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Harnuth
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

Real Life counts as "Other Worlds," right?

Just had to share this. I stumbled upon this photo in the Wikipedia, and it immediately reminded me of the song circle at Ales & Tales...

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Filk Circle at Baycon 2006


I wasn't at that convention (and in fact haven't attended any SF conventions in the past two decades, dang it) but it was a scene repeated in hotels throughout the world since at least the early Sixties. Great times!

(All that because this morning an old filk named "Star Drive: Reminder" is buzzing around in my head and I was snooping around the net to see if anyone had posted the lyrics online. Haven't found it.)


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"Alas for peaceful folk everywhere.  It is an enormous task to convince them that evil people with evil intentions will commit evil deeds." --Aragorn
Crystalleowyn
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

Oh wow that looks like fun!! One of these years we need to get to a SF convention. It seems almost sacrilegious not to considering all you did in SF fandom.

You mentioned the SWIL Filkbook a couple of years ago. Did you look for the Star Drive song in there?
Harnuth
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

I looked in the online SWIL Filkbook but no joy. It's not there.

I'll post what I remember of the lyrics. There's always chance that Somebody Around Here will know the whole song!

I first heard this sung by Bob and Anne Passavoy during the half-time for the Masquerade at Midamericon, the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention in Kansas City.

I also put a little 16-second snippet of the melody in your LOTRO directory on my server, here:
http://crystal.sunsims.com/LOTRO/abcmusic/1-(Harnuth)StarDriveReminderMelodySnippet.abc
(Right-click and Save as... on that link. I just now worked that out from memory* using MuseScore. The timing shouldn't be quite that pedestrian but at least the tones are close. The server doesn't know the .abc mime type so it'll probably show up as a .txt file. Rename as required to get it to play with ABC Player.)

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More or Less...



Star Drive: Reminder
Tune: Original, and somewhat monotonous
Lyrics: The Passavoys? Erwin Strauss? The NESFA Group Mind?


The star drive was invented on a planet of Arcturus
By a race who built their cities while the Earth was flaming gas!
They swept out through the star lanes at the dawning of creation
And a million years of empire came to pass!

[...]
They didn't have the star drive but they didn't ever die.
They smashed a dying empire and then settled down to rule it,
And another million years or so went by!

[...]
They couldn't halt rebellion when they couldn't catch their foes.
[...] and the Tzen became the rulers
And they worshipped the dark swamps from which they rose.

[...]
[...]
[...]
While on Earth a creature shaped flint with its paws.

[...]
And the creature known as Man stands on the threshold of his fame
But remember, puny Earthman, there were others here before you
And still others who will follow in your flame!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there was spoof of the original...

Star Drive: Requiem

The star drive was invented in the city of Sheboygan
By a [second-class mechanic?] down at Union Tool and Die
He spilled a cup of coffee on an army surplus Bendix
And it turned bright blue and took off for the sky!

But the union said that star drives were not in his job description
[...]
[...]
[...]

[Etc. ad insanitorium]



__________
*Yes, that would be aging, unreliable memory from the Time Before Time Began, long before I had you for off-site memory storage.

The last time I remember singing it was at the Boeing Flight Controls Laboratories Winter Solstice Party in Seattle in 1978, where a bunch of us went to a park on the Winter Solstice on our lunch hour and imbibed ethanol while we marveled at the bright shiny object in the sky on day with only 4 hours of sunlight.


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Landroval: Harnuth, Pondofast, Giblorn, Zagaradun, Eoharulf (Hearth and Table Band Leader), Gibaldor (bass player)

 

"Alas for peaceful folk everywhere.  It is an enormous task to convince them that evil people with evil intentions will commit evil deeds." --Aragorn
Aedon Durreah
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

I think I see Byrcha!!


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Amberflower
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

Aedon Durreah wrote:
I think I see Byrcha!!


And you win the forums.


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Alt kin: Virtus Tentamine Gaudet - Packzii, Amberflora, Idrynna, Tartlett

"Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him."

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places;
but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief,
it grows perhaps the greater."

"...together they (Aragorn and Arwen) went up into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky."
Veriwin
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

So, judging by that picture, to filk is to make music to knit by? Man, we need to step up our knitting game.
Amberflower
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

I probably knit enough to maintain the whole kin's street cred. (Yes I did have to dig my keyboard out from under the knitting to type this.)


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Amberflower, Aerilthael, Idryn, Lidhriel, Malleiran, Istuiwen, Gliwen, Lythril, Copperflower, Moonfleur, Amberhoney, Amberluna

Alt kin: Virtus Tentamine Gaudet - Packzii, Amberflora, Idrynna, Tartlett

"Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him."

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places;
but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief,
it grows perhaps the greater."

"...together they (Aragorn and Arwen) went up into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky."
Byrcha
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

Aedon Durreah wrote:
I think I see Byrcha!!

I may be ancient, but I do not see the then-version of me in that photo. If you DO somehow find a photo of me, let alone a then/now, then you DO win the forums.


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  • main: Byrcha (pronounced: BUR-ka), Hobbit treasure-hunter

  • Landroval alts: Braxwald, Brenthiel, & Hathellaith (LMB); Belyndil (Ales and Tales); Yahr (Lonely Mountain Brewery); Byrkhild, Byrchette, & Byrchetta (Secret Pie Vault); Byrwing (Sisters of the Moon); Byraen; Byrwen (Ithil refugee).

Harnuth
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

Veriwin wrote:
So, judging by that picture, to filk is to make music to knit by? Man, we need to step up our knitting game.


Almost! :)

I've heard some new and creative definitions of the word "filk," but in fact, it simply means SF fans playing and singing folk songs.

According to "An Introduction to Filk Singing," by Karen Anderson published in a fanzine in 1961, the word "filk" first appeared as a typo on a fanzine. In a world with a vocabulary with words like snog (kiss) and bheer (beer, of course), it was too precious of a word to be allowed to escape!

Since then, I've seen folks insist that it means "folk singing in the ilk of fandom," or putting new lyrics to old songs, or creating melodies to go with the published lyrics and poetry (which of course are ubiquitous in Tolkien's work). Pish and tosh; filk means all of those things, including, of course, music to knit by, and any other melodic noise that might happen when two or more fans are gathered together.

Now I'm getting nostalgic for the time that Erwin "Filthy Pierre" Strass commandeered a baby grand piano in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Chicago at Chicon IV, and the crowd gathered...


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Landroval: Harnuth, Pondofast, Giblorn, Zagaradun, Eoharulf (Hearth and Table Band Leader), Gibaldor (bass player)

 

"Alas for peaceful folk everywhere.  It is an enormous task to convince them that evil people with evil intentions will commit evil deeds." --Aragorn
Crystalleowyn
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re: Ales & Tales in the Ancient Days

I remember your stories about Filthy Pierre! Isn't he the one who would sleep 8 hours a day during the worldcon? 4:00 to 8:00, AM and PM. :D
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