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HOME TO FILKONTARIO
Mar. 31st, 2008 12:30 amWith all the excitement and planning and prep-work and interviews associated with my upcoming new position with The Company, certain things have kinda snuck up on me ... chief among them FilKONtario, which is, eek, this weekend. I should, like, write a song or somethin'.
* For those unaware, filk is the music of science fiction and fantasy fandom, which is a very overgeneralized description of a broad scene but the best I can do right now. Also for those unaware, the adjoining photo is of UK jazz/pop/filk artist Chris Conway (guest of honor two years ago), who everybody needs to hear.
FilKONtario is the first filk convention I ever attended -- back in 2000, and then from 2003 on -- and it holds a special place in my heart as the con that cemented my fascination with this genre of music (or "scene" may be more appropriate, since several genres are represented) and that acquainted me with many wondrous folks, many of whom are on the f-list. I also regularly attend OVFF and Confluence, and both have their strengths 'n' virtues -- OVFF is the Woodstock of filkers, just with less mud and drugs & stuff (unless I'm just in the wrong filkrooms) and Confluence, though it isn't really a filkcon, might as well be due to the stellar and tireless work![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mrgoodwraith, Pete Grubbs and others put into assembling a diverse and packed filk track every year. But FKO will always be my "home" filkcon, if you will, hence my snagging ohiblather's song title for this post.
My memories of that 2000 FKO are rather dim -- I actually hadn't intended on coming; I was at Eericon that Friday, and it turned out Randy and Ookla were heading up to FKO Saturday morning. The filk bug hadn't really bitten me at that point; most of my encounters with filk throughout the 1990s had been, essentially, through hanging out with Randy and Ookla. I had been in several filkrooms at Astronomicon, Eeriecon and Philcon, even a housefilk at Mark Osier's since it was the night of Dave Huth's wedding and I ended up tagging along with Randy and Ookla again. And I had heard the wonderful Urban Tapestry live a number of times, and somewhere along the line picked up the North Coast Cabaret cassette and heard the tremendous voice and lyrics of Steve Macdonald. But it was still something I could more or less take or leave. The 2000 FKO was what turned the corner a bit for me -- again, I don't remember too much, but I remember UT being there, and I remember hearing Dandelion Wine live for the first time, and I remember a large group of people involved in what seemed like a half-hour version of "When I Was A Boy" (undoubtedly instigated bytarkrai), and I remember someone in a filk circle doing a haunting version of Moonwulf's "Monster in My Head." It might have been Moonwulf, for that matter. I left that con with a good impression and a couple discs, and then ended up hanging out in the filk room each night of the Millennium Philcon in 2001. It being a WorldCon, it attracted a big room, with everyone from beginners to Leslie Fish, and it solidified the everything-goes ethic of filk.
Finally, in spring 2003 I returned to FKO, but my intents started out mostly professional. I was trying to throw myself into freelance writing assignments, partly for extra money and partly to take my mind off a bad breakup, and I had come across this funky little niche magazine out of Portland, Ore., called Cool and Strange Music. I queried the incoming editor/publisher (the founder and longtime ed/pub was turning over the reins) about a filk piece, and he sounded excited about it. I was only going to get paid a nominal fee -- 35 bucks -- but I threw myself into it anyway, conducting e-mail interviews with around a dozen filkers whose names I'd heard: Leslie Fish, Tom Smith, Kathy Mar, Bob Kanefsky and so forth. And I planned to do about a dozen more interviews at the con.
