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Like all good filk artists Danielle Clarke took a tune that everyone knows and added some Sci-Fi/Fantasy lyrics, in this instance all about Terry Pratchett’s DiscWorld series. I find this appropriate because NADWCon, the North American Disc World Con, takes place July 5th through the 8th in Baltimore, MD. Unfortunately the audio quality of this recording leaves a bit to be desired, So I am posting the lyrics after the video so you can follow along.

Lyrics:
We Didn’t Start the Turtle
By Danielle Clarke
(and Billy Joel)

Twoflower comes to stay, Rincewind runs away,
Homicidal luggage and Ankh-Morpork burns.
Zoon traders can’t lie, Esk learns magic on the sly,
Death takes an apprentice and Mort’s lifetimer turns.
Spelter and Carding plot, Half-brick in a sock,
Try to make a tortoise run, and the pharoahs raise the sun.
Change the play’s murder scene, Lancre’s got a new king,
Guards! Guards! dragons fight, Eric’s demonology.

We didn’t start the turtle,
It was always swimming since the Disc was spinning.
We didn’t start the turtle,
No, we didn’t write it but we idolise it.

Ancient Leshp is waterlogged, Gaspode the Wonder Dog
Snow globes, fields of corn, Fresh Start Club
Magic Kindom far away, Chelonian Mobilé
Mica, Beryl, Shale, Nanny’s bathtub
Crop circles, bees swarm, Edward’s rampage with a gonne
Dead Punch and Judy man, Imp y Celyn and the Band
Lord Hong’s clothes chest, Red Army, unrest
Joy of Snackes, Opera Ghost, Walter Plinge’s roses

We didn’t start the turtle,
It was always swimming since the Disc was spinning.
We didn’t start the turtle,
No, we didn’t write it but we idolise it.

Golem king, clay feet, arsenic candles, Cockbill Street
Hogfather, ho ho ho, blood on midwinter snow
Captain Jenkins, sea squall, Battlefield football
Bugarup Mardi-Gras, Rincewind the Archchancellor.

Carrot and Angua, Space Ape, Breccia
Lettice Earwig, gold cup, Granny messes minds up
Igor’s dog Scraps, Brother Oats’s holy axe,
Balls of rock in motion, Blobs in the oceans

We didn’t start the turtle,
It was always swimming since the Disc was spinning.
We didn’t start the turtle,
No, we didn’t write it but we idolise it.

Low King, Dr’zka, Sybil sings an opera
New Firm, William, and Dog Bites Man
Deja fu, Auditors, saga of the Silver Horde
Spider, rat pipe, Maurice gives an extra life
Magic symbols, special robes, Elves and wizards at the Globe,
Lilac, 25th of May, what else do I have to say?

We didn’t start the turtle,
It was always swimming since the Disc was spinning.
We didn’t start the turtle,
No, we didn’t write it but we idolise it.

Tiffany, Wee Free Men, Roland Chuffley’s back again,
Hiver at the Witch Trials, chocolate nougat missiles
War in Borogravia, Stanley’s acuphillia,
Giant chicken, Mister Shine, Reading “Where’s My Cow?” on time
Rescue Summer, Winter dies, Mister Bent with battle pies
Glenda’s kindness, Brazeneck, Nutt, Trev and Juliet
Goblin slaves on foreign shores, Leap knave, jump whore,
Geoffrey’s shed with poo galore, Still the fans all scream for more

We didn’t start the turtle,
It was always swimming since the Disc was spinning
We didn’t start the turtle,
But when we are gone, it will still swim on and on and on…

This video was labeled How to Avoid Being Branded a Convention Creeper, and while I think my own title of Con Creep Avoidance was more succinct it didn’t fully convey the concept. These are a few basic rules (and I mean REALLY basic, if you need to study these in detail you probably want to take along a friend who can help you spot when you get it wrong) to help you make it through a Con without getting embarrassed, attacked, or arrested.

Yes, it is Worldcon time again, this time with Chicon 7, the 70th annual World Science Fiction Convention. It started on Thursday, august 30th, and runs through the holiday weekend, with an incredible line up of guests and events. One of the most important events each year is the presentation of the Hugo Awards, which has John Scalzi as Host and Toastmaster, and will be held at 8PM CDT tomorrow, September 7th. If like me you can’t be there physically, you can actually watch it Live on the Worldcon UStream channel as well as on the Hugo Awards CoveritLive page. You can go to the Worldcon UStream page now and watch last years Chelsea Awards, Hugo Awards, and a quite amusing presentation of Just A Minute that had me laughing up a storm. If I had a vote of what program out of this years offerings should also be sent out live or included as a recorded online video it would have to be the Filk Opera version of Tanya Huff’s Choice of Ending.

I am happy to report my local cable system just added MNet America to the channel lineup. They were already running two Korean channels, two Japanese channels, over 10 Chinese channels, 6 Indian channels (4 in Hindi, one in Punjabi, one in a language I didn’t recognize), 3 Filipino channels, a Vietnamese channel, and a few more I have not been able to identify. I do not count the New Zealand channel, because they are A) an English language country, and B) all Cricket matches, nothing there very oriental even though they come from the same part of the pacific rim. MNet is short for Music Network and it has a ton of music, mostly Pop in nature. It is based out of South Korea, but they do carry more than music and more than just Korean programing. The show I am excited about having weekly access to now on that network is Danny Choo’s Culture Japan, where I can see footage of events and interviews with creators of all the Japanese stuff that will become a major part of life here in 6 months to a year. And yes, by Stuff I mean Manga, Anime, Live Action, Games, Cosplay, collectables, Music, and everything else that you might see in Akihabara. Also a lot of convention coverage, as Danny is very popular as an Anime Con guest.

If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to drop into The Hollywood Reporter web site and check out their Women of Comic-Con video roundtable. They have assembled a great group of actresses sharing thoughts on their shows and some other topics of interest. It comes in 10 small video segments, and start’s off with Sara Michelle Geller giving advice on how to enjoy the con.