The AC partay the only way they know how

#1 lesson learned 2008: Don't send out invitations to a party a mere 48 hours before you plan to hold it.

This is lesson was learned in a painful manner as the (diminished) AC crew consisting of me, Romana, Elsie, Helena and Jo walked in to Taste of Korea and asked for the 7.30 karaoke reservation.

"I thought you said 20 people were coming," glowered the waitress, obviously expecting a huge party of adults buying hundreds of dollars worth of alcoholic beverages, instead of the five measly underage patrons she saw before her.

"They're coming!" we insisted, slightly desperately.

And they did, sort of. Julia, Ellen and Eloise showed up later on, and eventually out of desperation for more people (I was paranoid that the waitress thought I was a deluded, unpopular loser who thought I had more friends than I really did), I forced my boyfriend to join us. Which brought our tally up to 9, which wasn't really enough for the ginormous room we were given:

The neon decorations were totally worth the exorbitant cost. And despite our small numbers, by jove, we rocked the house.

The night of karaoke (which means "empty orchestra" in Japanese, isn't that hauntingly beautiful?) began with the immortal Anastasia classic, "Once Upon a December", then by possibly the worst rendition of "Born in the USA" ever, sung my Romana and myself. Bruce Springsteen would be literally be rolling in his grave if he heard it (and were dead). Nevertheless, the Viet Cong references pleased the history nerds no end.

Next, the talented team of Elsie and Julia sang "Californication", with backing vocals from Helena and Eloise:

What a gorgeous bunch of ladies! (I'm serious. And I'm sorry for the photo. But I had to share.)

Meanwhile, the shyer people lurked in the background:

And Jo (dressed as her blogging alter-ego HeadSurgeon) basked in the glorious ambience of our surroundings:

After that, the whole group joined in what must be the most powerful rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" since 1997:

They joined in too. Romana's just being SILLY.

Then came my long awaited (by me) performance of Prince's immortal epic, "Purple Rain". I don't have a photo, but it went a little like this:

It seems that 5-minute guitary solos don't really translate well to karaoke.

Then a variety of fun and engaging group singalongs occured.

"All the Small Things" by blink182:

"Going Under" by Evanescence:

Other performances included "Holiday", "Our Time is Running Out", "Thriller" and a (reportedly) epic rap of "Gangsters Paradise" that I sadly missed out on by going to the toilet.

We finished the evening off with a totally rocking performance of "Anarchy in the UK". Some epic headbanging action ensued:

Then our precious two hours of karaoke time ran out. To end the evening, I announced some awards for contribution to the AC:

Julia, for her work organising food and drink and fundraising for the Oxjam while busy with debating and exams, as well as organising our banner-holdings.

Jo, for her amazing illustrations on the first edition of our zine (coming out soon!) and for the amazing amount of smart, thought-provoking posts she has written for her blog.

Ellen and Helena, for being the AC's most enthusiastic members.

Romana, for best excuse for not turning up to a meeting: "I have to cook waffles at lunchtime."

Elsie, for looking the most annoyed that she hadn't got an award yet.

Harry, for being the AC's only male member (sort of).

Eloise, for being cool.

Of course, I would have had many, many more awards to give out to the AC, because each member has contributed to the group in their own way. But I only had five chocolate bars.

Thanks to everyone who showed up, I had a fantastic time and I hope you did too!

Thanks to everyone who RSVP'd, even if they couldn't make it.

Thanks to everyone who didn't RSVP too, because if I invited you it means that you're in the AC and I love you anyway!

That's all for the year, have a safe and relaxing holiday, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Ka kite!