ng_moonmoth | Entries tagged with meme

Got this question set from

julian . Wanna play? Ask for a set of questions, and I'll see what I can come up with. Or ask me another set here, and I'm likely to answer.

( Questions and answers within )

A number of people on my reading list have done this one. The goal is, starting with a list of topics, to find (ideally without searching for) a song with a title matching the topic. Everyone who's put out a list has mined their listening habits for songs. Most of those are filled with artists and groups that are familiar to many people.

There are some outliers, though. One I enjoyed was completely filled with arias from well-known operas. I'm another outlier. The music I'm most familiar with comes from the filk community, in which I am an active participant. (Read about it here, and here. Be aware, though, that the first article is twenty-five years old, and the second article reflects to some extent the biases of its author and does not, at least to me, properly acknowledge that the apparent diminuition of the styles of the community's roots is more that the genre is alive, thriving, and expanding well beyond its origins.) Sticking to filk, I only had to cheat a bit on the last topic; there don't seem to be that many songs in the community with days of the week in them, so I searched the catalogs of a couple of friends to find one I liked.

( My list )

If you like what you heard, the best thing you can do is support the artists who are bringing it to you by buying their music. Nobody makes any money from filk, and many of the artists featured here are doing it for love. But some of them are professional musicians in other genres, and are hurting for bookings in this pandemic era. Links to Bandcamp pages or personal websites offer options to purchase their music.

This was originated by china_shop, who asked interested readers to look at the 20 most recent fanwork titles on their AO3 accont and answer some questions about them.

I'm not on AO3, but I see no reason this need be limited by platform or by type of creative work. My creative outlet is filk -- very approximately defined as the folk music of science fiction and fantasy fandom, and characterized by an intentional minimization of the boundary between "performer" and "listener". That's close enough for me.

So I went through my catalog, and pulled out the most recent songs I wrote new lyrics for that I'm currently likely to perform. I came up with 22, and the oldest two are ones that I like and perform frequently. I didn't want to toss them, so I decided that was "close enough for filk". Here are the questions and the results:

How many are you happy with?
Fourteen. Those are marked with "1" in the first column of numbers.
How many are... not great?
Five. Those are marked with "2" in the first column of numbers. The remaining three are just "meh" -- not particularly good, but not "I wish it was better", either. So not worth changing.
How many did you scramble for at the last minute?
Seven. Those are marked with "3" in the second column of numbers. "Hey Murphy, Do You Sing?" was an at-convention songwriting contest entry, and it was already the last minute when I got enough of the song done to title it. "Big Tech Diary" and "In Virginia's Mountains" didn't change the words that formed the source song title. Using title word replacement on "Creative Writing Lesson" would have produced a "huh?" title. And title word replacement on the other three would have been spoilery. I don't care to go there.
How many did you know before you started writing/creating, or near the beginning?
Thirteen. "The Earworm" was another attempt at a songwriting contest entry, but one I was pretty sure I was going to fail at. Creating parody lyrics over the span of a weekend is almost certainly doomed when the source lyric credits include Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, and Stephen Sondheim -- never mind getting ready to sing the result to Leonard Bernstein's music passably well. But the idea was enchanting enough to me that I stuck with it, and the contest theme fit well enough as a title once it started taking shape."Librarian, Anonymous" was another doomed songwriting contest entry -- this one, because tragic songs don't do well in the voting. But I got it done in time, and decided it was good enough to keep. Once again, the title came into shape at the same time the song did.
How many are quotes from songs or poems?
None are direct quotes, but eight are of parodies or transformative works where replacing the words of the title drawn from the source lyrics with the corresponding words in my lyrics produced a suitable title, and one more ("Pointless?"), where the source title suits the song well but does not appear in the source lyrics, had a natural and pleasing equivalent description of my theme.
How many are other quotes?
None. Trying to hang a quote on something that people are going to refer to by what the song is about, or something in the content, doesn't work for me.
Which best reflects the plot of the story/content of the fanwork?
"Servicers of the Machine".
Which best reflects the theme of the story/fanwork?
"Ragnarok".
Which best reflects the character voice of the story/POV of the fanwork?
"Night on the Town".
Which is your favourite?
"Pointless?" The question mark is part of the title; it doesn't denote any uncertainty about my choice.

