A simply Splendid Time

A visiting English filker named Deborah, who plays splendid violin /fiddle, landed at Tom and Peggy’s last night.  The siren song of Filk and Poutine rang out across E Burnaby, and Rob W,  Paul, daughter Katie, The Bean Family (Bean is SO cute now) plus Cindy, and we all sang.  Frobisher Bay made somebody cry, I won’t say who.  Katie was hopping up and down for Ramboing, and in general it was A GOODNESS.  And it was John’s birthday, and his picture smiled down on us from the mantel…. He would have approved.

Life is good.

octopi vancouver

Care package for the demo.  2 blankies, including a hand made quilt donated  mOm; batteries, a drum and a penny whistle and an egg shaker; two pairs of socks, a complete rain outfit men’s medium, a yoga mat, reusable tie wraps, a metal portable desk with paper, a granola bar, a nice name tag, and some other little things.

Brilliant day of sunshine!  Jeff’s coming too.

Shaddyr

Shaddyr is the interfilk guest of honour at OVFF.  I am ‘assisting’ her with her concert, which means that either I shut up completely while she performs a song which needs no assistance, noodle on the mandolin, play guitar so she can really get into interpreting the song (also giving the carpals a break), or sing along with.

I talk about going to rehearse, but I haven’t said much about her, and I’d like to.  Mention should first be made that she is awesome… smart, big-hearted, hospitable, tolerant without being a pushover, funny without ever being mean-spirited, and an absolute joy to play with.  We haz fun, get better, and then there’s tea and talk.  Friday night rehearsals have come to mean a lot to me, and I’m very glad that after OVFF there’s my own concert to plan at Conflikt V because it means we’ll still have an excuse to plan.  Set list ahoy!

Interfaith Service for Homelessness Week.

The Baha’is brought food and readings.  Also, a lot of people from different ethnic groups.  The United Church people brought dance and music and prayers and guitars and beautiful wise children.  The Catholics brought a reading from Jack Layton and beautiful wise elders.  The Unitarians brought a reading from Edward Everett Hale.  The Anglicans brought a paraphrase of a Psalm.  The Sikhs brought tablas, harmonium, devotional prayers that just about pulled the heart of my body, and AWESOME FOOD. Rev Neil Fernyhough presided, and I cannot thank him enough for that brief little conversation we had at New West Pride that brought me to the most beautiful sacred space I’ve shared in a very long time.

Occupy Wall St extended quote

Alan Grayson: Now let me tell you what they’re talking about. They’re complaining about the fact that Wall Street wrecked the economy three years ago and nobody’s held responsible for that. Not a single person has been indicted or convicted for destroying twenty percent of our national net worth accumulated over the course of two centuries. They’re upset about the fact that Wall Street have iron control over the economic policies of this country, and that one party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street and the other party caters to them as well. That’s the real truth of the matter, as you said before. And…

PJ O’Rourke: Get the man a bongo drum, they’ve found their spokesman!

Alan Grayson: If I…

PJ O’Rourke: Get your shoes off, get a bongo drum, forget where to go to the bathroom, and it’s yours.

Alan Grayson: If I am the spokesman for all the people who think we should not have 24 million people in this country who can’t find a full time job, that we should not have 50 million people who can’t see a doctor when they’re sick, that we shouldn’t have 47 million people of this country who need government help in order to feed themselves, and we shouldn’t have 15 million families who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home, okay, I’ll be that spokesman.

I always thought that PJ O’Rourke was a very amiable fascist.