They were both good for a couple of laughs at first, but now they drive me nuts. The problem is people get drunk and start passing them around at bang on them all night, even on slow songs. They become annoying and end up taking away from what should be most important: the singers.

How far we come in so little time.

Just 4 years ago I added streaming video to the karaoke experience.  3 years earlier I was one of the first adopters of PC tech for karaoke here in the bay area. 

 After all these years i've finally gotten my calling.  A consortium of karaoke companies are forming a trade group.

This is no joke.  I can't say who is on board, but from emails shot back and forth through the series of tubes known as the internet I have managed to track down the names of several companies involved in its inception.  We're talking the big big players here.  I've directly spoken with most of the directors of various karaoke companies.

Right now the situation is pretty grim...  7 Bamboo is not the typical computerized karaoke show, but because so many folks out there run with a computer, we've had to stay ahead of the pace, not just for the purpose of beating off the competition with our large wooden stick, but there was also a need to differentiate us from the other clowns out there in operation.

It's 9:16 on the 7 Bamboo clocks. There's 0 singers, and just a bumper internet radio station in cue. A J song is potentially being cued up (I see sayoko digging through the laserdisks) but the night remains to be seen.

For the endless hours of entertainment you provided our guests tonight.  We do not know you name, but after mopping up your puddle of puke, I feel like I know what lies in the innermost core of your being.  It looked like chicken.

You are an inspiration to us all.  I salute you!

The Seven Bamboo now has one-hundred Yelp reviews...

Ms. Shen B. being that hundredth Yelper.. five stars of course.. 

Fuck,

Was it stolen? Did I misplace it? Right now I'll lean towards stolen, because I remember putting both mics on my booth last night before I left with Tal for Dennys.

At some point it's going to be replaced, but it's really fucked up people would steal from an old Japanese couple. I'm a firm believer in karma, so no doubt they'll get theirs in the end.

15 seats reserved by a brad, or a rad, or a red. Still plenty of room I guess.

2 in queue has been the rule for many months now.  While there has been some merit to the policy, it's also has had it's downsides.  I'm starting to think the negative of the policy far outweigh any benefits it might have towards myself, and the regular singers. 

It's genuinely good for the bar.  Most nights we manage to keep sellout time at bay, extending open slots well past the previous 10:30pm every night sellout we had before we implemented the policy.  That's where the kicker is though....

When you have people wandering into the bar at midnight or later, they're usually too beligerantly drunk to sing.  Sometimes they can be the worse kind of annoying people that I don't have any interest in serving or dealing with.  I know the regulars can feel a bit shoved out or displaced by it as well. 

Perhaps one of the biggest downfalls of 2 in queue, new singer priority.

Back when we had 3 in queue, new singer priority would always do a fairly good mix of new/old singers throughout the night.  What i've seen lately is...

9pm - 5 singers in rotation

10pm- 30 singers in rotation

Forgot some of the names (they're written down on the calendar) but ya, so far, 25 seats taken.

Viva Pilobolus!!! (and NYC )

That is all...- New York City ..