Karaoke - 14th Jun 2007

After a week away on holiday down rainy Devon, yes, I do take time off occasionally, I'm back to the real world (which has internet!!!) and catching up with what happened the week before. Hopefully Scott will be filling me with what happened while I was away :)

There were no new songs this week for me as I had a really bad throat. I probably shouldn't have sang at all, but after a few pints it felt alright. I regretted that decision somewhat in the morning and it's probably a good job that I had a week off from the karaoke as it still feels a little coarse even now :( It was fairly busy up the hotel though so was nice to get up and sing with a few in. Because it was busy I even managed to persuade Scott to do Linkin Parks - What I've Done again despite his policy of not repeating himself this year. :)

Songs sang this week were:

• Others: Meatloaf - I'd Do Anything For Love
• Others: Scorpions - Wind Of Change
• Scott: Poison - Unskinny Bop
• Others: Carly Simon - You're So Vain
• Others: Bon Jovi - It's My Life
• Shaun: The View - The Don
• Others: UB40 - Kingston Town
• Others: Annie Shelton - Lay Down Your Arms
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Girls Aloud - Love Machine
• Others: Genesis - I Can't Dance
• Others: Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
• Scott: Therapy - Screamager
• Others: Pink - Just Like A Pill
• Others: The Beatles - We Can Work It Out
• Shaun: Maximo Park - Our Velocity
• Others: Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
• Others: Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan - Especially For You
• Others: Rolf Harris - Court Of King Caractacus
• Others: Robert Palmer - Bad Case Of Loving You
• Scott: Linkin Park - What I've Done
• Others: Whitney Houston & Ce Ce Williams - Count On Me
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Dido - White Flag
• Others: The Killers - Mr. Brightside
• Others: Shirley Bassey - Big Spender
• Others: Neil Diamond - Forever In Blue Jeans
• Shaun & Scott: Linkin Park - In The End

I'll post last weeks (21st Jun) songs up once I get the list from Scott and then after this Thursday we'll be back into the swing of things again. I'll probably blog about my holiday sometime this week if I can find some inspiration from somewhere. Mind you, there's still plenty of beer left in the fridge from the poker night I had round here the other week so maybe I'll try that, lol.

See you soon... ta ra

Karaoke - 7th Jun 2007

Parity was resumed this week with everyone back off their holidays. Glad to hear that all had a good time and now it's just me to go when I'm off 'darn sawth' for a week in Devon later this month.

The hotel had a reasonable crowd and there were a few singers in. I managed to catch the bus up again (oh, how coincidental that it was just coming around the corner...again!) so there was plenty of drink to be had. No unplanned trips tonight though :)

Songwise and I've got to give a thumbs up to Scott who had a crack at Linkin Parks' - What I've Done. I've got plenty of time for LP and Scott certainly did this one justice. Would love to sing their songs myself but I can't get anywhere near Chesters vocal range without my throat seizing up! I did take a shot at a Killers track that I've wanted to do for now and enjoyed singing that track (see below). There's a few movers in the charts this week too with Elvis moving into a clear second in the artists chart (Fratellis still holding firm ;)) and the girls now hold two songs for joint first in the most sung with Britneys - I Love Rock & Roll and the Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams. Must be time for a whistle in the old choir next week!

This weeks songs:

• Shaun: Will Smith - Summertime
• Others: Bobby Vee - More Than I Can Say
• Scott: Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock & Roll
• Others: Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
• Shaun: Will Smith - Switch
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
• Scott: Thin Lizzy - Dancing In The Moonlight
• Others: Atomic Kitten - The Tide Is High
• Others: Elvis - Don't Be Cruel
• Others: Spice Girls - Viva Forever
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Lily Allen - Smile
• Others: The Corrs - Breathless
• Shaun: Ok Go - Here It Goes Again
• Others: Elvis - Always On My Mind
• Scott: Linkin Park - What I've Done
• Others: Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - I've Had The Time Of My Life
• Others: Carly Simon - You're So Vain
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Britney Spears - I Love Rock N Roll
• Others: Katie Melua - The Closest Thing To Crazy
• Andy: Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
• Others: Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
• Others: Boyzone - Words
• Shaun: The Killers - Read My Mind
• Scott: David Bowie - Starman
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Chicago - All That Jazz
• Others: Texas - Black Eyed Boy

** NEW SONGS **
Will Smith - Switch - I've done quite a few Will Smith songs but have missed this out until now after Russ mentioned it on Tuesday. It's not bad but needs a real party atmosphere and big crowd to work IMO and so in all honesty it sounded a little flat tonight. One that I'm unlikely to do again unfortunately. do-again-rating: 0/10

Ok Go - Here It Goes Again - Came across this song on YouTube as it is one of the most viewed videos on there. A good track but an even better video which just goes to show you don't need an expensive budget. And to make sure you have no excuse for not watching it, here it is:

It was a fun song to do and although I'm not sure that many people know it, it's one that I can see myself having another dig at. do-again-rating: 8/10


The Killers - Read My Mind - I've been wanting to do this for a while now and despite putting it in twice before and not getting to do it, I finally got my chance tonight. For me this is the Killers best song, with Somebody Told Me just behind, and I thoroughly enjoyed singing it. I think I did ok but it was one of the last songs and I was a little tipsy by then. Will have to put it in again but earlier in the order to give me a better guage ;). do-again-rating: 9/10

And so ends another week of drunken singing so until next week.... Näkemiin

Home Improvements

In the last week or two we've finally got around to making a few improvements to our house since moving here late last year.

