“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” — Henry Van Dyke

Official Review

GAFilk 2011 was less well attended than my last visit, two years ago, mostly reflective of the current economy.  That said, there was no lack of enthusiasm visible to our “posse”.

Four of us official Dragon*Con filk staff types and one unofficial (that would be you, Chip) member met up to do what filkers do, and put a current face to the (oft cursed name) of Dragon*con Filk.  For our fearless leader, Robby Hilliard (a relative newcomer to the filk world at under a decade ), along with Alex Boyd,  it was a chance to see some of the icons of classic filk for the first time.  For others of us, it was a chance to renew our unholy alliance, and savor some “old school filk”  juxtaposed with a variety of other styles and eras.

My pseudo-niece, Amber , and I arrived at GAFilk on Friday, exhausted between a combination of my air travel glitches (my six hour trip took 12 hours) combined with a catching up on news and her having to work bright, early, and all day Friday.  The highlight of Friday was definitely the ConCom’s Choice concert, featuring Antithesis,  a trio with two onstage performers, and one who refused to budge from the audience.  Teri “Aunty Quated” Wachowiak and Linda “Aunty Binary” Walsh, along with “closet” lyricist Barb “Aunty Social” Bowen lived up to the GAFilk website hype “”the Indigo Girls meet The Smothers Brothers — in the middle of a Warner Brothers cartoon.”  They almost energized us enough to go to the Friday night Open Filk, but we just couldn’t manage it.  After mingling for a bit after the concert, we opted out until Saturday.

On Saturday, we arrived in fine form just in time for Toastmaster and Pegasus Award winner Matt Leger’s stellar performance.  His original songs, as well as his covers, both filk and non, made this a “must see”.  He was ably accompanied by his elusive Songbird and well known filker, Gary Ehrlich.

Howard Scrimgeour, the Interfilk guest, whose fine musical delivery was accompanied by insightful and amusing filk history narrative, followed Matt.  We missed the first part of Pegasus Award winner and Campbell Award winner GOH Seanan McGuire’s performance.

She did not disappoint, with her enthusiastic, tuneful and often downright fun performance style. Several filk luminaries skillfully backed her up.

This was soon followed by the 2 X 10′s (two songs or 10 minutes).

Among the familiar filk figures performing was the much beloved Paul Goode, man of many filks.

Our own Alex Boyd, billed as “the Lone Gunman”, performed; and we had our first chance to see Dene Foye on stage.  Bill Roper has a knack for making it all look easy, and in his 2×10 he did just that…unruffled even when my new cellphone Munchkins loudly ringtoned (I thought I’d put it on vibrate, grrr) “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” while I stared in horror at it (thank you, Amber for jogging me out of my transfixion, “Turn it offffff!“).  Oh my. There were a couple of outstanding Harry Potter filks done by a duo (backing each other up on their solos) whose names I didn’t get (BAD reviewer, bad, bad).

We didn’t attend the sold-out Dinner Dance, thereby missing Play it With Moxie.  Having seen them before, I can say they surely swung the house. Later, Part 1 of the The Interfilk Auction occurred, and while our fearless leader, Robby, and I both bid on Matt Leger’s earlier performance audio, our paltry bids didn’t approach the $450 it finally garnered.  Generous bidding means that the Interfilk organization will get a nice fat check from GAFilk.  They raised nearly $4000!  Well done!

The Saturday night Open Filk was crowded in the Main programming room.  A few uniformed deploying US Army soldiers on their way back to Afghanistan were invited to listen, and created quite a stir in the room by their presence.  As the mother of two Iraq veterans, I quietly wished them well (as did some others).

Over time, our crew migrated into an overflow room, and stumbled upon author, Nebula Award winner, Filk Hall of Fame (FHOF) inductee and Pegasus  award nominee Juanita Coulson , a rare treat for us!  Amber and I lost no time in grabbing a couple of chairs. The venerable FHOF  and Pegasus Award winning Suttons soon came in, as did Pegasus Award winner and FHOF, Bill Roper,  and FHOF & Pegasus Award winning Decadent Dave Clement and friends, as well as Pegasus Nominee, Paul Estin.

Amber and I were a little nervy in this august company, but we managed to get a song or two in, including one a capella Lady Gaga parody we hadn’t performed in public before. Juanita Coulson treated us to her The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and a darkly humorous cum sinister cover of Daniel Glasser’s Close Your Eyes. Paul Estin played off our own Gaga parody with one he’d found on YouTube, among other fine numbers.  Alex Boyd played a couple of tunes, including a Dinosaur Filker song (RAWR). With chaos being the order of the filk, it was both interesting and challenging to keep up. Juanita intervened once to make sure everyone had a chance to participate.  Paul Goode joined us, as did the Kronengolds Joshua Kronengold and Lisa Padol (though we didn’t hear nearly enough from them).  I apologize for anyone left out in this review, but I was a little pixilated (the pixie kind, not the pixEL kind) as the hour grew later.  The Decadent Dave contingent moved out to the lobby to hold lively court until the wee-er hours, and the official filk rooms wound down.