Here's an alphabetical list of the song titles:

2	3	Beneath Sasquan Skies
	3	Big Tech Diary
2	3	Bob's Sitrep
2	3	Creative Writing Lesson
		The Earworm
	4	Fantasy Home
1	4	The Golem Song	5 The Dreidel Song
1	3	Hey Murphy, Do You Sing?
2	3	In Virginia's Mountains
1	4	Kitchen [Classified]
1		Librarian, Anonymous
1	4	Night on the Town
1	4	Plush Cthulhu	5 Rubber Duckie
1	4	Pointless?	5 Boundless?
1	4	Ragnarok	5 Camelot
1	4	Servicers of the Machine	5 Acolytes of the Machine
1	4	Ship and Stone	5 Ship of Stone
2	3	Sunday Morning – Filkers Take Warning
1	4	Sunken Land of R'lyeh	5 Mary Ellen Carter
1	4	Teddy Bears' Ballgame	5 Teddy Bears' Picnic
1	4	A True SF Fan	5 A Heavy Dragoon
1	4	The Whedonist Retreat

who posted this last week, motivated by Tuesday's being Transgender Day of Visibility.

Ask me a question. Anything you're curious about? Anything you don't understand but want to? There's one question on the list I feel strongly enough about to give you the answer for free; I think I'm comfortable answering all the others. Pick a number and comment or send a private message. If you'd like to ask me something not listed, I might not be able to answer but I won't be offended you asked.

I'm not engaging in gender critical discussions on feminism, transphobia, or hate, because ain't nobody got time for sadness.

I want to help people understand trans people better.

( What would you like to know? )

Been a while since I joined in on any of the non-friending memes. Lots of people are doing this one right now, and I had fun with it the last time, so here goes again:

Ask me my top five anything.

As usual, I won't promise to answer anything I consider too personal, or personally identifying. But as long as I can be creative enough, I might be able to come up with something. Also, I am picking out my personal favorites, with no implication that they are the best of their category. Just that I like them the best, or value the most.

A lot of my reading list is participating in

st_aurafina's friending meme. Enough of the folks posting look interesting that I've put up a post myself. Come on over and take a look!

Let's Stick Together: a friending meme for a new year. Image is two giraffes, one leaning almost at right angles to put their head on their friend's neck.

And a lot of my reading list is planning to do the January talking points meme, where people suggest topics for me to post on by leaving a comment, optionally giving a day or time range in the month. I've decided I'm up for it, so whether you've been around for a while, have found me more recently, or are just checking in from the friending meme, please leave me one or more talking points.

These from

rainydaysandmondays, who found me on

findingfriends recently:

spaghetti al carbonara
Quite a bit more fat than I usually care for with my pasta. Alfredo sauce, particularly the debased versions served up at many places that want to have pasta on their menu, or want you to think they're Italian (takes direct aim at corporate chains), is something else I feel the same way about.

The name of the dish is interesting. Marcella Hazan, whose cookbook Classic Italian Cooking I treasure, includes some history with her recipe for the dish. It was apparently what the coal miners (carbonari) commonly ordered after making their deliveries.

WoW
You're probably referencing Worlds of Warcraft here. I never got much into computer gaming. Spending all day staring into a computer monitor and trying to figure out what the code I just wrote was actually doing, and why that didn't necessarily match up with what it was supposed to do, left me interested in doing something that wasn't just more staring into a screen and pushing buttons.

But I can't see that string of characters without thinking about Teddy Ruxpin.

Toy Story 4
Saw the first three. Haven't seen this one yet. Looking forward to it.

These are from

redsixwing:

hue: I have encountered it most often in the context of color theory, where it denotes the axis of some additive color models that, in more colloquial terms, describes "what color it is". At the same time, though, it makes an appearance in the phrase "hue and cry", where it represents a public signal that a crime has just been committed. And Huế is a city in central Vietnam that was very much in the news when I was a teenager, being the site of one of the longest and bloodiest battles during the Tet offensive of the war in progress at the time.

passage: What comes to mind for me is its use to designate a small, cohesive part of a creative work -- a story, a poem, a piece of music. Identifying key passages and seeing how they connect is something that helps me understand the work. Also coming to mind was the well-known and very popular song, "Northwest Passage", by Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers.

wasps: We have a few in the neighborhood. One time, they built a nest under our eaves, which we left alone through the warm season and knocked down without incident in the rainier, colder part of the year. A significant component of the diet of the ones we have in the area is meat. This means that when I am outside (where we do the stinky stuff) grinding the chopped liver I make for Passover, I often get some wasps coming over because they smell something good to eat. Makes the job a bit more interesting.

