I’ll write more about Gafilk a bit later, but I wanted to share this with you.  Every year, I write a short introduction for the front of the program book.  This is what I wrote for this year.

Sixteen years ago, Gafilk was born.

Stop and ponder that for just a moment.  Sixteen years ago was the last century.  Sixteen years ago was the last millennium.

Children born the same weekend as Gafilk I are now in high school and able to get drivers licenses.

The first Gafilk banquet wouldn’t be for another 3 years.  Nor would the first Super Secret Guest.  The My Filk game show wouldn’t début until the following year.   A number of people we could not today imagine Gafilk without we hadn’t even met yet.  Some of the people we could not then imagine doing Gafilk without are no longer with us.

The best things about Gafilk as we know it today, the traditions we honour every year, didn’t come about because of careful planning and deliberation.  They were happy accidents.  “That was fun,” we’d say.  “Let’s do it again next year!”  And next year, and next year, and on and on until today.  As our first Super Secret Guest, Lois McMaster Bujold once remarked, “It only looks inevitable in hindsight.”

But there’s one thing we had at that first Gafilk, sixteen years ago, that we still have today.  It’s the same thing they had at the first filk con, and at filks dating back to before most of us can remember:

Put the chairs in a circle.  Gather your musical family to sit in the chairs.

Make magic.

The last week really has been a blur. Between getting ready for Gafilk, actually putting on Gafilk, and then immediately packing the car to start driving west for our move to Seattle, I haven’t had a lot of time for posting. But there’s a few thing I wanted to get down from the weekend.

An incomplete list of GaFilk highlights:

• Visiting Atlanta’s new International Terminal
  When I went to pick up Susan from the airport (Sam’s flight having been delayed by bureaucracy), I left the hotel in what would normally be plenty of time…except that I forgot that all international flights were now landing at the new terminal. I also realised that I didn’t actually know where that was. Fortunately, there were signs, but it’s such a long way that I kept thinking I must have missed a turn until I’d see another sign directing me to continue. By the time I got there, I wasn’t entirely sure that the terminal wasn’t actually *in* Canada. Still, I got there just in time to meet Susan (and Morva and Alan) at the baggage claim.

• Bill Sutton’s “sound workshop”.
  Since a lot of the people who normally help us out with sound didn’t make it to the con this year, we decided to make a virtue out of the need for volunteers and announced that anyone who wanted to learn a bit about running sound was welcome to come and learn it from Bill. Several people volunteered, so the sound went off without a hitch.

• Tim Griffin
  I’d actually heard (though not really met) Tim Griffin at a previous convention on the west coast, but I’d only heard him do a couple of songs. He was our choice to do the Friday night concert, and he was amazing. He does educational music that is both informational and funny (or, sometimes, poignant), and has a great audience rapport. He also is just a really fun guy to hang out with and talk to, and he was always pitching in here and there where an extra pair of hands was needed. Great guy, and I was so pleased to meet him.

• George and Teresa as toastmasters
  Two great people who are such a big part of Gafilk since the early days; they did a fantastic job both MCing and on their concert. Since most of the time you see them as part of larger bands, it was really nice to see them do some stuff with just the two of them.

• Fiana
  I didn’t get to hear as much of them as I would have liked, but everything I heard was delightful. Thanks to Interfilk again for another wonderful guest. I did get to hang with Thom and Christina a bit during the weekend, and they were a lot of fun to talk to.

• Sam Baardman and Susan Israel
  I already knew they were awesome musicians (that is, after all, why we invited them), but they are also just extraordinarily nice people. Their concert on Saturday was a delight. I’m often in and out of concerts at Gafilk because I’m always keeping an eye on what’s going on elsewhere, but I usually have one that I just allow myself to sit and take in without interruption, and I’m glad I did for this one, because I wouldn’t have wanted to miss a moment of it.

• Play It With Moxie’s banquet performance
  If you’ve been to a Gafilk banquet before, you know what this was like. Moxie just gets better and better every year, and I danced and danced and danced. Thanks to everyone who endured my inexpert steps; I have far more enthusiasm than skill, but I never don’t have a good time.

• Larry Niven
  Larry’s hour was spent between a reading and telling entertaining fandom stories, and it was a great time. He seemed to have a good time listening to all the music, and I’m so glad he could make it out as our SSG this year.

• Stray Dog jam
  A hallway filk broke out during (and after) the stray dog party, which started when the two fiddlers in residence wanted to trade some licks and ended up with a huge crowd. (I had a conversation with one person over the weekend about “sing-y” vs. “jam-y” circles, and this was definitely the latter.) I was only around for a part of it, but everything I heard was amazing.

