Technical knock out in the first round of Karaoke. Did that ever happen to you? Well, that is just what I experienced recently at our department party. I had an inkling that trouble was waiting, and I really did not want to go, but the colleagues talked me into it. We headed to an Irish Pub downtown near our office. The place was in the cellar, the bar way in the back of the room, and there was a huge crowd there. And right up front was a big stage – yep, very suspicious!

On the left side was a guy in charge of all the electronics and amplifiers. I should have gotten out of there fast, but it was too late. Our table had been reserved, and after about four rounds of Guiness my colleague Wulnikovsky shoved a microphone under my nose and pushed me onto the stage. The spotlight was on and the text to Urgent from Foreigner rolled across the monitor in front of me. I did my best to keep up, everybody was roaring with laughter, the whole pub was going crazy. Suddenly BAAM! Blackout. I can’t see anything as I step forward, whack my head on the monitor and lose my footing. I fell pretty hard and it hurt, let me tell you. Then the lights and music came back on. And I am lying at the audience’s feet. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?