erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I’ve told the beginning of this story before, but I’ll tell it again, (briefly) for the sake of those who need catching up.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I met this nerdy guy named Rand, who was in a nerdy rock band. This nerdy rock band played at Comic and Science Fiction conventions, but they were also a part of this thing called filk. (Here’s a Wikipedia article about Filk; and Debbie Ohi’s Filk FAQ)

I’d been introduced to filk as a concept by my close personal friend Amanda before meeting Rand, but Rand brought me to my first filk convention in 2005. And (I know I’ve said this all before), while I was immediately taken with the community, I did not think I would ever sing in front of other people. Or write a song. Or sing a song I wrote in front of other people.

Well, slowly but surely, I was proven wrong on all counts. This community can be, uh, very persuasive.

(photo courtesy of Sunnie Larsen)

And this year, you guys, I (along with that nerdy guy of mine) was nominated for an award. (we didn’t win the award, but that doesn’t matter so much, really…) I got to perform that song in a concert with all the other nominees. And if you’ll forgive me for going all Sally Field for a minute (even though it didn’t win), people liked it. They really liked it. The response from the audience during the performance was amazing. And then, all weekend, people I knew, people I didn’t know, and people I’d just met made it a point to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Here’s a link to Cliffs of Insanity as performed at FilKONtario in 2013. (I’d absolutely love it if someone shared video from the Pegasus concert…)

It was a tough ballot all the way around. I mean, it usually is, but it was a really tough ballot. In multiple categories, there were at least two nominees I’d have loved to see win.I think I congratulated most of the winners in person, but if I didn’t, congratulations!

I have a lot more to say about this convention in particular, and this community in general, but I don’t think I have the brain cells for it at the moment. I’ll leave it at this:

This community means the world to me. There are infinite reasons I’m glad I met Rand, but you–the people I’ve met through and because of him, this found family full of acceptance and support and guidance that has helped me to find the courage to do things I never thought I’d do–I wouldn’t be who I am right now without you. Thank you. I love you.

(I didn’t prepare an acceptance speech, but if I had, it would have been something like that. And who knows…I might still get to say it someday. ;))

erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

This is my parody of Poison’s “Talk Dirty to Me,” performed during our concert at Marcon, with ASL by the lovely and talented Judi MIller. (Thanks again to ladypoetess for the recordings!)

Lyrics by Erin Bellavia and Amanda Marlowe

You know I never
I’ve never met a guy like you
You dream you’re part of Malcolm’s crew
‘Cause you like it
And you know I like it too
And oh, those tight pants–ooh
I wanna cosplay
Oh, yes I do

You know I’ve never
read Tanya Huff ‘til dawn
I’ve never been to Comicon
but I’d like to
And after watching Tron
we’ll watch some Doctor Who
and maybe Torchwood

Cause baby, we’ll be
in the filk room (alt: at the filk con)
Singin’ songs till four
Or buying Saga
at the comic book store
down to the book sale
then we’ll read some more
And baby, talk nerdy to me

You know your grammar
Your grammar truly thrills my heart
It’s obvious you’re really smart
I wanna hear you
When you say big words to me
Like “ostensibly”
I gotta hear you

Cause baby we’ll be
writin’ fanfic
about our OTP
Or chasing Gollum
you are precioussss to me*
We’ll read web comics
let’s check xkcd
And baby, talk nerdy to me

cause we’ll be
Readin’ Scalzi–
Redshirts or Old Man’s War
Or buying Rat Queens**
at the comic book store
down to the book sale
then we’ll read some more
And baby, talk nerdy to me

*this line may change, but I didn’t come up with anything I liked prior to performance

**this line will probably be changed, in light of recent news about this title

erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

(lyrics in previous post)

erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

This is a new song Rand and I have been working on…we’re trying hard to have it ready to debut in a circle at this weekend’s FilKONtario. We also plan to perform it in our concert at Marcon in May.

