#WhatsHappening for October 23, 2021

Good morning, homies. Hope all is well in your little corner of the world.

Just a reminder, no Saturday Night Karaoke tonight. We'd rather not compete with the city's birthday celebration, as far as parking, traffic, etc.

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#WhatsHappening for October 17, 2021

Good morning, friends. Hope you're all doing well on this crisp, fall morning. Of course, here in Georgia that probably means another month with temps in the 80s are on the way before the end of the year, but I'll enjoy these milder thermometer readings while I can.

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Things are somewhat back to normal, as far as our "operations" go. We're once again doing our regular Saturday Night Karaoke, but with a caveat: For the time being, I'm the only host. That means, among other things, that SNK will skip at least one weekend each month so I'm not working six days a week, every week. I'm hoping, in the future, that this will change, but- if it doesn't- I'm okay with that.

Why the change from pre-plague conditions? Well, Mark (my "number one" in Star Trek: The Next Generation parlance) isn't comfortable returning. And that, my friends, is a 1000% acceptable reason to me for him not working. Compound that discomfort with the fact that he and his lovely lady Leslie lost everything in a house fire just a month ago, and it becomes even more understandable that he might not be in a head space where he's good with coming in and playing nice. At least it does if you're not a complete and heartless fuckwit. If you'd like to help this wonderful couple try to get back on their feet, one of Mark's daughters has set up this Go Fund Me page.

Aside from that, our schedule through (for now) is as follows (subject to change- follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with weekly events):

•  October 30th: The Costumes & Karaoke Party returns! Our 11th edition of the Costumes & Karaoke Party will feature all the utter insanity you'd normally get out of us, along with costumes ranging from the lazy (me) to the inspired (definitely not me), prizes, and more.
• November 6th, 13th, and 20th: Our regularly-scheduled run of Saturday Night Karaoke will run every weekend in November with the exception of Thanksgiving weekend. Historically, that's never been a particularly busy night for us, so what better weekend to take off than one that means I won't have to do a damned thing for four days? I mean, other than root for Georgia Tech to beat Georgia (and, hopefully, a week after they kick the shit out of Notre Dame)?
• December 4th, 11th, and 18th: I mean, come on- the Tavern's closed on Christmas, and I haven't worked on Christmas since my radio days (and I'm perfectly okay with that). 

Now, I'd also like to point out that next week (October 23rd) is up in the air, depending on what's decided in relation to the City of Norcross' birthday celebration- which is is also Saturday. We will update whether or not we'll have karaoke to our Facebook page by Wednesday evening (the 20th).

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Last night after things wrapped up, one of the singers came up to speak to me. That isn't an unusual thing. People will come up and ask me about songs that may or may not be available, our schedule, or just to chat. This singer said "thank you" (that's also not all that unusual, but bear with me).

They said thank you for hosting karaoke, as it allowed them to try to deal with some of their anxiety issues. They have autism, they said, and always had a difficult time interacting with people, but our Saturday Night Karaoke show was proving very helpful in helping them overcome the issues they sometimes encounter in that regard.

Now, I know I project the air of someone who's completely aloof (and, maybe, an asshole)- but at least manages to (mostly) act professional, but I'm not heartless. It made me very happy to know I was helping them, even in some small way.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Everyone is welcome at our shows.

(That welcome is only rescinded when you're a racist, a homophobe, a bigot, a Nazi, or some other variation of shit-heel.)

So I'd like to say "thank you" right back to that person, and invite them to join us again.

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Birthdays today include: Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis (86); Jim Seals of Seals & Croft (80); Gary Puckett of Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (79); Fran Cosmo of Boston (65); Alan Jackson (63); Ziggy Marley (53); Wyclef Jean of Fugees (52); Chris Kirkpatrick of N*Sync (50); and Eminem (49). #MusicalBirthdays 

Twenty years ago today, people in the eastern part of the United States got up out of bed and got ready to go to work, or school, or sightseeing. Just like they did any other day. They brushed their teeth, took showers, ate breakfast, had coffee, made their commute.

That routine was to last only until 8:46 am, ET, and the events that would play out over the next hour and 42 minutes ended all semblance of what we considered normal.

