Music and Fiction

This past weekend was spent hanging at MarsCon 2012, one of the local Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions. You might be asking yourself what that has to do with music, and all I have to say is LOTS. The theme this year was "Rockin' The Apocolypse" and it certainly lived up the title. One of the new things to come along is funny music with a SF&F or Fan theme. It is a great creative mix that's called the Dementia track and is put together each year by the great Luke Ski. It's fun and music taken to an extreme. There are some seriously talented folks who present each year, and not all of their stuff is Dementia oriented.

Case in point, the talented Beth Kinderman. She really is a fantastic songwriter, and it's mostly SF&F fan stuff. But it's her passion and she has been pursuing it relentlessly for the past several years. If you are a fan and are familiar with the term Mary Sue, you need to check out the lyrics of her song of that title. She also was one of the hosts of the Space Oddity Music Club & Brew Pub room party at MarsCon 2012. That's where I came in. Friday night there was a music circle and I brought my dulcimer as I threatened to. I managed to fumble through about four songs, and drummed a bit on another. I consider it a good effort on my part, and I managed to avoid the epic crash and burn that I did at Convergence in 2010 with my Autoharp.

Small World Gets Smaller

I was so happy to find Marc Gunn on the internet. Now I find that I would have found him sooner if only I had gone to Marscon 2009. I was busy with things like moving, the timing just wouldn't allow me to get to the convention. Now I'm more committed than ever to go next year. Crazy world keeps getting smaller. Well, here is Marc doing something Filkish with the Autoharp:



I was actually Artist Guest of Honor at Marscon in 2006. Really I was. Now I'm eager to get back into the swing of going to conventions, showing my art, and hopefully singing some good old fashioned folk music, Celtic and otherwise. I've had two autoharp lessons so far and I'm getting the hang of it to the point that I'm currently learning 3+ songs with multiple strumming techniques.

Isn't life interesting? I was just thinking it would be so much fun to have Marc Gunn come to CONvergence or Marscon as a musical guest, and he's already been here. This must be the year of the Autoharp or something.

A Month Since Marscon

Has it been a month since Marscon already? Wow! Time really flies when you're having fun! :) Friday night began it all with the Artist Reception. Michael, the art show head, tried playing it conservative with a one finger pour of wine in the glass for everyone. Turns out he's not very good at being conservative, as he ended up having to send some open bottles out with folks who had rooms at the hotel for the weekend. Some advice: Next year, let the people have at least half a glass, it's easier to keep count and pace yourself that way! As a graduate of Minnesota School of Bartending, I should know!! Now on the good stuff...the goodies I got in the dealers room.

My first purchase was Dimensions by John Lyell. It's a CD of ambient music, and after playing this while meditating over the past month, I have to give it two thumbs up...way up! It's groovy and way spaced out kinda cool vibe sets up a wonderful environment for me to connect with my inner light. John's a really cool guy too, both an artist and a musician, his kind of creativity really flows with where I'm at right now. He had a table right outside the dealer's room, where he had headphones and CD players to listen too his CD's with. I'll have to add his other CD's to my collection eventually, but I'm really able to play Dimensions again and again without getting tired of it. I wonder if he'll be at ConVergence?

The other cool thing I got was this awesome Greenman candle holder, which I light when I'm doing my nightly meditations as well. He's got a great face, and I just love him! I'm a sucker for all things treelike right now anyway. Oh yeah, I got it from Emerald's Emporium, who always have the coolest stuff imaginable. For all you gamers out there they have Dr. Wizard's Patented Elevation Indicator, so you can see just how high you can fly, or how low you can sink depending upon your gaming goal. And yes, they really did patent it! (U.S. Patent #6,938,897) Just put your favorite miniature on top to show everyone how powerful a wizard you are! Now if that isn't cool, I don't know what is.

So that's a brief summary of my shopping news from Marscon. It's a fan girl kinda thing. ;)

Spiderwick Field Guide

Last night I read the first of the Spiderwick Chronicles. The little book is beautifully made, with rough cut edges and illustrations throughout. While browsing the website I see there are all kinds of really cool things for collectors to get their hands on too! I really liked the book, and I wish it had been around when I was a kid, because I would have LOVED it then too. My sister went off to see the movie without me, I'll have to find out from her what she thought of it.

Today Marscon begins, so I don't have much time to chat, as I have to gather all my artwork and get my paperwork ready for the artshow. After I hang my stuff I'll be footloose and fancy free, and looking for fun people to talk to, panels to go to, and browse the dealers room for goodies and inspirations.

Marscon Horizon

I always know when a convention is coming up soon, because I have the Pre-Convention I-Forgot My-Art-at-Home dream. You would think after doing this for over a dozen years this wouldn't happen, but it does, every time as far as I can remember. Maybe it's my subconscious trying to tell me to get everything ready early, but I frequently ignore it and find myself scrambling the night before or the the morning of the convention in order to pick out what I'm going to bring etc.

This time, I'm going to go through all my artwork, and select the best framed pieces to bring, and maybe even do a little original that I can sell as well. Stop laughing...it can happen. Marscon COULD be the first convention that I'm totally prepared for ahead of time. Or maybe I'll procrastinate so long a bird will build it's nest in my hair. Lucky for me it's still winter!