The Garden
Firstly, we wanted somewhere that the little uns could play safely and although the back has a nice raised and fenced area, the ground was completely paved with pinky looking slabs. So the decision was made to take it all up and to replace it with a grass lawn which should provide the ideal playing area for the kids come summer. The work was started a couple of weeks ago, took a couple of days to complete and now looks great.
Here is the transformation:

1)2)3)4)

1) The back how it was when we moved in. Nice pink slabs!
2) Slabs removed, ground soil laid and the turf being placed. It was a very dreary and rainy day and certainly didn't make for pleasant work I guess.
3) The garden immediately after being laid.
4) Three weeks later looking lusicously green and being used for what it was intended :)


The Bathroom
The second most needed change was the bathroom with it's ugly sit down shower bath thingy-ma-jig (you need to see it to know what I mean), it's broken shower and the ridiculously small basin shoved in the corner. We decided that it would be best to completely gut this room and so all bar the towel radiator was replaced. The work was completed by a builder who handily lives just 5 doors up and took around a week to complete. Once completed I painted the untiled areas a new color and finished off with a new roller blind. We're very pleased with how it's turned out.
Pics of various stages:

1)2)3)4)5)

1) The bathroom when we moved in. Stupid bath...
2) The walls had to be replastered as the tiles seemed to have been put on with crazy glue resulting in the wall coming apart when they were removed!
3) Bath and basin out. The floor we thought was lino was actually mosaic tiles. Looked like lino to me, lol.
4) Walls boarded and bath installed.
5) The finished article and straight in with the rubber ducky :)

So, two of the biggest jobs now complete and we'll probably leave it for a little while now before undertaking further change which will either be the kitchen or the windows/doors.

Karaoke - 31st May 2007

Although we were missing most of the Thursday night regulars in Scott, Hayley (both on holiday), Tina & Louise (no excuses :p), tonight wasn't too bad at all as some of the Tuesday crowd (hi Russ!) turned up to make up numbers.
I arrived at the hotel a little earlier than usual because just as I got to the end of my street to make my way up, along came the No.38 which I know drives past the hotel and well, why not, I caught the bus despite the hotel being only about three quarters of a mile away (it's mostly all upbank in my defense! :( ) And it cost me 95p. 95 pence for less than a mile. Last time I caught that bus it was only 40p to get to Hanley (double the distance) although mind you, I was only 15 at the time ;)
Still, early to arrive means more beer to get through during the night and I think it's safe to say I was a little 'intoxicated' when I left. I don't remember much of the walk home (no buses at that time of night) but I certainly remember taking the dog out for a walk singing to (or attempting to) the Frays How To Save A Life on my mp3 player, blissfully unaware of the other guy out walking his dog too about 10 steps behind me. I'm not sure whether the look he gave me was one of amusement or a 'shut the f**k up' look. oops!
Unfortunately sometime during the night my body decided it was going to stop processing the rest of the excess alcohol and rudely awakened me from my slumber to make the dreaded trip to the loo to eject said toxins :s Not been that drunk for a while!

Not to worry though, it's all in a good cause (or so I tell myself), and without further stories of my drunkeness, here are the songs sung tonight:

• Others: St.Etienne - He's On The Phone
• Others: Travis Tritt - Still In Love With You
• Shaun: Keith Urban - Jeans On
• Others: The Pretenders - I'll Stand By You
• Andy: Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia
• Others: Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You
• Others: Shania Twain - Any Man Of Mine
• Others: The Killers - For Reasons Unknown
• Shaun: The View - The Don
• Others: Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
• Others: Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden
• Others: Elvis - One Night
• Others: Shania Twain - Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under
• Andy: Elvis - Viva Las Vegas
• Others: Tim McGraw - I Like It I Love It
• Shaun: The Fratellis - Flathead
• Others: Katie Melua - The Closest Thing To Crazy
• Others: Eric Clapton - Cocaine
• Others: Lonestar - I'll Die Trying
• Others: MercyMe - So Long Self
• Shaun: Maximo Park - Our Velocity
• Others: Diana Ross - Chain Reaction
• Others: Chuck Berry - Memphis
• Others: Boyzone - Words

** NEW SONGS **
The View - The Don - The fourth single to be released by the band and although it only reached no.33 in the charts, it is in my opinion, just as good a 'feel good' song as Same Jeans which reached no.3 back in January. Really enjoyed having a go at this one and it will definately feature again. do-again-rating: 10/10

The Fratellis - Flathead - I have to admit that as much as I love the Fratellis, I just didn't get the same buzz from singing this track as I have the others. It's a shame in a way that this was the one chosen by iPod for their adverts when there are much better, more funkier tracks on the album that maybe could have been better choices (and thus made their way onto Karaoke ;)). I currently have an instrumental version of the For The Girl acoustic track which I'm sorely tempted to put together as a cdg track... we'll see. Aynway, back to sum this one up: It was ok but nothing special. do-again-rating: 2/10


Back to normality (hopefully) next week with everyone back, so until then.....Do svidanja