A winter storm was bearing down on Atlanta on Sunday.  For many of us, the day was more or less a non-starter as people scrambled to change or update travel plans.  We said our goodbyes and went on our way.

Personal Filker’s Eye View

I had attended GAFilk a few of times before, missing last year.  For someone who is not in the “inner circle,” GAFilk can be a lonely place. It’s a close-knit community, and it’s completely understandable that they want to meet and greet old friends and acquaintances.  It’s a lot more fun if, as we did this year, you meet up with a gaggle of friends.  If I had one single personal observation to make, it would be that the GAFilk organizers sometimes forget they are host to filkers and fans from far and wide, of all shapes, colors, sizes, ages, and abilities.  That said, this year was less clannish, perhaps because attendance was down, and the registration folks were friendly.  Even so, there are the occasional “who the hell are you” looks and some occasional filk hogging (though not as much as the last time we attended in 09).

There have been and continue to be notable exceptions to the clique tendencies.  Teri Wachowiak was, in fact, the only person to speak to us (outside of business in the Dealers Room) the entire weekend at our first GAFilk several years ago (before we were even members of the oft cursed Dragon*Con Filk track).  That year we had no opportunity to play, as we were repeatedly overridden in an unfriendly fashion each time we tried to start.

The last time we attended, in 2009, my youngest son, on leave from Iraq, came with us.  He’s not a filker, but a longtime fan who literally cut his teeth on filk.  Such was the unfriendliness he experienced that he finally stayed in our hotel room, and said he would never EVER return to a GAFilk.  Amber and I did get to play in the Open Filks, thanks to Tom Smith and Bill Roper.

Fast forward to this year:  I was not inclined to return since battling for a chance to share music is not my idea of fun.  Yet we Dragon*Con Filk staffers made a pact to attend together this year and see how it went.  This was in no small part due to the welcoming attitude of Toastmaster Matt Leger and longtime filker Paul Goode.  On a personal level, GAFilk had lost me, my son, and the 1-2 friends with whom I’d attended before.  On Friday, Amber and I thanked Teri for her friendliness when we were there alone.  As East Coast filkers from old, we’d come up when all Filkers were like extended family.  The difference in tone between “who are you?” and “who the hell are you”? is subtle but significant.  As a filker, I personally can sing and write fairly decent songs (both filk and folk), but will never be more than a mediocre guitar player (when in practice!).  Many others play better than they sing, or write better than they play.  To me, as a fan and a filker, that’s part of what makes it all interesting and fun.  I hope that GAFilk will continue to become a more welcoming place as time goes by.  Next year?  I will think about it after Dragon*Con.

** Photo Credits: Robby Hilliard and Chip Brazell (used by permission)

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SPOILER ALERT!

It’s time for Season 3.5 of Eureka: Eureka, the town that Global Dynamics built, affectionately called GD in the hamlet peopled by scientific eccentrics and iconoclasts.  It’s the town that we love to call home.

Flashback to Season 3:  When last seen, our beloved and much maligned Sheriff Carter was fired.  He helped Eva Thorne, the Fixer, to sneak out of town on a bus, after she shape-shifted into a most putrid stereotypical icon: the Corporate Hooker with a Heart of Gold.  I couldn’t bring myself to review the mid-season closer here on  Fanaticspace.  It was revealed that Eva Thorne was 107 years old. Surprise!  She was “A victim” too.”  The writers had two scripts nixed by the network, and were forced to write the script as they went along.  I had a little more sympathy after I read their explanation.  Still, the mid-season finale was a cop-out.  But enough!  Time to get over it.  Farewell, Eva.  Farewell Frances Fisher.  Farewell Sheriff Carter.  What?  Nah, we all knew they couldn’t actually say buh-bye to Carter.  Didn’t we?

Colin Ferguson does a brilliant job on Eureka as Sheriff Carter, no doubt about it.  His Everyman persona permeates the entire show, and that’s fine.  I personally would like to see a little more of the old Eureka style story threads with some juicy stuff for the rest of the ensemble cast.  But what do I know?

The Season 3.5 premiere episode, Welcome Back Carter has an obvious homage in its title.  It also introduces Sheriff Andy, Carter’s android replacement (played by Ty Olsson, no stranger to sci-fi).  That Andy is doomed to fail somehow at some point is obvious from the beginning.  This makes it no less entertaining to watch Sheriff Andy bumbling along on his less than Data, and more than A.I. fashion.

