The Rest Of ConTata
Things got a bit weird on Sunday morning. Having not got to sleep till almost 4:00, and having woken up around 7:30, I was more than a lot punchy when I went downstairs. This was somewhat alleviated by Cync coming up and hanging out for almost an hour. We just never get time anymore, and it was a joy.
So. Con. We had the Joe Bethancourt benefit concert, the one-shots, the songwriting contest, and Mark really wanted me on the BNF panel, but there was a wedding coming in that evening and we had to vacate part of the space. Sigh. We finally got the concert going, segued pretty quickly into the contest, and had the one-shots while Judi, Deb, PDuck, and I were judging. (Winners, by the way, were: 3rd Place -- Kara Yost; 2nd Place -- Gary McGath; 1st Place -- Kat Faber and Peter Alway. Congrats to all, and thanks to all the contestants!)
Somewhere in there, Alex Wittenburg showed up. A very good thing.
By the time all that was done, Ben Newman's song cycle was up... and I simply was not up to staying for it. So I went back to the room and crashed for a few hours.
With a little prompting from cell phones, I got myself together to meet Will, Janny, and Mark down at the Ruth's Chris in the lobby. Oh my. That was a very nice meal. The Caeser Salad was perfect. As was the filet with the three grilled shrimp on top of it. As were the sauteed mushrooms. As was the chocolate pecan truffle and the few lovely bites of strawberry shortcake.
Then, it was back to the function space for the Rotten Apple sing. Unfortunately, Mike Stein had acquired Ye Crudde and sounded just awful -- get well soon, m'friend.
Anyway. The Rotten Apple. Lots and lots of fun, one of the best I've been to in awhile. A whole lot of singing along and rich harmonies and silly and dark and yes. Our new friend Aya sang something and sounded real good. Mark was doing "Kentucky Monster Mash" when I came in the room, so I ended up doing "307 Ale" for the newbies. I also did a slightly slower but very well accompanied version of "Rocket Ride". Man, what a set of lungs in that room. I'll see if Harold has the audio, after he's gone through all the other stuff.
When I finally was just about ready to fall over, I said good night and headed back to the room. Ben caught me, and asked if he could sing me one of the songs from the cycle. I said sure, and he spent a few minutes explaining the set-up and then singing the song (a parody of "Operation: Desert Storm"). It all sounds very good, and I'll get a copy of that soon as well.
Next morning, I meandered out. No need to rush -- if I didn't make it all the way home, there were numerous Super 8s along the Ohio Turnpike. But I didn't need 'em. It took a little longer than I thought, mostly my own fault for a couple of longer breaks, but a pleasant day of driving brought me back to my door at about 10:00 p.m., and that was my ConTata.
Many thanks, again, to Joshua Kronengold, Merav Hoffman, Jon, Judi, Will, Janny, Harold, Mark, and just ever-damn-body. This was a splendid con, and we'll see about getting back for 2014. Or, for that matter, 2012. ;)
So. Con. We had the Joe Bethancourt benefit concert, the one-shots, the songwriting contest, and Mark really wanted me on the BNF panel, but there was a wedding coming in that evening and we had to vacate part of the space. Sigh. We finally got the concert going, segued pretty quickly into the contest, and had the one-shots while Judi, Deb, PDuck, and I were judging. (Winners, by the way, were: 3rd Place -- Kara Yost; 2nd Place -- Gary McGath; 1st Place -- Kat Faber and Peter Alway. Congrats to all, and thanks to all the contestants!)
Somewhere in there, Alex Wittenburg showed up. A very good thing.
By the time all that was done, Ben Newman's song cycle was up... and I simply was not up to staying for it. So I went back to the room and crashed for a few hours.
With a little prompting from cell phones, I got myself together to meet Will, Janny, and Mark down at the Ruth's Chris in the lobby. Oh my. That was a very nice meal. The Caeser Salad was perfect. As was the filet with the three grilled shrimp on top of it. As were the sauteed mushrooms. As was the chocolate pecan truffle and the few lovely bites of strawberry shortcake.
Then, it was back to the function space for the Rotten Apple sing. Unfortunately, Mike Stein had acquired Ye Crudde and sounded just awful -- get well soon, m'friend.
Anyway. The Rotten Apple. Lots and lots of fun, one of the best I've been to in awhile. A whole lot of singing along and rich harmonies and silly and dark and yes. Our new friend Aya sang something and sounded real good. Mark was doing "Kentucky Monster Mash" when I came in the room, so I ended up doing "307 Ale" for the newbies. I also did a slightly slower but very well accompanied version of "Rocket Ride". Man, what a set of lungs in that room. I'll see if Harold has the audio, after he's gone through all the other stuff.
When I finally was just about ready to fall over, I said good night and headed back to the room. Ben caught me, and asked if he could sing me one of the songs from the cycle. I said sure, and he spent a few minutes explaining the set-up and then singing the song (a parody of "Operation: Desert Storm"). It all sounds very good, and I'll get a copy of that soon as well.
Next morning, I meandered out. No need to rush -- if I didn't make it all the way home, there were numerous Super 8s along the Ohio Turnpike. But I didn't need 'em. It took a little longer than I thought, mostly my own fault for a couple of longer breaks, but a pleasant day of driving brought me back to my door at about 10:00 p.m., and that was my ConTata.
Many thanks, again, to Joshua Kronengold, Merav Hoffman, Jon, Judi, Will, Janny, Harold, Mark, and just ever-damn-body. This was a splendid con, and we'll see about getting back for 2014. Or, for that matter, 2012. ;)