Karaoke party funtimes!: seanan

Karaoke party funtimes!

Saturday night was my belated natal day celebration, wherein several* of us gathered at The Mint in San Francisco to get our karaoke on. Now, if you're going to get your karaoke on, The Mint is the place to do it. They have an incredibly large, diverse catalog of songs, and their resident KJ**, Frank, is a snarky miracle. Plus they have pear cider on tap. It's a perfect storm of karaoke awesome.

Because it was my birthday, Vixy actually flew out from Seattle on Friday night, and we were able to spend a good chunk of Saturday ambling around San Francisco. I showed her Toby's new neighborhood, and we ate lunch at the Phoenix. All was well. Our reservation was for six; we reached The Mint about ten minutes early, and secured our tables. Several people were already there, karaoke-ing away. Some of them were even sober.

The rest of our party trickled in by dibs and dabs; you never knew who was going to show up next. Naamen, for example, spent an hour at the wrong bar before he checked his email and realized he was in the wrong place. Oops.

Successful karaoke requires an odd mix of "taking it totally seriously" and "not taking it seriously at all." You either need to choose songs that sound good in your range, or songs that are utterly ridiculous, like our lengthy run of Disney standards (Kate's "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" was awesome). You need to have a sense of humor, but not clown it up so much that it hurts to watch you. Because we are a group of lunatics, we're very, very good at successful karaoke. Not all of us can sing, but we can all laugh at ourselves while still being PROFOUNDLY SERIOUS about the source of our laughter.

We sang rock. We sang country. We sang "Bohemian Rhapsody" en masse. Morgan claimed not to know Melissa Etheridge, so Kate did "Come to My Window"; Morgan allowed that she knew Melissa Etheridge after all. Morgan sang "The Final Countdown," and we were all kazoos. Vixy sang "Barracuda," and I watched all the drunk sorority girls hate her forever (it was adorable). Victor and Lara did "Istanbul," which was hysterical and amazing. Sunil sang "Dragula," JUST FOR ME. In short, we had a seven-hour karaoke party of karaoke party awesomeocity.

At one point, having already exhausted the songs that other people wanted me to sing ("When You're Good to Mama" for Kate, "Raise Your Glass" for Vixy), I decided to do "Independence Day," by Martina MacBride. Only I don't really know her version. I know Talis's version, which has less spousal abuse, and a lot more alien invasions. So I figured what the heck, if the scansion worked, I'd run with it.

The scansion worked. I ran with it. Turns out I know the whole thing! The drunk people looked confused, since they could tell I wasn't singing what was on the screen. The sober people cracked up. One nice man even came up to me after to tell me that I was his favorite performance of the night.

Kate and Morgan saw us out with a duet of "Don't Stop Believing" that got literally the entire bar singing, and then we all limped, exhausted, home.

And that was my karaoke party. We're going to do it again soon. Frank promised me he'd get the new Taylor Swift***, and I need to get my karaoke on.

(*The Mint is not a massive establishment, so "several" was defined by how much space we could successfully reserve. Another party had already reserved most of the seating area for their loud drunk bridal shower. In the balance of things, I wish we'd reserved first, but we live with what we get.)

(**Karaoke DJ. Basically, he's the guy who decides whether you get the song you asked for, or the obscure Swedish cover that's been pitch-shifted up an octave and shifted to a faster tempo. Be nice to your KJ. Tip your KJ.)

(***"I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling. She thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things.")

reedrover

January 23 2012, 20:04:16 UTC 5 years ago

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Thank you for posting such a smile today!
I like how you described the evening - you make the mundane a little richer, deeper, brighter.

seanan_mcguire

January 23 2012, 20:14:34 UTC 5 years ago

Aw, thanks. :)

aliciaaudrey

January 23 2012, 20:06:11 UTC 5 years ago

Did anybody sing McArthur Park? I must know. Every time we do a karaoke party someone must do McArthur Park and try to sell it like it's gold.

(I had a karaoke wedding reception for my civil wedding--as opposed to the big Fancy Religious Event that came two months later. It was much more fun than the Big Fancy Religious Event, even though I can't sing. I still managed to impress everybody by reciting, without looking at the screen, all of "One Night in Bangkok."

January 23 2012, 20:12:33 UTC 5 years ago

I suppose I should add that by "someone" I usually mean "my husband", who has both a fantastic singing voice and an epic capacity for ham.

5 years ago

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bookzombie

January 23 2012, 20:06:16 UTC 5 years ago

The only time I do karaoke is once a year at the pre-Wiscon session. My favourite comment after a performance (reported by my wife,

pennski) was after doing The Eagles' 'Desperado'. I quote: 'British guys should sing American country more often. It's really funny!'. I absolutely see that as a complement!

Oh, and I got a round of applause once for being able to hold the high note in Bowie's 'Life on Mars'...:-)

January 23 2012, 20:15:05 UTC 5 years ago

That's awesome!

serge_lj

January 23 2012, 20:11:19 UTC 5 years ago

"Bohemian Rhapsody"?
The Muppet version, or Freddy Mercury's?

January 23 2012, 20:15:12 UTC 5 years ago

The original.

ravnsdaughter

January 23 2012, 20:34:35 UTC 5 years ago

Happy Belated Birthday!!