UPDATE: we now have video, thanks to the awesome Tom and Sue Jeffers. 😀

I can roar like a lion, though I look more like a lamb
And I know I’m so much stronger than you all think that I am
I’ll stand up for every person in the world who’s ever heard
Someone say, “You’re not a fighter, you’re just a girl”

I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight until I’ve won
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll show ’em how it’s done
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll make them all eat their words
And fight like a girl

I’ve taken down vampires, zombies, Sith lords, reavers, and spies
I’ve escaped from countless supervillains without the help of the guys
I’ve destroyed evil empires and cheated death like a pro
With my stake, my katana, my battle staves, and my bow

(Repeat chorus)

Bridge:

My name is Kamala, Natasha, Michonne
It’s Katniss, it’s Zoe, it’s Sarah, the clone
Buffy, Veronica, Bobbi, Barbara, Diana, Melinda, and Rey
Call me Leia, or Sydney, or Peggy, or Carol, or Kara or October Daye

I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight because I’m right
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight all day and night
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight the dark with the light
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll punch, kick, and bite
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight with all my might
I’ll fight like a girl
I might even decide to not fight
Nah

I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll fight until I’ve won
I’ll fight like a girl
I’ll show ’em how it’s done
I’ll fight like a girl
Til everyone in the world has heard
I’ll fight like a girl

erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

After our performance at GAFilk, Rand and I had a conversation with Seanan about our “imprint musicals.” We had performed “Heaven on Their Minds” from Jesus Christ Superstar, a musical that we both love. And Seanan wondered, “why Superstar?”

For Rand, it was the musical he had the most access to as a child, he explained. (my love of Superstar, though no less than Rand’s, came much later when it was introduced to me by roommate/bestie Jen…)

“Ah,” said Seanan. “I’m never one to question someone’s imprint musical. What’s yours?” she asked, turning to me.

I thought for a second. “Annie,” I replied.

I had the Broadway Cast Recording of Annie (on vinyl!) as a child. I loved it. I loved it so much that, at 8 years old, I was a bit disappointed by the movie because so much of it had been changed. (That album was originally released in 1977. The movie came out in 1982.) Young Erin’s favorite song was “We’d Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover.” No, I can’t explain that.

A few years later, I landed the role of a non-speaking orphan in a community theater production of Annie. I own both the soundtrack and DVD of the 1999 made-for-tv version. (This was due in large part to my HUGE CRUSH ON VICTOR GARBER, who played Daddy Warbucks.)

I also have a bit of a soft spot for Oklahoma!, which was the first professional production I saw (a touring company in Pittsburgh, on a Girl Scout trip). Also during high school, I saw a college production of Sweeney Todd, which I absolutely adored. I can’t say I love Sondheim, but I do love me some Sweeney Todd. (I feel kind of “meh” about the film version…and OH! Who is part of that original Broadway cast? None other than my  good friend Victor Garber.)

Now, since then, I’ve seen and fallen in love with many, many more musicals. Too many to list, really. (While I’ve seen many professional productions, I still have yet to see anything on Broadway, which is kind of a bucket list item for me.) But…you never forget your first, do you?

Here’s a clip from the 1999 TV version I mentioned, featuring Victor Garber. (Andrea McArdle makes an appearance as the “Star To Be.”)

I’m more than happy to talk musicals in the comments, so go ahead and talk to me! (And no, I haven’t listened to Hamilton yet. *hangs head in shame*)

erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I started a full con report, which I suppose will get finished eventually, but for now, I wanted to get this post up about our concert for any interested parties! It went really, really well overall and I once again would like to thank the concom, the guys working the sound board, Amy McNally for providing her awesome fiddling on a couple of songs, and just everyone in that audience. I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to hug you all. *hug*

So, this was our setlist for the ConCom’s Choice concert at GAFilk (with notes):

Heaven on Their Minds

really, seriously, just a straightforward cover of the song from JCS. (The Original London Recording is my preferred version. ymmv.)

Pandas/Jesus

A mashup of “Pandas” by Corky and the Juice Pigs and “This Jesus Must Die” from JCS

(Storybook) Love Story

A parody of Taylor Swift’s Love Story, about The Princess Bride (lyrics here)

The Princess Who Saved Herself

A cover of the Jonathan Coulton song (minus the phone call bridge)

Actually Ironic

A few years ago, College Humor or Funny or Die did a video that adapted Alanis Morrisette’s “Ironic” to make it, well, actually ironic. We didn’t think it went far enough and added some of our own little twists to it. This went over really, really well.

