Entertainment – By the River

2021-07-012022-07-23

Piano Happiness

I have always been fascinated by the piano. Ever since I was a little boy, I was in awe whenever I saw someone play piano. I always thought that it would be nice if I could also play. Somehow I just didn’t believe that I could ever learn to play because it all seemed so complex.

I wasted most of my life loving the piano while procrastinating that one day I will take lessons. I suffered a horrific hand injury during my high school years which messed up my mind for years to come. I realized that I could never learn to play piano due to the partial severing of a digit.

The pandemic has left me in isolation for most of the time. I have had a lot of time to take on new hobbies but the piano did not cross my mind. I started this blog among others, and some web projects. I focused on my career at work. Work kept my mind off the doom and gloom of isolation.

To cure the boredom, I finally subscribed to Netflix last year. I am pleased that they show many foreign films. I much prefer watching foreign movies over Hollywood. I love to watch Korean dramas and started watching one particular drama called Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol which is about a pianist as described below.

From Netflix:

A riches-to-rags pianist who loses everything but her smile is guided by twinkling little stars to a small town where she finds hope, home and love.

https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81276344

Naturally I am enjoying this drama. It is set in beautiful South Korea, which is my second home. Whenever I watch Korean movies and dramas, I long to return to my “home.” I hope to visit in 2022.

One particular Sunday, I received a call from a dear friend in Korea. While catching up with her (we keep in touch 1-2x per week), I told her about the drama. She did not know that I love piano and said that she too loves it. She suggested I listen to some of her favourite pianists.

After the call ended, I found myself listening to piano music for the next several hours before cooking dinner then settling in to watch Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol. I had dubbed that day, my Piano Day.

The following Tuesday, I decided to ask a colleague at work for some suggestions. I knew she was a pianist from back when we worked in the office. She suggested two amazing pianist from Japan. While chatting, she said that I should get myself a piano and learn to play.

After work, I started looking online for electronic keyboards since there is no way I could a) use a grand piano in my condo and b) afford a grand piano. The electronic ones are good because I can practice all night using headphones when it gets too late.

I spent several hours researching online and checking out different retailers. The following evening, I did the same. I finally set my mind on one and placed an order. The delivery arrived the next evening (Friday).

Friday evening after work, I set up my new piano and started playing around. I tested several teaching apps and lost track of the time.

I tested the Simply Piano application and was pleased with how quickly it got me playing a few notes and reading the score. Over the next two weeks, I tested several applications before settling on Yousician Premium+.

In addition to smartphone applications, I also enrolled in an online course via Udemy. I have since purchased several books on piano and music theory.

Since getting into piano, I have found that I feel much happier than I have in years. The isolation felt due to the pandemic is gone while I am playing the piano. Now that things are opening up and we can go out (with limits), I find that I am more interested in staying home playing piano.

I am looking forward to the return of live music to Toronto. I plan to attend piano recitals and performances at various venues throughout the city.

The piano truly has brought happiness to my life.

This post now lives on FanClassical, a site for classical music by yours truly.

Piano Happiness

2021-04-11

Wrestling Isolation and Winning

Professional wrestling has been a part of my life since as long as I can remember. Some of my childhood friends are related to some very well-known wrestlers. Our community was a wrestling hotbed.

I remember shortly after moving into a low-rise apartment building when I was 7 years young, a caretaker called me “Bobo Brazil”. He asked me if I knew who he was. I had no clue, but he went on to explain that Bobo was a famous professional wrestler.

When I was 11 years young, I received my very own television set for my bedroom. It was there that I discovered professional wrestling on Saturday mornings. It became tradition for me to watch wrestling in the morning and Toronto Maple Leafs hockey in the evening.

I was immensely entertained by the antics of the “Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant and became a fan. At that time, I believed that wrestling was the real deal and would get really upset whenever I watched Boogie Woogie Man get jumped by villains such as “Russian Bear” Ivan Kolof and others. I remember wanting to head downtown to Maple Leaf Gardens to help Boogie Woogie Man.

During this early period, I became a huge fan of not only Boogie Woogie Man, but also “Rowdy Roddy” Piper, Black Jack Mulligan, and the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. I was hooked and could never miss an episode.

I recall going shopping with Mom and in addition to my usual plea to go to the book store, I also wanted to go to a variety store in Towne & Country Square to buy wrestling magazines. This store had the best selection. I would get lost trying to decide which one to buy since I could not buy them all.

As children, we wrestled a lot in our apartment complex. There was this grassy patch next to the swimming pool which made a good wrestling ring. On one side were steel rails separating the grass from the sidewalk, and the other side was a high chain-link fence securing the swimming pool. We would toss each other into the fence and bounce back as if hitting the ropes in a wrestling ring.

Over the years I would learn that some of my friends are related to Whipper Billy Watson, and others were nephews to Rocky Johnson (late father to The Rock). As wrestling grew bigger in pop culture, so did the fan base on our block.

I remember watching the big pay-per-view events like WrestleMania, SummerSlam, etc with groups of friends at different houses. Everyone on our block was into wrestling. The children, teenagers, adults, and grandparents. It truly entertained everybody and brought us all together.

