Mar
9
invasion of the filk
Filed under work, travel, California, unusual, humor at 11:19 pm | 4 Comments
I’m in San Jose on a work trip this week (a few camera phone pics for your enjoyment). On Thursday evening I was in the hotel lobby waiting to go out to dinner with some friends when I couldn’t help but notice an influx of people.
We suspected this group of people was here for a convention of some sort, and that theory was soon confirmed. But seeing a sign about “Open Filking” didn’t exactly answer all our questions. After a weekend of research and observation, I think we’ve learned the basics.
The convention in question is the Consonance 2008 Convention. As the site describes, it is “the San Francisco Bay Area filk convention.” Filk is generally considered folk music, usually with a science fiction or fantasy theme … or about computers or cats. Filkers, then, are the people participating in this musical movement. Furthermore, if our hotel parking lot is any indication, bumper stickers appear to be an important trademark of filker vehicles. Here are some additional resources, if needed. After seeing some names and pictures in my research, I realize I rode the elevator with some famous and influential filkers this weekend.
Now that I’ve laid the foundation, I trust you’ll enjoy some example filking.
Jan
26
a walking miracle
Filed under traffic, travel, friends at 3:40 pm | 2 Comments
My family was in town the week of Thanksgiving last year. My dad was invited to preach at our church, so the family that was still in town came to our church to worship. After the service we piled in our cars and headed towards I-95. There was a significant line to get on the highway, and traffic appeared to be moving very slowly. We moaned, and made the usual snide remarks about traffic.
The next day at work I received a phone call explaining the reason for the traffic backup. A good friend of ours that I met at work was in a car accident on I-95, and it was his accident causing the backup we experienced. He and his family were on the way to church when a car swerved into their lane, causing them to loose control. Their car rolled numerous times while crossing all lanes of traffic. His wife and boys only suffered minor bruises, but he scraped his forehead on the pavement as they were rolling and broke his neck in three places. Had his neck bent in a different direction, he could have been paralyzed or killed instantly.
This week he returned to work full time, barely 8 weeks later, not even wearing a neck brace or having had any surgery. His neck is almost fully healed, and his hair is even growing back where his head kissed the pavement. I’ve heard him describe himself as a walking miracle, and to hear the stories of God’s protection during the accident and His provision afterward, it’s plain to see why.
It’s great to have you back in the saddle, Curtis. Keep preaching it, brother!
Sep
30
96
Filed under work, travel at 1:45 pm | 2 Comments
I’m just over half way through a two week trip for work. While I enjoy seeing different parts of this beautiful country, I must confess this isn’t the type of destination point I normally hope for when required to travel. We’re in the deep south in an area that appears to be miles and miles of: swamps, Hurricane Katrina desolation, new casinos, and swarms of love bugs (if you open your
mouth, you’re bound to breath some in).
As expected, however, there hasn’t been much time for sight-seeing. We put in 96 hours last week, and expect a similar schedule this upcoming week. Gotta love being an hourly employee. It also helps that we’re working on a pretty cool project that is going to be used by a lot of people.