KOBE, JAPAN
Does wearing a surgical mask while singing karaoke decrease infections?
The swine flu has come as an unexpected benefit to some karaoke parlors in Japan. Over 4,432 kindergartens, schools, college and universities have been closed this week at the request of the government, to help contain the cases of swine flu. Nationally, Japan has the fourth largest number of cases of the flu and fortunately no one in the country has died from it.
So what happens when you have hundreds of thousands of bored school kids who are supposed to stay home? Of course, they all want to go out and have some fun since they have some unexpected and unscheduled days off. So away they go to the nearest karaoke club.
A karaoke club manager said: “We suddenly had a number of high school students after 2pm yesterday, right after the announcement that schools would close for a week. All of our karaoke rooms were full at one point, and I’m expecting something similar today. I don’t have the right to say something like ‘you should stay at home.’”
However, another manager who was interviewed indicated that about 10 different groups of high school students came to his establishment yesterday. He said he declined to accept the students when he found they were supposed to stay at home while their schools were closed.
Some of the first outbreaks in Japan were between the students of two schools who got together for a volleyball tournament.
Wonder if this Japanese invention would allow all the kids to sing without spreading germs around?
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Urusakunai Kara Ok accessory for the wii will muffle your karaoke singing so everyone around you can sleep
In the “things that will make you feel really weird about yourself even if you are alone” department, we present the Urusakunai Kara OK! accessory for the Wii. Roughly translated, that means “Not Noisy Kara OK”.
This is a USB microphone with a large black rubber cup that reminds me of - well, I really don’t want to say. Let the jokes begin.
This unusual looking device appears to have been designed for singers who have a spouse or roommate or perhaps neighbors that are tired of hearing them belt out tunes at 2 AM. The rubber cup is supposed to muffle the singing to make it, well, less annoying to others.
On the good side, the cup is removable so you can wash out the spit and other nasties that might build up throughout an evening of energetic singing. It’s also XP and Vista compatible.
This must be an item developed almost exclusively for the Japanese market, because I think this is the first time in my life I have not been able to find an item on eBay. And darn, I really wanted one too.
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Dance students taking classes to learn pole dancing
Now HERE is an idea I can get behind — pole dancing in karaoke clubs. I have no idea how pole dancing in a karaoke club works, but I’m sure willing to give it a try. No, No, wait. I don’t mean *I* am going to pole dance, I just want to watch all the ladies do it.
Apparently pole dancing in karaoke clubs is pretty normal and popular among the young people in certain areas of China. It became controversial when one of the many Chinese sub-governments decided to ban it. In a move that made all the karaoke bar owners sigh with relief, in the end the government decided not to put the prohibition into place. “The initial draft to disallow pole dancing aimed to nip erotic performances in the bud,” said an official surnamed Wei at the Culture, Broadcasting and Press Bureau. “But we’ve found no law in China that forbids pole dancing, so we decided to delete the stipulation.”
They did end up passing a new regulation that will prevent erotic performances at venues, including a detailed stipulation to make “all balconies transparent” to people on the street outside. Huh? Explain that one to me. Maybe there was a problem with the language translation software, but that is something else I’d like to see. Those inventive Chinese folks. Transparent balconies. Cool.
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Mac the Moose a large roadside attraction of Moose Jaw
The Minto United Church in Moose Jaw will be rockin’ and rollin’ May 22nd as a man attempts to set a new Guinness karaoke marathon world record for continuous karaoke singing by an individual.
Ken Parsons is the singer and is heading up the whole project. He’s looking for folks to help him reach his goal. The current record is 46 hours and 38 minutes but Ken is aiming to hit 52 hours. The Guinness World Record Committee has several requirements for the record to be official and Parsons needs some volunteers to help with timekeeping and the changing of songs, as well as a certified first responder on scene at all times.
The town of Moose Jaw, located in Saskatchewan, Canada, seems an unlikely place for this attempt. But this retirement and tourist area of 32,000 residents serves as a hub for the hundreds of small towns and farms in the surrounding area. Maybe there will be lots of support for what will be a very hoarse man trying to break this record. We’ll bring you an update on whether he makes it or not.
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Something resembling this caused a near riot at a karaoke show in Beaverton, Oregon
So, let’s say you are out singing karaoke with some of your buddys late one night, and there is a woman belting out a tune and you decide to smack her on the rear. Then her husband comes up and confronts you and before you know it everybody is throwing chairs and beer bottles and then, whoa brother, here come the police. Such was the story at the Azteca Restaurant in Beaverton, Oregon when Yemby Gomez decided that grabbing a quick feel was easier than trying to just do the manly thing and pick up a drunk woman.
Husband to the rescue, lots of mahem, panic, and punches. It took 12 policemen and a significant amount of pepper spray to get things under control. When all was said and done, seven people ended up in jail on charges from riot and disorderly conduct to, In Yenby’s case, harrassment. And the Azteca is being investigated by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission for serving underage patrons.
But at least we know that in Beaverton some men will stand up for their woman and take it to the mat to defend their honor.