Filkcontinental, friends and chocolate

Tom, Sue, Allison, John and Jodi came over for dinner yesterday. Tom and Sue were recently at Filkcontinental in Germany, where Tom and Dave were Guests of Honour, and Heather Dale was Special Guest.

It was wonderful to catch up as well as hear about the convention; it sounds as if they had a fantastic time. We also got to watch some video that Tom and Sue had shot during the trip, including Playing Rapunzel's concert at the convention:



*swoon*

Oh wait, where was I? Ah yes, back to Filkcontinental...

We also got to see excerpts of Dandelion Wine's concert (there wasn't time to see the whole thing); I wish I had been there in person! And it was SO cool to hear the audience singing along on "The Lady." If you're not familiar with this song, you can hear an excerpt on Urban Tapestry's MySpace page; Dave and Tom both play instrumentals on this recorded track, along with fellow Winnipegger Kylea Fulton on whistle.

I also got to hear Dave and Tom perform a new song in their concert that was mostly in German. As I listened, trying to see how much I could understand, I suddenly HEARD MY NAME in the song(!). Tom told me that Dave wrote it, but it's clear to me that both of them are to blame (yes, I will have my revenge). I'm not fluent in German, but I suspect it was inspired by this song. In "Wo Ist Der Bahnhof," I wrote everything in English except the chorus (which means "Where is the train station?"). In Dave's song, everything was in German except for the chorus. Hm...and someone must have helped them translate it, too, which means I have someone else upon whom to wreak vengeance...

(insert maniacal cackling here)



We also enjoyed listening to Franklin Gunkelmann's new CD "Seven of Mine." Love the cover, and Franklin looks great as a Borg.



Speaking of our sweet German pal, he sent us chocolate! Here's mine (he heard that I'm supposed to watch my blood sugar levels, so he sent sugar-free):



Tom and Sue came bearing other gifts as well, like this Criminal Squirrel mug:



which goes nicely with my squirrel mug from Heather Borean:




Heh. I guess I don't do a great job at hiding my squirrel resentment, do I? :-D

They also brought a yummy Dave Clement gift from his last visit:



And a wonderful drawing by Kamen (her friend Shae helped, I believe) of Urban Tapestry as Elfquest characters. I had seen the image on Allison's LJ; it's very cool to finally see the original:



In the photo, you can also see one of my new office additions: a long metallic cord with tiny magnets. It's a great way to display photos and pictures! It's hanging up beside my magnetic wall.

Kamen also sent some scrumptious-sounding Earl Grey Dolfin Dark Chocolate:



*Sabber* (German = "drool")

We also enjoyed seeing some video footage from when Franklin took Tom and Sue to the Rittersport Factory (drool) and Anke took them sightseeing. Watching the Filkcontinental footage made me all nostalgic. And all that more grateful for the opportunity that we had in going to that convention. The only downside: not being able to see our German (and British) friends nearly as often as we'd like. (*schnief*)

I do so want to go back someday.





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Balticon, recording and songwriting

The Balticon Web site has been updated. Author Guest of Honor: Connie Willis. Musical Guest of Honor: Urban Tapestry (woohoo!). The Artist Guest of Honour is still to be announced.



Connie Willis, as I've mentioned before, has won six Nebula and nine Hugo Awards (more than any other science fiction writer, I believe). Balticon 42 takes place in Baltimore, Maryland on May 23-26, 2008. You can find more info about the convention on the Balticon Web site and there's also a Balticon LJ community.



Above: Allison recording her part for a song I wrote recently. Jodi's going to be recording her part later this week. I've been using Garageband to do my recording but as I learn more, I'm really starting to yearn for more control over different aspects of the process.


I'm going to be upgrading to Logic Express 8 and am determined to devote some solid time to learning it! Until I get the upgrade, I'm going to keep working my way through Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro 7 and Logic Express 7 by Martin Sitter. It's a big step up from Garageband, but I know it's going to be worth the learning curve.

Now that I know we're guests at Balticon next May, I'm hugely motivated to write some more songs. I'd especially like to write one based on a Connie Willis book. I love Brenda Sutton's In A Gown Too Blue, based on Doomsday Book, and I know there are others.

And a survey for you songwriters out there: How do your songs begin? Mine usually begin with an idea for a lyric. I scribble down lots of lyric fragments that I want to include, then figure out what type of music would be appropriate (blues, doo-wop, ballad, etc.) and come up with the musical structure.

If it's a song with three-part harmony and/or counterpoint, however, I write the song differently since I not only have to make sure each vocal part works with the others but also that it's within each of our vocal ranges.