That sounds like an awesome way to spend a birthday. I love karaoke and never get to do it anymore because none of my friends like it. I can just imagine how epic karaoke would be with people who are professional/semi-professional singers. :)

January 23 2012, 20:39:13 UTC 5 years ago

We are definitely epic in our silliness. If you're ever around when we're getting our karaoke on, you should come.

tattercoats

January 23 2012, 20:37:23 UTC 5 years ago

You sang my song! Well, mine and Martina's. Not that she knows anything about it, of course. But Ooooooh... that delights me hugely - very glad it worked for you and that the words came easily to your tongue. I haven't sung it myself in ages. Sounds like a very Seanan-ish birthday,and well-deserved! Good stuff!

January 23 2012, 20:39:57 UTC 5 years ago

I did! And it was both fun and easy, although oof that chorus. It's a belter, or a fail.

Your lyrics are even more brilliant than I thought, you know; they fit so flawlessly to the original that I didn't flub once.

yellowblackhaze

January 23 2012, 21:23:59 UTC 5 years ago

What a great birthday party! Sounds like a hoot! Wish I could sing :(.

January 25 2012, 18:16:20 UTC 5 years ago

Singing skill is not required.

martianmooncrab

January 23 2012, 21:27:36 UTC 5 years ago

Karaoke to me is drunk Japanese businessmen singing "Eye of the Tiger" in Japanese.

January 25 2012, 18:16:33 UTC 5 years ago

That's karaoke to a great many people.

sdelmonte

January 23 2012, 21:36:36 UTC 5 years ago

Belated happy birthday!

I did karaoke once at a staff holiday party. For years people wanted a repeat performance, and I wanted them to bring it back so I could drag Batya to the party and sing a duet with her. Alas, it's never returned.

ladymondegreen

January 24 2012, 15:55:55 UTC 5 years ago

You know, we could just go to a karaoke bar at some point for one of our birthdays. I know a place.

tikiera

January 23 2012, 21:47:29 UTC 5 years ago

now i am wishing i had heard the alien invasion independence day. :)

happy belated birthday.

karoke is of the good. :)

archangelbeth

January 23 2012, 22:33:03 UTC 5 years ago

Amen. And Hoppy Beladen Birdy as well!

biguglymandoll

January 24 2012, 00:07:13 UTC 5 years ago

That whole evening sounds awesome - and you had me at "Toby's new neighborhood" !!! I won't ask, but I can't wait! Great that you make time for the fun things!

January 25 2012, 18:22:06 UTC 5 years ago

If I don't, people show up with ropes.

asphaltangel

January 24 2012, 00:13:00 UTC 5 years ago

That sounds AWESOME!!!

January 25 2012, 18:22:13 UTC 5 years ago

It rocked.

erinwrites

January 24 2012, 01:21:17 UTC 5 years ago

I so wish y'all didn't live so far away... <3

January 25 2012, 18:22:21 UTC 5 years ago

I do, too.

batyatoon

January 24 2012, 01:22:01 UTC 5 years ago

Happy belated birthday!

Man, someday I would love to karaoke with you.

January 24 2012, 15:56:30 UTC 5 years ago

This would be really big fun.

Alas for distance.

peachtales

January 24 2012, 01:43:23 UTC 5 years ago

Sounds absolutely excellent. :)

January 25 2012, 18:22:42 UTC 5 years ago

It was a good time. :)

vincentursus

January 24 2012, 02:29:04 UTC 5 years ago

Better Than Revenge is a great song. I'd like to hear someone eviler-seeming than Taylor Swift sing it.

Glad you had a good birthday party.

January 25 2012, 18:22:57 UTC 5 years ago

I do that song quite well, thank you. :)

Deleted comment

January 26 2012, 15:27:17 UTC 5 years ago

AWESOME.

biteybatgirl

January 24 2012, 05:24:52 UTC 5 years ago

Me and Grissom sent belated Happy Birthday wishes your way!

January 26 2012, 15:27:24 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you!

cleothyla

January 24 2012, 05:33:41 UTC 5 years ago

Happy belated birthday. My favorite Karaoke is "The Rose". But it sounds like you had a blast and that is what is important.

January 26 2012, 15:27:32 UTC 5 years ago

I did!

denelian

January 24 2012, 09:16:38 UTC 5 years ago

mad, i miss being a KJ. i've had a LOT of jobs, but that was my absolute favorite.

and it sounds as if you all know the PROPER way to karaoke, and the REAL karaoke rules! yay! i knew you were the awesomest new awesome UF writer! [no, really - you are my FAVORITE writer of the dozens of new writers i've found in the past couple of years]

January 24 2012, 09:19:22 UTC 5 years ago

and how did i hit "enter" without the following? the traditional BDay song for my family...

"Hippo birdie 2 ewes!" [pic: a hippo, a bird, 2 female sheep]
"Hippo birdie 2 ewes!" [pic: a hippo, a bird, 2 female sheep]
"hippo birdie deer ewe!" [pic: a hippo, a bird, a deer, a female sheep]
"hippo birdie 2 ewes!" [pic: a hippo, a bird, 2 female sheep]

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