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Friday Night Karaoke 11-6-2009

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:42:18 GMT

Been a while since I did one of these, and I don't believe I've ever done it literally right after the show, so for a bit of novelty let's get right to business.

I sang:

Stacy's Mom -- Fountains of Wayne
You don't love me anymore -- Weird Al Yankovic
Voodoo -- Godsmack
She's Got Issues -- The Offspring
Hey Jealousy -- Gin Blossoms
The Saga Begins -- Weird Al Yankovic (Weird Al Rule)

My dad tried to set up a second Weird Al Rule with Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. Unfortunately the show ended before I could follow up with Weird Al's Achy Breaky Song.

What's something you couldn't live without and why?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:11:14 GMT

Oxygen. Mmm...Oxygen.

I just answered this ~~Stupid~~Featured Question (because I've been too lazy to give you a real post for a bit;) you can answer it too! I mean, if you're into that kind of thing.

I can more readily have fun sober than drunk.

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:30:49 GMT

Drinkers will talk about their imbibing of poison as if it's either a necessary step towards having fun or as if it at least facilitates the process. For them that may well be the case, and if so it's likely part of the problem.

I'll admit that my own experience is limited. I've been drunk probably once in my entire life, and the total time I've spent buzzed is less worth figuring out than worth mentioning.

Even so, I think just one time with the experience is enough to begin to evaluate it.

Being drunk is like being ill -- you're physically and mentally out of sorts. Nothing works like it's supposed to, whether it's your speech center or your erectile tissue. I simply can't fathom this state being considered pleasant, or in any way useful (unless you're looking to sleep.)

And then you have to consider the sorts of things I consider fun. Most are intellectually or physically demanding, and the fun comes in confronting the challenge and overcoming it. Drinking just makes that harder, while simultaneously suppressing my ability to appreciate it, which definitely limits the already dubious appeal of using intoxication as a handicap.

So I simply can't fathom drunkenness as an avenue toward or a measure of a good time. How about you?

I am an African-American

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:22:44 GMT

My ancestors first became anatomically modern perhaps one or four hundred thousand years ago in Africa. Perhaps fifty thousand years ago, the bulk of them left Africa, at some point arriving in Europe and the British Isles, where they helped to outcompete existing populations of more robust hominids through technological and cultural creativity and perhaps a little dumb luck. As much as three and perhaps four hundred years ago, some of them set sail on wooden ships, eventually arriving on the American continents where they helped establish first colonies and then an independent nation that grew into a world power. Others arrived later by all manner of conveyance. Perhaps some had been here already, having previously been Asian. Some may have had more recent African origins. All could trace their lineage to Africa.

In the course of this history, my ancestors have been rich and poor. They have been white and black. They have been Africans, Europeans, Germans, Welshmen, Irishmen, Rhode Islanders, Canadians, and many other things I'm sure I know nothing about.

Today I am a poor, unemployed American that through the power of science am able to know and claim my African origins. Since there is no statute of limitations on African-ness, I therefore hope to join with the rest of my nation in recognizing and celebrating that we are all African-Americans.

The time of a crime

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:11:57 GMT

I would like to request a moment of silence in recognition of lives and liberties lost on this date.

The Karaoke That Was

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:18:33 GMT

Friday's set list:

You May Be Right -- Billy Joel
Cumbersome -- Seven Mary Three
(With Anthony)One Night In Bangkok -- Murray Head
Hungry Like the Wolf -- Duran Duran
Blue on Black -- Kenny Wayne Shepherd
(Weird Al Rule)The Saga Begins -- Weird Al Yankovic

The Weird Al Rule was provoked by a set of newcomers who (as a bonus) hadn't heard The Saga Begins before. Had them in stitches. That turned out to be the last song of the night, and I had to beg Melissa to let me skip the rotation to get it in.

It was a good night. Blue on Black went better than it had before. I'm improving on One Night in Bangkok as well.

I'm pretty much over my cold, which is a good thing since I enjoy breathing.

In EVE news, I am flying a Titan. Pics soon.

Friday Night Karaoke...

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:20:57 GMT

...Happened on Friday Night. This being Sunday, I'm going to be lucky to remember what I sang. High School associate and karaoke virgin(?) Erik (of the Boom Squad) joined us for the evening and a good time was had by all. My cold is clearing up, but not altogether gone. Fortunately my voice survived the night.

