So I’m starting a new endeavor called the Infinite Garage Project. I’m going to sell 35 years of my parents (and my) belongings over the next 365 days, out of our giant 3 car garage. More of an explanation here.

We accumulated a ton of crap over the years, including karaoke Laserdiscs and players. But I’m glad that at least now I’m using all the stuff to create a narrative of objects, helping me uncover a personal history of my parents. Here’s more on family karaoke, in case you don’t hear family singing on this blog!

My BFF Emily told me of a transcendent experience. KARAOKE NAILS on Mott and Grand in Chinatown, NY. I don’t think it happens daily, but this one Chinese salon hosts Karaoke Nails day, where their tagline (I kid you not) is “Harmonize While Your Nails Dry.” GENUIS. This is an amazing business model that should be global megachain catering to vocal ladies (and men) around the world!

And it’s a merging of so many worlds too. Asian own nail salons AND karaoke machines. I have to go to town next month for a wedding and this is the first place I’m hitting when I train in from JFK.

Here are Emily and Paige (the lovely model on the back cover of my book) singing “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”

Black lights, neon, and multiple lyrics screens inside a cab? When I get to Austin for SXSW for next week’s the karaoke panel, I’m going to have to hail this car down for the ride of my life. Austin’s “Land Yacht” as owner Scott Powell calls it is equipped with 30,000 songs of all genres and drives UT Austin students around on the weekends probably because they are all drunk.

He’s watched riders’ taste in music change through his years of cab-driving. Sorority girls seem to pick a lot of Journey songs, he said. The most popular genres in the cab are rap, R&B and hip-hop. Although he names James Taylor as his favorite artist, Powell said he enjoys all of those genres, as well.

From the Daily Texan via cousin Liren.

Is it that they’re singing Wicked or that they’re live action? Kristin Chenoweth eat your heart out…

Via Patrick on Google Reader.

Sometimes you just need to recharge the batteries in your karaoke mic. Took a mid-winter sabbatical to Florida and it was delightful. I got to swim with manatees in Crystal River on the west coast. Hundreds of them snuggle together in the hot spring during the winter, and I was able to snuggle in between them! They’re so giant (1-2 tons) that it was like swimming with dinosaurs. But they’re friendly like dogs! Still haven’t decided if they are ugly or cute. I guess they are more jolie laid.

Also experienced the one of the most beautiful things — the last evening space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral. Thanks to my friend’s brother who works at Boeing, we were able to get access to the bleachers reserved for NASA VIP. We waited from 2-4am in the cold, watching the countdown clock, hoping that the clouds would clear since they had scrapped the launch the previous night due to weather. But it was worth it. A sonic boom across the sky, a blinding rocket of light, and lift-off.

We also went to Disney World Magic Kingdom, the inferior Disneyland and did some globetrotting at Epcot. The Magic Kingdom is a dry land but we were glad that Epcot with it’s global influence had a variety of booze from all around the world. There’s oddly no karaoke in Japan, so Epcot still has some homework to do.

My most fave Epcot land was Morocco, with it’s mosaic tiles and quiet courtyards. But I had a special place in my heart for Italy, just because it had the fourth Venice I’ve been to this year— including the real one, the Venetian Vegas, and the Venetian canals at the Villagio mall in Qatar. It’s a sign that I need to make a Venice pilgrimage every year.

It’s powerful enough to cause people to remove it from their songbooks. And trigger people to kill.

“The trouble with ‘My Way,’ ” said Mr. Gregorio, “is that everyone knows it and everyone has an opinion.”

Others, noting that other equally popular tunes have not provoked killings, point to the song itself. The lyrics, written by Paul Anka for Mr. Sinatra as an unapologetic summing up of his career, are about a tough guy who “when there was doubt,” simply “ate it up and spit it out.” Butch Albarracin, the owner of Center for Pop, a Manila-based singing school that has propelled the careers of many famous singers, was partial to what he called the “existential explanation.”

“ ‘I did it my way’ — it’s so arrogant,” Mr. Albarracin said. “The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you’re somebody when you’re really nobody. It covers up your failures. That’s why it leads to fights.”

More fascinating is that in the Philippines, karaoke bar employ gay men as the “guest relations officers” to mediate disputes between male patrons. They’re neutral forces because they don’t compete for female attention.

Via NYT.

The Poo Families

Scott Louie just had to do it.

Ever want to know where the people with your surname live? Type it in here and you can see biggest concentration of your clan.

The Lee Families

“Lee” might be concentrated in California and New York, but the key is to enter something other than what you’d think is a name. For instance, people with the last name “Karaoke” live in California, Oregon, and Florida but mostly Hawaii. There must be some powerful singers there if they’re brave enough to make “Karaoke” their last name.

The Karaoke Families

Via Real Tomato.

Karaoke Around the World: Global Technology, Local Singing but at $160 I’d rather experience a few nights of debauchery instead. Like this one:

However, the very global chapter titles include “Karaoke in Italy,” “Swedish forms of karaoke,” and “Karaoke and Middle Aged Woman in Japan.” Dying to know!

Truly the city that never sleeps, Vegas the place for unabashed celebration or sad song crooning. If you’re heading over to Vegas anytime soon, check out the low-key karaoke at the Imperial Palace, which I heard about on Karaoke Scene’s radio show. Like any gambling, buffer mongering Chinese family, that’s where we were headed for the holidays. I dragged my aunt and cousins through the maze– up a side escalator and through the aisle of Dealtertainers, celebrity impersonating dealers who perform Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, and Lady Gaga– to get there.
The IP lounge is a cozy corner on the second floor where they serve $5 pitchers. You peruse the songbooks on the back wall and sit at one of the high cocktail tables. I’m sure Vegas hosts some great locals haunts, but the IP is for out of towners and is conveniently located on the strip. It’s the place to go be when you lose your big bucks at the Bellagio and to mingle with the common people.

On the Wednesday we went, the average song wait time wasn’t bad– about 30 minutes. On stage, you have a coatrack of props such as boas and cowboy hats that give you that extra flair when you’re singing Garth Brookes. My family took full advantage of this because we like to accessorize.

And take shots, as a family.

Here’s this rowdy Filipino family who sat next to us. They told us we were honorary Filipino because we could sing. Thanks guys!

Not that I need it to be Christmas to sing my fave karaoke song, All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey, but this seemed to go over well at the bar. Check out my Star Wars T-shirt dress from H&M which is favorite karaoke outfit right now.