Jump to content

stiletto2

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    814

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Posts posted by stiletto2

    This Week's Meaningless Topic (#193)(May 15)

    in The Neil Hill Memorial Lounge

    Posted

    9 hours ago, W2DR said:

    I'm sitting here watching my favorite movie. Play Misty For Me. It's my favorite for two reasons. It was filmed where I grew up, and it's a movie starring Clint Eastwood. This may ramble a bit but let me try to explain (maybe another glass of wine will help).

     

    Way back almost 70 years ago I started to learn to play the piano. My teacher was a guy named Howard. He was a bar-room piano player who couldn't read music. He was married to a woman who was a trained concert pianist. What a pair. My mother would take me for lessons to their house in the Carmel Highlands - that's where many of the scenes in Play Misty For Me were filmed. What a place. They had added a music room onto the original house. 12 foot high windows overlooking the ocean below and two back-to-back Steinway 9-foot grand pianos.

     

    Howard always told me it's not important to learn to read the music. What's important is to learn to feel the music. And how right he was. After a couple of years of learning to feel the music I found a song I really liked. Something by Erroll Garner called "Misty". I loved that song and played it almost every day. Fast forward 11 years.

     

    I was going to college a couple of hours north and came home most weekends. Mainly to see the girls from "the old days". Sometime in 1962 I took my date (I still remember the night Debbie) to a place called the Mission Ranch. A great restaurant with an even better piano bar.

     

    After that first night there I returned on many Friday nights to sit at the piano bar and listen to an incredible piano player. Her name was Jackie. And I really envied how she improvised almost any song requested. After many nights there she knew that what I wanted to hear most was Misty. And she played it every time I walked into the bar.  Over the months we got to talking quite between sets. She knew I played. And one night she stood up to take a break, pointed to keyboard and said "Play Misty For Me". And I did.

     

    Who could have imagined then that Clint Eastwood would not only make a movie called Play Misty For Me but would also own the Mission Ranch. And the piano bar where I played the title song from the film.

     

     

    Here is an interesting coincidence.  For the longest time, I had a copy of the Misty sheet music (I like to read music and learn different styles of arrangements though I can play by ear) which is also a favorite of mine.  I am wondering if your playing style of Misty is more upbeat and heavily embellished like Erroll Garner's version or slower and more haunting like Johhny Matthis or Ella Fitzgerald sang it. Personally, I played the slower and more haunting version but admire Erroll's style and performance.  

     

    Rod

     

     

    • Upvote 1

    This Week's Meaningless Topic (#193)(May 15)

    in The Neil Hill Memorial Lounge

    Posted

    I am yet another keyboard player who was in a 60s rock band in high school and college.  We played music done by groups like the Animals, Young Rascals, Doors, Spencer Davis Group as well as some rhythm and blues - think Otis Redding, Sam & Dave or T-Bone Walker.  Our focus was just to entertain fellow students at pizza parties and coffee houses.... no originals and no records.  Later on, I was an Adult Choir director at a few churches for a bit as well as co-directed a 40 person adult chorus singing pop music for close to 10 years.  So it would seem that music was my long term passion.  Of course, flying sims and doing scenery development was another passion that developed in the late 80s.  I still tinker with some MSFS freeware small airfield scenes by adding a person or two, a sign or a couple of static GA aircraft here and there.  However, like Rob, I can barely draw a stick figure freehand.

     

    Rod     

    • Like 5
    • Upvote 3

    Do you follow the check lists?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    2 hours ago, wain71 said:

    can't see it as I don't do FB, I'll use my imagination though...

     

    I don't do Facebook either but if you just click on the link you will get a "See More on Facebook" pop up requesting a log in etc.  Just click on the X in the circle to close the pop up and you should be able to play the video.  It worked for me.  

     

    Rod

    • Like 2
    • Upvote 3

    Loading time for MSFS

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by stiletto2

    Hi Don,

     

    I have all of the MSFS World and City updates installed. For this test I have about 200 addons in my Community folder.  It is my first load of MSFS for the day. My computer is 10 years old but my network upload and download speed is usually 250 Megabits per second.  It took 3 minutes for me to get from Desktop to the Welcome Screen on my PC.  Then after selecting a stock C172 Skyhawk, clear weather and runway 34R at KSEA where I have Orbx BMWorld+Amsim's KSEA Airport and Orbx Drzewiecki's Seattle Landmarks and KBFI Boeing Field (which is only a few miles away) installed as well as GAIST ULTRA VERSION 3 shipping active, it takes another minute and 30 seconds to load the scene.  So, total time from Desktop to being ready to takeoff at Seattle is less than 5 minutes fore this test.

     

    It is important to note that I suppress the MSFS startup splash screens on startup which saves a little time.  Also, the MSFS "checking updates" procedure only took 5 seconds this time.  That is not always true sometimes it can take much longer. Also if network speed is slow for some reason or Microsoft's servers are being slow it can take significantly longer.  

     

    Rod 

     

     

    • Like 3

    Orbx airports visited in real life - a rolling story

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by stiletto2

    It is Taku Lodge SPB (PFTK but not available in default MSFS).  I believe this location was added by Orbx Southern Alaska (SAK) and designated as TKL at the time.  Taku Glacier Lodge was later enhanced and detailed via scenery from Return To Misty Moorings for FSX/P3D built on top of Orbx SAK.

     

    Rod

    • Upvote 2
×
×
  • Create New...