Pegasus ballot

[mdlbear]

The deadline for voting for the 2006 Pegasus Awards is approaching -- get your ballot in by October 16th.

Best Filk Song: A difficult choice, here. "Close Your Eyes", though a wonderful song, is probably the weakest of the five, fighting above its weight. "Rich Fantasy Lives" bothered me for a long time. Bits of it have been stuck in my head for weeks, but it wasn't until today that I figured out the problem: it's trying to apologise for me and my way of life to somebody else. Doing a good job of it, but it isn't speaking to me. "Sam's Song" says it better and more directly.

So that leaves "Girl That's Never Been", which tells a story on the knife-edge between fantasy and hallucination, "Archetype Cafe", which is as bright and witty as a surrealist painting, and "A Thousand Ships", which captures a moment and a mood with dark perfection. "A Thousand Ships", I think, but it's a near thing.

Best Classic Filk Song: No question: "Ship of Stone". In my not-so-humble opinion it's the best filk song ever written, and I've been trying for years to get it on the ballot. None of the others has that grand sweep of history, that depth. The others will simply have to wait.

Best Performer: OK, so we have two guys with guitars, a rock band, Chris Conway, and Judi Miller. It's between those two: someone who can play a tin-whistle duet with himself and then switch from that to theremin, and someone who can translate filk songs into sign and do them complete justice. A difficult choice again, but I think I'll go with Judi.

Best Writer/Composer: Cynthia McQuillan. It's the last time she'll be on the ballot, as I understand it; and nobody now living can match her accomplishments. "Crimson and Crystal", "Blood Red Roses", "Gilda and the Dragon", "The Chieri", "Fuel to Feed the Drive", ... I could go on, but I hope I've made my point.

Best Battle Song: A battle song, to my way of thinking, is something to sing going into battle, not boasting about your accomplishments afterwards. It needs a battle cry -- if your throat's not raw by the time it's over, you haven't been paying attention. So that leaves "No Quarter" and "March of Cambreadth". "No Quarter" also has a singable chorus to go with the battle cry, and a certain amount of grimly ironic humor. I'll take it.

Best Torch Song: A proper torch song is sung to, or about, somebody in particular -- a love interest for whom the singer is "carrying the torch". So that leaves out the otherwise excellent "Po' Boys" and "Sex and Chocolate" -- I hope they find their proper categories some day. So that leaves us with the elf lust of "Legolas", the demented abandon of "Maybe It's Crazy", and the sheer seductiveness of "X-Libris". "You know how to riffle, don't you?" Difficult yet again, but for a trufan there's nothing like a good book. (added: or maybe it's just that I want to do it is a duet.) I'll go with "X-Libris".