Do As Peggy Says

Lyrics by Erin and Rand Bellavia, music by Rand Bellavia and Adam English

If you’re listless and you feel like you were meant for more
If you’re enlisted but you always end up missing the war
Support your friends, always offer to help
Know your value, stand up for yourself

And do as Peggy says
Do do as Peggy says

If you’re at work and having trouble getting recognized
Taking shorthand when you know that you’re a super spy
Sometimes you gotta fight to make things improve
Just plant both feet and say, “No, you move!”

You gotta do as Peggy says
Do do as Peggy says

All the daring women have got to believe
Just like Sharon and Simmons and Steve
You gotta do as Peggy says
Do do as Peggy says

If you’re restless and you feel like we’ve been here before
Nothing’s too big to fail but some are too big to ignore
You know how to make a better world
Just know your value and fight like a girl
Better do as Peggy says
Do do as Peggy says

GAFilk 2016 Concert Post!

I started a full con report, which I suppose will get finished eventually…but for now, I wanted to get this post up about our concert for any interested parties! It went really, really well overall and I once again would like to thank the concom, the guys working the sound board, Amy McNally for providing her awesome fiddling on a couple of songs, and just everyone in that audience. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to hug you all. *hug*

So, this was our setlist for the ConCom’s Choice concert at GAFilk (with notes):

Heaven on Their Minds

really, seriously, just a straightforward cover of the song from JCS. (The Original London Recording is my preferred version. ymmv.)

Pandas/Jesus

A mashup of “Pandas” by Corky and the Juice Pigs and “This Jesus Must Die” from JCS

(Storybook) Love Story

A parody of Taylor Swift’s Love Story, about The Princess Bride (lyrics here)

The Princess Who Saved Herself

A cover of the Jonathan Coulton song (minus the phone call bridge)

Actually Ironic

A few years ago, College Humor or Funny or Die did a video that adapted Alanis Morrisette’s “Ironic” to make it, well, actually ironic. We didn’t think it went far enough and added some of our own little twists to it. This went over really, really well.

Ex

Dear Seanan

With Seanan in the audience! Squee! This is a parody of Seanan’s song “Dear Gina” (lyrics here, by me and Merav Hoffman) Lyrics and video from our FKO concert here.

Real

from William Shatner’s album Has Been. (which you should totally check out if you haven’t already.) This song was a collaboration with Brad Paisley. I played the part of William Shatner. Amy played fiddle. It was awesome.

Tiberius Rising

Just a straight performance of Ookla’s song with Rand on lead vocals, Amy on fiddle, and me singing a bit on the chorus.

Little Red Riding Hood

Cover of the Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, featuring me on the ukulele, alone…I’ve done this in open filk a couple of times, but I was REALLY NOT PREPARED to do it on stage. OMG. My fingers forgot how to work, and it was almost a total disaster…but the audience seemed to have a good time anyway and everyone seemed to be on my side and nobody threw things or anything!

Cowboy Secret Space Detective

with two new girl-centric verses! And yeah, I screwed up the lyrics (both in performance and when I posted them to facebook) and I am super embarrassed.

Haven’t We Been Here Before

A cover of a Styx song from the album Kilroy Was Here

View Mistress

“View Master” with lyrics modified by vixy (and tweaked here and there by Rand and me)

Cliffs of Insanity

A parody of “Green Hills of Harmony” about (again) The Princess Bride, lyrics by me and Rand (lyrics here) And here’s a video from FKO.

Obviously, links for a lot of things are provided, both to lyrics and video…I’ll get lyrics for some of these other things posted at some point.

And just in case you need a reminder of how much I never ever EVER thought I would sing in front of people let alone on a stage, you can read more in my writeup from FKO in 2013.

Oh, and do let us know if you have photos, video, or sound recordings from the concert…we’d love to see/hear them! (er, well, I could maybe do without ever seeing or hearing that performance of “Little Red Riding Hood”…)

Cowboy Secret Space Detective (new verses)

Here are the two new verses we wrote for “Cowboy Secret Space Detective”:

I want to live in Washington in a big White home
and I want to be the first commander in chief with two x-chromosomes
I’ll give the West Wing some estrogen
I’ll be the first lady to have a First Gentleman
And my run won’t be derailed by an email non-event
I want to be the first female President!

I’m gonna know my value in a world of men
And Howard Stark and I will fight against Leviathan
We’ll co-found SHIELD to keep the world Hydra-free
And I know Steve will save the last dance for me
And I’ll be a super spy like Maxwell Smart, but even* smarter
I wanna be Agent Peggy Carter!