The scene in the Sheriff’s Office when we first meet Sheriff Andy is ideal, including Jo’s refusal to work for “a thing.”  She’s no Eurekan Barney Fife!  That would be Fargo, who compares the new Sheriff to a Furby, then steps up with a smile to shake hands with the DOD appointed droid.

With such a ripe garden for corny homage already set up, why didn’t they exploit it a little more?  Absurdity is common, even revered in Eureka; why not this time?  Ah, opportunities lost...

Dr. Fielding and Lexie are experimenting with a gravity reduction chamber for Lexie’s twin home birthing.   After an awkward handshake between the former Sheriff  and Fielding, we move on briskly with an emergency phone call.

Trees are falling.  That is, they have fallen and blocked the road, narrowly missing taking out Allison and her unborn.  Carter arrives on the scene before Sheriff Andy, and shields Allison from yet another falling tree.  Sheriff Andy takes over, and guilelessly investigates the “accident.”  Jack is officially shut out of the process, but continues to investigate, with the help of Jo and informants who defy federal law.

A convenient plant geneticist is circumstantially implicated for a little while.  The answer is not so simple as collateral damage from a science scion.  Instead, there’s plenty to interest us closet physics fans: tonight’s episode is about “gravity wells.”  Gravity wells, it seems, are popping up around Eureka.  Sheriff Andy is the target of specific gravity wells.  He endures two assassination attempts.  Carter is not amused.

What the heck is a gravity well, you might ask?  That’s part of the fun of Eureka.  Even if I weren’t going to completely geek out and smack myself in the head repeatedly to understand what it is, I could still enjoy the story with the thin explanation given on camera.  However, a quick perusal of the wikipedia page with high-flown formulas sent me to dig deeper. As an English speaker, I use my inferior parietal cortex (among other regions) to understand the math.   Sadly, my parietal cortex is more inferior than most.    I don’t entirely understand gravity wells, but this is a pretty simulation.

Doctor Fielding’s infant low gravity chamber seems to be the problem.  Fielding is duly called upon to fix his gravitational gaff.   This is going to be a typical “oops” episode, right?  Not this time.  After a botched attempt when everything is nearly FUBAR, Global Dynamics denizens discover that Fielding was not working alone.  Enter the cyber scientist, and Fielding’s mentor/crush, Marguerite Von Dieter.

Meanwhile, there are a few entertaining moments when Sheriff Andy’s databanks are scrambled after his catastrophic damage.  He scrambles names, and he speaks supposed Dutch.  It soon becomes apparent that SARAH is aka Marguerite Von Dieter.  She’s targeting Sheriff Andy to eliminate him, and keep Zoe and Jack around.  “I apologize, I let my artificial emotions get the best of me.”  You GO, GIRL.

Henry Deacon, not only the smartest man in Eureka, but also the Mayor, tells us: “Gravitational wells are coming together into a single massive event.  IF that happens, they will suck in any matter that comes close.”  Yes, indeed…a black hole.  Apparently, a black hole is like gravity well without a bottom.  Throw all the pennies in it that you want, and you might get your wish, but you’ll never see the pennies again.  Now imagine the west coast of the US as the pennies, and you get the idea.

SARAH admits, “I no longer have graviton guidance.   Doctor Fielding’s misguided attempt at a solution made the problem grow far beyond my control.”  It’s at this time that Henry further geekificates: “If these wells come together into a singularity, then evacuation won’t help.”

Carter, ever the cop, suggests, “If a bullet won’t work, how about a bomb?”

The roller coaster ride finally begins.  A graviton pulse explosion is required to return to normal gravity. Overloading a tensor field is apparently just the ticket.  Are your eyes crossed yet?  No fear.  A tensor field is essentially expansion and compression.  Hence Zoe’s nearly gleeful, “If you overloaded the tensor field, it could make a wicked gravity bomb”

Carter is ready to go, but Henry exclaims,  “Birds will be hitting the ground like cannonballs.”  Everyone assumes Sheriff Andy will come to the rescue of Mayberry, uh, Eureka, but it’s not to be.  Sheriff Andy’s Eureka database tells him that he’s not required to participate because it’s 93% likely he’ll be destroyed in the process.

Carter thinks those aren’t bad odds for Eureka, and Dudley Do-Rights it into Fielding’s lab, where all the little gravity wells are coalescing into one big ‘un.  A gravitational well takes the extra power source battery in Carter’s hands and weighs it down until it is dropped.  Carter can’t move because he effectively weighs many hundreds of pounds now, and yet his internal organs don’t collapse.  Amazing.  Sheriff Andy rides in like a toaster, and with A.I. feeling, saves the day, despite the risk to his person, um, cabinet, uh, housing.  Whatever, anyway, the two are blown back not quite to Kingdom Come, but near there, and Eureka is safe once again.

