Go Shorty

DATE: 06/09/2003 11:25:44 AM

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My birthday ended up being a lot of fun.  Dave and Ashley planned it, and I had no idea what we were doing and who would be showing up.  A lot of people were out of town, but a lot of people weren't.  We went to a barbecue place in the East Village.  Daina and Andrew showed up, which was a pleasant surprise since I don't get to hang out with them often; I ate ribs (of course).  

We then went to karaoke at Planet Rose in the Village.  It was a single-room, first-come-first-serve placce ($2 per song).  They had the best selection of karaoke music I've ever seen.  They had a ton of modern hip-hop and r&b, including 50-Cent, Eminem (5 songs) and Jay-Z (3 songs).  They had about 20 U2 songs and five or so Stone Temple Pilots songs, including Plush (which I've never seen at a karaoke place before).  They even had four Coldplay songs, some Radiohead songs and Pearl Jam stuff from Riot Act.  Of course they had all the classic karaoke songs as well, from Blister In the Sun to Sweet Caroline.  

The downside was that because it was first-come first-serve, any tool could come in, select about 15 shitty karaoke songs and sing them incredibly badly.  This is exactly what happened; thanks to this guy and the bar's unwillingness to at least juggle the list of singers slightly, we had to listen to this hack over and over through the course of the night.  Don't get me wrong - I don't mind when people sing a song badly.  I DO mind when people don't at least choose a catchy song to sing.  Who wants to listen to a boring, relatively-unknown song performed horribly?  Here's a little tip: no songs by The Who at a karaoke bar!  They're a fine band, but that's the wrong scene.  Thanks to this jackoff, some of my friends had to leave before we were done singing.

Before I started, Dave told me the group was going to choose some songs that I wouldn't choose, and I would have to go along with it.  I agreed.  Here are the songs I did:

Justin Timberlake, "Rock your Body".  This was my first personal choice.  For anyone who thinks I'm a total musical elitist after the <a href="http://www.mbanefo.org/archives/000109.asp">Rap Rants</a>, this should shatter that misconception.  I actually like this song a lot; it sounds like a '70's Michael Jackson tune.  A bachelorette party asked me to sing to the bride-to-be, so I obliged without going overboard.

Glenn Lewis, "Don't You Forget It."  This is one of the few modern r&b songs I like; it sounds just like Stevie Wonder, but not as good - therefore, I was able to sing it.  Though most people don't know it, at least it's catchy.

Coldplay, "Yellow".  No, it' wasn't my idea.  Dave secretly put this song in for me - a sly jab on his part.  Regular readers of Obsidian Potency <a href="http://www.mbanefo.org/archives/000109.asp">know how much I dislike this song</a>, but I sang it nonetheless.  When I was done, I turned to my friends and said, "You motherfuckers!"  It was funny.

Ashley, Joyce and I sang "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, with a random guy stealing the mc for a bit.

Aerosmith, "Jaded".  My voice was shot by this point from liquor and singing, so I had to falsetto a lot.  Most people didn't notice, but it was painful.

Stone Temple Pilots, "Plush".  My final selection, this is one of my favorite songs, and I am good at singing it, so I didn't even really look at the screen.  

There is a rumor that someone wanted me to sing "One Minute Man" by Missy Elliott.  FYI, I wouldn't have gone along with that - not because of the subject matter, but because it would have come off more gay than funny.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

You can view photos of all this debauchery <a href="http://www.ofoto.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Um=82530216403.56951741903&Un=55765616&Upost_signin=BrowsePhotos.jsp%3FshowSlide%3Dtrue&UV=727202443786_16602741903">right here</a>.  VIEW THE SLIDESHOW if you look at the pictures.  The captions make the pictures funnier.

The next day was Six Flags, so I guess I'll have to continue this later...    

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