banjoplayinnerd | Entries tagged with filk

Fans of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series may recognize that phrase.

Granny Weatherwax, a powerful witch, has the ability to Borrow. She can move her consciousness into the body of an animal and see the world through its eyes, literally and figuratively. She hears what it hears, feels what it feels. She even once did this with a swarm of bees.

Borrowing, however, has its side effects. One fairly obvious one is that her conscious functions are out there soaring through the air or hunting for nuts, so when she Borrows the only things her body does are autonomous functions like breathing and heartbeat. She can't move, and I gather that her breathing is shallow enough that there's some question about whether she's still alive. So, the last thing she does when she gets ready to Borrow is to put a hand-lettered sign across her chest that reads I ATEN'T DED. Just in case anyone comes by and thinks otherwise.

Well, I aten't ded, but I haven't been around for a while. In fact it would be kind of hard for me to argue that I haven't dropped out of filk, even though I don't feel like I have. In 2012 I attended four or five filk and SF cons, including my Interfilk gig in San Diego. Last year? One. And I am in danger of not being able to go to that one this year.

The problem is simple. 2013 was a disastrous year for me financially. I only had work five months out of the year. I've had to strain my credit to the breaking point. So far I've managed to stay in my house, feed the family and pay the bills, and thanks to the ACA I have the medications I need to function properly. but it's a near thing and while the wolf isn't quite at the door yet, I can see him coming down the track. At this point conventions are a luxury I simply can't afford.

I do hope to get back to work soon. There's a market out there for people with my skill set, and I'm doing my best to create my own market. But it's tough. Think positive thoughts for me, and I hope to have better news soon.

Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/36413.html

Sunday night was not all that good a night for sleeping. We packed everything up and got to bed about 11:30 and had to be up at 5:30 to meet up with our guest liaison for the ride to the airport. Six hours is usually plenty of sleeping time, especially if I can get a nap later in the day, but that night's sleep was interrupted by a leg cramp, and no sooner had I gotten that worked out and gotten back to sleep than my blood sugar started crashing. We had already packed the apple juice in checked luggage, so we had to go in and dig it out so I could get my blood sugar up. Thankfully after that I was OK until 5:30, but I still felt even less rested than I usually do.

We checked out of the airport, met up with Kate, who was kind enough to run us through a drive-through so we could get some breakfast, and made it to the airport in plenty of time. This was a good thing, because we had overpacked one of our bags and had a bit of a scramble to get the bag down below 50 pounds. Once that was done the wheelchair I had requested arrived. The assistant loaded me into the wheelchair, put my banjo in my lap, hooked the cane to the back, strapped my backpack to the back of the chair, and away we went.

I am not a big fan of the backscatter X-ray where you have to stand still for 10 seconds and make the Sign Of The Elk above your head while you do so. But, I did it anyway, got to the other side of Security Theater, put my shoes back on, loaded up my pockets . . . and then realized that I had not pulled the laptop out of the backpack before they sent the backpack through. This is a Major No-No and will subject you to a Big Time out. So, when the backpack came through, the technician informed me she was going to remove the backpack and wipe it down. No problem, right? I'm sure they are careful about electronics.

The laptop case tested positive for something. I have no idea what; the technician didn't tell me other than a vague "Oh, nitroglycerine or something." I don't take nitroglycerine and neither does anybody I know, so I have no idea how any kind of residue that could test positive for anything remotely interesting could have gotten on the laptop.

Because of this infraction I got to be the next contestant on Who Wants To Be Patted Down At The Airport. I got to stand - with no support, mind you - with legs spread while the TSA guy patted me down, up, sideways, outside and (just a little bit) in. People have said they found this experience humiliating; I wasn't humiliated so much as annoyed, at least partly at myself for forgetting about the backpack, but also for the whole stupid security theater apparatus that required me to go through this and would do absolutely nothing to keep a determined terrorist out of a secure zone.

To his credit, the guy doing the patdown was very professional and explained everything he was doing. He was also assisted by two other TSA agents; as it happens he was a trainee, and kept having to ask them questions like "Should I have him take his shoes off?" (He should, they said.) In fact he seemed like a very nice guy. He asked where I was going. I told him Seattle; he said he would like to come visit up here someday.

Finally the whole thing was over and I got to explain to my wife what had happened. We made it to the gate in plenty of time, checked in for the flight, got on the plane, stowed the banjo in its overhead compartment, and sat down to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Do you remember the news a week ago about how Alaska Airlines' computer systems were down? Not one, but two, cables got severed somehow, cutting Alaska's computers off from the rest of the world. We got in the air in spite of the problem but were about an hour late getting off the ground. That wasn't quite so bad, although I'm glad I hadn't taken my diuretics before the flight started. Airplane restrooms are not my friend.

