First off, I’m not a writer. However, I could write about a lot of things on JCCC2. Wil Wheaton has inspired me to give it a shot here, and so I am writing about the biggest highlight of the cruise for me.

One of the coolest moments in my life happened on JCCC2. This event couldn’t have been planned, it just happened. JoCo Karaoke was going to start up soon, and I was very excited about it.

Some back story

I have been an amateur guitar player and singer for 20 years, and I will always be an amateur. However, I’d like to be a good amateur, and on my bucket list is to play an actual gig one day.

Gratuitous picture inserted to break up my Wall O' Text. Playing for an audience of 0 as usual.

I’ve done Karaoke several times now. An interesting story is the first one I ever did. I have been on only one cruise before JCCC2, and it was a run of the mill snork cruise minus the poker group that I signed up with. We had a room dedicated with a number of poker tables.

Excuse me while I add “snork” to Microsoft Word’s Dictionary. Ok.

On this cruise, they had something called “Kamikaze Karaoke”, which I was unaware of. Apparently they grab people walking by and force them to do karaoke, and you do not get to choose the song.

I stumbled from the poker room to get another drink at the bar, and passed through this area (which was an open area, contrary to the Queen’s Lounge). I got snagged by the host. They already had a girl that had recently left the poker room for the same reason. Through peer pressure, we both get talked into singing “Summer Lovin’” (sigh), and I didn’t even know the song. Neither did she. We were awful. Really awful. Still, the snorks applauded us and we were granted a free drink at the bar. Win.

Since then I have gotten the nerve up to do Karaoke a few more times, where I actually get to pick a song I know. It is tough, but getting a little easier each time.

Back to JoCo Karaoke

There are many songs I think I can pull off, and I am so ready! I get there early in order to have a better choice of songs. When Scarface asks for a line, I’m one of at least a couple handful of people to rush into place. I think I’m about 10 people back. I feel confident that I’ll find a song I’m happy with when I get up there.

Now I start trying to prioritize the songs in my head so I can pick a song without taking a lot of time to do so when I get to the signup station. I continue to wait in line, thinking of songs. I’m up! I take a look at the list and start scanning through it quickly….. Re: Your Brains hasn’t been taken? I make the decision quickly. I sing this song at every Rock Band party, no problem, this is going to be great!

That’s when I still thought it was only going to be “great”. It turns out, Sea Monkeys are bad asses.

I’m called to the stage. “Jeff P.”. JoCo comments, “Jeff Pee… you must have been teased as a child”. I get to the stage and find the mic, “It’s Jeff Posey, and yes, I was.”. I then apologize for asking if JoCo was fired from his job previous to becoming a professional musician (at Q&A), which he was understandably offended by. He quit. There’s a big difference. As usual for the Karaoke night, he states that I can ask any question of him and that he must answer truthfully. Having already offended him with that previous question, I decide to pass. He says… “good.”

He asks what song I will be singing, and knowing that I’ve got a monstrous song in my grasp, I decide not to spoil it myself, and leave it with “somebody had to do it”.

The Karaoke monitors fire up, and “Re: Your Brains” is revealed. The crowd cheers! Awesome song. I am so excited!

We start singing the song… all of us together, and it feels fantastic. I take a glance at JoCo leaning against the wall over there, and I question if this is really happening. I am mainly focusing on trying not to sound horrible. Also, I’m attempting to somehow focus on the crowd in the Queen’s Lounge that I can’t see because of the lights on me.

I know the words to the song, but I’m compelled to keep staring at the monitor. Out of the corner of my eye I see movement. Hmm, those are people, but they’re not dancing. They’re moving way too slow. Aww great, they’re zombies. There are minutes left in the song, this is BS. I start to inch my way towards JoCo. I point quickly in the direction of the zombies and give this “what do I do?” look to JoCo. He continues to lean against the wall, not giving a damn.

Meanwhile a fellow human begins to bash zombie heads in with the mic stand. This was pretty helpful. He sacrificed himself for me. For that, I will be forever grateful. I end up going for some head-bashing myself during the line “When I bash your head in”.

It’s becoming difficult to see the monitor, but I still felt required to keep it in view. I dart back behind the zombies to the other side and fight to continue my duty to rock this Karaoke.

A zombie gets a hold of me! I drop to the ground, and quickly I’m swarmed. Dang. I manage to sit up enough to get another look at the Karaoke monitor while my leg is being chewed on. (is that that the guy that “saved” me? oh well) I get the last words of the song out before I’m devoured.

I place the mic stand back in its rightful place, shake JoCo’s hand, and declare “This Cruise Is Awesome!”, and I’m out.

Here are links to video of this event, taken by Marnie with an iPod Touch from the back of the CAC. If anyone has any pictures or videos of this, please share!

JCCC2: JoCo Karaoke Re: Your Brains Part 1
JCCC2: JoCo Karaoke Re: Your Brains Part 2

NOTE: Marnie brought it to my attention that the singer of Re: Your Brains is a zombie, and should probably not be the target of zombies. MEH. Technicalities.

I registered for JCCC3 before I left JCCC2. See you next year.