over from Germany. I got to hear LadyAT doing her song about "when did my mother slip inside of me" and Kathleen Sloan doing a dirge that starts "Please don't make me go to school today, Oh Mom, don't make me go to school."

Monday:
We packed, Callie and I got in a quick rehearsal in the hotel room, and we left, Callie to catch her plane (in the nick of time and thanks to Spiritdance for the timely lift) and me to bum around the hotel till Spiritdance came back. I had the good fortune to run into a bunch of filkers, Debbie and Jodi and Brenda and Bill and Rika (I think) and Chris Conway, who were finishing breakfast at the hotel restaurant. I'm always sorry to leave because I always wish I had more time to get to know people.

The drive back was fun too--this time I laid down in the back seat, carefully padded in with pillows and my new scarf, which made for a very comfortable ride. When we got back to the airport, Braider offered to drive me home while Spiritdance followed in the van if I needed, but it wasn't necessary, and I didn't want to take them an hour out of their way to take me home.

And the following day I saw the doctor. Just so you have closure on that :-)


For those who are interested, I include the lyrics to the new song here:


Howie In Waltz Time
lyrics and melody by Catherine Faber, 2004

(start in jigtime)
Here in the program I see they announce
He used to be Tigger, all sparkle and bounce.
The patter, the riffs made a splendid design, (change to waltz-time)
But Howie in waltz-time is perfectly fine.

(chorus)
Howie in waltz-time is fortune indeed
Just take it easy as long as you need.
Wrapped in good wishes, our hopes you fulfill,
For Howie in waltz time is joy's music still.

We hear that you hardly get out any more
Against the cold winter you've shut your front door.
The curtains are drawn; it is gathering night,
Yet Howie in waltz time is warmth, and is light.

Howie in waltz time is reason to show
A whole new technique when you're taking it slow;
More time lets the audience singing along
Find harmony lines that support the whole song.

Comments

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, but I think the song you tagged "I Was a College Radical" is The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Co-Ed by Dar Williams - does this fit what you remember?
http://members.limitless.org/~del/dar/mortalcity/pointlessyetpoignantcrisisofacoed.html

Anyhow, I'm glad you enjoyed the con - I knew you had to rest a lot and I was afraid it wasn't all it could have been for you. Did ACat make clear that you and Callie have ongoing comped memberships, as former Guests of Honor? I hope we see you next year - and I hope your back is better by then!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the one. Thanks!

I did enjoy the con, if from a different angle than usual. I got kind of bummed toward the middle of Saturday but then reminded myself that if I was at home, I'd be crippled and in pain, *and* without all the interesting diversions of a con.

GaFilk is a great con--yes ACat mentioned the ongoing memberships. Callie and I are very grateful; GaFilk is one of our favorite cons.

You'll be seeing us next year, Goddess willing and the creek don't rise, and I sure hope my back is better by then too!

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have "Howie in Waltz Time" recorded? My mind is slipping it into "Wings," somehow, and so I obviously have wrinkled-melody disease.

I'm delighted you were able to come to GaFilk, and next year you'll have to either be pain-free or have someone get you a zero-gravity chair from Relax the Back so you don't have to lie down on the floor.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I didn't record it at the con, but I could sing it for the mp3 recorder and put up an mp3 now I suppose, if people are interested.

A zero gravity chair sounds cool. I've been thinking about getting a really good chair. Kip thinks part of my back problems is that we've been making do with cheap furniture for so long.

[braider.livejournal.com]

*grin* I wanna go on a date with your mp3 player, hear what I missed, recall what I've forgotten!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

*grin* I could send you a CD of the con mp3s. They're not great quality, but for remembering they work fine :-)

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

bardling is originally German, but lives in the UK now, BTW. :)

Lovely con report!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks. Glad you enjoyed the con report :-) I think I remember you--were you the guy with curly dark hair and glasses, spoke American (sounding) english but also sang in German as well?

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

That would be me, yes. (Given I've lived my entire life in the 'burbs of NYC, I'm pretty sure I'm American -- but I do sing a couple of songs in German -- bardling's translation of Black Powder and Alcohol, and Franklin's translation of my song, "The River").

We've actually met before, although I don't think we've had all THAT much time to chat. Possibly at Consonance in 2001 or an OVFF. This picture might be better as a memory jog.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

We certainly may have met before; I have a terrible memory :-) At any rate, I enjoyed your songs--particularly The River. I said you spoke American sounding english because my ear for accents is not all that good and I didn't want to assume you were a particular nationality by ear, as it were. I think it's cool that you can sing German too.

Re:

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

The version of The River that I sang with an actual band (including bardling is at the Filk Archive. Chords and lyrics here. (Not that I'd be tickled pink if you learned it or anything... ;) )

[(Anonymous)]

Glad to hear your back is progressing.

Very nice con report. Now I really can't wait to get those CDs :)

Thanks again.

Donald

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Sigh. It hurts again this morning. Hang in there; the CDs are on their way as fast as the army can move them.