I never stopped watching wrestling and watch it to this very day. In the year 2020, the world was afflicted by a serious pandemic which pretty much ruined most of our lives. Millions have been thrust into isolation due to various lock downs brought on by the raging virus pandemic.

Covid-19 has destroyed many lives. It has killed millions and wreaked havoc on millions more. One often-overlooked side-effect is the impact on mental health caused by isolation. People are simply losing their minds being unable to socialize as they would like to.

During the first wave of the pandemic, everything was locked down for our own safety and to avoid the hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. This also meant that nobody was allowed to attend professional wrestling events. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was forced to put on shows in an empty arena.

I found these shows to be quite awful. The Superstars were great as always, but not hearing fan noise really reinforced the feeling of isolation I was experiencing from being under lockdown.

WrestleMania 36 had to be pre-recorded as they could not have fans in attendance. For me, this was the most boring WrestleMania of all time. There were a few bright spots such as The UnderTaker vs AJ Styles in a cinematic match filmed at a graveyard and Sammy Zane vs Daniel Bryan in an empty arena. The chatter throughout the match was golden.

By summer, WWE had created the ThunderDome. This was an arena were large video monitors were set up in the stands in place of fans. These screens would broadcast fans who were at home watching while on webcam. Fan noise was piped in via pre-recorded sounds from past live events. For me, the programs became watchable once again.

Vaccines have finally been rolling out across the United States. Sports are beginning to accept fans in attendance once again. Our Toronto Blue Jays have been relocated to Florida due to travel restrictions. They have been playing in stadiums in Texas, New York, etc to live crowds. The Toronto Raptors are also based in Florida. The NBA, NHL, and MLB have been allowing fans to return in some jurisdictions meanwhile in Canada, everything remains off limits due to a slow vaccine roll-out.

For WrestleMania 37, WWE was allowed to have live fans in attendance for the first time in over a year. The show was to be held over two nights due to the limit in the number of fans that may attend. They were allowed 25,000 on each night.

The show started off with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon addressing the audience and the entire wrestling roster. It was greet to Mr. McMahon again. He has hardly been seen on television the past few years. The most recent prior to this event was for The Undertaker’s retirement several months back. He looked frail and elderly and it broke my heart. At WrestleMania, he look much better.

Seeing both a live audience and Vince McMahon nearly brought tears to my eyes. It was a sign of a return to normalcy. It was wonderful to sit at home with a pizza, some IPA beers, watching WrestleMania on my big screen TV.

The show was delayed 30 minutes due to rain, but in the end, they put on a fantastic show which made me forget all about the pandemic and isolation. I sat here cheering, laughing, and having a grand old time.

I would like to that the entire professional wrestling industry for putting their lives on the line to entertain us over all these years. The entire industry deserves a round of applause.

Make sure to visit the official website of the WWE by clicking the following link:
World Wrestling Entertainment

2021-03-05

Google is Your Friend, So is Talk Radio

During these times of isolation, I am forever thankful for an old school medium called talk radio.

I started listening to talk radio when I was 10 years young. I had crawled into bed and was scrolling through the radio for something to listen to. I stumbled upon what was then known as CFRB 1010.

Fast forward to adulthood and I am still listening to that very same station, now known as NewsTalk 1010. I also began listening to another station called 640 Toronto when I started working at what was then a small software company start-up.

I would alternate between music, NewsTalk 1010, and 640 Toronto during my shifts at work. Talk radio had been helping me get through my workdays for as long as I had a career in the software industry.

The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the worst years ever. An awful pandemic swept around the world and impact all of our lives. I found myself isolated at home all alone. I was fortunate to be able to work from home.

During isolation, I had some trusty and reliable friends to help me get through the hard times. Listening to talk radio while I worked at the computer helped me feel like I was not alone. It helped me feel like I had friends with me in my beautiful home.

During the early days of the pandemic, I found myself feeling really depressed and worried about the future. Eventually I started getting tired of listening to talk radio. The hosts were just as grumpy and worrisome as I was. I wanted to quit listening and actually did shut the radio off several times.

I realized that the hosts are people just like you and I. The pandemic affected them just like it affected you and I. The constant complaining and negativity by some of the host was not unlike those exhibited by the rest of us.

I continued listening to talk radio and feel as though the hosts are my friends. They have been invaluable in making me feel like I am not alone.

I would like to thank all talk radio hosts for providing a fantastic service to the public. I thank them for making me laugh, making me think, making me reflect, even making me cry. Toronto and area has a great set of talk radio hosts.

Thanks to my friends Jim Richards, Mike Stafford, Jerry Agar, John Moore, Ryan Doyle, Jeff McArthur, John Oakley, Kelly Kutrara, Alan Carter, Jamil Jivani, Richard Crouse, Jay Michaels. I am forever thankful for your service and how you keep me company during these trying times.

NewsTalk 1010
https://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010

640Toronto – Global News
https://globalnews.ca/radio/640toronto/