Sheriff Andy ends up riding his blender into the sunset, but not before helping Mayor Henry Deacon to reinstate Carter, who was terminated against the rules of Eureka’s charter.  I’d like to see Sheriff Andy return to Eureka again.   Deputy Lupo returns to duty, despite being unfairly bypassed by man and machine, and status quo is status in Eureka…EXCEPT that there is a signal coming from the outer limits in space, beyond the final frontier, and it’s headed straight for Eureka.

There are plans for yet another love interest for Carter in the person of Dr. Tess Fontana.  It’s generally thought that Allison can’t have a love life while pregnant with her dead husband’s progeny.  (Yes, she was really pregnant during the filming.)  Stark is now a vampire on another network, so he won’t be coming back to Eureka this season.   That wraps it up for this time, and my TV hometown is asleep in Warehouse 13 for another week.

Wait, wait, excuse me!  If SARAH was targeting Sheriff Andy, and so no one else was in danger until after Fielding’s botched Mr. Fixit attempt, WHY DID THE TREES NEARLY GET ALLISON?  Hellooooo, can anybody hear me?  Hello?

(Note: All images contained in this post are screen captures)

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FanaticSpace - Everyone loves something.

Friday night on Dollhouse, less than 20 minutes into the episode “Briar Rose,” Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) turned a corner, knocked on a door, and suddenly, out of nowhere, the show went from amazing Whedoness to outstandingly incredible Whedoness. Because when that door opened, Alan Tudyk was on the other side and with his entrance, the show morphed into something spectacular with as yet unseen promise.

Look, I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been on board with Dollhouse all along and as the episodes have aired, I’ve fallen in love more and more. I want to know what’s going to happen here. I want the show to have a chance to play out. But now, I’m having this small sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that goes along with unrequited love. Why, you may ask, doesn’t Dollhouse love me back? Well, it may come to love me in time, but unfortunately, I’m more and more afraid that we’ll never get a chance to find out.

I’ve watched this last episode over a good many times in the last 40 hours. I’m more and more excited about what we are going to see next week. I’d be happier if I thought that huge ratings for the final ep would be enough to get a renewal. But even so, tell all your friends to watch Dollhouse next Friday. All of them. Cause you never know.

Some great lines from this ep:
-This feeling, it’s very much like pride.
-Carrots, medicinal carrots, personally used for medicinal, carrots that were here when I moved in and I’m holding it for a friend.
-Recycled urine? I’m kidding. It’s not fully recycled.
-I’m not comfortable having people in my home who aren’t delivering Thai food.
-And now there’s a gun.
-I was nurturing a tender, throbbing hope that you’d give up, yes.
-This is clean and enclosed. I’m staying here.
-It’s a small world, I went to grade school with Jenna Elfman.
-Yes, there’s indignation enough for everyone to have seconds.

If you want more, go watch the ep, on Fox, Hulu or download it from iTunes. Please.

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Sadly, there was no episode of Dollhouse on Friday, since they ran two eps of Prison Break. But it will be back this week on Friday and I can be patient.

In the meantime, I was thinking about how Whedonness has taken over the airwaves. This doesn’t just relate to shows that involve Joss Whedon, but for years now, whenever anyone involved in a Whedon show is on some other show, I have to point it out and get excited. And this doesn’t just mean the main characters, this has to do with each and every person who has ever guest starred in, or even randomly wandered through, a single ep of either Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel , Firefly or Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Now, that includes Dollhouse, too.

I thought it was only me, but just the other day, I happened to see a post over at Buffyfest showing that Spice Williams Crosby, who played a policewoman, a member of the Order of Taraka, on a couple of eps of BtVS back in Season 2, was also a random person in a chaotic prison scene in the last episode of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. So you see, we all do it. I also noticed both Kevin Christy (BtVS ep “Help”) and Eric Matheny (BtVS ep “Beer Bad”) on a recent Bones episode.

But let’s look at the landscape of television right now. Bones brings David Boreanaz (Angel) to our screens every week. Until last week, we had Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, with Summer Glau (River, Firefly and the Prima Balleria on “Waiting in the Wings,” Angel). We have Castle which stars Nathan Fillion (Mal, Firefly; Caleb, BtVS; and Captain Hammer on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog). Kal Penn has been guest starring on House for the past two seasons, and he was on both BtVS (“Beer Bad”) and Angel (“That Vision Thing”). Adam Baldwin (Jayne, Firefly and Hamilton, Angel) now plays a character on Chuck.

Then there’s that new ABC show, The Unusuals, starring Amber Tamblyn (Janice on BtVS episode, “All The Way”) and Jeremy Renner (Penn on Angel ep, “Somnambulist”).

Even some of the Dollhouse characters are other characters from different Whedon shows. Eliza Dushku was, of course, Faith on both BtVS and Angel. Amy Acker, who plays Dr. Saunders was both Fred and Illyria on Angel. Mark Sheppard was Badger on Firefly and is Tanaka on Dollhouse.

