and more dd

Chris Conway's DD report now online.
Phil's DD report now online.

Busybusy...my jetlag has pretty much worn off so I have no excuse anymore. I'm going to work all weekend as well to try to catch up.

A package from Godfrey arrived today with very cool photos!!! A set for each of Jodi, Allison and me, with negatives, even. Thankyouthankyou, Godfrey!!! I'll start scanning and posting some over the next while.

Today's blatherpic is courtesy Chris Conway...I think he took this one during or just after his concert on the opening night of the convention.

Busybusy catching up with work. And like Allison, I'm drinking lots of tea! Mostly herbal tea I brought back, a zillion types (hey, I managed to use "zillion" two days in a row). My current fave is Green Tea With Mint, yum.

Allison's finished the report, and Jodi and I have added comments...it just needs to properly formatted and HTMLized. Unfortunately I'm not going to have time to do this for a few days; if any of you want to give it a shot, please let me know (I'll send you Canadian chocolate, even). Warning...the report is loooooooooooong!

Fox and Phil and Teddy have gotten me hooked on Buffy. And I just found out my friend Michelle has all the episodes on tape, woohoo!

Getting together with Allison and Jodi tonight....we're going to drink tea and watch Allison's video and listen to tapes and look at photographs (THANK YOU, GODFREY!) and rehash every favourite moment during our UK visit (hm, maybe I should bring my sleeping bag)...

UK Trip Highlight(s) Du Jour Talis's Chocolate Pudding: Okay, I admit it. I had never had real chocolate pudding before, just the processed kind you get out of plastic cups. Talis was horrified, and made me some. And WOW, was it fantastic...I'm spoiled now; how can I ever go back? Her recipe had all kinds of interesting things in it, like "castor sugar" (sp?). Lissa says this is different from granulated sugar. Can we get castor sugar in Canada? We had the chocolate pudding after a fine dinner consisting of Fox's tuna casserole (which has spoiled me for tuna casseroles) and a fine sunflower seed salad created by Talis. Yummmmmmmm. I also got to sample from Simon's and Talis's "tea library", which is an impressive collection of all kinds of teas. I chose "Lemon with Ginger", which was delicious (one of the types I brought home with me). Anyway, back to the chocolate pudding. We had it fresh from the oven, drizzled over with cream. (pause while Debbie wipes the drool from her keyboard) Speaking of chocolate, you must all hear Talis's song, "I should Cocoa"...a WONDERFUL chocolate song that I'm going to force her to sing again at OVFF. Simon plays the keyboards on this one (is there ANY instrument he can't play??).

still more dd

Chris Conway's DD report now online.
Phil's DD report now online.

Oh dear. I took a nap yesterday at 8 pm, intending to wake up an hour later and do more work. But I must have mis-set the alarm because I didn't wake up until 5 am the next morning! Argh. Jeff didn't wake me up because he figured I must have been tired (apparently I slept through the phone ringing beside my head, too).

More chocolate in our office now...Doug brought in about a zillion boxes of Smarties (to you Brits..Smarties come in boxes here, and look like M&M's). I am hoovering down way too much chocolate since I got back from the UK, so am desperately trying to offset the results by hoovering lots of fruit as well. (ha!)

Today's Blatherchat picture is from the cover of Tim and Annie Walker's WILDERWOOD: Dreams Incarnate CD, which I bought in the UK. Great CD (and certainly shows how versatile the Walkers are in terms of different types of music). To find out more about Tim and Annie's music, see http://www.weyrd.demon.co.uk/.

p.s. I just read Annie's Witterings. You do SO have a veryvery cool house, Annie! And wow, were most of those instruments really all yours?!? Do you know how to play all of them??

UK Trip Highlight(s) Du Jour Phoenix Concert: I already picked up their CD a while back so already knew these people were talented, but WOW...I was so blown away by their live performance at Digeri-Douze. Everyone absolutely must MUST hear Phoenix live in concert...it's worth the trip to England, really! Rafe, Dave Clement, Chris Conway, Jodi, Allison and I sat in the front row...SO much fun. I had heard rumours that Phoenix was "loud" but y'know what? I found them *exactly* loud enough. I've been to rock concerts which left my ears ringing even when I carefully sat far from the speakers...this didn't even come close; I thought the sound levels were great. These people have so much energy I'm surprised they don't explode on stage. :-) Especially Annie...whoa. (!!!) I had met Annie once before and she came across as a fairly quiet person. HA. The transformation of Annie-on-stage was truly astounding. Wildly teased hair, make-up, heels, painted-on leather look, the way she fairly crackled with energy as she gyrated and danced...this woman was MADE for the stage. All the Phoenix crew were excellent, and you could sense the fun they were having as they performed; it was infectious. The crowd was dancing, cheering, clapping their hands, yelling...it was a great party. Surprise of the concert for us...they did a KILLER version of "The Lady", with a rock guitar solo that had us melting all over the place. Wow...I really, really loved this version. I have to confess that my favourite piece of the concert was Phil's "Thank You For Your Music", which is one of the most brilliant parodies I've ever heard (ABBA tune), and SO well-done. The only problem with the concert, I found, was that my cheeks were in pain by the end...from all the smiling I was doing throughout. And yelling and screaming (esp. during Tim's gyrating Elvis number) and laughing, of course. Lissa was a dynamo on the drums and on stage...I wish she sang more! All the Phoenix crew played many instruments...I was really impressed (and felt hopelessly inadequate, of course). Yes, I'm a Phoenix groupie! I admit it!!! For more info about the group, see http://www.altrion.org/phoenix/.

