Hey brucie, yesterday I posted, up in the thread, a simple etymology similar to yours. A day later, I'm uneasy with it and wonder if it can be whole truth. Tomorrow, you may be uncomfortable with your etymology.

You see, Karaoke, at least in spirit, probably started in ancient Greece, like many other cultural advances. You don't think Apollo, who won several contests singing delightfully while playing his lyre, would have passed up a chance to sing Cold Cold Heart, if he'd stumbled across a Karaoke machine and a microphone? After all, Apollo didn't seem to be as unreasonable or as snobbish as you are. Sure, when he won the contest against flute player Marsyas, who had agreed that the winner could inflict whatever punishment he pleased on the loser, Apollo may have gone a little overboard by today's standards. He flayed Marsyas alive and nailed his skin to a tree.

Aphrodite, on the other hand, might have been more reluctant to sing Karaoke. She had been caught trying her hand on a loom and she had been told, in no uncertain terms, that her only divine duty was to make love. Aphrodite apologized and thereafter avoided working with her hands. I suppose, if she used a mike stand with one of those reliable Shure 58 mikes and sang 'I Will Always Love You' in an arousing voice, she could fulfil her divine duties.

And, please, pray tell, what are basket houses?