We landed about an hour late and walked into a scene of chaos. People were trying to catch up with connecting flights that were scheduled to leave about the time we landed. Others were at their assigned gate, waiting to find out whether the flight was still going to take off. About four flights were cancelled while we were in the airport.

And through all of this, somehow or another they lost track of our wheelchairs.

I stood in the customer service line, in part because it seemed like the easiest way to request a wheelchair (there were no attendants at the gate) but also because a simple request like "Can you send two wheelchairs to our gate?" would be a welcome relief for the overworked customer service representatives. About 20 minutes later a fellow with a wheelchair came by, and rather than potentially stick around for another 20 minutes, my wife decided to walk.

We went down to the baggage claim area, passing a huge line of people waiting to get through security. We got our bags, caught the shuttle out to Shoreline and made it home safe and sound. Tired, but safe and sound.

I had debated whether I wanted to fly to San Diego, or whether I should take my daughter up on her offer to drive me down. In the end I went with flying, as much because of the price of gas as anything else. (One convenience store we passed in San Diego on the way to the airport was selling regular unleaded gas at 5.00 fa gallon.) I enjoyed the trip, but the transportation experience left much to be desired. Someday I would love to go to OVFF< FKO or GAFilk, and when that happens, I hope to go by car. Well, actually I hope to go by high-speed rail. But I'm not sure I'll live that long.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Location: Well away from the security checkpoint, thank goodness
Current Music: The Jeopardy "time passes" theme
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/32859.html

So as many of you know, I was the Interfilk guest at Conchord which happened about ten days ago, thanks to the sponsorship of Juliana McCorison and Kathleen Sloane and the other board members at Interfilk. Pre-con planning was a bit chaotic but we finally got all the ducks in a row, I got my ticket and off we went.

The trip out was relatively uneventful, except that due to traffic we got to the airport, bags checked, through security and into the boarding area just in time to board the plane. This would not have been so bad except that we hadn't had any breakfast yet, and I was worried my blood sugar would drop. (Not without cause, as we shall see later.) I had counted on getting breakfast at the airport but there wasn't really time to do so, so I ended up having to pay $7 for a cheese and fruit "plate" to share with my wife. It and a Zone bar did the job well enough until we landed in San Diego, where we were met by Kate Evans, Conchord's guest liaison.

Kate helped us schlep bags out of the terminal and into her SUV. One of the guide rods on the smaller suitcase got bent, making it hard to roll the suitcase. It made me glad they didn't give me any grief about taking the banjo on the plane. It fit very nicely into the overhead compartment.

Fifteen minutes later we were at the Town & Country Resort. It's a very nice hotel and the staff was quite friendly, but one of the first things we learned was that it's a captive hotel. They have about half a dozen restaurants on the premises, but the prices are about what you would expect for a hotel restaurant in Southern California. After checking in and resting up a bit we decided to make the trek to a mall across the light rail tracks, where we were told there was a food court. No need not to, it was a nice sunny pleasant San Diego afternoon and we had lots of time to stop and rest along the way. Good thing too, because looking at the map it looks like we walked the better part of a mile to get to the mall's food court. We had fish tacos and a shrimp burrito at a place called Rio's (I think), after which I had a phone screen with a potential employer. They decided not to move ahead, but I couldn't complain much about having a job interview while sitting outside in San Diego, sipping a soda and watching the passers-by pass by.

The con is a bit of a blur. We got to meet Laura Reynolds, the artist GoH, who does primarily soft sculptures. Hers are much more elaborate than my wife's. We ordered pizza because it was easier and cheaper than anything at the hotel. We ran into some old friends, including Bill Laubenheimer, the guy I shared the COnflikt 5 songwriting prize with, and his wife. Blind Lemming Chiffon was there, as was Heather Dale (of course, since she was the music guest). And I got to hear some fine Southern California filk in the Friday Night showcase. One guy in particular who I'd like to arrange for a couple of performances is Tim Griffin. He does songs about science and math, mostly geared toward children, and performs them in schools. Most of his performances are around the Los Angeles area, since that's where he's from, but if I can persuade enough schools to have him in to make it worth his time, he said he'd be happy to come up. (Did I mention he does this for free? He's organizing a non-profit to coordinate his activities, and hopefully pay him a living wage.) Afterward we retired to the open filk room to run through all of the songs nominated for the Kazoo Awards (25 of them, if I remember right). By the time we got to the last one - which was Tom Smith's Seven Drunken Nights In Space, and which was Conchord's first chance to hear me sing - it was pretty late and I ambled off to bed. I don't know if anyone else stayed up for open filking.

