17th August, 1997

The Word

Now I don't want to get off on a rant here , but I have to comment on a new trend which seems to be sweeping Sri Lanka faster than the Ebola virus - I'm talking about karaoke, that nineties method of embarassing yourself hugely in public. Feeling it completely within my duty to investigate on behalf of all you dear readers who may have not been exposed to this phenomenon, I accepted an invitation from fellow gonzo journo hack Harold J. Finkelstein and controversial radio host The Iceman, and trundled along to the Showboat Karaoke Lounge, decked out in my Sunday finest. We had taken the precaution of booking a private "cabin" for seven people, so that we would not have to make fools of ourselves in front of complete strangers. The cabin consists of a TV screen, karaoke laserdisc changer with remote and some comfy chairs - lighting can be dimmed for mimimum facial embarassment . It costs around Rs200 cover charge per head and cabin sizes range from those for around 4 to 12 people. We were soon joined by the Beardy-Wierdy, the Devil's Advocate, Dr. Love and the Westside Posse, who crowded in and started singing songs like "Lili Marlene" and forcing your poor columnist to humiliate himself by singing songs like "Granny Got Run Over By a Reindeer" - I kid you not. Though the males mostly tended to sound like they were singing in a rugby choir, we also discovered the sound system was great for quoting chunks of Shakespeare. "Now is the winter of discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York," we thundered ; Lord knows what the occupants of the next cabin would have thought. We also managed to comprehensively massacre such classics as "In the Jungle", "Vincent" and "Hotel California". We would have started singing the Filipino and Canto-pop classics as well, even though none of us speak those languages. I don't know if we could have pulled it off though. This is quite an expensive way to make an idiot of yourself and quite frankly, I realised that my idea of an evening's entertainment is not listening to a bunch of people with voices as bad as mine disembowelling the cream of pop music. But should it prove to be be yours, then go ahead my dear and have a veritable ball. Just give me plenty of advance warning so that I can emigrate to the Sudan...........

Looking forward to seeing "Oddities" , an evening of contemporary British comedy by a new company called "Absurd Inc" , comprised mostly of recent school leavers. It will take place on the 23rd and 24th of August at the British Council, funnily enough considering the subject matter. OK, I will stop being facetious and give you the gen. Directed by Nirmali Hettiarachi, it will consist of selected scenes from Tom Stoppard's play "Another Moon Called Earth" and Harold Pinter's "Request Stop" , "The Applicant" and "The Interview". Good to see new companies springing up and one hopes that they will take to performing on a regular basis in Colombo . May I suggest someone does an evening of Monty Python ? All the scripts are available on the Internet and the Chunk could quote you the Dead Parrot and Fish License sketches by heart should you so require. Just a suggestion..........

Also on the theatrical tip comes "The Education of Miss Asia" , the Ernest McIntyre play , which will be performed by Stage and Set on the 30th and 31st of August, again at the British Council. The play concerns a contestant in the Miss World title - Marlene Perera who has just won the Miss Asia title. As the candidate from this corner of the world, she has to mug up on all the various aspects of life in these United States of Asia , and this provides the basis of the plotline. Directed by Harin Corea , it comprises actors from the age of 7 to 72 mainly from the Kandy region .Looking forward to seeing it........................

Rock music's latest trend seems to be a cross mingling with black musical styles that haven't been explored before. Bands like Sugar Ray , Sublime, No Doubt and those grandaddys of the genre, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are successfully infusing the sounds of ska and reggae into their music , with punk overtones for that added edge. Cross cultural pollination on a fin de siecle scale, with turntables and toasters appearing in videos alongside Mohicans , body piercing and Fender stratocasters. Great stuff and one that makes Skeletones fans like myself hopeful for the future. Two tone and Monster Mash !!!...........

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