sara's play

Last night, Jeff and I went to see Sara in her school play. The junior department did two performances on successive nights. Jeff and I attended the second night. We showed up an hour early to make sure we got good seats...the first row had already been filled by the time we arrived. One mother commented that we were going to be waiting for longer than the duration of the play itself. :-)

'Twas well worth the wait, however. Sara's first grade class were seated all along the front so they could be seen. Jeff and I got seats in the second row, right in front of Sara. Ruth had told me where to sit, since she, Kaarel and Annie had gone the night before. Apparently Annie was so excited to see her sister in the play that she hummed along loudly on all the songs (she knew all the music, of course, having heard Sara practise at home).

I was bursting with pride, watching her up there on the stage. She seemed so confident, so poised. From time to time she would look in our direction, as if to make sure Jeff and I were still there, and give a huge gap-toothed grin.



Scott Murray came to visit a couple of nights ago. We got take-out pizza and watched "Army of Darkness" on DVD. Very silly, very entertaining movie. :-) Have any of you seen it?

No Blatherings until next week...Jeff and I are going up to the cottage again this weekend, this time with his parents. We've gotten word that the ice is much safer now.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Today's Blatherpics:

Sara in her play last night.

Picture of me and Sara at the cottage, several years ago.

more consonance highlights

Hearing Cynthia McQuillin for the first time. Cynthia McQuillin has always been one of the "filk legends" for me. Her name has been around forever, as has her music. We cover one of her songs, "Bring Me A Star" pretty regularly. One thing that really surprised me about seeing Cynthia's performance live was her sense of humour. She writes such beautiful ballads that I never guessed what an exquisitely sharp wit she has, especially with atrocious puns. :-) She and Dr. Jane gave a wonderfully entertaining concert.

Merav's concert: Merav claimed it was her first concert, but she seemed way too remarkably composed and organized! :-) I remember Urban Tapestry's first concert. None of us fainted or threw up, but it was a close thing. Merav also has a very clear, sweet voice that is a joy to listen to. You can see her Consonance report here.

Children's concert: Ironically, no children showed up for the concert, just adults. There were lots of around who were still children at heart, however. Performers: Urban Tapestry, Alan Thiesen, Dave Weingart, Mike Stein. We did our Banana Slug song (Allison had to do an emergency fix to one of the slug puppets who had lost an eye).

Gary's concert: Woohoo, Gary! My favourite part about Gary's concerts is his sheer enthusiasm. He puts so much energy into his performance that sometimes I think he's going to explode onstage. But he doesn't, which is a good thing, especially for the people in the front row.

Interfilk auction: I love Interfilk auctions, what can I say? I enjoy the fun interaction, quips, good-natured threats and silliness, all for a very good cause. Kathleen Sloan ran the auction this year, with Nick Smith as auctioneer. I believe that this particular auction set a West Coast record, raising US$2100. I bought the Joey Shoji chocolate package (yummmmmmmmmmmmm), half of which actually made it back to Toronto. The Urban Tapestry sweatshirt I made was auctioned off for US$300 (many thanks to Sandy Tyra!). And there was another auction item related to Urban Tapestry which was donated by Kathleen Sloan...

Our infamous Birthday Suit Polka Video:
When we were Northern Retreat (and Kevin Davies was part of the group) instead of Urban Tapestry, we did a highly embarrassing song called The Birthday Suit Polka, which we performed in a concert at FilKONtario about eight years ago. Jodi wore a Viking hat and would utter operatic screams every few measures. I provided background percussion by blowing raspberries in an "oom-pah-pah" rhythm whilst bobbing up and down. Allison and Jodi would link arms and do a little dance during the chorus. <long silence> It was definitely not one of our proudest moments. :-) During the auction, there were two hats being passed around. Paul collected money from those who wanted to see the video (Lynn Gold had generously provided a television monitor and VCR machine), and I collected money from those who wanted to see Urban Tapestry's dignity preserved and have the video NOT shown. Paul raised about $140. I raised about $40. Everything went to the Interfilk fund. After the money had been tallied, everyone gathered around the small television (see photo) and watched the video. Twice. Kathleen Sloan, wherever you are, Urban Tapestry will have our revenge someday! >:-)

Our Guest of Honour Concert: We had a lot of fun, mainly because the audience was so responsive. Allison, Jodi and I were a bit zoned (our concert didn't start until 12:30 am, which was 3:30 am Toronto time!), but the energy in the room was great. We ended up with some extra time, so threw in "Cuz He's A Guy", with Paul Kwinn adding the Guy vocals. Many thanks to Jane Mailander for being our Xena yell for "Battle On". :-) By the way, does anyone have a photo of us during our concert? If so, we'd love to get a copy.

Dave and Ellen Weingart: It was SO great to see Dave again, and to meet Ellen. I loved Ellen's dry wit...sure wish she lived closer to Toronto. Heck, New York isn't that far away! I'm hoping to be able to go visit sometime. It was way fun to perform with Dave in the children's concert (he has a great Harry Potter song) and on a song in his concert. My fave song from his set was his Iron Chef song...the song has even inspired Allison to try watching it!

