OVFF Progress Report

MEMBERSHIPS
At The Door
Adult
$50
$60
Child
$10
$30
Banquet
$35
$40
Toddlers in tow are free. Please Note: “in tow”
means the child must be with a responsible adult at
ALL TIMES. There is no reduced banquet rate for
children; however children who are convention
members are welcome to attend the free Kids’
Pizza Party.
Join us
for a
CANADIAN
JAM!
Address Service Requested
Our Dealers’ Room is sold out. To be wait-listed,
please call Larry Smith at 614-442-1010.
You may register online at our website and pay via
credit card or Paypal up until 10-Oct-14, or you can
fill out the form below and mail it in via regular
postal mail. Mailed forms must be RECEIVED by
10-Oct-14.
I would like:
!
Adult memberships at $50
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Child memberships at $10
!
Pegasus Awards Banquet Tickets at $35
!
Total $ enclosed
Address!
City, St, Zip!
Phone!
Name as you want it to appear on your badge:
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For more than one membership, list all names,
badge names, and addresses on a separate sheet.
Contact Information
Mail to:!
OVFF
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3824 Patricia Dr.
!
Columbus, OH 43220-4913
Email:!
OVFF@ovff.org
Website:!
http://www.ovff.org
Ohio Valley
Filk Fest 30
Oct 24-26, 2014
DOUBLETREE HOTEL
Columbus, OH
Ohio Valley Filk Fest
3824 Patricia Dr.
Columbus, OH 43220-4913
Name!
Address Label Here
Before
10-Oct-14
Final Ballot for the 2014 Pegasus Awards
For Excellence in Filking
BEST FILK SONG
Acolytes of the Machine
by Dr. Mary Crowell
Child of the Library
by Piers & Gill Cawley
Pageant Legend
by Katy DrögeMacdonald /Ju Honisch
Paper Worlds
by Talis Kimberley
Snow White, Red Road
by Cheshire Moon
BEST CLASSIC FILK SONG
Apology by
Bill & Gretchen Roper
Before The Dawn
by Mike Whitaker
Grandfather
by Gary Hanak
I Am Stardust
by Lloyd Landa
Storm Dancing
by Tom Smith
BEST PERFORMER
Cheshire Moon
Copy Red Leader
Tim Griffin
Stone Dragons
Toyboat
BEST WRITER/COMPOSER
Tim Griffin
Phil Mills
Ben Newman
Ada Palmer
Eva Van Daele-Hunt
BEST ADAPTED SONG
Meat
by Kathleen Sloan
Midichlorian Rhapsody
by Jeff Bohnhoff
Snitch Ball Wizard
by Steve Macdonald
Threes Rev. 1.1
by Duane Elms
TIE After TIE
by Debs & Errol
BEST SONG OF PASSAGE
City of Doors
by Dr. Mary Crowell
Outward Bound
by Cat Faber
Persephone
by Michelle Dockrey
Scarlet Town by
Cathy McManamon
Starlight & Saxophone
by Tom Smith
The Pegasus Awards were created to
promote excellence in filking, to recognize emerging and established talent,
and to encourage growth within our
community.
ANY FILKER, convention member or
not, can vote on the final ballot of the
Pegasus Awards. We strongly encourage you to copy & distribute this ballot
to everyone you know within the filking community. Help us to garner as
wide a representation as possible!
Mail completed ballots to:
OVFF
3824 Patricia Drive
Columbus OH, 43220
or email them to:
OVFF@ovff.org;
or visit our website at:
www.ovff.org/pegasus
and use the online ballot
Name ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________________________________________________
City ___________________________________________ State/Pr _____________________ Zip _________________
Ballots without full name and address are invalid and will be discarded. OVFF will not sell or release your address under any circumstances. We only require it in case we have questions regarding your submission.
or submit them in person at the convention.
Ballots not submitted in person at the
convention must be received by midnight Pacific Time on Monday, October
20, 2014.
Ohio Valley
Filk Fest 30
October 24-26, 2014
Columbus, OH
Music, music, music! What more do you need?
Ok, so a little food and drink would be nice. We
give you that too! Hungry from the road? Feast
at our sandwich smorgasbord. Sip your favorite
brew & nibble treats at the Mad Hatter’s Tea
Party Friday at 7 pm. (Hats ARE required. If you
don’t wear one of your own, we will give you
one guaranteed to embarrass you!) After the
Pegasus Concert, you can grab a late night snack
at the Apple Tasting Party. On Saturday, come
in your best duds to dine and applaud for the
year’s best filk at the Pegasus Awards Buffet
Banquet. Wrapping up the con on Sunday, be
among the few (OK, the not so few), the hardy,
the half-crazed & sleep-deprived who make up
the Dead Dog Dinner Caravan. And throughout the weekend there is the cornucopia that is
our fabulous con suite. (Contributions welcomed.)
