YSaC, Vol. 1016: Sing us a song, Mr. Nothing Man.

2011 June 20

Hello, I’m Dan Attenborough, and welcome to this episode of Planet Craigslist. Today we track the shy and reclusive Bosendorfer grand piano. While these majestic beasts are quite difficult to spot, due to their rarity and great expense, we can sometimes tell where they have been by looking for their shells, as seen here:

Grand Piano Shell – $1000


Grand Piano shell commissioned by an eccentric musician costing $10 grand to construct as an exact 1:1 scale replica of a Bosendorfer Concert grand piano, gleaming black lacquer finished… which from 10 feet away appears to be authentic. A closer view reveals that it even has the brass feet and foot peddles but does not have the strings or the piano keys. This would make a great beginnig for someone wanting to have a “Piano Bar’ but without the sound of the piano. A great conversation piece for someone who appreciates such things. Call ###-###-#### for inspection.

Sadly, once the mighty Bosendorfer molts, it peddles back to the ocean, where it is much more difficult to photograph.

(The YSaC Discovery Channel staff would like to express its appreciation to Amy for the submission. No pianos were harmed during the filming of this blog entry. Now concertinas… that’s another story.)

139 Responses leave one →
  1. 2011 June 20
    David:) permalink

    Want to look all artsy and learned? Get a fake grand Piano, and keep everyone 10 feet away from it!

    Adores: 9
  2. 2011 June 20
    Grampdaddy permalink

    I really need this. Now I’ll have an excuse why I can’t play the piano after all those stupid lessons my parents insisted I take.

    “Look Ma – no keys!”

    Adores: 8
    • 2011 June 20

      “Doctor! Can I play the piano anymore?”

      “Yes you can!”

      “Well I couldn’t before!”

      Adores: 8
    • 2011 June 20

      I just use the old “fingers were mangled in a freak FlowBee accident”excuse. Works every time. Oddly, my guests usually leave shortly after that. I guess they were really hoping to hear me play.

      Adores: 7
      • 2011 June 20
        Lola permalink

        Freak FlowBee Accident for band name du jour.

        Adores: 1
      • 2011 June 20

        That’s how Uncle Lefty got on the disability.

        Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20
          funky monkey permalink

          I love that you put “the” in front of disability. Mini Monkey told me this weekend that she had “the gout”.

          Adores: 6
        • 2011 June 20

          My husband once had a touch of the palsy.

          Adores: 1
        • 2011 June 20

          My brother in law (who’s a partial Yankee) thinks it’s funny when I say stuff like that. He’s easily amused.

          Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20
          Windrose permalink

          Purple Quilt, who are you, and what have you done with Ghostie?

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20

          I got the chills.

          Adores: 5
        • 2011 June 20
          Karmyn permalink

          Well, just bless his heart.

          Adores: 4
  3. 2011 June 20

    One of my big aspirations has always been to have a piano bar without all of that pesky piano music. It’ll be perfect when I have the summer concert series in my library of faux book spines or my conservatory of plastic plants.

    Adores: 18
    • 2011 June 20

      Is that before or after you put up all of your diploma mill diplomas?

      You should also serve lots of Sunny Delight at your bar. Nothing says “faux juice” like Sunny D!

      Adores: 6
      • 2011 June 20
        Lola permalink

        I think that taxidermied animals around the place for the exotic salon look – white peacocks, elephants, not.a.lions, lions – gives a nice “looks like the tropics!” tone, and may convince people from more than ten feet away … even if you live in, say, Gary, Indiana.

        Also, why bother with pricey, authentic Louis Quatorze furniture when your cousin who can get you things that fall off of a truck can cheaply supply Louis Cathouse style instead?

        Adores: 5
        • 2011 June 20
          David:) permalink

          Taxidermied animals? You could get that gun loving raccoon that was in a redux post a while back as security!

          Adores: 4
    • 2011 June 20
      camille permalink

      Can I pay my bar tab with faux money?

      Adores: 5
      • 2011 June 20
        Lola permalink

        No, but they will take a forged credit card.

        Adores: 1
    • 2011 June 20
      CapnMac permalink

      Ok, I had a commission in the later 80’s for a fern/piano bar, which design was predicated on being able to find non-piano pianos as the tables for said putative establishment.

