I 'm in love and lost my heart in Grantham
con report for cr2c3ndo, 2011.
Well... these were exiting days.
I had the pleasure to be Footloose Filker at cr2c3ndo, the 23rd UK Filkcon, held in Grantham. And what can I say? It was GREAT!!
Friday, 4 am. I woke up and thought: oh am gee! I will fly in about two and a half hours! squeee!
At nearly five I closed the doors and went to the airport. It was an icy walk to the underground, but it all went well. So did I. At the airport I was totally confused about the hundreds of people there! nearly 70 of them wanted to join the same flight as I did. But all went well.
I had a seat at the window and the place for my own. These kids around me (young ex-criminals with their guardians) annoyed me a bit, but as one mentioned it to be his first flight ever, I was rather amused. The flight went very well,do the fact we had a delay about half an hour, because of ice. We landed with some hobbles and wobbles, but safely.
Jela waited for me at the airport. Her flight arrived about 20 minutes earlier than mine. We had a wonderfull chat at Costa's and waited for Colin to arrive. He came earlier than expected, but that was great. So we walked outside and welcomed "Mr. Windy" ;-) and arrived Colins car at track "jay".
The journey was great, we had a lot of fun, because Jela and I were so overtired, we nearly started to behace like kids (or Marilisa in a car *gg*). Some time I started to ask "are we there yet?" and Colin laughed at me and said: "no, child" (well, something like that, I can't remember). And then I was introduced to some funny stories about Marilisa *fg* and her behavior in a car or her try to find a way to the supermarket of Grantham.
We arrived the hotel at around 11 am and met Andreas right in the lobby. Funny, isn't it? You fly to England, first one you meet is a german. Than you arrive at the english hotel and the first one you meet is... a german! *giggle*
Well. We relaxed and sat down in the corner and had a great but tired chat with Colin and Andreas. Then Shaya and Pug and their two sons joined us. And a little while later there was Franklin. You see... Pug and Shaya are from Switzerland, but speak german... Colin was the only non-german-speaker for about two hours in the hotel lobby. ^^
Well... to make it short. We had a nice and chilly time in the lobby, for the old ladies of Grantham had their friday-lunch-meeting there. Wow, these old ladies can make noise! Never thought that!
Bye and bye the other filkers arrived and there was more chatting and greeting and meeting and fun. Jela and I finally had our room ready to enter. Nice bed! Very comfortable!
The Con started and I was a little bit nervous, because I had to stand in front of the people, not knowing a lot of them (but surprisingly I knew more than expected). And so they called me up and I was there, waving and saying hello. Then nearly flew back to my chair and hided there. *giggles* shy little girl.
First spot was by Brenda and Bill Sutton. Wow, what a fun! And it's all Bill's fault! Then Piers did some really funny things with jumping around. We sang the tunes he was landing in ^^.
After that we had a wonderfull set from Silke that made me shiver some time.
After the three really interesting and totally different spots we chatted a lot in the lobby. Was great to see some of them again and made new acquaintances.
We went early because of our lack of sleep. The night was... well... not that good, because Jela and I both woke up with pain. Her stomach ached and I had a bad headache. But we managed that all through the day.
There was a wonderful workshop with the gorgeous Heather (well, Ben is gorgeous, too, but I can't play the guitar, so I went to Heathers' workshop about performance).
After that we had our first and only practice lesson for one of my songs. And it went so well, I nearly started crying about that. Later more ;)
Crying... that was something I nearly did all the con long. But the tears came when I was back in germany, right after my arrival...
Then there was this man on saturday morning, of whom Jela had told me a lot right before the concert. And I really really never had known, that someone could win my favour with his voice, charisma, talent and cuteness. Well. Christo, you have another big fan. And I think, next time we meet, I will do a Bollywood-Song for you!
Clare totally surprised me. At breakfast she told Keris, she will do storytelling and doesn't need tech. And she did a great job! I adored her shoes. When she had to leave on saturday, we talked a while about storytelling and shoes (and her gorgeous dresses). So, Jela and I decided to give storytelling a bigger part at the german conventions. Peter W. was very embraced about that.
