Monday, May 25, 2009

And We Were Glowing Like the Metal on the Edge of a Knife

A couple of things converged to make this Saturday just about as ridiculous as it could get. First, our friend Dexter of Degrees of Grey blog started working at a dive bar called Kandyland. Apparently, it has a new owner who is trying to class up the joint a little, and is adding bands and karaoke to bring in more cultured and varied patrons. Second, I've never done karaoke before, and I suggested that we check out the Saturday night karaoke, with the extra added bonus of harassing Dexter at work.

The end result was pure idiocy...In a good way. If you've never done karaoke before, (and it seems I'm the only human on the planet who hasn't) you pore over a huge book of song titles to find the very best Def Leppard song in there. (well, at least if you're A., you do)

We had a few bumps in our fun road. Namely, super creeeepeeee, furry, toothless guys who were also WAY too friendly.

My friend J. here was very, very nice and agreed to dance with said furry, toothless creeper. If there is one thing I learned all those years tending bar, is that it doesn't generally pay to be too nice. So, in that spirit, I made a huge point to document the event. As you can see, J. really appreciated the gesture.

I was a little shy to actually get up on stage and sing at first. As I've said before, I'm fine dorking out all over the place, but please, please, please don't make me get up on stage, or I might just freak out.

This woman here? She rocked all of our faces off. A Facebook friend of mine told me that this is her thing. She actually wins contests and stuff.

Here is a photo of me "turning myself around and accidently wrapping the microphone cord around myself. Poor K. didn't know what the hell to think.

After I had my two beers, I was finally ready to get on stage with my friend K. and sing the "Hokey Pokey". I think the idea was that it would be so dorky and funny and I'd get caught up doing the dance, that I wouldn't be quite so nervous. Of course, we didn't account for my gracelessness. Suddenly, I was Jerry Lewis, calling out for Dean.

Right after that, A. got up to sing another song. This time, he traded Def Leppard in for the Eurythmics. At some point, my friend G. and I thought he needed a little help. By the time we got through, we needed to change the lyrics to "Nightmares are made of this..."

Right before we left, four of us got up to sing, "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights". We thought it would be funny for girls to sing it to other girls, and as far as we were concerned, it was. K.'s boyfriend A, took the camera and got all artsy on us. He took a bunch of pictures of us looking like the freaky people in the movie Jacob's Ladder. It was kind of fitting, actually.

The time finally came for us to leave our new found creepy, furry toothless friends and head back to the Dublin Underground. By the end of the night, we were sufficiently tired, sweaty and fresh out of shame. In other words, it was a perfect night.

13 comments:

laura b. said...

What an outstanding evening! You can count me among the rare few who have never done karaoke. If I'd known about the potential for collecting toofless, furry fans, I'm sure I would have tried it :-)

Ananda girl said...

Oh that looks like fun! No one in their right mind would allow me to sing karaoke.

Hey... I know I've danced with that harry toothless guy, who is also quite the groper if I recall correctly... or maybe his relative.
lol (That's what happens to us people who are too nice to creepy folk.)

I thought I was the only person alive who had seen Jacob's Ladder. ha. You continue to amaze me Churlita!

Poptart said...

I've never done karaoke either! Churl, I LOVE how you think the dancing around like an awesome maniac, maniac everywhere is NOT being on stage. Love it.

em for mighty said...

i havent done karaoke in public--YET! i have done it as a vid-ya game in a friend's basement. sober even (i was pregnant). i was thinking i was really rocking until i got beat by a friend while trying to sing madness's "our house." turns out i can't hit the notes on that one.
one day i will brave the sad furry man possibility & go to a karaoke bar.

Chance said...

Sounds fun. But,....but...

I've never done karaoke beforeThat is not something that I thought would be true. I... I thought I knew you.

Johnny Yen said...

Glad you had a chance to get out and cut loose! You certainly deserve it! Glad you steered clear of the toothless townies!

We love our karaoke here at the Yen household! My brother-in-law in Minnesota has a nice set-up, and we alway karaoke when we visit my wife's family in Minneapolis. A couple of years ago, I got my stepdaughter a karaoke machine for her birthday. I inevitably give in to requests for me to do "Brandy, You're a Fine Girl" and "I Left My Heart In San Francisco."

Churlita said...

LauraB.,

ha ha. I think it all depends on where you're doing your karaoke. I bet you could find a nicer bar and attract a higher class of people.

Ananda,

I've seen almost every weird movie ever made.

From what my friends said, you were right about the groping...

Poptart,

Ssshhhh. I'm happy living in denial. if I thought I was on stage, I'd never be able to dance around again. Although, my friends would probably be happier.

Mighty Jo,

You should try it. It's pretty darn fun to take over a bar with your friends and belt out some songs.

Chance,

Yeah. It does seem odd, doesn't it? I guess I'm full of surprises.

Johnny Yen,

I make it a habit to steer clear of toothless townies.

That's great that you have a karaoke machine at your house. How fun.

Tara said...

Songs from The Eurythmics are so much fun to sing anywhere - car, shower, karaoke...anywhere.

That all looks like so much fun, even the cord tangling issue. :)

Susan said...

Me and karaoke have a very interesting past...

Pamela said...

Great! And at the end, you can see your hair getting curly...

Pamela said...

Oh, and creepy guy, no WAY would I ever dance with him... your friend is a much better person than me.

Dixie said...

Churlita-

I never read your blog before tonight, but this was too much. I can't handle karaoke because my singing voice is seriously offensive, but all my Filipina/o relatives are all into it-I think you have to be if you are Filipino. It's fun to watch.

The photos of the bar creeps are bad-ass.

:)

Unknown said...

Thanks again for coming down and saving the evening for me.