      The client presumption was that speakers would be installed in the piano carcasses, so all the tables would “play” the same songs.

      Client was somewhat crushed to find that the metal frame that holds strings strung to hundreds of pounds of tension was an integral part of the structure of a piano, and not something dropped in like an ink refill on a Biro. Not that this was major detour on the client’s well-lubricated descent into the darker hearts of chemical darkness, one more 80 Nostromo headed for Sulaco in a handbasket.

      Adores: 4
    • 2011 June 20
      TelcaCat permalink

      Personally, I’m hoping to open a piano bar without all that pesky liquor. Do you think Sparky could set me up with some fancy liquor bottles with colored water in them? I’d pay, oh, 10 obos for that!

      Adores: 4
  4. 2011 June 20
    funky monkey permalink

    I didn’t know pianos left shells! Do they leave them stuck on tree trunks like those demon-red-eyed-evil-straight-from-Hell cicadas?

    Adores: 6
    • 2011 June 20

      Sadly, no. The American Grand Piano (Grande Pianoforte Americanus) molts in midair in the desert southwest, leading to often hilarious hijinks with certain members of a species of coyote.

      Adores: 25
    • 2011 June 20
      Grampdaddy permalink

      No, not stuck to trees. Piano shells are like hermit crabs. Toy pianos move into spinets, spinets move into baby grands, and baby grands eventually get big enough that they move on to grand pianos, then concert grands.

      *Does anybody else think ‘Bosendorfer’ sounds like a Homer Simpson curse? “D’oh, Bosendorfer!”

      Adores: 8
      • 2011 June 20
        Lola permalink

        Or an epithet: “You Bosendorfer! How could you be so stupid?!”

        Adores: 5
        • 2011 June 20

          I thought it was more of a Swedish Chef thing, myself. Bosendorfern mita heeba hooba.

          Adores: 10
    • 2011 June 20
      CapnMac permalink

      [OT cicada aside]
      We did not have an emergence of cicadas until our second soaking rain got down to the dormant larva–that was about a month ago.

      But, it’s been a quiet summer, only about 40% of the normal population emerged, to then find all the trees drought-stricken (cicadas lay their eggs in non-lignate branches).

      Some local consternation over this, as we’ve had a larger-than normal emergence of Sphecius grandis, the western cicada-killer wasp. Which is a rather larger example of Hymenoptera than most are used to, which promotes unfortunate human over-reaction, given that S. Grandis is human-averse and normally slow and docile.

      Some forecast for rain on Tuesday–sore needful, too. Just had a 4000 acre fire south of the county.
      [/ot]

      Adores: 2
      • 2011 June 20

        Piggybacking on the drought/fire thingy…

        Last night, 8:00 pm, across the street from my house a little grass fire erupts into 30-40 ft. flames, black acrid smoke and promptly goes to 4 alarms.

        We stood outside and watched as said fire marched slowly towards us (and against the 40 mph wind, oddly enough) as the FD struggled to get to it – thick brush, dry as tinder part of Corps land on the lake – with hoses and finally (successfully) with the ladder truck.

        After all was said and done, a good deal of the shoreline timber is blackened, one abandoned house is gone and FD is still being called out to tamp out hot spots today.

        Fire is scary.

        Real scary.

        Adores: 7
        • 2011 June 20
          Windrose permalink

          Picture living in a valley in an area that should be a desert. The rim of the valley above you is on fire, and moving toward you. You have about 100 birds, and are mentally stuffing them into cages where they may kill one another but won’t be burned or choked with smoke. You figure 30 cages, and you look at your two, compact cars. Very scary. This was three years ago, and I still think about it. And miss my minivan.

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20

          {{{Windy}}}

          And, no thanks I don’t want to think about that….

          My only real fear is fire…*shudders*

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20
          CapnMac permalink

          Is indeed.
          Even in turn-out and bunker gear from the windward side (been, done, and melted the boots).

          They were using State Highway 105 for the Firebreak yesterday. It was also the access point to get 40-50 families out and firefighters in.

          I-45 was also briefly closed, too.