Saturday was the big show! I got to open for Heather!!! (Oh. And Ben.) It was a good crowd and since for the most part they hadn't heard my stuff before, I'm glad they laughed in the right places and figured out to clap along with "You're A Hack." The set list went something like:

You're A Hack
Colour
Batman's Really Cool
The Loneliest Pro At The Con
Ghosts
Dark Lullaby
Roll Down The Water
Half The Battle
Crossroads

Afterward Heather and Ben were their usual awesome selves, followed by Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, who were their usual awesome selves. It was a good show and I was happy to be a part of it.

Sunday I sat in on a songwriting workshop Jeff gave. I always learn when I go to these things, even when I'm on the panel (I wasn't this time), and Jeff broke down how he writes his parodies. It was hugely useful, and I hope to put it to good use. Ben did a guitar technique workshop; a guitar is a guitar and a banjo is a banjo, but some things cross over, and it was cool just to hear Ben talk about how he approaches their music. After the official end of the con a bunch of us got together at the hotel's steak house (the only restaurant open on the premises) and chatted and had a good time over dinner, after which we headed back to the hotel for a dead dog filk. The dog finally stopped kicking about 10:30, plenty of time for us to get up to the room, pack our bags and be ready for the red-eye out of SAN.

This has already gotten pretty long, so I think I'll continue the Ballad Of The Amazingly Annoying Return Flight Home in another post.

Current Location: Back home again
Current Music: Wonderful filk from Southern California
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/32622.html

Middle of last week I got an email from my friend Jane Garthson, a Toronto filker. She said she and her husband Phil Mills were going to host a housefilk on Saturday, and would I be interested in attending via Skype?

Well, um, yeah.

So I dusted off my Skype account that I hadn't used in over a year, figured out my password and off I went. Connecting was more exciting than it should have been because my laptop suddenly forgot that it had a webcam attached, in either Linux or Windows. I had to go into my junkbox and dig out an old webcam that I'd bought on clearance somewhere or another for $5 that did an adequate, though by no means spectacular, job. Once that was hooked up everything went fairly smoothly. I wish the audio and video quality would have been better, but if it had been they might have been able to see the explosion-in-an-electronics-assembly-plant that is my desk/computer workstation, so maybe it's just as well.

For my part I got to do three songs in the three hours I was on: "You're A Hack," "Colour" and "The Frozen Logger." In return I got to hear and get copies of a spoken word piece allegedly from an 8th-century Irish warrior ("I love you more than Celtic knotwork. As practiced by Celtic Boy Scouts. Whatever they are."), a new song by Phil about the Hellhound from Pratchett and Gaiman's "Good Omens", and a verse for "Green Hills Of Earth" in Esperanto. I also got a pointer to a filk of Janis Ian's "At Seventeen" about the stories we know and love, with words by . . . Janis herself. (They're on her web page. I found them by Googling "janis ian asimov bradbury clarke".)

I did not get any of the peanut butter vodka Jane was passing around, but I don't drink anyway so that's all right. Especially since it was peanut butter vodka. That just sounds wrong.

It was a fun experience and something I'd like to try again with some other groups. I met some very nice people that I hope to see in person someday. And Jane said she'd love it if I could reciprocate. (I'll see what we can do about that.)

The rest of the weekend was spent doing computer stuff. The ham bands have been pretty awful of late, what with solar flares and the like, so I've been using the time to set up the Vectra I talked about in my last post as a firewall/router/DHCP/DNS machine. Everything I've tested so far is working in its current configuration, in which the machine is getting its connectivity through the current router. I did a quick test with the Vectra hooked up to the Comcast connection, and I was able to do an IPv6 ping to the outside world, so I think that part is working too. I spent parts of this morning tracking down how to configure the firewall to get rid of a bunch of annoying messages about dropped packets that really shouldn't have been dropped.

The package tracker tells me the 4-port Ethernet switch I ordered should be here today. I don't know if I'll have any time to play with it tonight, since we are planning on hauling the tribe off to go see "Chimpanzee" at the $3 theater, but the next step is to hook up the switch and see if my laptop can get an address through that port. If that works, the final step will be to disconnect the old router, hook the Comcast connection up to the Vectra, restart everything to make sure it all works as planned, plug the Ethernet cable from my wife's computer into the switch to make sure she can still connect to the net, and I can declare it a success. (She gets grumpy when she can't go hang out on Gaia Online. If you have an account, look for "Granny Sharleen." I have an account - something like "Banjo Gramps" - that my wife and daughter set up for me, but I never use it. Too much other stuff going on.)