This are literally all just sightings from the last couple of weeks. I’m sure there are a dozen more. Possibly even two dozen. So I’ll give you all a short assignment for this week. As you’re watching TV, think about who you’re seeing, and make sure you jump and point and squeal – just a little – when you see a member of the Whedonverse.

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FanaticSpace - Everyone loves something.

I wouldn’t trade places with Joss Whedon for anything in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love Joss and I think he’s amazing and probably has a wonderful life. But here’s my problem. The guy gives his whole heart and soul to create an awesome hour of television, week after week after week. Yet he gets no love for this. Instead, people pick apart every tiny part of every little bit of every single episode.

Dollhouse is turning into something that’s great TV, but it’s cancellation is beginning to seem inevitable. Like a car sliding on the ice, you try to stop, you even think maybe you can stop, but no matter what you do, the car continues to spin out of your control until it finally makes impact. CRASH!! Sadly, I think that’s what’s happening here.

My husband has been calling me delusional, because I firmly believed that if I was watching the show live each week, somehow it just couldn’tbe cancelled. I’m still going to watch live. I’m still going to DVR the show each week so that I can watch it over a few times. (I actually have every episode still on my DVR and I don’t plan on erasing them any time soon.) I’m still going to tell everyone I know about Dollhouse and tell them to watch it. I’m still going to do my best to believe that Dollhouse will not only air the remaining five episodes, but that it will also come back to me for next season.

Maybe I am a little delusional.

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FanaticSpace - Everyone loves something.

Before I forget, I wanted to let you all know about a contest over at MySpace. Eliza Dushku is looking for someone to design her MySpace page.

The winner receives a trip to LA and gets to meet Eliza!!!! Ten runner ups get Dollhouse gift bags.

The contest only runs through Friday, March 6, 2009, so hurry up and design your page. All the info is here at the Dollhouse MySpace page.

I wish I was capable, cause I would love to win this contest. But, honestly, it’s all I can do to just write a blog. I have little to no design skills at all.

So go win for me and then let me know how it was to meet Eliza.

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FanaticSpace - Everyone loves something.

Once upon a time, Chattacon was held at the Read House in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a good-sized regional convention with attendance in the 1500 range.  I don’ t know what their numbers were this year, but it seemed sparse.  Chattacon now makes its home in the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn.

Chattanooga Choo Choo Locomotive

The Choo Choo is a converted railway station on 24 acres, with a decommissioned wood-burning locomotive on display.  (I’m told the train was built in 1880, and last used by the Smoky Mountain Railroad in 1940s)  There are passenger cars that have been converted into sleeping rooms.  The accommodations are spread out, but the staff is helpful and cheery.  We were in “Hotel III”, and aside from having a wait for the bell cart and attendant, it was a painless check-in.

We had a mutual brain TILT moment when we first entered the hallway of Hotel III.   The long, narrow corridor was brightly decorated, and strangely reminiscent of The Shining.  Fortunately for us, there were no Twins in that corridor.  They only appeared in our imagination, and our fingers remained mute and still.  The secure wireless connection sucked wind, but other unsecured connections were available.

In the Beginning was Registration…

Rats in a Maze

I have many expletives in mind regarding the Registration process.  We were lab rats in a maze.   My compadre, Amber, had pre-registered.  I had not.  We went into the hotel lobby, and entered Pandelerium.   What at first appeared to be the end of long lines in front of registration tables were actually clusters of folks (say that very fast) waiting….  A lovely lady from Registration emerged from the tables to shepherd us On Site registrants to actual tables.  It was only then that it became apparent what we were all waiting for…

“I Don’t Have to Show You any Stinkin’ Badges”

Ah, but yes you do, if you want to get into the convention areas.  There’s the proverbial rub.    Computer glitch after computer glitch meant that I waited for my badge from 6:00-9:15PM.  Yes, Virginia, I waited for 3 hours and 15 minutes.   That’s not the end of the story.  You may recall that I said Amber was pre-registered.  During a system hiccup, her pre-registered check-in was lost, and she had to start over again.  She discovered this when my badge printed from one of the lovely parallel-ported printers. Then, she was told, in 30-90 minutes, she’d get her badge.  It was 6:00 PM déjà vu all over again, except that it was 9:00 PM now.  They were out of Program schedules and Program Books.

While Waiting for Badgot…

We spent our time socializing with friendly fen in waiting, including my old pal, writer Wendy Webb.
At 10:40PM (yes, that would be 4 hours and 40 minutes!), Amber got her badge.  However, they were out of lanyards,  schedules, and Program Books.  We did obtain a map with helpful designations, such as “Mundanes.”  The badges were LOVELY works of art.  We missed the entire Friday night schedule of programming because we needed our stinkin’ artsy fartsy badges!!!

