What I Sang 1/30

I wasn't expecting there to be any karaoke at O'Terrill's tonight, as I'd heard it was being discontinued...but to my surprise, it's back (albeit with a new system and new DJ). I don't know what the story is behind the change, but in any case, here's the rundown of "What I Sang":

"Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop
"Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money
"Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch (as I'd planned to do last week)
"Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes
"Lucky Number" by Lene Lovich (unfortunately, I got thrown off by the fact that the karaoke screen got the lyrics completely wrong in several places...I probably would have done better going by memory).

One observation about the new system...at the front of the songbooks is a page of directions and "karaoke etiquette" guidelines. One of the notes is: "This is karaoke, not open mic night." I don't think Ben's gonna be happy with that...

Foolio!

This morning, Dad's Garage presented the first installment this season of their children's show, "Uncle Grampa's Hoo-Dilly Storytime." It was a full house, and a fun time was had by all.

One of the traditions of the show is the visit from Foolio, the yellow-and-green clown puppet with a seemingly-endless supply of bad jokes...and yet another tradition is that, after Foolio torments our cast, the kids in the audience get their chance to outdo him with jokes of their own. And the kids' jokes, ranging from classic old standbys to completely surreal non sequiturs, inevitably DO outshine Foolio's.

I hereby present this week's "Kid's Jokes for Foolio":

"Why do pigs go to the gym?"
"To get better buns."

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Boo."
"Boo who?"
"Why are you crying? It's just a joke."

"What's invisible and smells like worms?"
"A bird burp."

"What do you get when you cross a snake and a dinosaur?"
"A snakeasaurus."

"What button did the dog push on the remote control?"
"Paws."

"Where does Santa go on a vacation?"
"To a ho-ho-hotel."

"Where is a cow's favorite place to get married?"
"At the moo-vies."

"If a rooster lays an egg on top of a slanted roof, which way does it roll?"
"Neither way! Rooster's don't lay eggs!"

"Why do birds fly south in the winter?"
"So they don't have to sit on their eggs."

"What's a tree's favorite drink?"
"Root beer."

"What's black and white and red all over?"
"A newspaper."

"Why did Foolio cross the road?"
"There were 99-cent jokebooks on the other side!"

A Few Links

Because you can never have too much Mallard Fillmore mockery.

What I Would've Sung

Unfortunately, there was no karaoke at O'Terrill's last night, due to poor turnout the past two weeks. Damn. And I had two selections planned ahead of time, in honor of yesterday's Oscar nominations. Still, even though I didn't get to sing them, I can still share them with everyone:

"Party All the Time" by Best Supporting Actor nominee Eddie Murphy.
"Good Vibrations" (or any other song they had) by Best Supporting Actor nominee Marky Mark.

ANMD Concert Tonight

Quick post: I'll be going to the AnnaNicoleMiner's Daughter concert at the Masquerade tonight...should be a lot of fun!

It's Perfectly Innocent! I Swear!

It's just a song about lollipops...right?



("Les Sucettes," written by Serge Gainsbourg and performed by France Gall.)

What I Sang 1-16

Another early arrival + another light crowd = another big list of songs at tonight's karaoke.

"Chariot" by Gavin DeGraw (one of the new additions to the selection)
"More" by Bobby Darin (YouTube doesn't have a clip of Bobby singing this one, so I've linked to a rendition by The Supremes)
"The Fanatic" by Felony
"Seven Year Ache" by Rosanne Cash
"AEIOU (And Sometimes Y)" by Ebn Ozn
"Kids in America" by Kim Wilde

Sometimes I Can Be Dense

In my years of attending and volunteering at Dad's Garage improv shows, I've seen my share of ridiculous comedy character names...in addition to the recurring characters in "Scandal!" and "Uncle Grandpa's Hoo-Dilly Stew" (which have included such luminaries as Baron Uterrus, Cheeky Rodriguez, and Larry Lederhosen), there have been any number of spontaneously thrown-out names. I still remember George Faughnan assuming an uber-manly heroic pose and introducing himself as "Skyland Package," undoubtedly the most masculine name ever conceived (in addition to being the name of an actual liquor store).