I Alone -- LIVE
Stacy's Mom -- Fountains of Wayne
Everlong -- Foo Fighters
Rio -- Duran Duran

Obama is going to take your guns away.

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:12:29 GMT

I have to give kudos to one group of people for all they've done to stimulate the American economy. It truly shows that useful action can come from the private sector. I am talking, of course, about the American firearms industry. With a failing economy in late 2008, these people didn't simply wring their hands and wait for the new presidential administration to come around and fix it, no! They leaped into action.

Immediately, you'd see signs everywhere. At the WalMart. At your neighborhood gun shop. On the internets. And what did they all say?

This is the brilliant part of the strategy. They didn't say "buy our guns and ammo, they're awesome." Completely unlike a conventional advertisement, they struck at their customers' most powerful motivating emotion: fear (or...was that racism? No? We'll go with fear.) The signs said "Obama is going to take your guns away!" These looked like straightforward campaigning from the usual nutball groups, like the NRA and the National Republican Party, but when the election ended and the signs stayed up and the Wal-Marts emptied (of guns and ammo, if nothing else) their true meaning became clear. The purpose of this Big Lie was to sell guns.

Weapon and ammunition sales exploded even as the economy continued to show the strain from nearly a decade of disasterous mismanagement. Prices soared. Slowly the Wal-Marts were re-stocked, and still the ammo flew off the shelves. The idiot population of America was insatiable.

The signs still stand. Every once in a while, a poll drifts across Facebook to scare you into thinking there's a universal handgun ban coming. And the universal handgun ban? Nowhere in sight. There's no movement. There's no bill. There's no conversation. This just isn't an issue. The Supreme Court even recently struck down the long-standing DC handgun ban. Obama doesn't even support federal gun-control, even if he has supported it at the state level in the past.

So thanks to America's gun-sellers, gun-makers, and gun-nuts for doing your part to stimulate the economy. I can only hope that history looks kindly upon you for your contribution.

In sickness and in... Karaoke.

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:57:35 GMT

My brother dragged something home last week, a nasty chest cold packaged with a good bit of chest congestion. For me, it also came packaged with muscle pain and weakness, though that could have just been from all the coughing (or the attempt to supress it.) I started showing symptoms around Wednesday and by Friday I was pretty miserable. I almost didn't go to Karaoke.

A little psedudoephedrine hydrochloride and a little ibuprofen combined with the realisation that I could still sing (though I'd have to take it easy) got me through (most of) the night (I got there an hour after the show started) and despite a pair of fairly loud party tables, I got in the following set-list. Or at least, so my flawed, squishy biological brain recalls.

Runaway Train -- Soul Asylum
Friday I'm In Love -- The Cure
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me -- Billy Joel
Stupify -- Disturbed

And yes, with the exception of that last one, that all counts as "going easy." Why yes, I am awesome. Thanks for noticing. :P

I am recovering from the cold. Pretty much down to sniffles, a much milder cough, and a general malaise.

In other news, I managed to miss two appointments with my physician in part because of trying to deal with WSU's bureacracy. Class (which I'm attending because my Mom swore she'd pay for it somehow and not to worry about it) starts....today, and I still have a class I'm not signed up for because of a stupid university policy that I made a successful run around for which I haven't finished processing the paperwork. God I love bureacracy!

Swimming

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:36:25 GMT

There has been something missing in my life for a number of years now, but I decided that I would not let another summer go past without going for a swim at Richland's George Prout Memorial Pool. Some years ago, they closed it down for a remodel, and I hadn't been back since. I was an avid swimmer in my youth but somehow I just got out of the habit. It'd actually been so long since I went swimming that I can't distinctly remember the last time.

So with few days left in the season, I decided to schlep on down there today and give it a try. It was...weird. I was one of a very few adults (most of which were supervising their kids) in a pool pretty much filled up with kids. I was a little embarassed, but since I consider swimming to be a fully appropriate adult activity, I headed right into the pool.

It was a good workout, I got a good burn going without inflicting pain or injury or really breathing very hard or tiring myself out. Swimming is a more or less perfect exercise. Since the water is both boyant and resisting, swimming is essentially zero-impact and it works all kinds of muscles. I clearly need to do this more often, though I will probably have to pick up a club membership to do any swimming after public pool season.

After an hour or so I was compelled to get out -- and I was surprised by my own weight. I don't think I weighed over 300lb the last time I was in a pool, and transitioning from bouyant pseudo-weightlessness to having to stand up under my full weight was a little taxing, but I managed well enough.