Because of video cameras, 24 hour new channels, and the rise of cell phone cameras, the reports from New York, Washington, and Shanksville were a visceral blow- heart-wrenching with an immediacy that the photos of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor couldn't match. We relived those scenes on a near-endless loop- from every available angle, from every available outlet. But you didn't have to be immersed to feel the pain, any more than you needed to to have friends or family in Pennsylvania, New York, or DC to share that grief. You just had to be human.

In the days and weeks afterwards, there was hope. People were saved. Neighbors were helping each other. We came together, as a people. The nation endured. And we were resolute that we would not let the horrors of that day overwhelm us.

We swore that we would never forget the 2,977 people who died that day, the camaraderie the familial spirit that was surging or the unity forged through the shared trauma of a September morning that began with such promise, but ended in heartbreak and horror.

We stood on a precipice of chaos that September morning. And, as a nation, we stood strong- refusing to plunge into that void. Over the past 20 years, though- as partisan divides and political demagogues continue to drive wedges between us, as we have allowed hatred, conspiracy theories, and the lunatic fringe to enjoy an undeserved place in the national discourse as their disciples spewed vitriol towards those who don't share their political views, sexual orientation, or skin color- we inch ever closer to that breach. Time, you see, has a knack for laying waste to even the grandest schemes and our greatest of ideals.

I have my own opinions regarding the two decades of war the nation has fought in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, on the shifting tenets of civil liberties they brought, on the actions of the people who were in charge, but I won't share them here. Instead, I'll leave it to those smarter than I to offer the analysis and judge the events of the years since.

But I feel that it is vital that we regain some of the unity we saw in the aftermath of those attacks, and- more than ever- that we strive to live up to the promises this nation brought to the world some 245 years ago: that there should be an equal playing field for all citizens, regardless of their background, their gender, their sexuality, their religion, their political views; that “liberty and justice for all” is a guiding force behind our being. I still believe the nation isn't too far gone. We can't be. If we are, we're doomed.

I still refuse to accept that.

We are the United States of America.

Indivisible.

By the people, for the people. And we shall not perish from the earth.

On the heels of the very 80s Dirty Work, The Rolling Stones were a band that appeared to be on their way to retirement. 
Mick and Keith, who always enjoyed their share of conflict, were on the outs (again)- at odds over the direction of the band, and many of the rest of the personnel busied themselves in the period before recording the album working on various side or solo projects.

Unlike critics (what the fuck do they know, anyway?), I actually enjoyed Dirty Work. But I couldn't argue against the band seeming to be in their sunset years, seeing as Dirty Work and its predecessor, Undercover, sold poorly. Three years after Dirty Work, the band's "comeback" album- Steel Wheels- was released.

It was a monster seller, with three top ten singles and supported by the biggest tour the band had ever undertaken.

It was also the first opportunity I had to see a band I'd been listening to since childhood, so I dialed and dialed and dialed and dialed and dialed for seemingly hours before getting through to Ticketmaster. I scored tickets to see the band at the Gator Bowl. They were $45 each- which I thought was fucking outrageous (little did I know I'd later pay six times, without even batting an eye y see Paul McCartney), but I was still psyched to see the show with my neighbor, Jeff.

We piled into my Civic and headed to Jacksonville the afternoon of the concert, getting there in plenty of time to catch the opening set from Living Colour- at the time an unknown group who'd managed to score a prime gig. (Side note- while I enjoyed the hell out of their performance, there were plenty of- let's just say "older" fans who I heard bitching that they were too loud and too heavy. Unspoken, though obvious even to 21 year old me, was the fact that those same "older" fans thought they were "too black.")

The opened the show with Start Me Up (of course- what else would they open with?) on the way to two and half hours (give or take) of of straight-forward rock and roll- and plenty of showmanship.

And, behind it all, the nearly perfect percussion of Charlie Watts. The show led me to explore the band a little more in-depth, listening to deep cuts of past albums and appreciating the skill behind them. And particularly of Watts, who played what needed to be played- nothing more, nothing less. He was never flashy, never the outsized personality. He was steady. He was dependable. He was the beat of the band.

Watts bowed out of the band's current tour just last month to have surgery for a condition that was never shared with the public. He said he hoped it would be a temporary thing- that he would be back with the band as soon as he was able. Sadly, that reunion was not to be.

Charlie Watts passed away early this morning at a London hospital, surrounded by his family. And the world will rock a little less because of it.