Ex

Dear Seanan

With Seanan in the audience! Squee! This is a parody of Seanan’s song “Dear Gina” (lyrics here, by me and Merav Hoffman) Lyrics and video from our FKO concert here.

Real

from William Shatner’s album Has Been. (which you should totally check out if you haven’t already.) This song was a collaboration with Brad Paisley. I played the part of William Shatner. Amy played fiddle. It was awesome.

Tiberius Rising

Just a straight performance of Ookla’s song with Rand on lead vocals, Amy on fiddle, and me singing a bit on the chorus.

Little Red Riding Hood

Cover of the Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, featuring me on the ukulele, alone. I’ve done this in open filk a couple of times, but I was REALLY NOT PREPARED to do it on stage. OMG. My fingers forgot how to work, and it was almost a total disaster&, but the audience seemed to have a good time anyway and everyone seemed to be on my side and nobody threw things or anything!

Cowboy Secret Space Detective

with two new girl-centric verses! And yeah, I screwed up the lyrics (both in performance and when I posted them to facebook) and I am super embarrassed.

Haven’t We Been Here Before

A cover of a Styx song from the album Kilroy Was Here

View Mistress

“View Master” with lyrics modified by vixy (and tweaked here and there by Rand and me)

Cliffs of Insanity

A parody of “Green Hills of Harmony” about (again) The Princess Bride, lyrics by me and Rand (lyrics here) And here’s a video from FKO.

Obviously, links for a lot of things are provided, both to lyrics and video&http://eringoblog.net/#8230;I’ll get lyrics for some of these other things posted at some point.

And just in case you need a reminder of how much I never ever EVER thought I would sing in front of people let alone on a stage, you can read more in my writeup from FKO in 2013.

Oh, and do let us know if you have photos, video, or sound recordings from the concert...we'd love to see/hear them! (er, well, I could maybe do without ever seeing or hearing that performance of "Little Red Riding Hood")

erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Again, this isn’t entirely original…it just puts our own twist on something that was already out there. The italicized segments were spoken.

An old man turned ninety-eight, he won the lottery and died the next day…
of chronic emphysema from inhalation of the latex particles scratched off decades’ worth of lottery tickets.
It’s a black fly in your Chardonnay…
poured to celebrate the successful fumigation of your recently purchased vineyard in southern France.
It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late…
because the governor was too busy watching Dead Man Walking to grant clemency any earlier.
And isn’t it ironic…don’t you think

It’s like rain at a dehydration victim’s funeral
It’s a free ride to your bankruptcy trial
It’s the good advice to never listen to me
Who would’ve thought…it figures

Mr. Play It Safe, he was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He’d waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
“Now I’ll never make it to that Fear of Flying seminar”
And isn’t it ironic…don’t you think

It’s like rain flooding an umbrella factory
It’s a free ride to an overpriced car dealership
It’s the good advice from the guy who just got you fired
Who would’ve thought…it figures

A traffic jam when you’re already late…
to receive an award from the Municipal Planning Board for reducing the city’s automobile congestion 80 percent.
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break…
at the R.J. Reynolds tobacco corporate offices in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife…
to rob a soup kitchen
It’s meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife…
who happens to be the psychiatrist I recently hired in hopes of improving my luck with the opposite sex.
And isn’t it ironic…don’t you think
A little too ironic…yeah, I really do think…

It’s like rain on your wedding day…to the Egyptian sun god Ra
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid…for a stolen car
It’s the good advice someone advised you not to take
Who would’ve thought…it figures

erinwrites

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Here are the two new verses we wrote for “Cowboy Secret Space Detective”:

I want to live in Washington in a big White home
and I want to be the first commander in chief with two x-chromosomes
I’ll give the West Wing some estrogen
I’ll be the first lady to have a First Gentleman
And my run won’t be derailed by an email non-event
I want to be the first female President!

I’m gonna know my value in a world of men
And Howard Stark and I will fight against Leviathan
We’ll co-found SHIELD to keep the world Hydra-free
And I know Steve will save the last dance for me
And I’ll be a super spy like Maxwell Smart, but even* smarter
I wanna be Agent Peggy Carter!

*may change this, per Randy Hoffman’s suggestions