NMC was great. Marion wore a purple sari and I really adored the set. They all fit together. And the arrangements are beautiful.
The concerts of Heather and Ben were wonderful, as always. But I took pictures and some little videos this time, so I can show them to my friends here. I always forget that, when I listen to these two wonderful musicians. And they had Mike. Mike was really cool! He played the bass and was the cool and jazzy spot in the set. Heather was the bright sun, als always. And Ben... well... he wore really tight pants and sometimes bounced around. Was great to see three so different kinds of performance. And all fitted together.
I totally enjoyed it.
Also Marilisa. She is a talented and wonderful (well, I like the word...) girl. I always call her "my big fat greek girl". She was totally mind-blowing! Marilisa, I love you for that!
Then main concert and auction. Rika, the great MC of the evening, took the german kind of putting auction and concert together so they had something entertaining while the tech was getting everything done. Was a good idea. I had my present that I wanted to *yay*
And then... PHOENIX!!! YAY!!! My neck hurts because of too much headbanging, but it was SO GREAT! They rocked the house and everyone was crazy and jolly. Heather was like a bouncing ball. Anna and I did some crazy things while dancing and we acted like hysterical fans, when Tim ended his Elvis-imitation. Great!!!!
I'm so glad, Phoenix is back!
Chatting around was a great thing to do. I went to bed at around 2 am. Jela was asleep to recollect her health. Had some weird dreams...
The sunday began with a little bit of excitement on my side. But we had time enough to pack our bags, go to breakfast. And... Then SHE came: Jenny! Lissas mom was our saviour! She brought us back to the airport, so we didn't had to leave that early. Thank you so much, Jenny! You rock!
So Jela and I were VERY bouncy at breakfast. Her stomach was better, my headache was gone. Back in our rooms I started to act like a girly. I sat down at the mirror and started to put my face on. Jela looked at me with her "are you sure?"-look, so I blushed and was a little bit confused. But there was a set to do. So we had main concert and auction overflow.
And after that... I had to join the stage. Some people were missing, but most of them were in when I started. Was not that nervous as expected. And the first song did not that well in the beginning. So I changed in my "duett"-mood and sang the song in two different tones. And the last one was like a child. I really enjoyed that, because I was wearing Franklins heart-shaped plastic glasses, to look like Elton John.
Second song was "The knitting girl" for whom I was nominated for a Sam Award *yay!* thank you for that, Aunty Marion!
I danced in that song and told the audience "now the fun part". And than I started with my dancing. So much fun! After that I was joined by Jela for her cool Chris de Burgh filk about the fairyman. Funny as always, some of the audience never heard our version, because I do that noises and voices that are sang about in the song. Really great.
And than... I had this exchange sisters and brothers to do "I will follow him", that was requested by Valerie. And because I love Valerie, I was really happy to sing that song with such great people!
Thank you Jela, Rika, Katy, Marilisa, Steve and Franklin "The Pope(l)". You did an excellent job!
Great final!
As I was the Footloose Filker and I am a pop-song-filker, I was able to sing "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins. Well, with the special help of Franklin and Jela the song was great! Some of the words rhymed with some people in the audience (for example: please, Talis ... Smac, get back .... oh, Christo...) and I picked them out while I was singing. Their reaction was great *gg*
And so my spot ended with a big bang!
I totally enjoyed it! And the audience did it, too! And that makes me very proud!
After lunchtime we saw the musical of the great greek girl Marilisa. Wow! The cast was great! They made me cry and laugh and smile and sigh all the time. Wow!
After the Sams Awards Heather and Ben had their second concert. As the first one they did a great job (and there was Ben asking about this typical german thing "schunkeln") *gg*
We had to leave right after the concert. And I was such a fangirl to have Heather and Ben sign my birthday present for Tia. So, Tia gets a from Heather and Ben signed birthday present with another special from the concert. I hope you like it as I do, dear!