Which I did, including long talks with Juanita Coulson and Rand-and-Adam (who were soon to release O OK L.A.) and shorter talks with a bunch of others. (Also got a mild, deserved talkin'-to byjhayman that Sunday because I hadn't informed the concom what I was doing. We later corresponded and all was well; she made some good contributions and recommended I contact Lee Gold.) But throughout the weekend, the story I was working on really became a side issue -- I became entranced with the people and the music. Again, can't remember too many details, other than billroper singing "Not Everybody Dies" and Tim Jennings performing his incredible "Sealskin Jacket" and the Fibs playing signature songs like "Lessons From History" (with Reagan updated to Dubya), and a typically unroarious Interfilk auction. (I have a great photograph somewhere around here of Joey Shoji being wenched on an item by Rand and Smac.) But mostly, I remember a vibe of creativity and acceptance and mutual respect; these were people with not only a common interest but a common cause, as spelled out that weekend by Barry and Sally Childs-Helton at their Filk Hall of Fame induction: That they were "taking back" the arts from the forces of commercialism/professionalism/big-business/etc. (at least in their more negative manifestations). That children all sing and write and dance and play; it's only as they grow older and more self-conscious that too many of us discount our creative sides and leave it to the pros. That filkers -- or other groups of people who gather to sing and play and share -- were essentially creating tribal communities that reverse that process.
That was pretty cool. And that weekend, I wrote my first filk song. ("The Beagle," FWIW -- didn't sing it til Torcon, though.)
The magazine piece was written but never published -- the new pub/ed's first issue never materialized, and the magazine was eventually considered defunct. (That piece is so outdated now, there's no point in dusting it off -- besides, now that I'm an active participant it would seem a conflict of interest.) But by then, who cared? I had discovered a new world of music, and a new pool of friends. (A number of folks on the f-list I first met at FKOs -- at least four of you, likely more.)
Like I said, the con has kind of snuck up on me and, truth be told, I haven't actually written a song since last year ("Let Me In") -- and the songwriting contest topic isn't ringing any bells for me yet. (Watch it ring one Thursday.) But at this point, even if I don't end up singing a note, I can with a fair degree of confidence say that this weekend will be among the half dozen or so highlights of the year.
Practical Stuff: I'm planning to get on the road by 11 or noonish (which I say every year but never happens, but I'm going to really try this year), which means I'll be arriving around mid-afternoon. Who of you among the Toronto crowd (or early arrivers) might I find milling about?
Words: "The Recreation Room" by Albert E. Cowdrey
Sounds & Images: Most recently, the Nationals' opener against the Braves
State O'Mind: Appreciative
* For those unaware, filk is the music of science fiction and fantasy fandom, which is a very overgeneralized description of a broad scene but the best I can do right now. Also for those unaware, the adjoining photo is of UK jazz/pop/filk artist Chris Conway (guest of honor two years ago), who everybody needs to hear.
FilKONtario is the first filk convention I ever attended -- back in 2000, and then from 2003 on -- and it holds a special place in my heart as the con that cemented my fascination with this genre of music (or "scene" may be more appropriate, since several genres are represented) and that acquainted me with many wondrous folks, many of whom are on the f-list. I also regularly attend OVFF and Confluence, and both have their strengths 'n' virtues -- OVFF is the Woodstock of filkers, just with less mud and drugs & stuff (unless I'm just in the wrong filkrooms) and Confluence, though it isn't really a filkcon, might as well be due to the stellar and tireless work
mrgoodwraith, Pete Grubbs and others put into assembling a diverse and packed filk track every year. But FKO will always be my "home" filkcon, if you will, hence my snagging ohiblather's song title for this post.My memories of that 2000 FKO are rather dim -- I actually hadn't intended on coming; I was at Eericon that Friday, and it turned out Randy and Ookla were heading up to FKO Saturday morning. The filk bug hadn't really bitten me at that point; most of my encounters with filk throughout the 1990s had been, essentially, through hanging out with Randy and Ookla. I had been in several filkrooms at Astronomicon, Eeriecon and Philcon, even a housefilk at Mark Osier's since it was the night of Dave Huth's wedding and I ended up tagging along with Randy and Ookla again. And I had heard the wonderful Urban Tapestry live a number of times, and somewhere along the line picked up the North Coast Cabaret cassette and heard the tremendous voice and lyrics of Steve Macdonald. But it was still something I could more or less take or leave. The 2000 FKO was what turned the corner a bit for me -- again, I don't remember too much, but I remember UT being there, and I remember hearing Dandelion Wine live for the first time, and I remember a large group of people involved in what seemed like a half-hour version of "When I Was A Boy" (undoubtedly instigated by