Today's Blatherpics:

Some amazing origami animals (turtle, peacock, billy goat) made from dollar bills that were contributed by one of the attendees at our vocal arrangement workshop. Unfortunately I didn't get the guy's name, but apparently he was attending another convention at the hotel. Jane Mailander also gave us some wonder origami (she had a whole kit with her).

Merav in concert.

Gary Ehrlich.

Con attendees watch Urban Tapestry embarrass themselves during the Birthday Suit Polka.

John and Chris O'Halloran. A very friendly, gentle couple who were kind enough to pick us up at the airport. Our flight was delayed, and poor Chris had to wait several hours.

Ellen and Dave Weingart.

consonance

Brrrr....Toronto sure is a heckuva lot colder than California.



Allison, Jodi and I had a ton of fun at Consonance. The tough thing about going to conventions across the continent is having to say good-bye at the end of the weekend, knowing that it will likely be a long time before you see some of these people again. Sigh. I sure hope someone will hurry up and invent transporters. Many, many thanks to the Consonance concom for inviting us as guests.

And we got to see the Kwinn twins! They were absolutely adorable, of course. I got to hold both Riley and Casey, who gurgled and dozed and smiled at me (I'm sure Beckett and Paul will tell me they weren't real smiles but just gas, but what do they know). The new parents looked remarkable awake and cheerful. It was also great to see Alisa, Luis and Tommy when we visited. Alisa looks radiant (but is also very much looking forward to having the baby so she can get the "radiant pregnant women" part over with :)).



Wonderful to see some of the Blatherchatters in person again! All their concert sets went wonderfully: Gary, Merav, Dave. More details in upcoming Blatherings. Allison and Jodi will likely be posting comments as well (and Dave said that he'll be coming up with a full con report soon). For now, here's just a few of my highlights from the weekend:


Some of my Consonance highlights:
(to be continued)

References to Karen Linsley and Lloyd Llanda throughout the convention. It was obvious that both Karen and Lloyd had made quite the impression (and many friends) in California during their visit to Conchord in 1997 as Interfilk guests. Quiet tears were shed in the audience during Kathleen Sloan's concert (see photo) set when she performed "The Road To Roswell", Karen's and Lloyd's Pegasus award-winning song. I think Lloyd would have been touched by the performance as well as by the obvious caring and support from the West coast filk community.

Divas of Chaotica. Members (left to right, in photo): Jeff Bonhoff, Nancy Freeman, Maya Bonhoff, Debbie Baudoin (formerly of The Duras Sisters), Dr. Jane Robinson. You really, really must hear this filk group perform. They're amazing, fun, and give an outstanding performance. I'm hoping they come out with a CD soon! I did pick up Jeff's and Maya's new CD release, "Retro Rocket Science", which is excellent. I brought it home and played it for Jeff (who has never been to a sf/filk convention and who has never heard Urban Tapestry perform in concert), and he was really impressed. Hm...maybe Jeff and I will be going to Consonance together someday soon. :)

Hearing Carla Ulbrich perform. Apparently she already had caused quite the stir at GaFilk. Wow, super-talented performer. Loved her repertoire (and am thoroughly enjoying the CD I bought at the convention), and twisted sense of humour. Carla says she is going to try to make OVFF. My favourite songs included: "Boy Wonder", "What If Your Girlfriend Was Gone", "Wedgie", "Please Do Something Stupid". More on Carla in an upcoming Blathering.


Today's Blatherpics:

I took this photo just before some of us went out for a dinner run during the weekend.

Casey and Riley (the Kwinn twins) with proud parents.

From Steve Macdonald's World Dream recording at Consonance.

Kathleen Sloan performing "The Road To Roswell".

The Divas of Chaotica in concert.

Carla Ulbrich in concert.

Allison, Jodi and I on the flight home. I took this picture by holding out the camera in front of us. We are somewhat giddy.

Here's a mini-report from Dave Weingart posted on Blatherchat:

"Despite the snow, despite the wind, despite Gary Erlich travelling the same day, I am here, back in NY and missing all of you. Consonance was wonderful, even if there was nobody left to sing the Hockey Monkey Song at me by the time I finally left the hotel. A full conrep is coming in a day or two or three, but a few memories that burn brightest: the WorlDream recording, practicing with Debbie and Jodi and Allison (and singing with them; I really *can't* thank them enough), Steve's reaction when Merav's song, "Many Huns, One War" was sprung on him at open filk, realizing I had no breath to sing with at the start of my concert, all these people and voices around me, the Divas of Chaotica singing about the Leather Pants of Evil, the Sunday night dinner run, Carla Ullbrich's wedgie song, *** If I carry one very special memory away from Consonance, it will be, I think, Kathleen Sloan singing "Road to Roswell" during her set on Sunday. Working on my conrep on the plane home yesterday, I found myself still crying at the memory of it (I didn't think to bring a napkin or handkerchief or anything during the concert...didn't think I'd need one until then.) *** More tea is needed; my body still thinks it's not quite 7 AM and the snow is falling here in NY."

consonance prep

Doing last-minute prep for Consonance this weekend. The main trick is fitting everything into my suitcase. Because we're doing some children's programming in addition to our Guest of Honour concert and harmony/arrangement workshop, it means I have to take along extra "fun" percussion like the train whistle, the banana shakey-thingy, and so on. If I took ALL my fun percussionstuff, it would fill several suitcases. So I have to pick and choose each time. It's tough.