I love you all, my family! And I'll be back!
Well... these were exiting days.
I had the pleasure to be Footloose Filker at cr2c3ndo, the 23rd UK Filkcon, held in Grantham. And what can I say? It was GREAT!!
Friday, 4 am. I woke up and thought: oh am gee! I will fly in about two and a half hours! squeee!
At nearly five I closed the doors and went to the airport. It was an icy walk to the underground, but it all went well. So did I. At the airport I was totally confused about the hundreds of people there! nearly 70 of them wanted to join the same flight as I did. But all went well.
I had a seat at the window and the place for my own. These kids around me (young ex-criminals with their guardians) annoyed me a bit, but as one mentioned it to be his first flight ever, I was rather amused. The flight went very well,do the fact we had a delay about half an hour, because of ice. We landed with some hobbles and wobbles, but safely.
Jela waited for me at the airport. Her flight arrived about 20 minutes earlier than mine. We had a wonderfull chat at Costa's and waited for Colin to arrive. He came earlier than expected, but that was great. So we walked outside and welcomed "Mr. Windy" ;-) and arrived Colins car at track "jay".
The journey was great, we had a lot of fun, because Jela and I were so overtired, we nearly started to behace like kids (or Marilisa in a car *gg*). Some time I started to ask "are we there yet?" and Colin laughed at me and said: "no, child" (well, something like that, I can't remember). And then I was introduced to some funny stories about Marilisa *fg* and her behavior in a car or her try to find a way to the supermarket of Grantham.
We arrived the hotel at around 11 am and met Andreas right in the lobby. Funny, isn't it? You fly to England, first one you meet is a german. Than you arrive at the english hotel and the first one you meet is... a german! *giggle*
Well. We relaxed and sat down in the corner and had a great but tired chat with Colin and Andreas. Then Shaya and Pug and their two sons joined us. And a little while later there was Franklin. You see... Pug and Shaya are from Switzerland, but speak german... Colin was the only non-german-speaker for about two hours in the hotel lobby. ^^
Well... to make it short. We had a nice and chilly time in the lobby, for the old ladies of Grantham had their friday-lunch-meeting there. Wow, these old ladies can make noise! Never thought that!
Bye and bye the other filkers arrived and there was more chatting and greeting and meeting and fun. Jela and I finally had our room ready to enter. Nice bed! Very comfortable!
The Con started and I was a little bit nervous, because I had to stand in front of the people, not knowing a lot of them (but surprisingly I knew more than expected). And so they called me up and I was there, waving and saying hello. Then nearly flew back to my chair and hided there. *giggles* shy little girl.
First spot was by Brenda and Bill Sutton. Wow, what a fun! And it's all Bill's fault! Then Piers did some really funny things with jumping around. We sang the tunes he was landing in ^^.
After that we had a wonderfull set from Silke that made me shiver some time.
After the three really interesting and totally different spots we chatted a lot in the lobby. Was great to see some of them again and made new acquaintances.
We went early because of our lack of sleep. The night was... well... not that good, because Jela and I both woke up with pain. Her stomach ached and I had a bad headache. But we managed that all through the day.
There was a wonderful workshop with the gorgeous Heather (well, Ben is gorgeous, too, but I can't play the guitar, so I went to Heathers' workshop about performance).
After that we had our first and only practice lesson for one of my songs. And it went so well, I nearly started crying about that. Later more ;)
Crying... that was something I nearly did all the con long. But the tears came when I was back in germany, right after my arrival...
Then there was this man on saturday morning, of whom Jela had told me a lot right before the concert. And I really really never had known, that someone could win my favour with his voice, charisma, talent and cuteness. Well. Christo, you have another big fan. And I think, next time we meet, I will do a Bollywood-Song for you!
Clare totally surprised me. At breakfast she told Keris, she will do storytelling and doesn't need tech. And she did a great job! I adored her shoes. When she had to leave on saturday, we talked a while about storytelling and shoes (and her gorgeous dresses). So, Jela and I decided to give storytelling a bigger part at the german conventions. Peter W. was very embraced about that.
