cray

a nice place for nice people

third eye blind: jumper

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last friday night, i experienced one of the best evenings of karaoke in my entire life.

it all went down at the circle country club, “a nice place for nice people.”

you may recall the good ole circle cc from my post about tim’s last night in austin, which included lots of sweet oldish people singing hymns and country songs, and in particular, one huge man in nothing but overalls performing “bad to the bone.”

the circle cc obviously made an impact on me that night, so i told henri and his boss, tim, all about it. it turns out that tim is a karaoke fanatic, so he decided we should head out there on friday night to check out the action.

and boy, was there action.

unlike last time, when the most raucous person was the old cowboy who kept waving to robin (matt’s sister) and tapping his knee, the place was PACKED with twenty and thirtysomethings. right in front of the stage, there was a wild, drunken group of fratty/white trash guys and their girlfriends (have you ever seen anyone do a hoochie dance to garth brooks? I HAVE) and, at the next table over, there was a massive group of ladies apparently celebrating someone’s birthday with a LOT of booze, including a handle of jagermeister. yes, a HANDLE of jagermestier. oh sweet fancy moses.

this crowd was a lot more intimidating, especially given the fact that they might actually toss a bottle at you if you decided to, say, sing a new wave 80s tune or anything remotely “indie.”

tim’s friend mike decided to flirt with danger by performing “one night in bangkok,” which is a song that i don’t think had ever been played inside the circle cc.

by dancing as spastically as possible and singing in a super cray voice, mike actually managed to win this crowd over. with NIGHT IN BANGKOK. it was basically a christmas miracle. in fact, i have never, ever seen a guy get offered so many free drinks/shots in my entire life.

i also want to note that the dude in the plaid shirt on the right end of the picture gave mike this advice before taking the stage: “DUDE! just make sure you sing LOUD! that’s all you need to do. ROCK OUT, DUDE!”

that same guy later offered mike the handle of jagermeister, but mike said no, cos he doesn’t believe in alcohol poisoning.

henri was the next one up in our group, and he decided to perform his acclaimed interpretation of eminem’s “lose yrself.” if you’ve ever seen henri do this song, you know that he KILLS IT (and i mean that in a good way. it’s awesome). as soon as he started, the crowd went WILD.

however, there was one guy in the crowd who decided that henri needed a little help. so he grabbed a microphone and started “helping” henri out.

(that’s mike on the right, btw, who came up later to offer more support)

this guy was atrociously drunk and had no idea that the karaoke DJ had turned down his microphone so that the audience could barely hear him. which is actually a shame, cos instead of singing eminem’s lyrics, this guy MADE UP HIS OWN. ON THE SPOT. and his friends LOVED IT.

as if that wasn’t enough, check out this video i took at the end of the song, when the music dies down and you can actually hear him as he… keeps… going…

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjjJI02yuzk 325 260]

and guess what! he decided he wasn’t done “helping” people, so Drunk Dude opted to stay on the stage while tim performed “coal miner’s daughter” in a hilarious country bumpkin accent.

Drunk Dude made up his own lyrics to this song as well, cos he’s just too creative to stay inside the box. his spirit will not be contained by convention!

fortunately, Drunk Dude’s friends managed to wrangle him off of the stage so that this guy could sing a country song:

a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

fashion-wise, things only got better when this lady hit the stage with her stylin’ christmas sweatshirt!!!

this is why i love the circle country club. you get drunk fratty guys, old cowboys and sweet grandmas all in the same room, all singing, all having the time of their lives. i think the circle cc could teach the world a thing or two about peaceful coexistence! take note, israelis and palestinians!

when we weren’t singing or watching other performers with a mix of awe and bewilderment, we were taking silly pictures. i can’t remember this guy’s name, but he is totally a gold medalist Picture Bandit.

henri has this new thing where he makes people shake their heads super fast and then snaps their picture so that their face looks all wobbly and weird. basically, like this:

YOWZA, i know.

my picture didn’t turn out that cray, but to be honest, i’m ok with not having a wobbly face.

later in the night, henri and i reprised the performance that insured tim and i eternal fame at the circle cc: third eye blind’s “jumper.”

no one offered us free shots, but i do think that our anti-suicide message really got through to people.

thomas and his friend earned a lot of new female admirers with their stirring, slightly homoerotic rendition of bruce springsteen’s “born to run”:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKLZNJBwE-c 325 260]

but they were no match for these guys, who NAILED IT with a rollickin’ gospel number:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtNKe_fYYKQ 325 260]

note: the man on the right is the official circle cc bouncer, which apparently gives him the privilege of flirting with lots of girls half his age. fyi.

i have to mention the two girls i overheard in the restroom, which, btw, consists of one stall and then another toilet between the stall and the wall, with no door. yes, it’s a v. special place. as i tried to avert my eyes from the floor-length mirror that directly reflects the door-less toilet into my line of vision, i heard one girl say, in a thick drawl, “did you know that chris’s girlfriend’s mom and dad own this place? yeah! they do! and they just live over the hill. their place is almost as big as this bar, i swear to god.”

in case you were curious, the bar is basically two trailers stuck together.

although henri and his drunken homeboy were probably my favorite act of the night, i have to give major props to the guy who sang “i touch myself” with his two lady friends:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_eFu9yNuck 325 260]

“i touch myself” guy turned out to be a BIG FAN of mike (of “one night in bangkok” fame) and invited him over for more festivities by saying, “hey man, we’re having a party at my place. ya’ll should come on over, and we can just get in a big pile.”

unsure as to the meaning of “big pile,” mike politely declined the offer but promised to return to the circle cc in the near future. you know it’s been a good night when you turn down a handle of jager AND the possibility of participating in a “big pile.”

“a nice place for nice people.” double true, circle cc. double true.

LINKS

i love love love the new oscar de la renta collection.

don’t know how many of you are fans of greenday (i am), but they have a new “secret” side project that’s kinda 60s-ish and super fun.

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