From the Old to the New
Two con reports for the price of one!
Last weekend we went up to Philcon. Other than coming home with a cold that almost completely deprived me of voice for a day, we had a good time. (Me and sore throats at Philcon is becoming an unfortunate tradition.) Caught concerts from Roberta Rogow, Patricia Wake and Partners in K'Rhyme, most of the Song Sequitur session, and participated in a couple of theme circles, including co-leading the Classic Songs circle.
After going almost the entire year without writing a complete song, I finished one at Philcon and wrote another during the con. The latter one was inpsired by Robert Rogow's song "Obsession" about addicting jewel matching games. Mine is about songs that leave me with earworms.
Also threw my hat into the ring for the Jewish Folklore in SF and Fantasy panel, which was not one of my better panel experiences. Six panelists, which was probably too many, and not well moderated. It seemed to be less a focused discussion on how Judaism and Jewish folklore has been used in genre literature and more a "shout out your favorite novel/story with some Jewish element".
After a few days to rest and medicate my cold into submission, it was off to the inaugural Chessiecon, the con formerly known as Darkover. It was an excellent debut. mnemex took over the music track and delivered a mix of Darkover SCA and folk stalwarts (the Homespun Ceilidh Band, maugorn, Ellen James, and various former Clams) and filkers (Roberta, batyatoon, ladymondegreen and Glen Raphael>. All topped off with a rousing, side-splitting, madcap set from Music GOH filkertom that included a hora in the center aisle during "Badger Pajamas".
Josh gave me my first-ever Thanksgiving weekend set. I wasn't at my best, between not being fully warmed up, singing too fast, and fumbling a few chords, but folks seemed to enjoy it. The set list was:
Ramble Wood (words and music me)
Operation: Winter Storm (words me, music Tom Smith)
Costumer (words me, music Heather Dale & Ben Deschamps)
Through a Child's Eyes (words and music me)
Love Theme from Mystery Science Theater 3000
Let the Redheads Win (words me, music Devin Melanson and Leslie Hudson)
Sedona (words and music me)
Yes, that next-to-last song is exactly what you think it is. Between that and the earworm song, I am soooooooo dead.
With earlier start times and more filkers attending, the bardic/filk circles easily cleared critical mass (something which was a struggle the last several years of Darkover) and were a lot of fun.
Let's hope Chessiecon 2 with seanan_mcguire, Heather Dale, and Ursula Vernon is as much fun (or more) as this year!
Last weekend we went up to Philcon. Other than coming home with a cold that almost completely deprived me of voice for a day, we had a good time. (Me and sore throats at Philcon is becoming an unfortunate tradition.) Caught concerts from Roberta Rogow, Patricia Wake and Partners in K'Rhyme, most of the Song Sequitur session, and participated in a couple of theme circles, including co-leading the Classic Songs circle.
After going almost the entire year without writing a complete song, I finished one at Philcon and wrote another during the con. The latter one was inpsired by Robert Rogow's song "Obsession" about addicting jewel matching games. Mine is about songs that leave me with earworms.
Also threw my hat into the ring for the Jewish Folklore in SF and Fantasy panel, which was not one of my better panel experiences. Six panelists, which was probably too many, and not well moderated. It seemed to be less a focused discussion on how Judaism and Jewish folklore has been used in genre literature and more a "shout out your favorite novel/story with some Jewish element".
After a few days to rest and medicate my cold into submission, it was off to the inaugural Chessiecon, the con formerly known as Darkover. It was an excellent debut. mnemex took over the music track and delivered a mix of Darkover SCA and folk stalwarts (the Homespun Ceilidh Band, maugorn, Ellen James, and various former Clams) and filkers (Roberta, batyatoon, ladymondegreen and Glen Raphael>. All topped off with a rousing, side-splitting, madcap set from Music GOH filkertom that included a hora in the center aisle during "Badger Pajamas".
Josh gave me my first-ever Thanksgiving weekend set. I wasn't at my best, between not being fully warmed up, singing too fast, and fumbling a few chords, but folks seemed to enjoy it. The set list was:
Ramble Wood (words and music me)
Operation: Winter Storm (words me, music Tom Smith)
Costumer (words me, music Heather Dale & Ben Deschamps)
Through a Child's Eyes (words and music me)
Love Theme from Mystery Science Theater 3000
Let the Redheads Win (words me, music Devin Melanson and Leslie Hudson)
Sedona (words and music me)
Yes, that next-to-last song is exactly what you think it is. Between that and the earworm song, I am soooooooo dead.
With earlier start times and more filkers attending, the bardic/filk circles easily cleared critical mass (something which was a struggle the last several years of Darkover) and were a lot of fun.
Let's hope Chessiecon 2 with seanan_mcguire, Heather Dale, and Ursula Vernon is as much fun (or more) as this year!