As usual at Gafilk, I really didn’t get a chance to play, because by the time open filk starts I’m usually ready to fall over. I never even took my guitar down from my room this year. But I did get to play one song, and it’s my personal best moment of the weekend:

• Getting to play my Talis Kimberley cover for Talis Kimberley
  Just having Talis there was a treat for me, because she really is one of my favourite people in the world and I don’t get to spend nearly enough time with her. But one thing I wanted to do if I had the chance is play for her the one song of hers that I cover. So when i spotted her in a little circle near the registration table shortly after closing ceremonies, I stopped to listen for a bit, and then asked to borrow a guitar so i could play it for her. Amy was on hand to add Amyness, which honestly makes everything sound better than it would otherwise, and Talis liked what I did with her song.

  (The song in question is “Harbouring Hopes”, which is the final track on her album Archetype Cafe. As I commented when I played it, “I’m sorry to say the song first came to my attention at a time I desperately needed it, and I’m happy to say that I haven’t needed it for a very long time.”)

There were some more personal non-music related highlights as well, but they all come down to “getting to spend time with people who are dear to me”, and if I started to list them I’d leave someone out. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed every single moment of every single conversation, every single hug and cuddle, and every single story.

And so another year is kicked off in grand fashion with a successful Gafilk. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen (I have the best concom ever), and thanks to everyone who came up to me and wished me and Larissa luck on our upcoming move. Gafilk has always been and will always be a family gathering, and I always feel blessed to be in the middle of it every year.

Author Larry Niven has won Hugos (five of them) and a Nebula, and various other awards for his stories, including Ringworld and 50 other books. He co-authored The Mote in God’s Eye and Lucifer’s Hammer, and edited the Man-Kzin War series. He also loves filk music. He goes out of his way to attend filk conventions on the west coast, not seeking any attention, not asking for any of the perks that authors usually expect like readings and signings. He goes to filk cons because he wants to hear this music.

Misty Lackey even created a game around Larry’s love of filk called “Make Larry Cry”. It’s not very hard to do. You just write a beautiful melody and fill it with poignant, compelling lyrics…and make sure that the science is at the very least plausible, and sing it to Larry. (Ask Bill Sutton about his humbling attempt to win the contest with Pilot’s Eyes.)

Mendel’s Rules do apply, so we shouldn’t be too surprised that there are other filkers in the Niven closet. In fact, you’ll be enjoying the song styling of Larry’s filking nephew, Tim Griffin, at the ConCom’s Choice concert. (Who knew!?!) Larry Niven is very approachable, enjoys a good conversation, and contributes to the circle in his own delightful ways. We’re extremely happy to have him as Super Secret Guest for GAFilk 2013.

You can get more information (and buy your membership!) at http://www.gafilk.org/

So let me ‘splain…

We’re not superstitious, no…but the thriteenth GAFilk experienced a series of unsettling circumstances, starting with Seanan McGuire losing her origianal backup band, and culminating with a wallapalooza of an ice storm that kept many at the con for two extra days. In the middle there, our Super Secret Guest, Patrick Nielsen Hayden and and his wife Teresa found themselves unable to attend, and therein lives our tale.

Not only was GAFilk going to be Patrick and Teresa’s first filk con, but it was going to be their friend Elise’s first filk con, too. We all met “for real” in Australia at the WorldCon. (I say “for real” because I’d been communicating with and following Elise’s Live Journal since the tragic and untimely death of her dearest dear, John “Mike” Ford in 2006. Elise wrote a hauntingly beautiful love poem about their relationship that she graciously allowed me to publish in the Mythic Passages e-magazine. I urge you to go read it here, but take a box of tissues when you do. Since then, I’d been lurking over her website, watching her bravely wrestling with grief and gracefully getting on with life.) When GAFilk chose Patrick as our Super Secret Guest, he mentioned that Elise might be coming along, too. I was over the moon!

We were all looking forward to a bang-up GAFilk, hearing Patrick’s music with The Deaftones, Teresa and Elise, backing him up. Elise flew out from Minneapolis to NYC, and the three of them planned to travel down to Georgia together. Then on Wednesday night Elise suffered a stroke. Fortunately, Teresa recognised the symptoms and they rushed her to a hospital, spending the weekend and then-some at her bedside until she was well enough to travel home. Naturally, we were all worried sick, and so very sad that they weren’t coming to GAFilk, but grateful that Patrick and Teresa had been there to help. We were also very glad to learn that, because of their swift efforts, Elise suffered no lasting side affects from the stroke, and recovered swiftly. We were even happier when Patrick volunteered to come to GAFilk this year.

