Re: Orycon Filking (and yet another InstaFilk[tm]).

replyOn Tue, 12 Nov 1996, c4winds at teleport.com (Clan of the Four Winds) wrote:
> Just some short comments, since I wasn't there much, just MHO, YMMV :)

I'll respond with mine, then--although I was only there for one night, I was there for about 6 hours...:-)

> Pros:
> Spliting up the rooms into chaos and bardic, some people feel very strongly
> either way. Perhaps next year a small sheet explaining the two styles could
> be on hand for newbies...

I found this to be *very* helpful. Having the option of either was good; when I started filking, I just didn't have the personal *oomph* to get any space in a chaos circle, and the bardic was just about my speed--later, when I'd really gotten into the filking, I moved to the chaos circle.

I'm not normally a fan of bardic at all (see below), but in this case it really suited my momentary level of extroversion.

> The 1/2 hour mini concerts. We've all heard the complaint that certain
> people get to play more than others, or that you don't get to hear some
> really good people as much as you'd like to. I think this was a *really
> good* idea, and I'd like to see it continue. A sign up sheet would be nice.

I'm really not clear on how these "1/2 hour mini concerts" were run, so my comments may appear to range from the random to the absurd, but... ...one thing I'd really like to see is an opportunity for random filkers to reserve concert space and get themselves better known. If that's what these were, then I'm frustrated that I didn't realize it; I'd assumed that they were pre-scheduled Big Name Filkers[tm], but your mention of a "sign up sheet" makes me wonder if I misunderstood, and missed an opportunity.

I'm frustrated, y'see, because I really love filking, but I'm so goshdarned intimidated by these BNF's, and I feel like I can't really get known because I don't have a time when I can just play and introduce people to my music. So I'd just *love* to have a shot at a little teeny concert where I could actually do a set of songs and get an audience reaction to my music (as well, btw, as some experience in that type of "performing", which would help me get up the confidence to do some performing outside of cons).

So basically, if these 1/2-hour concerts were something where I could have done one, I'm really frustrated that I didn't know that--and if they were something where I couldn't, then I'd like to see sign-up 1/2-hour concerts at the next OryCon where I could actually grab the mike for a full set of songs.

Comments?

> The COns (and some of these were passed on to me by other people)
>
> Splitting up the rooms. You had to decide which people you wanted to hear
> more :)

Heh. For me, it's much more a question of the style of the circle than of the performers--both circles, from what I saw, had the usual mix of good and less than ideal.

> The set up in the Klamath room. Last year it was one big circle, this year
> there ended up being a small circle in the front, and the rest of the
> chairs were still in rows.

Heh. This was a problem in the Chaos Circle room as well--so we fixed it (it only took about 5 minutes of chair moving to create a chaos circle big enough for everyone who wanted to filk). Wish I'd thought to do that in the Klamath room...*sigh*...

> This made several people I know feel like they
> were still being considered "audience" or not good enough to be in the
> circle,

*blink* *shrug* Sorry they felt that way--to me, the bardic circle seemed quite inclusive--but then again, I was sitting nearer the front, in what may have been perceived as the "inner circle".

> even though they were being called on, especially when a new peson
> came in, sat down, and was told she was on the "hot seat", and expected to
> pick, pass or play right then. It made her very uncomfortable to be put on
> the spot like that, enough so that she decided not to participate. A grace
> period is called for.

I'd like to address that from the opposite perspective--I came in, sat down--and found out (when the above-mentioned person came in a minute or two later) that I had sat down on the precise spot in the circle where the "cookie" had just passed. This was very frustrating for me, for the opposite reason to the above--I had come to *sing*, and here I was with a minimum half-hour wait before I could, while this other person barely had time to make it to her seat before she was called on. Very frustrating for me.

replyI'm not sure if there *are* any "fair" or "comfortable" ways to introduce someone to a bardic circle--but personally, I'd go for something like "Hey, you who just came in--the cookie is here, so we suggest you sit about five people to the clockwise of it, to give you time to fit into the circle but so you don't have to wait forever to sing."

But maybe that's just me.

reply> The Camarilla next door. They made noise when we were being quiet, we made
> noise when they were being quiet. No one is at fault here, it was just
> unfortunate.

Yeah, but we were polite about their noise, and they pissed and moaned about ours. I'm writing a vampire hunter filk.

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replyTo the tune of "The Hunting Song" by Tom Lehrer:

"The Vampire-Hunting Song"

I always will remember
OryCon this last November
I went out to hunt undead
For the poor souls they had bled
I must have staked a vampire from every clan, I guess Nosferatu, Brujah, Gangrel, and the rest.

In the upstairs they were lurking
On a conclave they were working
But 'twas on the second floor
There were filkers right next door
Harassing those poor singers like some small blood-sucking pest Nosferatu, Brujah, Gangrel, and the rest.

The Con was quite well-run they
Took away my gun but
Left me my mallet and wooden stakes
It turned out that was sufficient
Impalement's efficient
For remedying nature's mistakes

People ask me why I did it
This sad crime that I committed
But I smile, and shake my head,
"You can't murder the undead!"
And there's ten dust piles where I nailed them in the chest Nosferatu, Brujah, Gangrel, and the rest.

Lyrics (c) 1996 Michael Phoenix (mickey at cs.stanford.edu) Permission granted to replicate freely with attribution for non-profit use.

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I think I've decided that I *like* InstaFilking.

replyP.S. I know White Wolf has added several new vampire "clans" lately--so if anyone has the current count, I'd like to patch the last stanza to have the right number in it. There's the first seven (Ventrue, Tremere, Toreador, Malkavian, Gangrel, Brujah, and Nosferatu), the "shadow" clan (Sabbat), the Ravnos and the assassin clan (name escapes me)--but I think there are several more now, and I'd like the count to be accurate.

> I didn't get up to the filking much this year, not like last year, because
> each time I dropped in there seemed to be very few people and not much
> happening,

You should've been there early Sunday morning. Much fun.

> I caught a few really good performances, and did have a good
> time when I was there, but it just seemed smaller with less, mmmmm, I don't
> know, it just felt like it was missing something. As I said YMMV :)

*shrug* I had fun.

I loved it. It was much better than cats. I'm going to see it again and again. I loved it. It was much better than cats. I'm going to see it again and again.

Mickey Phoenix
126 Briar Ridge Dr.
San Jose, CA 95123
(408) 362-4616 (home)
(415) 856-3100 x.212 (work)
mickey at cs.stanford.edu (lifetime)
phoenix at filoli.com (filk-related and business) <http://www.speakeasy.org/~phoenix/ Received on 11/12/96