Sweet. The video book reviewer Molly Pesce features Hit Me as one of her Rockin’ Reads. Sweet!

There’s a section in my book titled Get Dates, Win Affection. Well, Asylum.com asked me to list some pick-up strategies. I need to write the ladies version and the queer version too which will involve a lot of Cher.

Hello, Pick Up Artist people, perhaps you need me to do some coaching on your nerd guys!

Whether you’ve got perfect pitch or are tone-deaf, karaoke can be a great place to meet women, at least according to Raina Lee, the author of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot: The Ultimate Guide to Karaoke Domination.”

“Karaoke is an awesome place to hook up because people are outside of their element,” she says. “I know someone who dated this 33 year old virgin/ computer science PhD dork because he did a spot-on ‘Welcome To The Jungle.’ Karaoke can get you laid.”

The amateur songstress was nice enough to share her tips for impressing the ladies next time you stumble into a karaoke night.

Pick the unexpected. “I saw a guy bring down the house with ‘Hava Negila’ in Chinatown. Even though most of the bar was Chinese, he had everyone clapping and foot-stomping like it was a bar mitzvah. Pick something no normal guy would sing and sing it well. The ladies won’t forget you, and it’ll give them a good excuse to talk to you.”

Ask ladies to duets with you. “Ballads like ‘Precious Love’ by Marvin and Tammi or ‘Always’ by Atlantic Starr never fail. Duets are guaranteed face-time with ladies. But don’t sing with two on one night. You don’t want to be known as the male karaoke slut.”

READ MORE and MY TOP 5 KARAOKE SONGS HERE.

Above: Aram singing Richard Marx

if that was the case then maybe you need one of these. I think this is non-functional however.

Here’s a wrap up of the Northern Cal Domination Tour for the Chronicle Books blog.

Whenever I’d mention karaoke, someone would say, “You do Carry-Okie?” accompanied by a confused look. So I decided to write Hit Me With Your Best Shot: The Ultimate Guide To Karaoke Domination to explain myself. I also decided to spread the gospel with singing parties in San Jose and San Francisco. Sorry NorCal, you got KARAOKE DOMINATED!

I spent all Friday driving from L.A. to San Jose’s 7 Bamboo in Japantown. Now, the 7 Bamboo isn’t your average Jtown dive bar; it’s the most techie singing venue around, with a system that automates singer rotation created by KJ Toqer and his friend Mike. Their automated system more fairly distributes songs based on how many times you’ve already performed. Toqer also projects a queue on the wall so no one is left wondering, “When is it MY turn?” Genius! The automated rotation really just prevents mic hogs like me from taking over. Toqer also streams each night’s festivities live on their website, and archives most of the performances online. Dangit! I was hoping no one would remember my horrible rendition of “Islands In The Stream.”

We had a giant turnout, there was even a line out the door! Even Toqer noted it was crazier than normal. I really loved hanging with the regulars, who are quite the cast of characters. Take Vic: a 6’3” older Chinese American gentleman with a penchant for Spanish language songs (Suavemente, Cali Pachanguero, for example). Vic also manned the cowbell, something 7 Bamboo-ers say you can never get too much of. Overall, the crowd was the warmest, least cliquey, and talented karaoke party a singing girl could ask for! Later, we wound down the night at IHOP, where Toqer and Mike waxed poetic on karaoke philosophy.

Read the rest with pics and video HERE. Above: April of Chornicle and Toqer, KJ extraordinaire at 7 Bamboo.

Thank you to everyone who came to my Comicon signing! I have to say this was probably my most fun Comicon yet. Since I didn’t have to man a table this year, I got to walk around and take pictures with the costume people. You know, the people who dress up as Chewbacca, Indy, Bob’s Big Boy, “Slave Leia” (when she’s on Jabba’s leash), Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and other various anime characters. I heard there was a karaoke booth by SingStar, but I couldn’t find it! But I did find the Capcom booth where they were demoing Street Fighter 4! The line was too long to wait, but I got to meet Ryu and Ken. My other fave costumes were Bumblebee and Solid Snake, with the ultimate camoflage weapon– his cardboard box! He gets props for using a cargo box for an Xbox 360 (marked on the side).

Just uploaded them, thank you Sharon Dang for letting me use you camera. Below: Grace Kao, holding a for sale sign, Chris Burke trying to pick the perfect song, Sharon, me and Calvin with the book, and Gabrielle Bell doing an amazing David Byrne. I’m glad all my friends came and brought their friends! We had an impressive turnout, and quit the dance party too.

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There’s a great interview with me by Nicole Browner in the Aggie, the school paper at University of California, Davis.

And karaokers should consider taking the 27-year-old’s advice - Lee has done an ethnography on the scene and witnessed some karaoke characters along the way.

“I’ve noticed that especially if you go to local bars and not hipster bars, ones that are random and in the middle of nowhere, everyone singing is dead serious,” Lee said. “They do it without irony - there is no one singing Pearl Jam for fun. They’re singing Zeppelin and they really mean it and they really practiced.”

I’m particularly excited because I graduated from Davis eons ago, and love love love Davis. Most city snobs don’t understand why anyone would love a small college agricultural school and town that’s not even near a major city (it was seriously 1.5 hours from San Francisco). But this Times article notes why it’s hard for lots of people to leave Davis, as well as other utopian college towns. In the Aggie article I note that I saw Miranda July and Calvin Johnson perform at a local teen center blocks away from my house. It really was utopian; i rode a bike everywhere, ate local food at the student union, and was surrounded by scientists, activists, artists, and academic types! •Le sigh•

Thank you Nicole for the awesome article!

Hey Folks! Been traveling like a manic this week but will post pics of the NY Lit party soon, or as soon as Sharon uploads the pics for me.
Colin hosted an amazing show, and a big thanks to everyone who came out! Paige, my lovely raffle assistant and cover girl (check her out on the back cover of the book), Emily the dear raffle enforcer, Erin the Xanadu singer (what pipes!), Chris Burke and Wolfgang who sang 99 Luftballoons in full GERMAN, Damon who’s song they misplaced but stayed anyway, Cathy Ghim and Rich Hahn for being the last ones at the bar with me, and Aaron, Gabrielle, and Jesse, the cartoonist dance crew.

ANYWAYZ, if you’re going to SAN DIEGO COMICON come say hi at Chronicle Books booth! I’m doing a signing!

Book signing, Hit Me WIth Your Best Shot: The Ultimate Guide To Karaoke Domination by Raina Lee
Friday, July 25 @ 330pm
Chronicle Books booth# 1637.

See you there or see you at the Masquerade Ball. I am def. going to make it to that this year, even if I can’t dress up like a Katamari Damacy ball (too lazy to make a costume). John Pham is also doing a signing for his new comic, Substitute LIfe at the Fantagraphics Booth, Friday 2-3pm, and Saturday 3-5pm, so go check out his work too!

The above pic is me and a winged friend from Comicon 2003.

here’s my interview in AsianWeek. Thank you Angela Pang (a fellow UCD Aggie) for the lovely interview!

SAN FRANCISCO - Clad in a cute ivory flapper-esque dress and with a microphone in hand, petite Raina Lee pointed suggestively at her bosom and derriere as she sang the raunchy “Dance: 10, Looks: 3″ from A Chorus Line.

“Just a dash of silicone … shake your new maracas and you’re fine!” Lee crooned at the Mint Karaoke Lounge, while the crowd clapped and cheered during her June 28 book launch party.

Thanks Lisa for the post about the party + book on the Bust blog!!