          They were reporting ash in the air this morning, south of town; it smelled of smoke at 0800 in the 22-29mph winds.

          Been some local talk of running water trucks to wet down road shoulders, but the milage/gallons equation makes that a tough calculus. Also been talk of “forgiving” up to 10% of water bills if people are watering along ROW to prevent fires. But, there’s equal talk of mandatory conservation banning gardening water use, too.

          About 8-10″ behind for annual rainfall here in much of central Texas; around 16-20 (24″ in some areas) behind seasonally (as in since almost this time last year).

          Wonder how Penguin has been doing down there to Austin.

          Adores: 0
    • 2011 June 20
      Lara permalink

      Some cicadas put their eggs under ground so they have to burrow up to emerge like zombies digging out of their graves. I probably just scared you even more, my job here is done.

      Adores: 4
  5. 2011 June 20

    An air piano!

    Now my air orchestra is complete!

    Adores: 20
    • 2011 June 20

      Taco was the master of the Air-Bow back in school. Make sure you put him on lead violin.

      Adores: 1
  6. 2011 June 20

    It’s so well and finely made you can stack scrap lumber on top of it.

    Adores: 3
    • 2011 June 20

      It is a deceptive photo, but the fact is, the top of that piano is perfectly level to laser-precision. It matches the gravitational curvature of the Earth. Thus it’s perfect for squaring off lumber, making joins, and playing marbles on.

      Adores: 2
      • 2011 June 20

        I like the grand piano for jointing, but it tends to be so huge and bulky that it’s hard to get into the shop. For my uses I find that an upright makes a good enough edge for my needs without taking up as much room.

        Of course when it come to quarter-sawing, you pretty much have to use a Pipe organ, otherwise you just don’t have the depth of cut you need.

        Adores: 6
        • 2011 June 20
          Windrose permalink

          “pipe organ” hur hur hur.

          Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20
          CapnMac permalink

          The fitters for organ pipes “voice” them by fitting them to an air supply where they are given a “blow and trim.”
          Which could turn really dirty-sounding since the larger banks (and the associated stops) are named for Greek Olympians, Titania, Stentor, et al.

          So, in some shop, there’s a taciturn mennonite saying some version of “A’yep, Ned, ye’r to gi’ Stentor’s a blow-n-trim” . . .
          Or, “Clem, g’ee and tune Titania’s pipes; an’ mind ‘er stop is sticky” . . .

          Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20

          Bork Bork Bork!

          Adores: 5
  7. 2011 June 20

    I wonder how many dead bodies you could fit in a hollowed-out piano?

    No reason … just curious.

    Adores: 15
    • 2011 June 20
      funky monkey permalink

      It depends on how you fold ’em.

      Adores: 5
      • 2011 June 20

        No real need to fold ’em. The best way would be to line the inner sides with the bodies pressed face-first against the walls with strategic emphasis placed on girth around the midsection (or chest if female) in order to fill in the larger curvatures so you could square off an area where you could easily stack the remaining bodies face-down and two deep.

        Not that I’ve thought much about this or anything.

        Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20

          Sounds too complicated. It takes all the fun out of it if you have to fiddle around with a tape measure and play body-tetris to get them to fit.

          Adores: 8
        • 2011 June 20

          Body tetris is part of the fun! But sure, if you’re not in the mood for games and prefer a bit more grunt work you could just forcefully stuff ’em in any way they’ll go. But I still think you’re potentially wasting space here. With my method I’m certain you could fit at least one extra body in there.

          *sigh* No love for a good packing job these days. I mean, you’d think with airline baggage fees being what they are these days it would have been raised to an art form.

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20
          Lara permalink

          I vote Body Tetris for the second band du jour

          Adores: 1
      • 2011 June 20

        And if it comes with the bench.

        Adores: 1
        • 2011 June 20

          It depends on how fine you grind them.

          Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20

          But then I would have to line it with plastic and that would just be tacky. It would completely ruin the aesthetics of the piece.

          Adores: 10
      • 2011 June 20
        CapnMac permalink

        Probably depends on one’s fortissimo and quite how much allegro con tempo is called for.

        Adores: 1
    • 2011 June 20

      I wonder how many dead bodies you could fit in a hollowed-out piano?