Here are some lyric notes I made while writing The Friendship Song:



After finishing the lyrics, I came up with the 3-part musical lines for Allison, Jodi and me:



You can hear a sample of the song on our Sushi and High Tea CDBaby page.

If you're looking for some great songwriting tips, by the way, be sure to check out Jodi's The Muse's Muse.


Baltimore Trivia of the Day:

Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner while on a ship in Baltimore Harbor, watching the British attack the city.



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Filkcontinental nostalgia

Photo courtesy Hitch.

(Above: Urban Tapestry performing in a castle in Germany at Filkcontinental (we were guests in 2005).)

I've enjoyed reading blog posts about Filkcontinental, which took place a couple weekends ago. Fellow Canadians Dave Clement, Tom Jeffers and Heather Dale were guests, and it sounds like everyone had a wonderful time; I chatted with Tom and Sue on the phone just before I posted this Blathering and they sound remarkably cheery and un-jetlagged.



I got all nostalgic and decided to have a German style breakfast this morning: cold cuts, cheese, yogurt and bread. Ok, so the bread was toasted and spread with peanut butter and Guinness marmite -- that's more of a British influence (courtesy Teddy, Lissa and BSAG). :-) I also made myself some "1001 Nights" tea that I bought in Frankfurt while visiting my friend Ju Honisch.



Speaking of food, I've posted a review of Toronto's Penelope Restaurant in blogTO, Luisa and I ate there last Friday.

I have a new long-ish post in Inkygirl: E-mail etiquette (a tad rant-ish).







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Urban Tapestry invited to Balticon as Musical Guests of Honor!

Allison posted about this in her LJ, so I'm assuming that she got official word that it's ok for us to publicly announce this...


EXCITING NEWS: Urban Tapestry has been invited to be the Musical Guests of Honor at Balticon on May 23-26, 2008. Balticon is the Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, the area's largest and longest running convention of its kind and is attended by over 2000 sf/fantasy fans.

WOOHOO! And we'll be celebrating our 15th anniversary as a group next year! Many thanks to Gary for recommending us to the convention committee.

This past year, the Musical Guests of Honor were Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, and the Guests of Honor were authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle as well as artist Joe Bergeron and Special Guests from Farpoint Media and Compton Crook winner Maria Snyder. The convention had over 300 hours of multi-track programming featuring authors, publishers, editors, artists, and scientists, among others. The Balticon Web site should be updated soon with info about the guests next year; I'm looking forward to finding out about the Author and Artists Guests Honor.

[UPDATE: Looks like Connie Willis will be the Author Guest Of Honor at Balticon 42 next year.]

I'm especially excited because judging from the schedule from this past year, it looks as though Balticon has a great programming track for sf/fantasy writers.

Hope to see some of you there! For more info about the convention, please see the Balticon Web site (info to be updated to 2008 soon, I hope!).

But meanwhile, check out the cool new bookshelves that Jeff installed in my office, using Umbra's 'Conceal' bookshelves.



I love the illusion that the books are floating in my office tree.




I still need to paint the overhanging lampshade, but I'm thinking that my little reading corner is lookin' pretty good these days. Check out the lava lamp, too! There's been two more fun additions to my office, and I'll post pics once I've finished them...



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Rochester trip (part 2)

Photo by Walter.

Above: our concert in Rochester. Many thanks to those who came out to hear us, and the generosity of those who put money in the hat that went around. We also sold a bunch of CDs and even a couple of songbooks. In the end, we went home with more money than we expected...a nice surprise.



Photo by Walter.

Most of today's Blatherphotos were taken by my friend Walter. The photo above was taken in the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. With just our shadows, we could push around those blocks on the screen; the effect was pretty mesmerizing.

Thanks SO much to John for taking us to this amazing place! It was definitely one of the highlights of my weekend. I envy Joanne for having a job there. If I lived in the area, I'd probably be getting a membership and spending way too much time playing with the toys.



Photo by Walter.

Quotes about play were all over the museum's walls, and I especially loved the one above. This is SO true, isn't it? I've met many grown-ups who don't know how to play anymore, which is sad. Or young people who are too busy trying to be cool that they forget how to play, at least until they're older and finally quit worrying so much about how they look to others.



Some people would wander through the Museum of Play and think of it only as a place for children. Not my friends. :-) (see photo above!)


Photo by Walter.

Speaking of kids, how many of you out there recognize the setting below?



Photo by Walter.

Allison has some great photos from the museum in Rochester Flickr set including this one from a perspective illusion exhibit where Walter is so small compared to me that it looks as if I could probably lift that little guy up and twirl him around my head a few times.



More tomorrow...



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