This week is my son's birthday. He's been rather depressed lately, so we're going to go descend on him and cheer him up, because when you're depressed you absolutely love having people cheer you up, right? I've ordered a T-shirt for him for his birthday:

http://shirt.woot.com/offers/family-breakfast

Don't tell him, OK?

Current Location: Anyplace there's a Skype connection :-)
Current Music: Cross-continental filk
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/30974.html

Yeah I know, ti's been a while since I put anything up, so I have a bunch of news to report: First up, Norwescon, then a ham radio post, broken up so those who want to skip one or the other will find it easier to do so.

Norwescon was great! My set went over quite well for the small but appreciative audience. It would have been a good tuneup for Conchord, but, well, Conchord is still six months away, so tuneup isn't really the right word. I think the set list I used is probably going to be very similar to the one I'll do at Conchord, except that I will drop in the Batman song Igor the Younger helped me write and I might substitute one of my own songs for Michael Longcor's "Privateer," which I used to open the set. Depending on the length of the set I may also throw in "Roll Down The Water", "Batman's Really Cool" (a/k/a "Boofy's Batman Song") or one of the other songs I didn't have time for on Friday.

The set list, as best I can remember:

Privateer
Colour
The Dragon Riders' Toast
Ghosts
You're A Hack
Half The Battle
Powders And Signs
Dark Lullaby
Crossroads

The order might not be 100% correct but I think that's all the songs.

Batman's Really Cool went over very well in the Saturday open filk. Everybody laughed in the right places, at least, and I got at least one unexpected laugh. I love when that happens. I told Igor the Younger I sang his song at the convention but I don't know if he really has a handle on what that means.

I have a couple of other songs I like but that are probably still better suited for open filk, like "Fishing For Suckers" or "Bo Diddley Died Today," not to mention the covers and trads I do like "Filkers Are Strange" or "Been All Around This World." "Bo Diddley Died Today" is a most excellent song (if I do say so myself) but to be honest it really, really, really needs someone who can do the Bo Diddley Beat on a guitar, which would not be me. I fake it with the banjo but that's about the best I can do.

And of course who can tell what songs I might get written by October?

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Back in Mundania, darn it
Current Music: "Batman's Really Cool"
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/22197.html

Norwescon starts tomorrow! And I am performing! And as usual I feel woefully underprepared. For one thing, I don't have a set list yet. I need to sit down and knock one out on my lunch break or something so I know what to practice in the next 54 hours or so.

One thing they do right is post the programming grids well in advance of the con. I downloaded a set and printed them out in actually readable format, and marked up the time slots that I'm expected to be somewhere. Next comes the things I would like to go to if given the chance. I need to make some time for the dealer's room – I don't think I ever made it to the dealer's room or art show at Orycon. Not that I have money to spend, but I do enjoy looking at all the gewgaws and veeblefetzers and thinking "Someday I'll be able to go to a con and won't be too broke to spend money at the dealer's room."

If you're at NWC come join me Friday at 7 as I play the banjo! And sing! And sometimes I sing without playing the banjo! I will have a couple of songs that are new to Norwescon, I promise. And probably one that's new to anywhere, co-written by Igor the Younger. Honestly. I mean, how many times are you going to get to hear a song that was partially written by a four-year-old?

No, the four year old is not me. Who said that??

Current Mood: excited
Current Location: In front of the clock, counting the hours
Current Music: You'll find out Friday!
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/21860.html

I'm practicing for my upcoming set at Norwescon. Ack, it's less than three weeks now! I do need to sit down and work out the set list and concentrate on those songs.

Over the weekend I found a song that, while it wasn't really lost, was new to me. Lawrence O'Donnell devoted the last few minutes of his show on Friday (I think) to showing a video clip of Bob Kerrey's victory speech when he won his first Senate campaign back in 1988, Kerrey has his faults – that he would even consider running the Motion Picture Association of America being one of them, unless he was planning to dismantle it – but you've got to admire his courage and determination in learning to walk again after he lost a leg in Vietnam, and doing it very well. Lawrence's clip showed Kerrey singing a song about a young Australian in similar circumstances during the Gallipoli Campaign:

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me ass over head
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying

For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

"The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is apparently considered one of the best songs ever to come out of Australia, and it's just my luck that I had never heard it before last Friday. (The lyrics to a version done by the Pogues are available here.) It fits very well with my own humble effort, "Half the Battle," but I'm not sure I could do both of them in the same set. Unless, that is, we were doing the "Downer Songs About Coming Home From The War And Stuff" set.

