“Wasting Away in Karaokeville”

The Seattle Weekly today published my article, “Wasting Away in Karaokeville,” the result of several months of exhaustive karaoke research. Here’s an excerpt:

Once a fad embraced only by the supremely talented or obscenely drunk, karaoke has crossed over to the big time in Seattle, drawing crowds from Ballard to the ID.

“Whoever invented karaoke should get the Nobel Peace Prize,” says Garnett Brooks, who bartends at the Crescent Lounge, also on Capitol Hill. “People feel like a million dollars coming off that stage.” (As a matter of fact, Osaka-born Daisuke Inoue, who invented karaoke in 1971, was awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 by the Annals of Improbable Research.)