Finally. 🙂

I had a great time at GAFilk, and I’ve been very excited to post some of the highlights of the weekend.

There’s a pretty comprehensive entry on filk in Wikipedia, which should answer a lot of questions! And here are the highlights:

-GAFilk is the third convention I’ve attended with Rand, and it’s the first one I’ve attended with both Rand and Adam. I enjoyed having the chance to just “hang out” with Adam and get to know him better. There was, of course, lots of late night hotel room overtired silliness. 🙂 This also meant I got to see Rand and Adam play together again, which I always like. They did a bunch of old stuff, from Less Than Art, including Still Can’t Buy Me Love and Dollar Fifty Movies. These are always crowd pleasers.

-I got to spend some time with Mark Osier, who, sadly (for us!) is moving across the country to Seattle. It was fun to watch Mark’s face as Tony and Michelle, joined by Rand and Adam, performed Jonathan Coulton’s song SkullCrusher Mountain. It was priceless.

-I got to watch Adam react to Dan Glasser’s performance of his Demon Lullaby (Close Your Eyes). Apparently, Adam had never witnessed this before. The song, which is very clever and funny (if creepy), got second place in an OVFF songwriting competition in 2002. The theme of the contest–“For Our Children.” BWAH!

-Always a pleasure is seeing and hearing Michelle Dockrey perform her fabulous song Girl That’s Never Been. Do check out the lyrics, although it won’t give you the full experience. I get chills when she sings this.

-As a special treat for me, Debbie and Jodi, with the help of Michelle and Tony, put together a performance of Library Boy, which was written as a birthday present for Rand in 2002. I adored it, Rand blushed a little, and I really, really wish I had a recording of it online that I could point you to. 😉

-The banquet was great fun. Jodi and the rest of the band were fantastic!

(Debbie has much better photos from the banquet!)

-Watching Debbie watch people perform is one of my favorite experiences in the world. She radiates a joy and warmth that fills the entire room.

-Seeing Dandelion Wine (Dave and Tom) perform. These guys are incredible

-Can’t believe I forgot this, but Steve and Katy! I got to hear Steve perform Snitch-ball Wizard, from his rock-opera Harry. Hee!

-And finally, a general observation about filk circles. When you hear a song in a filk circle, it’s an entirely new and different experience. You can take a song that sounds fantastic when the performers do it alone and put it in the circle…and it takes on a life of it’s own. Someone adds a fiddle part. Someone else joins in on the bodhran. Maybe someone plays the flute or the pennywhistle. Six or eight or maybe even sixteen people add fantastic harmonies. Others pick up their guitars, figure out the chords, and play along. Suddenly, it’s more than a song; it’s a shared experience, an expression of community and friendship. And that is very, very cool.

🙂