We were so exhausted by the time we were done that we didn’t even go to the Con Suite to get free beer or attend any of the advertised room parties.

It’s a New Day!

We spent Saturday morning with Robby, the Fearless Dragon*con Filk Track Director, having our first Filk Track meeting.  Feeling fairly excited and upbeat, we left chanting, “Gimme an F…gimme an I…”

Tom Smith in Concert

Tom Smith also did a fun, crowd-pleasing concert, and even perpetrated (um, I mean performed) his material to many new listeners.  He was a busy guy, as he MC’d the tiny Masquerade on Saturday night.

Author guests Katherine Kurtz and David Weber were easily found, and regional writers participated in panels on the craft and business of writing.  It was a full day’s programming.

The Dealers Room was decent, and we made our first drive-by of it to see what we might want to buy later… ALL the Dealers were friendly.  ALL OF THEM.  What a nice surprise to feel as if they actually wanted our business!  Sadly, we never made it to the art show.

Many of us who did other stuff during the Masquerade and planned to return to the open filk afterwards were disappointed to find the Conference Center hallways rolled up and silent by 11:00 PM.  Arc Attack (the Tesla Coil music folk)  was giving a concert in the Con Suite building…and the free beer was flowing.

The Warriors

The Choo Choo

Every Day is Like Sunday…

It was time to pack up and check out all too soon.  The Bell attendant couldn’t find a cart.  Soooo he came up and helped us to carry our stuff to a golf cart, and drove us to our car!  YEAH!  We made Choo Choo gift shop purchases for kids, and unsuccessfully attempted to get breakfast (they were setting up for lunch, but not ready).  We went back to the Dealers Room and did a little more shopping.  We had another brief conversation with Tom Smith, and ran into writer Rob Sommers.  Then we had to make the difficult choice between attending the final guest panel, and feeding our faces away from the hotel.  Our faces won.  We took off.

The only thing not to like at Chattacon was the registration madness.  In many other ways, it reminded me of conventions of old, where fans talked to each other “just cuz”.  In fact, that’s the single biggest factor that causes me to say I would return to Chattacon.  EVERYONE was friendly, whether staff members or fans…sober, drunk, or tired.

About the badge problem:  I volunteer to bring the magic markers next year!!  Who’s up for bringing the perforated cards or stick-ons?

Official photos of Chattacon

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I’ve always been fond of the music of Eureka, and was definitely ready for this cd.

Acclaimed composer Bear McCreary, of Battlestar Galactica renown, does a masterful job of musically mixing it up.  Of his own creation he says, “Whether or not you’ve seen Eureka, this CD is worth checking out.  The music is a totally unique and twisted blend of folk, blues and zydeco with 80s New Wave synths, 8-bit and 16-bit video-game-inspired FM synthesis, 70’s keyboards, accordions, dobros, didgeridoo and a little Spanish Flamenco. “

I couldn’t have said it better myself.  For one thing, I’m a sucker for accordion music, ever since my south pawed brother taught me how to play “Three Blind Mice” on my Dad’s accordion (turned upside down and backwards) when I was a sprat of six.  The zydeco takeoffs are always fun and sometimes gritty, and the subtler accordion melodies are clever.

I’m not going to comment on each track, but I will list them all at the end of this post.
The Main Title theme, by former Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh and John Enroth always inspires me to attempt to whistle along with it.   To say it’s “catchy” is cliche, but  I’m okay with that.

Sheriff Carter’s Theme makes me happy.   It’s an eclectic mix of jazz with a country beat, and some bluesy vocals thrown in that remind me of the Cookie Monster.

Allison’s Theme is terribly pretty, just like the character.    It’s almost pastoral, but not saccharine.

Through the Vortex, from The Games People Play episode, grew on me with multiple listens.  The power in it is undeniable.  It’s reminiscent, though not derivative of, McCreary’s work on BSG.

The Mask of Fargo, from Noche de Suenos is without a doubt one of my favorites.  Featuring sultry Flamenco guitar by Carlos De La Paz and a wild trumpet by Peter De Siena, it doesn’t get much better than this.  Being a poor to mediocre acoustic folk player, I appreciate De La Paz’s Flamenco guitar all the more for its technical expertise as well as its beauty

Brendan McCreary’s performance on his self composed ballad, Let’s Get Hitched, from the episode, Sight Unseen manages to be soulful, yet understated.

Henry’s Theme is sooooo serious, and borderline dark.  Tormented.  Pain filled. Portentious.  Lovely.

Not so, Taggart’s Theme.  It’s xylophoned, stringed, and quirky, series thematic, with a rough rhythmic edge, not unlike his character.  Sigh.

