“there are several common rooms in my dormitory at indiana university, and most of them have pianos available for the students to play,” writes jain in bloomington.
“while I can empathize with this anonymous student’s frustration, possibly after hearing the third or fourth broken attempt at ‘chopsticks’ in a single day, i’ve personally found the exit to be a more successful coping strategy than leaving bitchy notes on a baby grand. but hey, different strokes…”
meanwhile, dan spotted a supermarket in sterling, virginia that took the above note-writer’s sentiment just a half-step further.
related: i used to be your biggest fan
extra credit: pearls before breakfast [washingtonpost.com]
90 responses so far ↓
#1
LES
….and “No Stairway.”
Nov 24, 2008 at 5:45 pm rating: +25
#2
Mark
Freebird!!
Nov 24, 2008 at 5:48 pm rating: +7
#3
Mishee
I can’t play “Thanks”?
Can I at least play “Your Welcome”?
Nov 24, 2008 at 6:16 pm rating: +11
#4
secondsout
The piano is for entertainment, so don’t play it? How can a piano entertain anyone without someone playing it?
Nov 24, 2008 at 6:19 pm rating: +7
#5
secondsout
What if you’re really good… at playing Chopsticks?
Nov 24, 2008 at 6:21 pm rating: +6
#6
Andy
Hey, yo, I’m still not a playa but you still a hata!
Nov 24, 2008 at 6:25 pm rating: +12
#7
K Dog
Good is in the ear of the beholder.
Nov 24, 2008 at 6:26 pm rating: +2
#8
Mishee
Young Billy just wanted somewhere to sit and practice his piano.. he doesn’t have one at home, and the kids in his neighborhood are quite cruel about his passion and he had to learn to defend himself just to take lessons…
As he wanders around town, hoping somewhere there is a piano that he can practice on, even to just bang out a few notes and experiment a little…
He heads over to the local supermarket, where for some reason they have a piano on display… but today there is something new.. a note… not just any note… a note forbidding him to play with the piano any more…
Dejected, Young Billy walks home with his dreams quashed and his spirits low…
“I guess I’ll just have to work on my song ‘Piano Man’ somewhere else”, he thinks to himself, “Damn them for thinking I am not entertaining!!”
Nov 24, 2008 at 6:29 pm rating: +25
#9
unfortunate names blog
i’d say most people with the balls to play random public pianos think they are good on some level so that first not couldn’t have been too effective.
Nov 24, 2008 at 7:01 pm rating: +1
#10
Canthz_B
She’s making a list, and checking it twice…
Nov 24, 2008 at 7:03 pm rating: +1
#11
Mishee
Anyone else here wonder if it is Lisa Loopner who are playing these pianos? Cause if so, yes, I agree, ’cause she wasn’t very good…
Nov 24, 2008 at 7:10 pm rating: +3
#12
Martin Heidegger
What are you looking at me for?
I am really good. Saintly even. I just happen to be shit at playing the piano.
Nov 24, 2008 at 7:22 pm rating: +7
#13
JoelWhy
Signed,
Simon Cowell
Nov 24, 2008 at 8:02 pm rating: +19
#14
bean
I can play the shit outta heart and soul! Let’s do it.
Nov 24, 2008 at 9:32 pm rating: +2
#15
HolyHamstersBatman
Actually though, there were pianos in the common rooms of my dorms as well. The continued 3 am disturbances by those with alcohol-induced self-confidence resulted in our RA rigging up a rather complicated method of chaining down the keyboard lid and leaving a note to “Ask RA to unlock if you need to practice or entertain”. You’ll be happy to note that while this spared the rest of us, for her the disturbances were replaced by 3 am drunken knocks on her door on more than one occasion. Team I’m Gonna Play This Damn Piano Come Hell or High Water.
Nov 24, 2008 at 10:52 pm rating: +10
#16
Canthz_B
When it comes right down to it, who wants to tell a gang of drunken Indiana frat boys that their playing isn’t actually good?
Nov 25, 2008 at 12:36 am rating: +1
#17
Canthz_B
Dear Schroeder,
I paid my tuition this semester, so I plan to play this piano until I master it…or your ears bleed.
