The piano is a serious bitch. I mean really, how impractical is it to have an instrument where every single note requires it's own seperate button? Usually knowing how to play one instrument makes it easier to pick up another, but the piano controls so differently from everything else that it's kind of a pain to get the hang of. It is essentially a percusion instrument. Anyhow, the "secret" is to practice different chord voicings chromatically through all the keys, so that you start to get muscle memory that helps your hands slide into the right positions quickly. But it's still a pain in the arse.Popcorn wrote:Incidentally, yesterday I decided to start learning to play the piano on the assumption that it was probably basically easy. It turns out it's actually sort of hard-- clearly I'm doing something wrong. Come on, Esrever, what's the secret?
I did pretty well this Christmas. I got two CD's by Medeski, Martin and Wood: an organ-fronted trio whose music is basically a fusion of jazz, funk and hip hop. It's awesome stuff.
I also got a copy of Flight, an absolutely gorgeous comic anthology that features some great young cartoonists like Kazu Kibuishi (http://www.boltcity.com/) and Vera Brogsal (http://rts.lunistice.com/). Most of the contributors are only a year or two older than me, and make me feel almost totally inadaquate. But it's still a fantastic book.
Usually my folks never buy me video games, but they did get me a copy of MGS:TS this year because I told them about a place where they could get it used for $20. They also found (somehow) a DVD with a few episodes of the Burns and Allan show, which is a depressing reminder of how terrible and unfunny sitcoms have become today. Man, Burns was already doing that whole "talk to the camera" bit that shows like Malcom in the Middle love... and this was made in the fifties! It's bloody hillarious.
As usual, my lady Claire is building me something, but it is not quite finished yet! I'm eager to see what it is this time. :)