Some sleep, you say? Well, you’re on your own
there. Though we would suggest booking a hotel room for those few moments when you just
might, possibly, want to grab a few zzzz’s.
CONCERTS
WHAT TO EXPECT
Three days chock full of filk: open filk
circles of all flavors, concerts and oneshots, workshops, the Pegasus Nominees
Concert, theme filks, TWO songwriting
contests, a rocking farewell jam session,
and - did we mention? - even more open
filking! Come early for the Frisky Puppy
Filk Thursday night and stay up late,
really late, Sunday night for the Dead
Dog Filk.
Friday evening after the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
be prepared to get your socks blown off at our
famed Pegasus Nominees Concert. (One last
chance to hear all the nominees before voting
closes for the Pegasus Awards!) Saturday will
showcase performances by Stone Dragons,
Copy Red Leader, Karen Linsley, Debs & Errol,
and Decadent Dave Clement with One-Shots
scattered through the afternoon. On Sunday we
will sample Brooke Abbey, Judith Hayman,
‘Twotonic, and the Chamberfilk Ensemble; then
finish up with Three-Fifths, and the Closing Jam.
THEME FILKS
Friday night there will be the Ose-Free
Comedy Hour hosted by Karen Linsley,
and Dudley & Snidely & Nell,
Oh My! hosted by Cat
Greenberg and cohosted
by Gary Hanak & Mark
Ewbank (songs of heroes
and the villains they vanquish). This theme filk
will be dedicated to the
memory of Cat’s personal hero Bari “Bari“ Horse, I don’t think
gato” Greenberg.
we ‘re in Canada
anymore”
If you are new to performing, come get your toes wet in Saturday’s Shallow End Filk led by Cat Faber
& Mark Bernstein. No commitment required; lifeguards available; guaranteed
shark-free!
Saturday night will also see the theme
filks Found Filk hosted by Dave Clement;
(songs out of main stream music whose
themes fall into what we know and love
as "filk", but written or performed by
folks who have never heard of the word),
Canadian Content hosted by Howard
Scrimgeour (songs about Canada, songs
by Canadians ((Gordon Lightfoot, anyone?)) even songs about moose!). Once
Upon A Time hosted by Leslie Hudson
(songs about fantasy, folklore, and myth),
and Cover Me hosted by Dr Mary Crowell where the idea is to sing something
written by somebody else, preferably
someone in the room.
WORKSHOPS & PANELS
At press time, our menu of confirmed
workshops this year includes:
Accordion Basics - An introduction to the
basics of playing the accordion, with emphasis on the left hand, since any keyboard
player can play the right hand. Bring your
own accordion if at all possible. Taught by
Gary Hanak.
Creativity - What is it? How do you cultivate it? A discussion panel with Debs & Errol, Mark Bernstein, and Tom Smith.
Banjo Toys & Tricks! - Brooke Abbey
knows that banjos just don't sound weird
enough by themselves, and she is here to
help. Stop in for a dollar-store banjo adventure. Ever bowed your banjo? Played slide
banjo? Turned it in to a muppet? Grown
food crops with it? Used it as a megaphone? Added model railroad parts? Only
one thing on that list is made up. Bring
your 5-string banjo if you've got one. Or
bring whatever instrument you play and
let's have fun.
Chamberfilk with Phillip Textor. Phil will
gather together all the orchestral instrument
players he can find and meld them into a
cohesive unit over the course of the
weekend. If you would like to be a
part of this ensemble, please contact Phil before the convention at
textorpmt@yahoo.com.
Participants should plan to meet
with Phil during the Mad
Hatter's Tea Party, rehearse
several times during the
weekend, and then perform a short concert on
Sunday afternoon.
Cooking Up the Future of the Jam with Barry
and Sally Childs-Helton.
Gig Nerves and What to Do About Them! with
Sally Childs-Helton. Gig nerves can take a toll
on your ability to perform in front of others, and
really get in the way of you getting your music
out there. And they’re just no fun. If you get
butterflies in your stomach, sweaty palms, or
other signs of anxiety before or while you perform, this session will help you control (or
maybe even banish) those pesky gig nerves.
We’ll look at what causes gig nerves
and a variety of coping mechanisms
that work for many people, from
preparation to physical and mental
de-stressing ideas, and from the
practical to the psychological.
Jamming a la Dave Clement taught
by our Guest of Honor Dave Clement, natch!
