Sibylle's in Toronto!

VERY much enjoyed hanging out with Sibylle Machat last night. Sibylle (whose name, by the way, is pronounced with a slight emphasis on the second syllable, but she says "Sib" is also fine) was remarkably cheerful and alert considering she had just flown from Germany.

We had dinner at Queen Mother Cafe on Queen Street, the restaurant where my friend Parki and I always have lunch, then hot chocolate at a restaurant on King Street whose name I always forget because it used to be a Shopsy's but changed. Sibylle didn't mock me for ordering rice pudding like Allison and Jodi usually do. Or maybe she was, but just not out loud like they do. :-)

Sibylle's pretty amazing, and I'm not just saying that because she brought me German chocolate (Camille Bloch Pure Malt Whisky - a dark Swiss millk chocolate with a Whisky syrup centre...mmmmm). If you're craving German chocolate, be sure to check out the Interfilk auction at FilKONtario, because she's donating a bunch of German chocolate bars, and they all look pretty scrumptious.

We talked about everything from how we both got into filk to German desserts to pottery, and I found out important stuff about her, like the fact that she has two guinea pigs named Rimsky and Korsakov. FilKONtario is going to be her very first North American filk convention, so if you're attending the con, please do make her feel welcome. And before I forget, I should mention that Sibylle's going to perform her infamous Evil Eyeball Song as a one-shot concert at FKO, so don't miss it!

Looking forward to hanging out with her and Allison today. :-)

And thanks so much to all those posted in response to my plea for microphone advice in LJ! I'll respond to it after I've had a chance to go through it as well as talk with Jeff and about what we should do.



Ok, so perhaps Sibylle WAS affected by her
long flight after all...
:-D

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Illustration Friday: "Monster"

The drawing above is for Illustration Friday. This week's topic: "Monster." I used Corel Painter 8 tools: Croquil Pen, Gouache, Thick Oils, F/X: Shatter & Fairydust effects. Jeff's getting me the Corel Painter 9.5 upgrade for my birthday, woohoo!

Had a good practice with Allison and Jodi last night. Worked on our concert set for next weekend, but also on a couple of Chris Conway's songs. Turns out he asked us ages ago, but Jodi never got the e-mail! Chris Conway's concert is at 8:30-9:30 pm on Saturday, April 1st at FilKONtario; Chris is the Guest of Honour.

Speaking of FilKONtario guests....



Just found out that Tanya Huff's "Blood" novels are going to be turned into a tv series!

From a CHUM Television press release:

"Blood Ties is based on Tanya Huff's internationally popular 'Blood; novels. When her latest love interest turns out to be a 450-year-old vampire and the caseload of her fledgling P.I. agency shifts from fraud artists and cheating spouses to battles with ghosts, ghouls, zombies and demons, ex-police detective Vicki Nelson realizes that her life will never be the same. The series will be produced by Kaleidoscope Entertainment and goes into production later this summer."

Apparently the head writer is Peter Mohan who has worked on Due South, Eerie Indiana, Relic Hunter, La Femme Nikita, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Top Cops and Highlander among other shows. How very cool; I'm a big fan of Tanya's Blood series.

Tanya is the Filk Waif (Toastmaster) at next weekend's FilKONtario, by the way, and her concert is at 1:15 pm on the Saturday.

Only one week until FKO! Looking forward to seeing Sibylle Machat this evening; she's flying in from Germany today.

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postcards from Amanda!

Busy. Tired. Had to miss a session at the Tranzac last night. :-(

Jeff's been sick with the flu the past four days. Happily, I've managed to escape the bug so far, unless this tiredness is part of it.

Above photo: Postcards from Amanda Snyder! They arrived over two days, numbered 1 through 10. Here's what was written on the back...

1: Hi Debbie, I was in Blaine,

2: Washington during the Christmas season. At a Mailboxes

3: Etc. store, I wanted to use my Mastercard but had to spend

4: $10 minimum to use my charge card. So I browsed

5: through the postcards, trying to pick ones I thought you'd

6: like. So, here is a whole bunch of

7: greetings from the U.S. state directly to the

8: south of U.S. here in B.C.! Hope you

9: enjoy them! (heart)

10: Amanda!

Thanks, Amanda. :-)



Allison, Jodi and I are getting together at Allison's tonight for our last practice before FilKONtario. We'll be continuing to prep for our concert with Franklin as well as a few new songs for open filk. I'm going to be playing my New Whistle on of the songs, the first time I'll be using whistle with Urban Tapestry! Yes, I'm hyped. :-)

I'm still hoping to finish a new song I've been co-writing with Dave Clement in time for FKO as well.

Looking forward to seeing Sibylle Machat tomorrow evening; Sibylle's visiting from Germany to sightsee and attend FilKONtario next weekend. Allison and I are also going to be hanging out with her on Saturday.

