The topic for Austin Blog Day is "What to do with four spare hours in Austin".

Let's start with what I did with four spare hours in Austin -- got this site up and running. And if you have a few hours to spare and want to start a blog, that would be a good thing to do. Then next time there's an Austin blog day you can post your own info instead of just living vicariously through others while you sit at home in tighty whities, eating cheese balls and chocolate-covered plums and talking in haiku.

Now what do you think I can no longer do with four spare hours in Austin? If you said sing karaoke downtown on weekends, you were right. As of last week, Bob Popular Karaoke (aka Crocodile Rocks) is shut, after being sold. Apparently it's going to become yet another vanilla-flavored bar, like there are not enough of those. It looks like my karaoke consumption for the foreseeable future will have to come from the one- or two-night a week places that are so hit and miss.

Chip Rosenthal lamented that live music downtown has been replaced with drunken bush sisters and a cheap jello shots party scene. My thinking is more along the lines of: if there happens to be a cheap jello shots party scene with drunken coeds, it can at least feature one decent karaoke bar. It may not technically qualify as "live music", but it is music and it is live. Karaoke is direct democracy; a musician on a stage is a dictatorship.

I've spent a good chunk of my friday and saturday night time over the past four years at BPK and am going to miss it. The place wasn't the most excellent karaoke bar I've been to, but it was the most excellent one in Austin. The KJ's were really friendly, loved what they did, and were good at their jobs. The drinks were cheap and the bartenders knew what their customers liked. If it wasn't for the fact that the management of BP did not understand or properly promote karaoke (including barely adding to the song list in 4 years), it could have been a really great place.

What amazes me is that more places downtown don't feature karaoke. There is occasional karaoke at ocean's eleven and club deville, but I'll go on record as saying that downtown is way ready for a well-done, full-time karaoke bar. Karaoke is not a passing fad, it's a hugely popular, growing worldwide phenomenon and it's here to stay.

While the folks at Common Interest wouldn't probably be too psyched if a kickass karaoke bar opened downtown, anyone contemplating opening one should stop by CI any day of the week. There aren't too many bars that are packed every single day. This is a town that likes to sing, and we have a huge shortage of places to do it in.

I'm looking forward to checking out the thursday night karaoke at Sake on Sixth once the warm weather picks up and they start doing it again. Apparently the KJ has like 10,000 songs on his list, which is pretty rare in this town.

What to do if you have four spare hours in Austin on Monday (2/24): go see "Karaoke Fever" at the Drafthouse Downtown, followed by "The Backyard".

AWESOME! Congratulations on the new blog! I'm glad you used this opportunity to set one up! Kudos!

Posted by: davidnunez on February 24, 2003 04:14 PM

Welcome to the Blogsphere.

(oh gawd ... I can't believe I actually said blogsphere ...)

Posted by: Chip on February 24, 2003 08:38 PM

I can't believe you said "Welcome" ;-b

Posted by: davidnunez on February 24, 2003 11:38 PM

Thanks for the welcomes! It wasn't as much of a hassle to get movable type running as I thought it would be.

Posted by: jeremy on February 25, 2003 02:10 AM

With that spare four hours I could try to take as much calculated risk as I can so that I could make as much money as I could make in four hours. I know it sounds lame but that's exactly what I would do.

Posted by: kwazi tramadol phungula on January 3, 2004 06:10 PM

it's a real war but i go to the casino!!!

Posted by: jame on January 24, 2004 02:04 AM

>>>>while you sit at home in tighty whities, eating cheese balls and chocolate-covered plums and talking in haiku

I hear ya.

Posted by: business cards on February 9, 2004 04:08 AM

karaoke is the best. i wish more places around here had it as well!

Posted by: house of real estate on February 13, 2004 11:13 AM

Those who cared have always winced when the cliché Live Music Capital of the World was bandied about, but nobody disputed the fact that Austin has been home to a remarkable live music club scene. Starting with venues like The 'Dillo and Threadgill's, and pioneering genres such as Outlaw Country and Modern Texas Blues, Austin has been an outstanding place for musicians and fans to call home.

Posted by: Cialis on February 22, 2004 07:50 AM

I enjoy vanilla-flavored bars.
My voice sounds horrrrrrible and karaoke is no good to me.

Posted by: Crystal on March 7, 2004 04:51 PM

I was wondering if manjula goes blogging then who is left at home. I never saw manjula goes blogging before is it a movie?

Posted by: Jackie on March 23, 2004 10:31 PM

A good use of four hours.

Posted by: camden arkansas on June 8, 2004 01:40 PM

As I can so that I could make as much money as I could make in four hours. I know it sounds lame but that's exactly what I would do.

Posted by: Ionamin on October 5, 2004 06:04 AM

Next time you are in Austin check out...
http://wwwAustinSings.com

This site is an exhaustive directory of venues & clubs featuring Karaoke as part of their entertainment schedule in Austin, Texas and the greater Central Texas area.

The site lists club name, ph#s, addresses, show times, KJ hosting the show. We always keep the site updated, so there's no reason why anyone in Central Texas is to wonder where they can go sing Karaoke on any night of the week! There's even an announcement board where local KJs and Club Owners can post their own special events and happenings for AustinSingers to checkout.

Established in 2000, the site has grown to become the THE online resource for Karaoke lovers in Central Texas and is known as the top Karaoke related site in all of Texas. With over 6,000 unique visitors and 30,000+ hits every month, visitors living in the Austin area count on AustinSings.com for all their Karaoke related information to keep up with whats happening in the local Karaoke scene. Surf on by for a visit...you might want to start a site like this for your city!

Posted by: Austin Sings.com on February 26, 2005 12:54 AM

I agree with you the way you view the issue. I remember Jack London once said everything positive has a negative side; everything negative has positive side. It is also interesting to see different viewpoints & learn useful things in the discussion.

Posted by: penis size on October 22, 2005 05:40 PM

home equity loan http://www.homeequityloan-x.com

Posted by: home equity loan on December 26, 2005 09:19 AM

http://www.monsiteadulte.com/lesbienne/atseka/pissing/amatur/mist.html garyhoodlumnow

Posted by: calmly on January 24, 2006 09:09 PM

phentermine http://home.tiscali.cz:8080/phenterminebuy/ ; Thanks!

Posted by: phentermine on January 26, 2006 07:10 PM

adipex http://buy-cheap-adipex.fromru.com ; Thanks!

Posted by: adipex on January 26, 2006 07:11 PM

ambien http://ambien.atspace.biz ; Thanks!

Posted by: ambien on January 26, 2006 07:12 PM

lortab http://by-lortab.atspace.org ; Thanks!

Posted by: lortab on January 26, 2006 07:12 PM

cialis http://cialis.atspace.us ; Thanks!

Posted by: cialis on January 26, 2006 07:13 PM

fioricet http://fioricet.atspace.us ; Thanks!

Posted by: fioricet on January 26, 2006 07:14 PM

levitra http://levitra.atspace.org ; Thanks!

Posted by: levitra on January 26, 2006 07:15 PM

phentermine http://phentermine.atspace.us ; Thanks!

Posted by: phentermine on January 26, 2006 07:15 PM

ultram http://ultram.atspace.us ; Thanks!

Posted by: ultram on January 26, 2006 07:16 PM

vicodin http://vicodin.atspace.biz ; Thanks!

Posted by: vicodin on January 26, 2006 07:17 PM

skpialml1 http://www.skpialml1.cm ; Thanks!

Posted by: skpialml1 on January 30, 2006 09:44 AM