“One great form of sharing music for me is
"jamming", playing and/or singing along with
others on songs. Join me for a discussion and
participatory demo of how I like to jam. I'll focus on the guitar but the ideas should hold true
for any instrument. Bring yours, pre-tuned
please, and have fun. A capo will be very handy.
Oh yes, we'll be doing it in the dark. :)”
Mythic & Fantastical
Songwriting taught
by Leslie Hudson.
Uke University—
Learn to Play the
Uke in One Easy Lesson!
with Sally Childs-Helton. Have you always wanted to learn a string instrument
to accompany yourself? Tired of carrying
that big guitar around? Would you like to
play an instrument that makes you and
everybody around you happy? Come
join us for Ukelele 101—no experience
necessary. We’ll focus on learning some
basic chords, then playing songs that use
those chords. You’d be surprised how
many songs can be played with a few
simple chords. We’ll also talk about the
different kinds of ukes, tuning, strumming patterns, etc. We’ll have a few ukes
to borrow but please try to beg or borrow
a uke for this session, and if you have extra ukes, please bring them to share. Hawaiian shirts suggested but not mandatory.
Weird & Wonky Vocal Workshop taught
by Kathy Mar. This is a hands-on activitybased workshop for people of all levels
who want to find their joy of singing. It
will cover basics and add individual attention. Shy not-yetquite singers and skilled
kibitzers and everyone
in between are welcome! (Wear comfortable clothing.)
YogaFit® with Dr. Mary Crowell.
Nothing energizes a
sleep-deprived body like
an hour of yoga to start
the day! Be sure to wear
loose clothes and bring a
mat if you have one.
SONG WRITING CONTESTS
They’re fun, challenging, and the results can
be spectacular! Our first contest, held Saturday evening, is the traditional “write a song
on a topic linked to the con theme” which
this year is:
A Sticky Situation
KIDS PROGRAMMING
Kid Space - a playroom stocked with games,
toys, crafts, books & videos - will be available
throughout the con for kids to hang out in.
Please note: Kid Space is NOT intended to be a
babysitting service. Activities are geared toward
children ages 5-12; children under 5 must have a
parent, guardian or sitter accompany them.
As usual, there will be a full schedule of Kids
Programming. Plenty of craft activities, a pool
party each morning and movies with munchies
in the evenings.
INTERFILK AUCTION
Entries should be new
material of limited
distribution
written
between October 2013
and October 2014 with
original lyrics set to
either original or preexisting music.
Our second contest is for all you Iron Filkers out there. We challenge you to write a
song at the con itself on a topic not announced until the con opens.
In both contests, the songs are to be performed before an audience and a panel of
judges but are judged on the writing quality, not the strength of the performance. If
the songwriter is not a performer, the entry
may be performed by a friend. A copy of the
judging form is available on our website.
the running jokes? You should attend,
even if you're not intending to bid on
anything (though it is for a very good
cause), as it is a unique and fun experience.
PEGASUS AWARDS
The Pegasus Awards were created to
promote excellence in filking, to recognize
emerging and established talent, and to
encourage growth within our community.
The awards are presented Saturday night
at the Pegasus Awards Banquet Buffet. To
vote for the awards, please see the separate ballot or visit our website at
www.ovff.org/pegasus. The website also includes short bios, mp3 & lyric samples of
the current nominees, and a complete history of award winners and nominees.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED
Every year, Interfilk holds a silent auction at
OVFF of items donated by people within the filk
community in support of Interfilk. Items that
have had a lot of bidding activity, along with
special items withheld from the silent auction,
are then offered for bid in a voice auction on
Saturday evening.
It is difficult to describe the Interfilk voice auction; for one, where do you start? With the Interfilk Wenches? With the chocolate (and there's
always chocolate)? With the one-of-a-kind items
offered at this event, and this event only? With
Would you like a discount on your OVFF
membership? Every hour of work will get
you $5 off of your membership. You can
choose to have a refund check mailed to
you after the con, or apply it immediately
towards an advance registration for next
year. We particularly need folks to help
out in the Con Suite and in Kids Programming, and to help pack up the con
early Sunday evening. Anyone interested,
should email us at
volunteers@ovff.org
SCOOTERS FOR THE
MOBILITY IMPAIRED
If you need a scooter for the con, please
send an email to
ovff@ovff.org,
or
phone Kathy Hamilton at (614) 4513154 as soon as possible to request one.
We cannot guarantee a scooter (there
are a limited number available for
rental in Columbus), but we will try our
very best to find you one.
The rental fee is about $100 for the
weekend plus a $50 delivery fee that is
divided among all those who get a
scooter.