      No reason … just curious.

      I don’t know, but I can tell you how many you can fit into the trunk of a 2006 Impala…or at least how many the salesman said would fit.

      I am not speaking from experience.

      That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.

      Adores: 6
      • 2011 June 20

        My trunk’s kinda small, I don’t think I could fit more than three (Maybe four if they were on the smallish side.) in it without some major dismemberment.

        Adores: 3
  8. 2011 June 20
    funky monkey permalink

    I’m thinking anyone that would buy an item like this is also the type that has a truck in their yard with no motor in it and a couple of fridges in the house that don’t work and more than one tv that is kerflooey*. Sparky better be willing to accept $2.39 for it. Or take livestock as trade/barter.

    *”Kerflooey” is an actual word. Look it up. Dare ya.

    Adores: 4
    • 2011 June 20

      It would really class up the chicken coop. I could turn it into a nesting box!

      Adores: 10
  9. 2011 June 20

    Well, I suppose a piano without working piano bits would certainly have to pound the pavement and peddle to earn its keep, because it sure as hell isn’t doing the band any good. But at least it’s trying to earn an honest living and not playing the sympathy card by begging on the streets holding a cardboard sign saying “Would play for food, but I have no keys because I was born without ivory. Please help a piano out.”

    But then what could such a piano peddle? Lacking street smarts as pianos generally do I’d be willing to bet it’s selling knockoff Prada bags and Rolecks watches and copied DVDs, but I’d like to think that it found the integrity to maybe buy a hot dog cart or maybe be a sandwich board piano pacing up and down the street hawking hair weaves for $30. Maybe it even tried to make the best of its situation learning to manipulate large pieces of cardboard to become a sign spinner for some local pizza joint.

    Sadly, the cynic in me figures it’s probably now slumped in an alley somewhere getting high off Pledge and Endust (a horribly addictive combination known on the streets as “shine”), unsteadily and alternately begging for spare change and screaming murderously at passers-by for having functional organs, all the while plotting to track down and kill Billy Joel.

    Adores: 9
    • 2011 June 20
      funky monkey permalink

      And, lacking keys and strings, the poor feller can’t even give a quickie serenade behind the truck stop for a few bucks.

      Adores: 2
      • 2011 June 20

        It’s a pretty sad image, isn’t it? Although a lack of pearly whites does post certain advantages in a certain field.

        /(street) corner.

        Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20
          funky monkey permalink

          Yes, and it’s flat head, er, surface gives you somewhere to put you beer during.

          Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20

          This was exactly the thinking behind the design of Frankstein’s monster. (Little known fact: Mary Shelly was a perverted horndog.)

          Adores: 4
    • 2011 June 20
      Lola permalink

      FM, I’m now imagining a decrepit piano shell down on Canal Street in Chinatown, selling fake “Prado,” “Chenel,” and “Louie Vouietton” bags out of the body of the shell, and then quickly lowering the lid and rolling out of the way when the police come, just like all of the other counterfeit sellers.

      Adores: 4
      • 2011 June 20

        Ah, yes. Discreetly walking down the street until encountering a likely mark, looking around furtively, then flinging open its lid and asking conspiratorially, “Hey, wanna buy a watch?”

        That is, assuming it isn’t flinging open its lid for an indecent thrill.

        Adores: 2
    • 2011 June 20
      CapnMac permalink

      And, to take a three-wood to the irony, one of the niftiest features one can add to an actual piano is a player. This is an appliance which fits over the sound board with a number of servos to operate the keys from inside. This is connected to an electronic translation device. Which can be tuned to the “hands” of known historical players, with music supplied by CD.

      So, a person could set the player to emulate Lenny Bernstein to rag your Kiss Greatest hits Vol. 2, they could do so. Keys even play as if some one were at the bench.

      Pretty cool add-on for that thousand-dollar dust-catcher in a person’s music room. But, only if it is not an ersatz piano . . .

      Adores: 0
    • 2011 June 20

      functional organs

      :snerk:

      Adores: 3
      • 2011 June 20

        I have a function organ, but the only thing I ever learned to play on it was The Curly Shuffle.

        Woowoowoowoowoo!

        Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20
          funky monkey permalink

          Heh. Curly.