My friend Ray sent me more online videos of those wacky and fun Korean girls:

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

I suggested to Allison & Jodi that we incorporate some of this choreography into our concert with Franklin at FKO and was shocked when they didn't take me seriously. But I suppose that's for the best since we already have much fun and silliness planned for that hour....

;-)

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monkey moves

Will Write For Chocolate has been updated. Column topic - Freelance writers & e-mail: Part II.

Hockey Monkey news

As some of you know, the members of Urban Tapestry like the Hockey Monkey Song quite a bit; we tend to sing it in both our adult and kids' concerts. One of our goals has always been to eventually get everyone in filkdom to learn this song, or at least the chorus. Happily, we've managed to infest some of the Brits and the Germans with the song when we've performed overseas. We picked up the song from Ookla the Mok, who got it from James Kochalka. Our version is very different from Ookla's, as those attending FilKONtario next weekend will see.

Anyway, Jim Poltrone discovered that a new FOX tv show called "The Loop" is using it as its main theme! Here's an article from the Burlington Free Press about the show and James Kochalka that Allison found.

But meanwhile, here are the lyrics to the chorus so that you can sing along at FKO:

And it's 1, 2, 3...kids love the monkey and it's
4, 5, 6...monkey's got a hockey stick and
7, 8, 9...havin' a good time
YEAH!

You can hear the song by going to Ookla's MP3 page and clicking on "Hockey Monkey Song." For those who are (shockingly) not familiar with Ookla The Mok, Rand is singing lead in this song. Ookla the Mok, by the way, will be performing a concert on the Friday night of FKO from 8:45-9:30 pm, and rumour has it that their set list includes the Hockey Monkey song.

Lord of the Rings musical follow-up

A while back I posted a review of the Lord of the Rings musical. Well, here's an updated review from Sean, who saw it more recently. Sean tells me that an usher claims the show has gone through a major revamp since I saw it.

FilKONtario anticipation

Only a week and a half until FilKONtario! Here's a programming schedule, for those interested. Our concert with Franklin is from 4:15-5:15 pm on Saturday. There is a day membership available for those who aren't able to attend the whole convention.

Hey, and don't forget to welcome my friend Walter when you run into him at FKO! It's his very first filk convention. He has family obligations during the weekend so may only be able to attend part of Saturday. Here's what he looks like:

Those crazy Korean girls...

Thanks to my friend Ray for sharing this online video, which is highly amusing and disturbing at the same time. Hey Jodi & Allison, we should find a way to work some of this choreography into our performances, dontchathink? I especially like the monkey move by the girl on the left near the end.

If anyone reads Korean out there, I would love to know their real names.

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randvisit

Rand and me. Photo by my niece Annie.

Ok, I admit I found some of your posts in response to my Squirrelbuster Triumphs! entry highly amusing. Just a few samples...

Teddy:
"Let the little bugger starve. -- Teddy
(You don't get to be an Evil-Bunny without having a Mean Streak)"

Gnomedude:
"Considering it is the end of winter and considering water freezes in winter and considering the squirrels do not have indoor plumbing (just a wild assumption on my part) probably means they are mangy looking due to there outside shower facilities being shut off due to freeze damage. I think you should not only set up a permanent squirrel resturant but add a community center next to it with bath facilities. This way you can keep them clean and fed and also give them activities to keep them off the streets.

I can see it now. The Debbie Ohi Memorial Community Squirrel Restaurant and Recreation Building. Keep in mind that the birds will probably take you to court for discrimination so you'd best have something set up for them too. Do this and all the local cats will LOVE you for supplying them with an easily accessible food source ... ummm .... I mean supplying them with .... errrr .... playmates! Yeah, that's it. Playmates.
Have fun!!"

Graham:
"You've taken me in and fed me, too, you know. I don't even look scrawny. HA HA! Since when does being kind-hearted make one a loser?"

My friend Rand came to visit today. We talked about our poetry project and life in general, browsed a used bookstore, shared cake and black sesame ice cream, bought Nyquil and Neo Citran for Jeff. Poor Jeff is sick with the flu and spent the day in bed unconscious.

I forgot to take photos during Rand's visit, so am posting some pics from previous visits instead. :-)


Rand, Jeff and Parki.

Every so often, I browse archives of my Blatherings to see what I was doing however many years ago. I find this exercise useful sometimes, if only to remind me of how quickly time is passing and therefore how important it is to make every minute count. :-)

So here's what I was doing eight years ago:

Being asked by post-graduate Italian students if I like pineapple on my pizza.

I co-wrote "Another Story" with Allison and wrote an X-files song.

I went to California and visited with friends as well as surprising Rand and Adam at Consonance.

The subscription base for my newsletter for writers hit 30,000 subscribers.

I tried to implement a new Javascript navigational tool in Inkspot.

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