I am Blind Lemming Chiffon and I am a filkaholic (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} lemmozine) wrote,@ 2008-04-08 09:46:00 |
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My backwards con report, part 2
Well, I got my water turned back on, called the water company, explained the misunderstanding, and they are kindly waiving the $100 turnon fee. Turns out they abandoned MyCheckFree in October, and sent out emails, which I didn't read, and MyCheckFree decided not to send any notification and just leave it looking like they were waiting to get the bill from Denver Water.
So, I'm doing some laundry now, and while I wait for the washing machine so I can take a shower and get to work, thought I'd put together another segment on FKO 2008.
Woke up Sunday morning late and happy. Daytime is kind of a blur in my mind - I remember hanging out in hallways and con suites, talking to various people, showing Peter Alway my new banjo uke, jamming a bit in Alderwood, and catching the hall of fame concert, which was great as usual, although I must admit I have a bit of difficulty figuring out why some people like that song "Ship of Stone." Maybe I don't get what it's about or something.
Saturday evening I performed my (losing, as usual) song contest entry. Drat that Randy Hoffman for being so good, and so consistent. And Downtown Freddy Brown for writing a song with so darn many chords in it. And I never did hear who the other winner was, but drat them, too, for being so great.
I performed my losing entry as a kind of talking-blues punk tune, sort of like the style of Talking Heads but not exactly, because parodies almost never win contests. However, the song is kind of sort of a parody of Paint It Black.
To Be Written
by Blind Lemming Chiffon
(For 2008 FKO songwriting contest, theme Nightmares in the Dark, written late the evening of 4/4/08)
I see a blank space on a page, I need to fill it.
There's darkness in my mind and now I have to spill it.
Songwriters are obsessed, like folks by vampires bitten,
And what eats us alive are songs still to be written.
Blunt trauma to the head, stab wounds, gunshots a-plenty.
Petechial hemorrhage in victims under 20:
These things seem scary, but they're like a purring kitten
Compared to contest entry songs still to be written.
Officer, please let me go, for I've done nothing wrong.
It's legal, isn't it, to not finish a song?
(That was the ending when I fell asleep, but I woke up around 4 AM and wrote a final verse)
I dream of goblins, ghosts, and even evil bosses,
Religious nuts who long to nail me to their crosses,
Then I wake up, switch the light on, at a desk I'm sittin'
Writing this song - and what's it called - hmmm - "To Be Written."
The auction was great, particularly because (a) I didn't buy anything, and (b) the item I donated, as well as most all the other items, went for huge amounts of money, and everyone was very generous in their bidding.
I settled into the small filking room (Butternut) and didn't leave until I was ready to sleep.
Saturday afternoon, I missed many of the concerts (to my regret), and performed my recently-posted song "While I'm Here," in the one-shots which got great audience response and which I plan to keep in my repertoire. Let's see -Am position, capo 3 - making a mental note. Tony and Vixy's concert was a must-see - I've been a fan since I first heard them at the NASFiC in 2005 - and it was just SO GOOD! I was kind of hoping they'd do Emerald Green, and wish Tony had done a song or two - I really like the way he covers Jonathan Coulton, but in spite of all that, not disappointed at all.
Saturday morning I got up early hoping to get Tony to reverse-engineer a difficult song that I wrote a parody of but can't perform very well. I warned him it might be a challenge, and that isn't what he wanted for the workshop (probably should've asked beforehand) so he used a KT Tunstall song, which was pretty cool, and I did pick up a few good tips from the workshop, so no complaints. Now I need to check the KT Tunstall CDs I have and see if that song is on one of them. The song I'm trying to get (Hamlet, Redux, by my friend John William Davis) is mostly piano, and the guitar part that isn't muddled by piano is in a non-standard tuning. John is very secretive about his chords. But now I have a few things I can try - never thought of trying to get the melody down first and adding the chords in later because I usually learn songs the other way.
