FilKONtario 2013- Part 3
Rand and Erin, a photo by Allisona on Flickr.FKO '13 goes on.
Listening to "Pirate Elves In Space" by Toronto filkers Kari Maaren, Leslie Hudson and Devin Melanson as I write this. Yeah, you want this filk CD if you like Star Wars or The Princess Bride or Sherlock Holmes or Tolkien. More on these talented folk in Part 4 tomorrow.
(Photo: Rand and Erin practice in our room before their concert Saturday afternoon. Photo by Debbie Ridpath Ohi.)
After the banquet Jodi and I wandered up to the con suite where we got
caught up in a heated discussion on the merits of Prime Minister
Steven Harper and newly-minted Liberal leader Justin Trudeau with a
bit of Barack Obama on the side. Quite entertaining :). Thanks so much
to Bob and Sheryl Guest and their staff for such a great con suite!
(A mysteriously heavy box that says "Chill the Whites!" on the top.)
We ran into Joey when we headed out the door and he took us off to his
room where he gave me a huge, heavy rectangular prism-shaped box...
Opening it I found -five- half-sized bottles of California wine. I
was stunned and touched because Joey had remembered a LJ post I wrote
in January saying that John had been given a winery tour for Christmas
and that neither of us knew anything about wine and I wanted to learn
more by summer. So Joey said the five bottles would help me to learn-
he’s so sweet!!!! UT is planning a wine-tasting party for some time in
the early summer :). Joey also gave us delicious macaroons that did not last long one they got opened.
(Singing "Reluctant Freedom" with Joey and Peggi. Photo by Debbie Ridpath Ohi.)
At 11:00 we headed down to attend Rand’s “Found Filk” theme circle,
but we found the room packed to the rafters so we decided to head down
the hall and settle into the banquet room to sing there. In Facebook
before the con Joey had posted how he had his heart set on getting a
group together to sing Technical Difficulties’ “Reluctant Freedom”,
especially with the recent loss of Sheila Willis, so we pulled the
song up on his tablet and Peggi and I started practising the song with
him. As we practiced other singers drifted in, too, so by the time we
sang it for the final time we were joined by Jodi, Debbie, Judith,
Debs, Errol, Kathleen among others. It was a lovely moment. And right
after that we sang TD’s “Star Sisters” with Joey and that was lovely,
too. It just reminded me how influential Technical Difficulties were
in my early life as a filker and how glad I am I’ve sent in a
nomination for them to the Filk Hall of Fame. (And if there’s anyone
in your filk life who’s made you feel the same way I strongly
encourage you to send in a nomination for them, too.)
(Our Saturday night circle)
Others joined us in the banquet room after that- Morva and Alan, Katt
and Sean, Manda, Elliot, Paul Estin, Rich, and others. Deb, Jodi and I
hadn’t worked up too much new music for the weekend, but we did debut
a cover of the “Game of Thrones” theme that I’d come across on YouTube
a month back. I was pleased that Manda liked it well enough to
reference the video in her now iconic FKO report that’s been making
the rounds this week :).
(Aside: Kari Maaren's "Being Watson" is playing on the CD right now. I really love this song. I want to learn it.)
We peeked into the other filkrooms later and Rand’s filk was still
filled to the rafters, so after pausing to listen to Ju sing (a chance
we don’t get nearly often enough), we headed for bed.
(I was pleased to win this bag in the Interfilk auction, as it reminds me of two filkers who are dear to me. The art on the bag is a reproduction of a painting by Beckett Gladney inspired by a book by Ju Honisch.)
One more part to come.