Ordinary Day

*snugs!* Yes, very cool. Glad to hear that there are other vets that do that!

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Awwww!

It's times like these when you discover how caring people can be.

*hugs*

p.s. we may have a small-scale regular music night starting over here soon...

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I wanna play!

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You'd be driving longer than you'd be playing...

Although, for the both of you, if you're in to filk (science-fiction-loosely-oriented folk music, lots of fun), there's a series of Saturday events, roughly monthly, that run quite a bit longer and are worth a two-hour-plus drive for (or the hour's bus ride and call for pickup, if'n we didn't just swing by the long way and chauffeur, Anna)... sound off if you're interested...

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Tell me more about this filk thing? That does sound interesting. I keep telling myself I'd like to go to more of the filks at Norwescon and wind up not doing it, mostly because I don't know enough filk to play yet.

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Oh, pish. They also filk who just sit and listen, or sing along to the choruses. One of the features of a good filk, too, is a portable copy machine, which can be used to copy off lead sheets and the like... often the cry is raised after a new song is introduced, "COPY!"

OK. Filk. The folk music of the science fiction convention. Much of it is parody, f'rinstance, "Railway to Hogwarts" to the tune of (oft-abbreviated "ttto") "Stairway to Heaven"; "Sympathy for Mr. Morden"; and "Filk in the Lobby" ttto one of the best known guitar riffs of all time, "Smoke on the Water". But there's a lot of original stuff, too, about everything from Alice in Wonderland to generation ships to cats to knitting. Much of it is guitar, but we have instruments ranging from dulcimers (both kinds) to bass flutes (in-house here at the Treehouse!) to keyboards to really crazy stringed instruments like the banjo ukelele, the banjola, the banjimmer, and I think there's even a bouzouki floating about the community, though I can't think who has it at the moment.

There is a semi-formal organization here, the Emerald Forest Filk Society (http://emeraldforestfilk.org/index.php); there's a mailing list signup on that page. The calendar off that page also reveals that there is a concert in Greenwood next Saturday night with

tfabris and

vixyish, if you want to just get a flavor of what we do, and then there's a housefilk up on Whidbey Island the following Saturday (and we're probably going). There would likely be room in the car if you wanted to tag along...

I really recommend Tony and Vixy as a first experience. Tony doesn't have the greatest voice, but it works well for funny stuff, which is what he does, and he's a damn fine guitarist; Vixy... that woman has the finest set of pipes I've heard in these parts for a mezzo soprano. They encourage singing along (not like they could prevent it on "Mal's Song", which is what came of Vixy using the "Firefly" theme for a chorus and writing verses around it)... the coffee is good, the company will be excellent, and it's not a half-bad venue for a girl and a guy with a six-string. The coffeehouse is just south of 87th on Greenwood; bus it to Northgate and catch the 5 Downtown. Bus stop is basically across the street if I recall correctly. We can probably arrange to get you home from there; the route back is a bastard.

I think the most unusual thing about filk is that the community (and I use that word deliberately) has a habit of encouraging folks to participate, even if they aren't the best (yet). So, c'mon along! it'll be fun.

(This is my music icon. :)

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No no, I didn't mean "tell me about filk in general", I meant "tell me about this specific monthly filk gathering".

I'm very aware of what filk is, and that many just sit and listen at the filks--I used to do that in the Midwest. However, I'm way more interested in actually playing now, which is why I haven't been going to the filks up here. The impression I've always had is that in the Midwest, the filks were way more the type where noobs like me could jump in and try to play along, whereas here, it's more of a "everybody takes a turn and nobody joins in". I may be wrong, that's just the impression I've gotten. ;) And I'm not prepared to play by myself in public, so.

There's also the aspect that at Norwescons, anyway, I've also been helping Dara out with the newsletters. And that tends to conflict with the scheduled filks, so....

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The EFF filks are much more "play along if you can" kinds of things. And there's a heck of a lot of collaboration, too, as in "I can sing this but I need somebody to back me" or "I can play this, would somebody sing it?" kind of thing... and newbies are definitely encouraged.

Seriously. This is a really good bunch of folk to play with and get your chops up. I remember last Norwes, when I started the con in the back corner just picking songs for others to play and I'd sing along, and ended the con in the jam session, playing my big African drum and getting eye cues as if I were a pro from no less a personage than Heather Alexander... the next person would pick a jam tune and start a riff, and everybody just piled in after... and the floor in the center of us exploded with dancers.

C'mon in, the water's fine.

(phone call ensues)

p.s.

cflute adds her encouragement; she's happy to have folks play along with her, and if you're not careful, you'll find one flute or the other backing you up. :)

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*grins!* Like I said in email,

solarbird and I are definitely interested, it'll just have to be next month rather than this one. Keep us posted on schedule-y things. And I'll have to break out a few of my own flutes. They've been neglected even longer than my things with strings.

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The monthly thing sounds awesome. And where would I be driving to again? I forget. If I could coordinate it with my chemotherapy injections (which happen once per month) and you're in the Seattle area, it'd work out loverly.

Ok, I took it upon myself to check your journal and schtuff. So yeah, if I could coordinate my injections with the gathering of filkers, that'd work. Or even once I get my SS, if it is enough to support such drivers, I could do it anyway.

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The filks happen anywhere from Redmond to Whidbey Island... and sometimes up on Vancouver Island. And right now everything is up in the air as we're in the arc of major filk and filk-oriented cons on the west coast (Consonance, NorWes, and BayCon)... will post when I have something.

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That'll work. BTW, I got my social security, so should have the money to do such things once per month now. :)

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Woot. I know what an ordeal that's supposed to be, just getting them to admit you're supposed to have it...

Don't know when the next one is; the con schedule is busy right now, so folks don't have much bandwidth for housefilk.... but will let folks know as soon as he knows...

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Keep me posted. :) I think I gave you my various e-mail addresses.

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nokomis AT murkworks DOT net
cdprhys AT gmail DOT com
cyn AT eskimo DOT com

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