However, there was one name in particular that took on a life of its own and became a running gag: Rubby Chuthers. I remember when this name was first used, during an Improv-a-Thon game years ago when the improvisors made up a "VH1 Behind the Music"-style "documentary" on rock star Rubby Chuthers. The name has periodically resurfaced in numerous shows since, usually as a throwaway line ("Have you got the new Rubby Chuthers CD?" or "Rubby Chuthers for Prom King," or somesuch).

I'd always thought it was nothing more than a simple absurd-sounding name, with no further significance...it wasn't until last night's "Murder, She Improvised," when the name popped up once again, that I finally got the joke. And even then, I only got it because Megan Leahy spelled it out for the audience. You see, Lucky Yates's character gasped out "Rubby Chuthers" as his dying words...to which Megan responded "Rub each other's what?"

And I kicked myself for not getting it earlier.

It's kind of like the way I went for years without realizing that the Juggernaut's name "Cain Marko" was a take-off on "Mark of Cain," or that Steve Gerber's Man-Thing villain F.A. Schist spelled out "fascist." I kicked myself then too.

What I Sang 1-9-07

I got to O'Terrill's early, and the crowd was unusually light, so I was able to get in a LOT of songs tonight:

"Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg (in belated honor of the new year)
"Every Day I Write the Book" by Elvis Costello
"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by The Beatles (I admit, the main reason I picked this one was so I'd have an excuse to link to that sick-yet-cute cartoon...)
"Feel Good Inc." by Gorillaz
"The Metro" by Berlin
"Never Say Never" by Romeo Void
"Jeepster" by T. Rex
"Don't You Want Me" by The Human League (a duet with Jessica the Destroyer)

I Missed the Deadline, But...

I may have missed the deadline for The Invincible Super-Blog's 30-Second Recap contest, but I can't resist posting my belated entry.

In all fairness, I must admit that I've liked a lot of Bruce Jones' work...when he's at the top of his form, he's great, but when he's off...well, then you get things like Jones' Nightwing and Warlord. With that in mind, here's my 30-second recap of the Man-Bat mini-series.

Quick thought on Civil War #6

Why would the Plunderer be meeting with Cap's underground in the first place? He's British, and as far as I know, all of his schemes have been based in the Savage Land. I don't know his full history, but I can't think of a story where he's operated in the US. So why is he here?

What I Sang 1-02

I hadn't been able to make it to karaoke for several weeks, just because of the hecticness (hecticity?) of December. I even got an e-mail from Jessica the Destroyer inquiring about my absence and asking if I was all right. Well, I was finally able to make it tonight (albeit barely arriving in time)...and for my song, I picked one to reassure anyone who'd been worried about me.

"I Feel Fine"

2006 In Memoriam

With the new year upon us, it's time to look back and reflect upon those we have lost in the past year. No, I'm not talking about real people...as important as it is to remember them, that's a bit too heavy for this blog. I'm talking about a memorial for the CHARACTERS who lost their lives in 2006.

In no particular order (except that, as in the Oscar memorial segment, I'll be saving the "biggest" for last), and undoubtedly leaving out many significant names (again, as the Oscars often do):

Pantha
Baby Wildebeest
Bushido
Namorita
Night Thrasher
Microbe
Cobalt Man
Coldheart
Speedfreek
Jade
Ragdoll I
Star Sapphire III (have I got the number right?)
Psycho-Pirate
Peacemaker
Baron Blitzkrieg
Charaxes
Major Disaster
Geist
Mongrel
Nightblade
Razorsharp
Ballistic
Alexander Luthor
Bantam
Goliath
Digitek
Gravity
Freedom Ring
Jack O'Lantern
The Jester
Mirage
The KGBeast
Magpie
Orca
The Ventriloquist
Kite-Man
Happy Hogan
Black Mask
Murmur (unless that Man-Bat debacle is out of continuity)
The Spook
Slyde
Hammerhead
Noose
Terra-Man
Trajectory
Super-Chief
Stilt-Man II
The Crime Doctor
Mr. Miracle (7 Soldiers Shilo Norman)
Sally Sonic
The Sheeda Queen
Wallflower
Reverend William Stryker
Booster Gold (or maybe not)
Persuader
The Question
Conner Kent
Lois Lane of Earth-2
Superman of Earth-2