          Adores: 1
  10. 2011 June 20

    Something about a piana shell just screams “Impormptu Coffin!” to me.

    Probably because I’m not right in the head.

    Adores: 4
    • 2011 June 20

      Especially if you’re hearing things like “Impormptu Coffin!”. Maybe you need to get your inner ears checked.

      Adores: 6
    • 2011 June 20
      funky monkey permalink

      I read that as “ImPORNtu Coffin”.

      We’re not picking on you Taco. We heart you. Lots and lots.

      Adores: 2
      • 2011 June 20

        Do I get the title of “YSaC” jester? Cause I think I’d look good* in Harley Quinn’s suit.

        *This may not be true.

        Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20

          That *explains the jingling.







          *Nothing explains the thong.

          Adores: 5
        • 2011 June 20
          CapnMac permalink

          It’s even funnier if one remembers that Harley Quinn is the corner shopkeeper for our buddy Kurtz, third oblivion past the darkest part of del rio Congo . . .

          (Egads, I wax Conradesque today…)

          Adores: 0
      • 2011 June 20
        funky monkey permalink

        *bbbooooOOOIIINNNNNnnnggg*

        I just imagined Taco in a jester’s suit with bells on the hat, and a thong.

        Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20

          Don’t forget bits of the squirrel costume. Always need bits from the squirrel costume… or maybe just the big busy tail.

          Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20
          camille permalink

          Why is the tail so busy?

          On second thought, don’t answer that.

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20

          HEY HEY HEY! LOOK!

          *Points*

          A Squirrel!

          Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20

          :pounds head on desk:

          I will not picture Taco with squirrel bits.

          :thunk:

          I will not picture Taco with squirrel bits.

          :thunk:

          I will not picture Taco with squirrel bits.

          :thunk:

          I will not picture Taco with squirrel bits.

          :thunk:

          Adores: 6
        • 2011 June 20

          :thunk:

          I will not picture Taco with squirrel bits.

          :thunk:

          I will not picture Taco with bits of squirrel.

          :thunk:

          I will not picture a Squirrel with Taco bits.

          :thunk:

          I will not picture a Squirrel Taco.

          :thunk:

          The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

          :thunk:

          Squirrels is good eatin’.

          :thunk:

          Adores: 6
        • 2011 June 20

          I think you thunked too hard.

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20

          The squirrels thank you for your concern, but say that our brains are protected by a thick cushion of mauve.

          Adores: 5
        • 2011 June 20

          Remember to stop when you can smell sunshine.

          Adores: 1
    • 2011 June 20
      CapnMac permalink

      Hey, facebook says Impromptu Coffin is playing the Stumbl-Inn tonight!

      Adores: 2
  11. 2011 June 20
    Innana permalink

    Ah, yes, I remember this episode:

    Ethel: (entering kitchen) Hi, Lucy! Fred gave me your message about going to the movies tonight. What do you want to see?

    Lucy: (glumly) Oh, I don’t care! Pick something for us…just make sure it hasn’t got Cesar Romero or Gilbert Roland. I’ve had it with Spanish-speaking hams today!

    Ethel: Oh, Lucy! What did Ricky do this time?

    Lucy: That husband of mine! Some big interviewer from Variety is coming to see him tonight, and he won’t let me stay for the interview because he says Variety is only interested in performers. I’M not IMPORTANT enough for his old magazine. And I was the Best Juliet Ever back in my high school production of Shakespeare!!

    Ethel: Well, Lucy, that’s not the same thing. You might as well expect that crazy neighbour upstairs with the empty piano to be interviewed on his musical skills.

    Lucy: Oh, I suppo… Wait!

    Ethel: (suspiciously) Luuuceeeee! What’s going on in that scheming red head of yours?

    Lucy: I’ve got a way to take care of that Cuban show-off of mine. Now, Ricky’s never met this reporter. And the reporter doesn’t know him. I’ve got the phone number right here, and I’ll call as Ricky’s secretary and explain that Mr. Ricardo has an important rehearsal and can we make the interview at 7 instead of 8, and I’ll give our neighbour’s apartment number. Then you go up and ask Mr. Manilow to come down to your place and watch Bob Hope with you.

