Karaoke Fun

“What’s the next song?” I ask my friend Darell Lim while I sit in a small room that’s about 8 feet by 10 feet. Seconds later, out from the speakers sitting on-top of 2 shelves in the front corners, the popular Romanian song “Dragostea Din Tei” starts pulsing at a steady rhythm. It would only be a few seconds before I would start jumping up and down and singing up and down. My friend Darrell Kim was on the second microphone. We started singing “Mai ah hi, Mai ah ho, mai ah hoo, mai ah haha.” We sang the rest of the song without shame. Afterall, the door was closed, and there were only 2 other people the small karaoke room. Were we drunk? No. We each had two shots of cold Sake three hours before our final musical performance.

Karaoke, as we are familiarized with it today, was invented in the 1970s and is popular amongst Asian bars and American bars. The term Karaoke comes from the Japanese words Kara and Okesutora, meaning empty and orchestra, respectively. The karaoke machine was invented by Daisuke Inoue in 1971. However, he had never used a karaoke machine until his 59th birthday in 1999. There are still debates whether Inoue was the true inventor of karaoke machine. The machine became popular very rapidly. Karaoke is now more than a $10 billion a year business, which includes machines, karaoke lounges and bars, and competitions.

Saturday night was not my first time doing karaoke, nor was it my first time singing in front of other people. I performed bands for five years and in choirs for five and a half years prior to my random karaoke adventure.

The problem with singing karaoke for me is that my vocal range is in the Bass/Baritone register while many male artists have a more tenor range, which is higher than I can manage on most singing opportunities. I’m “ashamed” to call myself a singer after my great adventure at the Karaoke. And my music instructors might be very disappointed in my decline in talent.

Before singing “Dragostea din Tei” I took the opportunity to work on my rap skills. I had selected one of my favorite Linkin Park rap-rock songs “In the End.” I found this song much easier than the other songs I had performed earlier and later that night. My friend Sammy managed to get a hold of my camera and tape me. My friend, Rose Marcaida, backed me up in the more lyrical parts of the song while I took on the more challenging rap. The challenge was in the pace of the rap. But that still didn’t deter me from trying. None the less, we ended up having a great time together.

The whole point of doing karaoke is for entertainment and for good friend and family fun, which is what I really got out of it. I would do Karaoke again if I know it’s going to be as much fun as it was that night. Being with friends, and embarrassing ourselves is only one key element to being happy. Karaoke is just one way to do that. I can’t wait for the next time the four of us go back out and embarrass ourselves in front of each other.

Hairy Situation

(Picture 1 from a few years ago. Picture 2 taken a minute before posting.)

If you don’t already know, I got a haircut 2 Fridays ago. Big shocker, no? It is. I did it to please my parents. Really, it was a win-win situation. See, my parents always want me to get a hair cut. Now they know that they technically have no control over me and my hairy decisions, but they love being persuasive. It’s their nature. So I finally decided to give in during my Thanksgiving break and get my cut. They won. They got their son to get a haircut. I won as well though. See… I had all week to get my hair cut, I could’ve gone before Thanksgiving. But I decided not to. I decided to go with my long, semi fixed hair to our family thanksgiving dinner. And damn I looked good. I decided to wait, till black Friday to get about 2 inches cut off. That’s a lot of hair. Enough to make my head feel reasonably lighter.

So why don’t I cut my hair every month like a lot of people do? Why do I wait 3-6 months before I go into the salon? I love my messy hair. It makes me somewhat unique. When I’m back home, I like getting up in the morning and scaring my mother and father with my messy hair.

It keeps me warm during the fall and winter seasons. As I was walking out of the hair parlor last Friday, the breeze blew through my hair and gave me chills that I normally don’t feel when I have a full head of hair. I was cold. Not even my hat could protect me from the cold breeze. Hair is designed to keep one’s head from getting cold. It is also designed to project a person from getting a sunburn on their scalp. So hair is a good thing. So why hack it off? Why even fix it? To look nice? Albert Einstein had messy hair. Teenage heartthrob Robert Pattinson has messy hair. And they both pull it off. Even glamorous women artists such as the sexy Paulina Rubio and sexy Shakira have wild hair that makes them look good. Granted, lately Shakira’s hair has been more tamed lately, unlike her videos. Maybe I don’t pull it off as suave as they do but I really don’t care. People say presentation is key, and I agree. But

I also save money. I did the math and depending on where I go, a SuperCuts or California Cuts, I would be spending $180 to $240 a year on hair cuts. This is based on a monthly haircut. By only getting a haircut 3-4 times a year, I only spend $45-$80. I save about $100-$195 a year! That’s a hair load of money. In this economic crisis, haircuts should be a luxury. With the money I save I have more to buy food with and do other stuff I love, even buying hats.

So if you want to know when I will get my next haircut, so you don’t seem so surprised, it will happen somewhere between the end of February and the end of March or early April.

Time to literally MOVE on

All my life I have lived in beautiful California. Not always lived in the Bay Area but always in California. I was born in So Cal and spent several great years there, many of which I don't remember. My move to the North Bay was a fairly easy transition for me. I have pretty much lived here my whole life. I made wonderful friends, had wonderful opportunities and experiences. I've lived in 2 of the most beautiful places in California. I was given the great opportunity to go to San Francisco State University and be part of amazing journalism program. I know that it's a state school and the school has many flaws, but the program's amazing, and I don't care what other people say, I love them both.

However, as much as all this has been given to me, I am not completely happy anymore. That's not to say that I was ever completely happy. Who is? i know the Vulcans aren't but they are Vulcans. They show no emotion. Times have changed, friends have grown apart and unfortunately I feel this way about many of my closest friends. I know this is part of growing up. I know that after high school, it's never the same. I don't have a job, I'm working on getting my licenses (driving and skydiving... :D), I don't have a girlfriend.

It's time to move on. Some of my friends have been given other opportunities to move on and they've take it. I'm going to make or find an opportunity to move on, and take it. I still have a year or so to graduate. And will probably take a few months to work and save up money for my big move. For now, I will finish my degree and enjoy the beauty of San Francisco and Santa Rosa.

Stay tuned for my next post, hopefully tomorrow. I will be talking about my hair.