The washing machine is about done, so next segment: Friday evening - two concerts and a wedding.
Well, I got my water turned back on, called the water company, explained the misunderstanding, and they are kindly waiving the $100 turnon fee. Turns out they abandoned MyCheckFree in October, and sent out emails, which I didn't read, and MyCheckFree decided not to send any notification and just leave it looking like they were waiting to get the bill from Denver Water.
So, I'm doing some laundry now, and while I wait for the washing machine so I can take a shower and get to work, thought I'd put together another segment on FKO 2008.
Woke up Sunday morning late and happy. Daytime is kind of a blur in my mind - I remember hanging out in hallways and con suites, talking to various people, showing Peter Alway my new banjo uke, jamming a bit in Alderwood, and catching the hall of fame concert, which was great as usual, although I must admit I have a bit of difficulty figuring out why some people like that song "Ship of Stone." Maybe I don't get what it's about or something.
Saturday evening I performed my (losing, as usual) song contest entry. Drat that Randy Hoffman for being so good, and so consistent. And Downtown Freddy Brown for writing a song with so darn many chords in it. And I never did hear who the other winner was, but drat them, too, for being so great.
I performed my losing entry as a kind of talking-blues punk tune, sort of like the style of Talking Heads but not exactly, because parodies almost never win contests. However, the song is kind of sort of a parody of Paint It Black.
To Be Written
by Blind Lemming Chiffon
(For 2008 FKO songwriting contest, theme Nightmares in the Dark, written late the evening of 4/4/08)
I see a blank space on a page, I need to fill it.
There's darkness in my mind and now I have to spill it.
Songwriters are obsessed, like folks by vampires bitten,
And what eats us alive are songs still to be written.
Blunt trauma to the head, stab wounds, gunshots a-plenty.
Petechial hemorrhage in victims under 20:
These things seem scary, but they're like a purring kitten
Compared to contest entry songs still to be written.
Officer, please let me go, for I've done nothing wrong.
It's legal, isn't it, to not finish a song?
(That was the ending when I fell asleep, but I woke up around 4 AM and wrote a final verse)
I dream of goblins, ghosts, and even evil bosses,
Religious nuts who long to nail me to their crosses,
Then I wake up, switch the light on, at a desk I'm sittin'
Writing this song - and what's it called - hmmm - "To Be Written."
The auction was great, particularly because (a) I didn't buy anything, and (b) the item I donated, as well as most all the other items, went for huge amounts of money, and everyone was very generous in their bidding.
I settled into the small filking room (Butternut) and didn't leave until I was ready to sleep.
Saturday afternoon, I missed many of the concerts (to my regret), and performed my recently-posted song "While I'm Here," in the one-shots which got great audience response and which I plan to keep in my repertoire. Let's see -Am position, capo 3 - making a mental note. Tony and Vixy's concert was a must-see - I've been a fan since I first heard them at the NASFiC in 2005 - and it was just SO GOOD! I was kind of hoping they'd do Emerald Green, and wish Tony had done a song or two - I really like the way he covers Jonathan Coulton, but in spite of all that, not disappointed at all.
Saturday morning I got up early hoping to get Tony to reverse-engineer a difficult song that I wrote a parody of but can't perform very well. I warned him it might be a challenge, and that isn't what he wanted for the workshop (probably should've asked beforehand) so he used a KT Tunstall song, which was pretty cool, and I did pick up a few good tips from the workshop, so no complaints. Now I need to check the KT Tunstall CDs I have and see if that song is on one of them. The song I'm trying to get (Hamlet, Redux, by my friend John William Davis) is mostly piano, and the guitar part that isn't muddled by piano is in a non-standard tuning. John is very secretive about his chords. But now I have a few things I can try - never thought of trying to get the melody down first and adding the chords in later because I usually learn songs the other way.
The washing machine is about done, so next segment: Friday evening - two concerts and a wedding.