    Ethel: But what if he doesn’t like Bob Hope?

    Lucy: Oh, don’t be hopeless, Ethel! Think of something else. Tell him you have a stringless guitar you want him to tune, or something.
    Just have him out of the place by 7, and I’ll be there, explaining that Mr. Ricardo is a little late, and he’ll notice that HUGE piano shell with no keys, and I’ll act embarrassed and let it sort of leak out that Ricky is an eccentric Cuban and doesn’t really know music, he just pretends at his club. And he insists that he plays a grand piano, but I couldn’t let him have a piano with keys on it because the noise would wake the baby, so he sits and drums the panel at night and croons to himself. Then when the reporters is all upset because he doesn’t have a story, I’ll casually bring Shakespeare into the conversation and do my Juliet.

    Ethel: I don’t know, Lucy. Remember what happened with that fake photographer on the airplane!! You have about sixty pictures of the airplane staff subduing you and handing you over to the air marshall.

    Lucy: Ethel, I’ve got it all worked out! There’s no outside people involved in this, and it’ll go just fine. What could go wrong?

    Adores: 16
  12. 2011 June 20
    Lou Stool permalink

    Sparky forgot to mention that this is the very piano that is onstage at the Hannah Montana concert tour. Borrowed from Lady Gaga. Borrowed from Britney Spears. Borrowed from the Ashlee Simpson. Owned originally by Rob and Fab of Milli Vanilli.

    Adores: 9
    • 2011 June 20

      It makes me sad that I recognized the names of Milli Vanilli.

      Adores: 7
      • 2011 June 20
        Lola permalink

        It makes me sad that I recognize the name Milli Vanilli.

        Adores: 6
      • 2011 June 20

        It makes me happy that I do not.

        Adores: 4
      • 2011 June 20
        Windrose permalink

        Blame it on the rain.

        Adores: 6
        • 2011 June 20
          Lola permalink

          Girl, you know it’s true.

          Adores: 6
        • 2011 June 20
          ToBScholarly permalink

          Just don’t forget my number.

          Adores: 4
  13. 2011 June 20
    Indigo permalink

    The old shell game is back. Find 2 more of these and you’re on the way to scamming people out of millions. Oops, Enron already did that.

    Adores: 2
  14. 2011 June 20
    camille permalink

    It’s nine thirty on a Monday morning
    The regular crowd shuffles in
    There’s an old man called Grampdaddy
    And no one’s makin’ love to Bacontini

    He says, “Son, can you play me a memory
    I’m not really sure how it goes
    But I guess it doesn’t really matter
    Since your piano doesn’t have any keys

    La la la, di da da
    La la, di da da da dum

    Sing us a song, you’re the faux piano man
    Sing us a song tonight
    Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody
    And we need a song with some snark

    Now Lola in the Lounge is a friend of mine
    She’ll fill up the flask for free
    And she’s quick with a joke or to make fun of Sparkies
    And there’s no place that she’d rather be

    Oh, la la la, di da da
    La la, di da da da dum

    Now Mindfield is an internet novelist
    Who never had time for genie pigs
    And he’s talkin’ with Astro, who’s still in the marching band
    And probably will be for life

    And the ghostcat is practicing cat math
    As the regulars slowly get silly
    Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call snarkiness
    But it’s better than snarkin’ alone

    Sing us a song, you’re the faux piano man
    Sing us a song tonight
    Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody
    And we need a song with some snark

    It’s a pretty good crowd for a Monday
    And the Llamanun gives us a smile
    ‘Cause she knows that it’s her they’ve been comin’ to see
    To forget about life for a while

    And the piano, it sounds like silence*
    And the swingset smells like a deer
    And they sit at the bar and put bees in my jar
    And say, “Man, what are you doin’ here?”

    Sing us a song, you’re the faux piano man
    Sing us a song tonight
    Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody
    And we need a song with some snark

    *(because it has no keys)

    Adores: 30
    • 2011 June 20
      funky monkey permalink

      “And the piano, it sounds like silence*
      And the swingset smells like a deer
      And they sit at the bar and put bees in my jar
      And say, ‘Man, what are you doin’ here?’ ”

      Perfection! Wolf whistles to Camille!