NMC was great. Marion wore a purple sari and I really adored the set. They all fit together. And the arrangements are beautiful.
The concerts of Heather and Ben were wonderful, as always. But I took pictures and some little videos this time, so I can show them to my friends here. I always forget that, when I listen to these two wonderful musicians. And they had Mike. Mike was really cool! He played the bass and was the cool and jazzy spot in the set. Heather was the bright sun, als always. And Ben... well... he wore really tight pants and sometimes bounced around. Was great to see three so different kinds of performance. And all fitted together.
I totally enjoyed it.
Also Marilisa. She is a talented and wonderful (well, I like the word...) girl. I always call her "my big fat greek girl". She was totally mind-blowing! Marilisa, I love you for that!
Then main concert and auction. Rika, the great MC of the evening, took the german kind of putting auction and concert together so they had something entertaining while the tech was getting everything done. Was a good idea. I had my present that I wanted to *yay*
And then... PHOENIX!!! YAY!!! My neck hurts because of too much headbanging, but it was SO GREAT! They rocked the house and everyone was crazy and jolly. Heather was like a bouncing ball. Anna and I did some crazy things while dancing and we acted like hysterical fans, when Tim ended his Elvis-imitation. Great!!!!
I'm so glad, Phoenix is back!
Chatting around was a great thing to do. I went to bed at around 2 am. Jela was asleep to recollect her health. Had some weird dreams...
The sunday began with a little bit of excitement on my side. But we had time enough to pack our bags, go to breakfast. And... Then SHE came: Jenny! Lissas mom was our saviour! She brought us back to the airport, so we didn't had to leave that early. Thank you so much, Jenny! You rock!
So Jela and I were VERY bouncy at breakfast. Her stomach was better, my headache was gone. Back in our rooms I started to act like a girly. I sat down at the mirror and started to put my face on. Jela looked at me with her "are you sure?"-look, so I blushed and was a little bit confused. But there was a set to do. So we had main concert and auction overflow.
And after that... I had to join the stage. Some people were missing, but most of them were in when I started. Was not that nervous as expected. And the first song did not that well in the beginning. So I changed in my "duett"-mood and sang the song in two different tones. And the last one was like a child. I really enjoyed that, because I was wearing Franklins heart-shaped plastic glasses, to look like Elton John.
Second song was "The knitting girl" for whom I was nominated for a Sam Award *yay!* thank you for that, Aunty Marion!
I danced in that song and told the audience "now the fun part". And than I started with my dancing. So much fun! After that I was joined by Jela for her cool Chris de Burgh filk about the fairyman. Funny as always, some of the audience never heard our version, because I do that noises and voices that are sang about in the song. Really great.
And than... I had this exchange sisters and brothers to do "I will follow him", that was requested by Valerie. And because I love Valerie, I was really happy to sing that song with such great people!
Thank you Jela, Rika, Katy, Marilisa, Steve and Franklin "The Pope(l)". You did an excellent job!
Great final!
As I was the Footloose Filker and I am a pop-song-filker, I was able to sing "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins. Well, with the special help of Franklin and Jela the song was great! Some of the words rhymed with some people in the audience (for example: please, Talis ... Smac, get back .... oh, Christo...) and I picked them out while I was singing. Their reaction was great *gg*
And so my spot ended with a big bang!
I totally enjoyed it! And the audience did it, too! And that makes me very proud!
After lunchtime we saw the musical of the great greek girl Marilisa. Wow! The cast was great! They made me cry and laugh and smile and sigh all the time. Wow!
After the Sams Awards Heather and Ben had their second concert. As the first one they did a great job (and there was Ben asking about this typical german thing "schunkeln") *gg*
We had to leave right after the concert. And I was such a fangirl to have Heather and Ben sign my birthday present for Tia. So, Tia gets a from Heather and Ben signed birthday present with another special from the concert. I hope you like it as I do, dear!
I love you all, my family! And I'll be back!