SO…when we started hunting for this year’s Super Secret Guest, it seemed to us that Elise was the perfect choice. The Deaftones will ride again, and you’ll finally get to meet the charming and talented Elise Matthesen. She is an exceptional jewelry artist. (Elise designed the famous tiara that graces the heads of John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award winners, including our own Seanan McGuire.) (Digression: She brought all her jewelry-making equipment Down Under for the Worldcon in Australia but, because of Customs restrictions, was not allowed to sell any of her beautiful pieces. So…she gave them away. This speaks miles to the character of this lovely woman. Not only was she just handing out her exquisite work, but, as is her custom, she was also naming each piece. At this year’s GAFilk banquet I’ll be wearing a lovely pair of amethyst crystals with silver full moons named “That Second Drink With the Man in the Moon”.)

Not only is Elise an accomplished artist, but she’s also a talented poet who writes quite a bit of parody filk, too. Check out Elise’s Live Journal for many delightful examples. She’s a fine singer, as you’ll all soon find out. When we asked her what she’d like to do at GAFilk, Elise suggested group a capella singing, and started right in compiling a songbook for us all to enjoy. What can we say…perfect fit.

kitanzi and I have made it home with all of Gafilk’s sound equipment and other assorted gear. museinred and decadentdave drove up in hawklady‘s truck, and are now heading back to the hotel, with hopes of heading out tomorrow to AL. Several people who couldn’t get away on Monday got out today.

The ATL roads are still very uneven, even with a day above freezing for stuff to start melting. The worst driving I saw was when we’d hit a clear patch of pavement and everyone would suddenly assume that it was okay to zoom up to highway speeds, only to have to slow back to a crawl at the next icy sections.

The GA400 ramp looked like a ski jump from down the highway. Going over it was a slow affair, since there were basically a couple of tread-width patches clear up the centre of it, and the rest was still covered.

I don’t think we got over 40mph the entire trip, and spent most of it between 15-25. But we’re home safe, and home is nice.

I’m still running a check-in thread for people to let us know they got home safely. Sign in if you haven’t.

Hope to see everyone next year. We’ll make an effort to have less weather. 🙂

I’ve seen some folks posting that they got home okay, but since I’m still at the convention hotel and haven’t had a chance to thoroughly look through LJ yet, I figured I’d just post a general request here for people to leave a comment and let me know they got home okay.

More on the con later. I hope everyone had a wonderful time, despite the weather!

Our Super Secret Guest is…
Patrick Nielsen Hayden!

Patrick Nielsen Hayden is a World Fantasy and Hugo Award-winning fiction editor at TOR Books. He’s brought to our shelves amazing books by Emma Bull, John Scalzi, Charles de Lint, Ben Bova, George Alec Effinger, Cory Doctorow, Jo Walton, Susanna Clarke, Christopher Priest, Adam Stemple, Glen Cook, David Weber, David Langford, John Barnes, Robert Holdstock, George R. R. Martin, and Arthur C. Clarke. He’s also an essayist and reviewer who teaches workshops in places like Viable Paradise and both Clarions.

And…he’s also a very talented musician. Patrick plays two guitars. A Taylor acoustic (“I’m much more of a lifelong acoustic guitar player than electric.”) and a year-2000 Fender-made reproduction of a classic 1952 Telecaster. (“Faithful to a fault, it’s a commemorative edition that I bought used. The varnish on the body is nitro-cellulose, not acetylene; it’s all 1952 ingredients. The pickups are wrapped in waxed string. The biggest downside to this is the authentic 1952 sucky tuning mechanism. Otherwise it’s a gorgeous guitar, and it has that great authentic American twangy sound that all Telecasters have — in spades. The first time I played that guitar it had opinions about what kind of music it should be playing.”) He plays the electric with the Americana rock quartet, Whisperado. If we’re lucky he’ll be playing both of them here at GAFilk, and singing along with his wife, the talented editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden.

When considering GAFilk’s criteria of characteristics that make for a good Super Secret Guest, Patrick really stands out. He’s genial, personable, and musical. He has interesting opinions about the stories we read and the world we share, and he loves to talk about them. Plus, he’s contributed to the sf and fantasy community in ways that some people may never appreciate…but we all should. We think GAFilk will be an eye- (and ear) opener for all of us.

It’s the Georgia Filk Convention, happening 7-9 January 2011 at the Crown Plaza Airport in Atlanta, GA.

Guest Of Honour: Seanan McGuire
Toastmaster: Matt Leger
Interfilk Guest: Howard Scrimgeour
PLUS another Super Secret Guest!

Come celebrate the fannish New Year with three days of fun, music, and friendship! We’ll have great concerts, the annual dinner dance banquet featuring Play It With Moxie, and, of course, singing until the early hours.

Membership is only $40 through November 30, 2010. (That’s tomorrow, so send in your registration today! We will announce the Super Secret Guest on Wednesday!

You can get more information about Gafilk, including online registration, at :

http://www.gafilk.org/

Hope to see you there!

(Please feel free to repost this to other appropriate communities and lists you think might be interested.)