HOTEL
Our music jamboree will take place at:
DOUBLETREE HOTEL
175 Hutchinson Ave,
Columbus, OH 43235-1413
toll-free phone: 800-870-0349
Local phone: 614-885-3334
The room rate is $101 per night for 1-4
people and includes 2 coupons for the
hotel’s breakfast buffet per night. Parking is free. Check-in time is 4 pm;
check-out time is 11 am.
RESERVATIONS: You can make your room reservation via the hotel's toll-free number (800-8700349). When speaking with a live person, we
recommend that you spell out our name as
"Ohio Valley Filk Fest"; don't abbreviate it as
OVFF. If they ask for our “group code” it is
“FLK”.
If you prefer to make your reservation online,
please use the link on the Hotel page of our
website (ovff.org/ovff30/hotel) which will take you
to a customized page that automatically gives
you our special convention rate.
Our room block expires 11-Oct-2014, so please
make your reservation before then if at all possible.
If you experience any problems making a reservation, drop us a line at:
hotel@ovff.org
AIRPORT SHUTTLE:
The Doubletree operates a shuttle that runs 7am
-10pm on a first come, first served basis. We recommend calling the front desk either the day
before or just before your flight takes off to
schedule a pickup.
Driving Directions: The Doubletree Hotel is located on the north side of Columbus in the suburb of Worthington, just north of the intersection
of I-270 outerbelt and Rt-23 (High St.). From I270, take exit #23 (US Rte 23) heading north towards Delaware. At the first traffic light, turn
right onto East Campus View Blvd. Turn right at
the next light onto High Cross Blvd. High Cross
dead ends in the Doubletree parking lot.
HOW TO TELL IF YOU ARE
ALREADY PRE-REGISTERED
If you can't remember if you have already
bought a membership and/or banquet
ticket, take a look at your mailing label on
this progress report. See the top line? It
should look something like
Vxxxxx
D=x
B=x …
The first two digits after the “V” are the
most recent con you were a member of
and the next 3 digits are your membership number. So if the line begins
"V30123" you are member #123 of this
year's OVFF 30. (If it begins V29 or V28,
you were a member of a previous con but
are NOT a member of this year's con.)
The "D=x" indicates how many dealer tables are reserved in your name. The "B=x"
indicates how many banquet tickets you
have. Don't worry about the codes in the
rest of the line.
OUR CONTACT INFORMATION
Mail to:!
!
!
Phone:!
Email:!
Website:!
OVFF
3824 Patricia Dr.
Columbus, OH 43220-4913
614-451-3154
OVFF@ovff.org
http://www.ovff.org
For All Fen With A
Song In Their Hearts
OUR GUESTS
GUEST OF
HONOR
Decadent
Dave
Clement
So, who is this guy anyway? Here's a hint
or three that I hope will tweak your interest
in coming to meet, hear and sing with this
character.
"I was born...", no, wait, you don't want to
hear all about that. Suffice it to say that I
grew up in a musical family steeped in old
time country and bluegrass traditions. I
stayed steeped until I attended university
where I ran into and fell in love with folk
music. I performed in and around southern
Ontario in both genres until 1966 when I
moved west to Winnipeg.
In Winnipeg, I fell in love again, this time
with computer programming and the lady
who became my wife. I set my guitar aside
at this point in favor of establishing a solid
career and a family. It stayed in my closet
for a long time. My desire to write fantasy
and science fiction was responsible for it
resurfacing. Did I mention I was a long
time fan of SF/F? I attended the first Winnipeg SF/F con, Keycon, to learn about this
new interest. At the second Keycon I
brought my guitar along and promptly
found and fell in love again with folk music and
this new thing called filk music. It didn't take
long for my desire to sing and play to supplant
my desire to write.
I've been kicking around the SF/F community
and conventions ever since and was delighted to
find cons that were devoted to the musical side
of the force. Filk music has taken me across
Canada, throughout the U.S. and over to Britain
and Europe since then and now, it brings me
back once again to OVFF and you. I'm looking
forward to old friends and new to chat with and
sing with. Be sure to step up and say hi.
TOASTMASTERS
Stone Dragons
How to describe the Stone Dragons? They are
members of an extended filk "family" and have
loved ones around the world. Tom Jeffers plays
almost anything with strings, and he owns a
plethora of interesting instruments. Sue tries
valiantly (and futilely) to keep his collection
from growing, much to the amusement of the
filk community. Oh, and their two dogs are
named Kaypo and Tipper.
Together they enjoy writing songs, making music and traveling. You may have seen them at
one of over a dozen filk and filk-friendly conventions they've attended; Sue's ambition is to
visit every single convention that welcomes filk-
ers. Tom's is to buy a new instrument at
each one!
