Post #500: Karaoke!

ka·ra·o·ke /kar-ee-oh-kee] –noun- an act of singing along to a music video, esp. one from which the original vocals have been electronically eliminated.

I have now reached 500 posts, in just over 10 months of writing The Mighty Quinn Media Machine. My 500th post will be about a fun night I had after watching the Patriots win: karaoke.

My friends suggested I join them for a trip to a karaoke bar on 17th Street called "Karaoke One 7." After some initial reluctance, I decided to do it. I've been there before, and it's usually a fun night.

The bar wasn't crowded, and we got there just before 10 PM. Whenever I'm there, I am amazed at how good my friends are at it. (My pal Gareth was really good, and I told him should try to revive his musical career. And my friend Rhonda's also really good, even doing a version of an Eminem song with great passion.)

The first time I did it, I sang, "Dirty Water" by The Standells and got into it so much that I nearly destroyed my voice, and my throat hurt for two days afterwards. So I have to take it easy when I do it.

This time, there was one song I really wanted to take a shot at. I did "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel. It has so many lyrics, and it quick-fire style, that by the end of it, was physically exhausted. I'm no singer by any stretch of the imagination, but it was really fun to do.

My friend Alan dedicated a version of "Creep" by Radiohead to a missing friend, our buddy Adam, who moved back to his home state of Maine last year. He was usually with us on karaoke nights, and he was always such a great karaoke singer. I once dubbed him, "Mr. Karaoke". It was strange him not being there, but Adam was definitely there in spirit.

I concluded the night there with doing another version of "Dirty Water" in honor of the Patriots win and the upcoming Red Sox season. I took it easy and my throat's fine today!

Years ago, I never thought I could ever get into something like karaoke, but it's really fun, even if you can't sing and are afraid you'll make a fool of yourself. But I had a blast...