#WhatsHappening for August 21, 2020

 Yo, yo, daddios and ... mamios? You know what I mean. Anyway, hope all is well.

We're taking another night off tonight, as the city is trying to revive their Bluesberry Festival after last year's plague-induced hiatus. Circumstances allowing, we'll be back next weekend.

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The good thing about 62 weeks off was not having to post about people who come to the shows and waste my time (and theirs) bitching about my not having a certain song, or the way things are done not being to their satisfaction. Well...

I get it- the "new" digital request system we've implemented might take a couple of tries to get used to- but it's incredibly easy to use (I mean, everyone else playing along has managed to successfully enter their request)- so getting pissy about my not taking verbal requests or written slips because you can't manage to (or don't want to) do what everyone else does benefits you exactly 0%. So, you find the system "deplorable"? That is your prerogative. Me? I find it quite amusing.

And the bitching about my not having a song? Well, yeah- and you managed to pester me about it enough times for me to tell you that I hated the song and never wanted to hear it again, hence it was not available. And what good did all the pissing and moaning from you and everyone else in your party you sent up to complain? None. 

Just to be clear, though- here are some of the songs that aren't available:

• Any song containing racist, homophobic, ethnic, religious, or other derogatory slurs or hate speech.
• Songs by certain artists of questionable character (see related story below).
• "I Will Always Love You". Not the original. Not the remake.
• "Purple Rain" and "Bohemian Rhapsody." Not because I dislike them, but because they are two of the greatest songs ever recorded and I've heard them fucked up too many times to suffer through it again.
• That 4 Non Blondes song. There are 11 songs on the album it's from, and the worst fucking one was the popular one.

There are some others, sure, but that kind of gives you an idea of what I'm saying. To some of you, that makes me an asshole. I can deal with that. Every one of us is an asshole in someone's story. But I've been doing this a long time (25 years or something ridiculous like that) and I'm too old and too ornery to do things anyone's way but my own.

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Former R. Kelly tour manager Demetrius Smith testified before a New York jury yesterday that he'd paid a worker in a Chicago welfare office $500 on behalf of the singer to procure a fake ID for Aaliyah Kelly could secretly marry her when she was just 15 years old. The welfare card was one of two fake IDs used to clear the way for the marriage, falsely claiming her age as 18 years old. 

Prosecutors have claimed that Kelly sought to use the marriage- which was later annulled- to avoid criminal charges for having sex with a minor and to prevent her from testifying against him.

The testimony came as part of the racketeering case against Kelly. Other accusations against the singe include the sexual abuse of several women, girls, and boys. Kelly denies the charges, claiming that the women were groupies who wanted to take advantage of his fame and fortune.

Smith, who was granted immunity from future charges, repeatedly told the judge he was uneasy about taking the stand, though he declined to state why. Earlier in the day, another former Kelly employee, Anthony Navarro, said Kelly's Chicago-area mansion saw a "constant stream of female visitors" and said being there was "was almost like the 'Twilight Zone.'" 

Navarro told the jury he'd never witnessed any of the alleged abuse, but added that were some females who stayed at the home for long periods and weren't allowed to eat or leave without Kelly’s permission, he said

"There’s been times where they wanted to (leave) but couldn’t because they couldn’t get a ride or we couldn’t get ahold of Rob" to get approval, he said.

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A lawsuit, filed by Andre Sims against H.E.R., DJ Camper, Justin Love, and Sony Music Entertainment has been settled. 

Sims' complaint claimed the singer's "Focus" intentionally infringed his original composition "Endless Minds" without his consent or compensation. Sims, a songwriter and piano player, says he, created the song in 2004, posted it on Instagram and YouTube in 2015, and registered it with the U.S. Copyright Office in January 2020.

Camper admitted Sims' song did indeed inspire the melody of "Focus," which he co-wrote with H.E.R. and Love during an Instagram Live video.

"I’m happy we could reach a resolution, and would like to thank everyone for their support and prayers," Sims said in a statement.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

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Florida Georgia Line has joined the growing list of artists who have decided to cancel shows over concerns over rising rates of COVID-19 infections, putting the kibosh on their fall tour that was scheduled to begin at the Cellairis Amphitheater in Atlanta on September 24th. They join Garth Brooks, Stevie Nicks, and Nine Inch Nails- all of whom have canceled tours or appearances over the past two weeks.

