16: Glendale Community College, Glendale

16: Glendale Community College, Glendale
Designed by: L.A. Chamber Orchestra
Piano type: Full upright (Story & Clark)
Playability: Good
Weather: 82°F, mostly cloudy, humid
How I got here: Car

This was my third attempt at reaching the street piano at Glendale Community College - the first two were thwarted by car trouble (which haven't been fully resolved). Nevertheless, I was able to get up here. I had visited friends' houses in the neighborhood over the years, but had never actually set foot on this campus before. Parking was easier than I thought -- 60 cents to park at the street meters on the other side of Verdugo Road. Enough time.

Upon arriving at campus, I had no idea where to find the piano, until I saw a copy of the school newspaper, El Vaquero, which had the piano on its front page and said it was "Between the Administration Building and the Auditorium." Alas, there it was, just a few yards down, under a canopy. 

Yesterday was the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and Glendale being a city with a large Armenian American community, there was a memorial wreath still on display next to the fountain in the center quad area of the campus:

For a college with many people passing by there was very little interaction here with the pianos. Everyone seemed busy minding their own business. When I arrived, there was one person quietly plunking on the piano. He was definitely a player because in between his key plunking were some complex runs, though he didn't play anything for more than a few seconds. The person before me also played very briefly then left to field a phone call.  This piano was a well-aged Story & Clark upright, no bad keys but for some reason the whole thing sounded uniformly flat to my ears. After I played, this girl who sat in a table near the piano while I was playing got on the piano and played a few classical pieces. An older person walking by gave her a "Bravo!" I gave her a thumbs-up as I passed by on my way out.

I got to play for a bit, improvising a little and then playing Depeche Mode's acoustic ballad "Somebody":




And just like that, when I started my car up to leave, the engine acted up yet again. Thankfully aided by gravity, yet hindered by traffic, I made it down Glendale Avenue. At one point, my car failed to re-start - in an intersection surrounded by several mechanic shops. Just as I was ready to push my car to the nearest one, I gave it a re-start, and I was able to drive home. Argh.