Ovillejo for Cat at GaFilk

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

almeda introduced me to the ovillejo poetical form at ConFusion in Troy yesterday. So naturally I had to try it.

The pale dragon moves about slowly,
Carries
Carefully her tail so that she does not disturb
The gold
That is the songs of others.
She holds
That which makes the wild gold hers.
And hoards
Her memories to share with others.

Although she sees what we may not see
For memories to share with others, she
Carries the gold she holds and hoards.

Re: Ovillejo for Cat at GaFilk

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Very cool! Thank you.

[bardling.livejournal.com]

Yup, Rika is the bardling and the bardling is Rika. :)
I wish I'd not been so fuzzy when packing that I forgot to bring my minidisc recorder. I can well see why braider wants a date with yours. ;)

*hugs* & thanks for another set of memories...

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

The offer for a CD of mp3s stands. I'll even make you audio CDs if you can't conveniently play mp3s. US audio CDs should play in European CD players, right? It's just DVDs that are weird that way?

[mneme]

Good seeing you again at GAfilk, though I'm sorry I didn't see (or hear) more of you.

I'm glad your back is feeling better, and hope it improves.

And, of course, we got the CD! And the books! Very cool.

On a completely unrelated question...Doragen (an SCA poet and minstrel who also does SF cons) and Harold Feld asked me (at Philcon, the week -after- GAfilk) whether your "She is Gone" had any connection to Childe 4 -- "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (or, as they called it, "The Outlandish Knight"). Having heard the song (specficially, 4E), and taken a look at the versions available here, the plots do appear superficially similar; -have- you encountered the childe before?

[braider.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in the answer to this as well - I'd noted the similarity. However, those aren't the only murderer of young women who end up killing their assailent ballads. It's a long standing theme, which seems to indicated its either a part of European/American culture, or else a standard part of the human psyche.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I think "She Is Gone" ties in more to the general idea (I have to admit that I think of it as a wish-fulfillment fantasy--wouldn't it be nice if serial killers were killed by their own victims) than to the specific "Outlandish Knight" song.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I had encountered a version of the songs you link to (the one where the maiden convinces the knight to turn his back while she undresses for him to drown her, then throws him in the water and drowns him) but didn't have that song in mind when I wrote "She Is Gone." There is some similarity there, though.

"She is Gone" arose out of a Vampire game in which my character was shot by someone involved in murdering young girls and I needed a quick excuse for why my character didn't fall down. The first thing that popped into my mouth was (roughly) "You can't kill me; you already did that. Don't you remember me?" The bad guy must have had a guilty conscience because it was *very* effective.

The lines "Oh no, said she, that shall not be / For I've been here before" and "for I was number six" are intended to convey that the girl is already dead, a twist not present in the first three or four versions of "The Outlandish Knight" on the page you referenced (I didn't have time to read them all).

Re:

[mneme]

Ack -- forgot to respond -- thanks for the information!

I did get, of course, that the protagonist SiG is already dead; very cool and chilling, though (unlike some) I didn't get the Vampire reference until you mentioned it.

[quadrivium.livejournal.com]

A pleasure to read, luv! Actually, *I* really like your Dulcimer Dance in dorian mode. It happens to be my favorite mode, so it never occurred to me to wonder about a key signature. *grins*

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

:-) I'm glad you like the song, in whatever mode. I like Dorian in general; it just sounds a little different when my ear is expecting major. Like taking a drink of milk and getting orange juice instead.

You meant to do that?

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

I woke up with this running through my head this morning. Now, you didn't have to write the original lyrics, but you did. So this is really all your fault!

TTTO: I Meant To Do That

Cat Faber chased a melody; it wasn’t for harps:
She wanted it for mando* with a couple of sharps.
So darefully not carefully she wrote music’s code –
It ended up all bended up in Dorian mode.

(She says)
I meant to do that, I'll have it be known
I did it on purpose to a song of my own,
Since you're just a human** and I am a Cat,
I thought I ought to mention that I meant to do that.

* and I challenge you to make Appalachian dulcimer scan.
** one might substitute filker or singer or player or other appropriate word.

Re: You meant to do that?

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

"Cat Faber chased a melody; it wasn’t for harps:
She wanted it for mando* with a couple of sharps.
So darefully not carefully she wrote music’s code –
It ended up all bended up in Dorian mode."

A cat pursued a melody; it wasn't for harps
For *appalachian dulcimer, in D, with two sharps. :-)

"AH puh LATCH un"-- it scans perfectly well as far as I can tell.

Re: You meant to do that?

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

Oh, poo. You showed me up.

Re: You meant to do that?

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Oops. Sorry. I figured you were just using the other pronounciation of Appalatian (AH puh Lay she un) and that's why you couldn't get it to scan.

Re: You meant to do that?

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

;-)

[unclechristo.livejournal.com]

thanks for rekindling some memories with your great report
hugz CC x

a good friend of the czar?

[(Anonymous)]

So, I don't know you, but I'm trying to find the lyrics of the last two verses of the song you reference (your page came up in a search). Do you know all the words?