"There is nothing better than seeing all of your faces from the stage, feeling your good energy, and making memories together," the band's Tyler Hubbard in a statement. "We were hopeful we could get back on the road this fall, and are so bummed to have to cancel this tour, but we know in our hearts that we still have to make sure we’re keeping our fans and crew safe. It’s unfortunate that we have to cancel but we hope y’all understand. We love our fans and can’t wait to be back out when the time is right."

In short, folks, this shit isn't over with. And our choices seem to be either get the vaccine or wear a damned mask. Neither of those is difficult.

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Birthdays today include: Kacey Musgraves (33); Melissa Schuman of Dream (37); Kelis (41); Liam Howlett of Prodigy (50); Kim Sledge of Sister Sledge (63); former Journey drummer Steve Smith (67); Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple (69); Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams (74); Jackie DeShannon (77); and James Burton, who led Elvis' TCB band as well as playing with Johnny Cash and the Everly Brothers (82); today is also the birthday of the late Kenny Rogers. #MusicalBirthdays 

Start counting down...

March 14, 2020 was the last time we all got together in person for karaoke. As of today, that was 64 weeks ago. Coming up June 19th, that long dry spell comes to an end when Saturday Night Karaoke returns to the Iron Horse Tavern.
Now you just know you want to be there- because you know it's gonna be nuts. And that's before I start fucking up (you know it's gonna happen, I know it's gonna happen, so let's just deal with it, huh?). 

And- just so you know- there will be some changes to the way we do things. 

• For starters, we're going to be sanitizing the microphones between each singer- spraying and wiping them down with medical-grade alcohol- and topping them with a new, disposable windscreen for each singer. This is to protect you guys from any bugs (COVID or otherwise) that might be hanging out, waiting to make you sick (or me, I'm a damned magnet for colds and flus- how I managed not to get the plague is a testament to how much I actually enjoy staying home).
• For health and safety reasons, we must insist that you do not approach singers during their performances unless they invite you to do so. (I.e., don't come "lean in" and start singing, or "dance up on them", or anything like that- you know what we mean). We get it- you're out, you're having fun, you want to cut loose. But we have to keep in mind that there's still a potentially serious illness going around. For this reason, we also ask that you keep an arm's length distance between yourself and the host.  
• From now on, our system for taking singer requests will be 100% paperless. This means there will be no songbooks and no request slips, and minimal person to person contact. Reasons for this: 
  A) It's safer for the host, health-wise, as there will be less close contact between them and a bunch of random people.
  B) It means less for the hosts to have load in/out for gigs.
  What were paper request slips will now be digital, via an online portal unique to our show. All you need to do is go to connectkaraoke.com and enter the show name (show names will be posted no less than 30 minutes before the show begins) and use the access code (again, provided for free at the venue on the night of the show) to browse or song list- the same song list we look at to enter your songs. 
  
  
  Once you're at our show page, you can search by title or artist, or you can check the queue to see exactly when your turn is coming up (keep in mind that the queue may be shuffled as we see fit to allow new singers to get their chance to join in the fun, or for other reasons). 
  There is no registration, no fee, and no credit card info required to view the site, or to sing along (though you can sign up for an account if you like to avoid having to come up with a secret code). Southpaw Entertainment Karaoke shows are absolutely, 100% free for our singers (though we certainly don't object to gratuities- just saying).
  To sign up to sing, simply enter the relevant details as shown below (your secret code can be whatever you want it to be if you choose not register- again, it's not required). Your request comes directly to us, and that's all you need to do. 
  
  
  
  
  

Now, we realize that there might be a bumpy transition from the "old" to the "new" way of doing things, so our songbook is available in PDF form by dropping us an email requesting it (and we promise not to sell your email address or any of that sort of fuckery). We also ask that you please bear with us, because the transition's going to take to getting used to for us, too.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. We look forward to seeing you on the 19th.

I don't know about you, but I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from our collective shoulders here in the US.

#WhatsHappening for January 16, 2021

Hi kids- what's shaking? We're continuing to muddle through at this end. That's not a bad thing.

#WhatsHappening for January 9, 2021

 Wow. What a week.

#WhatsHappening for January 1, 2021

Considering the past year's unprecedented fuckery, I think it's no small feat that we all survived. Happy New Year, friends.