April Fool's!

Some of you may recall the practical joke that our friend Walter played on Jeff and me when we first moved in.

Well....

So I had started another Blathering this morning, continuing my FKO report, when Jeff called down in a strange voice, "Deb, have you looked outside the house this morning?"

Here's what we saw (neighbour's house blurred out for privacy):



There was also a sign on the back. The one on the front read:

"ATTENTION

This is the official border checkpoint for
OHILAND
Sovereign Domain of Her Majesty
Deborah Marion Kazumi Yow-Hoo You-Betcha-Baby Ridpath Ohi The First
who by the Grace of the United Kingdom of Ridpath and Ohi and of her
other realms and territories
bears the titles Queenie, head of Inkygirl, and Defender of the Filk.

Know that you enter upon these lands at your own peril and that by so
doing you forfeit all rights to any chocolate that may be within your
possession and you will, at the whim of Her Majesty, be required to
perform such vocal or instrumental presentations as she desires or face
the Nameless Guilt That Knows No Bounds.

Long Live the Queenie!

Posted by Official Order this April 1, 2007."




The sign was fixed in a poured concrete base, yet more evidence of the culprit: WALTER.



The back of the sign (which you would see upon leaving) read:

"ATTENTION

You are now leaving
OHILAND
Sovereign Domain of Her Majesty
Deborah Marion Kazumi Yow-Hoo You-Betcha-Baby Ridpath Ohi The First
who by the Grace of the United Kingdom of Ridpath and Ohi and of her
other realms and territories
bears the titles Queenie, head of Inkygirl, and Defender of the Filk.

Know that your gift of chocolate has pleased Her Majesty (or else you'd
be in the dungeon, not leaving) and that the vocal and/or instrumental
performance, that you spontaneously provided upon being entranced by
Her Majesty's beatific countenance (i.e. the look that can bring forth the
Nameless Guilt That Knows No Bounds) has similarly been pleasing to Her
Majesty.

You would do well to remember to bring MORE chocolate upon your next
sojourn to Her Majesty's fair domain.
Have a nice day.

Posted by Official Order this April 1, 2007."

When I called Walter, he answered his cellphone: "Her Majesty's Checkpoint."

Oh Walter, you are SO DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED....



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FKO concerts, kid conversations, and time machines

Above: For Illustration Friday. This week's topic: "Wired."

Only a couple of weeks until FilKONtario! It looks as if Urban Tapestry will be sharing a 40-minute children's round robin concert with Mary Ellen and Heather Borean (and possibly Judith Hayman?) at FilKONtario, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, March 25th at noon. I'm already working on a new kids' song for the event, possibly two. Kids of all ages, including the young at heart, are welcome!

Other FilKONtario news:



Dandelion Wine (Dave Clement and Tom Jeffers) has a concert at FKO after all, yay! Now that Tom has moved to Toronto, Dandelion Wine concerts are likely to be a rare animal, so don't miss out! You can hear samples of Dandelion Wine here.



Also, Urban Tapestry has been invited to perform with Playing Rapunzel in their concert! The mega-talented Mich Sampson has arranged "Sholem" for five voices and my flute. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO excited; as I've already raved before, "Sholem" is one of my favourite songs. You can hear samples of Playing Rapunzel here.





One of the many highlights for both Jeff and me in California was getting to hang out a bit with the offspring of various friends. In the photos above, for example, JeffB's and Maya's youngest is telling Jeff a knock-knock joke. A. still has an irresistable toddler accent, and recently grasped the concept of the basic "orange" knock-knock joke:



A: Knock knock.

J: Who's there?

A: Banana.

J: Banana who?

A: Knock knock.

J: Who's there?

A: Banana.

J: Banana who?

A: Knock knock.

J: Who's there?

A: Orange.

J: Orange who?

A: Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

A. was so delighted, in fact, that she decided that the humour in this particular joke could be extended to other objects. Here is only one of many variations:

A: Knock knock.

J: Who's there?

A: Chair.

J: Chair who?

A: Aren't you glad I didn't say SHOE? (collapses in hysterical giggles)

Later on, A. was showing me her room. I was delighted to see that she had a large collection of books. She showed me one book of jokes, saying in a matter-of-fact voice: "These are funny, but not as funny as my knock-knock jokes."



A. and I had several fascinating conversations. She doesn't seem to be the shy type, and obviously enjoys interacting with adults. The first time I talked with A. was on the way home from the end-of-convention dinner. She sat in her car seat beside me in the darkness, and was obviously sizing me up.

Hoping to break the ice, I asked her how old she was.

A: "I'm four." After a pause, she confessed, "I used to be three."

A short while later, she volunteered (completely out of the blue): "Oswald is an octopus who walks on the land."

I loved this...no beating about the bush, no gradual maneuvering the conversation to the topic in which she was most interested. Nope, might as well just get straight to the punch.



"Are you a big kid?" A. suddenly asked me in the middle of one of our conversations.

"Yes, I am," I told her.

A. nodded wisely. "I thought so," she said.

Another highlight: Seeing Maya and her oldest daughter at the dining room table, sorting through their Magic decks and comparing cards.



My favourite hugs of the entire trip came from Casey, one of Paul's and Beckett's sons. Man, can that little guy HUG! It was fun to see Casey and Jeff bonding during the weekend:




The last time I saw Riley and Casey, Riley had just learned to crawl and Casey had just learned to sit up. Going to these conventions is sometimes like a time machine for me: clickety click and POOF! suddenly kids appear (who weren't there before) or are several years older.



It was great to meet our friends Mona's and William's two kids for the first time, for example:



William's father (who was also visiting from Toronto) as well as William's son:



Turns out that our friend Walter had William's dad as a professor while studying for his engineering degree. Small world, eh?

Have a great weekend, everyone.



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