      Adores: 7
    • 2011 June 20

      Awesome!

      Bonus: I’m Lego now.

      Adores: 5
      • 2011 June 20
        camille permalink

        Oh, damn. Of course I meant “Mindfield.” How much birdseed will you need to fix that, Windrose?

        Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20
          Windrose permalink

          The composition is so fantabulous that this one is free! 8) Even if you don’t mention me. Cause you know, I’m not petty or anything. Mindstorm is now Mindfield.

          Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20
          camille permalink

          Aw, thanks, Windy. I’ll make sure you’re in the next song, along with a whole lot of other regulars I left out.

          Adores: 5
    • 2011 June 20

      That.Was.Awesome.

      Adores: 4
    • 2011 June 20
      CapnMac permalink

      Best use of Billy Joel in about a decade <G>

      Adores: 2
  15. 2011 June 20
    Trinket permalink

    Conversation piece? What kind of conversations would this inspire?

    “Oh you have a grand piano!”
    “Nope. Just the shell.”
    “You mean it’s not a real piano?”
    “Nope, it’s totally empty.”
    “Um… why?”
    “Because I’m a weirdo!”
    “Oh.”
    *awkward silence*

    Yeah, I would call this more of an awkward silence piece than a conversation piece.

    Adores: 14
    • 2011 June 20

      See, around my house I’d take a slightly different route:

      “Heeey, nice grand piano! Do you play?”
      “No. But that’s okay, neither does it.”
      “What’s that now?”
      “It’s a fake piano. I mean, it’s a real outside-of-a-piano, but there’s nothing inside. No keys or strings or hammers or anything.”
      “Oh. I … see. Um … why?”
      “Well, see, a real piano you have to spend years learning how to play. With this, all I have to do is sit down here on the bench, lift the lid, and then just pretend to tickle the ivories while making piano noises, like this: Ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting ting … ting ting ting ting … ting ting ting ting …”
      “Um … I don’t think real pianos even have those notes.”
      “So you see my point? This is way more versatile.”

      Adores: 5
  16. 2011 June 20

    Things you could do with an empty piano shell;

    1.) Soak it in peppermint extract so you could have your very own minty shell.

    2.) Fill it with sand and make an indoor zen garden.

    3.) Store your underwear in it.

    4.) Use it as an ashtray for your imported Cuban cigars.

    5.) Convert it into a sensory deprivation tank, provided you are piano-shaped.

    6.) Use it as a cookie jar.

    7.) Fill it with kitty litter and have the world’s classiest litter box.

    8.) Convert it into a tanning bed, provided you are piano-shaped.

    9.) Use it to start that millipede farm you’ve always wanted.

    10.) Turn it into a bong.

    11.) Install an iPod dock in it and pretend to play it.

    12.) Drill holes in the sides and make the biggest birdhouse ever.

    Adores: 13
    • 2011 June 20
      mudslicker permalink

      13.) I’d like it to be a hot tub please.

      Adores: 3
      • 2011 June 20

        Some black plastic garbage bags and duct tape is all your dream needs to make it a reality.

        Well that… and the $1,000 piano shell.

        Adores: 5
    • 2011 June 20
      Trinket permalink

      These are all amazing ideas! 7 is my favorite. I want to play too!

      14) Haunted house feature. Have something spooky pop out of it when someone walks by.

      15) ornamental koi pond

      16) a shrine to a piano god or possibly a deceased musician of some kind

      Adores: 3
    • 2011 June 20
      funky monkey permalink

      14). Make a diorama of the last scene in the Justin Beiber movie “Never Say Never”.

      Adores: 5
      • 2011 June 20

        Wouldn’t that require watching said “movie”?

        Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20
          Trinket permalink

          You mean you haven’t seen it yet?

          What’s the matter with you?

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20

          I have functioning ears.

          Adores: 3
        • 2011 June 20
          funky monkey permalink

          Come on! Catch up! You’re so 2000 and EIGHT, we’re so 2000 and GREAT!

          Adores: 4
        • 2011 June 20
          LimeLolly permalink

          Justin Fever is not allowed in my house. In any shape/form/sound.

          Adores: 5
        • 2011 June 20

          What the hell are you talking about?