tarkrai), and I remember someone in a filk circle doing a haunting version of Moonwulf's "Monster in My Head." It might have been Moonwulf, for that matter. I left that con with a good impression and a couple discs, and then ended up hanging out in the filk room each night of the Millennium Philcon in 2001. It being a WorldCon, it attracted a big room, with everyone from beginners to Leslie Fish, and it solidified the everything-goes ethic of filk.Finally, in spring 2003 I returned to FKO, but my intents started out mostly professional. I was trying to throw myself into freelance writing assignments, partly for extra money and partly to take my mind off a bad breakup, and I had come across this funky little niche magazine out of Portland, Ore., called Cool and Strange Music. I queried the incoming editor/publisher (the founder and longtime ed/pub was turning over the reins) about a filk piece, and he sounded excited about it. I was only going to get paid a nominal fee -- 35 bucks -- but I threw myself into it anyway, conducting e-mail interviews with around a dozen filkers whose names I'd heard: Leslie Fish, Tom Smith, Kathy Mar, Bob Kanefsky and so forth. And I planned to do about a dozen more interviews at the con.
Which I did, including long talks with Juanita Coulson and Rand-and-Adam (who were soon to release O OK L.A.) and shorter talks with a bunch of others. (Also got a mild, deserved talkin'-to by
jhayman that Sunday because I hadn't informed the concom what I was doing. We later corresponded and all was well; she made some good contributions and recommended I contact Lee Gold.) But throughout the weekend, the story I was working on really became a side issue -- I became entranced with the people and the music. Again, can't remember too many details, other than billroper singing "Not Everybody Dies" and Tim Jennings performing his incredible "Sealskin Jacket" and the Fibs playing signature songs like "Lessons From History" (with Reagan updated to Dubya), and a typically unroarious Interfilk auction. (I have a great photograph somewhere around here of Joey Shoji being wenched on an item by Rand and Smac.) But mostly, I remember a vibe of creativity and acceptance and mutual respect; these were people with not only a common interest but a common cause, as spelled out that weekend by Barry and Sally Childs-Helton at their Filk Hall of Fame induction: That they were "taking back" the arts from the forces of commercialism/professionalism/big-business/etc. (at least in their more negative manifestations). That children all sing and write and dance and play; it's only as they grow older and more self-conscious that too many of us discount our creative sides and leave it to the pros. That filkers -- or other groups of people who gather to sing and play and share -- were essentially creating tribal communities that reverse that process.That was pretty cool. And that weekend, I wrote my first filk song. ("The Beagle," FWIW -- didn't sing it til Torcon, though.)
The magazine piece was written but never published -- the new pub/ed's first issue never materialized, and the magazine was eventually considered defunct. (That piece is so outdated now, there's no point in dusting it off -- besides, now that I'm an active participant it would seem a conflict of interest.) But by then, who cared? I had discovered a new world of music, and a new pool of friends. (A number of folks on the f-list I first met at FKOs -- at least four of you, likely more.)
Like I said, the con has kind of snuck up on me and, truth be told, I haven't actually written a song since last year ("Let Me In") -- and the songwriting contest topic isn't ringing any bells for me yet. (Watch it ring one Thursday.) But at this point, even if I don't end up singing a note, I can with a fair degree of confidence say that this weekend will be among the half dozen or so highlights of the year.
Practical Stuff: I'm planning to get on the road by 11 or noonish (which I say every year but never happens, but I'm going to really try this year), which means I'll be arriving around mid-afternoon. Who of you among the Toronto crowd (or early arrivers) might I find milling about?
Words: "The Recreation Room" by Albert E. Cowdrey
Sounds & Images: Most recently, the Nationals' opener against the Braves
State O'Mind: Appreciative
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