Playing the Piano - 2 - Oh, we Need a Piano

Old notes from my hard drive May 4th, 2006

entry 1
I'm expecting my digital piano any day now... I ordered it a month ago (April 8th, 2006), but that's another story.... . "Tom Lee Music" what a mess.

entry 2
I haven't been sitting on my arse since March..., I've read 5 learn how to "play piano books" in my spare time. I've had to skip a few chapters, mostly practical.

Playing the Piano - 1 - The Beginnings

Around March 10th I got the itch to try to attempt once again to play the guitar, my last attempt was ten years ago. As luck would have it, Detroit PBS was running a show "playing Piano in a Flash" with Scott Houston during one of its pledge drives. I was hooked... I understood everything he was saying and quickly put a tape into the VCR.

Firstly, some background on me... "artist wanting to be musician". My prior experience in music was playing some songs on the guitar and two years playing the french horn in grades seven and eight. I say "playing the french horn" but I never got past some simple notes in two years. I passed it for two years but I think Mrs. Stewart had great pity on me... She was also my french teacher, the poor woman. I did change schools briefly for 4 months, and took up the alto sax. How stupid, going to an instrument with more valves.

I starting to understanding more about music when I played guitar, but since I didn't own the guitar my playing ended when the guitar moved away. I could play notes to songs such as "Both Sides Now" and was starting to play chords.

So back to the Piano... "Playing Piano in a Flash" showed me most popular music I wanted to play were simple chords, I headed to the internet. Found a wealth of info on FAKING, GUITAR TABLATURE, and EASY PIANO which all work on the some concept. There turned out to be a wealth of music and educational tools to download and buy.

Why Titanic is a Great Movie… it’s obvious...

Why Titanic is a Great Movie… it’s obvious...

You can talk about the love affair between Leo and Kate, the special effects, human interest, box office, or many other positive things…. But Titanic has something like no other movie…

Man hitting propeller

Before Titanic we lived in a world where men would give up their lives in movies and would fall directly to the earth. Now, and rightly so the possibility exists that they may hurl themselves onto giant propellers.

The Actor who played “man hitting propeller” seemed to be overlooked by the Academy that year at the Oscars. Sure, he might not be Tom Hanks, but does Tom have the acting range of “man hitting propeller”…? I think not! At best Mr. Hanks could be man who lands on propeller!

To me Titanic will always be a two part movie… the part that leads up to the man beside Kate Winslet, releasing himself from the railing screaming, and the second part.... starting with the metallic twang and a lifeless body tumbling to the ocean.

Yes, “man hitting propeller” is what makes Titanic a great movie

Star Trek - the best

I have watched all Trek since I was child in the early 70's . Here is a list of the best and the worse...

best captains (in order)
Janeway (kicks butt)
Kirk (gets the babes)
Cisco (most realistic)
Archer (captain's captain)
Pickard (although last on this list, all the captians were excellent)

best movies (in order)
Wrath of Kahn
Undiscovered Country
First Contact

best supporting characters (in order)
Spock
the Borg
the rest of the original cast

best series beginning (in order)
Enterprise
Deep Space Nine
Next Gen

worse series beginning
Voyager ????? snooze

best series ending
Voyager (how does a thing like this happen)?

worse series ending
Enterprise ????? what the heck was that
Deep Space Nine ????? Beam me up Scotty, no intelligent life here

best episodes
Best of Both Worlds - Borg at their scariest
Space Seed (1967)
Affliction (2005) ... thank god Manny Coto is doing "24"
Year in hell - part 1&2 ... they got a two parter right!!!
- there's a lot of brilliant episodes