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:: I know why the caged karaoke participant sings ::
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
San Mateo is banning private-room karaoke.
Private karaoke rooms -- soundproofed booths where late-night crooners can butcher Frank Sinatra in relative privacy -- apparently have a reputation of being used for other undesirable acts. Worried about possible criminal activity that these private booths might bring to San Mateo, the council unanimously passed a 45-day emergency ban. The ban comes as Steven Lin, a restaurant owner, waited to get permits to operate four private karaoke rooms at his Fusia Lounge in the city.
Hmm...
A synopsis of Sing Low, Sweet Harriet, the new novella by morland to be released in the summer of 2009:
The work takes place in a futuristic dystopia circa 2013 where a cabal of hyper-puritanical zealots have instated martial law in a rash attempt to eradicate all things lewd and lascivious. Their doctrine of clean living extends across not only the whole Earth, but all the space colonies including Ganymede, where the story takes place. Banned are fudge-sicles, the lambada, countless erstwhile innocuous acts, and, of course, private-room karaoke. The protagonist Bernard - a "conductor" on the underground grand funk railroad, the illicit organization dedicated to helping harried karaoke-goers ("nightingales") find the clandestine private clubs known as "squeekeasies" - has come across tough times. His credit account is low, the employer providing his legitimate job front is under investigation for sulfur fraud, and he can't shake the haunting memory of his lost android lover, deactivated by the Callisto crime syndicate in retaliation for his refusal to accept their "protection"; she was powered down to empower his independence. After narrowly evading the anti-private-karaoke police, unaffectionately called "the mute squad" by conductors and nightingales alike, on his trusty hover-trike, he seeks refuge in the neon-lit backalleys of New Decatur amongst the squeekeasies and virtual mini-golf ranges, attempting to regain his status as the best conductor in the outer colonies. But when he meets a sultry femme-fatale named Harriet with a larynx like sugar claiming to be a nightingale on the run, will he stay underground and ignore her pleas, or will her connections to the ruling sect tempt him to risk everything to save them both, and just maybe the whole solar system in the process?
In a world where singing over bad studio instrumental covers of popular songs in private is outlawed, only outlaws can sing over bad studio instrumental covers of popular songs in private.
With cover art by Gary Trudeau.
Posted by morland @ 06:17 PM
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