Anyway I just thought I'd pass that along and let everyone know I still occasionally think of things that have nothing to do with ham radio.

Current Location: Hither and yon
Current Music: Eric Bogle, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/21382.html

Last night I got home from work and as usual was gang-tackled by my minions. "Go show Grandpa what you found today," my wife said to Igor the Younger.

He disappeared and came back blowing a harmonica. "We were over at Value Village this afternoon looking for costuming stuff," she explained. "He kept running off and getting into stuff like he usually does right up until the point he found the harmonica and put it right into his mouth and started playing. He played it for two straight hours."

He has excellent taste. It's a Hohner Bluesband in C, not like one of those cheapie Chinese harmonicas we've bought for $1 at a couple of places around town. I gave it a couple of test blows and it bends the #3 note like it's supposed to.

Now I'm not going to claim he's a natural born Sonny Terry or Elwood Blues or anything like that. His playing so far consists of random notes in chords at random intervals up and down the harp, and he's able to keep it at a reasonable tone rather than just full-bore blasting into it.

It's just nice that he's found an instrument that he can't knock out of tune like the banjo or ukulele, and gives him an idea of what a proper chord is supposed to sound like. I have a hunch he could grow up to know something about music if he isn't careful.

Igor the Older of course wants to get in on the act. She likes borrowing the harp, but he's actually better with it than she is. At one point she suggested that Igor the Younger get his harp, I get my banjo and she get the ukulele and we could start a band.

Sure, it sounded like an industrial accident in a musical instrument factory, but hey, even Wyld Stallyns had to start somewhere.

Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/19385.html

Turns out the walkie-talkie isn't quite as fixed as I would have liked. Not only did the positive terminal from the battery I replaced come loose, before it did somehow I managed to short across the battery again. I'll tackle it tonight. This time for sure, Rocky! The replacement screws for the back came in, so I should be able to assemble it once I finally get this right. I've given it a couple of trial runs, and either the push-to-talk button has gotten stiff or I'm getting weak in the hands (or maybe both). On payday I plan to order an aftermarket speaker/microphone, which will suit the use I plan to put the walkie-talkie to better.

Went to the movie yesterday with my wife, daughter, granddaughter and a couple of my granddaughter's friends. We saw The Secret Of Arrietty. Everybody liked it, but then Studio Ghibli hasn't disappointed us yet that I can remember. The only thing I can think of to complain about is the price.

Oh, and I have my Norwescon schedule! A bunch of music stuff as usual, plus I will be on a panel called "Tweet Think" - "If u communic8 140 characters at a time, does it change ur brain and the way u think about things?" Should be interesting.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: On the phone, on hold waiting for a government agency
Current Music: Impressively uninspiring hold music
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/18338.html

This is me, about 9:30 at night, sitting in my office chair in front of my computer, playing my banjo and keeping half an ear on the conversation going between a couple of my friends on one of the local repeaters. They're talking about antennas. I might put down the banjo and join in if I have a question or something to add, but I'm mostly content to plunk and listen.

My grandson is trying to convince me to put a videotape into the VCR so he can watch it for about five minutes and go wander off and go do something else.

I have a house to live in, food to eat, interesting toys to play with and a loving family.

Life is good.

That is all.

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Chez Banjo
Current Music: Me on the banjo
Crossposts: http://banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com/17052.html

FAWM, of course, is February Album Writing Month. You're supposed to do fourteen and a half songs in 29 days this year. (The half song is a collaboration.)

This morning I posted my first song on FAWM and it immediately got two comments. That may be all it gets until I can record a demo of it. Assuming I can get a demo of it recorded. You'll have to go to http://fawm.org/songs/22237/ to see the lyrics, but I will tell you that it's called Time Dilation Blues, and while it's not my best song ever, it's far from the worst, and seems like a good way to start off the project.

Current Location: At the office

Those of you at the Conflikt lunch heard about Conchord, San Diego's filk convention, which this year is going to be combined with Conjecture, one of the local SF cons. Pay for one, you get to go to both. What a deal. Patricia Wrede is going to be the literary GoH, and Heather Dale is going to be the filk GoH.

Well, guess who's going to be the Interfilk guest?

Go on, guess!

Here's a hint: I had major trouble sleeping last night because I was so jazzed about being invited.

Oops, did I say that out loud?