Nov 25, 2008 at 12:55 am rating: +7
#18
souldesqueeze
The first note absolutely destroyed me. I want it posted at Guitar Center.
Nov 25, 2008 at 3:37 am rating: +1
#19
Megan
Team note-writer all the way.
Nov 25, 2008 at 4:17 am rating: +1
#20
amy d
Ha ha! These are notes about ♫ notes! ♫
Nov 25, 2008 at 6:14 am rating: +10
#21
rumblefish
Evil piano players… John Tesh comes to mind. He’s a pianist (pronounced penis).
Nov 25, 2008 at 6:59 am rating: +5
#22
Woman on the Verge
Why do I picture a kid at the piano in the first picture taking that sign to heart? He will sit there for hours trying to pick out Stairway to Heaven by ear while asking passerby if he is good so he knows if he can continue. “Excuse me, is this good? Can you just check yes or no?”
Nov 25, 2008 at 7:33 am rating: +3
#23
claw71
Sadly, even if somebody actually can play the piano, the beat up old relics that you normally find in the common areas of a college dorm are so badly out of tune Frederick Fucking Chopin wouldn’t be able to wrest a true note out of one.
Nov 25, 2008 at 9:13 am rating: +6
#24
biscuit
Pianos are not for entertainment. They are are devices of torture and terrorism.
Nov 25, 2008 at 9:33 am rating: +1
#25
GhostWriter
Charlie hired the old coot for shoppers’ holiday entertainment, but all he ever did was practice the same boring arpeggios over and over.
So he told Weisan the Japanese bagboy to put up a sign; big enough so the old coot could see it.
“Piano is for, Please Do Entertainment! (not play only) – Thanks!“
Nov 25, 2008 at 9:37 am rating: +2
#26
GhostWriter
The entertainment comes when a roadrunner speeds up to the keyboard, pecks out a simple melody with his beak, but keeps missing the last note. Then a coyote stomps out from behind a cactus, plays the melody correctly, and the whole thing explodes!
Nov 25, 2008 at 9:56 am rating: +8
#27
Canthz_B
You haven’t really been entertained until you’ve seen the tap-dancing piano.
Please don’t play it.
Nov 25, 2008 at 11:26 am rating: +2
#28
zorinlynx
I was at a convention (MFF) last year at a hotel, and folks were having a blast playing the piano in the lobby. They were playing all kinds of fun things like the theme to Portal, video game music (it was a geeky con!) and more.
The piano was the center of fun and there were frequently groups around it enjoying themselves and playing.
The next day the hotel put a “DO NOT PLAY THE PIANO” sign on it, therefore ruining everyone’s fun.
It’s amazing how an establishment can put a piano out there for people to enjoy, then suddenly decide folks are enjoying it too much and ban us from playing it.
At least this con is not at that hotel anymore…
Nov 25, 2008 at 11:49 am rating: +3
#29
Mister Pain
How would banning people from playing the piano ruin the fun at a MFF group sex convention? Sounds like management were doing you all a favour. “Enough with the sing-a-long ice-breaking, you kids just get a-shaggin!”
Nov 26, 2008 at 2:15 am rating: 0
#30
jamar
2 comments-
-They left the floppy drive exposed on the second piano. All sorts of possibilities there (I made a floppy that plays the Super Mario song that works on those kinds of pianos).
-Mmm, spinach. (But if you don’t watch a particular Japanese TV show wou won’t get this joke, made in reference to the post title)
Dec 7, 2008 at 9:57 am rating: 0
#31
Claire
I go to IU!! This made my day… and it’s so true, too! Next time someone is playing terribly at 3am in the lounge directly underneath my dorm room, I’ll know what to do
Dec 15, 2008 at 11:48 am rating: 0
#32
Chelsea
That’s at my grocery store! It’s a player piano, but I’ve never heard it actually playing.
Dec 17, 2008 at 4:20 pm rating: 0
#33
psycho_hamster
Mamma says I’m the best!
Feb 4, 2009 at 2:37 pm rating: 0
Leave a Comment