From

gingicat :

Scents: One of my favorites is the just-washed, ozone-refreshed scent that one gets right after a midwestern thunderstorm front has blown through. It feels like the world has been made new again. But generally, my nose isn't all that good, and I don't detect scents that a lot of other people do.

Vegetables: What food eats? Not by me. I'm not planning on being food any time soon. (After I'm done here, by microbes? Sure! Go right ahead and have a great meal!) I'd much rather get trace nutrients from vegetables than from pills, and am fortunate enough to live in an area where there's some sort of vegetable growing nearby all the time so I can do that. And those are so much better than the stuff that comes from far away, is grown and picked to ship well, and is a variety that was chosen because it looks good, rather than being nutritous or tasting good. I mix textures and colors wherever possible. And I won't let the screaming stop me.

Here's a personal top-5 list from when I was asked about that in another meme a while back: (any time) chili peppers, chocolate; (almost exclusively in season) asparagus, sweet corn, tomatoes.

Shawls: I've seen all sorts of interesting patterns that would likely be fun to knit up. Some of the folks in knitting circles I have particpated in have created some real works of art. I'm not sure when I might decide to make one, though. I am much more likely to need to get rid of heat than to retain it. That, and the local climate, are against me. Someone I love enough to do a project of that sort might be interested someday, and that would undoubtedly get me to make one.

This meme, which apparently sourced from

journalmemes , arrived on my reading list from a number of places. I wanted to play. It seems appropriate to me to provide the opportunity to return the favor -- or for anyone else who'd like to play to join. So:

Leave a word, any word, in the comments below, and I will tell you a fact about myself relating to that word.

rhodielady_47 gave me the letter "G" when I asked to participate in a round of the letter meme. Here's what I came up with:

Something I hate: Greed. Especially the toxic sort that finds it easier to take what they want from those who already are wanting, rather than finding a way to create more of it.

Something I love: Games. The ones I like best test one's cooperative and competitive problem-solving abilities. What makes them fun for me is how they can serve as a laboratory and training ground for things one can use in "real life" -- but one where you can frequently put the consequences of your actions back in the box after the game is over, or throw them in the trash with the scoresheets if you'd rather.

Somewhere I've been: Germany. That's where the father's side of my family came from almost two hundred years ago.

Somewhere I'd like to go: Greece. I have a recurring fantasy of chartering a sailing vessel for an extended tour of the Aegean Sea, inviting close friends to join us for however long they can, and visiting places the big cruise ships can't dock at and sharing the local culture with folks who don't have to cater to tourists. That would probably take a couple years' income that we felt we could spare to make it a reality, and I'm not sure whether that will ever happen. But it's still fun to dream about.

Someone I know: Gary and I are enthusiastic participants in a musical culture that welcomes creators and performers of all abilities, and intentionally minimizes the difference between "performer" and "audience". He is also a significant presence in organizing and helping to operate spaces where members of this community gather and share their contributions. Some of these are part of larger events, others are stand-alone community-specific events ranging in size from a small gathering at someone's house to weekends at a hotel. And all of them are run by volunteers, because there's no money in it -- attempts to make any meaningful money off anything the community produces have all failed, some spectacularly so.

Favorite movie(s): The "Godfather" trilogy, although not III (a much later add-on, and the weakest of the set) so much. In addition to being a superb presentation of its source material, it pretty much redefined the gangster movie genre, catapulted many of its principals into much greater stature than they'd previously had, and left a significant impact on popular culture and the vernacular.

Favorite band: My musical tastes don't align well with popular culture, so I'll answer as though it referred to "musical performers". The Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, more commonly referred to in English as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, has been one of the premier orchestral forces since its inception in 1751. At that time, it was one of the first orchestras to be underwritten by public subscription rather than royal patronage. Many recordings made during longtime music director Kurt Masur's leadership remain in catalogs today, and are considered reference interpretations of their material. If they ever tour through my area, I'd definitely want to attend a concert. For anyone who'd insist that a large body of musicians with continual turnover doesn't qualify (despite how some "bands" have turned over all or almost all their members), I'll offer Dizzy Gillespie.

Would you like a letter? Please leave a comment, and I'll be happy to give you one.