Fellow thereminists, I need your help.
Here is the situation. A couple of weeks ago the arrangements for Hands Off 2007, The UK Theremin Symposium reached the most critical stage - the time where we could finally start accepting bookings. And, dammit! a really nasty 'flu virus laid me low. Not just that, but I did my back in at the same time. Either of these alone would have been majorly serious for a person with M.E. - together they were absolutely devastating. They forced me to slow down to a crawl, and use up whatever slack there was in the schedule. And then, just as I was starting to recover and had made the announcement, my wife's mother passed away. So I did what had to be done. I dosed myself up with pain killers and Red Bull, dragged myself out of my sickbed and stepped up to the plate for three days, knowing full well that I was undoing every minute of rest and recuperation and setting back my recovery by weeks. Family is important.
So here I am, back in a darkened room, blinded by migraines, reeling in agony and using whatever clearheaded moments I am afforded to continue the drive to raise awareness for the Symposium by whatever means I can. It is working - already we have about 15% of the number of bookings we need - but we need to step the pace up to make it work, to pull it back from the precipice on which it teeters. And we are going to make it work! We are NOT going to disappoint the entire theremin community. We are going to have the most amazing get-together imaginable and it is going to lead to more things in the future.
So I am calling in every favour. If I wasn't bed-bound I'd be on my knees pleading.
If you want Hands Off to happen, if you think I have done even the slightest bit towards evangelising this instrument we love so much, if I have answered a question for you, if I have amused, entertained or informed you, if I have ever given you something to think about then this is where we set the balance straight.
Together, we can succeed.
If you are planning to come, please, please, visit http://theremin.org.uk and put down your deposit right away. I understand that you want to hold onto your cash for a little while longer, but this is a very real, very practical way of showing your support and it WILL make a difference. I have people waiting to buy plane tickets from America, from Germany, from Switzerland and they need to know as soon as possible that it is going ahead.
If you are thinking of coming, decide [i]now[/i] that you will, and see the previous paragraph.
Whether you are able to come or not, you can make a difference. If you have a website, a blog, a podcast, if you are on a social network, if you are in the music business, if you have friends who might want to attend, then you can spread the word. You can reach people who want to know about this, and you can tell them it is going to be fantastic!
So please, choose right now to heed the call, and know that you are doing your bit to help a righteous cause.
Thank you.
Gordon Charlton
Here is the situation. A couple of weeks ago the arrangements for Hands Off 2007, The UK Theremin Symposium reached the most critical stage - the time where we could finally start accepting bookings. And, dammit! a really nasty 'flu virus laid me low. Not just that, but I did my back in at the same time. Either of these alone would have been majorly serious for a person with M.E. - together they were absolutely devastating. They forced me to slow down to a crawl, and use up whatever slack there was in the schedule. And then, just as I was starting to recover and had made the announcement, my wife's mother passed away. So I did what had to be done. I dosed myself up with pain killers and Red Bull, dragged myself out of my sickbed and stepped up to the plate for three days, knowing full well that I was undoing every minute of rest and recuperation and setting back my recovery by weeks. Family is important.
So here I am, back in a darkened room, blinded by migraines, reeling in agony and using whatever clearheaded moments I am afforded to continue the drive to raise awareness for the Symposium by whatever means I can. It is working - already we have about 15% of the number of bookings we need - but we need to step the pace up to make it work, to pull it back from the precipice on which it teeters. And we are going to make it work! We are NOT going to disappoint the entire theremin community. We are going to have the most amazing get-together imaginable and it is going to lead to more things in the future.
So I am calling in every favour. If I wasn't bed-bound I'd be on my knees pleading.
If you want Hands Off to happen, if you think I have done even the slightest bit towards evangelising this instrument we love so much, if I have answered a question for you, if I have amused, entertained or informed you, if I have ever given you something to think about then this is where we set the balance straight.
Together, we can succeed.
If you are planning to come, please, please, visit http://theremin.org.uk and put down your deposit right away. I understand that you want to hold onto your cash for a little while longer, but this is a very real, very practical way of showing your support and it WILL make a difference. I have people waiting to buy plane tickets from America, from Germany, from Switzerland and they need to know as soon as possible that it is going ahead.
If you are thinking of coming, decide [i]now[/i] that you will, and see the previous paragraph.
Whether you are able to come or not, you can make a difference. If you have a website, a blog, a podcast, if you are on a social network, if you are in the music business, if you have friends who might want to attend, then you can spread the word. You can reach people who want to know about this, and you can tell them it is going to be fantastic!
So please, choose right now to heed the call, and know that you are doing your bit to help a righteous cause.
Thank you.
Gordon Charlton
