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o saturday oct 18 2003 economist sunsuntribune 4 i by jerome watt staff writer ts 8 pm saturday night and one karaoke crowd leaves markhams take one studios to prepare for the next wave of wouldbe singers the after 10 pm crowd the 10000squarefbot karaoke mecca runs seven days a week and stays open as late as 4 am some nights featuring 36 pri vate rooms better known as karaoke boxes as well as a lounge for crooners owher albert chu says take one studios is the largest karaoke bar in the country is karaoke alive or dead he asked thats not a valid ques tion its very much alive two karaoke bars have opened in the last month more and more are opening its true you get a high from it its kind of an addiction you dont necessarily want to he famous you just love to do it a short drive along woodbine avenue reveals at least two other karaoke bars and its easy to spot a fe along hwy 7 and ditto for steeles avenue in markharh dedicated karaoke bars are a little harder to find in the north end of york region but many places set aside one or two nights a week for the pastime gmr chu said he started offer ing the karaoke boxes 10 years ago following a trend popular in ijong kong in asia karaoke is huge he said legend has it karaoke began at ajnack bar in kobe city in japan staff photosjoerd witteveen ruth dover and reg castello of stonehaven avenue in newmarket sing nat king coles pretend on their karaoke machine roughly 20 years ago the story if true is the owner of the snack bar prepared tapes of accompaniment recordings for times when strolling guitarists couldnt perform at the bar it turned out vocalists enjoyed singing to the tapes karaoke is a japanese abbrevi ated compound word kara which comes from karappo meaning empty and oke is the abbreviation of orchestra since then karaoke has prolif erated across asia and has become a popular form of enter tainment in the west mr chu hopes to increase the diversity of people involved in karaoke up until now it seems to be mainly oriental clientele he said we hope to have more nonori ental clientele patrons can choose from over 10000 song titles and sing along in cantonese mandarin taiwanese japanese english or italian at take one studios customers are usually divided into the serious singers who come in the afternoon and the late night crowd who conies out for funaccording to 23yearold kevin liem its the way to chill puthe said people after 10 come to drink and have fun thats usually how it works mr liem the lead singer of a band comes partly to refine his singing skills and have fun he usually shows up in the afternoon in newmarket downstairs at timothys steakhouse fridays and saturdays locals come to sing there are no karaoke boxes in which to hide participants share their singing talent good or bad with the audience kj the karaoke equivalent of a dj jim lewis or pops spins the tunes as far as this 11year veteran knows there areritany dedicated karaoke bars in newmarket this is as good as it gets he said but 75yearold ruth dover is just as dedicated to the artfqrm as her counterparts in markham for the past couple of years see some page 21 evelyn wolf in the garden of evelyn tomoveplants is now q i hear conflicting advice about whenits best to trans- plant i have a healthy three- yearold burning bush i would like to move when is the best time a the best time to move most plants is in mid to late fall in other words now at this time of year all perennial plants whether herbaceous hpsta day lily or woody perennials shrubs and trees have shut down their feeding systems and are entering dor mancy this is what fall colours are about plants are draining the last of the chloro- phyu from their leaves and have stopped producing more when plants are in their dormant period they undergo the least amount of shock when transplanted think of it as though they are in a deep sleep they can be moved around without even noticing it arid simply wake up in a new bedv -f- dig up your shrub gettingas much of the root ball as possible if your soil is heavy this may be a real chore but what i often do is get an old bed linen and lift or roll the root ball on to it and drag it to the new spot if your soil is loose and falls away from the roots dont worry about it this is actually a better situation since you have a chance to spread out the roots in the new planting hole where it will be in direct contact with fresh soil just be sure to not expose bare roots to sun or wind i usually hose down roots and cover them quickly with something until they are safe in the ground again see water page 22 meiv help us shape the future of our community today jpsst3 phone survey of town of markham residents starting in the week of october 20 the town of markham is asking residents for their opinions on parks recreation culture and library facilities markham is updating its master plan andprioritiesfor future development in these areas this survey is one component of the public consultation program other elements include feedback from community groups arid community search conference with residents moriteith planning consultants will be conducting the telephone survey we encourage our residents to take part in jthis important survey when contacted find out more by visiting us at wwwmarkhamcamasterplan for regular updates or by contacting sara tam town of markham at 9054157533 or stam markhamca