FilKONtario 2012 Conrep - Part I
So, as I set out to write a FilKONtario con report, I realize I have a problem. Namely, the English language lacks the phrases to capture exactly how wonderful a weekend it was. "Made of win" falls way short. "So amazingly amazing" doesn't cut it. "Pure hammered awesome" hits the outer ring of the target, but even a "topping of awesome sauce" doesn't get to the bull's eye.
But, like a man must wear a tie (waves at bunsen_h), a fan must write a conrep, so I'll do my best.
Rather than making the 10-hour drive from Rockville to Mississauga, as we have the past four years, for a change we tried flying Southwest from Baltimore to Buffalo, then renting a car and rolling across the border. It worked out well, saving us around $300. I also took advantage of Buffalo-Niagara International's location to use the Rainbow Bridge, getting a much better look at the Falls than I got on the '94 drive.
Made it to the hotel in time for a leisurely unloading (for once) and stroll across the street to the Teriyaki Experience. We ended up joining a dinner party of happyfunpaul, ultimatepsi and markbernstein already in progress, along with Duncan McGregor.
After dinner and the opening Meet and Greet, there were excellent concerts from last year's conchair sposter (a nice tradition, actually...might have to see about stealing it for NEFilk), Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps, and Alexander James Adams. (I'm amused to note we've now seen at least one member of the Tricky Pixie/Fair Folk collective at 6 of the past 7 cons we've attended.) Sue was ably assisted by fellow Canadians sexybass, decadentdave and sal_utations. Heather and Ben performed "Choose", "Pied Piper" and "Skeleton Woman" off their latest CD Fairytale, as well as favorites "The Maiden and the Selkie", "Joan" and "Stone Soup". The latter always gets me misty-eyed, as a con-running veteran who knows what many hands truly can accomplish. And of course Alex is always great fun, especially when he's fiddling away on songs like "He of the Sidhe".
After the concerts I settled into a filk circle with janeg and phillip2637, Interfilk guests Deja and Thorus, Sharon and Christine Cozens, parrotparty and a few others. In true FilKONtario fashion, it was a relaxed and friendly circle with lots of good music. I did three songs before turning in around 2am. Which is early for me, especially at a filk convention, but I'd arrived in Canada already sleep-deprived and had three critical moments to come later in the weekend.
But, like a man must wear a tie (waves at bunsen_h), a fan must write a conrep, so I'll do my best.
Rather than making the 10-hour drive from Rockville to Mississauga, as we have the past four years, for a change we tried flying Southwest from Baltimore to Buffalo, then renting a car and rolling across the border. It worked out well, saving us around $300. I also took advantage of Buffalo-Niagara International's location to use the Rainbow Bridge, getting a much better look at the Falls than I got on the '94 drive.
Made it to the hotel in time for a leisurely unloading (for once) and stroll across the street to the Teriyaki Experience. We ended up joining a dinner party of happyfunpaul, ultimatepsi and markbernstein already in progress, along with Duncan McGregor.
After dinner and the opening Meet and Greet, there were excellent concerts from last year's conchair sposter (a nice tradition, actually...might have to see about stealing it for NEFilk), Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps, and Alexander James Adams. (I'm amused to note we've now seen at least one member of the Tricky Pixie/Fair Folk collective at 6 of the past 7 cons we've attended.) Sue was ably assisted by fellow Canadians sexybass, decadentdave and sal_utations. Heather and Ben performed "Choose", "Pied Piper" and "Skeleton Woman" off their latest CD Fairytale, as well as favorites "The Maiden and the Selkie", "Joan" and "Stone Soup". The latter always gets me misty-eyed, as a con-running veteran who knows what many hands truly can accomplish. And of course Alex is always great fun, especially when he's fiddling away on songs like "He of the Sidhe".
After the concerts I settled into a filk circle with janeg and phillip2637, Interfilk guests Deja and Thorus, Sharon and Christine Cozens, parrotparty and a few others. In true FilKONtario fashion, it was a relaxed and friendly circle with lots of good music. I did three songs before turning in around 2am. Which is early for me, especially at a filk convention, but I'd arrived in Canada already sleep-deprived and had three critical moments to come later in the weekend.