The Laser Cannon, from a Night at Global Dynamics, has a Rock Opera overture run through a synthesizer feel to it.

Captain Ahab’s Jonathan Snipes wrote and produced Eurekaerobics, from the Duck, Duck, Goose episode.  Techno meets fitness without becoming disco.  Ya gotta love it.

Jack and Callie’s halting relationship is well expressed in their song, featured in both the Sight Unseen and Maneater episodes.

The Heathers at the science fair (Duck, Duck, Goose) and Erotomania from Maneater are great comic pieces.

A Night at Global Dynamics, from the episode of the same name, is one of the most dramatic selections on the cd.  It conveys danger, darkness, and suspense with an orchestral movie soundtrack quality.

Also from A Night at Global Dynamics, we’re treated to a zydeco introduction that blows into hard drums punctuated with a synthesizer in  Threat of Nuclear Cleaning.  The rest of the piece is sinuous, woven with wind instruments, keyboard/piano, until its abrupt dobroed end ties back to the intro.

Don’t take my tin eared word for it.  This cd is a must-have for any Eureka fan.   I’m sure the Eureka soundtrack could stand alone.  But for me, it is a pleasant reminder of the music that moves my beloved Eureka along each week.

Track Listing:

1.    Eureka On My Mind (Eureka Main Title) (0:30)
2.    Sheriff Carter’s Theme (3:27)
3.    Prehistoric Love Spores (2:38)
4.    Allison’s Theme (2:52)
5.    Through the Vortex (5:02)
6.    Fargo’s Theme (2:49)
7.    The Mask of Fargo (2:27)
8.    The S.A.R.A.H. Mobile (1:16)
9.    Let’s Get Hitched (3:54)
10.    When You Wish Upon Falling Debris (3:10)
11.     Little Big Bang (2:33)
12.    Henry’s Theme (5:21)
13.    Taggart’s Theme (2:02)
14.    The Laser Cannon (1:54)
15.    Noche De Suenos (3:23)
16.    A Nuke for Fargo (5:41)
17.    EurekAerobics (2:31)
18.    Victor’s Getaway (0:34)
19.    Henry and Beverly (4:24)
20.    Jack and Callie (2:31)
21.    Everyone’s Dumb (1:48)
22.    The Heathers (0:37)
23.    Zane on the Lam (2:42)
24.    Erotomania! (2:26)
25.    A Night at Global Dynamics (3:52)
26.    Threat of Nuclear Cleaning (2:19)
27.    A Town Called Eureka (2:10)
28.    Eureka On My Mind Reprise (Eureka End Credits)(0:51)

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Dragon*Con is an extravaganza of sci-fi fandom held annually over Labor Day Weekend in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.  As of 2008, it spans four hotels and boasts an attendance of more than 30,000 fans.  Rumor has it that when the numbers swell with day pass folks, the count can go as high as 50,000.  It can be a little overwhelming to attend a convention with 30-50,000 of your, er, um, closest friends.  This year, the addition of the Sheraton, and the completed Marriott renovation, made the long Labor Day weekend a much more pleasurable experience than in the recent past.

What To See…Beats Me!

With a cacophony of choices in a wide variety of fandoms, you can’t see everything.  Lines for many popular media based events are long, and give you no guarantee of entry even after you’ve waited for frakking ever.  For me, the choice is simple.  I don’t try.  That has it’s own pitfalls, though.  If I had tried to get into the Firefly panel with Nathan Fillion and supporting cast members, I would have been able to get in.  Instead I watched it on Dragon*Con TV .

I never seem to get to the Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant either.  I’ve wanted to free my inner Klingon and be a participant myself, but dang it, I don’t know any practicing Klingons to ask for help.  Maybe next year… At 6 ft. tall, I could make a passable Klingon.  Hint, hint, is anyone out there listening?

The Dragon*Con Dealers Room is one of my favorite places to do early Christmas shopping.  Okay, yeah, I know, you can find most of the stuff online.  BUT, the Dealers Room and Exhibition Halls are like a giant bazaar of the bizarre and beautiful.  Who can resist?

I’ve been out of what I would call participatory fandom for years.  Once upon a time, I did filk and theatrical stuff back in Virginia.  Once upon a later time, I participated in the Writers Track programming at Dragon*Con.  Some years ago I went into gaffiation for a while, writing, but not attending any conventions.
Then my sister-friend and SCA maven, Dinah, reawakened my dormant fannish gene…and I started filking again.  It was all downhill from there.  Um, I mean it renewed my fannish sense of self.

I also happened to have a post-apocalypse short story published in a magazine and anthology.  Thus I participated in the Apocalypse Rising program track this year.  Discussions were lively, and the rhetoric occasionally heated.  I don’t know what it was like from the audience, but it was a blast from where I sat .