more didgeri

Phil's DD report now online. The bios can still be accessed under "Miscellany" under the left column navigation bar.

It's Lissa's and Beckett's birthday today!

Went into the office yesterday and discovered that Amanda had brought chocolate! Heart-shaped valentines chocolate, and chocolate toonies wrapped in foil. Yum. I'm staggering somewhat under all the e-mail and work I have to catch up on after the trip, so the chocolate will help fortify me. :-)

Jeff and I decided to stay in last night on Valentine's Day; I was still jetlagged and neither of us felt like going out. Instead, we watched "Get Shorty" on DVD and ordered in food from Alice Fazooli's.

Lots of snow today! Vast change from the UK weather, which was so mild that I usually left my sweater, mittens, and hat behind when I went out, just using my Inkspot jacket.

UK Trip Highlight(s) Du Jour Steak and chips at Annie's and Tim's: Before the convention, we were invited over for steak and chips, and a badge-making/bag-stuffing session. Delicious meal, yum. I also enjoyed snooping through the house, which is veryvery cool and contains more musical instruments than any other house I've ever seen. Part of the reason is because Rika is living there, but Annie and Tim also have an awful lot of musical instruments. :-) David Peek presented us with a giant container of wrapped chocolates (the collection even came with a flavour guide!)...thank you, David! We ate a bunch ourselves and passed the container around at the convention; I found it a great way to meet new people, too. We stuffed convention bags with membership info, and also helped make the badges. The badge-making equipment was rather complicated for we poor jet-lagged Canajuns; I'm afraid I wrecked a few badges whilst learning how to use it, including DAVE CLEMENT'S BADGE! We did another one to replace it, but I was still wracked with guilt. Well, not so much guilt now that I know that Dave ate all of Anne's chocolate mousse without saving any to bring home for Urban Tapestry! ;-)

valentines

Happy Valentine's Day! This morning, I gave Jeff a card I had bought in a London shop. He looked pretty cute this morning when he got up...his hair sticking up all over the place; I'd have taken a picture if I knew he wouldn't kill for me for it later. He was pretty patient with me when I got back home from the UK...I was pretty jetlagged and incoherent as I rambled on about what a wonderful time I had and all the great people I had met and how much I missed them (this after being away from him for nine days! my only excuse is that I WAS pretty jetlagged).

Mike Whitaker posted yesterday in Blatherchat saying, "We... that is, Anne and Lawrence and Decandent Dave and I... saved you some dessert. Well, we would have but the white and dark chocolate mousse Anne made for lunch today was just too tempting." See It *was* a very nice chocolate mousse...

:-D You guys are too cruel! That mousse looked wonderful!!!!!! I wrote Simon today and asked him to give Dave a huge hug from me (Dave's visiting with him and Talis right now, I believe), but now I've passed on another message to give him instead... >;-D

It was good to see Annie and Sara at my sister's last night. After dinner, Ruth, Annie, Sara, and I donned our dancing costumes (mine consisted of a pink tutu stuck on my head) and danced wildly in the living room to the recording of Aqua's "Barbie Girl" that I made ages ago for Sara. Annie and Sara are wild for it, horrifyingly enough (picture a 3-year-old yelling, "Wrapped in plastic, it's fantastic!"). Annie put on her Jessie costume (consisting of a summer hat and her rubber boots) and Sara wore her Snow White dress from Hallowe'en. At some point, Jeff and Kaarel came out to observe us in amusement until Sara and Annie grabbed their hands and dragged them onto the "dance floor", haha. Serves them right for laughing at us.

I brought some Clotted Cream Fudge for dessert; Annie and Sara inhaled them within a matter of seconds.

UK Trip Highlight(s) Du Jour

Lissa's homemade chocolate brownies. She brought some to the airport to share around...yum! I can see why they're legendary. I'm also floored that amidst all the chaos of visitors and sightseeing and recovering from the convention, she actually found time to bake. (!) I love Phil's and Lissa's kitchen, by the way...very cool layout with a stunning view.

