Barracuda, music and friends (OVFF - Part 1)

I woke up this morning hearing "Barracuda" in my head this morning, and it's the fault of Michelle Dockrey and Jeff Bohnhoff.

But I digress. Got back home from OVFF last night. Allison, Jodi and I had a fantastic time. It's been years since the three of us have attended a convention at which we had zero commitments. Next year, our only filk convention as a group will be FilKONtario and we'll be busy Filk Waifing, so it will likely be at least a couple of years before we'll have a relaxed weekend like this.



We took advantage of the situation, therefore, to have a wonderfully low-key few days. I had a huge amount of fun just wandering around the convention catching up with friends I haven't seen in a very long time. I loved the creative atmosphere -- everywhere you looked, there were people writing and playing music, involved in needlecrafts, drawing, and conversations of all sorts.



I opted to leave my heavier camera at home and just take my little point-and-shoot. It was much easier to carry around but wasn't nearly as good as my Rebel for low-light conditions. As a result, I didn't take nearly as many pics as I usually do, but you're bound to see a ton start appearing in Walter's Flickr account eventually, plus many others. I'll be gradually uploading some of my photos to my Flickr account over the next few days.



Part 1 of my personal highlights (I'll cover guest concerts in a future Blathering):

- Stroll with Andrea, outside in the sunlight and fresh air one afternoon.

- Monopolizing Sib while she was taking a brief break from her Interfilk Guest duties.

- Artsytalk with Vixy. We aim to catch up on each other's art goals and progress (but inevitably end up talking about other stuff in our lives as well).



- Erin Bellavia's decadent and totally addictive salty caramel chocolate chip cookies. My Nerd Ninja Doll (see above) was very sad that he didn't have a mouth.

- Listening to the hallway filk circle on Sunday night, especially Mary Crowell and Teresa Powell.

- Ice cream at the North Market. Thanks so much to Jim and Andrea for taking us!

- Seeing Stone Dragons do their first OVFF concert!



- Brooke Lunderville's reaction when I gave her a handmade sock monster. I only started making these this past weekend (I made two). I'm not a great hand sewer, so the little guy was sort of lopsided with less than neat stitching. He had also caused me problems because I kept making mistakes as I got distracted while listening to the wonderful concerts, so had to unpick stitches a LOT. But Brooke's obvious delight made it all worth it. :-) Sadly, I forgot to take pics of either of my two sock monsters before I gave them away. The other one went to Sib.

- Breakfast with Larissa. I woke up way too early one morning and went wandering down to the hotel restaurant, hoping to find someone to chat with. Happily, Larissa had woken up even earlier than I did! Great conversation. I love Larissa's frank honesty and benevolent outlook.

- Introducing my Nerd Ninja Doll (made by Ryan Couldrey, see Ninja-Dolls.com) to some of my friends, like Sib:



You can see other Nerd Ninja Doll portraits in my Flickr set (I'll be uploading photos over the next few days)/

- Seeing Wild Mercy perform. I'd never seen them perform before, and they were pretty amazing.

- Mini Irish session on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to Mary for starting this. I -so- need to practice before the next one!

- Watching Allison get a haircut, courtesy France.

- Seanan McGuire. I just wanted to pack her up in my suitcase and take her home with me.

- Seeing Andy Eigel take a Pegasus Award for his song, "Uplift." All the nominees in the category were deserving but Andy's wonderful song has been nominated many times before but never won.



- Dinner conversation at the Pegasus Awards banquet. Unlike many weddings where you're seated with people you don't know very well and have to endure smalltalk, conversations at filk conventions are rarely boring. Especially at the table where Walter and I were sitting! Conversation ranged from musical creativity, AI and computer programmed music, copyright issues, Tolkien scandals and Babylon Five. And HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PUNS from Blind Lemming Chiffon.



Kudos to the concom and the amazing guests for helping to create such a wonderful weekend. I still have to unpack and a ton of catching up to do, so it will likely be a few days before I'm able to post a more detailed con report. Autographedcat has been kind enough to compile a list of OVFF-related entries here.

Meanwhile, though, I had to share the lyrics to an Evil Song written by my friends Vixy and Jeff; apparently Vixy wrote it ages ago and finished it recently with Jeff's help. They sprung it on me at the Dead Dog filk on Sunday night with the help of Maya. It was a brilliant performance, but I'm still going to get my revenge. :-)

Anyway, here are the lyrics....

DEBBIE OHI
Lyrics: Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey and Jeff Bohnhoff
To the tune of "Barracuda"

So this ain't the end - I saw you again today
Chatting in the hallway
Smile like the sun - photos of everyone
    and blogs - her daily logs!

   CHORUS
    You looking oh so harmless and sweet
    I bet you gonna ambush me
    You'll have us down, down, down, down on our knees
    With laughter-- Debbie Ohi

Back at the con, we were all on for Toast
You set your phasers on 'roast'
So right, so wrong, your little song of fame
...and middle names.

    CHORUS
    And if the real facts won't do the trick
    You're gonna make up something quick
    Your little lies, lies, lies, lies, lies are gonna stick
    Oooh, Debbie Ohi

BRIDGE
Let me tell you what she will do
Write down deep dark secrets on you
She'll draw you in her cartoons, too

Her inky heart will never rest
Dark as Swiss chocolate
Don't you mess with this girl-- silly, silly squirrels.

    CHORUS
    And if the real facts won't do the trick
    Nope, she's gonna make up something quick
    She'll make you laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh until you're sick
    Ooooh, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie Ohi

Ohhhhhh, Ohi