My favourite piece of percussion is the cowbell, even though we only use it in one song ("It Said What"). I'll have to write more cowbell songs, I guess. The most awkward piece of percussion is the tambourine. I use it quite a bit, but it doesn't pack very well. The most bizarre pieces of percussion that I have are the lip whistle and the train whistle. The lip whistle is a piece of red plastic shaped like lips. It makes a rising shriek sound when you blow through it. It's wonderfully obnoxious. The train whistle was a donation from Allison, and sounds exactly like a train whistle. I use it when we do "Morningtown Ride" in kiddie concerts, but I always keep a lookout for anyone doing train songs in open filks (I know Graham does one :-)).

I've also made some items to donate to Interfilk: an Urban Tapestry sweatshirt and an Urban Tapestry t-shirt, with a colour cartoon of Jodi, Allison and me. I also hope to donate an Urban Tapestry toddler t-shirt, but it depends on how much time I can find between now and tomorrow night. I've discovered the joy of t-shirt transfers. Anything I create in Fractal Painter (or any other graphics program, but Painter is my fave) can be put on a t-shirt. This is VERYVERY cool.

I'm off to California this evening, so won't be blathering again until next Tuesday. If you're in the Santa Clara area, be sure to drop by Consonance! Have a great weekend, everyone.

Today's Blatherpics

Parki and Jeff repairing Parki's Defender machine.

Close-up of Defender innards.

Me totally sucking at playing Defender. I kept accidentally shooting the little guys I was supposed to be rescuing.

working at home

Jodi and I got together last night to go over some Consonance stuff. We're very excited about the upcoming convention! And visiting California, whose weather is bound to be nicer than Toronto's. It's a shame we won't be able to spend more time visiting and doing touristy stuff, but that will have to wait until another trip. :-)

The Unknown Guitarist is on our street again (see today's Blatherphoto, taken yesterday). He usually plays on warm summer evenings, with a paper bag over his head and an open guitar case for donations, but he seems to be expanding his performance seasons. I gave him a toonie then took his picture. As he posed, he called out "Make sure you get my good side!" :-)

I'm trying to get my personal domain situation sorted out properly, still hoping to get everything under my DomainDirect account...it will make domain management much easier than going through Network Solutions Bureaucratic Hell each time I want to make a change. Here are a list of my personal domains so far:

blatherings.com
urbantapestry.org
ovff.org
harpresource.com
ruthohi.com
filking.net
filking.org
filking.com

And the variations of electricpenguin domains under Jeff's name, of course. re: filking domains -- Eventually I hope to put up a resource like Inkspot, only for filking resources instead of writing resources. Maybe even do an e-mail newsletter. It would only be a hobby, of course. (pause) Yes, I know Inkspot was only a hobby in the beginning. But this would REALLY be just a hobby. Honest. :-)

Working At Home

The topic of working at home has come up on Blatherchat (which, by the way, you will not be able to post to until early next week because of technical maintenance by my hosting service/technonerdboyhero, Bryan Fullerton).

Ah, telecommuting. Everyone seems to be envious of people who work at home. And why not? Those who work at home have flexible hours, can wear their pjs all day, no one watches over their shoulder, and (best of all) easy access to one's refrigerator. Sounds like heaven, doesn't it? :-)

The truth of the matter is that working at home does not always conform to the typical outside view. Many people who work at home tend to be self-employed, doing contract or freelance work. These types of jobs usually aren't nearly as secure as regular office jobs, and rely heavily on the amount of work you're able to find on a day-to-day basis. As a result, self-employed types often tend to put in more hours than 9-5ers. It actually takes great discipline NOT to work, because sometimes it feels as if every hour you don't work means you're losing money. Taking holidays can be agonizing.

Parents who work at home have an even tougher time (as Andrea can attest! :)) since they have to also juggle caretaker tasks. And young children don't always adhere to a convenient schedule. Frankly, I'm in awe of parents who are able to pull this off (my sister and Andrea included!). A Blatherchat quote from Andrea: "After a particularly _trying_ day with Nicholas, I now _know_ that working in the office is TONS easier than managing a newborn <shake head>."

I'd be interested in hearing from any of you who work at home about this topic. Are there any other pros/cons that I haven't mentioned? Blatherchat posting will be enabled early next week, so you won't be able to post until then, sorry.

Today's Blatherpic
The Unknown Guitarist.