Egoscanning the Brainstorming Poll

[billroper]

The results of the Pegasus Brainstorming Poll are out and -- as I suspect many folks who write filk did -- I popped over to do a bit of egoscanning. (For those of you who aren't old APA hands, the term in that context refers to looking for comments on your previous contributions to the APA.) And since I find myself with a minor case of baby-assisted insomnia, writing something on the subject is probably more useful than lying in bed not sleeping. (And maybe when I'm done, I'll be tired enough to get back to sleep. :) )

First, let me thank anyone who mentioned me in their brainstorming polls. I appreciate it! (Heck, thanks to anyone who bothered to fill out a brainstorming poll -- it's always interesting to look at the results, especially in the floating categories.) And it's nice to find myself in some really good company.

I think Crystal Dance is one of the better songs that I've written recently and it's really nice to see it wind up on the list of suggestions for Best Song, along with Midnight Girl, which I wrote for Katie, and Teenage Popsicle Girl, which appears to continue to have some legs after all these years. Although I was a bit surprised to see it pop up in the Best Tragedy category as well -- I'm not quite sure that cheeriose qualifies there. :) Best Comedy, well, yes, thank you! And Best Classic. Not bad for a song that was once left off a live album because the producer thought it was a "funny once".

And thanks for listing Too Many Years in the Best Classic category. It's one of my favorite songs that I've written and I will get around to recording it sometime soon. (Or daisy_knotwise will hit me.) And also for suggesting Gretchen's and my Apology in the Best Comedy category. We've certainly enjoyed performing it -- and I wish I had a videotape of judifilksign signing it at FKO a couple of years ago, because I didn't dare watch her at the time!

I have to admit that I was a bit bemused when I thought about my own songs and the Best Tragedy category. For someone nicknamed "The Grim Roper", I suddenly realized that I don't actually write a lot of tragedies. The Destroyer would qualify, I suppose, but we've rather beaten it to death the last couple of years. :) Also, I had to truncate Gordy's novel by excising the original novellette, since the book actually has a happy ending.

I also remember fondly andpuff sitting across a filk circle after catalana and I had just performed Behind the Mask and Illusions from the musical that I've been working on, and Tanya asking me, "Bill, this musical does have a happy ending, doesn't it?" Well, yes, it does. :)

Actually, of things that I've written in the last 20 years that you're likely to have heard, the most tragic of the lot is probably Falling Toward Orion. But it's a very pretty tragedy...

That's probably enough of me talking about me, I think. Now let's see if I've tired myself out enough to get some more sleep. :)

Comments

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you're getting the fame you deserve :-)

Of course it's sadder to scan such a list of filkers and songs and not see anything by Cosmic Trifle/Just Plain Folk (and I don't think I saw anything by Valerie Housden either ... did I miss it?) though at least there's a mention of Zander ...

... we'll just have to get the album finished and out, and then see if we can get the band to at least one US con (probably OVFF I'd guess) as that seems to be the only way of actually getting the publicity needed to have any chance of winning ... and yes, the Pegasus awards are sufficiently prized that they are *worth* trying to win :-)

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

I noticed "Following in Valentina's Footsteps" among the classics, but haven't memorized all the lists yet. :-)

[billroper]

I'm pretty sure that Gretchen told me that she'd listed that one on her brainstorming poll. Other folks may have too, for obvious reasons.

[billroper]

The thing about the Brainstorming Poll is that it only takes one person who is familiar with your work and takes the trouble to fill out the poll to get a song or person listed.

But getting an album finished is almost always a good idea! :)

Thanks for the kind words...

[loriruadh.livejournal.com]

Let me know when you can bring the band to OVFF -- as an OVFF Committee member I'll gladly ask our Program person to see that you get a concert...

Lori Coulson
ConChair, OVFF 24

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

I like signing "Apology," because the back and forth is kewl to do right and left handed. It's *hard* to sign, though, because I nearly die laughing each time!

(I kind of hope it makes it to the final ballot, because then I can sign it for the Pegasus nominee concert at OVFF.)

As a fun note, at school, as a teacher, sometimes students catch me out in an error in content. (Naturally, students *adore* correcting the teacher!) When, in fact, the students are correct, and say so _nicely_, I sing the chorus to "Apology."

[billroper]

Oh, I love that. Thanks!

[patoadam]

I am surprised to find that only 5 songs were nominated in both the comedy and tragedy categories. (I counted.) Many more could have been.

When you gonna record "Teenage Popsicle Girl"? Admirers of the song have been waiting for decades.

[billroper]

It's slated to go on Too Many Years. Yesterday, I bought what I hope is the last cable that I need to head down to the basement and start recording scratch tracks for that project and continue recording scratch tracks for Crosstime Bus.

So "soon" is the right answer. :) (Finally!)

I also need to collect the right assemblage of backup singers to replicate the wonderful impromptu doowop harmony arrangement that I found singing behind me in a hallway at Dorsai Thing when I realized that Todd Hamilton had never heard the song and really needed to. I started singing and the harmony suddenly materialized. Like Orpheus, I didn't dare turn around and look or they would have vanished.

As I recall, it was Bill and Brenda Sutton, Dorotha Biernesser, and Steve Simmons. But I could be wrong. Gretchen was sitting on the other side of a divider playing cards, so she couldn't see it, but she heard it and started bouncing in her seat, as this was exactly how she wanted to hear the song recorded.

Me too. :)