Program Track sounds so dry, doesn’t it?  There are many fandoms contained within Dragon*Con (officially or not), and each is almost a mini-con of its own.  This evolution in the ever burgeoning Dragon*Con makes it possible for fans to connect, share, and not get lost amid the proverbial teeming masses that conglomerate to make up Dragon*con (yes, I meant to say that, not congregate).

It’s exciting to walk down the halls and see the Weyrfest, Brit track, X track, gaming track, and of course, the venerable Anime/Manga track rooms, to name just a few.  Dragon*con can be as big or as small as you choose.  That factor, along with a metaphorical masochism inherent in my soul, made me return to Dragon*Con, like a stealthy prodigal fan.

If you go to nothing else big, attend the Dragon*Con parade! As a former costumer (yeah, did that, too), I am impressed by the sheer magnitude.  Costumes range from beginner level to amazing, and all promenade together.  The entire weekend is full of costumed fen, but this is definitely on my “don’t miss” list!

Tempest in a Tambourine & The Sound of Music

There was plenty of music for all tastes around the convention.  There was Jedi karaoke at a nearby café on Saturday night.

A spirited violin jam complete with a Celtic dancer/violinist happened on Monday.

Absent from filking for many years, I’m from the “old school.”  That means I am of the pitch in and try to make it work school of fandom.  Filking had changed quite a bit during my gaffiation.  I only recognized a few names, and knew even fewer in the community.  I was acquainted with a goodly amount of their music, though.

There was a dismaying flame war going on at Live Journal about past Dragon*Con filking.  Due to a variety of circumstances, there was no Filk Director this year until a few weeks before the convention.

I’d volunteered to help with the Filk track.  Eventually, one Robby Hilliard, the new Filk Director, contacted me and asked if I was still interested in helping.  Sure, what did I have to lose?

Nothing, as it turns out.  Robby Hilliard is a Celtic musician from Chattanooga   with a good head for organization and a very positive attitude (you can pay me later, Robby    Working with Dragon*Con, he was able to address many of the complaints of the Filk track attendees, which had definitely outgrown its previous space.

Concerts were held in ballroom sections, and the Filk Room was dedicated to that track 24 hours a day.  Many of the usual area filkers boycotted the convention.  Both the Brobdignagian Bards and the Bedlam Bards performed to near capacity crowds before it was all over.  The Great LukeSki held two shows, despite being hampered by being asked to step up to the plate at the last minute.  Carrie Dahlby was featured as well.

Open filking was sparse this year.  We were invaded by a group of frat boy geeks on Saturday night who wanted to take over the room.

Yet, before they left, they were singing the choruses of a Battlestar Galactica filk.  Taking chorus for an easy credit paid off for them, because they weren’t bad at all.  The delightful and talented Ridikulus Music folks stopped by, featuring Luke She, and did a couple of songs as well.

With Robby the Fearless slated to be at the Filk ship bow in 2009 as well, I look forward to writing about and participating in an expanded Filk track for next year.

Ghost Hunters!

Oh, I almost forgot!  I’m a huge fan of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International!   Due to other obligations, I didn’t get to see their panels.  I’d seen Dave Tango arrive on Friday.  However, Rob, Dustin, and Dave were in the lobby on Monday as we were taking our leave, and they allowed me to take a photo!  Woo-hoo!

And in the End…

If you asked twenty people (or 30,000+) to describe Dragon*Con, there’d be no consensus, probably not even a quorum.  Dragon*Con is as many different conventions as its fans make it.

(Photo credits:  Jedi Karaoke – Amber Hansford; Brobdignagian Bards – Les Howard
All others by Shiny1 & Chuck deVarennes.)

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FanaticSpace - Everyone loves something.

Not long ago I was directed to a Doctor Who goodie that many of the American viewers may have missed.  Last November, as part of the BBC Children In Need telethon 2007, aired a wonderful mini-episode of Doctor Who titled Time Crash. 


 
Time Crash was a comedic skit for BBC viewers that bridged the last episode of Season 3′s Last of the Timelords and the beginning of the 2007Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned. The mini-episode depicts a chance encounter between the tenth Doctor David Tennant and the fifth, Peter Davison. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend it. You can find it here.

This delightful and funny exchange between the two Doctors ends with a sentimental comment from Tennant’s Doctor,

“You know, I loved being you. Back when I first started, at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important—like you do, when you’re young. And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing, I got that from you. Oh, and the trainers. And… [putting his glasses on] snap! You know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor.”

This simple, heart-felt sentiment started me thinking.  Who was MY Doctor?  We all have one.  Which one is yours?  Which one personifies all that is great about Doctor Who?  Which one first captured your heart by opening up his magical world of wonder and time to you?  In my next post, I’ll share MY Doctor with you.  I hope you’ll give it some thought and share yours with me as well.

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FanaticSpace - Everyone loves something.