Tom was inducted into the Filk Hall of
Fame, has won a Pegasus for Best Performer as part of Dandelion Wine, and
won an Aurora Award for his third DW
CD, The Face on Mars. Together they have
been nominated for a Best Performer
Pegasus. They perform their own songs,
plus those of other filkers, plus a number
of "found filk" songs. Their eclectic mix of
silly and serious, classic and contemporary
music appeals to a wide range of tastes.
Tom is busy working on their first CD, expected to be released sometime in 2014.
The Stone Dragons have hosted many
traveling filkers, and arranged for lots of
impromptu music parties. If you are visiting Toronto, make sure you say "Hi"! Or
visit them at www.stonedragons.ca
INTERFILK
GUESTS
DEBS & ERROL
Debs & Errol is a Toronto-based musical
comedy duo with a penchant for pho,
cuddly tree spirits and starships.
After meeting through their local chapter
of National Novel Writing Month, the two
joined forces in 2011 after a mutual friend
put out a call for geeky musical acts and
have been entertaining audiences with
nerdy showtunes and ridiculous on-stage
banter ever since. Feedback from their
shows has ranged from "cleverness and
wit mixed with a healthy dose of cute" and
"awesome music talent, fun artistry and
accessible geek humor" to simply "adorable."
They were introduced to filk music by Phil
Mills whom they met through an online
songwriting challenge called February Album Writing Month. Phil had noticed that
all of Errol's songs were geeky and suggested that he come to FKO. Errol, completely shocked that such a thing existed,
immediately signed up for the convention.
He had a wonderful first filk experience
and started bringing Debs along to other
events. The two realized that they had
been filking for a while without actually
knowing what it was! They are absolutely
thrilled to be Interfilk guests!
When they aren't singing odes to Star
Wars, BSG, or nerd love, they're knitting or
chronicling their life with a daily web
comic. Their website is at
www.debsanderrol.com.
HONORED
LISTENER
Howard
Scrimgeour
Long, long ago, in a city far, far away,
Howard Scrimgeour was born in Toronto,
and grew up in a household where he was
exposed to Scottish folk music, pipe music,
and military bands. He survived the Great Folk
Music Scare of the '60's, listening to the likes of
the Irish Rovers; Peter, Paul, and Mary; and CBC's
Singalong Jubilee. In 1974, he discovered science
fiction fandom when he and a friend went to Discon II, the Worldcon in Washington DC. He attended his first live filk in an upstairs hallway at
Toronto Star Trek '76, mostly consisting of a bunch
of young upstarts called the Dorsai Irregulars,
who were providing convention security.
After completing university, he connected with
the Toronto SF community in 1979, and attended
his first filk con (FilkCon II) in 1980. He attended
the first Ohio Valley Filk Fest in 1984, and hasn't
missed one since. He was selected as our Listener
Guest of Honor at OVFF VII in 1991.
After working for several years on the concoms of
Toronto gencons, he was drafted in 1991 to the
committee of a new convention, FilKONtario; he
has been the only person crazy enough to serve
on the committee every year since then, a span of
24 years.
In 1992, he bought a bodhran, and taught himself
to play it, which helped him to play percussion in
support of other musicians, and to lead songs
himself. With this background, his repertoire is an
eclectic mix of Celtic folk, military ballads, and
classic filk, ranging from 'ose to silly, with driving
rhythms.
NEW VOICE
GUESTS
Copy Red
Leader
Leslie and Devin met via the Toronto
chapter of a songwriting collective called
FAWM (February Album Writing Month)
in 2009. When it came time to write 14
songs in February 2012, the pair decided
to dedicate the month to writing together
about one of their favourite movies, The
Princess Bride, and called the project, "Iocane Power." 29 days later they had 15
songs written and recorded in funk, rock,
bluegrass, blues, musical theatre, folk, piano ballad, metal, rap, and classical styles,
including a left-handed musical duel,
bass-driven superhero dialogue, and the
kind of sniping that only occurs between
people who truly belong together. Indisputably, the partnership was a success and
they were hooked.
Copy Red Leader has since released a
sampler CD "Pirate Elves in Space"(with
fellow filker Kari Maaren) and their debut
full-length album, "Crossing The Streams."
Their approach to fandom? It's all in here:
Star Wars, Star Trek, Spaceman Spiff, and
as many geek, space, and pop culture references one title track could hold. CRL's
next project? Recording what has now become their 21-song rock musical version of
The Princess Bride. Keep in touch, check
gig info, listen to the albums, and lots
more at the new and improved
copyredleader.com !