The German hand jive. Some of the Germans taught me this over the weekend, and it's way fun; feel free to ask at OVFF, and I'll show you. During one part of our concert (our encore? "Gone Filkin'" by Tom Jeffers? can't remember), I noticed Anne Whitaker at the back of the room doing the German hand jive. I immediately dropped my tambourine (Lissa's tambourine, actually...thanks, Lissa) and followed her lead. Within seconds, nearly the entire room was copying me!!! Very cool to see that...the UK filk audiences are unbelieveably enthusiastic about everything :-). I'd love to know the origin of the German hand jive thing, if any of you UK types know.

Meeting Teddy. For those of you who aren't familiar with Teddy...he is one of the best-known personalities in the UK filk community, much beloved. His outfits (which he makes himself, I believe...he's a talented costumer) are wonderfully happy and bright. VERY bright. :-) My first meeting with Teddy occurred on the first night of the convention, whilst seated with a bunch of others around a low coffee table. When Teddy arrived, I couldn't reach him to shake his hand. Most others would have just nodded and waved politely from across the table, but not Teddy...without hesitation, he dropped to his knees, crawled beneath the table, then reached up to shake my hand from his prone position. :-D Teddy promises to send me a picture for my Geeky School Photo Page soon.

didgeri, part 2

UT bios from the Didgeri-Douze program book now online.

Slept quite a bit yesterday, unpacked. I had to buy a cheap sports bag at a shop in Bristol in order to help get all my extra stuff home. The extra stuff includes the following:

Stoppered jar of "puppies cooked in brine", presented to us at Didgeri-Douze by the concom. :-) This consisted of a very nice jar filled with tiny beanie-baby-like puppies squished into pitiful positions, paws splayed out across the glass. No brine, thank heavens. :-)

A box of Turkish Delight With Pistachio.

TAPES & CDS & SONGBOOKS: Wolves and Changelings (Talis Kimberley), Mythical Beasts (Talis), tape that Fox made for me, Wassaliens (Zander Nyrond), Earth Rising (Chris Conway), Wilderwood: Dreams Incarnate (Tim and Annie Walker), tape from a talented UK filker who prefers to remain anonymous. Songbook by Lawrence Dean.

Four boxes of herbal teas ranging from various flavoured "fruit infusions" to "herbal infusions" to green tea with mint. Yum. I love interesting herbal teas, and have been inspired by Talis and Simon's "tea library" to start my own.

Roll of McVitie's Milk Digest Caramels (biscuits). A gift from Lissa...she's gotten me hooked on these now, the fiend! :-)

Two boxes of Walkers Ginger Royals (chocolate covered ginger shortbread biscuits).

Half-eaten bag of St. Michael Sweet Fayre Clotted Cream Fudge.

Cozy scarf (gift from Talis).

Picture of Pikachu (gift from Corwin Kimberley). Corwin's an expert on Pokemon, I discovered, and knows the names of all 150 of them PLUS THE EXTRA SECRET POKEMON CHARACTER. He was kind enough to educate me on some of the Pokemon ways during my stay at his house. He also asked me to do some of the Baby Noises from our children's concert ("My Little Sister", Chenille Sister song) during my visit.

Untitled pencil sketch (gift from Jared Walker). This was displayed in my song binder during our concert. Jared was just as adorable as I had imagined (from reading Annie's Witterings page), and definitely gets the Most Enthusiastic Audience Member award in our children's concert during our We Are The Dinosaur Song.

Lots and lots of chocolate (bought and gifts). Includes a chocolate pizza bought at a shop that Fox showed me. Chocolate-covered biscuit from Kirstin Scholtz. Also bought a can of chocolate-covered "dead parrots" for Jeff.

Numerous souvenirs from the Tower of London gift shop, including a double decker bus, fridge magnet, medieval herbal foot baths, chocolate (yes, didn't you know that the Tower of London was especially famous for its chocolate??).

A wooden flute and two penny whistles from Hobgoblin Music in Bristol. Wow, what an amazing store!! Packed with harps and mandolins and guitars and whistles and music books and percussion. I was a puddle of ecstasy.

Talis Kimberley t-shirt. A Phoenix t-shirt.

Fun cartoon by Franklin (does anyone know Franklin's and Molly's e-mail addresses? Or last names? Update: thanks to Rafe for sending me the info I needed) illustrating the Hockey Monkey Song chorus. I found out from Rand, by the way, that the Hockey Monkey Song was written by a fellow named James Kochalka. ("And it's 1-2-3, kids love the monkey and it's 4-5-6, monkey's got a hockey stick, 7-8-9, havin' a good time...YEAH!!!!") This was the first song we "officially" sang for the convention, and we also put it into our children's concert. 'Twas cool to see people spontaneously burst into the chorus throughout the weekend, and I also heard rumours of it being sung in cars on the way home from the convention.

A vibrating cow keychain (from DD concom).

Wonderful wood Didgeri-Douze wood etching handmade by Sue Mason...I'll have to scan and post it online when I get back to the office. (from DD concom)

Travel zebra, Bristol post card (gifts from Fox).

Cow washing mitt, cow pen (bought in Fan Fund Auction).