          Adores: 2
        • 2011 June 20

          We take every precaution around our house to keep Justin Fever out. We don’t mind Johnny Fever, though.

          Adores: 1
        • 2011 June 20
          funky monkey permalink

          We’re a Johnnie Rivers family all the way.

          Adores: 1
        • 2011 June 20
          CapnMac permalink

          If Johnny Fever is around the house the only real worry is the Phone Police.

          Adores: 1
        • 2011 June 20
          Lara permalink

          Does it count that I have a regular old fever?

          Adores: 0
    • 2011 June 20

      17) Attach some rigging to it and turn it into a marionette. It doesn’t have to walk around, just “talk”
      18) Make the world’s most awesome and strange computer case mod, fashioning each computer key as its own piano key so you could pretend to play while in reality updating your Facebook.
      19) Fill it with sand, little palm trees and shrubs and a little pond for your pet hermit crab.
      20) Three words: Bobbing for Bach.

      Adores: 6
      • 2011 June 20
        funky monkey permalink

        *snort* “Bobbing for Bach” Heh heh.

        Adores: 3
    • 2011 June 20

      21.) Bake a piano-shaped pie.

      Adores: 7
  17. 2011 June 20
    Trinket permalink

    22. Do you think there’s a way to turn it into a toaster? Cause I could really go for some piano toast about now.

    edit: sorry! nesting fail!

    Adores: 3
    • 2011 June 20

      23) ???

      24) Profit!

      Adores: 6
      • 2011 June 20
        CapnMac permalink

        Hmm, y’know, Spark’ never said that the lid on this box works–like Camelot, it’s only a model.

        Adores: 1
  18. 2011 June 20
    ToBScholarly permalink

    Let me just point out that a MUSICIAN commissioned this piece. Yes, a musician. Maybe he hoped to stick an mp3 player in it and call it a day. They say the digitization of sings is ruining music culture.

    Adores: 4
    • 2011 June 20

      Maybe he was hoping to go for a little more Jean-michel Jarre with his laser harp but didn’t want all that standing or being limited to a couple of pentatonic octaves.

      Adores: 1
  19. 2011 June 20
    Amy permalink

    LOVE the song, Camille! An instant classic.

    My husband will be so psyched that this ad made the blog! He found this CL posting and has been telling people about it for months.

    Adores: 4
  20. 2011 June 20
    LimeLolly permalink

    No Liberace shell to go with it? So disappointing.

    Adores: 3
    • 2011 June 20
      Innana permalink

      Ah, then we’d have candelabra shells which could take no candles.

      Adores: 5
    • 2011 June 20
      Bombdude permalink

      I thought we were trying to avoid Zomb…

      Adores: 2
  21. 2011 June 20

    Dammit, now I’ve got an earworm.
    And it’s not even minty.

    Adores: 4
  22. 2011 June 20
    Windrose permalink

    Folks, I hate to point this out, but the female Bosendorf grands always lay their eggs in their molted shells. The lumber on top is to keep the hatchlings from swarming out and consuming sound waves. Everyone around them will think they’ve gone deaf. But don’t help them into the ocean, or you will alert the killer cellos and the whole clutch will be lost!

    Adores: 9
  23. 2011 June 20

    Unbeknown to many, this piano is actually an original Mengel Grand, designed by Marcel Marceau for his early work in the band Renegade Mimes.

    Adores: 6
  24. 2011 June 20
    Karmyn permalink

    Only$10 for when it was built? What is Sparky selling it for?

    Adores: 1
  25. 2011 June 20

    [OT]

    Weird Al is covered with bees.

    [/OT]

    Adores: 2
  26. 2011 June 20
    Bianchi Sound permalink

    That’s one shell of a piano all right!

    Adores: 1
  27. 2011 June 20
    Lara permalink

    I say we buy it and put it in the lounge so we can drape ourselves dramatically over it and sing dirty songs while wearing evening gowns. I have been dying to see Mindfield in a ball gown. Dying.

    Adores: 5
  28. 2011 June 21
    Windrose permalink

    DAFT! Dave and Ferret Tribe, Punchity Punch Punch!

    G’Night, Wiener Neustadt!

    Adores: 1

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