*may change this, per Randy Hoffman’s suggestions

Thoughts on FilKONtario Part 2: the concert

This is probably going to be a long one, so prepare yourself! Get a snack; I’ll wait…

I’ve always been a performer in one sense or another. I had a not-insignificant role in my 5th grade play. I was in a community theater production of Annie when I was in middle school. I was a cheerleader (don’t judge me! And if a cheerleader hurt you in your formative years, let me apologize on behalf of all nice-girl-cheerleaders everywhere…)

I never really thought of myself as a performer in the musical sense. I had been scared off of singing by an experience in middle school (Even after getting a role in Annie, I was cut from the middle school show choir. I ask you, who does that? It was middle school, and it’s not like I went to a performing arts school or it was super competitive or anything…but I digress.) When I went to college, I joined a sorority that took music very, very seriously, and I declared myself a founding member of the “tone deaf club.” Now, to be fair, I knew I wasn’t actually tone deaf, because people who are actually tone deaf have no idea that they’ve hit the wrong note. For us, it was about being people with no musical/vocal training among people who had been singing in choirs their entire lives. I was intimidated. I wasn’t very good at harmonizing. And so, I went merrily on with my life, singing when I had to (at things like Greek Sing, or other sorority events), but otherwise, singing along with the radio or my CDs was about it.

Well, it’s probably no surprise that the longer I hung around in filk, the more people started to express an interest in hearing me sing (*coughdebbieohicough*). I protested at first, but little by little, people started to wear me down. 😉 The first time I sang at all was in a very tiny circle very late at night at GAFilk in 2007. I blame Amanda.

erin and jam banquet

Amanda is one of my co-editors at Toasted Cheese, and the reason I sort of kind of knew what filk was before I even met Rand. We had been online buds since…ummm…I’m going to say 1999? But this was the first time we had met in person. Anyway, Amanda had written a short filk of “One Singular Sensation” and she asked me to sing it with her. We practiced it a few times, and then went looking for a small circle to sing it in. So, a handful of people in that room heard me sing that night.

I think it might have been the following year (at GAFilk again) that Rand convinced me to sing a bit of a Flaming Lips song with him–not “Yoshimi,” but “Fight Test,” which has a chorus with overlapping parts that becomes counterpoint at the end. The Flaming Lips are kind of known for having a singer who can’t really sing, so I figured it was pretty low pressure. (Actually, here’s a post I wrote about that.)

After that, he convinced me to try “Yoshimi,” which would have me singing lead. We worked on it, and I sang it in a circle at FKO in 2009.

Yoshimi!!!!!

(Photo by Brooke Lunderville)

People seemed to enjoy that, so I was encouraged. Rand and I kept singing “Yoshimi” in circles, but I was a little worried that people were going to start to get sick of hearing it, so I never really pushed for it. 😉

In 2010, Rand and Adam were nominated for a Pegasus award, and Adam was unable to attend the convention to perform it. Rand asked me if I wanted to try to do it. “Um…” I said.  I agreed to work on it with him (and I think I only freaked out and had a meltdown once!) We went ahead and did it, and but for the fact that I was later informed that Rand’s microphone wasn’t working, I think it went okay.

OVFF 26 059

(Photo by Walter Korynkiewicz)

Fast forward to last year, when Tom contacted Rand to invite us to be this year’s Filk Waifs. We started putting together a list of things we might be able to sing together, as well as ideas for songs (mostly parodies) that we might be able to write. I bought a ukulele last August, thinking that I might get good enough at one or two things to play it in the concert. (that…did not happen. It will, but I was more focused on the singing. Did I mention I was nervous about the singing? I ended up taking voice lessons from a former colleague, which was a HUGE help. Thanks again, Shelley!)

Erin practising in our room

(practicing in UT’s room Saturday morning. I’m playing a melodica–also known as a hooter. Photo by Allison Durno)

Fast forward again to the day of the concert. The Filk Waif concert is the first concert on Saturday. After having breakfast, Rand and I met up with UT to rehearse a song they were going to be performing with us, and we showed them a couple of other things we were going to be performing as well. It was really, really good for me to have a chance to warm up.  After that, there were a couple of workshops. I ran one on calligraphy and paper crafts. Tim Walker ran a percussion workshop at the same time, which I am super bummed I couldn’t attend! I’ll write more about the workshop later. After the workshop, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in our room, and then it was go time!

Rand and Erin's Concert

(Photo by Debbie Ohi)

Here’s the set we played:

  • Star Wars That I Used to Know (parody of “Somebody that I Used to Know” by Gotye. Credits can be found at the YouTube link)
  • My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors by Moxy Fruvous
  • St. Brendan’s Way by Lowest of the Low
  • Actually Ironic (parody? sort of? of “Ironic” by Alanis Morrissette)
  • Dear Seanan (parody of “Dear Gina” by Seanan McGuire written by me and Merav Hoffman. Video and lyrics at the link.)
  • Crackstatic by Ron Hawkins
  • Yoshimi/Space Oddity/Major Tom mashup (Flaming Lips, David Bowie, Peter Schilling)
  • Cliffs of Insanity (parody of “Green Hills of Harmony” written by me with help from Rand and an assist from Amanda. More info in my previous post, linked.)
  • Still Can’t Buy Me Love by Ookla the Mok (with Urban Tapestry)

If you’re interested in the lyrics (other than the parodies I wrote/co-wrote, which can be found at the links), they can all quite easily be found by googling. I’m tired. 😉

I’m pretty sure it was a success. 😉 After we left the stage, Tim and Annie (who knew how nervous I was) ran over to us and gave us gigantic hugs, and everyone we talked to seemed to enjoy the performance. So…singing! Win! Right now, the “Dear Seanan” video is the only one I am aware of. I’m sure other things will appear eventually, and I’ll let you know!

