I Want My Tok Karaoke

With the darkness coming more quickly by the day, I’m thinking of dusting off my Karaoke machine and getting ready for the long, cold winter with a little in-home Karaoke madness. Music soothes the sun-deprived soul. When we were living in Anchorage, I used to marvel at the wealth of public Karaoke options. We’d usually go to Al’s Karaoke Bar in our ‘hood.

Now I know that Tok has Karaoke but it always seems to be the best kept secret. I’ve heard it is every other Saturday but  Saturdays it is on or off. Looks like I need to start making some calls! I did make it to one Karaoke night that was fun but like in most places, Karaoke is an acquired taste and most people only do it after a large amount of alcohol consumption. I actually prefer to Karaoke without too many drinks. After two, I start really missing all the notes.

I’m fascinated with the Karaoke culture, that is, the culture of hardcore Karaoke fans. It’s a bit like RV culture – this strata of people who live a different kind of lifestyle by choice and being part of that group is like being a part of a secret club where you all know the secret handshake. Someday, I’m going to take an RV and travel the country in search of Karaoke. Maybe even enter a contest or two if I can really work up a good song.

Karaoke in a small town is quite different from Karaoke in the big city. First, you are usually competing with fewer people for your chance at the mic so you end up singing a little more often. Sometimes in Anchorage, I’d be lucky to get two songs in, and that was a 8pm, the moment the Karaoke DJ opened the mic. Another thing is that if you do Karaoke in a small town, the next day everyone – and I mean everyone – knows you did it and exactly what songs you sang. But that’s okay, I don’t mind it if folks in my community know I’m a Karaoke fanatic.

I’ll make a few calls, get the winter schedule for Tok Karaoke, and start plugging away with some Dido, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, and a little bit of Shania Twain mixed in for good measure.

Do you Karaoke? What are your best songs or artists?

Summer Is Dead. Long Live Summers in Tok.

Winter is here. At 20 degrees most of the morning, I know this is just a taste of what is to come, however, I’m already shivering. There was frost on the ground this morning. The rhubarb in the backyard garden are drooping, the peas are bitter. Luckily, the sun is out and bright now to warm the greenhouse and the hoards of green tomatoes, but we should really bring those in to ripen in the basement.

And as yet another sign of summer: the big orange produce truck is here today but gone for the rest of the year, not to return until next summer. Yes, the produce truck is here, and while I’m a new and loyal convert to Gene’s veggie truck, he doesn’t have fruit or a few other items that the big truck carries so I think you can get a nice supply of produce by frequenting both places.

The produce truck folks said they MIGHT be here tomorrow (Wednesday) morning as well – depends on how their supplies hold out after today.

Today, I picked up sweet onions, a bag of apples, some nice-looking plums, some large tomotoes and two acorn squash. I almost bought a few jalapenos to make homemade salsa and am still contemplating going back for those, however, that means lots of chopping work ahead, and this cold weather is making me feel so lazy.

How is the pending winter making you feel? How have you prepared for a winter without easily accessible fresh fruits and veggies?

Tok Alaska Farmers Market