So, some more random thoughts from Gafilk weekend.
Thursday:
Since I had actually taken Wednesday off to get some last minute stuff done, Thursday was remarkably unstressful; a first for me. I had to go drop my car at the shop in the morning to get the side mirrors fixed (long story), but aside from that, we had everything pretty much ready to go. hawklady showed up around lunchtime with her pickup truck, we got the sound equipment and other bulky stuff loaded in, and then she and kitanzi headed down to the hotel, with me behind in the car. We got checked in, settled, and started checking on flights. The weather forecast was for winter weather, so we were naturally concerned about people’s travel. Several people had their original flights cancelled and had to reboot earlier or later, including bedlamhouse & ladyat‘s flight, which was early, and Ellen and Delia’s flight, which was delayed. Poor Alexander James Adams had his flight cancelled entirely, and ended up flying in on a crack-of-stupid morning flight on Friday instead. Poor guy. I let other folks have the perk of meeting the guests at the airport this year, which left me free to go and take museinred to get a new cell phone, as she’d lost hers somewhere in the wilds of Manitoba. After stopping for dinner, I got back to the hotel, peeked in briefly on Play It With Moxie, who were rehearsing in the main room, and then went off to relax before the big day.
Friday:
Friday morning started out pretty normal. We got the dealers room open so the hucksters could go ahead and start setting up, made sure registration was good to go (which, being run by Myra, it was), and then headed off with bedlamhouse to pick up some of the last bits we needed for the sound gear. Last year, we had to hire sound equipment, which is frightfully expensive, so this year we’d started buying our own kit, but we still didn’t have everything we needed for the weekend, so a bit of shopping was in order. We got most of what we needed at Guitar Centre, and then set off to look for a Radio Shack….
…and found ourself trapped in an episode of the Truman Show.
The first Radio Shack my GPS directed us to turned out to be a newly constructed block of apartments, which wasn’t terribly useful, so I looked up another one that was nearer the hotel and we set off again. As we got close to where the place was, we were directed to turn down a particular street, but were thwarted by a cop parked behind a set of orange cones. Undaunted, we began plotting an alternate route, which brought us out and around down a side street, then told us to turn……down a short connecting street that was being dug up by a construction crew, who forced us to turn around. We were starting to get the feeling we were stuck on the set and couldn’t get to the store, but finally we made our way around all the obstacles to get the last few things we needed. We stopped at the Chinese restaurant near the hotel for lunch (Note to self: your first meal of the day should not be at 3:30pm)
Back at the hotel, it was time to do the usual “bounce around and make sure everyone has the things they need”, before going up to the room and finalising the questions for the My Filk panel. I had gotten questions from both our SSGs and our Toastmaster this year, but the Second Line category I always write myself. Once that was done, there was nothing to do but get dressed up and prepare for opening ceremonies.
Friday night is always “showtime” for me at Gafilk. I almost never have anything to do on stage during Saturday, but Friday night is opening ceremonies, meeting the guests, and then hosting My Filk. Sunday afternoon is closing ceremonies. In between, most of my duties lie behind the curtains. But we got everything kicked off, introduced the guests, and sang Auld Lang Syne. I only got some of the events out of order. (Next year: lists!)
Once the party was underway, Bill and I began trawling the audience for panellists. we managed to find a good cross-section of people, but this year’s question set apparently was brutal, though I can think of people who might have had an easier time with it. (telynor would have aced the folklore section, for instance.) The insta topics this year were “poker and escalators” and “nuclear hot sauce and snakes” The judges had a spirited consultation afterwards, and then declared they were a hung jury, and appealed to the audience to clap for their favourite. The sound board declared that Team 1 eked out a victory over Team B.
The Friday Night concert this year was the very talented Dene Foye. I’ve enjoyed Dene’s music for a few years (and besides, he covers *two* of my songs. How can I not like him?), so it was lovely to hear him do an entire set. (I grinned madly when he did “Naked Ambition” in his set.) The concert was well received, and after it was over, open filk started. I found myself wandering about a bit, spending some time in the bar, and then heading to bed reasonably early.
And this is getting long, so I’ll finish up the rest of it later.
Ellen Kushner is a woman of many talents. She’s an award-winning author (Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners, Thomas the Rhymer, The Privilege of the Sword, The Golden Dreydl, and The Fall of Kings, co-written with Delia Sherman) as well as the radio host of PRI’s