Here’s Allison’s post about Saturday at FKO. I’ll have more later. Stay tuned!

Ookla the Mok vs. Evil

So, as many of you probably know, I’m married to half of the nerd-rock band Ookla the Mok. And as you may have heard by now, Ookla has a brand new CD out! It’s called vs. Evil, and it’s chock full of songs about supervillains and mad scientists. The totally fantabulous cover art is by Art Baltazar, creator of (among other things) Tiny Titans.

digipak_art3

Click here for complete lyrics/liner notes.

The entire album is super fun–the lyrics are funny, and the tunes cover a wide range of musical styles, including hip hop, power pop, and 80s hair metal. I’d listen to Ookla even if I wasn’t married to one of them. 😉

If you’re interested, but not sure if you want to buy, you can listen first on facebook or on soundcloud. Here’s a little taste for you:

[I can’t make the soundcloud widget work, so just click here.]

More Ookla: 

Ookla’s official website

Ookla on Facebook

Reviews:

Debbie Ohi

Word of the Nerd

Buy:

CD Baby :: Amazon :: iTunes

27 songs that never fail to make me happy*

(yes, I opted for “more wasting time on the internet, plz”)

Here they are, in no particular order

1. Don’t Stop Believin’–Journey

This song is actually currently my ringtone. Yes, I’m serious.

2. Without Me–Eminem

3. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree–KT Tunstall

4. Cold, Cold Heart–Midge Ure

5. I’d Like That–XTC

6. New Mistake–Jellyfish

7. Waterloo-ABBA

8. Short Skirt/Long Jacket–Cake

9. Wandrin’ Around–Carbon Leaf

10. Got to Get You Into My Life–The Beatles

11. Here on Earth (I’ll Have My Cake)–Crash Test Dummies

12. Just Can’t Get Enough–Depeche Mode

13. Ordinary Day–Great Big Sea

14. Geek in the Pink–Jason Mraz

15. My Baby Loves Me–Martina McBride

16. The Way You Make Me Feel–Michael Jackson

17. King of Spain–Moxy Fruvous

18. Hey Ya!–Outkast

19. Solar Circle Girl–Einstein’s Sister

20. Mr. Blue Sky–ELO

21. Ana Ng–They Might Be Giants

22. Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It–Will Smith

23. Molly–Jackdaw

24. Cecelia–Simon and Garfunkel

25. Still Can’t Buy Me Love–Ookla the Mok

26. Bad Romance–Lady GaGa

27. Days Go On So Long–The Frogs

*by no means is this a list of the ONLY songs that make me happy…just a random list!

Show a little compassion

…why don’t you show
a little compassion for Michael Jackson
the poor guy never had a chance
of being normal…

in lieu of actually trying to say something about Michael Jackson’s death, I give you a live performance of F. People by Ookla the Mok.

And a link to what Andrew Sullivan had to say.

Reminder-Broadway Joe’s tonight!

Greg Klyma, Tom Bianchi, Ookla the Mok at Broadway Joe’s.

Doors at 7:30

$10 cover

Later! 🙂

Ookla/Greg Klyma show August 1

Text stolen from an email Rand sent his friends:

Sixteen years ago, Ookla the Mok performed their first live show at a bar in Buffalo called Broadway Joe’s. Ten years ago, Greg Klyma left the security of a day job and began the life of a professional touring musician. Ookla and Greg (along with friends Tom Bianchi and Sick) will celebrate these variant anniversaries by performing a show together at Broadway Joe’s on August 1.

This show will serve as CD release party for Greg’s new album, “Rust Belt Vagabond,” as well as a return for Ookla to the venue that started it all.

The Place: Broadway Joe’s
3051 Main Street (Buffalo)
http://bjoes. com/

The Date: Friday, August 1, 2008

The Time: Doors at 7:30, show at 8:00

The Price: Ten dollars at the door.

Please help us spread the word — let anyone you know who loves Greg Klyma or Ookla the Mok know about this show. While you’re at it, let anyone you know who you *think* might love Ookla the Mok or Greg Klyma know about the show as well.

And as always, thanks for the support!

TGIF

Halfway through the last day of my first week. It’s going fine…the end of April is a weird time to come in to a classroom. Spring fever has hit–hard–and so it’s going to be difficult for anyone to keep a class under control. But overall, I really can’t complain. I’m reading The House on Mango Street with my 8th graders, and they seem to be liking it so far.

Yeah, I know I haven’t been blogging much…it’s not even so much a matter of time as it is a matter of mental energy. I updated the wedding blog this week, and I regularly update my twitter feed . (You can see my most recent tweets on my sidebar, too.)

Met up with Jen last night for dinner and margaritas at Cozumel, and that was great. 🙂

Tonight, Ookla and The Fibs are playing at Nietzche’s. It’s an early one–I believe the show starts at 6, and Ookla will go on around 8. I’ll be there, if anyone would like to come by!

That’s it for me. Happy Friday!